Cole's Visit

     At the beginning of April 2013 Will and Tif  wanted to take a trip back East to visit some friends and see the sites. They asked us to watch Cole for 10 days. Both of is were a bit apprehensive about this bit we knew it would be good experience for us in the future being parents.  

   He was fine the first few days and I took him to work with me and he played wth Jackson. They seemed to feed off of each other. Their personalities were different but they had lots of fun together.

Taking a walk with the boys and this is what they did.

Bathtime!!

Going to the library together side by side. When we got there this is how I found them.

Then on Saturday evening right before dinner Cole was watching a movie and all of a sudden started throwing up. He was scared because he hadn't really done this before. We calmed him down and cleaned it up and gave him a bath. Shortly thereafter it was his bed time and we put him in his pack an play. About an hour and a half later we heard him crying. We walked in and he had thrown up all over himself, his pillow, his blankets.  So we tossed it all in the wash.  We ended up calling Will & Tif as well as my Mom to get some advice. It was then that Sam stayed with Cole and I made a late night trip to Wal-Mart to get some pedialyte.  After I got home we decided that we would take shifts and watch him throughout the night. I took the first shift and we watched a Tinkerbell movie. After that it was close to midnight so we cuddled up together on the couch and he fell asleep. I didn't get much sleep because I was so anxious about it all. I also decided to let Sam sleep all night and I figured I could sleep in the morning. Plus my brother, Michael, was going to come over and take a turn too. Cole was acting fine and seemed to have lots o energy but couldn't seem to keep anything down. I also took the next few days off of work because I didn't want to expose Jackson to it. I took him back a bit early and my Mom watched him the last little bit. We later figured out it was probably all brought on by stress, a different environment and missing his parents. Although it did continue for a little bit after they came home he settled in and became the Cole we knew again. 

    This was more of a learning experience than we could have ever asked for bit through it all Sam was a trooper and I know one day he will be a great Dad.

Uncle Sam and Cole being cozy and catching a few more minutes of sleep as I got ready for the day.

He was so exhausted after all of this that he wa such a heavy sleeper during his naps and bedtime.

Cole's 2nd Birthday

On February 12th our nephew Cole turned 2. Will and Tif hosted a family party at their house and it was more exciting for him because he was able to interact and talk more than his first birthday. We got him a Mr. & Mrs. Potato head. We chose this gift because he loves Toy Story so much. He loved them!! We are dinner/cake and then we watched a slideshow of his last year. Then at the end it showed an ultrasound picture announcing that Cole was goof to be a big brother and that the baby was due in August.

Rebecca's 24th Birthday

    I could hardly believe that I was turning 24. I don't know where the time has gone. I tried to get the day off but with no luck. But Sam had the day off and so we decided to make the best of it. I wanted to go see a movie but the one I wanted to see was just showing one night at the theater near us. When we got there there were only 4 others in the theater. It made it super romantic. We chose to watch Romeo & Juliet.

      When the day came Sam was sick and it was a little bit of a damper. I spent the morning with Jackson and then we met up for lunch. I had ordered Cafe Rio and put a reservation on a Redbox DVD. Yummy!!                 

       Then after we all finished eating I put Jackson down for his nap. When I came back downstairs Sam and I cuddled up on the couch and watched Monsters University. After it was over Sam decided to go home and take a nap. When I got off work we had decided to go out for dinner. We chose Texas Roadhouse. It was so delicious and we ordered too much food that we had to take food home for the next day. 

    It was such an amazing day and I  glad I got to spend it with Sam.

Thanksgiving 2013

     So when Sam and I got married we decided on alternating families for the holidays since we all live relatively close to each other.

     This year we were supposed to be with my family. A few weeks before Thanksgiving my Mom told me that they might be going down to where my Grandparents live (Alton). They thought about it so they could take our exchange student at the time (Anders) down to see the sights. Sam and I wouldn't be able to go because of work so we told Sam's parents we may go with them. 

     Them finally, the weekend before, my parents decided to stay home and have a cozy Thanksgiving. My Mom assigned me to bring a veggie tray and 2 pumpkin pies. 

    The morning of Thanksgiving as tradition, we watched the Macy's parade and looked at all the Black Friday ads. When dinner was ready and the table set it was quite a sight to behold and we were all ready for the feast.

Here is Anders and Marietta working on a secret dinner project. Pictured below is their masterpiece....

The table all set.

The feast!!

Sam thoroughly enjoying the drumstick. 

     Later that evening as we were all trying to digest our food we settled in an started playing Phase 10 and having fun. We then decided to watch Secretariet and eat pie. After that somehow My brother, Steven, thought it would be fun to try on some of my Dad's old clothes.....these are the results....

     It was a fun day and I'm glad we got to spend it with family.

10 Months, It has been way to Long.....

Wow, I am way overdue for a new post on our blog.  It has been about 10 months since I last posted on here.    I am going to see how many major events I can recall in those last 10 months to hopefully catch up somewhat.  Perhaps as time goes by I can go back and make posts about some of these events.

• I got a job working as a Waitress at a restaurant in Payson, UT called Dalton's.  This was definitely an interesting experience and there were definitely ups and downs.  I made some new friends and got to eat some really good food.  And while the tips were okay, I found that it just wasn't all for me and I wasn't getting the tips or shift hours that I needed to keep supporting Sam & I.  I started this job at the  end of September and worked until mid-January.  
• Both of our brothers Sterling and Ren received their mission calls and left in October. Their farewells were on the same day and so Sam and I decided to split up and I went to Sterling's farewell and Sam went to Ren's. I was sad that we had to do it that way, and I hope that it doesn't do the same thing to us when they return.  They have each been out over 7 months.  So far we have been able to talk to them twice, once on Christmas and on Mother's Day.  Each time has been a pleasure and we are so proud of them.
• Sam and I got in a car accident while on our way to dinner at Joe Banditos here in Springville.  It was not our fault and we were both okay.  It took a little while to work it out with the car insurance company and get the money to fix the car.  And then while we had our car in the shop we got a rental which was nice, but I know Sam was happy to get his car back.
• Another reason I quit Dalton's is because one day after a shift I got online and got inspired to look at this website that listed jobs.  I found one that interested to me and I emailed the family.  Later that night I got a call to come in for an interview.  While there the couple offered me a job as a Nanny!! It was truly a blessing in disguise because it seemed to come out of no where.  I have thoroughly enjoyed this job and all the fun I have tending little Jackson and I know all this experience I am gaining will truly  help me when Sam & I decide to start a family.
• Sam's bike was stolen one Friday while both of us were at work.  We had just brought them out of storage to start using for the Summer and his was gone within the week.  We filed a police report, which was a thrill.....not.  But a friend of mine, Alicia Mulder was out going to yard sales and found a bike for free.  With that bike and a couple of other bike frames Sam created a franken-bike as I like to call it.  We have yet to try them out, but they are locked up securely and these bikes aren't going anywhere.
• Sam finally convinced me to get a pair of new phones.  We were tired of being on two different plans. Although our plan is a bit more expensive than we were paying before I feel like it has been worth it and we have been happy.  We each got a black iPhone 4   I feel like having our own plan gets a little bit more independence.
• In April our nephew, Cole stayed with us. Will & Tif wanted to take a trip to New York and Boston before their new baby girl arrived in August.  We picked up Cole on a Sunday and he was goint to stay 10 days with us.  I took him to work each day and him & Jackson really hit it off.  They would play together and talk together in their little toddler language.  On Saturday night, Cole got sick and threw up all over.  It was a mess!! He continued to be sick the rest of the time we had him.  That Saturday I stayed up all night with him making sure he was okay.  I even had to take off work just to make sure Jackson didn't catch it.  I didn't want to go through that twice.  But Sam seemed to catch a little bit of it, and while he took one night off of duty with Cole he pushed through it and was a great help.We found out later the next week he had a stomach virus and was better by the next weekend.  It was fun to have Cole stay with us and it gave Sam and I an idea of what it would be like to have a toddler of our own in the future.  We really were able to experience both the ups and downs of the whole parenting things.
• During the week Cole was at our place, Sam's laptop broke.  We took it to Best Buy and found out that the motherboard got fried.  We ended up buying a new computer that night and got a tower instead of a new laptop.....partly because it was cheaper and the tower had more space and was faster.  It has a been a good investment so far.
• Year for Babies, this is a total true statement.  Here are the babies that we know of being born in our family. Will & Tif = Baby Girl, Dallin & Kelli = Baby Boy, Katie & Randy = Baby Girl, Rick & Jen = Baby Boy, Blake & Stephanie = Baby Girl, Carrie & Nick = Twin Girls.  And those are just in the family.  I also have several friends that are having children as well.  This is such an exciting time for all of them.

Sam and I promise that we will be better at blogging and will try to write as often as we can.

4th of July Vacation

          Sam and I were so excited to get this time to spend on this vacation.  He had a little bit of difficulty getting work off but when it was all official it made it even more special.  Every 4th of July all my family on my mother's side goes down to Alton, UT to visit my grandparents.  It has been a tradition that everyone looks forward to.  I was thrilled that I could bring Sam into this family tradition.  I had been talking with my brother Will and his wife Tif and we decided that we could travel down together and split the gas money because Sam and I were having a bit of financial difficulties.  

         Finally the 3rd of July arrived and I had all the things packed up and ready to go.  Because Tif was running a little behind schedule I picked up Will from work over in Provo and brought him back to our apartment.  Tif arrived with Cole like 20 minutes later with Sam coming a little later.  We were all ready to go.  We stopped in Fillmore for dinner. I had brought along Subway and Will & Tif got Carl's Jr.   We were on the road around 30 minutes later and arrived in Alton around 11:30 pm.  Most everyone was still awake and so we talked a little before we finally got ready for bed and slept out in the trailer with Sterling and Steven.   Most of the rest of the vacation I will show through pictures posted below:

This is a bunch of the crew
on the train waiting for the
Parade to start.

Grandpa Andersen and Cole in
matching overalls.

My brother Steven found this
chunk of Cheeto cheese in the bag,
he and Ben (cousin) even tasted it.

We dropped the cheese in the cup to see how
it dissolved.

Here is one scene on the way into Zions National Park.

The visitor's center.  A few of our party checking out the
information plaques before the hiking began.

Sam & Cole on the bus headed up the canyon.

Tiff hanging out in the river with Cole on her back.

The river.

Cousins Austin and Heidi
on the rock.  When Heidi
tried getting off she fell into the water.

Uncle Lance holding up Heidi
who is holding up the rock.

A mini waterfall on the hike.

There were squirrels everywhere and it was amazing
how close we were able to get to them.

Sam with an amazing background.

Sam & Sterling hanging out together.

My mother chillin' in the sand.

On the way down on the 2nd hike we saw this deer having dinner.

The next day we went to the Sand Dunes.
It wasn't Cole's favorite spot. It was hot &
windy and he got tired real fast.

Everyone over on the far hill.

Sam made an awesome sand Angel.

My sister, Marietta also made an angel.

On the way back to Alton we stopped at a tunnel that goes
under the highway.  Sam and everyone else went in exploring
while........

Cole and I stayed on the top in the shade.

Here is a picture taken by Sam showing the inside of this
tunnel.  Another cool note, on the way back we stopped
at a gas station and while my Mom was pumping gas
and Steven & Sam were washing windows, Cole started
saying Sam's name.  Before he called Sam, Saaa, but then at
that moment he finally connected it and said SAM.

We had a game night where tanks and commanders was a
popular game.

On Saturday at the family reunion, Sam
and I rode in my Grandpa's train around town.

I rode in the back car with Cole.

My cousins, Brittany and Bobbi Jo created this huge cupcake display.
It looked pretty cool.

Brittany also created 2 of these
cakes.  I think they looked amazing.

I made these vanilla chocolate covered cake balls.  They
were an absolute hit!!

Here is my grandma, the lady in the front row and
all of her siblings.

Here is my grandma and her siblings with all the
spouses included.

My grandma and grandpa.

Cole loved the train so much he
didn't want to leave. Sterling went with
him again for another ride. We think he had like
8 rides that day.