BBQ season is in full swing

A wonderful family and our dear friends (Jeremy, Chelsey and Kylee) are moving to Australia! Good for them...not so much for us. :( All the same we couldn't see them off with out getting together so tonight we had a big BBQ farewell party. For changing the date last minute we got a pretty decent crowd. Bishop and his wife came (even though we called and invited them as the party was starting), some service missionaries, and other friends from the ward. (oh and notice the cookie in Rachel's hand...yep that's pretty much all she ate for dinner)

All we really have are pictures of people eating (we are so good at that...sorry Katrina) our most delicious food. We had chicken and steak kabobs that we marinated all day and everyone else brought a side dish to share. The kids had fun playing on the swing set, running around the garage, drawing pictures with sidewalk chalk and kicking around the various balls we had. When it was time for dinner Rachel refused to eat until she had picked up all of the chalk and put it away. Way to go girl! I've taught you well :)

This is the group that came but it's only a fraction of people that love them and will miss them so much. (Jeremy, Chelsey and Kylee are the ones in the center of the picture) They are a wonderful family who will be missed a lot.

A memorable Memorial Day

We spent a wonderful Memorial Day at Marc's parents where Marc and Dad spent a large part of the day working in the yard. We helped them put some new flowers in their front beds, ate lots of good food, played a killer game of Phase 10, visited a lot and let the cousins play. Rachel sure enjoyed being our water girl while we were planting. If the plants didn't drown than they should be good on water for a while. :) At one point she went over the flag that was put in their yard by the scouts and I just had to snap a photo. It was just too perfect. She is such a poser!

In the afternoon when the cousins came over we all took a walk by the creek, then they played hard core! At one point they kept running around the house over and over again.

Benjamin loved being outside and all of the attention he got from everyone. Benjamin even had his first taste of watermelon and potato chips, which he loved!

I know your wondering about this picture right? Well before the boys started grilling they decided to toss around the baseball. At one point Zac (the up and coming baseball star) threw the ball a little too far to the side so Marc had to run and kind of jump to catch it. Not thinking of where he was going to step, just about saving the ball, he landed in a great big mud puddle and came out looking like this!! Just his feet, thank goodness, and yes, he did catch the ball.

Camping in the Backyard

We thought it would be a good idea to test out camping with 2 kids in our backyard so we would have an idea of what we were in for. It was interesting. From this experiment we have learned:

1. We desperately need an air mattress for us old and stiff grown-ups.

2. The kids will naturally go to sleep much later than normal.

3. The kids will get up much earlier than normal.

4. Why people don't camp in the city.

5. Allergies suck! (we knew this already but it was reaffirmed)

6. Even with all of that, it was still fun.

Since we couldn't do a campfire in our backyard we watched a short little movie inside, then went out to the tent to read books and go to bed. At least that was our plan, but as soon as the kids got in the tent it was like we had just given them a sugar pill or something. They were jumping around like crazy people.
Rachel also played with the flashlight and Benjamin had a grand old time trying to catch the light. After doing that for a while Marc read books to Rachel while she held the flashlight for him and I worked on getting Benjamin to sleep. After books we said prayers and tucked her in. We thought, "Phew, now we just have to make it through the night." Then we heard it...Rachel's pretend snoring (she was just too excited to sleep!!!), then a helicopter, then Rachel crying because she wanted to sleep in the house, and then Benjamin stirring. (you get the idea?) After getting everyone settled down again and convincing Rachel that she would be just fine sleeping in the tent, she finally fell asleep after 10.

While everyone was asleep I lay there awake, stuffy, unable to sleep listening to Life Flight fly over our house at least 6 times. I looked at the clock and time was just crawling by. Benjamin kept rolling off of his little bed, so I had to keep getting up to put him back in it. Then at 1:30 he woke up, so I sent Marc in to fix a bottle. After getting him back to sleep Marc said that he wants an air mattress. I went into the house to take some Benadryl and blow my nose. Then I had this great idea...couch cushions!!!!! While I was taking the cushions off of the couches a car alarm went off, and I thought "for real!?" Marc and I slid the cushions under our sleeping bags then crawled back in, it was so great, why hadn't we thought of that in the first place?

I was finally able to fall asleep sometime between 2:30 and 3. Next thing I knew it was morning, Marc was awake and the kids were stirring. Everyone was up by 6 today. It was an interesting night to say the least but just think of the memories we have created for our kids...that is if they will remember it.

Pleasant Valley

So there are no pictures to go with this post, but I just had to write about it. We got a $25 gift certificate for a new restaurant, Pleasant Valley Golf and Grill, which we decided to redeem tonight. We didn't really know what to expect or what the prices were on the food, but it turned out to be a lot of fun, we were so sad we didn't have the camera. We did feel a little out of place. Most everyone else was older and they knew the other customers. But we got over it quick. Marc ordered a steak that came with clam chowder, mashed potatoes, dessert and... a bucket of balls! When the waiter told us what it came with we were both like "a bucket of balls!?" We ate our dinner on patio looking over the entire valley. It was gorgeous!!!! Everything was so clear, we could see the snow tipped mountains, the driving range and a little train that ran through the middle of the valley. We loved it! When we finished eating we claimed our bucket of balls, grabbed the free clubs you can use and headed to the driving range. Well, we found out we are not golfers, but we sure had a lot of fun. Rachel loved cheering us on (we love having our very own 'cheer leader') but she didn't really want to try hitting the golf balls...until we were done and had to go. Of course then she was sad and wanted a turn. Looks like we'll just have to make a return trip and try out there mini-golf section another day...oh darn!

Benjamin's FaVoRiTe!

Here is one of Benjamin's favorite things to do lately. Once he starts you can't get him to stop, it's like he has a one track mind about it!

Planes, Helicopters and FUN!

Maybe I'm just partial to the Air Force now because I married an Air Force cutie or because we have planes and helicopters flying over our house everyday so Rachel asks about them or it could be because the Air Force Museum is free! But for what ever the reason we go as often as we can. This time when we went we discovered the hands on area for the kids. It was great! Rachel and Benjamin were able to sit in a cockpit...

try on some suits, experiment with wind flow, play with toy planes (or in Benjamin's case...taste)...

look in a space shuttle cockpit, make some friends, watch some videos on flying, and...

of course we couldn't go to the museum without seeing "Grandpa's Plane!"

Matchers!

My mom found the kids matching Mickey PJ's at the store and just had to get them! They are super Adorable!!! Rachel was so excited to put them on tonight and Benjamin was in a good mood about it too. The PJ's are perfect because Rachel loves Mickey and Mickey's Clubhouse is the only show that Benjamin will sit through. (no I do not sit my children in front of the TV all day!) Oh and as a side note, Rachel did extremely well in the bath tonight. I was actually able to bathe both of them together, Rachel laid down in the tub and splashed around. Let's just hope that she is over this fear of going down the drain for good!!

Mothers Day Creation

For Mothers day this year Amy and I decided to do something together for Marc's mom. I had this idea to get one of those edible fruit/flower baskets but after looking at the price we decided to re-create it ourselves for a fraction of the cost. Plus any left over fruit we had our families would eat anyway. :) It was fun and a bit messy to make but thanks to Nicole's help in arranging the fruit/flowers I think it turned out quite nice. Oh and mom loved it, so that certainly made it all worth while!

A 3 hour tour

To CeLeBrAtE Marc's graduation and the fact that we FINALLY have some sun and warmer weather we decided to take a family hike. At first we decided to just go as far as the kids would allow us but we ended up pushing through and making it all the way to the top.

Rachel impressed us both by walking the entire way up, except where Marc lifted her over rocks, mud, and water. Marc taught Rachel a song that went something like this: "Every where we go, people want to know, who we are. We are the Ansons, the mighty mighty Ansons!" Rachel even sang along, only her rendition was "We are the Ansons, we are the Ansons, we are the Answers!"

The temperature at the top changed dramatically from warm to cold and wet...which Rachel did not like very much. BUT she did like seeing the BIG waterfall and even let me snap a quick photo of her before we headed down to where the sun was. Of course the 'kids' had to throw rocks in the water while we were resting and warming up.

AND on the way out Rachel was tired, hungry and sick of falling on the rocks SO Marc wore the frame pack with Benjamin in it while I carried the water AND Rachel. But even that didn't keep her from crying the ENTIRE way down the mountain.

The Master of the House

And here he is! After 3 LONG years of working full time, going to school part time and doing practicum (like an internship) he has finally finished! WAHOO!! Here is our lovely grad wearing his cap 'n gown, his Masters hood and Stole of Gratitude (which he gave to me after the ceremony).

This is just his class (the distance education masters class). Don't they all look so proud!

Before the ceremony we were to meet up with his mom, Joseph and Nicole so we thought we would use the time to get a few photos. When we started this program Rachel was 2 weeks old and now she will soon be 3 and Benjamin will be 1!

The is the best shot I have of the ceremony. We were a little far away to do much better. This was taken right after they came in and everyone was sitting down. Because we are all so short we had a hard time finding each other. Luckily we did though because Marc had the camera so in order for me to get it he had to have people pass it down the row. Good thing there were some really nice people or we could have lost our camera! Oh and another funny thing, not even 10 minutes into the ceremony Rachel said "Can we go home now!?"

Well, 2 hours later (the ceremony started at 7:30 pm) we were moved like cattle out the doors and down the steps to somehow find the college grad that you came to see so they could lock up the doors! I wasn't even able to take Rachel to bathroom before we left so we had to make a pit stop at a gas station. Even the though the ceremony was long, and the kids were super tired they did really well, we even got a cute smile out of Rachel for a family picture.

I am so thankful to Nicole, Mom and Joseph for driving all the way up to the campus to help me with the kids. There is no way that I could have done that by myself.

AND here is a look into the future! :)

The Drain song

I gues while I was at the doctors and Marc was home with the kids the other day Rachel started playing around on the piano and came up with The Drain Song. It goes like this "I won't go down the drain, becuase I'm too big!" She sings this occasionally during the day and we have done some little 'activities' to teach her that neither she or her toys can go down the drain. Now you think this would work...ya right! NOTHING has changed!! The song IS still cute though. Does anyone have any more ideas of what we can try?

I saw this and it made me laugh. This is exactly what my morning looked like today. I was making breakfast (pancakes - I'm a good mom!) and I had both children pulling on my pants. It's a miracle they didn't fall off!! When will they start entertaining eachother!?!?!?