Happy Birthday Noah!!!

Four things I Love about my Noah Lyle Anderson

1-His sweet sweet personality

2- His snuggles

3-His eyes

4- His Smile

Noah can make any day turn around and be cheerful. All he has to do is look up to you and say I wuv you mommy. And my heart instantly Melts to putty. Noah is our peacemaker he is always there for a hug whether you think you need one or not. He loves to play the Wii and loves anything electronic. He keeps our family smiling. We love you Noah thanks for coming and being a part of our family.

Christmas At Margies

Since we still had no huge commitments we decided to head back to Maricopa and spend Christmas with Aunt Margie's family. We had lots of fun spending more time with cousins. And we felt so lucky to be able to spend Chirstmas in the Hummel home. This is the first Christmas the boys have spent with family other then our little family. It was fun to be able to see the excitment of christmas from 6 little kids 5 and under. It was also fun to be able to get to know Margie sweet little girls.

Vinyl Machine

I know it has been a very long time since I have posted anything. And I have a ton to post about. But I just wanted to let everyone know we just got our Vinyl Machine and I am so so so excited about it. I cant wait to get it up and start using it. In the meantime anyone that need vinyl letters let me know I would love to make them for you. I have lots of colors and lots of fonts and lots of ideas! And the possibility is endless with vinyl. When i\I start making things I will start posting pictures for you all to see. I cant wait! And for all you AZ people we are going to be down in the Phoenix area for the next couple weeks so let me know if you want to come get something, or maybe we can bring it to you etc. We are hoping to find work out here so that we can be closer to family. Keep your fingers crossed!

Going to see Grandma and Grandpa Farnsworth

After Thanksgiving we loaded up the car to head to grandmas house in yuma. But not first without a bump in the road. When we went out to load up the car we found that our car had been broken into the night before someone had smashed in the drivers side window an stollen ur GPS. Thnksful that was all that was taken. But still no fun to have to deal with. We called all over chandler to see if we could find someone to fix the window for us before we left. No luck the earliest we could get it fixed would be the next day. So we cleaned up the glass and decided to go ahead and head to yuma to have the window fixed. A blessing in the long run it was cheaper to have fixed there and they could fix it that day.
It was so wonderful when we got to Yuma and i was able to get a hug from my Mother. A mothers hug can make just about anything feel better. Back in Utah before we came to Arizona for Thanksgiving Adams parents neighbor had apple trees they said we could pick if we wanted. So the boys and I went out and picked apples lots of apples. And we brought those home with us so that Mom and I could can them. So mom and I set out to make apple sauce, apple pie filling and apple butter......but we soon learned that these apples were so small...it would take forever to get them all canned and they didnt yield much product afterwards. So we made apple pie filling and then decided apple sauce would be so much easier so thats what we did. Thomas loved helping turn the handle on the squeezo to make the apple sauce. A couple very long days later we were done. And more then glad that we were.
It was fun to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa Farnsworth as well as Katie and Micheal. The boys had fun playing with Micheal and look forward to seeing him when we can.

Thanksgiving in Arizona

A couple of weeks after we got to Utah we decided it would be fun to head to Arizona to spend Thanksgiving with Sarah and Lances family as well as Margies family. While we were in Arizona Adam spent lots of hours looking for employment. A very frusterating time and at this point im sure we both thought it was never going to come to a end. We knwwhe te time wasright h Lord wou helpus to fid employmentit jus wasnt alwys easy waitig for te right time. We got to Arizona and loved spending time in the warm arizona weather compared to the cold Richmond Utah winter. Thanksgiving was fun and the boys loved being able to be around so many cousins this trip. Margies our litte girl Natalie, Hailey, Hanna and Brooke. As well as Sarahs kids Sami, Grant, Kayla, and of course Hunter. While we were there we were able to help celebrate Hunters 5th birthday. What a fun time to be able to spend with family. Thanksgiving came and went and still no employment. We decided that since we were so close to Grandma and Grandpa Farnsworths we would make the trip down and stay with them a little bit as well as pick up a vinyl machine that we were going to buy to see if we could make some extra money with it. And we all know when a girl is having a hard time with life its so wonderful to be able to be around her mom.

Just as a side note on our trip to Arizona from Utah somewhere along the side of the road sat our smoker that we were taking to Arizona so that we could smoke the turkey for thanksgiving. Our smoker as well as a box of onions and potatoes for my mother. It seems many of our trips have some sort of memory to help keep them sorted for us. Like the Christmas we headed home from Florida right after Thomas was born.......and our luggage got ran over. At least years later we are able to laugh at it!

Utah bound

We headed out to Utah in October were were excited to see family many of which we had not seen in quite a while. Adam drove the moving truck and i drove the car with the boys in it. As we were driving out we knew that weather may not be on our side but knew that we had the Lord on our side and that we would make it safe and sound to Richmond with out any major problems. We ran into a blizzard in Colorado not knowing exactly how far we were from Denver where we planned to stay the night we decided it was best if we stopped for the night at the next town. We stopped for the night and all got a great nights sleep. When we woke up in the mornings we looked out the window and was surprized to see the amount of snow on the ground. We had breakfast and as we were eating we heard that the road we were traveling on last night was now closed and had we not made it as far as we did last night we would have been snowed in. We were greatful that the Lord helped us to make it there safe and sound so we could continue on our adventure. We headed out and realized we were only about 30 minutes from Denver so we were not that far behind where we wanted to start out. We finally made it to Grandma's and Grandpa Anderson's home and we were all greatful to get out of the car. We got there just in time to spend Halloween with cousins Josh, Jessica, Megan and Ryan Smith. This was a memorable Halloween and one we will always keep in our hearts. It was so fun to go trick or treating at Uncle Tims and Aunt Loras house as well as Grandma and Grandpa Andersons House.

Happy Birthday Thomas!!!

Today is Thomas birthday. Top 5 things I love about Thomas.

1-How silly he is

2- That he loves toys that make you think

3- That he loves his family more then anything and tells us often

4- He is so kind to all those around him

5- He loves to go to Primary

Thomas turns five today. It is hard to believe it has already been 5 years. Thomas loves to play with his little brother Noah. He loves any toy that makes him use his brain and thing. Top toys at the moment would be legos and erector set. It would surprize me to some day seem him do something in engineering he loves to build things and loves to figure out how things work. It amazes me the things he figures out just by taking a good look at it. I love you Thomas thanks for all the joy you bring to our family.

Unemployment

In August of 2009 Adam came home from work and told me that he was let go and would no longer be employed with Balfour Beatty. Anyone knows that in this economy it was not a good time to not have a job, especially in the construction industry. Lots of emotions were felt. We loved Midlothian Texas. We loved the Waxahachie 2nd ward. We loved our callings I was the 1st counselor in the primary presidency and Adam was working with the ward mission leader. Life was good or so we thought. We quickly started sending our resumes and looking for employment. we would send out hundreds of resumes over the next few months. It didnt take long before this started taking a toll on the both of us. It was like you were sending out this resume to a black hole never to be seen or heard of again. We talked to our bishop and told them what was going on and even though i grumbled many times about the small trailer we were living in I soon became very greatful we were living somewhere that had such low rent. We stayed in Midlothian till the end of October hoping and praying that something would come up. When it looked like nothing was going to happen for us we prayed and decided that it was time to move on and close that chapter of our life. We packed all of our belongings and headed for Utah to stay with Adams parents.

Happy Anniversary

Today Adam and I celebreate 7 years of marriage. It has been a wonderful 7 years together. I cant imagine going through life with anyone else by my side. I am such a lucky girl to have found such a wonderful husband that cares for our family like Adam does. Life hasnt always been easy for us but we make it through together. I love you Adam thanks for a fun 7 years i look forward to many many many more years with you.

Just about ready

So the car is packed and I will be heading out to AZ in just a few hours. Tonight I will stop at Jason's House in Midland. Then up early and hopefully I will make it to AZ on Saturday. We cant wait to see everyone it has definitly been way to long. Anyone that wants to call and talk feel free to call it is going to be a very long drive. We love you all and cant wait to see you very soon!

Thomas gives a talk in primary

This is about a month late but I wanted to remember it for journaling purpose. On March 1, 2009 Thomas gave his first talk in primary. I was so proud of him standing up there and giving his talk. I cant believe how grown up he is getting it seems like just yesterday we were headed to the hospital to have him.

Here is the talk that he gave.

Family member have important responsibilities. A responsibility is a necessary job. If you dont fill your responsibilities, others may be sad.

Daddies hold the priesthood and work hard to provide for their families. My daddy works very hard building buildings. He uses his money to buy me clothes, food and toys.

Mommies work hard, too. They take care of their children and make good food to eat. My mommy cleans house and feeds me chicken and croccoli.

Brothers and sisters play with each other and ovey their parents. My brother and I clean up when our parents tell us to. Grandma's and Grandpa's help their children and play with their grandchildren.

I am thankful for my family responsibilites, I love my family.

Easter Egg hunt at Sims Library

Saturday morning we woke up and headed out to the library to see no one else but....

Mrs. Bunny

We sang songs with her.

We read stories with her.

And then we went outside and gathered easter eggs.

Six Flags Over Texas

Adam was given some free tickets to go to six flags friday night. So we loaded up the kids and headed out. We were not sure how much fun it would be for the little boys but once we got there soon realized that they are pretty much fearless and loved every minute of being there. In the past everytime we drove by six flags Thomas would say that looked so fun and he wanted to go. The reason for the free tickets was Balfour Beatty was sponsering a fund raiser and all moneys made would go to childrens medical center here in Dallas. So it was not really crowded, lines werent real long to wait in and we all had a ton of fun. We started out in the looney toon section which is where we introduced the boys to a few rides.

They got to drive a semi

They went on a ride on the looney toon train

They both loved the bumper cars. It was fun to watch all these little kids none of them really knew what they were doing, but when they would bump into each other they would all laugh and laugh and laugh.

They flew high up in to the Texas skies. Every time they would make it back over to where Adam and I was standing they would laugh and say Hi mommy and daddy. These little boys were in there element on all of these rides they loved it.

Later in the night they were able to meet Daffy duck

This picture was my very favorite for the night. Noah was so excited at different times during the night that he would hold his hands together and say "oh boy oh boy oh boy". We had just got done riding on Batmans Wings and as soon as we got off Noah was saying " lets do that agian" This ride mom and dad had to get on so the boys could ride it but they loved every minute of it. They both wanted to be high up in the sky the whole time we were in it.

I didnt get any of the pictures of the boys on the roller coasters we rode. They loved the roller coasters. Adam is very excited that his little boys love roller coasters and when they get older will go on all the rides that mom wont even think about going on them with. We also got to ride the full size train around the park and see all the big huge roller coasters from a far. When ever we asked the boys what there favorite ride was it always changed, I think it is safe to say they loved the whole experience. We look forward to going agian next year maybe even when they are a little older getting season passes. Anyone want to come along? We would love to have you.

One on One time with Mommy

Last wednesday Thomas got to go to a birthday part for a few hours so Noah and Mommy got to spend some one on one time together. This doesnt get to happen very often so when it does we have lots of fun together. So we dropped Thomas off and headed out. I asked Noah what he wanted to do and the first thing out of his mouth was go to that park. So thats where we headed first. Noah loves the park everything at the park but his most favorite thing is the Slide. He could go down the slide all day long and not get tired of it.

Noah on the Tetter Totter

Headed up the slide

Down the slide

Trying to climb up the slide this way.....didnt get to far.

Sat at the picnic table ....but just for a minute

Then back down the slide

Once we left the park we headed over and picked up daddy to have lunch together. Noah got to pick where we had lunch and his choice was....

Noah played and played and played he had so much fun. On the way back to taking daddy back to work we stopped and got Noah one of these....

We headed back to get Thomas from his party and then headed out to get the boys hair cut. We were way over due a hair cut. Headed home and then played outside the rest of the day. When it came to bedtime both the boys fell into there beds and were out before their heads hit their pillows.

P.P.E. Required Beyond This Point

Thomas and Noah both love to go and see Daddy while he is at work. There is so much to see at a big construction sight. Lots of tractors, a few really big cranes and just about anything that would intrigue a little boy. They love it when Daddy brings home his hat from work and never miss a chance to wear it. They both love there daddy so much and want to be just like him.

Noah wore Daddies hard hat around all day this day and he looks pretty darn cute in it if I dont say so myself. Maybe one day he will follow in Daddies footsteps and go to school to work in construction management!

Silly Boys

The boys are always telling me ...."Mommy, take a picture of me." So then I get out the camera and these are the faces that automaticly come out as soon as the camera shows up.

I sure do love these little boys and it never fails when ever I need a "pick me up" they are always there to make me laugh, smile or tell me I love you Mommy!

Helping Daddy

About a month ago we got the boys a bunk bed. When we left Rexburg we left there beds behind since they were so old and in such bad shape. So for the past 6 months or so we have just had there matresses on the floor. So getting the new bed was very fun for the boys. Thomas claimed the top bunk as soon as we started talking about getting bunk beds. We bought the beds and brought them home and started to put them together. Both Thomas and Noah love to help especially if it means putting something together. So we had plenty of help....maybe even a little to much help at time. Here are a few pictures of putting the bed together. I didnt think about it and get a picture of the final product I will have to do that another day.

Here they are unloading the box

Noah had to show us his muscles and what a big boy he is here

Thomas trying to get something out of the box. They didnt want any help at all unloading everything

Noah thinks this might be the easiest way to get things done.

There is always time to stop and strike a pose.

Daddy did help a little bit......but just a little bit.

Climbing in the box might make it a little bit easier to get things out of it.

Maybe if we both climb in it will be easier

Happy Birthday Adam!

Happy birthday my sweet Adam that I love with all my heart. I sure got lucky when I got to marry him. He is wonderful and I thank the Lord everyday that he is part of my life. Here are 34 reasons that I love Adam, not in any particular order.

1-Adam is always fun to be with.

2-Adam is hard working, always has been.

3-Adam is a total smarty pants.

4-Adam will always eat anything I make for him for breakfast, lunch or dinner. And always says it is good, even if it isnt.

5-Adam is a very honest person

6-Adam is a very giving individual, always thinking of me and the kids before himself.

7-Adam is a very funny person, always making jokes and fun to be around.

8-Adam is big and strong. He can always lift something or open something for me.

9-Everytime I see a spider or some nasty bug. Adam will always kill it for me with out hesitation.

10-Adams smile

11-Adam puts up with me and everything I throw at him (not literally).

12-Adam is a very nice person, he can talk to anyone about anything.

13-He is a great singer.

14-I love his hands, big and strong. He gives great massages.

15-He loves Jesus, the gospel, the scriptures, and has a wonderful testimony.

16-He is patient with the boys and especially me.

17-He holds the priesthood.

18-Adam works so hard to provide for our family.

19-He married me for all time and eternity.

20-Adam knows when I need a little "Heather" time and always makes sure I get it.

21-Adam is a wonderful wonderful father.

22-Adam loves to cook, and is good at it. We both love to be in the kitchen together.

23-We make goals and work on them together.

24-Adam likes to camp and spend time together ourdoors as a family.

25-He works hard on everything in his life church, family, callings and work.

26-Adam is not afraid to try anything new.

27-Adam can make me feel like I am the only one in the world that matters.

28-Adams understanding of the scriptures and gospel.

29-Adams love for life and family.

30-Adam is my very best friend.

31-Adam can make me laugh at just about anything in life.

32-Adam is a big kid at heart.

33-Adam always tells me he loves me and kisses and hugs me, several times through out the day.

34-He loves each of us alot and we love him!

These are just a few reasons why I love Adam so much. I dont think I could have found anyone else that is more perfect for me then Adam. I love you Adam and hope that you have a wonderful birthday!

What more could I ask for???

This morning at breakfast this little boy said something that melted my heart.

"Mommy if I ever have to pick a different Mommy, I would always pick You!"

Such simple words that just melted my heart. I hope that I can always be the mom that my kids would pick me everytime. I know no matter what I will always pick my little family every time. I feel so lucky to have my little family and know that I couldnt have picked a better family for me. I hope my family always knows that I love them. I love all three of my boys no matter what. I think that I am the luckest girl around to be surrounded by boys that love me. I love you my little boys Thomas and Noah! And I Love you my big boy Adam!

Learning to ride bikes

This year for Christmas Santa brought the boys bikes. They have had lots of fun learning how to ride them. Noah seems to think its more fun to just sit on it and let you push him around. Its been fun living out here in the country where the boys can just run and play and there is not alot of traffic around to worry about. We are looking forward to spring time coming so we can play outside everyday.

Its hard to believe how much these little boys have grown up and how independent they are becoming. And what great friends they are to each other. I hope that they always love each other as much as they do know. We are so lucky to have them as part of our family.

Playing Outside

We has some beautiful weather this week, which means great weather to play outside. Something my little boys love to do. Cars, Trucks, Balls they are all fun but, when you get to play with them outside it is sure to be a fun time. And everyone knows when little boys can go outside and run all there energy out it is a wonderful wonderful thing. It always cracks me up when Thomas and Noah come up to me through out the day and say "Mommy I think it is warm outside and we need to go outside and run all of our energy out." My favorite thing about playing outside is that almost 100% of the time they fall into bed at night. Well here are some cute pictures of my little rugrats enjoy!

Im glad we have moments like these captured in pictures. When you look at this its hard not to remember the joys of motherhood and how fun having a family of your own can be. And if you ask me those are by far the cutest kids out there!

Invisible Mother....

I got this off of a friends blog and thought it was so beautiful. It was just what I needed to read after a day....heck who am I kidding after a Week like I have had. To put it short my wonderful children.....drove me NUTS this week. They got into anything and everything. Dumped dresser drawers. Dumped all the toys in there room that they could get to. Got into things in moms room. These are just a few of the things they have done this week. Im glad it is saturday and im looking forward to next week being a much better week.


It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask me a question. 
Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?' 

 Obviously not. 

No one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. 

 I'm invisible. The invisible Mom. Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this? 

 Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please.' 

I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum laude - but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going; she's going; she is gone! 

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England ...

 Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. 

I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. 

I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, 'I brought you this.' It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe. 

I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription: 

 'To Charlotte, with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.'

In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work: 

 No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names. 

 These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished. 

They made great sacrifices and expected no credit. The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything. 

A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, 'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it.' And the workman replied, 'Because God sees.' 

 I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. 

 It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you, Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become.' 

At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. 
 It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride. 

I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree. 

When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, 'My Mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table.' That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, 'you're gonna love it there.' 

 As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right. 

 
And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women. 

Great Job, MOM! 
 

 
Hope this encourages you when the going gets tough as it sometimes does. We never know what our finished products will turn out to be because of our perseverance. 



Its always fun when Grandpa comes, When Grandpa comes hooray!

I know these are a few months old but I wanted to get them on here anyways. A few months ago we went and picked up Papa Andersons motorhome for him and had it parked in front of our house. In November Papa Anderson came out to pick it up and take it back to Arizona to sell it. Both Thomas and Noah both love there Papa very very much and were very excited to see him. Although the visit was much to short and we would have loved for him to stay longer we were all very happy to see him. And cant wait for Papa and Grandma to come out and see us agian. We love you Papa!