Hope you had a "rockin" Christmas!

Ryan sure did. So did we.

*disclaimer/apology: To those who did not recieve a card from us... know that no one else did either :)! We still love all of you and hope that you had a wonderful Christmas. Hopefully we will get to you next year!

Races, Shows and little Christmas Miracles

I had the pleasure of running a half marathon with my great friend and one of the(two) best running buddies I have ever had, Lorraine Galvin. We did the Rose Bowl Half last Saturday and it was great! I am weird, I know! The weather was perfect, the course was beautiful, and the run was not bad. It would have been better, but I got about 4 hours of sleep the night before because Ryan was up with a fever. He endured the race and we took him to urgent care right afterwards. Another ear infection!! Anyway, despite that, I am so glad that I did it! Halfs are totally do-able... how did I ever run 13 more beyond that, I do not remember!

THE ELLEN SHOW

We had a fun time! Thanks to all those who watched for me! I haven't even seen it yet... did it get you when Jim Carey was about to propose, too?? I can't believe that I fell for it! We got to screen his movie the "Yes Man". Not good. Don't waste your money. But it was fun to see him live. When he said that he says yes to everything, but Prop 8, everyone was cheering except me and my 3 friends... it was pretty funny! The prizes were great, I feel so lucky... but they are too ritzy for me. So, if you know anyone in the market for a GPS, Nokia e71 or a Jawbone at a discounted price - let me know! Is that ungrateful? I don't think so! I can just picture Ryan getting a hold of that $500 phone and throwing it into the toliet... it just makes me sick, so I have come to the conclusion that now is not the time for me to have fancy stuff like that! It was a fun experience!

Little Christmas Miracle

Here is the story in short since this is an already long post:

1. I walk into Target with my keys.

2. I look at cards - place my stuff down for a second.

3. Leave Target with no keys

4. Check the car. No keys. Ask Customer Service. No Keys. Look in the cards. No Keys.

5. Put away all the stuff Ryan threw off the shelves while I was looking for my keys.

6. Pray. Pray. Pray

7. Walk home in the rain ( it is across the street, luckily).

8. Pray.

9. Go back to Target without Ryan 3 hours later.

10. Customer Service: No keys. Look in Cards: No keys

11, Stumped

12. PRAY

13. Looked under a pile of stockings on one of the shelves

14. FOUND KEYS!

I am so grateful for prayer. Really, I don't think that I would have found the keys, or anyone else for that matter until after Christmas had it not been for the little prompting I had to check under the stocking.

I will tuck this one away for a talk on prayer :)!

Look for Me on the Ellen Show!

Some friends and I are going to the Ellen Show tomorrow! It will be a blast! We went last month, too and we were on quite a bit. We were in the front row last time andI don't know if we will be that lucky this time, so you might not see us at all. We won tickets back during the 12 days of give-a-ways, so that is why we are going again. Wow... I am never this lucky! I am convinved that we will get $500 of alcohol and a high class espresso maker or something like that. That would be how things go for me. Even if that is the case, it will be fun to go again! The show will air on Wednesday if you want to check it out!

p.s. remember, if you do see me... the camera adds 10 pounds :). (so do the mint M&Ms I have been eating in mass quantaties)

Family Pictures

Our friend, Natalie, these for us! She did such a great job! Thanks, Natalie!

This picture makes me smile every time I look at it! I love this kid!

Ryan's Birthday Party

On the Saturday before Ryan's real birthday, we had a little family party for him in the park.

Brett made the sign himself. Very talented.

I was SO exicted to let Ryan have cake for the first time. It was everything I hoped and more.

My brothers brought this shirt for Ryan from Mexico before he was born. Now he can wear it. It was his special cake eating shirt... yes, it is that special!

Dad liked Ryan's hat because his name starts with an R, too. What a funny guy!

A Marriage Tip

" Patience with eachother is a mandatory attribute because we must learn how to be spouses and parents from eachother and our children." Douglass Brinley

AND BECAUSE

You never know when something like this could happen:

We just happened to be reading this talk WHILE I was cutting Brett's hair. Ironic, huh. I always do learn best through doing, so let's just say that I was trying to give Brett a good learning experince. He was very patient with me and even let me take this picture. But, I have a feeling that was the last time I am getting close to his hair with a pair of scissors!

I Love Smoothies

Chris Farley

My brother, Danny, said that Ryan looks like Chris Farley... I didn't agree with him... until I saw this picture. I think it is something about the chin :).

Ryan James is ONE!

It seems that he went from this to this in a blink of an eye... he doesn't even look like the same kid! My life sure changed this last year. I have felt more joy than I ever thought possible. I am looking forward to all the years to come and am going to strive to appreciate every minute I get to spend with my boy!
We started off the day playing with balloons...




Then, I took him to get his first haircut! He seriously cried more during his hair cut than when I took him to get his one year old shots! This lady was pretty talented!

The Before Shot... look at that mop!

He kept trying to push her away, so I had to hold down his arms!

Then, we took little Ry to Handel's Ice Cream. It was voted the #1 best ice cream IN THE WORLD by National Geographic. Nothing but the best for our little boy.

We had the 5 scoop sampler: Chocolate Malt Caramel, Peppermint, Cake Batter, Spouse in the House ( peanut butter & chocolate covered pretzels)

MMMMM... he was in heaven!

We then went and took some one year old pictures and and met up with my parents and sister to eat. What a fun day. I was really sad for the day to end. It was so fun to celebrate this day that is so special to us.

Our Day of Thanks

We got to spend Thanksgiving in Denver with Brett's family. It was wonderful to be with them. Here is our trip in photos. Ryan was SO good on the airplane. He always exceeds my expectations! He is such a good boy!
We played with Papa Butch.

Bathed with cousins. Please pardon the PG-13ness of the picutres!

Tried to go watch Daddy playing tennis with Uncle Justin, but it was too cold!!

The weather in Denver is crazy! 60 on Wednesday, 35 on Thurday, 50 half of Friday and snow Friday night. It is always an adventure!

We took family photos!

Matched with Daddy!

Ate great food! Kristen(sister-in-law) and I cooked it all! It was great fun! We did get to sneak away from cooking and run a 4 mile "Turkey Trot" race together. It was really fun - and cold!

Overall, it was a great trip! We were so grateful to be there!

I am MOST thankful for...

(I am out of town, so no pictures and this will be the final "thankful for" for now)

The Gospel of Jesus Christ

This is what brings me the most peace and happiness in my life. Knowing that we have a Father in Heaven who loves us and that we have a Savior who knows us and what we are going through is the greatest blessing. I am more grateful than words can express that I can be forever with my sweet husband, beautiful baby boy, parents and siblings and all family. I hope to live in such a way that I can show my gratitude for my many blessing.

I hope you ALL have a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving!

Today I am Thankful For

My New Favorite Cereal

It is healthy, delicious and only $2.99!

We just emptied one box yesterday, so today, I had to go get more. I couldn't decide on chocolate or strawberry, so I got both!

Ryan loves them, too. He found the box in the bag and ran off with it.

I caved and even let him have some of the chocolate ones.
You should head over to Trader Joes and get a box - or two or three.

Today I am Thankful for...

Primary Songs!

I sing Ryan primary songs a lot because I don't know many other songs to sing to him. As I was singing some songs to him today before bedtime, it I realized that these songs include very important principles that I want him to teach him.

For example:

"Pray, He is there. Speak, He is listening. You are His child. His love now surrounds you."

-A Child's Prayer

"Love one another as Jesus loves you. Try to show kindness in all that you do. Be gentle and loving in deed and in thought."

-I am Trying to Be Like Jesus

Simple and True.

Everytime I look into his cute face, it reminds me that I have a BIG job to do. I am grateful for those sweet songs that remind me what is most important.

Today I am Thankful for...

BED! I am going there, now! Good night!

Today I am Thankful for...

TWo ThinGS

First, my sweet husband was such a huge help today! He took Ryan to the cell phone store ( we finally have one that works! Yay! Ok, I guess I am thankful for 3 things) and to the park so I could go running. THEN, it was my day to cook for our dinner group and as usual, I did not plan my time very well and all of the sudden I had 40 minutes to put everyting together. Brett stepped right in and flipped chickens and baked fries and it all worked out... even if it was 15 minutes late and the girls still had to cook it a bit :). I just couldn't do it without him - everyday, not just today!

What a lucky girl I am.

*if you want to see the recipie, check out my "what's for dinner" blog

2 My little brother Tyler "elfed" us. I had seen this before, but it is so much funnier when it is you... I mean me... you know what I mean! So, thanks for the laugh little, bro! You are the greatest non-twin brother I have!

If you want to see us in action, click here: THE ANDERSEN ELVES

Today I am Thankful that...

My BoY is BACK!

Two days ago, Ryan looked like this:

After the 6th trip to the doctor since Halloween, we finally got some anti-biotics that seem to be working this time and he looked like this today:
I am so THANKFUL he is feeling better! I missed his big smile!

Today I am Thankful For

* in order for me to post pictures, I have to turn on our other lap-top, switch the internet and just take a lot more time than I want to spend, so my parents will be represented by this close, but not quite, picture.

WONDERFUL PARENTS!

I just feel so grateful to have been blessed with such a great mom and dad. Not only did they do a great job raising me ( in my opinion) but they continue to give endless support and love. For example, last Friday, my mom drove all the way to our apartment to hold Ryan so I could go to the store. My dad stopped by on Saturday to bring us and Ryan some smoothies. Today, they both helped out a lot with sick... but on the mend... Ryan.

I just couldn't ask for more.

Today I am Thankful For

Mint M&Ms

My little Ry Ry has been sick for over 2 weeks now. Today, just like all other days this last week he didn't want to sleep, just wanted to be held and was quite grumpy. It is kinda getting to me. So, I ditched my " no sweets Monday - Friday afternoon rule" (it is working quite well, btw) and bought a big bag of my favorite M&Ms.

They really helped.

They should be prescribed by doctors to parents of sick kids.