Soapy little boys!

We enjoyed four days of vacation at Lake of the Ozarks

I have tried posting more pictures on here of our trip, but am not having success getting them to show up, so this is all we get for now. Anyhow, it was fun to get away and to be in a beautiful place with people I enjoy. The Reed family joined us for the weekend. We laughed together and cried together, mostly from laughing so hard. All of us were in need of healing both physical and emotional. This trip was just what the doctor ordered. Now, we move forward with life to find out what adventures are in store for us. One day at a time, the Lord's plan for our lives will be revealed, we must be praying and listening to find our way.

Familiar Beauty

I am writing this blog from Garrett's parents' house where we have spent the Thanksgiving weekend. The environment we are in here is such a pleasant one. Especially today with the trees covered in snow, due to the first big snow of the winter last night. This house is such a peaceful place to be, with all the big windows, and beautiful décor. Bruce and Susan have done an excellent job at making their home an inviting place where family loves to gather. They are such gracious hosts, and make all who come here feel loved. Even though I've been feeling sick all weekend (typical side effects of pregnancy), I have still felt a great deal of joy.

Now, to explain the title of this posting, “familiar beauty”. About an hour ago, as I was sitting here on the computer, Solomon came upstairs and was standing on the landing staring out over the family room out the windows. He said, “Mommy, this is a very familiar place for me. I mean, looking out at the snowy trees and at the Christmas tree in the family room.” I pointed out to him that he has been at this house every Winter of his life to see the same beautiful scene out the window. For him, this is a familiar place, a safe place, as it is for me. I feel so blessed to have had several places of familiar beauty to find safety throughout my life. I think it is the “beauty of family” that creates places of “familiar beauty”.

To my Moffitt family all out in CA, and to the Andersons spread out near and far, Thank You! Thank for being such loving and supportive friends to us during good times and bad. We love you all from the bottom of our hearts. And to our baby Abraham, who we will miss holding in our arms this Christmas season, we know you are in good hands in Heaven above, and look forward to the day when we can be eternally united with you. Thank you for giving us increased motivation to follow our Savior Jesus Christ, so we can find our way back Home to the place of eternal “Familiar Beauty”.

Guitar Hero

Guitar Hero has taken over our household! These little boys have such a blast playing with their daddy. Our five year old is getting so skilled at it, I think he may soon be able to beat Garrett. They know which songs mommy doesn't like, so they avoid them when I am around. And, they know that they are not allowed to use any of the girl characters who are showing their bellies or shoulders. It has been a great opportunity to teach modesty.

I had vowed never to get one of these evil game systems, but so much for that. We found a great deal at a pawn shop and just "couldn't pass it up". Unfortunately that is the case with us with a lot of material possessions we aquire. I don't think we are overly concerned about impressing others with material possessions, we just love to have fun which includes having fun stuff to play with. Life is short, play hard, right? We also remember the importance of "praying hard" to balance us out.

Our Great Pyrenees Puppy

When you think of a puppy, you usually don't imagine a 34 inch tall, 90 pound creature. But, we have a new puppy that fits that description. Those of you who know us well, know that we tend to be somewhat impulsive at times... especially when it comes to making major life decisions such as buying a car or a house...or in this case, becoming dog owners.

As a real estate agent, I try to do whatever it takes to help my clients have a smooth transition from one home to another. In this case, I took that "customer service" attitude to the extreme. This family who's house I am trying to find a buyer for, is moving into a townhome in another Illinois city. They have two bassett hounds and one great pyrenees dog. The landlord said the Bassetts would be okay, but the big one couldn't live there with them.

That is where we come in. I met the dog on Sunday afternoon for the first time. I introduced him to Garrett and the boys on Sunday evening, and Monday at Noon she was moving in with us. Talk about a smooth adoption process. No paperwork, no fees, no home study. The owners provided us with a leash, a bag of food and a big cage that she sleeps in. These dogs can cost up to $600 as puppies (purebreds). They gave us to her for free. She is very mild mannered, and great with our boys.

Our little boys have replaced her Bassett hound buddies. She loves lots of attention, and doesn't mind them hugging her and laying on her. She kind of looks like a polar bear. She hardly ever barks, and doesn't jump up or lick. She does slobber a lot, and sheds. But we are willing to overlook those things since she is such a beautiful and kind creature. As a two year old puppy, she is the youngest in our family, but comes in third in the weight category. Her name happens to be Gabby, which is the same as my mother-in-law's little Maltese dog. So my boys are referring to them as big gabby and little gabby. We are really enjoying being new dog owners. And so far are having better luck with the dog than we did with fish. We've kept her alive for two whole days now. Hopefully, many more good days to come!

View of Vegas from way high up

Now for the story...This picture is a good representation of my life from February until June of this year. I had a very tough pregnancy, with extreme "hyper-emesis" so I was unable to keep down much food. In the first four months I lost 11 lbs. The doctor kept assuring me that the baby was getting all it needed even though I was really struggling to stay healthy. However, at 21 weeks I went in for a routine check-up and no heartbeat could be found. The ultrasound was confirmation that the baby's heart was no longer pumping. That was a very sad day for us. Four days later I was in a St. Louis hospital where I had to go through the delivery process, even though the outcome would not be that which I had looked forward to throughout the pregnancy. Another very sad day. However, I was thankful for the loving support of friends and family. My mom flew in to be of support to me, and Garrett's parents drove down from Bloomington to stay with our boys.

So, back to the picture. This was at the Stratosphere in Vegas. We had gone up to the observation area on the top, and Garrett went outside to check out the rides up there. With as nauseaus as I felt, there was no way I was going out there and looking down, let alone watching these crazy rides people were going on. So, I sat inside with my trusty "just in case" mug that I carried around always during the pregnancy. I am thankful to not have to deal with throwing up anymore, but I am sad not to have my third baby boy who was on his way to us.

It was determined that the umbilical chord only had two blood vessels going through it rather than the three that are typical, thus the baby was not getting enough nourishment. Also, the chord was wrapped around his leg two times, so it was assumed that there was either a blood clot or constricted blood flow. Regardless to say, things didn't go quite right in his development. This experience has made us ever more greatful for the two little miracles we already have in our family. We love our little boys!

The two things that bring me the most joy: my boys and my house

Catching up for lost time

This picture is taken in Las Vegas, obviously. I accompanied Garrett on a business trip for three days of fun without the kids. My sister Merrilyn drove over from Lancaster, CA to spend one night and day with me. It was lots of fun. You may notice in the picture that I was pregnant at that time. Unfortunately, the pregnancy is no longer, but that will be a story for another blog entry. For now, I'll just post this picture and count it as one step in the right direction for getting back into the blogging habit. Until next time...

Feb. 24th musings

Here we are, two weeks since my last blog, and not much has changed... that is except Obama has truly become the front runner on the democratic side of things. Huckabee is still plugging along, hoping Texas might re-ignite the flame of his candidacy. More power to him. He doesn't have much to lose in all this, perhaps he will even get picked as V.P.. I would personally not want to be on a losing ticket with McCain, but to each his own I guess. We saw how well John Edwards did trying to run for Pres. after his spot on the losing ticket in 2004. I've pretty much resigned myself to assuming that the Democrats are going to take back over in 2008. But, that leaves the path wide open for Republicans in 2012. I want to start concentrating now on looking at the make-up of the Sentate. I want to learn more about which senators will be up for re-election. Hopefully the republicans could become the majority again sometime soon.Enough musing for now. I'm off to get ready for church... a place where Jesus Christ is in charge, so we don't have to worry about so much chaos. Of course there tends to be a bit of disorder at times since "people" are running the local church, but overall we know we can count on the ONE ultimately in charge.

I'm back on the blog

I've decided to re-enter the blog-o-sphere, because I need a place to display my political opinions. In the past I have been highly involved with the Mitt Romney for President sites (Mymanmitt, coMITTed to Romney, article6blog, fivebrothers blog, etc.) But, considering that Mitt has now withdrawn from the race, I'd imaging those sites will soon disappear. Today I was really needing some closure to deal with my grief of losing my candidate, so I turned on www.townhall.com and listened to Mitt's CPAC speech in its entirety. There were tears streamind down my face by the end, and I am not typically a cryer, I have been accused of being a whiner, but not usually prone to tears. Mitt is a class act. Any money spent to support his campaign has not been wasted, it has been worth the millions of dollars that were spent by his campaign to get his message out there.

As for where I go from here... I'm not so sure. If Obama gets the nomination, a republican vote won't make a dime of difference in my state since he is from here. However, if we are fighting against Hillary in November, Illinois could be up for grabs, unless she chooses Obama as her running mate. As for John McCain, he has a ways to go to earn my trust. He could start by apologizing to Romney for misrepresenting his views on Iraq. I think Romney settled that score once and for all in his speech today. He made it very clear that finishing the job in this war is the most important thing. His actions are consistent with his words, considering he is withdrawing from the race because he believes it is the best thing for the country at this time of war. I can't say enough how much I admire Governor Romney.
I will write more later, but for now I will let my fingers rest. If anyone finds my message here, feel free to make comments, I would enjoy having some dialogue to help me work through my "grief". As Latter-day Saints, we have had a lot of grief to deal with in a very short period of time. Luckily, we know where to turn for strength. We stand no taller than when we kneel in prayer.

Signing off from Blogger

Hello, Jeanie here. We have a family website for the Anderson extended family called GrandmaSusie.com . It now has a section on it for blogging. I have decided it is time for me to no longer worry about this blog, and just keep up with regular correspondence throught that website. You are welcome to go check it out if you want. It does require a user name and password, which you can obtain fairly easily. Just e-mail me at janderson2001@byu.net and I will send you one. Thanks for caring about me enough to read my blog every once in a while. Till next time...

Jeanie Anderson

family pics from Trent and Larae's Open House

This was such a fun day when we travelled back to Normal to celebrate with Trent and Larae at their open house. Grandma Susie and Gramps had their house and yard looking wonderful for the occasion. There were so many people who travelled near and far to congratulate Trent. It was great fun to renew so many "Normal" friendships, and some not so Normal ones. I still get a lot of mileage out of those Normal jokes. Well, no more time to write tonight, I just wanted to get these pictures on here since we just downloaded these from the camera and their were some good ones.

4th of July statement by Romney

Boston, MA - Today, Governor Mitt Romney issued the following statement celebrating the Fourth of July:

"For more than two centuries, the United States has stood for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Our freedoms have not been easily won. Today, brave men and women are fighting to preserve those freedoms. As we gather with friends and family, let us resolve to keep America strong. We will always be the hope of the world and a beacon of light to liberty-loving people everywhere."

Another month, gone already?

June really did fly by, and now it is one month to the day of my last entry.
I've been learning a lot about Real Estate... go ahead, ask me anything? This Friday I am scheduled to take my final exam for the course, then within two weeks after that I hope to be ready to go face the State exam. Sometimes I wonder how I made it through so much school in the past, I even got pretty good grades. My brain sure doesn't work as well as it used to. I guess I do know how I made it through college, I majored in Recreation Management, enough said.

I will admit that I am really enjoying the intensity of learning, I just hope I can retain enough information so I can succeed in getting the liscence. I have heard from others in the office that I will most likely only use 80% or so of all I have studied. That seems to be the case with many career paths. I wish I would have realized during college how interested I would become in Real Estate so I could have studied something more applicable. But then again, if I had been a business major, the decision to become a stay at-home-mom may have been harder to make.

I am thankful to have been able to be full-time mom for the past five years. I have really enjoyed the closeness I have with my boys. But, I also have to admit that having some grown-up time now is much welcome, too. "To everything there is a season". I'd better get back to my studying. Happy 4th of July everyone!!!

Sincerely, Jeanie Anderson

Centralia update

Here is an update on our family I sent out to my sisters and my parents, so I decided to go ahead and post it on my blog too,

begin message:

I am way overdue for an Anderson report, so here goes.

I've started working 3 mornings a week at a realty company called Friedrich Real Estate. I am currently training to become a part time agent. The head agent there, Darlene Baltzell (who helped us buy our home) approached me a couple months ago about the idea of training under her supervision to become an agent, since she knows I am very interested in real estate. So, I waited for the school year to end, to fininsh out my substitute teaching commitments. They boys are going to a day care at a Christian Church two mornings a week, and my friend Vicky from church comes over and stays with them on Tuesday mornings. It is working out well so far.

I think the boys enjoy going and playing with other kids and having daily planned activities. It seems like they don't get as bored at home now because they are not here quite as much. Plus, they have been really cute and cuddly with me this week, probably because I've been away from them more than usual. I also find that I have much more patience with them, and enthusiasm about playing with them when I have a few hours to myself in the morning. (yes, I am justifying my decision to go to work)

Garrett is still plugging away working on his Masters (every Tuesday night from 5-9) he is about to finish one quarter and begin another. Only two more quarters to go and he will be finished. December is the target for completion. Yippee!

His job has become extremely stressful lately, and he has spent many extra hours in the office working on the "Comprehensive Plan" for the city that will be presented to the new Mayor and city council at the next council meeting. Though it has been a stressful process, being in charge of the Comp plan steering committee is a great resume builder for him. Overall, this job here has been a wonderful opportunity for Garrett to have a variety of responsibilities that he would not be given in a
bigger city.

Garrett and Solomon drove up to Normal this evening to spend the weekend helping his parents work on their house. Next weekend is Trent's Illinois Reception (at their house), so Susan is working hard to get the house ready and called on us for some last minute assistance. I decided to stay behind with Jerry this weekend, since we will be going up next weekend for the reception.

(the rest of the message was specifics toward my family, so I left it off.)

Bye for now!

Blue's Clues

Our life has been taken over by a guy in a green striped shirt and his little blue dog who has a bad habit of leaving his paw prints all over the place. Today we put Jerry in a "new" (hand-me-down) shirt that is intended to look like Steve's shirt. He walked around church pointing to his belly saying, "I Steve, I Steve". He was very excited about the shirt! Then, after church he wanted to watch and episode of his favorite show, (or two or three) but, he violently protested when I tried to put on one starring Joe instead of Steve. Garrett refers to Jerry as a Blue's Clues Purist! Solomon actually tolerates Jerry's addiction quite well. He doesn't mind too much that he hardly gets any say as to what will play on the TV. He likes to play along with the show too, and gets a laugh out of Jerry dancing around and repeating everything that Steve says. I know the fascination with the little blue puppy own't last forever, so I guess we'll just enjoy it while it lasts. Thanks Steve for helping me keep my sanity as a mother of little boys!

Here's a recent look at our family

Better late than never?

Here we are, another month past since my last entry where I was musing about the beautiful springtime. We finally got some more pictures on the site, so you can see our yard, and the contrast of winter to springtime. This morning I sat out on our park bench in the front yard for 20 minutes reading my bible. The sun was streaming down on me through the trees, yet the air was cool enough to make it comfortable. Every day, I am falling in love with this place more and more.

Contrast of front yard, Now and Then

Our front yard Now, as of May 2007



Our front yard Then, as of March 2007

Thankful for Trees

How did it get to be April 12th already? This month is flying by faster than March did, and I thought March was gone in an instant. Well, I wrote several entries in my personal journal the past two weeks, and here's one from today I decided to share on my blog. To go along with this message I hope to get Garrett to upload some pics of our front yard when he is at work tomorrow. Our pitiful dial-up internet just can't handle pictures.

4/12/07 "How can I not be overwhelmed with gratitute when I look out these windows at the beauty around me. These trees truly amaze me! How, just a month ago they wre bare, and now thousands of leaves are springing forth from their branches. I love it! I need to be sure to continue this feeling of contentment here in our little, somewhat dated house in the woods, because I really don't want to leave this spot of land. It truly is a unique place, I'm thankful we found it."

The entry continued to go on and talk about how much joy my little boys bring me, but I'll end this blog entry now, so as to try and keep my thoughts brief enough that I won't lose any of you to boredom. Lots of Love, Jeanie