Random Pictures

Here are some fun pictures I wanted to post. This first one is of our family before church this past Sunday. I love having the kids all dressed up for church and I love how great Jim looks in a white shirt and tie!

Jim got this little onsie at the gift shop on base. It says "Navy" on it and "The United States of America" . . . plus, it's camo. Jim is so excited for a little boy!
Violatte got her chair from Annalee for Christmas. They love it and were fighting over it, so we decided that for Annee's birthday present we would get her a chair also. They are so cute, but now the girls fight over who gets the pink Princess chair. *sigh*

Happy Birthday Annalee!

My baby is growing up so much! Annalee turns two years old tomorrow. It is so hard for me to believe and (I admit it) I get a little teary-eyed seeing her so big.

We celebrated her birthday on Monday night because her Grandpa and Grandma Sanders were here visiting. We got her all dressed up in a little dress that her Great-Grandparents sent her for Christmas. She looked so darling! She felt so beautiful, too. She was the little princess for the night. I really love the cute little bare feet with her fancy beautiful dress. It's just too cute!

Violatte really wanted to help Annalee open all of her presents.
(And don't you just love Violatte's hat?)


Annee's Grandpa and Grandma Sanders gave her some cute clothes . . .
. . . and a puzzle that she hasn't stopped playing with. (She absolutely loves puzzles!)

Her Great-Grandpa Walker and Great-Grandma Corky sent her this little dress. She wore it yesterday and it was darling! I need to get some pictures because it is so cute!

Violatte and I made some cupcakes for Annee's birthday. We really tried to get some pictures of her with the candles lit but as soon as I would light them she would blow them out so no luck in this picture. . .

. . . or this one. We all had a wonderful time, though, and enjoyed celebrating our little Annee. We love her so much!

32 Weeks

Ok, so I am a little late on my 32 week picture. I can't believe how much bigger I got in the last four weeks! The baby still wiggles all the time and does somersaults and all sorts of acrobatics, so he's still healthy and well.

For those of you who are worried about my recent lab tests, the doctor won't get my lab results for my thyroid back until Monday and I don't have an appointment until next Friday. I'm sure if anything is wrong they will let me know right away. I'm sure everything is fine and there will be no concerns. (Just so nobody worries.)

And, I am on the last day for my antibiotics for Bronchitis. I can take a deep breath now so that is good news, and I'm sure my cough will go away with time. Things will keep getting better. The good news is, the baby is healthy and well and we are 53 days away from the due date!

Our Merry Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas! It was so much fun and I loved being able to spend the whole day with my family. We started out the morning opening up our stockings from Santa. Violatte knew just what to do and with a little help, Annalee figured it out.
I love this picture. Very typical of morning hair for Annalee. And she is so cute and happy!

After opening our stockings we made a yummy breakfast of bacon, sausage, juice, scrambled eggs, and toaster strudel. The girls ate hardly anything because they were so excited.
In our families growing up, both Jim and I remember sheets hung up to hide the presents. So, we have made it a tradition in our family. Here are the girls going through it. Annee was thrilled!
Somebody gave us this little climb and slide. The girls had so much fun! They went up and down it all morning.
My slippers have had to be retired so Jim got me some. Yeah! They are so soft too! I absolutely love them.
The girls enjoyed the presents. Violatte liked opening them and Annalee liked playing with them.
Jim even enjoyed the kids' toys. They got some fun toys that are tools.
Violatte's gift to Annalee was a little piggy bank that Annee can put pieces in and it plays music and counts and does all sorts of fun stuff.
Violatte's favorite present was this princes dress from her Great Grandparents. She wore it all day Christmas and all day the day after.
After watching the movie "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" from the girls' Grandpa and Grandma Sanders we took made gingerbread men (and girls) and decorated them. Jim did this growing up and I love the tradition. And . . . they actually turned out good this year!!!! It is the first year ever!
Here is Annalee with her finished Gingerbread Girl.
Here is Violatte with her Gingerbread Girl.
Jim made a Yoda for his Gingerbread men. I think it turned out amazing! He's so creative!
And here is my handsome man with his Gingerbread Yoda. What a fun Christmas!

Baby Appointment Today

Today I went in for a checkup for my pregnancy. I've had this fear lately that I am having twins for a couple of different reasons. First of all, at work I constantly get asked when I am due. When I reply that it is in February the most common response is, "Are you having twins?"
Then, yesterday, one of my co-workers (who writes stories) informed me that she had named a character after me and the character is pregnant with twins.

On top of all of that, I have to say that I feel so huge! I think the stretchmarks are going to kick in soon because I think I am about to my limit of how big my body can let me get without showing the stress of it.

Well, at my doctor's appointment today he assured me that I am just the right size for one baby. In fact, I'm one inch smaller than the average size for how far along I am. I have gained 24 pounds, so that's good, also (even though the weight the scale says is so depressing to me.) The heartbeat of the baby is at a good level and he is very active and healthy

The only problem the doctor mentioned is that I am slightly anemic so I need to take some iron supplements, but other than that everything seems well.

Christmas Tag

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Definitely wrapping paper. I love how it looks so much better!

2. Real tree or Artificial? I love the smell of a real tree, but all the work makes it so not worth it. I love our artificial tree with the lights already on it (including the fiber optic). It is beautiful!

3. When do you put up the tree? Usually the day after Thanksgiving, but this year it was the very beginning of November for my Open House

4. When do you take the tree down? Sometime after New Years' usually

5. Do you like eggnog? No

6. Favorite gift received as a child? I love my French Horn that I know my parents worked really hard to get for me. I also really loved my bed set that my parents got for me when I was going to go to college.

7. Hardest person to buy for? My husband, Jimmy. It's hard to stay to a budget when I want to do something so nice for him.

8. Easiest person to buy for? My girls. They are happy with anything, really.

9. Do you have a nativity scene? No, but someday.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Definitely mail.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I can't think of one.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Christmas on 34th Street

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Around August

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Not that I can think of.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? My mom's cheese ball with crackers and hot chocolate

16. Lights on the tree? Most definitly

17. Favorite Christmas song? Silent Night

18.. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Stay home

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeers? only if I sing the song

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Star

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas Morning

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? How stressful it becomes when people don't remember the reason for Christmas

23. Favorite ornament theme or color? The Homemade Ornament theme. Although, I would love a red and silver theme just to make it look fancy sometime.

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? Right now, anything where I could sit down and have a dinner together as a family.

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? To be together and spend time as a family. (And to get my house cleaned so it feels comfortable and happy.)

Christmas Pictures

To save on money this year we decided to just do our Christmas pictures ourselves. They turned out pretty good. So, since we are only sending out the family Christmas picture in our Christmas letters I decided to post the best one of each girl and a couple of other Christmas pictures we took. Enjoy!

Happy Birthday, Jimmy!

Today is Jim's birthday. I love it when it is his birthday because it is one of the days of the year that I can show how important he is to me and I can do special things for him. We celebrated with a big dinner last night since I have to work today. I made his favorite meal -- a special enchilada that his mom made. Then, we had an ice cream cake. (Another of his favorite things.) The only problem was that the cake was little and it had oreo cookies and frosting on the outside so I had to fit all the candles in the middle. They were all so close together that they started to light each other after I had lit only a few of them. The picture shows the result of all the candles being on fire at the same time. (Plus, the fire added a little bit of a smoky taste to the oreos.) If you look closely you can see that the height of the fire is about ten times the height of the candles.
I am so grateful for Jimmy in my life. He is a wonderful husband and father. We've been through a lot and I am so happy that I've got to go through it with him. I am so happy with him and I couldn't ask for more in an eternal companion. I love you, Jimmy. Happy Birthday!

Mormons

I found this article on my Aunt's blog and can I say that I love it?!? It gave me that extra boost of support that I needed! My gratitude goes out to all those people who are backing Mormons up following the attacks since Proposition 8 passed. This article sums up everything that I would like to say!

Mormons in the Crosshairs

My Tribute to Immgirants

I know that there is a lot of frustration and arguments about immigrants, and I have to say that I agree about illegal immigrants. However, at my job a few nights ago I met a man who had immigrated the legal way from Mexico, became a citizen a few years ago, and has been working since. As I talked to him and learned his story it really made an impression on me and I was so grateful for what I learned from him. He was so grateful for the job (in a mine) that he had. He was so excited to be buying Christmas gifts to take down to his nieces and nephews in Mexico. Oh, and the gifts he was buying were clothes and things most people would think boring. He explained that in Mexico a full-days work would only buy about 2 pounds of meat and he was so grateful for a job that payed so good he could buy some shirts for his nephew. I was very touched by his story and I wanted to write some things that I am grateful to our legal Hispanic immigrants for. (And, yes, I am making some generalizations. I know that not all immigrants are this way, but so many are and I want to say thank you to them for how they inspire me.)

Reasons I am Grateful for Legal Hispanic Immigrants
1. They do so many jobs that Americans would rather go on welfare than do (and they are grateful for the job)
2. They are grateful for the freedoms that America gives
3. They appreciate the financial blessings that America offers
4. They work hard and make sacrifices to support their families
5. They are very family oriented and are close to both their immediate and extended families
6. They are generally very positive and happy no matter how tough their situation is
7. They know what the American Dream really is and they know how to work to achieve it
8. They are determined and persistent
9. They know how to live meagerly and without so many fancy things

So many times, after meeting someone like the man I met at work I realize the need to step back and count my blessings. We really have a wonderful country that, despite it's problems, gives us so many blessings and opportunities. I am grateful for all that we have and no matter how bad my situation seems, I have to realize that I am really given so much. And to all those who have nothing but bad to say about this country, I challenge you to move to Mexico for a few years and when you come back, I sure hope you realize how blessed we are.

Violatte's Artwork

Violatte has brought home some fun artwork lately and I thought I'd take pictures and share them with everybody. Pictures are not near as fun as the real thing, but at least it's something.

This is a picture of a turkey she made with her handprint. On the side it says,

"This isn't just a turkey
As anyone can see
This is very special turkey
Was made by hand by me."

This is a little pilgrim she made. She even cut out the hat by herself and drew the face on by herself.

This little boat is the Mayflower. She cut out the pieces and attached them to a popsicle stick. She even tried to write "Mayflower" on the side of the boat.

This turkey she made in Nursery and she has some of the things she is thankful for. She was so proud that she knew that the picture is of the "President."


Thank you to Anonymous for helping me out with this art project. It is an Indian with feathers on the back. I so love the feathers!

This is my favorite art project yet. It is a little dreamcatcher. She wove some yarn through holes punched in the paper plate. Then, she tied some feathers at the bottom. I love seeing the projects that she makes!

Our Thankful Day

Today was a wonderful Thanksgiving for us. We were able to spend it with my Grandparents and some friends. We had a good meal and I really enjoyed the company.
And, of course, since today is Thanksgiving, I thought I'd list some things I'm thankful for.

• Jim (my amazing husband)
• Violatte
• Annalee
• the baby on the way
• our home
• our jobs
• music
• books
• the Gospel
• scriptures
• friends
• family
• The Atonement
• prayer
• water
• rain
• experiences

These are just a few things that I could think of. I hope you all had a wonderful day also.

28 weeks

Today marks my 28th week! Wahoo! One more month closer . . . and a few more inches rounder.






















I have been feeling pretty good. It hasn't been too bad, although being on my feet all night with work is a little rough. The little guy still wiggles and moves a lot. He feels like he is growing healthy and strong. I can't believe how far I stick out! Yikes! . . . and I still have three months to go!!! This picture is a better representation of how I feel. Enjoy!

Me 'n' My Quirkiness

I was tagged by Chelsi to write about some quirky things -- I hope you all enjoy and have your good laugh for the day. I didn't realize how quirky I was until I asked Jim for some ideas to put down. It was hard limiting it to only six!

6 Quirks About Yourself

1. I have an organizing fettish. I love labels and binders and folders and everything that deals with organizing! I like to see how many things I can label to make it "easier for me." I also love to have "systems" in place for everything I do. I have a Daily Organizational Worksheet that I fill out every night for the next day so that I know what I need to get done. However, as organized as I like to be -- I lose my keys almost every single day. Ok, really? How do I do this? You'd think with all the labels . . .

2. I like to make faces with my food. I am a pro at make funny faces out of mashed potatoes and rice and milk in my cereal bowl. However, my creativity only comes out when I get bored at the table (which happens fairly often since I eat as fast as a dog and then wait for everyone else to finish.)

3. I have a hard time cooking for less than 10 people. I grew up in a big family so when I cooked -- I cooked big time! Then, when Jim and I got married I had a really hard time cooking for just two and we ended up having leftovers for the same meal for two weeks. Thankfully, I am doing a little better with this one -- although I have to admit it takes a lot of concentration for me to cook smaller amounts -- a lot!

4. I save plastic grocery bags and cardboard boxes. I'm not near as bad asI was when we were first married, though. I keep the grocery bags to use as garbage bags in the bathroom trash cans. I kept the boxes because we moved every 9 months. I just found out that Jim would secretly throw away one or two boxes a week because it drove him crazy. (Hee hee, gotta love our quirks.) Thankfully, I am doing much better at this. (Although I think we might want to take some grocery bags to the recycle box at the grocery store tomorrow.) :)

5. I am terrible at house cleaning. No, really. I am terrible! I've just learned that I need to accept it so that I don't always keep apologizing when somebody comes over. I don't mind doing it that much -- except that I can't ever seem to get it as clean as I would like so I get discouraged. I do think I'm learning though, so hopefully when I am 90 I can have a good clean house.

6. I cannot stand having less than a year's supply of toilet paper in the house at any one time. Ok, maybe not that much, but I have this thing about not having extra toilet paper around in case something happens. I guess that's what comes from living in Idaho, half an hour away from town, when you can easily get snowed in and not see the roof of your car for a month. There's just comfort in knowing that there is toilet paper in the house.

Ok, so that's enough about me. I want to hear about you all now. I tag Aimee, Cynthia, Aunt Denise, LaNae, Kihana, and Melissa C

Potty Training!!!

WARNING: For those of you who don't have kids, this may be an odd posting for you, but I have to write about the newest exciting thing in the Sanders home!

For the last little while Annlaee has been using the potty every now and then when she wanted to. Today, however, we made progress! Today she went both potty and poop in the toilet! yeah!!!! She knows when she needs to go and tells us. The only thing is she just wants to keep wearing diapers! Weird! I guess each child is different.

I have to say, though, that the big credit for Annalee's progress is Violatte. Violatte invites Annee to go to the potty when Violatte goes. They go together to the bathroom and each sit on their toilets. I love having a good example for Annalee. And Annee isn't even 2 yet! Yeah! I haven't been rushing her much, just really letting her take it at her own speed and following. We'll see what happens. I'd love it if she was potty trained before the baby came so I only have one baby in diapers at a time! That would be fabulous!

26 weeks

Today I had an appointment with the doctor for the baby. I am 26 1/2 weeks along now. Everything is going well. His heartbeat is great, my weight gain is good, and I'm measuring just right. Things are right on track.

The baby has dropped just a little bit so he's not in my ribs as much. I look quite a bit smaller than I used to because he is lower. I still fit into my regular pants, though, so he hasn't dropped too much.

I'm still feeling pretty good. I'm not too tired and I still have a fair amount of energy. This little guy does, too. He still wiggles so much, so that's great also!

Little Things

We've had a lot going on this past while! It's been a long time since I've posted so I wanted to write about a few things that have been going on in our lives.

Jim has really enjoyed working on the boat. Violatte loves helping him. Here is a picture of them working on a part of the boat together. They were sanding a board to be the stearing arm for the rudder.

Violatte is such a big help! She sets the table all by herself, she gets things for Annalee, and she loves to help with any project we are working on. I've been sewing a lot of things lately for Christmas and for maternity clothes, and that has been a lot of fun for her to help with. Violatte is talking better all the time, also. She writes her letters really well. She loves teaching things to Annalee, and Annalee is beginning to pick up letter sounds and names. It's amazing!

Violatte has said some really cute things lately. The other day we were going to drop off an order to a customer and when Violatte asked if we were going to see her friends I told her that we were just going to see some of mine for a minute. She thought for a second and then said, "Mommy, can you share friends?"

Another time, she was staring at the wall that Jim and I had fixed and been working on for a while. It is all textured and painted and finished now and as she was looking at it she said, "Mommy, the wall is pretty!"

I've also noticed lately that Violatte has gotten so tall! It is amazing to me! We got some darling pictures of her from her school and I can't wait to mail those out to you.

Annalee and Violatte are so polite and it is so cute! They say, "No, thank you" when we offer them something they don't want and it is just darling! Annalee also says, "Oh, yeah!" when she is proud of herself. My favorite, though, is that she says, "I love you" every time we are leaving and she insists on giving kisses and hugs just like Violatte does. It makes my day!
Annalee has also gotten so she is so independent. It drives me crazy. She really wants to dress herself. She really struggles with it, though, and can spend a good 40 minutes trying to figure out how to get a shirt on before she will even ask for help. If we try to help her she gets so upset at as. In the picture of Annee, it shows her trying to do her seat belt up. She gets mad if we do it without her help. She is also getting to really be a big help. She loves to help set the table and to stir things when I am making meals.

Annalee still loves to pick on Violatte and it is one stage that I really, really cannot wait for her to get through. She just does everything she can to irritate Violatte. People at the store get a big kick out of seeing the younger sister pick on the older one. Some days it seems like all I do is break up fights that Annalee starts. I just keep telling myself Annalee does it out of love. *sigh*

They are such sweet girls. I love them so much! I'm so glad they are my little girls!

What Bush Would Probably Like to Say

Well, I don't usually write political feelings and thoughts on here, but this speech is fabulous! It is a satirical article illustrating what President Bush probably would like to say to the American people when he leaves office. And, I have to add that I would have to agree.

Bush's Resignation Speech

Halloween Pictures

We had a fun Halloween this year. We were really busy all day. It was a flex Friday so Jim had work off. Violatte had a field trip with preschool so Jim and I went and took Annee with us so we could help with the field trip. We all met at a park and then walked to a pumpkin patch where they did crafts and had stories. It was really fun and we all enjoyed ourselves, although, I have to say that I am not used to about 30 preschoolers in one small space. It was crazy, but the girls had such a great time. They decorated cookies, colored, made bracelets, and had a great time.

The thing that I enjoyed the most was that it was raining. I love the rain! It smelled good and it felt good. It seemed even more fallish.

Tonight we had a trunk-or-treat at our church. There were so many families there. I loved seeing all of the costumes. I gave out the candy while Jim took the girls around. They played some games and went trick-or-treating. They really seemed to have fun.

When we got home we went to some of our neighbors' houses to trick-or-treat. The girls were so tired, though, so we only went to a few. When we got home I wanted to take pictures. Violatte was happy to show off for the camera, but Annee was a little too tired. (That's why she has her back to me and a pout on her face in the pictures.) Violatte was a unicorn and Annalee was a frog. They were so cute in their costumes! Also, if you notice, they both have very chocolatey faces. They were a little too quick to dive in to some cupcakes, but I guess Halloween is the one day a year kids get to enjoy sweets too much.