WELCOME HOME JOE!!!

Today, May 29, 2008, Joe is returning home after serving one year active duty in Iraq. We are so excited for him to be home. His flight gets in tonight at 11:30 p.m. and we will be returning to Santaquin tomorrow afternoon, after Joe reports to Camp Williams. Damon is so excited to have his dad coming home, and is looking forward to swimming and pizza with dad. Halle and I aer quite excited too. I for one can't wait to have adult conversation again, especially in the evenings. I will be sure to post pictures and more after we get home with Joe, and have our happy reunion tonight! Thanks to everyone for all of the support we have received this past year. It means so much, and I am really looking forward to this year to come. Thank you Joe for your year spent serving your country. You are our HERO. We love you so much....

Crashing...

Recently we had a family day up at my mom's house. Damon played and played with his uncle Jeff, wearing Jeff completely out. (Many of you who know Damon on a personal level, know that Damon rarely runs out of energy, and if you are there to play, he will keep on going...like the energizer bunny!) Jeff said he was done and tired, and that he was going to go to the downstairs family room to lay down for a minute. Well, of course, Damon followed him, and I just thought...'that poor Jeff will never get a rest in today.' Well, as soon as Jeff got downstairs and laid down, Damon crawled right up onto him, and was out cold so fast... I guess Jeff was able to get some quiet time after all. Thanks Jeff!

Alison's Wedding...

On May 22, 2008, my baby sister, Alison got married to Travis Jarrett. It was a busy, yet very fun day. First was the waking up and getting the kids ready so we could be up to the Timpanogos Temple by 9:30 in the morning. That might not seem so hard, but for me, and two young kids, it is a task. Especially when you have a son like Damon who is not a morning person (only on the days you actually have to be somewhere.) We made it on time though, and then I got a peaceful hour to myself as I attended the ceremony, and my sister, Annika, tended my kids in the waiting room. Afterwards was pictures....freezing mind you....on a May morning. Then came a luncheon down in Nephi (Travis's hometown) and a reception that evening. In the meantime, my whole family had no where to go, so in the extra hours we had between the lunch and reception, we all crashed at the Jarrett house (Thanks Connie and Wayne!) That night came the reception to be followed by another reception the next night in Midway (Alison's hometown). It was a fun couple of days. My kids were seriously so well behaved I was in shock, and don't know what I did to deserve them. I just want to tell the Jarrett family that it was a pleasure spending these couple of days with them, and Trav or Ravis, whichever you prefer....we are so happy to have you as part of our family. Good Luck Alison and Travis!!Me with my mom, sisters, and kids in front of the Timpanogos Temple after the sealing.

A very tired Damon with his mom at the reception in Nephi.

Kirstin with Uncle Mike and crazy James.

Travis feeding his new wife a piece of cake.

Uncle Jeff doing the "floating baby" impersonation with Halle.

Damon with his Aunt Anni (Annika).

Halle and Grandpa De Castro. (Look how good they match!)

Aunt Sandra, Jackie, Halle, Jessie, Annika, and Kirstin chillin at the reception.

Halle with her new favorite friend, Jenny Jarrett.

Alison and Travis sharing their first dance as a married couple.

A Tiny Bride...

On Saturday we attended a bridal shower for my youngest sister who is getting married next week. At the shower, one of the games we played was to split up in groups, and make someone in that group a wedding dress out of toilet paper. Well, Halle was in my group, and my sisters and I decided she would be the one we would make a toilet paper dress for. It was hard, because she was a little squirmy, and would rip at the dress....but she did win for being the cutest toilet paper bride out there! Here is Halle in her beautiful homemade dress. Thanks for being such a good sport Halle.

Kirstin and Halle smiling for mother/

daughter bridal poses.

Halle posed ever so gracefully on the grass, as she looks off into the distance. Damon wanted to be part of the action, sneaking into the background!

Joe's past year...

I got an email from Joe today letting me know he is officially done working. He has trained his replacements, and no longer has to do any work in Iraq. I am just ecstatic for him! That means he will be leaving Iraq very shortly to come home! Joe, I am so proud of you and what you have done this past year! Here are just a few pictures of Joe's last year.....

99 Interesting (or not) Things about the Anderson's

1. Damon has an under bite
2. Joe and Kirstin both had under bites when they had their baby teeth
3. Halle has what looks like a birthmark on her right thigh, but it is really a scar from getting her two month shots
4. Joe is amazing at doing math in his head
5. Kirstin is a stellar speller
6. Damon cannot say his K sounds, so replaces that in his speech with T sounds
7. Halle learned to say Dada last week
8. Joe works for a company named PDM Steel and will return there when he gets home from Iraq
9. Kirstin LOVES shoes and has too many pairs to prove it
10. Damon’s middle name is Jack (After his grandpa Jack)
11. Halle’s middle name is Patricia (After her grandma Pat)
12. Joe’s middle name is Orrin
13. Kirstin’s middle name is Lee
14. Damon was born on his grandpa Jack’s birthday
15. Halle was born at the exact same moment Joe’s chopper was flying to Iraq from Kuwait
16. Joe and Gordon B. Hinckley have the same birthday
17. Kirstin is legally blind
18. Joe has better than perfect vision
19. Damon knows all of his colors, numbers and letters (and knew them by age 2)
20. Halle has acid reflux…(who knew babies could get that)
21. Kirstin loves old dried out peeps (you know…the Easter candy)
22. Joe has his Bachelor’s degree in Business Management/Marketing
23. Kirstin has her Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice
24. Instead of doing something CJ related, Kirstin is opening a Pre-School next year
25. Joe has broken both of his ankles at the same time (kind of made walking hard)
26. Damon loves pizza and chocolate milk (known as chotolate milt)
27. Halle just hit 15 pounds! (way to go my Minnie Minnie)
28. Joe is the 7th of 8 kids
29. Kirstin is the 2nd of 5 kids
30. Joe’s baseball team of choice are the New York Mets (Meet a Mets…huh babe)
31. Kirstin’s baseball team of choice are the Boston Red Sox
32. Damon, Halle, Kirstin, and Joe all love the Utah Jazz
33. Okur is Joe’s favorite player (I think…at least he was before Joe left)
34. Damon was born two weeks early
35. Halle was also born two weeks early
36. Joe, Kirstin, Damon and Halle all have big blue eyes
37. Joe worked painting stripes in parking lots at Snow College as a young man
38. Kirstin worked packing bags of sprouts for Mountain Sprouts as a young woman
39. Damon loves Dora the Explorer (I know…I know….but what can you do?)
40. Halle is 8 months old on the 15th
41. Joe likes country music
42. Kirstin likes rap and hip hop
43. Damon likes the ABC’s, itsy bitsy spider, and slippery fish…
44. Halle LOVES jarred baby food
45. Damon wouldn’t touch the stuff as a baby
46. Joe served his mission in Florida and the Bahamas (I know, rough life huh)
47. Since joining the National Guard just before turning 18, Joe has now served two active duty tours (One homeland defense in Dugway/Tooele, and one in Iraq)
48. The first time Joe got activated, he was living in Baltimore, selling security systems
49. Kirstin has never lived anywhere other than Utah, but did go to Maine for almost a month if that counts
50. Damon has a double cal lick in the back of his hair, looking like owl eyes
51. Halle will be going to Disneyland for the first time at age 9 months
52. Damon will have been to Disneyland twice before the age of 3
53. Halle is awesome when it comes to going for car rides…(no crying for her, give her the binki and she is out cold)
54. Damon got tubes put in his ears this past December
55. Kirstin is Italian
56. She is a duchess…her great great (don’t know how many greats) grandpa was a Duke of a castle in Italy
57. Joe was raised on a farm
58. Joe loves sandwiches, and will load them with “sauces”
59. Kirstin is not the hugest fan of sandwiches and hates “sauces”
60. Damon will eat any and everything
61. So far, so will Halle
62. Kirstin craves milk while pregnant (both pregnancies, couldn’t get enough of the stuff)
63. Halle can’t live without her binki
64. Damon at the moment can’t live without his cars and animals
65. Joe loves to fish, camp, and play outdoors
66. Kirstin is addicted to Grey’s Anatomy
67. Joe should be home for good in less than three weeks.
68. Joe had ridden on a camal
69. Damon has ridden on a llama
70. Damon loves his sister Halle and is constantly trying to help mom care for his baby
71. Halle can still wear her 3-6 month clothing
72. Halle is only the 4th girl of 22 grandchildren on her dad’s side
73. Damon and Halle are the only grandchildren on their mom’s side
74. Kirstin, Damon, and Halle’s nicknames are ‘The Tiny’s’
75. Joe’s nickname is ‘The Redwoods’
76. Joe could be a stand up comic….he is a hilarious story and joke teller (just ask him about the sweatpants at 7-peaks)
77. Halle has her dad’s smile
78. Damon loves his grandpa’s (both of them) so much
79. Damon and Halle still have one set of living great grandparents (who we all love so much)
80. Kirstin would love to someday get into social work
81. Joe would love to do marketing for a sports company
82. Kirstin is addicted to Heather Averett’s Caramel Corn
83. Halle met her dad for the first time when she was 5 months old, when Joe got to come home for leave for two weeks
84. Not a day goes by that Damon doesn’t tell someone his daddy is on a plane
85. Joe lost 50 pounds since being in Iraq. I nominated him for What Not To Wear to try to get him a new wardrobe….let’s see if they call
86. Kirstin is an amazing hula hooper…I challenge anyone out there to a competition
87. Joe and Kirstin love polish dogs. I can’t wait to have him home so we can eat those and Nacho’s together again
88. Damon loves playing outdoors, but can’t get a tan for the life of him (he is our pasty little guy)
89. Halle is starting to pick up on crawling, and tries to grab everything in her way
90. Halle still has zero teeth (so we are not sure if she will inherit the under bite or not)
91. Joe is serving this tour in Iraq with his brother Rob, and brother-in-law, Brian
92. Kirstin is from Midway, Utah
93. Joe is from Ephraim, Utah
94. Joe loves to read
95. So does Damon…(or to be read to)
96. Halle is the happiest girl in the world
97. Damon loves squashing bugs with his shoes outside
98. Kirstin and Joe love their kids more than anything in the world
99. Damon and Halle are both so excited to have their dad home again!

A True Fan

Halle is already supporting the Red Sox. She gladly sits on my lap and watches the games with me too. What a sweet, smart, good little girl. She knows who the best team out there is!

Meet the Llama

Today Grandpa Jack stopped by with the llama, and Damon got to go for a ride on it around the yard. He was a little apprehensive at first, but ended up loving it. He also fed the llama some carrots which also frightened him a bit. It was a surprise though, and Damon had such a fun time with his grandpa, cousins, and the llama. Thanks for stopping by!

Grandpa Jack, Damon, and the Llama

Damon, his cousin Gracie, and friend Josie going for a ride!

Lovin' the Highchair

Halle is loving being big enough to sit in the high chair, and enjoy some food other than the bottle. Today she sat and ate chocolate krispies. She is even getting coordinated enough to spot them, pick them up, and get some of them to her mouth (notice the big one sitting on her chin).
After the krispies, we move onto a jar of 3rd foods by Gerber. It was spaghetti in meat sauce. She loved it and ate the entire jar, and then whined for even more. So then she had a jar of squash too. She still hadn't had enough so I cleaned her up and she ate a bottle. Soon enough she will no longer be the Tiny Tiny Tiny. She is finally chunking up, and it is adorable!!

ANTS!!

I woke up this morning with Halle and walked into the kitchen to make her a bottle. I looked on the counter and saw a pile of small sugar ants underneath an electrical outlet. I was grossed out but figured crumbs must have been left on the counter from the night before.....Nope, not it. I got up close and saw ants crawling out of the outlet holes. So I went and got the screwdriver and took off the plate cover. As I lifted off the plate cover and flipped it over, it was black with hundreds of ants. I looked into the outlet hole, and now saw ants crawling everywhere and the larva shells that they hatch from. Needless to say my whole body today has had the whillies and itches. I took my time and cleaned it all out. Unfortunately one of the screws was completely stripped to take out the entire electical GFCI, but i used a knife and cotton swabs to clean out all of the shells and live ants, and then sprayed and killed everything. The most disgusting part you ask??? As I was in the kitchen trying to clean everything up, I guess some ants were crawling around in the electrical current, because I heard it zapping them and then a burnt smell came from it. I think it is safe to say I will need a new GFCI outlet all together. For those of you who frequent my house, rest assured, I am a clean person, and do keep a clean house. This was just one of those freak things that you don't expect!

Joe, Happy 4 Year Anniversary ~ May 7, 2008

Baby just look at us...

all this time and we're still in love...

Can you believe it has been four years of marriage? In those years, both of us have graduated college, we have two amazing (and beautiful might I add) kids, you served a tour in Iraq, we bought and moved into our first home, and many more wonderful thing have happened to us. It is unreal what life we have created together. I wanted to be able to do something special for you to say thank you for the past four years. But with you in Iraq, and me not being allowed to send any more packages to you, I thought what could I possibly give you for our anniversary? Then, kind of copying others ideas, I thought I could let you know how much I love you by making our very own love story blog.

Joe, I am a very lucky woman to have met and married you. I have become the woman I always wanted to be because of you. I have had more ambition and completed more with my life thanks to you always believing in me. You give me this drive that I never knew I had. You push me to my fullest capacity, and I feel that thanks to you, I am now almost the catch that you deserve. No more taking naps during sunsets for me...Thank you for teaching me there is oh so much more to life than being lazy. You are such an amazing man. You had me at hello in Liberty Park that first night I ever saw you. I thought.."WOW, so this is the Joe that my friends are always talking about...no wonder I needed to meet him!" And then I blew it the first time you ever called and asked me out by turning you down with other plans I had that night. How lucky was I to get to meet up with you again?! I was so nervous the night Phil called me to see if I wanted to come along and he let me know that you would be there. I was scrambling in front of the mirror trying to make myself look perfect, hoping I would catch your eye that night. I remember exactly what we were both wearing that night...how silly is that? And I guess I did catch your eye though, because from that day on we were inseperable.
It was the night of the derby in Manti that I knew I was in trouble. Walking around with you, I felt so priveledged for you to be introducing me to friends and family. I was on cloud nine. Then, back at your house, you put the spoon in my applesauce for me. I was smitten and knew I was in love, even though it was very early on in the relationship. I once watched a movie that taught if a guy will give you the last bite of something he really wanted to be eating, you know he is in love with you. Not too long after I realized I loved you, we were out eating at the Olive Garden, and you gave me the last breadstick. Cheesy as it is, in my heart I knew you had fallen for me too. Recently your mom told me that right after you met me, you told her you felt you met your twin....I felt I had met my other half. It is so cliche, but I feel we complete eachother. We both have the qualities the other is lacking, and together create this wonderful bond that will never be broken.We have proved that this past year with you being in Iraq. We have somehow managed to come out of this an even stronger couple. With you in Iraq, we communicated on a whole different level. We have become the absolute best friends. I have realized this past year that I never want to be without you, and life without you in it would be so sad and lonely. This year I realized I never want to take a moment of you home with us for granted ever again. Thinking back, just going on drives and getting a mountain dew with you is something that I cherish. The small things about you are the things I find myself really missing. The other night, I was laughing as I thought of things you would say to me to get a rise out of me. I thought of you sitting next to me in the car saying...."Kirstin, it's okay that you aren't a very good driver...but I am probably the world's greatest driver." Who knew I would miss things like that? I am so excited to have you come home, and one of the first things I want to do is get a barbeque, go in the backyard, watch Damon run around and Halle hopefully crawling, and grill us up some turkey barbeque.
Joe, I guess I just feel I don't tell you often enough how great you are, and unfortunately it is celebrating our anniversary without you here that is making me get on the ball and let you know how much you are loved and appreciated. You are the greatest man I have ever met. You never complain about the curve balls life has thrown your way. You just go with the flow, or keep looking for things to better your life. You have taught me that not everything has to be perfect for it to work out. I love what is perfect and what is imperfect about us. Joe, I admire you, I look up to you, I am in love with you. I guess all's I am trying to say is I do love you babe. I love you so much my heart aches. Thank you for choosing me to be your wife, and for standing by me. Happy Anniversary! Here's to 50 more years together!
It's pretty hard to believe after all these years I still need you this badly...