Caught on Camera

Bookshelf....books....little man...giggles as he crawls away- Anders thinks pulling the books off the shelf is so much fun!

One Year Celebration

Anders turned one on the 21st of February.  It is hard to believe that this little person came into this our lives a year ago.  It was definitely a year to celebrate!

1st Day- so sweet & so little (how quickly you change)

 

6 months- big happy smile

12 months!!!!!!!!  Wow...cake is great!

Birthday party- lots of fun to be had with Elmo, pizza, balloons, presents, grandpa & grandma, aunt & uncles, and cousins and a good old hockey game to top it off.

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Anders loves his 'Mater' truck!  Thanks auntie April and uncle Preston.  

Anders we love you so much.  You are such a sweet little boy with tons of smiles (they melt mommy's heart).  You love to play with your new truck, play the piano, crawl and walk-moving along furniture, have mom and dad chase you, take the books off the shelf, play with the hall lights, eat bananas and bread, and sing songs.  We are so thankful for you...you bring such joy to our lives.  Happy birthday sweet boy.

Winter Wonderland!

Yesterday morning we woke up to about 4 inches of snow, which in Texas could be considered like 12 inches.  The snow continued to fall all day long in big wet flakes; covering the trees, roads and houses.  Anders and I ventured out in the morning for a little bit and then later in the afternoon when Jeff got home.  As soon as Jeff took a step in the snow, he was on a mission to build the biggest snowman ever.  It was great.....the whole neighborhood got involved!

Pictures of his part 2- massive snowman from this morning are to come.

Anders is 11 months old

Today is the 21st, which means Anders is one month older- 11 months to be exact.  It has been a great month (especially good because I was off from school and was home with him the whole time)! Just for the blog record here is a recap from last month:  Anders is sleeping from 7:00 - 6:30, takes 2 naps during the day, loves bath time, started to army crawl, sat-up by himself, totally made the switch from baby food to table food, has pulled himself up on furniture, and attended his first hockey game- Go Stars. 

 Cousin Jane and Anders loving the view of the ice...along with Snow White, Cinderella, and Bell.

Anders pulling up and standing...new favorite past time.

  
Anders also loves a good laugh...check out this video.  Who new that grabbing a sock could be so funny. 

Happy 11th month little guy....this will be his last month celebration before he turns 1...sniff...sniff...sniff.

Praise Him

Anders has a trick that we call "Praise Him".  It all began with the song- "clap, clap, your hands..... all His people....shout, shout, with joy....to the Lord...to the Lord" that we have been singing with him since he was about 3 months old.  Well, now all you need is to just smile at him or bring out the camera and Anders will start clapping and then throw his hand up in the air to "Praise Him".  Here is a cute video and some pictures.

Video link- Anders Praise Him

Clap....clap

Praise Him

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I love this last picture...it looks like we may have an Olympic gymnast.

Oh Mexico

After our trip to Iowa we came home, repacked and headed south for our old home- Aldama, Mexico.

Aldama was were Jeff and I lived and worked with Gloria Al Pardre ministries for 15 months in August 2003-December 2004...hard to belive that it has been 4 years.

It was a great time to go, because a big group of Camp Ozark and War Eagle staff were there at the same time working with the clinic, local kids, and construction projects.  We had a great week working with their mission team and visiting some of our old friends from camp and Mexico. 

Ozark/War-eagle Green Team

When we weren't taking care of Anders or visiting Aldama friends, Jeff and I got to be a part of the "green team", who ministered through VBS to the local kids in Aldama.  This team was great with the kids...and proved that love can be be communicated whether you speak the same language or not.  They had about 70-75 kids come everyday to play, sing, laugh and learn about Jesus.

Medical Team and Super Dave

There was also a medical team that included a dentist, pediatrician, and a group of nurses.  They had a long line waiting for them every morning  at the clinic.  I got to even help out one day by making a home visit to a bed ridden patient, who needed some immediate care (nursing skills lab did pay off)

Claudia and Anders

Here is our good friend, and probably one of my best friends when we lived in Aldama.  She is now going to college, in Chihuahua and studying Math.  We are so proud of her!

Jimmy, Christina, and Family (Jimmy Jr. and Carely)

One of the nights we went for dinner to visit one of our close family of Aldama.  Christina served beans, beef steak, and homemade tortillas...it was so delicious.  Dinner was so good, the day after we got back to Texas we headed to the Mexico grocery store to try and recreate it.

Pastor Amos, Patty, and Family (Arely, and Patty's Mom and Dad)

When we lived in Aldama, we lived on a complex that included our duplex, the medical clinic, a 2-story dormitory, and the parsonage.   The parsonage is where our Pastor and his family live.  They are so wonderful....like family to us.  It was great to visit with them!

Roca Eterna

Our home away from some was the local first Baptist Church, Roca Eterna.  It has grown tremmendously this past year, and has some new members with some amazing testimonies.  Here was the church at the Wednesday night prayer meeting.  It was so encouraging to hear how God is changing lives in Aldama.

Susi & Octavio

Our one young married couple friends in Aldama are Susi and Octavio.  We stopped by there home for some coffee and good conversation.  The times speant with Susi and Octavio are always prove to be fun and interesting.

Anders First Soccer Game

What is a trip to Mexico, without a little soccer/football?   Here is the little man at his first soccer (or football in Spanish) game- he loved the ball.  It was so great to have the chance to introduce Anders to our friends/Mexico family.  The culture is so family oriented that they welcomed him with lots of hugs and kisses.  With Ander's light skin and hair...he didn't lack any attention.

Christmas 2009

2nd Annual Christmas Cookie Party

The night before Christmas Eve, we celebrated the season by decorating Christmas cookies with Jennie Parks and the Yates family.  Exactly one year ago we had the same party, but Melissa and I were 8 & 9 months pregnant..... so it was so fun to have Issac and Anders part of the group this year.

 

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was celebrated with the Larson side of our family.  After the Christmas Eve service at First Baptist Church, Anders joined the rest of his cousins at Grandma and Grandpa's house for gifts and great food.  Anders and his uncle Ryan both were proudly wearing their Christmas sweater vests :).

 

Christmas Morning

 Christmas morning we woke and opened stockings, and later that morning the rest of the Larson family joined us for Christmas brunch at our house.  It was uniquely a white Christmas here in Texas....which led to snowman and a Christmas morning snowball fight (sadly...I don't have any pictures).  However, I did capture Secily and Anders "playing" us a tune on the piano.

Boxing Day/Day After Christmas

In Canada the day after Christmas is know as Boxing Day, which is very similar to our day after Thanksgiving.  So in honor of Boxing Day we headed to the Frisco mall in hopes of holiday sales, and then took in some ice time at the malls ice rink.  All the Canadians hit the ice with no problem, while this small town Iowan girl (who can't skate for the life of me) "had" to stay on the sidelines and care for Anders.  However, Anders did have a chance to take a few loops around the rink with Daddy- after all he is part Canadian.

Christmas in Iowa

We drove the Sunday after Christmas to spend some time with our Judge family in Iowa.  The 12 hour drive went very smoothly (Jeff is a great driver and Anders slept most of the time), however at the end of the drive was "the hill" on which my parents house is located.  The hill during Iowa winters is covered with several inches of snow and most the time is at freezing temperatures, so it is often a challenge to drive up....especailly with Texan tires (which were our excuse anyway).

Iowa Highlights: 

-Spending time with Grandma Lana and Grandpa Ray

-Anders 1st:  crawled forward, ate an apple, and celebrated 1st birthday party...at 10 months old lucky boy got to celebrate his 1st birthday with Iowa friends and family

-2nd cousins

-Great Grandma and Grandpa 

-Lots and lots of snow -Snuggie time (my Grandma Hempy gave my whole extended family -around 30 total- as gifts)

-New Years Eve with the Winter family:  ISU won their bowel game, Cael turned 5, Avery was a princess, Gabe tried to teach Anders how to stand, and Melissa and Corbin blitzed it with us- dutch blitz style.