Happy Anniversary!

To my wonderful husband of 4 years! Who would have thought 11 years ago, when we first met at the Pumpkin patch, that we would be where we are today. I know I surely wouldnt be even half of the woman I am today. You have taught me and showed me a Christ-like love that is impossible to imitate. You encourage me daily to grow closer to the God who brought us together. You are my strength when Im weak. You remind me that God always has a plan. We have learned that together, we can conquer anything! You make me feel like the most beautiful person in the whole world. And most of all, you still give me butterflies in my stomach.
I can only imagine just how much better our marriage will continue to get. I want to grow old with you...hand in hand.
I love you more!
Your wife

Dear Grandpa...

We sure do miss you already. The past several years have been such a blessing having you in our home, and lives. Growing up, we werent that close to you. But having you with us the last years of your life brought us all oh so close. Give Grandma a kiss for us in Heaven, catch lots of fish and, eat as many cookies as you want!

You brought a smile to our face when:
* You would steal dads clothes out of his closet and wear them
* You would hide cookies in your bed and pockets so you could have them when we werent looking
* You caught the bushes out front on fire
* You would smoke in the house and push moms buttons
* You would Eat 5 or more bananas a day, leaving none for us to have
* You would Laugh at old western movies, when they werent that funny
* You tried to ride the bike...to get away from us
* You actually accomplished running away and it took us forever to find you, or the cops to find you
* You wore your funny hats
* You drank your Odules and actually thought you were getting a buzz from it
* You would dance to music
* You would light up to Mrs. Lois bringing you fast food
* You saw a pretty lady, and would flirt with her
* You smoked in the bathroom at a restaurant to hide from us
* You were aware enough to know that sprite was not wine, and Ginger Ale was not Whiskey on the rocks
* You would call us by name
* You would get the mail everyday
* You asked my dad for a paycheck bc of your job (getting the mail)
* We would give you money (paycheck) and you would in turn give it right back to help pay for things
* You would talk about your Childhood
* You would play with the dogs
* You would flirt with the nurses
* You would let moms bird go, because you thought it wanted to be free
* You would kiss and hug us goodbye
* You told us you loved us

* Plus, oh so much more

Such a handsome man

What a wonderful great-grandpa

Kisses for Grandpa

Happy 76th Birthday Grandpa!

Doing what you did best (fish)

Your girls

Your favorite nurses of all!

You were not only a hero to our country, but to your family. We all love you and are looking forward to seeing you in Heaven soon!

Vacation to Tennessee

As most of you already know, Kenny lost one his best friends, Pfc. Nathan Bradley Clemons in 2005. Nathan was a friend to many but a true hero to our country. We have had to wonderful opportunity to still be a part of the family that he left behind. So this past weekend we hopped in our car at 4pm on Wednesday and 8 hours later ended in Winchester Tennessee. Every time we visit Tennessee we are overcome by the beauty of the mountains, the cooler air, and the great people.

Kenny and I have had alot on our plates lately, and having several days to relax was JUST what we needed. A normal day with the Clemons family, consisted of waking up and sitting on the back porch with coffee in hand. This usually last for several hours :) Then we would head into town and walk around the cute shops and eating their great southern style food. The rest of the day usually consisted of entertaining Miss. Haley: swimming, playing, and entertaining her wild imagination. It is so hard to believe how just 4 years ago she was in our wedding, and oh so small...well not any more.

 

Swimming in the pool was an everyday event...good thing considering this was our only form of exercise for the weekend.

One day after picking Haley up from school we headed to a small, quaint town called Bell Buckle. Haley and I chilled in the back while winding up and down all the mountains.

 

This place hands down has the best "home-cookin" food you will ever have. Bell Buckle is the home to the Moon Pie Festival and much more.

 

While going from store to store, Mr. Clemons and I decided to take a small break on one of the front porches of a store.

They say Tennessee is a bit country...they weren't kidding. Check out the wind chimes we found. Mom, I got you one for your collection!

 

The rest of the trip was filled with fun moments together...below you will see just what Im talking about!

Kenny and Haley being goofy

Haley and I before church

Some of the other cool things that happened while we were with the Clemons family, was that they received a phone call informing the Clemons that the town wanted to name a local bridge in honor of Nathan. The very next day, they received another call wanting to do pay a small tribute to Nathan, on the Nancy Grace Show. I just think it is so great that his legacy still remains so alive in the hearts and family of him...also in our Nation!

Finally prior to leaving, we HAD to take a family photo. I just love this family. And we are so blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives. I am really looking forward to going back hopefully in the fall.

Of course, no blog can finish without some adorable updated pictures of my beautiful neice. She is now almost 9 months, crawling and getting oh so big.

You know one of the things I truly feel God is teaching me, through all of our trials lately...is that there are many blessings around us that we will miss if we are so focused on the negative in our lives. Thank you God for an AMAZING husband, loving family, sweet dogs, best friends, and beautiful babies.

Grandpa

Wow...what a long week. While my parents have been on a nice 3 week vacation in the Bahamas, we have been keeping an eye out on Grandpa. We have taken turns going to see him, bringing him cookies, feeding him and giving him lots of sugar. Over the past couple of weeks we have noticed that he was progressively getting worse. Long story short... here we are day 2 in ICU. Lindsey and I have been taking turns sleeping here, helping feed him...but mostly helping the nurses and doctors, considering he is extremely aggitated and uncomfortable. But as long as we are here, holding his hand or rubbing his forehead...he tends to relax and not throw punches. I think they have all learned he has a pretty good right hook.
Sitting next to his bed now, lights off so he can sleep, while listening to the thunderstorm outside...all I can think about is the Lords Will. While we want him here, we want the suffering, confusion, hospitals and nursing homes, to come to an end.
Please pray for our family these next couple of days while decisions have to be made as to what happens next. Where to go, how we will be with him to comfort him, flexing work schedules and so much more.
Please also pray for my mom, while she is gone this is difficult not being here. They will be back late tonight, but she misses him and I MISS HER!
Updates to be continued later:
Signing out...a tired granddaughter who loves the Family God has Blessed her with!

Baby day at work...plus more!

So today my sister called and needed me to watch Kaelyn at work...she was amazing. I had such a busy day today considering it is the end of the month, but she just made the whole day better. She laughed, cooed, and distracted ALL my employees. Take a look...

Matt and Kaelyn

Marty and Matt being distracted by lil Kaelyn

Play time!

Now Aunt Lindsey being distracted by Kaelyn Bug!

She truely makes any bad day go great! Thank you Lord for sweet babies!

FINALLY....AN UPDATE!!!

First and foremost, I am sorry again for the delay in updates. The Anderson Household has been super busy. We dont have internet at the house, so updating the blog can only happen while Im at work, and on my lunch breaks. So after a couple breaks I will hopefully be able to fill you in on our lives these past three months.
House Projects:

Last month we finally got our entertainment center finished. As I mentioned before, Kenny and my brother in-law built it. We then took it to a professional painter, where its finishing touches were completed. It is absolutely beautiful and completely changed the whole look of the living room. Thank you Pottery Barn for the design...and thank you Lord that we were able to make it for a 1/4 of the price it would have cost if we had actually bought it from Pottery Barn. I am so in love with this piece of work!

Right before we got the entertainment center back from the painting shop, we also received our new couches. I had been waiting on these for months.They are still fresh (a little stiff) so Kenny and I rotate seats daily to wear them in. I was so happy to have finally gotten rid of the old college couch...well at least its out of the house. The couch now resides in the "Mancave," making a beautiful addition to the tools and clutter. Anyone need a couch? :)

Next project to tackle was our landscaping. Let me remind you...we live on 2 full acres. So landscaping is not something we can due over a weekend. In fact every weekend we are cutting grass, pulling weeds, cleaning out the banana trees, burning branches, babying our fig and satsuma tree, planting new flowers, trees or shrubs. Thank goodness that we actually enjoy yard work. Truthfully, this is when Kenny and I probably spend most of our time together...and we love it!

Below is a couple pictures of some of the landscaping we have done...still much more to do on Deer Run Rd!

I show this picture now, because the green trim is our next project that we will be tackling on the whole house!

Agapanthus plants on the left side of the house. I love these durable plants!

Holly Fern in front of the house. Theses things have already doubled in the couple of weeks that we have had them. I cant wait for them to get full grown. I sure wish I had taken before and after pictures.

The tree on the left is our Satsuma tree. These things are better than oranges. The dogs love them too!

The tree on the right is our fig tree, which no one in our house likes, including the dogs. Figs free to anyone who wants to come and pick them!

Banana Trees. Last year we thought we had lost these from our hard freezes we had gotten. It looks like we might have a different outcome this year. I sure hope so because they are so sweet and good.

MORE HOUSE PROJECTS:

In our last blog I mentioned that we were still doing some work on our back patio. Kenny decided to re-stain the cabinets in the bar area. I also added a couple of decorations, plus plants to the back patio as well.

OUR BEAUTIFUL NIECE AND NEPHEW ARE GROWING UP!!!

For Easter we went out to Kristen and Jons. It was a great time watching the kids do their easter egg hunt and we ate some great food. 

For those of you who dont know...my husband is in love with anything that has a motor...cars, trucks, motorcycles, and boats. But sometimes he just doesnt know when to stop his love and face reality...

Like the fact that he is wayyyy to big for Walkers power wheels. This picture is priceless: Walker on his tractor pulling a wagon, and Kenny trailing behind on his powerwheels motorcycle.

You think he might be a bit big for it?

This Easter was Kaelyns first! I think she was a bit spoiled for it, dont you?

Kaelyn is doing great! She has gotten so big, and super fun to play with. I am enjoying every moment mom and dad give me with her. Thank you God for little girls!

This past weekend my sister and her husband went on a Marriage Retreat Weekend. So that left us in charge of Kaelyn...The Aunties were ready to have fun! So Lindsey and I...as soon as Kaelyn was dropped off, decided what a perfect time to take Kaelyn to get her ears pierced. (DONT WORRY, WE HAD FULL PERMISSION FROM THE PARENTS). Lauren told us it would be too hard on her to watch, so she wanted us to do it for her.

So we did...and boy was it a task! I now know why she didnt want to do it herself! 

WARNING: Lauren if your reading this you might want to skip the pitiful pictures!

So here is how it went: 

Lindsey jumped in the car to head to the mall. Well while we were getting in the car, Kaelyns knee got bumped. Lets just say it was all down hill from here. 

She screamed and screamed and screamed. So we pulled over to get her out of the car seat and calm her down. We tried a bottle, toys, walking her, singing to her, making goofy faces, everything! Nothing was working! So we gave her a set of keys, buckled her back in, and watched (listened too) to her laugh, cry and scream all at the same time. I swear she knew what we were up to! Finally we make it to the mall. The screaming has calmed and the tears were gone. At this point she now began to play and laugh. 

Great, we thought! Now she is happy and look at what we are about to do to the pitiful babe!

Well we get to the original place we wanted to have her ears pierced at. After a couple minutes of conversation we were quickly denied in that we were not allowed to have her ears pierced. Apparently we have to be the mother or legal guardian. I tried and tried with the woman. But what if the mother has no desire to be here? Cant I pretend to be the mother and you just pretend you never heard me tell you otherwise? NO NO and NO!

Fine! So Lindsey and I decided to go to the next place in mind. This time, I told them I was the mother. Yes, I lied. But I promise it was for a good cause. They were not going to allow it any other way. Lindsey and I just kept saying..."This is for you Lauren." and "One day, Kaelyn will love us for this." 

My hand was shaking the entire time I was filling out all the forms...lying. (but for a good cause)

Finally we were ready to do it. Can you picture it? Lindsey and I (terrified), the lady thinks it is because Im a nervous mother, when really its because im an awefull aunt! Kaelyn is laughing and playing...

then it all went down hill from there! Click! SCREAM! Click! SCREAM (louder). My heart was hurting for my lil-one. Dont worry, I left the really mad, sad, screaming picts out!

 But it was all smiles, litterally 2 minutes after!

God has really blessed Kenny and I with family and friends who share their little ones! 

So there...an update! I have much more to write about, but I figured I should do a little at a time. So stay in tuned for the next update...Thursday!

The kids...How could I forget the kids!

Oops! I cant believe I forgot to mention how our children are doing. GREAT! We are still working on a few ins-and-outs with Teal and her mischievous ways, but overall she has been such a great sister to Rusty and companion to us. Rusty and Teal truely make a team wherever they go...chasing squirrels, getting on the couches together, and even watching mom while she trying to take a bath.

 Teal has put on 15 pounds since we got her, and her beautiful coat has finally come in. Overall, her health has improved a ton, thanks to some great medicine and special food.

While I say that her and Rusty are getting along, Teal still is the dominant one of the two. After all, she is the Alpha. Teal gets extremely jealous of any toy, not just her "special bears." The picture below explains it perfectly... Teal in control of ALL the toys we own.

While she might be the dominant of the two dogs, she still has the biggest heart of gold. She loves her daddy especially, and just melts when anyone touches her or gives her any attention.
Kenny and I have definitely come to the conclusion that we could never get another dog after these two...there is just NO absolute way we could ever get another pet as good as the two we have!

FAMILY and BLESSINGS

Family and Friends, I am so sorry about the delay in updating our blog. Although hectic-ness should be NO excuse...it truly is the sum of of life lately. Between a new niece, recouping from the holidays, house projects, work, church, and keeping a marriage strong....I am exhausted! So this blog might just be a bit long, but full of new information and lots of pictures (to keep you interested).

I just love the quote, "Many things may change us, but everything begins and ends with the FAMILY."
Isnt this saying just so true! These past couple of months have been ALL about family. Growing with family, laughing with family, sharing the holidays with family, starting new families, crying with family, and loving with family.
Our niece, Kaelyn Marie is just now over 2 months old...and growing fast. She has not been the typical newborn who only sleeps, eats and...well, lets just say I have already put her to work.

Okay...Yes, she is sleeping...But i promise you she was just helping me to payroll!

Last week was Kaelyn's baby dedication at Mt. Zion Church. I think this was the first time Lauren decided to put her in a dress. And lets just say, we might have a tomboy on our hands because Kaelyn officially hates dresses!

Lauren, Brett and Miss Kaelyn

Kenny, Me, Lauren, Kaelyn and Brett

This past weekend was also a big weekend for Kenny. Kenny turned 26! We feel like every night last week and the weekend prior we were celebrating! He sure is loved! Last weekend we went to dinner with Papa, Susan, Aunt Jan, and the Owens. This past weekend we went and had Sushi with Joy and Dan. And we finished the weekend and Birthday Celebrations with a gourmet seafood dinner at my parents house with the whole clan. 

 The legendary Funfetti Cake

Kaelyns FIRST Birthday party

She definitely did not like our voices :(

Besides the Family time with all of our family members...Kenny and I are also trying to spend some quality time together. Most couples go on expensive dates, or leave for a weekend...while we enjoy doing house projects together. Lets see, where do I begin. We finally finished the back porch decorations which included a new rug and wine rack plus we re-stained the cabinets in the bar area. 

This was extremely hard to find...especially to match the crazy orange color the floor stain came out as. But I thought it match perfectly the rest of the room. Honestly, I just loved the rug so we made it work!

Next project was to finish updating the mirrors and decor in the master bath.

We took down the massive 8 x 4 mirror and put up two smaller ones...added a little white paint, new fixture and then the decorations! Whalla! Definitely one of the cheaper projects.

Now we are currently working on our new project...an entertainment center. Kenny and my brother in-law built a Pottery-barn entertainment center. It is currently at a friends shop being painted. We are hoping to have it back this weekend to go along with my new couches I have been waiting 3 years for. I will post pictures of the living room once all is done.

 Besides exhaustion, Kenny and I are doing well. We are bathing in Gods Glory and blessings that He has given us so far this year...health, happiness, and love!

We hope that you are having a great start to 2010! I hope to post more pictures and more updates as the weeks roll on by in the Anderson Family.

OHHHH!!!! By the way....my dad just won Florida Veterinarian of the Year 2010! Go Dad! I love you.