Memorial Day BBQ

Some friends invited us over for a Memorial Day BBQ. Poor Bryan was on-call at the hospital today, so he wasn't able to join us.

Hannah and Hudson are only a month apart. They were the life of the party!

The best thing about a BBQ with plenty of kids - they all entertain each other... and let the parents relax! The kids had their own Memorial Day Parade around the backyard with Gavin and the bubble lawn mower leading the way.

Perfect weather, great food, and good friends! Happy Memorial Day!

Farewell, Huffmans!

Our very first Cleveland friends - thank you so much for all your kindness! Thank you for inviting us into your home two years ago and calming so many of our Cleveland fears. You introduced us to many new friends and helped us feel so welcome! Thank you for the furniture and the mountains of adorable baby girl clothes! I think you could seriously write us off on your taxes!

I had such a blast dancing with Cyndee in the Kirtland musical (nothing says bonding like a bun and ringlets!) and Wednesday night "dance club." We will never forget the wonderful time we had at OBX this Spring!

Congrats on your exciting new life in Arizona (think of us all shivering here in Cleveland next winter while you bask in the sunshine)! It's sad to see you go! We will miss you, but we wish you the very best of luck!

Love,
the Andersons

Kitchen Floor (Day Three)

More of the same. We're still laying the cement board. The only update is that we've broken 17 drill bits now. Somehow I thought we'd be grouting the tile by now. Boy, was I wrong!

Kitchen Floor (Day Two) - We Broke How Many Drill Bits?!

That cement board is tough stuff! We've already broken 8 or 9 drill bits, and we're not done yet!
Poor little Hannah caught a nasty cold and has been pretty miserable, so unfortunately, I wasn't much help today. (Yes, that IS what it looks like on my shoulder. She gets coughing so hard that she throws up.) Poor Hannah!So my studly husband has been working his tail off all alone most of the day. Lucky for him, he got a little "helper" later in the evening.
Logan kept walking around the kitchen with the tape measure, measuring random things. As he measured, he would say, "How much does this cost? (look at the tape measure) Too much money!"

Kitchen Floor (Day One) - Bye-Bye Ugly Linoleum!

Bryan somehow scored a five-day weekend, so we're putting it to good use by tiling the kitchen and bathroom floors! Today was day one - ripping up the old ugly linoleum. It was more of a job than I thought it would be. We also got a start on placing the cement board. We'll pick up with that again tomorrow. Luckily, the kids were really good and let us work. Even Hannah was a good sport, sitting in her highchair!

We now have two tables, a highchair, a stove/oven, and a fridge in our (carpeted) dining room! Nice, huh? I guess we'll be eating microwave meals or Little Caesars on the back porch for the next few days.
P.S. We did get to take a little break from our work to catch the American Idol finale. YEAH! WE LOVE DAVID COOK!!!

Logan's Birthday ...um...Party?

Okay, so I know it's a month late, but we finally had Logan's 3rd birthday party! Sorry, buddy, it was such a crazy month (car accident, family visiting, Niagara Falls, Palmyra, two-weeks of stomach flu, Hannah's blessing, Daddy's big exam...), but better late than never, right?

Actually, it was more of a "birthday playdate-in-the-backyard-with-cake-and-ice cream" than a "birthday party", but Logan didn't seem to mind. We had a few friends over, let them play in Logan's new sandbox (THANKS, Nana and Papa! It's a huge hit!) and ate cake and ice cream.

Logan's cake was chocolate Micket Mouse Ears (like the ones you wear at Disneyland) with his name on it. He wasted no time, taking a big bite out of one ear before we'd even lit the candles!

Was it good, Logan? Happy Birthday, Buddy!

Mommy's Little Helper

We've been giving Andrew a few chores around the house to hopefully teach him responsibility (and to earn PlayStation minutes). One of these chores is to clean the glass oven door. He sprays it with a little bit of Windex and wipes it clean with a paper towel. No matter how messy the rest of the kitchen is, my oven door is usually sparkling, thanks to Andrew!

The other day, I was upstairs folding Hannah's clothes, when Logan came up and joined me. He seemed to have a glistening look to his face; almost "buttery," I thought.

"What's on your face, Logan?"

"Broccoli Spray."

"What?!"

"Broccoli Spray!"

"Show me!"

He took me to the kitchen where I slipped and nearly fell in a puddle of something greasy. I also noticed my oven door.

Logan had sprayed it with non-stick cooking spray and then scrubbed it with the sponge. Somehow, he also managed to spray it on his face and all over the floor.

"I did a chore!" he announced proudly.

He was just too cute to get mad at him (look at that face), so I thanked him, wiped his face, and then put the cooking spray on a MUCH higher shelf.

It took me a while to figure out why he called it, "broccoli spray." At our house, I would think he would call it, "cookie spray," or "cake spray." Finally, my Mom pointed to the picture on the can.

OH! Broccoli Spray! I get it!

This is Kirtland Idol!

Last summer, I had the opportunity to be in the Church musical, This is Kirtland. It was such an incredible experience that I was really hoping to get to do it again this summer. Unfortunately, we've got too much going on this year, so I'm not going to be able to. I'm pretty bummed about it.

Needless to say, I've been thinking about the Kirtland musical a lot lately. So, it's not very surprising that I had a dream about it. What was surprising was who was cast as the lead actor in my dream.

David Cook as Joseph Smith!

AWESOME!!! I practically woke up laughing! Now that show would get some attention! Hmmm, maybe I should suggest it to Polly!