Please join us there. We'll be waiting!

When Derek and I were dating and newly married, we liked to go to Bear Lake every summer- at least once. Since we've had James, we've not really done so well at it. This year, though, we went. And it was wonderful.

We went with Kurt and Bonnie (LOVE them!) and met up with Bonnie's brother, Marcus, as well as the family's fun "toys." We all had a blast during this blissful day in the sun. It was one of the best family vacations we've yet taken! Here are a few (and/or a BAZILLION) fun pics to prove it.

PS. A few cute James-isms related to this trip:

1. In the 2nd picture, James was hiding in a kitchen cabinet in the suite/resort we stayed at. He had only recently started making sentences, and this was among his first... "I hiding!" :) We were very proud. And he was having a blast.

2. Also, James called the jetski a "meeu-cycle boat" (motorcycle boat). Pretty good name for it, really. :) Ah... what a fun, fun, trip.

PS. His birthday is technically the 13th, but don't tell him-- it will confuse the boy. ;)

Check out our new family pictures-- taken by my friend and photographer, Li- of Photography by Li! She is just starting her business in this area, and we got to be among the first she's photographed here. The shoot was fun and easygoing, not stressful at all... and look at the fabulous results! Li does amazing work. We couldn't be happier.

These are just a few of our favorites. If you want to see the whole gallery (especially if you're a grandparent who wants prints), go HERE. Also, her website is on my sidebar, under "Inspire Me," but you can also access it HERE.

Book her for YOUR next family pics! You won't be disappointed!

PS. I thought I would add that anyone considering Li as their photographer should definitely check out the entire gallery (again, HERE). She took a bunch of really awesome pictures with more of an "urban" feel, which is what I originally thought I would prefer (and still do, I think), but I chose these in a more "natural" setting for things like my smile is better here, my butt was too big there, etc. I love these, but I am still very tempted by the other ones. They've got amazing light, great angles, etc. Anyway- check 'em out.

This is {as you can see} for MY dad, James' grandpa. I'm a lame-wad and totally spaced the fact that Father's Day was so soon, so no card got in the mail. I suppose a digi-card is just as good, though... plus it's better for the environment. ;) Yeah, that's it. The environment!

Sorry, Dad. And Happy Father's Day! We love you!

Seriously, could there be a cuter kid?? I think not. (Albeit, I'm biased.) James has learned a few good tricks lately. We took a video this morning to showcase them. They're funny, so take a look.

Exerpt (another one) from my journal, prefaced with "a few notes I want to record/remember:"

-- James recently started saying, "Yes, I do!" as in:
ME: "James, do you want a pretzel?"
JAMES: "Yes. Yes, I do!"
:) He says it with such enthusiam. It's very, very cute.

-- He also recently began asking if we're okay. He sounds all sorts of sincere, tips his head to the side, and asks- all concerned: "Momma, y'okay?" I assume he got it from me asking him that a lot recently since he's been sick. But wherever it came from, I love it!

-- And this just in... James learned how to make an airplane sound, and the way he does it is SO FUNNY! The sound is right on, but he makes it somehow with his sinuses. He pulls a really silly face (while attempting to be so serious) and goes for it. Pretty much, it's adorable.

In case you want a second look at that awesome airplane sound:

What a funny, funny little boy!

These pictures aren't new (they're from May), but I was browsing through my pic files and found this series. It's James... throwing a fit! It's so hard not to laugh at him when he does this, and I'm pretty sure that this time I did laugh-- which frustrated him further-- which made me laugh more. He's so dramatic! I have NO idea where he gets it! ;)

{The following is an excerpt from my journal, written 02 June 2009. Since it's been so long since I've posted, I thought I would share. It's fairly wordy, as my journal entries tend to be. Sorry. And you're welcome- for posting.}



Farewell, sweet, loyal, wonderful Binky! :( As of pretty much right now, James is going Binky-free. He has to. It might be making him sick.

You see, my sweet boy is like an infection waiting to happen. As an itty bitty, he and I both had a sinus infection. I don't remember how old he was, but it was when we had our blue couches. I remember sleeping on them and holding James on my chest-- that way we could both be fairly upright, and could therefore breathe. Then when he was 11 months, he got that horrid bladder infection. Well, I guess it was actually around 8 months that he got it, and 11 months when he was circumcised- which finally cured him. Since then, he's had everything. Two to three ear infections, an eye infections, several sinus infections... the poor, poor boy.

A couple of weeks ago (the night before we planned to move- go figure {more on the move later}), James woke up in the middle of the night throwing up and spiking a fever. With him, we've learned that a pattern exists: infection = fever = vomit. We took him in to Dr. Stevens (love him!) and yep- ear infection. He put him on some antibiotics, but on Friday (the last day of the dosage) he broke out in hives. Those persisted over the weekend, and Sunday night he spiked a fever again. He was miserable all night Sunday night and all day Monday. We took him in again. Dr. Stevens said the hives were probably from something outdoors (fabulous), but the fever was 'cause he'd rejected the antibiotics (too familiar) and still had an ear infection! Ugh!

He put him on stronger antibiotics and some prescription benodryl-stuff for the hives and sent us on our way. Before he finished, though, I asked him what we were (are) doing wrong. Do all kids get sick this much? Is James just made up with weak DNA? Are we really just horrible parents?? He reassured me that kids do get sick a ton, and that we are doing a great job. But then he had an idea. James was sucking on his Binky at the time, which triggered it. He said it's not proven, and it's a semi-weak argument, but some in the medical field believe that Binky usage increases the risk of infection in children. It makes some sense. Binkies get dropped on the floor and all kinds of dirty, and kids put them in their mouths. Could be legit. He said it's not something he's backing, but if we're desperate to try something- it's an idea.

So Binky is bye-bye. And James is actually napping just fine. He asked for Binky several times ("Binky is?"), and I told him that the Dr. said Binky was making James sick, so I told Binky, "Get outta here, Binky! Bye-bye! Miss you!" Then told him, "Binky all gone" when he asked for it again. He does get "Mankie" (blankie), though, and "Feeno" (corner- his favorite part of his blankie). So life doesn't altogether suck.

We will miss you, dear Binky. Especially at bedtime- and especially at church. You've been a great friend, and a useful muter. :) Bye-bye, Binky. Bye-bye.



*Update: It's Thursday, and he's still Binky-free. He's done great! He has a harder time going to sleep and doesn't sleep as soundly, but he hardly asks for Binky anymore. And this morning, when he asked for Binky, he immediately replied with, "Oh, Binky bye-bye." :) Smart boy. He has, however, embraced more closely the rest of his entourage: "Mankie" "Beaw" and "Fwen" (blankie, Bear and Friend). They eat with us, watch movies with us, you name it. But that's okay because he doesn't suck on them. Yet. ;)

This afternoon, James and I {along with our great friends Li, Evan and Asher} went to Richmond to drop off our bows and flowers here:It took WAY longer to get them set up than I had anticipated. By the time we were done, we all felt like this:
Luckily, we were just in time for a PARADE! {Note: Pretty much every little town around here has its own celebration, along with a parade- more often than not. It's a bit extreme and/or egocentric, I know, but it's actually one of the things I love about this place. Bring on the parties!}

James was really funny about his candy. He gathered it up and organized it all in a little line along the truck's edge. He cracks me up sometimes.

So handsome.
Asher apparently thought the sirens at the end were too loud. :) Cute boy.
REMOVE the wrapper first?? Whaa???

On the way home... a little bit sunburned and a lot bit tired.

We're ONLINE! We were asked so many times if we had a website that we decided to get one! Go here to check it out {then save it to your favorites... you know you want to}: http://sweet-pea-bowtique.blogspot.com/ Thanks to all of you for your support and {especially to Shawn!} help in all of this. We love you. Now buy our stuff already. ;)

We love you both and think of you often. We just really stink at calling when you're home. 'Hope your birthdays were fantastic! xo

Just popping in to say a quick "hello" and let you all know that we are still alive regardless of the lack o' posts. We drove down (and back... can't neglect to mention those 1000+ miles) to NM/AZ for my sister Tori's wedding and survived the trip. We actually had lots of fun and for sure an adventure, but I haven't been able to bring myself to go through the bazillion pictures to choose some for a post. So that may or may not happen in the future.

It feels like we've been playing catch up since we got back. I had our bookclub retreat that very week, and Derek hit "crunch time" at school. Derek just finished (mere hours ago) finals and is now officially on Summer Vacation. He'll still fly several times a week and work, but it will be much easier without the full-time-student work piled on top of it all. I think we're all looking forward to life settling down a little.

In the meantime, we're all very grateful for the many, many blessings that make our lives ultimately good. We love living here (you always appreciate a place when you come home to it, don't you?). We feel safe in our community and city and are able to play outside and go for walks without worry or fear. Derek has a good job, when just having ANY job is a good thing. We're all healthy and swine-flu-free. We're broke, but unlike many- have enough to pay all of our bills. We have a good, clean home with modern utilities and plenty of food to keep us from ever going hungry. We have little. But especially in a time when so many people have nothing, we feel pretty good about what we've got.

Life is good here. Oh, and HELLO.

This Easter was phenomenal! We opted out of much social time and had family time instead. It was a good choice. I can't remember the last time we spent such good, quality time together-- just the three of us. We even made a fancy Easter dinner... stayed in our pretty church clothes, used our forks (lol), the works! It was a wonderful Easter... and a good balance, I think, between the religious (you know, the REAL reason for the season) and the superficial (hooray for the Easter Bunny). Here are a bazillion pictures (with commentating) to commemorate our fantastic day.

James' first look at all the goodies.

Peeps! Classic.

Goo. First thing in the morning. Nice, mom.

The majority of these pictures make me sad... because my little baby is a BIG BOY! This picture (perhaps it's the chocolate 'stache) is on the top of the list.

Watching Daddy's present: Peter and the Magic Egg.

James' first (I think... can't really remember last year) Easter egg. He colored on it first with a black crayon. We added the "ass-uh-ball" sticker. Then I helped him color it "denim blue." Nice.

James has been sorta anti-camera lately. What's his deal? This is a face (annoyed, rolling the eyes... "Moooom!") that I pulled in like 6th-7th grade (okay, pretty much on from there, too). But really... he's not even TWO!

Being cute. And naked. :)

Our A.MAZ.ING. Easter dinner: honey glazed ham, yams (aka incorrectly: sweet potatoes... the orange kind), Rhodes rolls and steamed green (and yellow) beans. Mmmmmm! Delicious!

The Easter Egg Hunt.

The happy fam. (Notice Derek's sweet 'stache... sexy beast!) ;)

Our gorgeous (and now a bit crunched) eggs.

We went for a walk after the egg hunt. James can't get enough of being outdoors, and it was a glorious day.

Again, shying away from the camera. This time, he thought he was pretty funny, too.

Whilst on the walk, James ran too "wahsss" (fast) and fell, scraping his poor little head on the sidewalk. He got a goosegg and a scraped nose to show for it. Owie! So after the shorter-than-planned walk, we came home and watched James' present: Dr. Seuss' ABC, I Can Read with My Eyes Shut and (my fav) Mr. Brown Can Moo VHS. Old school. Love it.

Happy Easter! Love, The Andersons xo