Ice Skating and tobogganing

This week there was a huge blizzard in Santa Fe. It dumped tons of snow on the city and even more in the mountains. So we decided that it was time to build a snowman. We invited some friends, the Chapels,  out to play in the snow on saturday but then they heard that it was free skate day at the local community center so we decided to do that instead.  Miranda was very confident stepping out onto the ice with a teacher. After a moment she became nervous so we went out to help her.

Miranda clings to daddy after she decided the ice was too slippery on saturday morning.

Miranda did eventually get to skating at the end, with lots of encouragement, watching other kids, teachers help, and mom & dad's help. Apparently they do this free skate lessons twice a year. I'll be looking for it in August/September.

A shot of the roads when I went to pick up Tod from work, cause they kicked everyone out early. The trip took over 45 minutes, from my friends house (which is closer than my house) when it usually takes about 20 from our house. Nearly no one in Santa Fe knows what to do when it snows and they don't have the right tires.

Another shot of the 'blizzard' at our friends home on friday. This was all in a matter on half an hour.

After Skating we then decided we still wanted to play in the snow so we went tobogganing at Hyde Park. There was a ski rental shack that had a big tobogganing hill behind it. It was a beautiful spot.

Tobogganing hill, saturday afternoon. When I stood on the sides that weren't compacted from walking or sliding it was knee deep. I'm super thankful for fleece lined leggings!  

She's all tuckered and ready to go home after going down a couple times, once with mom and once with dad.
She got lots of snow spray in her face on the ride with me. Oops.

Tod tried to take a video of Miranda and I together so that I can be in one of our family photos but Miranda was all done. I'll see if I can get it from Tod's phone and post it.

In Miranda's evening prayers before bed she said she was thankful to play in the snow with her friends and to please bless she doesn't get snow in her face again.

May the force be with you (and us) this year.

Of my New year's resolutions one is to write more on the blog even if it's just a picture. :)

To celebrate the new year we went to see Star Wars, Episode VII: The Force Awakens.  I really enjoyed it.  Highly recommend going to see it.  We even ran into some friends when Miranda and I went out for a popcorn refill.

Reasons for going today: yesterday when we arrived at the theatre the show was all sold out, so we bought tickets for today, Tod and I wanted to introduce the next generation to the Star Wars series, and I figured we could use a bit of the force to kick off our 2016!

Quidi Vidi Pewter "Jesus, Mary, & Joseph!".

This is a lovely piece of art that Tod and I bought while on our visit with the Coopers to Newfoundland.  Since we started putting up our Christmas decor and this artwork is a Christmas Nativity (or as they say in Newfoundland "Jesus, Mary, & Joseph!") I'm posting some pictures (also at Taralee's request--here you go sis!).

While Taralee and I were shopping downtown (I had to run an errand at the passport office to get my passport!) we found these pieces of art. Taralee had seen them before at a event in the summer but didn't know the name of the artist, or what kind of material it was, and kept hoping she'd see them again. Well, we found them in a shop downtown, and instead of buying from the shop, we went straight to the artist's studio and I picked this piece from all the pieces he had.

You may ask: why 5 photos when one could have done ok?  Because each shows the artwork in a slightly different light, and none of them quite capture the beauty of the "painting" so here's a handful to more fully describe it. I took a couple with flash and a few without flash. Isn't it cool?  It certainly isn't something everyone will own, each piece is unique, and that's what makes it incredible.

Crazy Snow in Santa Fe!

So the folks here in Santa Fe think that a foot of snowfall in 24 hrs is worthy of a snow day. Tod and I were getting ready for church and it was just before 8:30 when the phone calls and emails and txts started to filer through the ward members to tell everyone that Church was cancelled due to weather conditions. I remember last year seeing folks spin out on very little snow so i believe it when they said in the email "for those of you who are transplants from colder climates and are wondering what the fuss is about, this is a very abnormal amount of snow for Santa Fe!"

So here are some fun photos of the snow!

The Anderson Family 2013
From left: Banner, Tod, Miranda, Adrianna, Ringo.

Horray we love the snow!

Brrr, can we go home yet?

Banner loves to eat the snow. He doesn't love his Holt harness.

Miranda is all bundled in that pink snow suit!

A video

Taralee had requested a video of Miranda and the dogs interacting with one another a few months back. I have finally taken time to upload to youtube all the videos that were taken over the last several months.  Here's one from the summer!

Marriage isn't for you. Marriage isn't about making only you happy. Marriage is about the people you love, serving them will bring happiness.

Here is an insightful post about marriage that goes against society's "walmart philosophy" toward marriage and supports the richness that can be found in marriage.

I wanted to share it with you.


http://sethadamsmith.com/2013/11/02/marriage-isnt-for-you/

Six Months

So our sweet darling baby girl is six months old now!  It's amazing to think she's blessed our lives so much in that time. At her last appointment with our health care provider she jumped from the 50th percentile for height up to the 75th!  She is still trucking along the 25th percentile line for weight.  Shes's a tall & lean baby.

she still doesn't like tummy time.

not even in the second photo.

she loves to skype with her family.

We tried to capture the day her first tooth started peeking through those gums! She was 5.5 months old.

The little white tooth is visible in this picture!

First food was Avacado!  Yum! 

Miranda loves to take the little pieces of food in her hand and bring it to her mouth. 
The approach we are following for feeding is called "baby led solids". We let her choose what she wants to eat and let her bring it to her mouth instead of spoon feeding her because it's helping her develop motor skills and also allows her to have fun with her food with out pressure to have "one more bite". Additionally the face and the mouth is such an intimate part of the body. We hope she will develop healthy attitudes toward food and her body so we allow her to control the food that goes into her mouth and when and giving her a choice if she wants to put food in her mouth. this  is one way we hope to show respect for her and show trust in her ability to make choices. I like the tribal baby's perspective connecting food with EC and Wellness Mama's take on feeding real food to baby and that the first year food is about learning and fun.

mmm, raspberries and pears.

Miranda met a horse!

The horse's name is Snickers.

Snickers seems to like Miranda

Trip to Utah

 Mid-September brought us back to Utah to visit family and friends.  Tod's sister Katie got married to Ryan P. (yay!) and we were able to see the "other" Andersons, who are my older sister and her husband and their two sons.  We were also able to visit with my youngest sister and her husband because they came down for Katie and Ryan's wedding. Woot!

I learned how to make a sunburst just before this trip!

Logan Tabernacle

Logan Tabernacle with more sunburst

more sunburst fun,

beautiful flowers.

Logan Tabernacle

Logan Tabernacle

Logan Tabernacle

The Bluebird cafe.  We had horrible service and I can cook better at home.

The happy couple.

Aunt Katie and Miranda! (and bad auto-not-focus.)

They did it!

Uncle Ryan and M.

I got the headband off--HaHA!

The Andersons

The Andersons

Time for a photo break.

The Photographers

M was getting so sleepy.

More cuddles please, Auntie Katie.

M & Grandmama Anderson

M & Auntie Em!

I love the orange flowers. I want some.

M loves the moby!

We were able to stay with my sister's family at the beginning and end of our short trip. We stayed only one night in Logan so we wouldn't have to drive 2hrs each way twice in one day with M in the car seat which she doesn't like all the time (especially at night or when she needs something). 

Anyways, we were able to spend time at L's soccer game, and play with the boys at home.

Miranda in the grass. I think this is the first time she ever got to see and play with grass up close.

Aw, hugs.

good game.

Me!

The cousins!

One the road again.

Hanging out with baby girl in the back seat.