For Time and All Eternity

In August, one of my besties got sealed to her eternal companion in the Salt Lake City LDS Temple. The festivities that week were awesome and I couldn't help but feel SO grateful and blessed to have been able to be there.

I wish Lisa and Scott all the happiness they deserve! They waited to find each other a long time but neither of them could have found a better person to spend eternity with, making the wait well worth it.

Lisa was probably my very first friend...I have known her since the day she was born just weeks after I was born! And I am not evening kidding when I say she was THE MOST STUNNING BRIDE I HAVE EVER SEEN.

We started off with a bridal shower at my house early in the week thrown by Lisa's older sister Megan and myself. It was a hit and there was a massive turnout!

Me with Lisa and Lauren (Aren't Pennsylvania girls so cute??!)
Megan and I. Love this girl! SO happy to live so close to her and be able to raise our kids together!


The night before the wedding, there was a dinner at an Italian restaurant called Buca di Beppo. It was for family and close friends. Travis was supposed to go with me...but Izzy was SO sick that I left him home with the girls and went with Brooke and Lauren. It was awesome!

Then Friday was the wedding and reception!!

Their first appearance as Mr. and Mrs. Scott Johnson!
Gorgeous Lauren with her beatiful little girl, Lylah

Anderson Family Reunion 2010

Some things are better late than never, right?

At the beginning of August a bunch of Carl and Naomi's posterity gathered for a reunion that happens once every other year. These things are always so fun! Percy planned this year's and it was really amazing. I just wish there had been even more of a turn out! Try for 2012, okay guys??! The girls and I watched people float the river. There goes Grandpa John!
Travis floating behind Isaac, Liz, and family
Sitting watching people float....
Richard and Crystal
Izzy Jane....such a cheeseball lately.


We had a family home evening one night where Percy had Roger talk about being a patriarch and Char spoke about the role of a matriarch. It was really awesome and we got to hear all 6 of Granny and Papa's kids and 5 spouses share things they had been taught by Carl and Naomi. It was awesome. Percy and Jozette even compiled a book of memories for Granny and Papa and a lot of the family contributed. It was really neat!

The grandkids playing a hymn...
Check out this family!!! And there were a lot of people missing this photo! Some had been there and left already, and others couldn't make it this year.
Granny and Papa with all six of their kids: Roger, Percy, Mary, Dot (who is hidden), Martha, and John
Granny and Papa with the grandkids who were there the morning of pictures. Missing: Brandon Hanson, Johnny, Skyler, and Randee Anderson, Darcy Pingel, Brooke Mills, Emily Lindblom, Mitch Lash, Crystal Taylor, Isaac and Shawn Eaton. I figured it would be easier to name who wasn't in the photo than who WAS. But maybe not! Hopefully I didn't forget anyone! As you can tell, there were a lot who missed photos!
Granny and Papa with half of their great-grankids. (15 of the 30)
Martha and Kurt's family with Granny and Papa minus Brandon, Emily, and Collin who had left before pictures
Dot and Rich's family with Granny and Papa. Lots missing here, too. (Eleven, I think?)
Percy and Jozette's family with Granny and Papa. Way to all show up guys! ;)
Roger and Char's family with close to half missing
Jacque, Tyler, and Family. CUTE kids!!!
Martha, Jim and family. Mitch and his new bride weren't there because they had JUST gotten married days before. Lexi was napping, and Nicole's husband Rob couldn't make it due to work

John and our family. Most disappointing turn out! Unfortunately due to work, money, etc Travis was the only one of the 5 kids to show up. The girls had a blast being able to play with grandpa John!

Overall, it was a fun time. I just wish more of the family could have made it. We only gather once every two years so its fun to be able to visit, catch up, and meet new members of the family.

Excited!!

Our cute little family has NEVER. EVER. had professional photos taken. It pains me, really...all the time. I love, LoVe, lOvE, LOVE to look at pictures that have been taken professionally. But then I get green with envy. I can't help it, I am not perfect and I know I should work on the whole being envious thing. It's not cheap to have pictures taken. And I sort of am. Cheap. I mean, not terribly, but we have a house and two little kids, and life is expensive, you know?! But OH! To have our cute family captured in priceless (expensive!) photos??? YES PLEASE. SOMEDAY. That's what I keep telling myself.

TO THE POINT ALREADY, I KNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So you see the button on the upper right corner? It's for this amazing cause that is trying to eliminate child trafficking and exploitation in the US and Canada. And my old roommate and sweet friend sponsored a giveaway for an upcoming event/benefit concert taking place here in Utah. She had tons of fabulous prizes lined up and I entered to win. Anything. Because who doesn't love a giveaway?! (I know I do!) It never hurts to try anyway. Especially when it is for such a great cause.

Anyway...turns out I won something. Not just any something. I won my family a one hour session with a photographer!!!! And so...now I am like....what will we wear?! How should I do the kids hair? my hair? so...I am asking for some opinions....

Lately, Travis has been really wanting to chop Riley's hair. The thought pains me. Because her hair is SPECTACULAR. Seriously, I envy it (how sad is that, envying my own child. Still working on it, I swear). She is 4 (next week) and has only ever had one haircut. Back in February we had 3 inches chopped off to clean up the ends. I just measured her hair, it is 17 inches. She is about 40ish inches tall(I think)...so its almost half of her! It falls just above her bum near her waist in the back. And here is why he wants it cut...when she sits on the potty and her hair is down, it basically hangs to her bum and almost in the toilet. Nasty. He is right. So do I just trim it up 4-5 inches and keep long hair or do I do something more drastic? Do we add layers? Bangs? (Travis says no, the simpler the better. He's opinionated, people!) And should I wait until after our family pics have been taken?! Or what?!!
It's a little longer than this. These pictures were taken about a month ago and I can tell by looking at her it's already grown since then.


And Izzy's hair has that natural curl....but I use my straightener on it because it makes it longer....so what do I do with her? Leave it natural or straighten and then style? In the pics below, you can see its straightened. You just never know if her curls in the back will have a good curl day or a not-so-good curl day.....



As for what to wear, I want it to be casual I think. Because I am SO NOT girly in the way that I hate to dress up. I have always been about casual comfort. Sundays are a struggle for me. The only time I really liked to get all "pretty" was for my wedding day. That was sort of fun. Sort of. :) Ok, maybe there have been a few times. But overall, GAG ME when it comes to dresses, skirts, heels, etc...

I can't pull it off as nicely as some ladies. I envy girls who love it and look fabulous. I don't even know how to work on the envy here. Some girls are just way cuter/more beautiful/made to be dressed up!

Then I think how sweet the girls look dressed up. But I am not dressing up. Do we all wear jeans and solid colored shirts? Or do I dress the kiddos up?

PS....should I dye my hair brown? Because I LOVED it when it was dark. But I also chopped it off when I went dark. The cut I didn't love, but now that its getting longish like I want, I want long dark hair. The problem: EVERYONE and their dog thinks I need to stay blond? WHAT'S the DEAL, PEOPLE?! I mean, people who I think it's weird they even have an opinion are saying stay blond and it's not enough to tell me that, I need reasons. Or I'm going back to being brunette. Because I want Darcy's hair. And while mine will never look that amazing and thick, I will take long and dark :)

Me, with shorter darkish hair. But I want even darker than that!
Current hair. Me with my friend Megan. I want her color :)

Darcy...even though it's not a fabulous hair pic. Cute family huh? And speaking of Darcy, Hair-py Birthday, Darc. I want your hair. (You already knew that, though!) And I love your hair. And you. And your cute little boy (Jack)....although Adam's not bad either. ;)
Another of my current hair and the girls' current hair....

Girls Night

Recently I have realized that as hard as it is, it is VITAL to find time to spend on myself. Meaning I need an escape from the mommy responsibilities. And as mothers, many of us don't give ourselves that time away from our children to enjoy some quiet time or pampering or whatever. Sometimes it's nice just to get to the grocery store alone. And others, it's nice to have date nights with the hubby. And then there is this thing called girls night. I heart girls nights :)

I haven't had a lot of girls nights in the last several years...but there have been a few and now I am pretty much hooked and hope to have a girls night more often.

In May my friend Angela invited me to a girls night where we went to see the new Robin Hood movie and then her sister did free chemical peel facials. Awesome.

Then my little sister-in-law to be Rachel told me her sister did glitter toes and I knew I had to host a girls night!

So Friday night a bunch of friends came over and snacked and talked and got their toes did! And let me just say, our feet all look SO cute! AND I can't wait to do it again! In the meantime, who wants to host another girls night soon?! ;)
Brooke and Dana getting their toes glittered!

Feet belong to: Dani, Christy, Brooke, Camille, Angela, Dana, and me

And in this shot: Carrie, Sonja, Rachel, Jenna, Dani, Me, and Christy
Dani removing her nail polish before getting her glitter toes. Notice my paraffin wax bath on the floor. Almost everyone dipped their feet in hot wax for some extra pampering :)
Angela with her feet under the UV light, Camille with lots of glitter!
Dani and Rachel
Brooke with her wax-dipped feet and Dana
My toes. I picked a silvery-green...or a greenish silver. And as much as I love it, next time I know to do something really bright!!

It's great to have good friends to hang out with! Seriously I am so grateful!