There are so many things that I love about this big boy that I don't even know where to start. Most people that are lucky enough to know him, probably know all these things about him!
1. I love that Anders is a lefty. I'm not sure how that came to be, but it makes him unique and he totally works it!
2. I love that Anders loves to cuddle with me in the morning.
3. I love that Anders can remember ANYTHING...especially the things I don't want him to.
4. I love to hear Anders tell me the details of the only part of his day I miss...preschool. I know that he loves that it's a part of his day that he gets to himself, but I miss him like crazy when he's gone!
5. I love that Anders has such a crazy, off the wall imagination. We are constantly laughing at the things he comes up with. The picture above was how I found him in Christian's office, playing "working." This morning, I heard him talking to Hannah Montana on his play cellphone. Haven't told Christian that one yet.
6. I love how easy it is to boost Anders' confidence. My sister likes to tease us for our "chest puffing" chant we do with Anders. We simply chant, "go Anders, go" and you can instantly see his chest puff up and he turns into an unstoppable beast. I love it!
7. I love that when I see his size 12 feet, I think about the puppy my neighbors bought when I was little. I remember laying on the grass and looking up to see this little fluffy dog with enormous feet running toward me. My neighbor told me that her feet were an indicator to how big she would be. Sure enough, a year or two later, she grew into her feet. I think about that when I see Anders feet (and hear people comment on them) and wonder what he has in store for him.
I cannot put all of the things I love about Anders in to words. He brings so much laughter, joy, fear, worry, embarrassment, comfort, stress, and love into our lives. He has taught us so much and I have a feeling he has a lot more to teach us. Happy Birthday to my favorite Dudey.
It's hard to believe that we've lived here this long and never made a trip to the Hill Aerospace Museum. I just didn't think it would be something my kids would be interested in...boy, was I wrong! This museum did not disappoint! The boys were in heaven the very second we got there. Even Eva was fascinated with all the airplanes. After seeing all the planes...which seemed to never end, we finally found the children's center. I'd heard there were some simulators in there, but was not prepared for what we were in for! My kids could have played for hours in there and we almost did! There were simulators, science projects, dress-ups, computer games and anything else 
you'd expect to see in a playroom. It was fun to just sit back and watch the cute little old lady that worked there. She was so great with the kids! We will be back, that's for sure! Walking through the uniform display made me really think about how proud I am of those who dedicate their lives for our freedom. I forget that on a day-to-day basis and often get tired of hearing all the jets taking off every day...especially during Eva's nap time or when I'm on the phone. I need to remember that those jets are a sound of freedom. I'm so grateful for that!
Most people get a day that they get to celebrate in honor of their day of birth. That's what separates my little sister, Carly from the rest of the holiday celebrating world. Carly does not just celebrate her birthday on September 16th, she somehow managed to create a Week of Carly. We have all learned not to schedule anything during this week, or we'll never hear the end of it. She is so lucky that she married an amazing person that fully agrees that there should be a Week of Carly. Jordan has accepted this challenge and manages to out-do himself every year. The Week of Carly came about because Carly has some deeply rooted wounds of a year that her birthday landed on one of the days we were on a family vacation. Somehow, my parents got so wrapped up in our vacation that they forgot her birthday. She will never allow anyone to forget again! However, I found out today that she is still sensitive about the whole situation. I made the huge mistake of calling her to tell her a story without wishing her Happy Birthday first. Oops! Happy Birthday Carly! Here's a little about Carly that most people don't know:
1. When something is really funny, her laugh turns into this really funny cackle...okay, I know, so does mine...so what?!
2. When she was in college, one of her roommates let a drunk guy sleep in her bed. When she came home, she knelt down on the bed and realized that the drunk guy PEED HER BED! Yup, she knelt in a drunk guy's pee.
3. She has the smallest feet...ever.
4. She DOES NOT ride rides. I used to get in so much trouble because I teased her ruthlessly about being afraid and she insisted that it's because she gets motion sickness. She has since come clean about it not really making her sick, she really was afraid.
5. When she'd find dead things like spiders, mice, or birds in the house, she would put a paper towel over it and write "bird" or "spider" on it so that someone else would clean it up. Yes, she got away with this and yes, we often had dead birds in our house. That's a story for another time. :)
Today was the day that Anders has been waiting for for the past year. He was convinced he was ready for preschool last year, but having an October birthday put a damper on that. The day I signed Anders up for preschool, I made the mistake of telling him. He, of course, thought that meant he would be going immediately. Lets just say it was a long summer of, "after this nap, do I go to preschool?" We got to meet his teacher, Miss Cindi, at the Open House a couple of weeks ago and Anders made himself right at home. He loved his teac
her and disclosed his entire life to her in
4. Favorite thing to do: Ride his scooter
hands on his face and said, "I don't believe it." It was like he thought the day would never come! When it was time to take him, he refused to let me do his hair because he said he wanted his teacher to see his haircut. When we pulled up, I started opening my car door and he yelled, "Mom! Stay in the car. Remember, you're not staying with me." I was extremely nervous (for myself, not for Anders). I did not prepare myself for the emotions I was about to feel. The moment Eva saw the perfect miniature world that she could fit right in, she demanded I put her down so she could join them. 
That's when I knew I had to rip my band aid off and leave. The last picture is when I was walking out the door...he didn't even look back. When I got out to my car, I could slowly feel Eva's knees tighten around my waist. I opened her door and she started crying, "Aners, no cool! Aners, no cool!" It was really hard to keep it together at that point. Poor girl is going to have a hard time with this. I'm glad to say that we both made it through those next two hours just fine. When Anders got home, he told me he didn't miss any of us. I'm so lucky to have such a big kid!
Wow, summer is gone and I have no more excuses. Here is a very brief overview of some of the things we got to do. We had a great summer. It makes me sad to say good-bye to it!
(September) Park City
(September) Antelope Island
(August) Rainy day
(August) Anders asked me if he could write his name on my calendar and I was thinking, "sure, whatever you say." Then, I turned around to see this. I was SHOCKED! Anders' first time writing his name.
(July) Feeding the ducks
(July) Camping with Grandma and Grandpa Speirs
4th of July parade with Coley and Caca
(July) Anders' swimming lessons...which he didn't pass because the other class was pretending to be aligators. He could not be in the same pool as them after that. Ugh!
The Diva at the Rodeo. It was "Tough enough to wear pink" night, and it was so dang hot! It was our first rodeo because Jessica (Kenny's wife) was a Woopie Girl. It was so fun to watch her!
(June) My Gym Summer Camp
(June) Hogle Zoo
(June) Dinosaur Park
(May) Eva discovers her love for purses
(May) Memorial Day I woke up with my heart beating out of my chest. I had just spent the night packing and pouring out my heart in letters to my parents and my little sister. I knew that 6:00 AM would come faster, the later I stayed awake. Sure enough, 6:00 was here whether I was ready or not. I quickly got dressed and made my way downstairs, not quite sure how to approach this day. My dad heard my movement and pulled himself out of bed to suggest we have a family prayer. I was the first of my siblings to experience this and none of us were sure how to process it all, so the best way to start out was a prayer. After our emotional family prayer, I hugged my family and was on my way. My nerves were calming gradually as I had time in the car to think about what I was about to do. I knew that I was on my way to see the love of my life on our wedding day.
