Free Range Family

Today is our 3rd wedding anniversary. It is crazy to think that this day, three years ago, I had just been married to my husband and was preparing for the reception and Easter Sunday. Today though because it was a regular Wednesday, I hung out with my family and taught my second to last hip hop class of the session. Then Lon and I went out on our date at Red Robin. Much different then my wedding day but today was also full of memories. Memories of our wedding and memories of every anniversary we celebrated. My first anniversary, I was pregnant with Miss Anna. My second anniversary, we had Miss Anna with us and were celebrating as a whole family. :) So many memories! We were so lucky to have Grandma Amber watch the kids for us so we could go out on our actual anniversary. It was great to get out, just the two of us. We made a rule before we left that we wouldn't talk about work, finances, our home situation or anything negative. We would only have fun together and enjoy each othe...

Some friends you have for your whole life, some friends you only have just recently met... Then there are the friends WHO you've only known for so long BUT it feels like you have known them forever. That's how Kari and I are... I met Kari in the fall of 2010, when I had just started working at the YMCA Child Watch department. She was in high school then but we had so darn much in common, we hit it off right away. She reminded me of my little sister and we became close friends fast. She supported me through many rough times as a new mother and I helped her with high school drama and parental problems. We were so close, that when Lon proposed to me Valentine's Day 2011, I asked her to be one of my three bridesmaids. She of course said yes lol! :) Fast forward to now, Kari is a grown woman who is now engaged and pregnant with her first child, a son that they are going to name Bryson! We are more like sisters then friends now, obviously. :) But I am just so excited and hap...

We have had such a slow few weeks. Haven't really been able to do anything. Its so terribly mundane, it feels like we are walking through a bog. Everything goes so slowly and there's so much to do but it never all gets done. Blah, I have been trying my best to keep posting on here, but I will miss a whole week sometimes! I'm sorry. :) Its finally starting to seem like spring out though, which is nice! And last week I was awarded the Tumble 1 and 2 gymnastics teacher position. I am quite excited to be in charge of this program now, and have some BIG plans for the program. How was your Saint Patty's Day? I know its a little late lol, but I am just getting around to posting this! :P Ours wasn't the most exciting but it was still a great day! We didn't really differ too much from our usual Monday schedule but the kids picked out their green in their outfits, we made shamrocks in daycare and then we celebrated with green cookies for dessert from the Leprechan! It w...

For our anniversary, I wanted to go somewhere new, exoctic and fun for dinner. We could not think of anywhere to go but after a bit, I decided to take Lon to one of my old favorites Bruno's Italian. Unfortunately, we got there way too late. They close around like 7 or 8, I totally forgot! Luckily, there was an Asian Sea Grill right next door! The perfect idea! We ordered salmon sushi for appetizers and a different udon noodle meal for each of us. Lon also ordered himself a Topeko sushi and four different types of sake. We definitely were adventurous with our dinner lol! The four types of sake Lon had were: Tozai Typhoon, Snow Maiden, Star Filled Sky, Tears of Dawn. The Snow Maiden was the coolest, it was very white while the rest were mostly clear. Lon drank all four in a very short time, yet says he did not feel much of anything lol. I got BOMBED the one time I tried sake and learned my lesson lol, so I could not believe that! :P But he enjoyed them very much!   Our f...

Two years ago, on a beautiful new spring day, Lon and I stood in front of our loved ones and joined hands in marriage. I promised to love him and always be there for him, plus we had some laughs in there too. It would not have been our wedding without it lol. :) 4.5 years of dating, 2 years of marriage, 6 different houses, 4 different vehicles, 3 different jobs, 2 kids and countless days of happiness and laughter behind us. And I only look forward to more in the future! Lon is such a wonderful father and husband. He loves his family so much, he would do absolutely anything for them. I admire his dedication to us and to his parents and siblings, as well as his dedication to his job. Lon does not know yet but tonight I am surprising him by taking him out to dinner! I got a sitter and I want to try a new restaurant, but cannot decide where to go yet. Any ideas are welcome! I had a lot of other gushy, lovey dovey things to say, but I have lost too much sleep for that right now. Al...

The weather has just been WILD and bipolar lately. One day its low 60s out and the next its trying to snow! How crazy! Make up your mind please, we would like to have a consistent wardrobe lol. :P Anyways, I have a lot of things to love today, so let's go ahead and get this thing started lol! I'm loving... that my wedding anniversary is in 6 days. I love you Lon! Happy anniversary! I'm loving... how well hiphop class has gone today! We are soooooo ready for this performance, I cannot even wait! They will rock it! I'm loving... that Alan is doing so well potty training again! I think that we will start wearing underwear at school and in public now. So proud of him! I'm loving... that Anna will also be going to daycare starting next month. She will be going two months earlier than planned, but this is due to my dance class schedules. I know that she will be fine, everyone loves her. I'm loving... all the acts of kindness invovled with the Bo...

Kate Middelton and I have several things very similar to each other, from our wedding dates to the due dates of our children. Lon and I were married April 23, 2011 while Kate and William were married April 29, 2011. We will both be celebrating our second wedding anniversary this month. Kate is due with her first child in the middle of July 2013, while I was due mid July last year. Our pregnancies have also been similar. We both experienced severe morning sickness that wound us up in the hospital more than once, and we both had issues gaining weight during the pregnancy. I feel very connected to her because of these reasons. I feel that I can relate better than most and most important of all, I choose to support her over judging her with her pregnancy complications. I have seen it on the newstands and have read it more than a few times on the internet, that people are judging Kate for not only hiding her belly so much but also for her lack of weight gain. I cannot imagine how that m...

Happy Friday everyone! Tonight is my beautiful cousin Abbie's wedding. Lon and I will not be able to go however, because we could not find a sitter for my kids aka my mom was not able to do it lol.  But I hope that her wedding is as amazing and wonderful as the two of you are. I really wish we could go too, its a themed wedding so it will be so cool! Ah, I can't wait to see pictures! Congratulations Abbie and Cody! We love you guys! Also, it is very early. Like 6:38 in the morning early. And I went to bed late, as you all should know. So why I am up right now is a mystery to me.Well not really. Actually Lon went to open the gym (ah, early morning beef cakes lmao) and Anna is eating an early morning meal. So this requires me to be awake at an ungodly hour (in my personal opinion anything before seven is no go) after only have slept just an hour last night. Yay me. It should be known that I am again not responsible for the content of this post. I am...

Happy Friday everyone! Today is Anna's two month birth anniversary. We are pretty excited! We don't have too much planned for today, except Sunday is Grandparents Day and Great Grandma Marcia's birthday. The zoo will be open to everyone for free that day so we will be taking a trip there with Grandma Melanie. So excited, we haven't been to the zoo in a few months or so and Anna has never gone! I will be sure to take lots of photos, Alan just loves it there. Here is this week's Five Question Friday! What is your favorite fall family tradition? I seriously LOVE fall! I feel like I say that for every season but fall is my favorite this time around lol. And yes, I can do that. :P My favorite fall family tradition is going to the pumpkin patch mid-October to explore the cornmaze and farm life, and to pick our pumpkins for Halloween. There is one main pumpkin patch/cornmaze in our town that we go to and I seriously look forward to it every year. It opened u...

Happy Friday! The Andersen family is sure enjoying this summer weather, we have been very busy keeping cool in the heat! Tuesday consisted of tricycle rides, popsicles, running through the sprinkler and playing in the mud. Wednesday we went outside with daycare and Thursday was Aunt April's dance recital. She did a beautiful job dancing! :) Today we went swimming at the pool at my work and it was the first time Alan had ever gone swimming in a deep pool. I was a little anxious but he did a wonderful job! He even let me float him on his belly and his back! I think its time to start swim lessons with mommy! :) He looks unsure in this pic but he had a blast! Here's this week's Five Question Friday! Enjoy! Remember to check out my post about guest bloggers, I have six so far that are participating but I would like at least four more! :) Did you do anything special for your kids on the last day of school? Or did you parents do anything special for you? My son is ...

I just realized that Sunday is not only my baby shower, but the five year anniversary of my high school graduation day. Wow, five years really????? That is just crazy to me lol. A lot has happened to me in the past five years, I went from being a wild child to a grown adult. Here is the last five years of my life in a nutshell: May 20, 2007: I graduate from Senior High School at the Metra Park Stadium. One of my senior pictures, circa 2007 July 2007: I turn 18 years old in Las Vegas, NV with my mother and sister. August 2007: I start teaching dance at Tracy's School of Dance. September 2007: I studied a year at Montana State University-Billings, majoring in Art Education. December 2007: I get my first tattoo, roses for Rosalie, on my stomach. March 2008: I move out of my parent's house and into my first apartment ever with Sarah, Alec and Darren. April 2008: I get my second tattoo, a purple sparrow, on the left side of my chest. July 2008: I celeb...

I said the two best words I could say to the one person who is the love of my life.  I said "I do" to a life of endless happiness and love. To all those wonderful kisses, to all the laughter we will share, to all those silly adventures we will take together. To long nights taking care of him when he is up sick and to all of those amazing foot and back rubs. To all those dinner failures and invention successes and to all the beautiful children we will have. A year ago, today, I married my beloved husband Lon. We had a beautiful wedding at the Veteran's Park with all of the important people in our life present. I still look back on that day fondly, flipping through our gorgeous pictures taken by the great Jeff Bryson. It was so perfect for us! Our goofy wedding party In this past year, we have been through a lot of ups and some downs. Financial issues, loss of jobs, our trip to Canyon Ferry, Lon getting a job, an unexpected pregnancy, morning sickness, ER vi...

Hope everyone had a fantastic Saint Patrick's Day, I know my family did! :) Early Saint Patrick's morning wasn't too good to me, I couldn't sleep after four and was up sick every hour after six in the morning! But I took my vitamins and was okay in time for the parade. Alan was beyond excited for the parade. We picked up Aunt April and Uncle Kalvin to go with us, and met Kelsie, her friend Desiree and Kelton met up with us. We ended up finding a spot right on the bend of the parade, which was nice because we could see ahead of the parade and prepare for what was coming. Alan couldn't wait for it to start! Waiting for the parade The parade started out as it always does this holiday, with the presentation of our flags and the bagpipe band. Alan thought the bagpipes were weird, probably because he couldn't figure out where the sound was coming from and he was confused about their kilts. But he clapped and waved at them regardless. Then came some cool hot rod c...