New Years Day brings another celebration for the
Anderson family because it happens to be Auntie Carol's birthday!
This year was a big one for her- 75! We were so glad to be able
to be there to celebrate with her and the rest of the family as we all
gathered together in Huntington Beach. Having lots of family
around means lots of arms eagerly waiting to be wrapped around
Camille. She was such a trooper as she moved around the room
being smothered with hugs and love. As we all know, Auntie Carol
is the true belle of any ball but Camille came in at a close second!
For the past four out of five years we have been
lucky to have spent New Years Eve with Christian's cousin, Andy, and
his wife, Danielle. It was Camille's first time meeting them and
we all enjoyed celebrating at their beautiful home. While waiting
for the ball to drop we entertained ourselves by playing a Girls v.
Boys game of Taboo. The girls won (of course!!) and we all (with
the exception of Camille) were able to stay awake just long enough to
ring in the new year. Happy 2010!
We ended our Christmas celebration spree on
Saturday in Camarillo at Uncle Mike and Aunt Susie's. Camille was
very excited to see and spend time with more of her family. Our
celebration included 3G (Great Grandma Gail), Grami Jami, Grandpa
Gar-ball, Uncle Kirky, Auntie Lindsey, Uncle Mike, Aunt Susie, Derek,
and Allie. During our time together we enjoyed playing numerous
rounds of Mexican Train, eating delicious food, going on walks, and
just relaxing. It was great fun, but we're sure Uncle Mike and
Aunt Susie were happy to have their house back when we all finally
left! :)
Christmas day found us in Huntington Beach with
Papa Roly and Daniel. We arrived the Tuesday before and enjoyed
relaxing and soaking up as much sun as possible. On Christmas Eve
day we were joined by Tara's 3 1/2 year old niece. Keira is a
wonderful big cousin and loves "Baby Mille." Tara's brother and
sister-in-law, Chad and Kelly, along with Auntie Carol joined us for
Christmas Eve dinner. Christian's brother and sister-in-law, Kirk
and Lindsey, joined us on Christmas day. Camille thoroughly
enjoyed all the attention from uncles and aunties and thought that
tearing paper was too much fun! It was truly a very, merry
Christmas!
We were all healthy and excited for our trip to Quincy to celebrate Christmas with Tara's family. The trip was long but Camille did incredibly well considering. We arrived in St. Louis on Friday evening and were greeted by our friend, Kori. We spent the night at Kori and Tom's house and were happy to finally be able to meet little Riley. Camille and Riley were hilarious upon being introduced, we wished we would have video taped it! Mid-morning on Saturday we were picked up by family friends, Reggie and Amparo. We finallly arrived at Nana and Grandpa's house on Saturday afternoon and while we were there we got to enjoy time with Grandpa, Nana, Uncle Kurt, Uncle Bret and Jessica. Although our time was short, it was wonderful! Camille thoroughly enjoyed all the attention, especially the evening sing-a-longs with Grandpa and Nana! We celebrated Christmas on Sunday morning and Santa was generous to all of us, especially Camille who recieved her first doll, a talking puppy, new bath time toys, three beautiful new outfits and much more! How blessed we are to have such a loving family.
Christian celebrated his first birthday as "Daddy!" It
began with a song and yummy blueberries on toast for breakfast.
Unfortunately
he had to spend the day at work, but when he got home he had two happy
ladies waiting for him! Tara made one of his favorite dinners,
mizithra spaghetti! For dessert we had warm brownies and vanilla
ice cream topped off with a candle.
We were so excited to get to go to the 49ers v. Seahawks game
with Dean and Candy Hadley and Janet and Gary. It was a very hot
day in San Francisco, but Camille did great at the game! We had a
portable bassinet that we layed her in which kept her cooler and out of
the sun. She wore her cheerleader outfit that was given to her by
Grami Jami and looked absolutely adorable! The game was a ton of
fun and even more so once the 49ers won! What a treat!
After our trip to Capitola we headed to Galt with Kirk and
Lindsey to spend a long weekend with Janet and Gary. On our way
we had the opportunity to stop at Woodside Elementary to give Tara the
chance to see some friends and students. We had a relaxing time
with Janet and Gary. They were very happy to be able to spend
some time with Camille. Tara enjoyed herself so much she decided
to stay an extra week and soak up the California sunshine. It was
tough on Christian, but he made it through the week without his
girls. He flew back on Friday night to spend the weekend with us
and go to the 49er game.
On Monday we headed up the California Coast en route to Capitola, a favorite beach town of ours. We stayed at the Venetian hotel, right on the beach, and spent our time relaxing and enjoying each others company. It was a wonderful time for Papa Roly to spend with his angel granddaughter, Camille.
We were so fortunate to be able to fly to Huntington Beach to
celebrate Roland's birthday. On Sunday we hosted a luncheon in
his honor and were joined by lots of family. Camille wore her
special dress and was the belle of the ball, but we don't think Papa
Roly minded one bit!
Playing the waiting game! Baby is due July 29th but
we're wondering if he/she will make an early appearance. Tara has
spent lots of time preparing for Baby to be here and we are both so
eager and excited!
We were so lucky to have our sister-in-law, Lindsey, fly up
and visit for a week. She and Tara spent the week painting the
baby's room, cooking, and shopping. She has amazing talent and
the baby's room is more adorable than we could have ever
imagined! It was a fun, productive week!
Janet and Gary came up for a long weekend in June. Tara
took Janet with her for the last day of school and she was incredibly
helpful in getting things packed up and cleared out! We were able
to visit Abby and Brandon and were excited to have Brandon come spend a
couple nights with us and help with assembling the baby
furniture. We love having visitors!
Stacy and I have been friends since college, and were actually
college roommates. She has been teaching in Taiwan and I haven't
seen her nearly as much as I wish I could. This summer I was so
lucky to have her come for a visit while she was in the states.
We had a wonderful time together visiting her childhood home, walking
around downtown Portland, and cooking delicious meals for
Christian. I hope we can do it again next year!
A few belly shots!
While we were in Loma Linda our family surprised us with a
baby shower at Andy and Danielle's house. What fun! We had
a wonderful afternoon and evening with our loving, generous family.
For Memorial Day Weekend we flew to Southern California to
celebrate our sister-in-laws graduation from Dental School.
We stayed with Kirk and Lindsey and had a wonderful time celebrating,
relaxing and enjoying a yummy barbeque before heading back home.
Congratulations, Dr. Lindsey Anderson, D.D.S!
For my actual birthday weekend came another surprise from my
sweet hubby. This time, a trip to St. Louis to see my
family! We left early Saturday morning and flew First Class to
St. Louis. My parents and little brother met us at the airport
and we spent the rest of the afternoon, evening and following day
enjoying each others company. My older brother, Kurt, was able to
join us for dinner along with family friends. Mother's Day was
spent shopping and dining and then the long trip home. What a
lucky girl I am!!
What an incredible surprise!! I knew he was up to
something, but never would have been able to guess exactly what!
Christian began my 30th birthday celebration a little early this year
with a surprise trip to San Francisco. I flew down on Friday and
was met by Janet at the airport. We ate breakfast at Bay Watch
Cafe in San Mateo and were joined by my dear friend, Andrea.
Next, we headed to Woodside Elementary to see my girls! A
surprise baby shower that afternoon was the perfect way to see
wonderful friends and co-workers. Finally a delicious dinner with
more friends! The following day was packed with activity as
well! It began with an early morning Fun Run followed by a
parade, May Pole Dance, lunch and then on to San Fransico for another
delcious dinner with friends later that evening. The weekend
ended way too quickly, but the memories will make me smile for years to
come!
It is wonderful to have a yard with space for a garden!
We were so excited to get started that we began a small greenhouse
indoors in early March. As soon as we had a non-rainy day we were
outside preparing the square for planting. We're hoping to have a
summer filled with treats from the garden!
It was wonderful to have Christian's dad, Roland, come up for
a week long visit this April. He took some time to go on a field
trip with Tara's kindergarten class, he visited with some old friends
and family that live in the area, and the there of us visit the Tulip
Festival. We're excited to have him come back in July/August to
meet his new grandbaby!
A special treat this weekend with a visit from our niece,
Brandon. She spent the night with us and the next day we got to
see her perform several routines at her Taw Kwon Do meet. We
think she did outstanding!
In February we took a break from the rain and went on a
"Babymoon" to sunny Hawaii. We spent the week in Waikiki on the
beach. It was a wonderful, relaxing week in the sunshine!
We had been contemplating a pool table for the living room for
quite some time and decided it was time to go ahead and get one.
It was quite the exciting event to watch as it was assembled and we
were so eager to finally get to play!
We kept our Christmas tree up a bit longer than usual this
year which made our home very festive when we hosted Christian's mom
and stepdad in mid-January. While they were here we also got to
see Abby and Brandon who came over for a visit as well.