A Farewell

As many of you have heard, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Gordon B. Hinckley passed away last night at the age of 97, after leading the church for the past 13 years. What bitter-sweet news. We will miss him dearly and hope to always remember the lessons he taught us. Join thousands around the state wearing white, or their Sunday Best today to honor him. You can read more about him, his teachings and his passing at the link below. http://www.lds.org

Sledding

We took Kate Sledding for the 1st time on Saturday. The weather was beautiful. She didn't seem to care, or was actually a little bothered by the bright sun. You can catch a peek at the perfect mountains near our home, covered in new snow in the background. If only we were skiing huh?

Looking for Suggestions

As all of you know, we have a little 9 month old daughter. For those of you who have met her, you have probably noticed she is one of the happiest little things ever. And she is. Very happy. In fact she has probably only cried because she was hungry 5 times in her whole life. The fact is, she is very happy, very happy despite the fact that she does not eat or sleep. Since her birth eating has been a struggle. She doesn't really like to nurse, unless it is to sleep and she doesn't like to eat solid foods, unless it is something she finds on the floor. Sometimes I even plant peas on the floor, knowing she will find them and put them in her mouth. Thankfully I have been able to keep her at average weights, mostly by forcing her to eat and slipping cheerios in her mouth every empty second, and also now what I call the avocado diet. Who knew there were 20 grams of fat in one avocado, and Kate loves them. I can get her to eat rice cereal or oatmeal by letting the dog in the house and letting Kate feed the dog Chex. Each time she goes to give the dog a Chex Kate opens her mouth and almost doesn't notice as I slip in a big bite of oatmeal. I know great eating habits right? I get her to nurse, only by going in a quiet, dark room with no distractions and swaddling her up. I would love to get her to take a bottle but I have had no success. So I ask you mother's of the blogosphere for help. How did you get your kids to eat at this age, take a bottle, what fingerfoods could they just not get enough of. I am open to (and desperate for )suggestions.

Not Much is New....Obviously

Unlike most twenty five years olds, who have been to the dentist's office fifty or more times- twice a year for their entire lives, I have only been a handful of times. In fact yesterday marked only the third time in my life I have had a dental appointment. Really? Does crystal have this poor of hygiene? Well no, the truth of the matter is that my father is a dentist, so he we just have us come in in the evening, clean and check for problems. Even occasionally he would fix a family members teeth in what others have referred to as "the scary dental room" a unfinished bathroom in my parents basement with a dental chair- if you are having trouble picturing it just think the 1980's Batman film when Joker gets his plastic surgery. But since my father's retirement I have had to spread my wings and see someone else. It is s surreal experience in many ways. First of all you see a hygienist.... one who talks to you like you can talk back, and talks to you as though you are four, and talks to you like you have no basic understanding of the mouth. I realize being the daughter of a dentist, and also now working for a dental magazine, I understand dental lingo more than the average patient.....but do the general public really need "enamel" explained to them? Of course I can't wince and complain like I might if my father was cleaning my teeth, I don't want to be difficult to these strangers. And the kicker.... well I go to this dentist because he is friends with my father. A few years ago when he built his office he asked my dad for some suggestions and lets just say he built an identical office. My fathers in California, and this one in Heberlandia, are identical. So there I sit in an office I grew up in, only it isn't, with a hygienist that talks to me like I am an idiot, going through something I should have before Kindergarten, my third dental appointment. I realize to most of you reading, going to the dentist is not an event, but I thought you might enjoy hearing how it is an event to me. And in case you are wondering..... not a cavity yet!

Pop Idols and Rock Stars

Hollywood comes to Utah but once a year- the Sundance Film Festival, held only 15 minutes from our home. It poses an exciting opportunity to see the famous out of their environment and in yours. Jake and I ventured to Park City Main Street on Monday to see what we could see. Rumors spread that big names like Bono and the Edge, Tom Hanks, Bruce Willis, Paris Hilton, Robert DiNero, Collin Farrel, Maroon 5, Taylor Swift, Jack Black, Al Gore of course Robert Redford and a myriad of others were perusing the streets in their newly purchased puffy vests and fur boots, and swag parkas and matching beanies- trying to "dress as the weather required", i suppose but I have never seen so much winter wear on each individual roaming around. The streets were crowded, and Paparazzo loomed at each club entrance. Our 2 hour adventure got us a $3.00 cup of hot chocolate and a glimpse at Dennis Quade, as well as some other guy everyone was taking pictures of but was unidentifiable to me. It was fun to be around all the buzz either way. The funniest line of the day was when we were riding the free buses they have to get around and Jake said " it smells like Honduras, and by Honduras I mean cheap alcohol" it was very true. Another good thing that came of this trip was a new band I discovered and liked. Your Vegas. No surprise they are a piano based soft rock band like many of our already fav's Coldplay, the Frey, Ben Folds. But check out this link to hear some of their stuff.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E21_RWHlZyM

3rd Annual Anderson Family Snowmobiling Extravaganza

Except that when we awoke there was a serious blizzard and we didn't think driving was smart so instead we just snowmobiled in the backyard, instead of Daniel's Canyon like usual. It worked out though because we had a kitchen to make a great lunch and played Rock Band when we got cold. Even Grandpa Anderson enjoyed the fun

Nine Months Old

Kate turned nine months old last week. It is hard to believe that she has only been out of me as long as she was in me! So much has happened and I can't imagine my life with out her! This is our photo shoot. As you can see she was more interested in her tounge, the tie on her shirt and the camera than sitting. Still the cutest thing though

Favorite Thing #1

I thought I would start a new feature on my blog (and I won't mind if anyone decides to copy) where I feature funny things I just can't get enough of.

To kick off this new feature... I give you Pico de Gallo. I am not sure why it is named after the beak of a rooster, but I do know it is one thing i can't get enough of. For New Years I bought some Pico de Gallo from the store. It had been a while since I had eaten this deliciousness and had forgotten my obsession with it. I had some again when Jake and I went out to eat last weekend, and thus decided I would try my hand at making my own. For those of you who have some how reached adulthood and not discovered the difference between salsa and pico de gallo, let me clue you in.... Pico is not as spicy, much chunkier and very fresh, I don't like salsa on chips, but I can eat Pico with a spoon. I just kind of winged it after looking at a recipe on-line. I thought it was going to be very labor intensive, but it only took about 30 minutes. Some people try to do theirs in a magic bullet or blender but I would advise against this, it makes it too runny.
2-4 tomatoes depending on size
3/4 white onion
4 springs cilantro
2 green onions
1/2 green bell pepper
1/2 red bell pepper
1/3 fresh jalapeno seeded
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 fresh squeezed lime
Just dice and slice everything up and stir it all together.

Kate's 1st Christmas

We think Kate likes the walker/ car we picked out for her. The other picture just screams..."no more pictures mom".

We had a great Christmas and it was so much fun to have Kate to shop for, not that she even knew what was going on. I liked the picture of Kate in her car seat with her elephant and sippy cup ready to go to California, little did we know, she would scream half the way there.

We did have a lot of fun there seeing so much of Jake's family. There were lots of cousins for Kate to play with, or watch rather. Unfortunatley all three of us came down with the flu, Jake on Christmas Eve and Kate and I on Christmas night. But we still had a nice trip.

Tagged Again... All About Jake

Keysha tagged me with this Husband Tag. I am happy to comply because I think my husband is great, and perhaps there are just not enough posts about him to date. Don't fret fellow bloggers, i will not pass this tag along. I tried to include a picture, but realized that I only take pictures of Kate, I resolute to make sure I am snapping shots of our entire family this year. The last picture I had of Jake by himself, was his law school graduation almost two years ago, oh well!

What is his name? Jacob Ray Freeman
How long have you been together? 4.5 years of marriage. Almost six years together.
How long did you date? One year and 3 months, with some bumps in the middle.. this feels like " All About Dating Jake" so far
How old is he? 28, 29 in March.
Who eats more? Jake- thank goodness, but not by a ton.
Who said I love you first? Jake did, both the first time we dated, and the second.
Who is taller? Jake has me by about 7"
Who can sing better? No question it is Jake...the perfect baratone
Who is smarter? Jake is no question there either. He is the smartest person I know... no this is feeling like "all about why my husband is better than me"
Who does the laundry? Finally a point in my corner. Me, but when we were both working we shared this duty equally.
Who pays the bills? I write the checks, but Jake is the one suppling the money
Who sleeps on the right side? I do, but this has changed several times, Jake is happy to conform when I choose a new side.
Who cooks dinner? I do now, but we shared this equally when we both worked too.
Who drives? Jake usually. I drove a whole 2 hours of our 26 hour California drive, mostly because I have car enduced narcolepsy, and I don't see as well will me eye that had surgery
Who is more stubborn? Jake would say it was me, but I think it depends on the situation. Jake can be stubborn too.
Who kissed who first? Jake kissed me first, on our fourth date, only he had to ask me to walk him to his door- so obviously- because I was driving and just going to drop him off at his house because it was late.
Who asked who out first? Jake did.... well funny you should ask, actually one of our friends asked me out for him, not that he is that shy it is just how it happened.
Who proposed? Jake did on April 11, 2003 on a mountain ledge, where he sang me a song he wrote about me, it was a total suprise, but not really because he had been acting strange and I could tell he had been lying to me about his whereabouts etc all week so I knew something was up. Although he proposed first, we had already been shopping for houses together, and I had scheduled the temple.
Who has more friends? Jake has more close friends, I have more casual friends, but I would also say Jake is a better friend.
Who is more sensitive? This is a no brainer. I used to joke that Jake had two ways, Jake and Jake slightly annoyed. Meaning he rarely gets angry, sad, or even really happy. He cried more when we were dating, but in 4.5 years of marriage I think I have seen him cry two times. So me, I tear up at commercials almost every day
Who has more siblings? Jake 7 to 5 plus several of his siblings are married so his family is much bigger.
Who wears the pants? We each have control over certain realms of our family life, I think this is how it should be. We make decisions together, but usually I decide most of the small things and let Jake decide more of the big things.

That was a fun little get to know Jake, if you don't. Although it just doesn't even come close to capturing his greatness, like where is the question about how he works hard everyday without much complaint while I get to sit at home and have fun with Kate, or how he can do anything without prior experience on his first attempt, like build anything, or be perfect at a new sport or hobby, it is almost a little irritating. Love you Jake!