A bit late....pics from September's BYU game

My sister in law just sent these to me and I thought they were worth posting. Back in September we headed over to New Orleans to watch BYU play Tulane. We were excited to be able to watch BYU play and to have a great afternoon with the one of the other Sanders clans. The kids had a great time going up and down, up and down the bleachers. We also ran into old friends from Columbia....our past bishop and his wife and the Roberts and their cute kids. It was a great afternoon and a great way to spend Andrew's 1st birthday...

Andrew

I thought that this was a cute picture...posted by Julia....

Some December Highlights

Julia (8) has become a voracious reader! In past 3 months she has read 4 of the Harry Potter books. She is smoking the competition with her reading efforts reading anything she can. Way to go Julia!


This is a picture of Julia and Caroline at their December piano recital. Ms. Cadle is an excellent teacher and has done a great job of showing the girls new insights into musical confidence.

A treasured find!

A few months ago, John was thumbing through some old photo albums at his mom's house and found this picture. This picture was taken the night before John and I were married. We went swimming at the hotel. Mary Caroline was not too happy about me getting married at all...She use to greet John with a knock on the head with her fist. On our wedding day she was in between the two of us untying his shoelaces and putting rocks into his shoes. Needless to say, she has come a long way! :) She no longer greets him with a knock on his head with her fist!! We love you daddy and May May!

Path of Memories

Two years ago today we said good bye to our sweet baby Kathryn. We had the opportunity to have her in our home for 5 1/2 months. Kathryn was exposed to a virus that attacked her heart which took her rather quickly and silently. It is amazing to realize how time has moved forward bit by bit...especially when it seemed to stand still for days. Last year we had the opportunity to visit her grave site in Missouri. She is buried next my daddy. We did not head north this year but headed to the Path of Memories. The Path of Memories is a children's memorial spot at the end of Turkey Creek. We have placed a plaque in her memory. We like to go there from time to time to feel close to her. It was a perfect spot to be on such a peaceful day. We love you sweet angel baby and cannot wait until we are reunited and have you in our arms again. What a glorious reunion that will be.

The journey home

We had a great time getting away as a family. It was a much needed trip!! As you can see, Andrew was wiped! He did great as a traveler.

I Love to See the Temple

I love to see the temple. I'm going there someday To feel the Holy Spirit, To listen and to pray. For the temple is a house of God, A place of love and beauty. I'll prepare myself while I am young; This is my sacred duty. I love to see the temple. I'll go inside someday. I'll cov'nant with my Father; I'll promise to obey. For the temple is a holy place Where we are sealed together. As a child of God, I've learned this truth: A family is forever.

While in Orlando we had the opportunity to attend the temple. This was a much needed trip. Days previous to this trip, our hearts were full of emotions. Just about two years ago we said goodbye to our Sweet baby girl Kathryn McKay Sanders. Words cannot describe the feelings that are felt with the loss of a child. It is greater sorrow than words can describe. However, we have been blessed with the eternal truth that families can be together forever. It is this eternal truth that has carried us through these past two years. And it is this eternal truth that will continue to carry us through this mortal existence until we are reunited as a family. What a glorious day that will be when we are reunited. We love you sweet baby girl.

On the road to Disney!

On the road to Disney! John had a business trip to Orlando the last week of July. We decided as a family to tag along. He had two days of meetings so we took two days of fun to go along. As you can see from this picture the girls are pretty excited about the journey! We started our journey off and off to our left was this awesome rainbow that Caroline happened to capture.

Chest hair anyone?

Chest hair anyone? Sterling recently had one of his good friends over to play. The girls have one of the crayola markers that has a swirly pattern. He thought it would be funny to put it all over his chest. Then he and his friend came to me and said, "Look I have chest hair mom!"

What a pampered boy!

Andrew is such a sweet boy. He is now 10 months and it is hard to believe how quickly he is growing! The kids all love to dote on him and will hardly let him down to do crawl. In fact he just barely started sitting up from a laying down position! But with a face and a smile like that can you blame us for always having him on our hips or in our lap? He is little only once and we are taking full advantage!

Snapping pictures again...

This is what was found on Caroline's camera. She has LOVED having her digital camera. And if I do say so they turned out quite nicely.

The last picture is of tent city....what we do when it is so hot in Florida.

July 4th - Okaloosa Island

We headed down to Okaloosa Island for the 4th of July. We have discovered the beauty of going later in the day when we take a beach excursion. It is WONDERFUL. We usually head out in the later part of the afternoon and stay until sunset. It is so nice. We arrive as everyone is beginning to wrap up their day. It is so peaceful to watch the night roll in. The kids love and so do we and no one gets sunburned!

John's brother and his family came over for the weekend. The cousins all love to playing together and it is always painful when they leave.

My kids would live in the water if I let them!

Sterling ALWAYS finds treasures that he wants to take home as pets.

And Baby Andrew is growing up much too quickly! He is 10 months! He is still a very content little boy. He sat on the beach on a towel just playing with his toys. He isn't too interested in going any where yet ie crawling/walking which is aok for me!

Happy Father's Day 2009

Happy Father's Day John!! What every dad who lives on the Florida coast needs....an over flowing ice cream Sundae and his own snorkel and flipper set! Thanks for being a great father to our children. We love you!

We also had the awesome opportunity to have a great friend come and visit us for the weekend! We spent the three days prior to Father's Day living on the beach...We had a great time and can't wait for Sam to come again!!

ZZZZZ's

I found these pictures as I was sending a bunch to winkflash....I had forgotten about them and had to post them. The girls love sleeping together which is not always a plus...meaning that usually talk too much. There are times they are separated but for the most part they are pretty good bunk mates.

Sterling is SO ready to have a brother to sleep with. . . until then, he has his son named "Bobby" to cuddle. Sterling has "adopted" one of the girl's baby dolls. For the most part, we don't see much of Bobby but every once in awhile you will find him in Sterling's arms.

This picture of Andrew is the greatest! John captured this one night when Andrew was sleeping. Obviously, he wasn't too fond of the flash! He was 6 months here!

Dolphin Cruise

Yes you read that correctly...when you live in Florida....you go on a Dolphin Cruise field trip. Since I went with Julia's class, John went with Caroline. They had a great time. You can see how beautiful the water was and what they were able to see. They had an awesome time.

I couldn't help but add this picture of Sterling...Waiting at the little red school for Mrs. Cynthia (one of his preschool teachers).