The Sanders

We are still here!

2012-01-07T11:23:00.001-06:00

My awesome sister in law ... Stephanie Felker ... captured these pics of Amelia Jane Sanders. It is hard to believe that she is now 5 months! What a blessing she has been to our family. She is such a delight and has so blessed our family in so many ways.

Sanders at their home away from home on the Beach

2010-06-14T23:23:00.000-05:00

Palm Sunday Reenactment!

2010-03-28T19:39:00.001-05:00

Click here

Andrew's Happenings.

2010-02-28T22:01:00.004-06:00

Andrew loves his room service. HERE he's found taking a nice blankie ride around the living
room.

HERE, we find him talking on the secret Banana bat phone. Great times!

Twitter Video of Sterling WRASTLIN

2010-02-23T21:11:00.003-06:00

Check out this LINK to see Sterling schooling his opponent. . . . He has the lighter colored red shirt.

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

2009-12-27T22:47:00.002-06:00

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...

2009-12-24T21:03:00.003-06:00

Andrew

2009-12-18T12:48:00.000-06:00

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

Some December Highlights

2009-12-16T17:07:00.000-06:00

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!

2009-08-22T17:13:00.000-05:00

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

2009-08-02T16:38:00.000-05:00

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

2009-07-30T22:08:00.000-05:00

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

2009-07-30T21:00:00.000-05:00

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!

2009-07-27T21:32:00.000-05:00

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?

2009-07-22T17:21:00.000-05:00

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!

2009-07-13T17:25:00.000-05:00

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...

2009-07-05T22:48:00.000-05:00

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

2009-07-05T22:36:00.000-05:00

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

2009-06-21T17:01:00.000-05:00

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

2009-05-25T21:36:00.000-05:00

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

2009-05-25T21:12:00.000-05:00

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).

What have we been up to?

2009-05-25T21:03:00.000-05:00

End of the school year....means LOTS of coming and going! Sterling recently graduated from his preschool...he has been in an awesome program and the Children's Montessori School. He has LOVED it. We have loved it too. The above pictures are from his graduation night...he HAD to wear his suit since he said his "graduation clothes didn't come in the mail?" I guess he was waiting on a cap and gown?

As a fourth grader, Caroline had the opportunity to complete her first science fair project! She was pretty excited about it. She titled it "Biggie or Smallie". She compared the growth that plants would have in just water verses water and soil. She was one of the top ten projects in the 4th grade.

Julia has just about completed 2nd grade and by her picture you can tell that she is more than ready to be done! Summer here we come!

He doesn't even have a say!

2009-05-25T21:00:00.000-05:00

The girls cannot help themselves...poor Andrew. They are always up to something...As you can see, he does not mind being their personal baby doll. Hard to believe Andrew is 8 months already!

Andrew has two teeth!

2009-05-25T20:41:00.000-05:00

I found this video off of Caroline's camera....So glad that Andrew's big sis is documenting his life! I thought it was pretty cute. His bottom two teeth broke through about 3 weeks ago. I hate to see the teeth in his gumline....I love baby gums.

Caroine is a photographer!

2009-05-10T21:31:00.001-05:00

Yes these are all random pictures....you might be wondering what they have to do with each other....they were all taken by the same photographer...aka Caroline. Caroline has been saving her money and finally had enough to purchase her own digital camera. She has LOVED having it and takes it just about everywhere. These are some of the random pictures she has taken. She is figuring out how it works and the different options. In fact the picture taken by Caroline of Sterling was per his request .... "Caroline, take my picture in Sepia".... nothing like being educated in the digital work of photography! I had to include the crazy self portrait picture that Caroline took of she and Julia...Classic isn't it? I am sure she will LOVE that I have posted that on our blog. And yes that is her little toy aka Andrew. She is always caring him around and is always playing with him. He is better than her baby dolls. He obviously isn't big enough yet to ride on this little walker but Caroline rigged it up to make it so he doesn't fall off. As you can see, he doesn't seem to mind! And the last picture was taken as we were leaving New Orleans...I thought it was a pretty nice sunset picture.

A Dip in the Water...New Orleans Style!!

2009-05-10T21:25:00.000-05:00

We had the opportunity yesterday to make a quick trip over to New Orleans for Todd's baptism. What a wonderful day it was! The kids were able to spend time with their cousins and ALL of them were so sad to leave....

I found the above picture of Todd on Caroline's camera....The ward building that Cary and Katrina usually meet in is being rebuilt so they are meeting in an old building that use to belong to the RLDS church. My kids thought the font was pretty cool...it was up behind the podium. I was surprised with as much excitement there was between my kids and Cary and Katrina's that no one fell in!

Reading can be dangerous!

2009-05-06T09:49:00.000-05:00

The other night the kids were misbehaving and I sent them to their rooms to sit on their beds. Prior to sitting on her bed, Julia came into the living room to grab a library book to read. As Julia was walking back to her room, this was the conversation that Sterling had with me:

Sterling: "Mom, do you know that reading can be dangerous?"
Me: laughing to myself, "Why is that Sterling?"
Sterling: "Because you can get a paper cut."

He said this very seriously and matter of factly....no joking. We got a pretty good laugh!

Who determines the first beach trip?

2009-03-30T23:25:00.000-05:00

So I want to know who determines when it is actually warm enough to go to the beach? My kids think that ANYTIME is warm enough to head to the sandy shores. There were many spring breakers walking up and down in their swimsuits....I know they must have been FREEZING....As mentioned in another post, mom is here visiting after Julia's baptism. We wanted to make the most of her time with us so we headed to the beach today. The high was suppose to be 74.....capri weather right? That is what I told mom and I changed out of my jeans into some capris to be cool enough. However, as soon as we got on the beach...I knew that it was much too cool for me. If it was too cool for me, then I knew it would be for mom as well. So I headed back to the van to get a throw for mom and my sweater. As you can tell by the pictures, it doesn't matter to the kids what the temperature is! I am sure this is the first of many visits to the beach this summer! We are glad that Jani was able to go with us!

Jani and Andrew to the beach!

2009-03-30T23:17:00.000-05:00

Jani is in town this week!! She came down for Julia's baptism. She came to visit with the kids but also to hopefully enjoy some warmer weather....Needless to say it has been a bit cooler than desired but we have still squeezed in a quick trip to the beach...hopefully, the storms will hold off a bit tomorrow so we can either head to the strawberry patch or to Turkey Creek if it isn't washed out!

Julia Clare's Baptismal video

2009-03-28T15:15:00.000-05:00

Digestion anyone?

2009-03-18T13:33:00.000-05:00

We have quite a few scrawny little squirrels that LOVE to hangout in our back yard...destroying our yard...eating our seeds....I don't noticed it much but it bugs John. He has a little pellet gun that he will occasionally use to decrease the squirrel population. He did this the other day. After getting the squirrel, Sterling runs out after John asking him, "Dad, are we going to digest this squirrel?" Some may think we must eat squirrel in Florida....no.....he is making reference to last summer when John thought he would teach a bit of anatomy to the kids when a not so lucky squirrel came into John's view....Sterling meant to say, "Dad, are we going to dissect this squirrel?" Gotta love that kid!

Comments to go with John's post!

2009-03-14T22:29:00.001-05:00

For some reason, blogger won't let me edit the post of pictures that John just added to the blog.

Yes that is SNOW that you see and yes we are still in FLORIDA??? So how did the two meet? My cousin Jack is stationed at Hurlburt Airforce Base about 40 minutes from here. He was home the weekend of March 1st visiting his family in Memphis, TN. March 1st was also Julia's birthday. As we were finishing up her birthday dinner, we got a phone call from Jack telling us that he had a surprise for the kids. The night before it snowed 8 inches in Memphis. Jack put a cooler out to catch the flakes throughout the night. The next day when he hit the road to travel back, he packed the cooler in the back of his truck with snow all around it to keep it cold. He arrived about 8 at night and the snow was still snow! The kids did not know what he was bringing and boy were they surprised. Sterling had never seen snow and it had been about 3 years since the girls had seen snow. The had an AWESOME time with the snow Jack! In fact, Sterling asked Jack today if he could go back to his house and bring some more snow....guess we need to make some trips up north next year???

Julia celebrated her 8th birthday on March 1st. How quickly time has flown! She has been such a blessing in our lives...our little baby JuJu. Caroline was almost two and could not say Julia so she became JuJu for a bit. She is a beautiful girl with a tremendous spirit of righteousness that blesses our home. She is a hard worker and tries so hard to always choose the right. She will be baptized at the end of the month when my mom comes to visit. She is so excited. She is a wonderful little mother to her baby brother Andrew, an awesome playmate to Sterling, and the best of friends with Caroline. How we love you baby JuJu!!

The other picture is of some "Colby" cheese. The other morning Sterling asked if he could have some "Wachovia Cheese" for breakfast...it was quite funny....

Goings on and some pics. . . maybe Jan will add commentary

2009-03-14T17:44:00.001-05:00

Happy 2nd Birthday Sweet Angel Baby Kathryn!

2009-02-21T13:17:00.000-06:00

Happy 2nd birthday sweet angel baby Kathryn McKay!! We have had the opportunity to celebrate Kathryn's second birthday. How quickly time has passed but how slowly it has passed was we all so desire to be with her again. I am slow to post this but wanted to recognize Kathryn and the tremendous blessing she was and continues to be in our family. I chose to post some pictures from the day she came into our family 02/21/07 and her blessing day. Two pretty significant days. I have included pictures of each of the children with Kathryn just moments after they met her. We had Kathryn at 6:30 in the morning so the kids went all through school before they were able to meet their brand new sister. They were so excited and could hardly wait. John wanted to bring them back that morning, but I was up throughout the night with labor and wanted to sleep when I could. As you can see from their faces, they were more than thrilled to meet her and hold her.

Kathryn Race

2009-02-21T13:06:00.000-06:00

This past January we sat down as a family to set some goals. One of the goals that both of the girls had was to run a 5K. Now this was something that Caroline completed last year but she wanted to do another 5K and this was a new goal for Julia. Sterling just wanted to do a fun run (1 mile).

As we were looking at the races in the area, we noticed there was a 5K on Kathryn's birthday. What great gift to give to each other and to her! So we decided we would sign up and run the race. We didn't have much preparation time as I spent time in Missouri but after I got back, we spent some time at the track that is just down the street from our house. Sterling and Julia would run/walk the 3 miles while Caroline kept running and running. One of the days she was running, she ran 6 miles and wanted to run more but I made her stop. I was concerned she would injure herself and she would not be able to run the race.

We got to the race with only 5 minutes to start which was not good for warm ups or for actually starting with the pack. But we made due. I took off pushing Andrew and running with Caroline while John stayed with Sterling and Julia. Caroline was able to improve her time from December by about a minute. She was pleased but bummed that it was not as fast as she wanted. Julia and Sterling completed the race which was great. Julia had one of her good friends join in on the race at mile #2 which totally helped her along the way....Thanks Emily!! Sterling spent quite a bit of time on John's back as he would run as hard as he could and then was much too tired to walk any further. In order to keep up, John hauled him.

John's brother and his family, his parents, and our dear friends the Nelson's came to cheer us on. It was a great way to start the day out.

It is RSV Season!

2009-02-08T11:28:00.000-06:00

The start of last week Andrew started coughing, sneezing, eyes watering....the whole nine yards. On Wed we went for a well check and we thought he might have RSV. However, because it was a well check they could not screen him for RSV. So on Thursday we went back as his cough had progressed, had a rattly chest, and was just not pleasant. They swabbed his nose and YEP it was RSV. He received a breathing treatment at the office and they sent us home with breathing treatments to done 3 times a day plus an antibiotic to make sure his RSV/Broncholitis did not turn south into pneumonia. Needless to say he has been a great sport. Most of the time he just sits in my lap without fusing for the duration of the treatment. He is sleeping in his carseat as it is more upright than his crib and I have been sleeping on a mattress on his floor. So we are looking forward to him feeling better and me moving back into my own bed! We follow up on Wed with his physician.

Don't you just love Sterling's "eyes". The girls have sleep masks that we call "their eyes". Sterling has always wanted a pair. However, I was unable to find a pair that were boyish until this summer. We found these this summer and I knew they were a keeper. Yes they may be made out of satin but they are BLUE and have a GREEN frog on them. Sterling loves them. He doesn't wear them very often because they are usually lost between his bed and the wall. But when he does find them he stores them on Mater's eyes (his night light at the side of his bed).

Time to say goodbye!

2009-01-27T11:24:00.000-06:00

I had to include this too cute picture of Audrey with Andrew. Because Andrew and Sarah only live about 45 minutes away from my mom I had the opportunity visit with their family the most. I spent the night with them before I flew home. I had a great time reading one of Audrey's favorite library books with her about Cinderella. She actually fell asleep in my arms...It was nice to be able to spend a little extra time with her.

Thanks mom and Otto for the visit! It was great to visit and we sure love both of you.

Just for you Lauren!

2009-01-25T11:15:00.000-06:00

This is for you Lauren! Sarah and the girls so graciously picked me up from the airport in St Louis when I flew in to Missouri. Some may say that is an easy task...but as I recall the days of driving and driving with small kids...it is not always so. But Sarah graciously came! When we met up in the airport, all Lauren could say, is "Baby, baby, baby"... she clearly wanted baby Andrew. All was well UNTIL we all climbed into the car and started driving. Sarah was driving, I was in the passenger seat, Lauren was sitting behind her mom, Andrew behind me and Audrey was in her own world in the back seat. We pull out of the airport on to the interstate and Lauren starts crying and crying and keeps looking at me....it doesn't seem to matter anymore that she helped pick up the baby at the airport. The only thing she can see is me and NOT her mom....I offer her snacks and toys....she keeps crying....so I decide maybe I should try and "hide" from her. SO I go and join Audrey in the back seat. Worked like magic! Every once in a while she would look back at me and start crying again but for the most part, she was so scared of that lady they picked up in the airport.

Lauren wanted to hold Andrew so much...always saying....baby, baby, baby. She would do her little bum scoot to get to him and would hold on to him. The morning we left to go back to airport we left before Lauren woke up. I asked Andrew if she asked for "the baby" when she woke and she did!

I also had to post the pictures of Lauren with the wipes. She LOVES on anything with a picture of a baby on it....explaining the wipes in her hands. I thought it was too cute and wanted to capture it on my camera but I had to take just about 5 pictures to finally get one with her eyes OPEN.

Andrew and Andrew

2009-01-25T10:59:00.000-06:00

Andrew meets Andrew....In choosing the names for our children, we have always tried to choose one that has significance. After losing Kathryn, we had mixed feelings having Andrew. . . or at least I did. I struggled having a new baby when I really wanted Kathryn in my arms. In my family there are 7 kids. The first 4 were born in 2 1/2 years...which means there is one set of twins (I am one of them) and then I have a sister that is 11 months behind us. Needless to say, life was a bit difficult for my mom at that time as my dad was a resident and she was basically rasing 4 kids on her own that were so close in age. During my dad's last year of residency Andrew was born...3 1/2 years after Katie was born. Andrew was very good natured and a very happy baby. Mom and dad would often wake him up after they had put the rest of us to bed to play with us. In naming our Andrew, I knew that I needed one that would bring that same peace and happiness to my soul....thus his name became Andrew.

Colton's family with Andrew x2 9can't figure out how to delete it!

Andrew with a 4 of the 7 girl cousins that were born before him. Looks like he is already voicing his objections..Kayley Bell (31/2), Audrey Felker (3 1/2), Cora Bell (18 m0), Lauren Felker (13 m0)

Visiting Aunt Margaret and Meeting with the Bells

2009-01-25T10:52:00.000-06:00

John has a great Aunt that lives about an hour from my mom. She is 90 years old and just had a DOUBLE knee replacement in November. Because we were so close, we decided to head down for an afternoon visit. We had a great time and I had to literally twist Aunt Margaret's arm to let her take a picture of the two of them together. She told me I had to stand way back by the fridge. I honored her request but I didn't tell her I was going to zoom in....

The other two pictures are of Colton's two girls. She and her family came over to meet baby Andrew. Kayley is 3 1/2 and Cora is almost 18 months. She and Andrew weigh the same!

The last picture is of my mom with Andrew. Doesn't she look great!

few pics at other blog

2009-01-19T23:29:00.000-06:00

Here are a few pics at our little outdoor adventure blog. . . Enjoy.

http://alifelongpursuit.blogspot.com/

Saying goodbye at the end of the day

2009-01-19T10:47:00.000-06:00

Saying goodbye at the end of the day! Our visit with the Carle's was much too short....No one wanted to go home but they were all a good sport. Andrew was so good as you can see...being passed literally from one set of arms to the next. My arms sure appreciated the assistance!

As mentioned in a previous post, Olivia is almost 12, Judson is 9 1/2, Edward is 7 1/2 and baby Katrina is almost 2.

Meeting the Carles!

2009-01-19T10:36:00.000-06:00

Because of work schedules and school schedules, visits with my siblings and their families were relatively short...most just the afternoons. The last two pictures on the blog are two of my favorites. Edward's youngest Mallory will be 2 in April and is just tiny tiny. She wanted to hold Andrew so much. As you can see, they are just about the same size. I think there is only two pounds difference...Mallory weighing in around 19 pounds and Andrew in around 17 pounds. I love the picture of their hands. It doesn't really do the comparison justice but it is close.

On Martin Luther King's birthday Jessica and her clan came over for the day from Kansas City. Uncle Jud got a "Big Mac" to get a picture with his nephew "Big Mac" aka Andrew McKay...

Olivia is my oldest niece on my mom's side. She will be 12 in August. YIKES!!! She is sporting the cutest pair of glasses. The kids did not come with me on my trip to Missouri. They stayed home with dad and they moved in with John's parents for the duration of my trip. Thanks Donna! However, when Caroline looked at the picture of Olivia, she said to me, "Mom, Olivia looks like a teenager!" She almost is!

The other picture is of Jessica and her youngest baby Katrina. Katrina is one of the baby girls that followed the birth of our daughter Kathryn. There have been times and visits with our family that have been difficult for John and myself because of losing Kathryn. I know I will always watch these 5 other little girls and will always wonder how she would mingle with them and what she would be doing. Katrina is 9 weeks younger than what Kathryn would be if she were here. This visit was easier for me than any of the other visits have been. I am sure it has a lot to do with time and because my arms are full again. We love and miss you baby girl....

Caroline Meets Claudio R.M. Costa of the Presidency of the 70

2009-01-19T08:56:00.001-06:00

Yesterday was our Stake Conference at church. For those of you that are not familiar, it's a large gathering of church members from all over the region into one location to listen to regional and occasionally worldwide leaders of our church. It was a wonderful experience. In this case one of the worldwide leaders was in attendance. He is Elder Claudio R.M. Costa from the Presidency of the Seventy. The speakers were amazing and the Spirit of the Lord was especially strong. Elder Costa talked about a poor family near Recife Brazil where he is from and some of the sacrifices they had made to dedicate their lives to the Lord. I enjoyed the meeting and his remarks. It is truly amazing that even though his English was broken his words penetrated our hearts and strengthened us all. Despite the large crowd that surrounded him for the first 30 minutes or so after the conference, I was hopeful to allow the girls to shake his hand and have that experience. Sterling lasted about 8 seconds after the Amen of the closing prayer. He took off to who knows where. I guess I was asking a lot of him to stand next to me in a crowd after 2 hours of great behavior, about half of which he pretended that my pen was airplane. Julia was interested for about the first 15 minutes of waiting and then got nervous and found grandma. So Caroline and I stuck it out. As we were waiting I reminded Caroline of a previous conversation that had occurred watching conference reruns at Grandma and Grandpas house one Sunday. I reminded her that this man, whom we were about to meet, was among a few of the Lords elect and select few, and that he was among the finest men on the earth today. God had preserved and selected him to come a hemisphere away in these Latter Days to share that message and that it was worth the wait. She looked up at me and smiled, waiting patienty. She is going on 10 and has grown up this year in leaps and bounds.

Finally, Elder Costa made his way to where we were waiting. I greeted him warmly, introducing myself and Caroline. He was genuinely interested and friendly to us both, as if he had all day to talk. As he shook Caroline's hand he said,

"What a beautiful smile you have. You should use that beautiful smile to share the Gospel. Here's what I want you to do. . . I want you to find a missionary and get 3 pass along cards. Take them and share them with your non-member friends. Write to me about it and I will send you a speedy reply. Will you do that?"

Of course she smiled big and said, "YES!"

After conference we went home to a delicious fish and shrimp fry at Grandma and Grandpa Sanders' home and our honored guests just so happened to be non other than the missionaries. Caroline told Elder Mortenson all about the ordeal and snagged 3 pass along cards to begin her duty. He held them out like flavors of ice-cream for her to pick. She decided to pick one in particular, with a picture of the Savior to try to reactivate her home room teacher at school who hadn't attended meetings since she was a kid and just so happens to have landed on my home teaching list this month, Miss Espeseth.

Later in the evening, as she recounted the whole experience in her journal, she carefully cut out a picture from the October General Conference addition of the Ensign and wrote and said to me, "Dad this was a great day. I got to meet one of the finest men on the earth."

I couldn't help to hope and wonder what I could do as a Father to help her and my family be continually reminded that these men are truly the finest the Lord has to offer and that they in reality share his words and counsel with all of us if we will but LISTEN! Of the billions of people on our planet HE has selected but few to carry forth His mighty word. The Lords chosen servant was here in our little chapel, and he spoke the words of Christ.

I had to agree with her and said, "Yes it really was a great day."

BY THE WAY JAN ELLEN, I LOVE AND I MISS YOU!!! Baby BIGGGG. . . . COME HOME SOON!!!

Andrew goes to Missouri!

2009-01-18T10:27:00.000-06:00

During the month of January, Andrew and I had the opportunity to go to Missouri for 2 1/2 weeks. I originally was going to help my mom out postoperative after she had a tumor removed from her brain. However, as you will see in other posts, mom looks great and only needed company and assistance with driving. So we were her wheels while we were there.

While we were there, we were able to see most of my siblings. We missed Katie and her crew in Chicago and Mary Caroline and Tyson in Las Vegas. These are a few of the pictures. The first one is of Ross my 2nd oldest nephew on my mom's side (Edward's oldest). The group family picture is of Edward's family...Ross (9 1/2, Elizabeth 7 3/4, Drew 4, and Mallory 20 months. The two girls on the floor in the kitchen are Mallory once again and Lauren Felker (Andrew's 2nd).

The start of 2009!!

2009-01-05T10:19:00.000-06:00

Just a few misc pictures to start the year off. It seems that we don't seem to catch Julia as much on the camera. She reminds me of myself when I was her age. I was often dodging the camera because I did not want my picture taken or I was often seen pouting in any pictures that were taken. I hate to admit that but it is so true....pictures don't lie.

I LOVED having the kids home from school over Christmas break. I am usually ready to have everyone head back to school after a long break. However, this time, it was great to have them all home. I appreciated the help of the girls. Anytime Andrew was awake, he was more than well taken care of. Getting back into the schedule we had before Christmas break may be a bit painful....meaning Andrew may have to get use to not being held 24/7.

John has a guitar that one of his brothers gave to him. He will occassionally get it out to strum on it. Obviously, Sterling would like to do the same thing!

Some more camping pics

2008-12-31T10:11:00.000-06:00

Some more pictures from our camping adventure. As you can see the temperatures fluctuated a bit....the kids wanted to be in shorts as it was a bit warmer but it was still too cool to to just be in shorts. However, the afternoon of the 31st, the winds really picked up and it was going to be down to 31 degrees....a bit too cold for me and baby Andrew. So John's mom and I ended up heading out and headed back home. Julia joined me as well as she was "too cold". She and I had a nice evening watching a movie and bringing the new year in at 1030pm.... We were too tired to stay up any later.

You will also notice Sterling's little friend "Shell" the turtle. He LOVED this turtle and wanted to keep him and bring him home. We played with him but let him go back to his mom. Sterling shed some pretty big fat tears.

Camping

2008-12-29T10:02:00.000-06:00

John has wanted to go camping with the kids ever since we moved here. I guess since it has almost been 3 years...I finally gave in. We have camped on numerous occassions in the backyard...we all start out in the tent but mom comes back in to sleep in her own bed. There is usually one of the kids that comes in during the night. To me, I love this kind of camping...we build a fire in the back, roast some hot dogs and marshmallows and cook eggs in the morning over the stove. I love this version because I get to sleep in my own bed, have my own shower, and there is no major mess to clean up.

These are a few of the pictures that were taken on our camping trip. John's parents and their dog Coco joined us. While we were camping, there were also some really nice trails we walked on.

Anybody need a shave?

2008-12-27T09:58:00.000-06:00

John is always so busy from about October until Christmas. Every year after Christmas he usually takes at least a week off. This year we were able to enjoy daddy being around the house for almost 2 weeks. When he is home for that length of time, he is often found unshaven...not that I agree. Not only was he unshaven but so was Sterling.

Christmas Morning

2008-12-25T09:50:00.000-06:00

In my house growing up, we always had the tradition of going from youngest to oldest....meaning on Christmas Eve, the kids come in youngest to oldest to hang their stockings and to be "interviewed" by dad. This is a tradition that I always enjoyed and thus we have carried on in our family. The same happens Christmas morning. This was not what John's family did as they all just took a nose dive into the gifts that Santa left. Christmas morning, the kids come in youngest to oldest to see what Santa left in their stockings. As you can see from one of the pictures, the older children are always peeking around the corner. The pictures didn't post in the order that I desired, but you get the picture.

Misc pics

2008-12-24T09:38:00.000-06:00

For Christmas Eve we decided that we would spend the night with John's parents....yes it might have been easier to have them come than to wrap presents and take them there. However, going to John's mom's house is like going on vacation. So we grabbed a quick picture of John's mom and dad. The other two pictures are of creations that Sterling made with his friends and his castle. The other one is of Caroline's little stuffed friends.

Putting up the tree

2008-12-14T21:50:00.000-06:00

What is the weather like in Florida when it is time to put up the Christmas tree? According to Sterling it is short weather! Sterling is in his all time FAVORITE outfit...it has been his favorite outfit now for about 2 years....it was one of those clearance items I grabbed out of necessity at one point and it was definitely worth its weight in gold....EXCEPT when he wants to put it on in the mornings before church. This does happen on occasion. We move to 9 o'clock church at the start of the year so hopefully, those fights will no longer occur!

We put up our Christmas tree about a week or so ago. Putting up the tree has always been a memorable experience for me. One of my dad's cousins has given me my own ornaments each year. So when it came time to put up our tree when I was growing up, I was always excited...to unwrap the memories of Christmases from years past.

This dear and wonderful cousin has continued this tradition with my children and my nieces and nephews. Each year the kids eagerly anticipate "the Cousin Carrie" box full of ornaments. As soon as I brought the tub of ornaments out, each of them started commenting on ....I can't wait to find my snowman...I can't wait to find my ballerina or my porcelin doll...

As you can see the kids are all enjoying themselves and Andrew is growing like a weed. . . we went to see the Dr on Fri and he weighed in at 16lbs....and he was just 3 months on Friday.

Thank you Cousin Carrie for ALL of the WONDERFUL Christmas memories throughout the year!

Piano Recital 12 08

2008-12-14T21:37:00.001-06:00

Ever wonder how to keep a 5 year old BOY entertained during a piano recital?? Bring along one Grandma DaDa!! Sorry Donna for the post but I had to share the fun! I didn't even realize this was happening as I was peaceful sitting in front of them rocking Andrew! So I was surprised to find the pictures when I downloaded them.

Caroline and Julia have an AWESOME music teacher. She has received all kind of district and state wide recognition for her efforts. She has a piano lab in her room with 20 pianos, has 20 or so violins, chimes, and quite a few guitars. She teaches these instruments to the students during the day. However, after school she stays a few days of the week until 5 teaching piano lessons. The lessons are at cost but any of the money that she receives for the lessons, she puts back into the program ... paying for the violins, pianos etc...she does not pocket the money for herself.

The girls have taken lessons for the past year and a half. The girls have loved it and continue to progress nicely. Hopefully, Sterling will join them....however, from this picture, Ms. Downs may say NO! :)

Reindeer Run 08

2008-12-13T15:23:00.001-06:00

Thought I would post pictures from the Reindeer Run this morning. First of all, I can't figure out where to get rid if the underline part so forgive me! I guess the Reindeer Run has become a bit of a tradition for us here...at least for a few in our family. This morning Julia, Caroline, Sterling, and I ran the race. Caroline joined me for the 5K. This was her very first 5K and we did only ONE practice run a week ago!! Not good preparation on my part. She told me throughout the race that she thought she was going to throw up! She didn't but she did finish it in decent time. She ran it in 31:24....I ran the race with her. Originally, I wanted to do the 10K but Caroline wanted to run so I ran it with her. Boy am I glad we only did the 5K. I have only been managing about one run a week if that lately! Needless to say, I was not too pleased with my time as I ran it last year in 24:16...Drastic difference...guess having a new baby will do that to you. Julia and Sterling joined us for the fun run mile run. Julia improved her time from last year by 30 seconds. She ran her mile in 10:07 this year. I was very proud of her. Last year, Sterling chose to just cheer the girls on but ran his mile this year in 11:25 which is a vast improvement from the Spring run fun run that he did in April...he made that mile in 16:24. Overall, we had a great time. We just wish that daddy could join us! As most of you know, this is his VERY busy time of year...And a big THANKS to John's mom as she helped out with Baby Big which made it all possible.

The other picture is of John's mom in action. Last week we were just going to loan our van to use in the parade to throw donuts. When we showed up to drop the van off, we found out that she was left with no help. So we quickly helped bag over 400 donuts and rode in the parade. John's parents also came to the rescue and helped us pass out the donuts. The kids LOVED passing out donuts. Julia told me, "Mom the hardest part is trying to decide who to throw them to because everyone wants one!"

I will see if I can find the pictures from last year's Reindeer run to post.

The crew

2008-11-30T13:34:00.000-06:00

This is the Sanders crew plus one of my cousins. As you can see the boys were tired of taking pictures and were ready to get back to grandma's. I don't know how many times we managed to wrangle Sterling out of the gym and put his sweater and tie back on! My cousin Jack is stationed at an air force base just about 40 minutes away. We were able to have him join us for the occassion. It was nice to have my side of the family represented! Thanks Jack... It was nice to have John's parents with us as they were on there mission when we blessed sweet baby Kathryn. We missed having my family with us as most of them were in Missouri with mom.

Andrew McKay's blessing

2008-11-30T13:22:00.000-06:00

On November 30th we had the opportunity to bless Andrew at church. As you can see, the girls are more than excited to hold him and get their picture taken with the big ole boy.... or "baby Big" as John's mom calls him.

John's brother Cary and his family live in New Orleans so they came to join us for the Thanksgiving week. Little Lucy Adeline who is two weeks older than Andrew was also blessed on the same Sunday.

Sterling's picture was obviously taken after church. In fact, we had to convince Sterling to put
his white shirt BACK on to get a picture taken with Andrew. Sterling is basically stripping at the door if he has made it that far with his clothes on when we are coming home from church.

Everyone loves to hold a baby!

2008-11-24T15:58:00.000-06:00

These are a few random pics taken recently. EVERYONE always is asking to hold Andrew! As you can see, he doesn't seem to mind the attention. The girls LOVE to rock Andrew after school. They often use this time to be able to get their reading done while rocking Andrew. I love it because it helps me in the busy time of my day after school and they get their reading done.

Sterling loves to help with Andrew. Andrew occassionally gets a bottle and everyone loves to help him drink it. We are amazed at what he can consume.

I was talking to someone the other day and mentioned how Andrew reminds me of Clifford the Big Red dog. You may ask me why? Because if you remember the story, Clifford starts off as a small little puppy but because of all of the love that he receives he grow and grows! I think this is true of Andrew...although he didn't start off as a small little pup...

Birthday Fun

2008-11-21T10:47:00.000-06:00

Many of you may recognize the famous red wig... it has been around for quite some time. Katie (my younger sister) was Rainbow Bright one year for Halloween. This is the wig that she wore! Most of us have used it from time to time and ALL of the grandkids have had fun with it. This picture was taken at my mom's house about a year and a half ago when Mary Caroline graduated.

One of Sterling's best buddies throughout the years has been Curious George....

The other pics are from his birthday. All Sterling wanted for his birthday was a set of Hulk gloves and a "blue light saber with a spring" .... so what did he get? Not one but TWO sets of Hulk hands - one pair from his daddy and the other pair from his Papa! Secretly, I know that John and Don wanted them so they could get in on the fun. And of course, the girls wanted to get in on it as well.

Boy toys are pretty cool... The girls have now asked for their own light sabers after Sterling got his new "blue one with a spring!"

Happy 5th Birthday Sterling John!

2008-11-21T09:48:00.000-06:00

Happy 5th Birthday Sterling John! How quickly the years have flown. I share with you some of our favorite pictures (there are many) of Sterling since we have moved to Florida. If you notice in two of the pictures, he is wearing the same swim shirt. This swim shirt was worn almost daily for about 2 years.

For about 6 months we had John's parents dog Cocoa while they were on their mission. Sterling LOVES Cocoa and he is so glad that she is just down the street.

The picture of Sterling in the stroller is with his good buddy Drew. Drew and Sterling are cousins and are only 9 weeks apart. They are two peas in a pod. Whenever we get together, they pick up right where they were before! This picture was taken at Universal Studios. Drew's family came to Florida 9/06...just about 5 months after we moved to Florida. We crashed Stephanie's family vacation for a few days. We were grateful that her extended family did not mind that we joined them for a few days of fun.

The most recent picture was taken about a week ago. The girls spent a day hiking with John's parents. When they got back to their house, they were cleaning out the pool and found a little snake. Of course, Papa saw it as a great teaching opportunity and my kids saw it as great opportunity to have a pet! With the snake being nonpoisonous, we agreed to let it come home with the kids as long as it stayed in the back yard. The picture of Sterling was taken last Sunday morning. He woke up immediately, put some clothes on and headed out to play with his snake until it was time to get ready for church...

A sneak peek!

2008-11-20T11:05:00.000-06:00

Andrew will be blessed at church on Sunday, November 30th. After getting his blessing outfit, we just had to try it on him...we obviously think he looks pretty cute and are not amazed that he very easily fits into a 6-12 month outfit!

He is off the chart!

2008-11-12T20:33:00.000-06:00

I took Andrew for his 2 month check up and he is off the chart....at least his height is. He is 25 1/2 inches long and weighed in at 13 pounds and 14 ounces which moved him into the 95 percentile. He is growing much too quickly. He is sleeping until 4:45/5:00 on most mornings. I finally feel like I can think straight. He is smiling a ton and really cooing back and forth. He loves sticking out his tongue.

We obviously can't help ourselves...the kids brought out the glasses Sterling wears when he is being "Petre". Andrew looks too cute! I thought about including the picture of Sterling with his "Petre" glasses on after the fact. So the pictures are not in the right order. As I am sure you could guess, the girls might have something to do with Sterling as "Petre".

Football Anyone?

2008-11-01T21:03:00.000-05:00

I was going through the next tub of clothes for Andrew and came across this Mizzou tiger jersey. I knew I had to pull it out and thankfully I did. Obviously, it would not fit Andrew for the next Mizzou football season. Can you say linebacker anyone?

Birthday Month

2008-11-01T20:11:00.000-05:00

November is a birthday month for two of my favorite people ( I have LOTS of favorite people!). I wanted to wish Mary Caroline a happy 20th birthday....she is the coolest baby sister anyone could every have! The one thing that makes her totally UNCOOL is the fact that she is in Las Vegas and NOT down the street. AND I would like to wish Edward the best birthday ever! It is amazing that we continue to stay 11 years of age one year after another and that the month of November suddenly has 33 days this year!

Halloween Party

2008-10-31T20:59:00.000-05:00

This year Sterling has had the opportunity to attend preschool and he LOVES it. He asked on the second day of preschool if he could just spend the night!

On Halloween each child gets to dress up and make a house that goes with their costume. Each of the children then take turns going trick or treating from one house to the next. We made the nice black ninja house in the background. Sterling thought it was pretty cool until he actually saw all of the other awesome houses....a mystery machine, batcave, tinkerbell's corner, pirate ships, etc. Sorry Sterling .... Mom isn't too creative! He is pictured with one of his best buddies Wes.

Happy Birthday Katie!

2008-10-29T20:22:00.000-05:00

It is your birthday Katie! Hope it is a great day. Wish we were there to celebrate it with you. What a blessing you have been in my life as a sister....even if it always made me mad as a kid when you would tease me that we were the same age for a few weeks! I will always cherish these two pictures of you with sweet angel baby Kathryn and little Andrew.

Cheese

2008-10-28T20:56:00.000-05:00

Say Cheese! I actually wore my poodle skirt as well and even managed to find John's class ring to wear around my neck....I forgot we still had it. All I needed was his letter jacket...

Trunk or Treat

2008-10-28T20:48:00.000-05:00

The ward had a trunk or treat this year with lots of fun activities. Caroline and Sterling enjoyed trying to eat a donut on a string. I don't know if any of you have tried it but it is harder than it looks!

Sterling was a Ninja...can't see much of his face as he is hiding behind his sword.

Caroline and Julia are 50's girls with their poodle skirts.

Andrew is wearing Caroline's Cheetah costume that she wore when she was 7 months old...keep in mind he is only 6 weeks old and in 6 month clothing.

I haven't figured out how to switch the pictures the other way so I apologize!

My favorite spot

2008-10-28T20:44:00.000-05:00

Or should I say "our" favorite spot. As a mother of a nursing newborn, many hours are spent just sitting and nursing. My "spot" this time around has been on the loveseat with the computer right next to me....it is amazing what you can do with just one hand.

Too many kisses?

2008-10-26T19:11:00.000-05:00

This is often where you will find Andrew! The girls immediately snatch him up when they get home from school. Of course, he never minds being held all afternoon and evening.

Fall Festival

2008-10-25T18:21:00.000-05:00

Crestview has a fall festival downtown with trick or treating, games, face painting, food, and jump houses. We always forget to dress up but the kids always love getting their faces painted.

D is for dirty

2008-10-22T18:15:00.000-05:00

Ever wonder what your feet might look like when you only wear crocs to school? Sterling comes home filthy from school. You might wonder why? He spends most of his outside time at school digging for something. The other day I went to pick him up and he was digging up grubs from the playground and throwing them over the fence. When I told him we needed to hurry, his reply was "But mom, I have to finish digging up the grubs for Mrs. Cynthia."

L is for Lizard!

2008-10-22T18:06:00.000-05:00

Introducing Lilly the baby Lizard. This is one of the MANY lizards we have caught. Caroline and Sterling LOVE catching these guys. Sterling will often catch one a day! We have two rules 1. we only keep them for a few hours and 2. they DO NOT come into the house. The best kind of pets!

Can I Have a Turn?

2008-10-20T17:54:00.000-05:00

Sterling loves his brother very much. However, he is like most 4 year old boys....he is often doing his own thing. As a result he often "forgets" to hold Andrew. As you can tell from the picture he is really enjoying himself.

Andrew's First Sunday 10/19/08

2008-10-20T11:28:00.000-05:00

We finally took Andrew to church on Sunday. It was so fun to dress him up! He is getting so big! I think Sunday may be the last day in his cute little white shirt from Aunt Katrina. I love that his cheeks are literally hanging over the top of his shirt.

Bath Time

2008-10-20T11:16:00.000-05:00

Saturday night as we were getting everyone in and out of the tub, John had a bit of a disaster...I was filling the tub for Andrew and Sterling and I got ahead of myself...meaning I had Andrew stripped down but didn't have water in the tub yet. So John held Andrew for a bit and this is what happened! Not only did he poop on John's foot, but he also peed all over him. Needless to say, ALL of the boys needed baths!

Sleeping Kiddos

2008-10-20T10:54:00.000-05:00

I love pictures of my kids sleeping. They always are so peaceful and it reminds me of how blessed I am to be there mother. The first picture is of Caroline. She still sleeps wrapped in her blanket from Grandma DaDa. It is amazing to think that Caroline has been "wrapped" in love by this blanket for almost 10 years!

The next picture is of Sterling sleeping on his pallet next to "baby bro" as he calls him. Of course he also has his good buddy George with him. When Sterling was born, my mom and Mary Caroline showed up with this Curious George. Initially, when they showed up with him, I thought, "Great. Another stuffed animal." However, George has been one of Sterling's best friends! I will have to catch Julia next time sleeping!

2008-10-20T10:49:00.000-05:00

None of my babies have been too thrilled with a pacifier. However, Andrew has seemed to take it from time to time. He doesn't suck on it constantly but he will tolerate it until he is fed again. It has been nice to have that option. Once again, he has his hands close to his face. We have teased Sterling that he is practicing how to "put up his dukes"!

Nothing like a sleeping baby!

2008-10-20T10:42:00.000-05:00

This is one of my favorite pictures of Andrew. This was taken about two weeks ago. I love how his hands are often close to his face when he sleeps. We had quite a few ultrasounds when he was inutero. Almost every time we tried to catch an image of his face, his hands were always in front of his face.

Julia and Andrew

2008-10-08T22:10:00.000-05:00

I believe this picture was taken shortly after we brought Andrew home from the hospital.
Julia has been sick all week with a fever and has not been able to hold him. She has been good about it but she cannot wait until she is better. Hopefully, she will be the only one sick!

Almost a smile!

2008-10-08T22:03:00.000-05:00

Andrew is almost smiling . . . of course we have the grins and laughs when he is dreaming which we totally love.

2008-10-08T21:59:00.000-05:00

We made it through conference!

I think it is all in the cheeks!

2008-10-08T21:46:00.000-05:00

Andrew weighed in yesterday at 12 lbs. 2 oz. . . . He will be 4 weeks tomorrow. . . my other kids did not reach that weight until they were at least 2 months. I guess he feels like he needs to live up to his namesake already.

2008-10-08T21:19:00.000-05:00

Two boys ready for bed! This past week Sterling has insisted on sleeping next to his brother. Obviously, he cannot share his bed with him. However, he has made a pallet of blankets right next to his bed. Needless to say, Sterling cannot wait to share a room with his brother!

This is for you Aunt Stephanie!

2008-10-08T21:10:00.000-05:00

This picture is for you Aunt Stephanie! I know how much you love the newborn yawning. We haven't quite gotten a yawn on camera but how about a sneeze?? Check out that stomach all round and bulging to let it all out.

Lots of loved help!

2008-09-27T11:26:00.000-05:00

We have been lucky to have Aunt Katie here to help this week. The kids did not know she was coming to help and visit. I picked them up from school on Wed and we headed down to the Ft. Walton Airport to pick her up. We were driving through the bag claim area and out walks Katie. Julia looks over and says, "Hey that looks like Aunt Katie . . . wait that IS Aunt Katie." Needless to say, they were ALL excited to have her jump in the van with us and head home! The only request they had was, "where are your kids?" Katie has been the errand runner/homework helper/soccer mom all week. It has been great. She heads home tomorrow evening. We will be sad to see her go. Thank you Mike for sharing her with us!

Everyone loves baby Andrew

2008-09-27T11:23:00.000-05:00

The kids have LOVED every minute with baby Andrew and are always willing to help hold him or change his diapers. :) Caroline's turn to do "diaper duty" while Julia and Sterling watch.

Our newest addition

2008-09-27T11:14:00.000-05:00

Andrew McKay Sanders joins the Sanders clan! He was born 9/12/08 at 5:31pm weighing in at 9 pounds and 1 ounce and was 22 inches long. He is loved by all! He is two weeks old in this picture. :)

Happy Fathers Day Donaldus Magnus

2008-06-14T13:19:00.000-05:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

test test test

2008-06-10T21:50:00.000-05:00

Well here we are kicking against the pricks. We were slow to join the myspace wave and now that EVERYONE has a cool new post on their year old blog we are joining in as well. It is really not like me to not be on the cutting edge but I guess it just shows that I'm undergoing the necessary metamorphic changes required for me to be the prototypical out of touch dad for those ever-so fun teenage years to come. Who knows? I hope not. But here we are. We will have plenty to talk about and post about with my parents coming home, Sterling starting pre-school, and the new baby boy coming our way. I hope you enjoy.

Here's our most recent passion. THE RIVER! This is the Blackwater River State Park. It's around 200,000 acres of rivers, long leaf pine and sandy roads. The river, although stained by the pine wood and needles, is amazingly clear and the riverbed is pure white sand making it easy on the feet as you wade and fish. The kids all just got new fishing poles and are excited to go tomorrow again if the weather cooperates. Sterling was excited last week to catch his first freshwater fish, the little perch seen here. He even baited his own hook. He is a true lover of all creatures. He is fascinated with any bug and most reptiles (except for spiders after seeing the spider scene in Harry Potter). The girls are warming up to the fishing thing and are hoping that we go with an easier to bait and less slimy option of minnows over worms tomorrow. Wish us luck!