Christmas programs at school

This last week was the school Christmas performances. It was a busy week for us! Rachel is involved in orchestra and choir. She plays the violin.

Here she is playing one of her songs.

This is a great picture! What a beautiful violinist! She played so beautifully, and she also had a solo....the only one of the night! It was perfect!

Here she is with the choir getting ready to sing. The choir did a great job singing the holiday songs!

The next night was Daniel's turn. He sang a bunch of songs with the entire third grade.

Looking good Daniel!

We are very proud of both Rachel and Daniel! It is fun to see their musical abilities improve and develop!

Beautiful Lights at Temple Square

You can't visit Salt Lake City during the holidays without visiting Temple Square. It is the most beautiful place! So many lights and decorations...it takes your breath away!

Doesn't the temple look spectacular? (I'm quite proud that I actually took this picture!)

The reflecting pool

We love the lights on Temple Square! What a great way to start the holiday season!

Music and the Spoken Word

We have always wanted to go to a live showing of the Mormon Tabernacle's Music and the Spoken Word, and what better time to do that than at Christmas! Temple Square is so beautiful this time of year!
Here is the choir after performing. It was so beautiful!

Lloyd Newell, the spokesman for the choir talking to us.

Here is the whole choir afterwards.

Here we are in the tabernacle. This was a great experience for all of us.

After the choir performance, we went over to the Visitor's Center to visit the beautiful Christus. What a perfect start to our Sunday!

Rachel's Pierced Ears!

Rachel has wanted to get her ears pierced for awhile now, but was quite scared of the initial jolt. This held her back. But here we were, on vacation, in Utah, WITH AUNT MARILYN......she had to do it! The conditions were perfect! She knew that if she was with her mom and her crazy aunt, she could face anything!
Here she is, at Claire's before it all went down. She is looking quite confident.

It's getting closer....they are actually marking her ears. She is getting a bit more nervous.

Don't you love that face? She is quite nervous, but determined. Both ears were pierced at the same time.

Look at THAT face!!! I DID IT!!! What cute ears! She handled it like a pro! (Too bad mom almost fainted!) She loves her pierced ears and we were all proud of her for facing her fears! Good job Rachel! :)

More Utah Fun!

So here are some fun snow pictures from our recent trip to Utah. The day after we got there, it snowed! Rachel and Daniel were sooooo determined to build a snowman. Well, if you've ever experienced Utah snow, it's more like powder!

Here we are trying to get some snowballs started. We were pretty persistent...

Look at him! He's coming together!

The nose....a carrot of course!

SUCCESS!!! Doesn't he look great! The kids affectionately named him Rudy!

Here is Rudy in all his glory! I think he is pretty cute! We had such a great time in the snow! This was Rachel and Daniel's first snowman! They loved it!

Thanksgiving! (Farley style)

Here is Thanksgiving Farley style. After filling up with all the Anderson's, we headed to Bob and Kimi's home in Bountiful for the Farley's Thanksgiving. It started around 3:30. There were around 50 people there, and for those of you who don't know, we were missing quite a few! It was such a great time!

Here is one table, filled with lots of Farley's.

Here is one of the "cousin" tables.

Here is another table...there are people everywhere!

More crazies....especially you, Doug! Thanks for sharing!

Here is Jed and his Dad, Richard. (Richard is Sue's oldest brother....and the maker of all the pies!!!) Richard is an amazing dessert maker! He has mastered the art of baking! No one does it better! He had over 20 pies....10 different options. They were so good!

Here are the whip cream flippers! If you really want to know...just ask! It was so hilarious! Whip cream on the arm....flip it up....try to catch it in your mouth...you get the picture? Messy and very funny!

All in all, Thanksgiving was such a great day! We were surrounded by both sides of our amazing family, and we loved every minute of it! We are truly grateful for all our blessings!

Thanksgiving! (Anderson style)

We were so blessed to be in Utah for Thanksgiving, surrounded by all our family. We had a very full day and was able to see both sides of our family. We started the day off with the Anderson's. The big meal was at noon, and we had everyone there - all 20 of us. I think this is the first time we have had everyone together for this holiday.

Cute Chiara, Rachel and Megan - cousins - anxiously awaiting the yummy food!

Brian's mother spending a quiet moment writing messages to all her posterity.

Here is the whole group! What a great looking family!

Here is Ken and Paul taking the "after the big meal" nap. It was very relaxing!

We feel so grateful to have been here for Thanksgiving! We love our family and loved sharing in the holiday with everyone!

Utah Trip - SNOW!!!

We just returned from a two week trip to Utah to celebrate Thanksgiving with our family. The day after we arrived it snowed! This is the first snowstorm that Rachel and Daniel remember. They were so excited!!!



Here we are the next morning ready to play in the snow! It was so beautiful!

Rachel making her first ever snow angel!

Daniel's snow angel.

What a great way to start our vacation! That was the only snowstorm during the entire two weeks we were there. Rachel and Daniel really wanted to play in the snow, and they got their wish!

Happy Halloween!

Here is our fun Halloween pictures! We had a great time, both Friday night and Saturday. Friday was our ward party, and Brian and I actually dressed up....first time in our entire 14 years of marriage! It was pretty fun...for Halloween. (I am not a huge fan of this holiday!) Here is Rachel...the good witch! She looked so great! Everyone loved her costume! Click on the picture and check out her purple eyelashes!

Here is Daniel, the ninja! His costume had two swords and two knives in a cool pack on his back. He had some pretty good ninja moves as well!

Here is Brian as Dracula! I think he looks great (or awful...as dracula is pretty ugly!) Brian did his own makeup and hair...it doesn't even look like him! I guess that's what makes a great costume!

Here I am...the black widow witch. (I made that up!) It was a fun costume, and actually looked better at the beginning of the night. (This was taken at the end of the party.)

And we can't leave out Daisy! She made the cutest witch of all! Too bad she hated having that hat on! We all think she looks adorable!

All in all, it was a great Halloween! Lots of candy, friends, trick-or-treating, and more candy! Hope you all had as much fun as we did!

Volleyball...our new favorite sport!

Volleyball season here in Clovis has just ended, and Rachel was on the Junior Varsity team at her school. We are so proud of her and how well she did! First of all, she didn't want to be involved in any sport. After encouraging her, she decided to try volleyball. She started the season not being able to serve the ball over at all, and ended the season's last game serving six over in a row! It has been amazing to see her progress in this sport and learn to love it!

Rachel and her best friend, Abby...cheering her on!
Coach Williams and Rachel at their last game. We love Coach Williams!!

Getting ready to serve the ball over. That was the hardest thing to learn for these girls. Usually the team who could serve over the best won the game.

Another game, another serve. I love to see her concentration!

Here is one of her mighty serves! This one actually made it over the net!

Waiting for an oncoming ball...she was pretty good at bumping over the balls!

Another attempt at serving. I think she has pretty good form! :)

Notice her look of concentration? It seems to always be with her lips pursed. I love it!

Coach Williams giving the team a pep talk! Go Mustangs!!! I am so proud of Rachel for giving volleyball a try, and for giving it her all! She was a great team player and really progressed throughout the season. We all wish the season lasted a bit longer! Good job Rachel!