Happy Birthday/Weddings!

We had a big day yesterday. For Alexa's 1st birthday, we spent about 5 hours at the Salt Lake temple.

In the morning, Kyle (Brad's brother) and Sachi got married. It was a very nice ceremony, and they seemed very happy.

In the afternoon, Brandon (Cassi's brother) and Lauren got married. It was also a very nice ceremony, because it was the same as the first (same sealer). They looked happy too.

It was sooooo cold though! I thought I would die while we took pictures. I think Alexa cried nonstop through the second round of pictures.

We were happy to be at our brothers' weddings. They both found great girls.

Since we didn't get to celebrate Alexa's birthday yesterday, we had a little party in Idaho on Wednesday with Aunt Moff and the Mumford cousins.

Alexa got her very first cupcake. This is how it went:

She was the happiest girl ever! She ate the whole cupcake. She even wanted to eat the wrapper and got mad when I took it away.

Home For the Holidays

We packed everything up in the apartment, put it in storage, and headed home for the holidays. We headed out on Tuesday and got to Pleasant Grove, UT that night so we could be there on Wednesday when my sister Stephanie went through the temple. Congratulations Steph!! It was a nice day. All the siblings got to be there, except for Aaron, but he's having too much fun in Camaroon.


We've been in Garland for the past couple days and it's been freezing cold! We finally took Alexa outside to play in the snow (she's never experienced it before). Grandpa and Grandma Anderson helped get her all bundled up.


And no, we didn't have boots, so we used plastic bags with socks over them. It worked nicely.

We took a couple of laps around the backyard on the sled. I think Alexa liked the ride. She's fine with snow as long as she doesn't have to touch it (so, I guess she's not really fine with it).

With snow on the ground, it actually feels like Christmas is coming this year!

Proof

Here's proof that we have a monkey for a daughter. Who knows maybe she'll grow up to look like her dad (see post below). People always say she looks more like him anyway.

Evolution-Science

Well, I’ve been busy. Busy proving Darwin right.

About 2 weeks ago, I got a pix from my friend Bryan. Bryan and his wife, Coree, have 2 kids, a 2 ½ yr old named Dane, and a 1 ½ yr old named Ashlee. We used to hang out with them all the time when they lived in Mesa (they recently moved to or near Apache Junction), so Dane knew us pretty well.

Here’s where Darwin comes in. Take a look at the message and picture he sent me:

"LOL! Dane said.... 'hey, its brad.' .....LOL!"

Little Helper

I have a pretty good little helper these days. Alexa has been helping me with all the chores. I don't know what I ever did without her.


She helps me...

...do the laundry

...unpack the suitcase

...make dinner

...clean the bathroom

And she's even started feeding herself!

I know... I'm the luckiest.

Alexa and I took a little trip to the DI a couple days ago. I got her her own cell phone so she can talk to her people while I talk to mine. I know, what is the world coming to?! (Just for the record, she won't be getting a real one until she can pay for it herself.)

She didn't put it down all day. She was so happy!

Oh, and I tried putting her hair into pigtails for the first time. She looks like she has antennas.

Little Fairy

Here are some Halloween pictures. Thanks to my good friend Melissa who let us borrow the costume, Alexa got to be a cute little fairy.

The headband lasted about 1 1/2 seconds, but at least I got one shot with it on.

This is What Happens When You Go to Law School

You're able to sleep anywhere! (Notice that the bed is only 2 feet away.)

My first tag!

Sorry Staci, sometimes I don't check my blog for long periods of time because I'm internetless at home still.

QUIRKY
I have been tagged to see how quirky I am:

1) I have to have the bathroom towels hung up just right with the folded edges facing inward or I go crazy. That was one of the first things I taught Brad after we got married.

2) Whenever I walk up steps (if there are more than 5) I always count them. I don't know...I just love to count! I would have rocked that "Detour" on the Amazing Race.


I'm pretty sure I have more than just these two things, but that's all I can think of right now. I'll have to ask Brad and then add to the list.

I tag: Kim W. and Hannah O.

And....it's finished!!!!

After 5 long months of training, Brad's crazy goal of running a marathon (26.2 miles) was finally accomplished! He and his brother Kyle ran the Top of Utah marathon on Saturday and finished in just over 4 hours. I'm so glad I got to be there to see them finish. It was a big party at the finish line. Here are a couple videos:


The first one is of Kyle and the second of Brad. I have to appologize for the bad video job. I don't have any skills.

Here are the two of them after finishing. I took it as a good sign that they were still standing.

When I asked how the race went Brad said, "I don't think I'll ever run another marathon."

I think I'm ok with that.

While we were in St. George a couple weeks ago, we got to stop and say hi to my mission buddy Tanner and his wife Stacy. They have a little boy named Alex who is 2 months older than Alexa. Look how cute!

On 9-11 they set up 2,996 flags at a park in Tempe. Attached to each flag was a picture and a little bio of each person that had died. Brad and I went and took a look at it. It was an awesome sight and sure made things more real. The pictures don't do it justice.

Sick Kitty Eye

This is my new favorite picture of Alexa.

I went in to get her out of her crib one morning a few weeks back, and she had sick kitty eye. (The term “sick kitty eye” came from my friend, Jamila, from Utah State. Credit where it’s due.) She wasn’t sick, at least she didn’t have the flu or a cold or anything like that, just sick kitty eye. The best part was that Alexa had the BIGGEST grin on her face, like she didn’t even notice that anything was wrong. It was great. I just had to take a picture.

Random Rocky

One of my coworkers sent me this random link yesterday. It took me a couple of goes to figure out what Judge Rocky is saying.



"You betrayed the law." I wish I spoke Russian so I could understand what Drago says back to him. All I hear is a growl/hiss.

Yummy Beets!

The day before we left Utah, we went to visit Grandpa and Grandma Anderson. They were getting beets ready to be pickled. Alexa seemed interested, so we thought we'd let her try one. Personally I think they taste like dirt, but we thought she could decide for herself. She loved it as you can see from the pictures below!












Apparently she likes the taste of dirt.

No Internet

So, our friends that were letting us use their wireless MOVED!! Life is hard without internet. I guess we're going to have to take some long breaks from blogging, so don't feel too bad if we don't post new things for weeks at a time.
We're just going to have to find new neighbors to take advantage of. Hopefully it won't be too long.
So long for now...

Fun in Clifton

We got to go to Clifton this past weekend to spend time with the Mumfords. Alexa's cousins made sure she felt right at home.

Abram gave her pretend water.



Mitchell was very good at sharing the toys.



Max, Fielding, and McKay taught her how to play croquet.



And... she got to hang out with Aunt Moff!



We love the Mumfords!!!

Wheat and Beet Days

We got to enjoy Garland's annual Wheat and Beet Days last Saturday. We got to see a parade in the morning and fireworks at night.

At the parade with Uncle Dave, Aunt Melissa and Cousin Titus...
We got LOTS of candy!









At the fireworks...

Most babies will give you some sort of reaction when they see fireworks - not Alexa. She just stared at the first few and then lost interest. No fun!





Alexa loved playing with Titus and Kiyona. They are very nice to her.

Little Thief

Alexa is already starting to steal toys - poor Jake. Brad must have taught her that trick when I wasn't looking.