Jack's Blessing Day

This last weekend was a busy and special weekend for our family. What started as a few of our family coming into town for the weekend, ended up as a Anderson family reunion. I am so glad it did! It was fun to have family in from Arizona, Idaho, and even Arkansas that we don't get to see very often. I am glad that we have special events like a baby blessing that gives us an excuse to get together.

Shad's brother Ryan flew in from Arkansas on Friday followed by Shad's brother Ricky and his family and his dad and stepmom from Arizona. His brother Marc and his family from Idaho made it here on Saturday night, followed by his brother Brent and his family from Spanish Fork. If you have lost count, that makes 5 boys with only one unaccounted for, Scott, his brother in North Carolina. It is not very often anymore that they all get together, maybe only once or twice a year. Shad's grandma Baumgarten also came up from Orem whom most of us had not seen in 2 years or more. Jack was named after her husband, Shad's grandpa. These, and many other reasons, were why this weekend was so special.

At any given time we had at least 2 of the families staying over night with us. It was a bit crowded, but overall I think it worked out pretty well. After this weekend though, Shad and I decided that our next house needs to be at least a 5-6 bedroom house so that we can accommodate all of our family so that no one needs to get a hotel room. We would love to be elected as the Anderson family headquarters where everyone can get together.

Sunday was Jack's baby blessing in church. There were 2 other baby blessings that day, so the chapel was super crowded, especially since our family took up 1/4 of the chapel. I really appreciated all of the family that drove distances to come up and see us. All of my family is about an hour away, so it did take some time. Shad gave a beautiful father's blessing. I am proud to have a husband who holds and honors his priesthood and can give my children blessings. It truly brings a spirit into our home.

After church everyone headed to our 3 bedroom 2 bath house. We ended up squeezing in about 30-35 people. Overall I didn't think it wasn't too crowded though. Our house is set up in such a way that everyone could sit and relax in different areas of the house and still feel part of the party. There definitely wasn't a shortage of food either thanks to all that helped out (my mom and dad especially, I couldn't have done it without them :) It was fun to have a little superbowl party afterwards, although I didn't watch a second of it, just enjoyed the company and played games with the girls.

When Monday morning rolled around I was sad to see our family leave, but glad to get my house back into order. I love living in a clean house where I have the control. Although, I would gladly sacrifice that control for a weekend to have my family surrounding me. Thanks to all who came. We love you!

Sweet 2-yr-old Abi holding Jack who weighs almost as much as her!

Crazy Anderson cousins

My cousin Amelia and baby Jack

Jack with Grandma Evans