Upgrade

It has finally happened! We have become a minivan family...and couldn't be happier! As we started January we realized that our main vehicle was due to be registered. Since we were already planning on buying a van this year due to the addition to come in July we decided now was as good a time as any to upgrade. So, on January 21st we sold our beloved "silver bullet" (which we purchased 5 years ago from my dad) and went in search for the perfect van.

On the 9th of February we officially became minivan owners and went from this....

To this.....

This car is already very loved due to the amount of sacrifice we went through to get it. We test drove pretty much every mini van under the sun and knew what we liked and didn't like. We got to be pretty picky, but also knew that it would be difficult to get all of the features that we wanted for the low price that we wanted. We decided not to settle and kept looking....in the meantime sharing our 1994 green Ford Taurus. Being a one car family is HARD! I hope we never have to do that again! Or at least if we do, I hope we have a more reliable vehicle that doesn't break down on our way to Logan or in people's driveways. 

Anyway....we decided to talk to a guy in town named Don who bids for cars at auctions and then fixes them up. We decided this was probably the only way we would get exactly what we wanted for the price we wanted. He bid on this 2004 Toyota Sienna XLE Limited and won it for us! We were excited because it didn't need a whole lot of work (just a side impact accident) and would have everything for a super low price. There is no way we would have gotten this deal at a dealership. 

The van was drivable and actually not in bad shape at all. It really just needed a new sliding door, some body work around the fender, and a new axle in the back. We kind of bid on it blindly not really knowing what features it had, but it turned out even better than we thought! It has everything that we wanted including leather, low miles, a DVD player, automatic adjustable cruise control, automatic sliding doors (such a lifesaver as mom!), automatic back-hatch, stow n' go seating, 6 disk CD changer, built in window shades, sun roof, and the list goes on. Shad and I laugh that we are still trying to figure out where all of the buttons are. A new one appears everyday.

It was a leap of faith buying a car at an auction but I was so impressed with Don's work! In just 2 1/2 weeks (some of the longest weeks of my life!) it went from this...

To this...

Totally amazing to me! The door is totally automatic and functional. The paint matches perfectly, it drives smooth as butter and no one can tell the difference. Here are a few more pictures of the inside:

The DVD player has been so nice! The screen is a huge 12" screen. Haken has loved it so much that we have set a rule that we only turn it on when we go at least 30 minutes away from home.

The headrests in the middle were missing. Don is still looking to find replacements. He really has given us the best attention to detail on this van and not cut any corners.

The middle seats fold up for easier entry to the back if needed, but we usually just leave them up. Also, the back seats fold into the floor for flat storage in the back.

This van will be very loved for many years to come. I love it more each day I drive it around. I think I can deal with being a "soccer mom" if I get to drive this around.

Shad's first major exhibit!

Last Thursday we received an E-mail confirming that Shad's painting got into the international art exhibit at the Church History Museum in Salt Lake City! For those of you who may not know what the Church History Museum is, it is a large museum that has works of art as well as historical artifacts that document the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It is across the street from temple square in the center of Salt Lake City and people come from all over to visit this museum. 

Every 3 years they accept entries from all over the world into a competition to be selected to be in their exhibit. The theme for this year's exhibit is "Make known His wonderful works." They look for pieces that are different and that display the theme chosen for the year. Shad has entered in past year's competitions and not been accepted, but this year they asked to have an "in person" look at his painting and they accepted it into the exhibit. They had over 1000 entries from all over the world and only select a few to put into the exhibit.

It will be displayed at the museum from March 16th to October 14th. His painting may also be seen in future publications of the Liahona, Ensign magazines, and the Church News. So, keep your eyes out for his name and go and visit the museum to see it in person! This is such a HUGE accomplishment and I am so proud of him!

"It was good" by Shad Anderson

Treehouse Museum

Yesterday we took our new van (post to come later) on it's maiden voyage down to the Treehouse Museum in Ogden. This is one of Haken's favorite places to go. It has been a long time since we have gone and I thought Jack would actually enjoy it this time. We loaded up our van to maximum capacity and took the Mickelson's (Janese, Will, and Maddie) and Haken's friend Chloe with us. I can't tell you how nice it was to all fit in one car comfortably and with a DVD player to keep the kids happy on the way down there! 

We had such a fun day. We got there just after 10 and met up with my friend Shauna and her 2 boys and didn't leave until 12:30, because I was hungry for lunch. I think the kids would have stayed all day if we would have let them. It is amazing that there is always something new to see when we go there and we love taking new friends with us that have never been there. My mom and sister also met us up there, which I was really grateful for. I didn't realize how much of a mover Jack really is now with him walking. I felt like I had to keep a constant eye on him as well as the two other kids I had responsibility for. It was nice to have an extra 2 sets of hands and eyes to keep track of everyone.

After we left the museum we stopped at McDonalds for lunch. I was amazed at how good Jack was even though he completely missed his morning nap. He finally zonked out in the car on the way home. The kids all slept really well last night. I think we really wore them out!

Super Jack-Jack!

Princess Chloe 

King Jack on his throne

Valentine's Day

I've decided that holidays become so much more fun when you have a child in school. The hype leading up to the holiday makes it so exciting for everyone. For preschool today Haken exchanged valentines at his preschool. Instead of buying valentine cards and candy I decided to try something different. Because he only has 10 kids in his class, it was easy to do something a little more special. I saw the idea of making homemade crayons on Our Best Bites and decided to try it since I already had everything to make them, including a box full of broken crayons, a silicone heart mold, and bags to put them in. They also provided a free printable tag so I hardly had to do anything to make them look cute. The tag says "Color your Heart out!" Haken LOVED making them and was so excited to give them to his friends today. I loved that they were free and something they would actually get to use for a while. Haken had a great time at preschool and came home with some really fun valentines from his friends.

I'm not a real big fan of gifts, flowers, or basically anything that you spend lots of money on for Valentine's day, it just seems like a waste to me. Shad knows this and gave me something he knew I would love. Because we have to eat anyway...Shad set up to take the kids to a babysitter and made me dinner at home. I helped a little bit, but he did the bulk of the cooking. The grocery store in town had a lobster/New York steak deal as well as salmon fillets on sale for Valentines. Shad opted for the steak and lobster and I did the salmon fillet. Shad had never cooked lobster before but found a few tricks on the internet. He also tried a new marinade for the salmon and a rub for the steak. It was all grilled to perfection and amazing! It was seriously better than anything we could have had at a restaurant and about 1/4 of the price. It was also great paired with our garlic-rosemary roasted potatoes (one of our favorite recipes) and broiled asparagus. It was absolutely perfect! My salmon was so moist and just fell apart! I love having a husband that loves to cook and try new things. It is one of our favorite activities to do together. I also appreciated him finding one of his students to babysit for free tonight. 

I have been wanting to try making coconut creme pie for a while because it is one of our most favorite desserts that we get when we go out. I found a recipe on the internet and made a few alterations (like using REAL whipped cream). It turned out so good and was so easy! It only took me like 20 minutes to make, even with a homemade pie crust. I think it is even better than the ones we have had at a restaurant. 

It was a perfect Valentine's Day at home. I am so glad that I married such a wonderful man who knows exactly what I want on Valentine's Day!

Walking...

Yesterday was a day that we have been waiting for for quite a while. Jack finally decided that walking was a better mode of transportation than crawling. I don't know why it finally clicked with him, but he has preferred it over crawling the last 2 days. Lets hope it stays that way. He is actually pretty good for a first time walker. All of those hours behind his little walker has now paid off. Although, sometimes he tries to get ahead of himself and run, that doesn't work out so well for him yet.

This is a video that I took today. 

P.S. A stack of popsicle sticks is the coolest thing in the world to a one-year-old.

Just like big brother

In the past week or so I have noticed how much Jack wants to be a big boy! You can bet that if he sees Haken do something, Jack is going to try and do it too. It is kind of funny to watch sometimes because he still looks so small to me! He still isn't walking all of the time, but he does when he feels like it and makes sure that everyone sees when he does so we can all cheer. I'm wondering when he is going to find out that it is easier than crawling. 

He also is quite the little monkey. He climbs on top of things and often falls down, but gets right back up and tries it again. I just know that he is going to be a kid that climbs on the countertops to get what he wants. That will be a new adventure for me.

He is also totally obsessed with shoes. "Shoes" is one of the baby signs that he picked up on very first. If I leave any shoes on the floor he tries to put them on. I think it is because he has related shoes to going somewhere. He just giggles when I put his shoes on. He likes to be out and about and prefers it over being home. He is happy as a clam sitting in a grocery cart and flirting with the cashiers. He also goes bonkers if we don't go and work out at the church first thing in the morning. He has really come to expect it, which is great motivation for me to go. 

Tonight we also discovered that he loves to dance. I put on music while we were doing the dishes and he immediately started bobbing up and down. In this video you can also see how wonderful Haken is at doing the dishes, especially with Jack at his feet trying to climb up there with him. Haken has been such a great help lately as we have discovered how much he is capable of doing at the age of 4. We have some seriously great boys!

Haken is Reading

Haken flipping through the scriptures at 19 months

Haken has always loved books. From the time that he was about 18 months old I would find him flipping through each individual page of some of the biggest books we have in our house. He was always respectful and I never worried about him ripping them or throwing them all over the house. I couldn't wait until he could actually read what was inside those books as he was turning the pages. 

Haken at 3 reading a book in our closet.

Well, in the past 2 months it has actually happened! This year we put Haken into preschool. His teacher Carolyn Francom has been so great with him! I knew it was only a matter of time before he started to read, but I couldn't believe it when he started bringing home a bag full of flashcards and books only 3 months into the school year. He reads by sight and memorizes the words as well as using the phonics he already knows. He has always been so interested in letters and over the summer was obsessed with typing up books onto the computer (although he didn't even know what he was typing). I think he was really excited when it all started to click.

I haven't counted how many words he knows but it has to be close to 30 or 40, plus all of the ones he can easily sound out on his own. I love to see him get excited when he gets a word right. This last week he came home with sentence flashcards where his teacher put the words he knows into sentences. He goes through them like nothing and comes home everyday with new words or books for us to work on. As a family we have also been including him more in our scripture reading. We each read a scripture a night, with the exception of Jack, of course. We have done this before, but usually Haken just copies us as we say the words. In the past few weeks he has actually been READING the words on his own. He has learned so many new words! I guess I never noticed how often the scriptures repeat phrases like "and it came to pass." There are so many little words that he has learned just from reading one verse a night.   

He is definitely further than I was at his age. Our friends at church who watch him write his letters during sacrament meeting think he is some kind of a super genius for his age. I think I have to agree! It just seems so easy for him. I hope that his love for books and learning will keep increasing as he gets older. He has so much potential!