A fun evening of watching KU!

Go KU! Sorry Bran... It's my blog! Ha! Here are some pics of a very fun evening! Paul, Larry, Ruth, and I were there too! Had to have a kid to get in a pic... LOL!

Jackson and Tay playing Air Hockey...

Brandon and Courtney with Jackson using our urinal for the first time! What a guy...!

Nana and beautiful little Ella...

Jake LOVES KU! Rock Chalk Jay Hawk! Go KU!

Jackson performing... Jake's his number ONE fan!

Dad and Bran... A couple of hunks...Jackson is such a SMART little guy! So sweet and cute!

Congratulations to Jake!

Yeah, Jake is very excited that he made Math Challenge! He gets to leave math class once a week for an hour to attend a special math challenge class with the Challenge teacher. Here is a pic of Jake with his Challenge letter letting him know he made it! ... Remember you can make comments! I know he will be checking for comments! :) Hint, hint... Well, I guess that wasn't much of a hint was it???

Blogs that tug at my heart...

I'm posting links to blogs that I dearly cherish... Blogs that either uplift me or make me cry, but they all definitely have a special place in my heart and in my life. I felt like giving a brief explanation of each of them... ( OK, nothing I say or type is "brief", I know!)

Women of Faith... This is a great website for info on events, christian speakers, and so on... Please check it out!

Kanakuk Kamps... Wow, talk about a wonderful experience for kids! Camp for kids between the ages of 6-18... Kanakuk Kamps are located in Branson and they are Christian based and full of sports and wonderful councilors. This will Jake's first year to attend... He is so excited! They vary in length from 1 to 4 weeks. Of course, we are starting off we one week. :)

Margaret Romph... This precious little girl and her family are so inspiring... I have been following her story and praying for her since her accident in January. Although, I don't know her or her family this little girl seems so "real" to me. She is a little younger than my little girl Taylor and she seems so similar... vivacious and energetic. She is now paralyzed from the neck down... Please look at this website and you can go from this website to her caringbridge website which will give you daily updates that her dear parents post so that we can all keep up with Margaret's progress. Please pray for her...

Stephanie Vest... Stephanie Vest was a sorority sister of mine in college. She passed away a few months ago from a rare form of cancer. She is truly an inspiration to me and thousands of others. Her relationship with Jesus was so incredibly strong... One all of us christian women strive to attain. Her blog is truly an inspiration on the way we should all strive to live our lives... She was the most beautiful person... Not only in her outer beauty, but as the wife, mom, daughter, and friend that she was. She will live on forever in the lives of those who knew her both personally and through her blog... And of course, in her three sweet kids.

Pure Fashion... My wonderful mom and I have been volunteering our photography skills (skills... ? hmmm, I put services first... neither sound very good... but you know what I mean) for a wonderful organization that helps teens learn how to "live" in the way God intends for them to live... Pure Fashion has been held in many cities, but this is the first year for Pure Fashion in Kansas City. My dear friend has been in charge of Pure Fashion in Kansas City and she has done an incredible job! The girls meet monthly and learn things like... Dressing appropriately, social skills, manners, dating, helping others, they have an overnight retreat, and many many other fun things. We even did mini photo shoots for the girls and we all had a great time. They will be finishing up this year with a fashion show in April... There have been some great friendships made as well.

K-Love... Wow, wow, wow! My family absolutely loves this Christian radio station... 97.3... Please check it out! My kids are always singing K-Love songs... They change so many lives through music and their inspirational stories... K-Love is on 99% of the time in our car and at home!

Pleasant Valley Baptist Church... We absolutely love our hometown church! Vernon and Merle are both exceptional... We always leave church wanting and knowing that we can be better for ourselves, our families, our communities... ultimately for God. PVBC is known as "the big church"... Yes, it's "big" and I'm so glad because it means there are many many people being "touched". As I sat in church on Sunday I was thinking about how much church impacts my life every week (and it carries over throughout the week) and it just hit me how much "impacting" is going on in PVBC. There are so many people there and they are probably all being impacted as much as I am, but in many different ways. Wow, that's incredible! If you aren't attending a church and you live in the Liberty area I would strongly recommend PVBC. They have a wonderful program for kids which Jake and Taylor have been attending since birth... It's incredible to hear all of the songs, bible stories, and so on that Jake and Taylor tell us. Church (Sunday school especially) is the greatest thing we can do for our kids... My number one priority for Jake and Taylor is that they have an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ... That's the best thing that we can give them for then everything else will fall into place.

Woodland Hills Family Church... Another WOW! Whenever we go to our condo in Branson... Which isn't near as much as we'd like... We attend our "Branson" church... Woodland Hills Family Church. Compared to PVBC this church is much smaller, but still very similar in that it is very family oriented. It is led by Ted Cunningham. Gary Smalley also helps to deliver the message sometimes! Ted is very casual and so personable. One of the terrific things about this church is that the sermon each week is online! So if you want to listen to past sermons and/or start listening to them each week you can. Currently the sermons are on "The Blessing: Meaningful Touch". There is still a sermon on the website from a month or so again in which Joe White (founder of Kamp Kanakuk... a wonderful christian camp for kids) speaks on Fireproofing your Life. I hope you'll check out the sermons. When we are in Liberty I enjoy attending PVBC on Sunday and then during the week I can still listen to WHFC on line.

The following note was forwarded to me today from one of my beautiful friends... I wanted to share it with all of my other beautiful girlfriends so I'm posting it here... I love this! I feel that it is so true and uplifting. Thanks Kim! I love you!

God doesn't give you the people you want, He gives you the people you NEED ..... to help you, to hurt you, to leave you, to love you and to make you into the person you were meant to be. Dear God: The lady reading this is beautiful and strong, and I love her. Help her live her life to the fullest. Please promote her and cause her to excel above her expectations. Help her shine in the darkest places where it is impossible to love. Protect her at all times, lift her up when she needs you the most, and let her know when she walks with you, She will always be safe.

Let us all make this a wonderful wonderful God led day!

Pics of the cabin...

Paul and kids...

Kids sitting on couch...

Jake's room...

Guest room loft... Jake and Tay's rooms have lofts too...

Futon in guest room...

Guest room...

Hall bathroom...

Master bathroom...

Another view of master bathroom...

Master bedroom...

For those of you that keep asking for cabin pics... Here they are... Remember, we aren't done yet! Only about half way there... But, it's coming along... :) We are definately having fun with it.

This post and the next post show pretty much everything except that I forgot to take a pic of the actual living area... And also of Taylor's room as we have lots to do in there. Let's just say it's pink though! Pink camo, of course.

Pics of "progressing" cabin...

I told Granny I would take pics of the cabin... Remember, it's a "work in progress"... We definately aren't near being done yet, but we are happy with our progress. :) The above pic is the cross that hangs above our deck door.

This is the entry area when you come in the front door.

You can see the birds "flying" in the air... We are making an "outdoor" area up here... the birds are only the beginning. :)

This is the bench in the hallway...

Our bar which is in between the eatting area and the family room.

The dining table...

Larger view of the kitchen... the island is on the right... the sectional couch is just out of the picture on the right.

Kids at the island.

Window seat area by the front door.

Kids on the trampoline... You can see our "barn" in the background.

What a weekend!

I hope everyone was able to enjoy the wonderful weather this weekend! We did! It was definately packed full of good times. Saturday Paul and I worked outside on the landscaping... Not "drive by" ready yet, but a few more hours and it will be! Then of course... the backyard! :) The kids played outside all day with their friends... We are so lucky to be surrounded by great families full of kids. :) Saturday night was special special special! Paul and Tay had their father/daughter dance for Girl Scouts. They had a "double date" with one of Tay's best girlfriends and her dad... Red Robin! Ashlyn suggested Burger King and Taylor McDonald's! And they were told they could go absolutely anywhere! Too funny... They settled on Red Robin. Then they all went to St. James for the dance. There were 750 dads and daughters!!!! Wow! Afterwards the four of them came back to our house and met us (Ashlyn's mom and I had went out for dinner too... Not Red Robin! :) ) and we all (Jake too of course... Jake also had plans for the evening watching basketball with Papa. He told me that he and Papa were going to have Pizza Shoppe pizza and salad for dinner. Does anything else go with tv and sports???) hung around in the basement the rest of the night. Fun Fun Fun!
Sunday started with church!!! There is never a better way to start the day then going to church! We love it! After church we met Ruth and Larry and Mark and Denise at Ginger Sue's (You can tell I got to pick... It's my favorite! I'm all about helping the "local" small businesses!) on the Liberty square to celebrate Paul's birthday. It was fun and yummy! Then Paul and the kids went to a friends to watch the KU game... then attend Tay's tennis lesson at Clayview... then have dinner with Ruth and Larry. I got to spend my day with Lisa and Lynn on a girl's day!!! Manicure, pedicure, lunch, shopping, and a movie... and lots and lots of chatting! I'm so blessed to have such wonderful friends!
Here are some pics of Paul and Tay before their Father/Daughter dance... :)

What a beautiful day!

The Anderson's are really enjoying the weather today! Paul and I have been working on the landscaping.... Wow, it's nice to have a lot of it, but boy does that mean alot of weeds! We were blessed with a beautiful day to pull weeds! :) Jake and Taylor have been playing outside with their friends all day long... :) Ahhhh, childhood... I haven't taken any pics today, but here are a few that I haven't posted yet... The first one is of Paul and I on our way to an autism benefit... The second one is Taylor and dad in the morning at the cabin... She is still in her jammies! :)... And the third one is of our babies and myself.

Fun at the Andersons

Tay performing for us... A daily routine which we LOVE!

The kids in Jake's "hut"

Jake showing how Wii Fit is really played! And he knows! :)

Jake and Dad

Jake looks tiny compared to his Fat Heads... Yes, they are called Fat Heads! At least, I think that's it...

Jake and his daily basketball... Jake is a Sportaholic... Basketball, Football, Soccer (at recess), golf, tennis, swimming and Baseball! Whether he's playing it or watching it... But, always one or the other!

The twins!

Our dear friends "The Parkers"... have just added a new addition to their family... Beautiful twin girls... Scarlet and Violet... and they are as pretty as their names. The Parkers are so special to us that both of our families purchased condos next door to each other. We have so much fun together! Our kids are the best of buddies just like their parents. :) Although, Jake and Taylor just can't believe that their family "doubled" ours as far as kids go! Mom, I know you are so excited to see the new sweet babies so here they are.

Hi Ruth!

My mother-in-law was teasing me the other day about checking our family blog and never finding anything new. Thought I would surprise her with a "hi Ruth"... I think this would be a great time to tell my sweet sweet mother-in-law what I think of her!

Ruth, I love you! Not only for having and raising my wonderful, sweet, fun, considerate, sexy (ok, you get the point....) husband, but for the wonderful God loving lady that you are. It almost doesn't seem fair that from birth I have been truely blessed with an incredible family. Growing up I couldn't have been given a more loving wonderful spectacular God centered family... Thanks mom and dad! And, wow... no one could believe how close Brandon and I were. I would have (and did... I stood up for the little man a few times, remember Bran?!) done anything for Bran... Hopefully, I was a good influence too... Ok, lets forget some of my influence... No one is perfect! :) Anyway, back to Ruth... Thank you, Thank you, Thank you... for loving my husband, for sacrificing for him, for helping to make him just right for me and for guiding him to love Jesus Christ. As parents we give so much to our babies... We wonder if we are doing "it right"... We hope we are making the best influence... Everyday we teach them lesson after lesson with our words and our actions... We hope that someday we will know that we "did it right". Most moms may never hear whether they "did it right". Well, I want you to know that "YOU DID GOOD". I'm so proud to call you my mother-in-law. Thank you for continuing to be a wonderful role model (you too Larry!) to my kids and to me. :) In my very very busy life I don't always take the time to say how I feel... I feel so lucky to have you! Everyday I thank God for giving me my wonderful parents and brother at birth... Everyday I thank God for giving me the best husband ever... Everyday I think God for giving me two beautiful sweet wonderful spunky kids... Everyday I think God for giving me another day to be a good influence on my kids and everyone around me... And everyday I think God for giving me wonderful in-laws. I love you Ruth!

How was this for "a new entry"?
Nicole