The Update

My life has not been as boring as no blog posts for the past few months may suggest. Excuse the many pictures, but here are the highlights from the last month or two.

On September 6th another niece was born! Caroline Jane Linton is pictured here. What a doll!


My dad came out to Utah for conference weekend and we celebrated our birthdays together!


My sister Whitney and brother Nathan came to the BYU football game that same weekend. It was their first BYU football game. Go Cougars!


Early October was busy with the 3rd annual PIMI charity race. Some friends and I started this 5K charity race a few years ago. This year we raised money for a women's shelter in Orem. This is the PIMI planning team.

Pictured here are some runner friends that came to run and volunteer at the race.


Some friends and I went down to college game day at the end of October. Believe it or not, people had actually camped out for days! This is the tent city.


On our way home, my friend Ian found these pumpkins that were carved like football helmets. We got a picture before getting caught and scolded by the security guards.


Before we went to the BYU football game I tried my first Costco hot dog. You can't beat $1.50 for a hot dog and drink! Yummy!


For Halloween I was a witch. In all humility, my costume was pretty sweet. A picture will be coming soon.

Two weekends ago I went out to Colorado. It had snowed almost two feet! Who would have thought in October! This is proof of the snow.


For my birthday I was given tickets to see Wicked in Denver. The show was everything it is talked up to be!


This last weekend my sister Kristen got engaged to Brent Ludwig! They have known each other since they were 14 and dated for the last few years. They will be married in May in Nauvoo! I am excited to have him in our family.

All In A Day's Work

After some extensive research today on how to get rid of fruit flies, I determined the most effective trap is a cup of apple cider vinegar inside a plastic bag poked with holes in the top. I have already caught 10 or 15 in the last hour. Check out the picture. All in a day's work.

Buon appetito!

Buon appetito piato pulito! Tonight I had my first Italian cooking class with my friend Michelle. We learned how to make a really great red and white sauce. Here's to more great Italian meals to come!

I've joined the club

I have always found it annoying when people talk for long amounts of time about how cute their nieces and nephews are. Like other kids aren't just as cute, fun, and smart? You know when someone reaches for the pictures in their wallet that you're in for the long haul. However, today I am joining the club to brag about my cute niece!

The last ten days I have spent in Boston and Washington DC with my sister and her family. My brother in law, Scott, has just started a job in the foreign service so I went out to help them move and watch my niece Kate while they get settled and put a bid in for where they are sent in the world. I loved reading with Kate (especially Fancy Nancy books), having tea parties, swimming, bike riding, going to the park, drawing, doing puzzles, etc. She is definitely an artist in the making.



Amidst the moving, we did find time to go to Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington. Here it is in all it's glory.

A pic with my sis in front of the river. Jennie is expecting another girl in a few weeks so this may not be the end of hearing about my cute nieces!

My cousin Graham gave my Aunt, Uncle, their family, and myself a tour of the capitol building where he is working this summer. Loved having a connection so that we could avoid the long lines!

A funny side note. Every state gets to choose two people they would like to put statues of in the capitol that represent their state. Utah chose Brigham Young and Filo T. Farnsworth. Yeah, that's what I thought too. Who is Filo? Apparently he had something to do with the invention of the TV. I had to snap a photo in front of Brigham Young as he is my grandfather four generations back.

The last night we all went down to Alexandria, VA for a walk along the shore and a yummy dinner. The pizza was a favorite of Kate's.


Missing my cute niece already. This is a tribute to my incredible sister Jennie who is adventurous, funny, intelligent, talented, and the best sister. I have always looked up to you!

Are we having fun yet?

I have often found myself saying recently, "That would make a great blog post" or "That picture is definitely going on the blog." Maybe it's an effort to stay up with my peers who live to blog and go through the day looking for something interesting to blog about. Since writing is not my forte, my blog posts usually consist of a string of pictures trying to show the latest happening in the best light possible. Maybe my blog has become a bit of a travel/picture log. (Sorry but my style is not going to change until after this post.) Maybe I have fooled you on the blog that everything I do is rip-roaringly fun. Although these pictures might suggest otherwise, the honest to goodness truth is that these next events were not quite as fun as they look. Thank heavens for my witty sister Kristen who kept the family entertained. Let me explain. A few weeks ago we had the annual Anderson Family Reunion. Eighty-two of the eighty-seven family members came to Salt Lake City for the event. Unlike most people, I really love family reunions. This one was no exception. However, on the 24th of July we went to fulfill one of my lifelong dreams of seeing the Days of '47 parade in Salt Lake. Here's the fam with Grammy and Grandpa.



The first hour or so we waited in anticipation to see something cool. Sadly, the most exciting thing that came by was this crazy clown.



Later in the day we went to the Bees' baseball game with all the cousins. On account of the opposing team being sick, we watched a high school/college All-Star game instead. Not quite as cool. We entertained ourselves by making bee jokes and trying to spot the most enthusiastic fans (which were few and far between).





Our true feelings of the game.



The rest of the reunion was great however with picnics, sports games, programs, and lots of chatting with the fam. Not to brag, but the Anderson family is the best!

After the reunion, my family went up Lambs' Canyon to my Grandparent's cabin for a few days. Activities included jet skiing on the Jordanelle reservoir, hiking, tennnis, the new Harry Potter movie, and doing a little fix up at the cabin.

Annie X 2

I met up with my friend Jessie this past weekend in Cedar City, Utah for the last day of the Shakespeare festival. While watching A Comedy of Errors we enjoyed eating raspberry tarts. Tarts are sold at the Shakespeare festival like hot dogs are sold at a baseball game. Yumm! The next day we headed down to St. George to see two plays at the Tuacahn theatre- Annie and Footloose. We are pictured with the actor who played Annie.



Two Annies in one place doesn't happen very often! I have always wished I could sing, dance, and act.



Couldn't resist putting in this incredibly cheesy photo.



Almost as entertaining as the plays was driving through a VERY rural area near St. George. I kept pulling the car over to snap pictures. You would have thought we were vacationing in New York. This is main street (the honest to goodness truth).



And my personal favorite- this is the entrance to a construction site. Also one reason I teach school!

At Home

This weekend I got to spent some time in Colorado with the family and hike in the mountains. There is nothing like the exhilarating feeling of reaching a summit, majestic mountain views, wind-blown hair, chilly toes dipped in stream water, the smell of fresh, crisp air, wildflowers, and the sun on my face. This is just one spectacular view from St. Mary's Glacier.



Because I am no poet, I will have to steal these lines from Edna St. Vincent Millay in her famous poem God's World.

O world, I cannot hold thee close enough!
Thy winds, thy wide grey skies!
Thy mists that roll and rise!
Thy woods this autumn day, that ache and sag
And all but cry with colour! That gaunt crag
To crush! To lift the lean of that black bluff!
World, World, I cannot get thee close enough!

Long have I known a glory in it all,
But never knew I this;
Here such a passion is
As stretcheth me apart, -- Lord, I do fear
Thou'st made the world too beautiful this year;
My soul is all but out of me, -- let fall
No burning leaf; prithee, let no bird call.