Rite of Passage

Hosting my very first Thanksgiving was big. My grandma, mom, and aunts do things like this, not me. In many ways I still feel like a college student: not enough matching dishes, not enough flatware, and definitely not enough perfectly coordinating serving dishes. Heck, with 12 adults and 10 kids, we didn't even have enough seats for everyone! I figure Martha Stewart didn't become Martha over night, so I'm taking baby steps. And with a little creativity and a lot of borrowing from my mom, Thanksgiving at the Andersons was a BIG success (if a little crowded).
My beautiful table complete with handmade centerpieces... Everything from scratch...Okay, so maybe those pictures were from Martha's website. In all the hullabaloo I might have missed some camera-worthy moments. But I assure you that my food and decor was equally camera-worthy (at least in my mind it was). We did manage to capture this moment...

And isn't that what it's really all about? Hanging out with the fam and friends and just being THANKFUL.

The bottom line is this: I survived hosting my first Thanksgiving, and now there can only be one thing left to say...

Watch out world, I'm a REAL woman now!

Family Movie Night

These pictures are from about a month ago, but as I was looking back through them I decided they were too cute to be forgotten. "The Rescuers" + popcorn = F-U-N at the Anderson house...
We definitely need to have nights like these more often!

Trapped!

If you think I'm going to comment on something relevant or profound, like the miner's who were trapped in Chile or something like that, think again! While my memory card was out of my camera, I realized some pictures had been trapped on it since last year. What a difference a year can make...

A, E

Uncle Jeff, Elsie(I think this awkward diaper change had something to do with the fact that Ryan didn't want to get up from the recliner)Christmas Kaydree

I can't believe how fast my kids are GrOwInG! We still call Elsie and Ava "the babies" but they are quickly outgrowing that title. Kaydree and Carver are moving on up too. Part of me wants them to be little forever...then again, not changing 3 kids in diapers several times a day sure would be nice! I guess I'll let them grow up...slowly.

You can take the boy outta Idaho...

...but you can't take the Idaho outta the boy. Which is exactly why we sported these for Halloween this year...That's right: Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head, frantically sewn late last week by yours truly. As for these two, they are ALL TEXAN...

Jessie

Woody

And our twins? Well, we're not really sure what planet they came from...

ElsieAva

This year we celebrated Halloween by hanging out at our church's Trunk r Treat...

(Not the greatest picture of my costume, but look at Ryan - isn't he a good sport?)

(Carv with his buddy Jacob, both with that long wild curly hair...I finally bribed Carver into letting me cut his last week!)

The following weekend, we crashed the Methodist church's Trunk r Treat with some friends...

Kaydree got to dress up about 5 different times this year between dance class and parties. Here she is ready for dance as a Halloween Fairy...

They sure looked cute, but don't let the costumes fool you - I have come to the conclusion that they are ALL monsters!