Indoor Climbing at the Local Gym

Tejansienda Ranch

For the 4th of July the kids and I packed up and went to Texas for an Anderson family reunion at my dad's ranch out near Wichita Falls. We had a BLAST! All my brothers and my one and only sister came with their families...all 13 nieces and nephews. Unfortunately, Adam wasn't able to come because he had just taken command of the New England Medical Recruiting Company in Boston. I'll forgive him this time, but I'm not letting him miss out again! There was non-stop action with the cousins playing on the trampoline, riding four wheelers, swimming, watching fireworks, target practice, feeding the bulls, and so much more. The kids got an awesome tan too and I'm a little jealous! No matter how much sun block I put on them, they seemed to soak up the sun. I'm a warm weather girl, and being back in TX for a week made me terribly homesick for the lone star state, although we are really loving Boston. Here is a peek of our Texas adventure this summer.

Here we are getting ready to head over to Sunday church. My kiddos sure are cute!

And here is the whole clan. My kiddos weren't so cute here, but I'll give them some credit...it was nap time. Since the ranch is pretty much out in the middle of no where, the LDS population is fairly small and there is no church building. So, here we are at a member's home attending church. It was a really neat experience!

Target practice with Grandpa Philip. This photo needs to be framed and kept forever...it's priceless.

If the kids weren't jumping, they were laying down or climbing up to join in on the fun. This place was where most of the giggles occurred and stories were told. Most definitely a favorite activity.

A boy and a tractor!

Swim time at the city pool. Dipping in the water was a must considering the hot hot heat!

Shooting practice happened too. All the boys went hunting every night. Papa and Addison shot together, and I heard that Addison did great!

I got a little practice in too, but I'm sure Addison did much better than me!

Here were my cheerleaders! Such cute ladies!

Can't wait to go back y'all!

Holiday in the USA

We had tickets to the USA that we needed to use up, so we decided to take advantage of the holiday season and spend it with our family in TX and FL. I can't get over how much we travel with the kids, but it's always worth it in the end. We started out in Dallas, TX with my family. My heart belongs there...and I hope that we will make it back after all of our adventures and experiences in the military. The first full day back, my dad drove us out to the ranch for a night. It was fun to go out there and see all the hard work he put into it. The ranch is in Seymour, TX, which is about three hours from the DFW area. It's a nice getaway from the big city. We got all dressed up in Realtree and toured the property while keeping a lookout for hogs and deer. We went to the local grocery store and loaded up on the delicious meal that night, followed by wild hog sausage for breakfast. I must say I was not excited about eating it, but it was by far the best breakfast sausage I've ever had!

Nicely blending in with the scenery, and then there's Cambria.

We look pretty good as country folk. Must go back!

Addi loved the bulls. Up close and personal.

Addison is pure boy! He loves the outdoors, especially when he gets to spend it with his Grandpa, aka Papa.

We spent Christmas with my family. It was fun watching the kids wake up to a room full of gifts, and even more fun to watch them open it all.

Then, we went to FL for New Years! It was so fun to spend our time on the beach in the middle of winter! The kids were a little reluctant of the water at first, but quickly warmed up and had a blast running around on the sand.

My sweet babies testing out the waters.

And, finally, our New Years dinner was a treat! We had a clam bake, lobster and all! A very fishy meal that we all enjoyed. We had so much fun with our families this year for the holidays!

Halloween

We had an awesome weekend of Halloween festivities this year! It started out with the Company party at Adam's office with trick or treating and a chili cookoff. The chili was fabulous, and Addi had fun walking up and down the hallway saying "trick or Treat" to the people passing out the candy. Daddy bobbed for apples, and Cambria was the cutest little monarch butterfly I ever did see! We also went to our ward Halloween party/trunk or treat, and then went trick or treating again on Halloween day! So much candy...we helped the kiddos eat their nice little stash of chocolates! YUM! Oh yes, and Addi's new and favorite word is "jack o' lantern." So funny to hear him say it!

My handsome little mummy boy and sweet little butterfly

At the ward Halloween party

Addi was so polite when going to each of the cars for candy...he always said thank you!

And the final night of trick or treating my babies dressed up as a "Tex-Mexican" and "Daddy's super-girl."

Oktoberfest

We made it out to Oktoberfest this year- without a drendel or lederhosen, but nevertheless, we had a great time! We figured that since this would be our last chance to make it before moving back to the states we would check it out with the family. We decided to go on "family day" which left us with everything half off the regular price. Once we got to Munich, we took the rail system right to the fest. We didn't really know what to expect, we just thought there would be lots of beer- which makes it ironic that we even went even on family day. But, we were surprised to see something almost like a state fair, rides and all, only German style. I had never seen so much lederhosen before! It was so fun to people watch, listen to live music, eat huge pretzels, shop, and just be with our family. Good times!

Appel Happel

Addison loves apples! He eats at least one every day and he begs me for apple juice during snack time. So, I thought it would be fun for us to go to an apple orchard in town and pick some apples straight from the tree. Addison was so excited on the way there, I lost count of how many times he said the word "apple!". I met some friends there, grabbed a basket and a wheelbarrow and we set on our way. We filled our baskets with assorted apples and bought some fresh, delicious apple juice. Of course, before we left we had to try some of the juice and it was absolutely wonderful-super, super sweet! The only bummer of the trip was the bee sting Addison got on the tip of his thumb. He must have tried to pick it up, poor guy didn't know what he was in for.

My new project: canning applesauce.

4-day weekend in the UK

Adam came home from work one morning so excited about his four day weekend he had coming up, and insisted that we go somewhere on our list of places to see in Europe. Of course, I couldn't say no...we are a traveling family! So, Thursday night we made an itinerary, booked our hotel, booked a ferry ride across the English Channel, and packed up our stuff for the weekend in the UK. Our friend Miranda even let us borrow her husband for the weekend too! Thanks girl, now I can't wait for a girls only trip with you!!! Where should we go??? Gotta start planning :)

We stopped in Brugges, Belgium before jumping on the ferry and quickly toured the cute little town.



Then, we hopped back in the car for a short drive to board the ferry, but to our dismay we were kind of lost and didn't make it in time for the ferry that we planned to be on. So, we just waited a little longer for the next boat and boarded for a two hour ride across the English Channel. It was nice for us to all sit together and relax while the kids played in the children's area for a while. The time went quickly and soon we were back in our car and back on the road...on the wrong side of the road! It was a very interesting experience and I'm glad Adam was the one driving because he seemed to handle it with no problems, even driving through the round-abouts. We made it safely to our hotel in Lakenheath that night and the kids got some much needed sleep.

We woke up bright and early ready for London! It was great! There was so much to see and we had so little time. Although, I think we did great at touring all the sights we we had planned in just one day. Here is a picture story of our day in London:

The Tube.

Buckingham Palace- changing of the guards.

British Soldier.

Park picture, with the bird lady behind us.

Walking through the park.

Big Ben.

Riding on the London eye.

Unfortunately, the battery for our camera died while we were on the London Eye, so that's all you get to see of our day in London.

We went to Cambridge and St. Edmunds the next day and had a fantastic time exploring. Here are some pics of the day:

Cambridge- one of the college chapels.

Love this picture, so British.

The picture says it.

Phone booth, gotta love 'em!

What's a vacation without ice cream?

Our final day was spent mostly driving back home, but before getting back on the ferry we made one last stop at the Leeds Castle. It was amazing! The gardens were breathtaking and the castle was just beautiful.

Look at the tower, Addison!

Candid family pic.

Okay, now we are ready to smile!

My little princess and knight in shining armor!

So long UK, I know we will see you again soon! Thanks for a wonderful, yet fast weekend! We loved every second of it!