Heart Day '09

This year's Valentines Day was special because KC and I had a special sweetheart to share our love. I have to give credit to KC and his friends for the awesome surprise they pulled off (at least it was a surprise for Brittany, good job Jody). They started the planning weeks ago to head up to the Tait's cabin at Bear Lake on Friday night to have a very nice dinner and sleep over. The dinner was so good, complete with a very creative menu and super yummy dessert! All the details are below...with lots of pics!

The boys hard at work getting our dinner ready

The table set up...there was a rose by each of the ladies' plates with a note from their man! (click to enlarge)

I'm pretty proud of this "Lovers Dinner" menu...done by my husband. He is pretty creative, and funny too!! (Click on the menu to enlarge it....)

We arrived at the cabin and cranked up the heat thinking we would be warm and toasty in no time. However...close to an hour later as we sat down to eat, we were all still frozen. We looked a little silly eating in our winter coats, scarves and gloves. Thanks to poppa Tait, we got someone to come take a look at the furnace and he got the pilot light re-lit and the temperature inside started climbing. Thanks Bear Lake Heating and Air!!

Jeff trying to grip his fork with his huge snow gloves...cute scarf Jeff!!

The main course...Lemon Chicken with cheesey rissoto and grilled veggies on the side. It was so good! Yes, the boys cooked all of this!

Poor Maycee has been sick for the last week with her very first cold, snot constantly draining...this was the biggest blow! (sorry its a little gross, but I thought it was SO funny!)

After dinner and yummy lava cake for dessert we finally got the kids to bed (super late because of the heating issues). Then we shared our favorite stories about our spouse...this quickly turned into the most embarassing stories of our spouse. We still can't believe Jody and Brittany had no stories to tell!! By the end we were all sore from laughing so hard and decided since it was 2 am it was time for bed. We prepped some sticky buns for breakfast and headed for our warm beds.

This is what we found when we came downstairs in the morning. Guess it got a little TOO warm in the cabin...It was gooey goodness when we cleaned it up and cooked them!

The guys: K.C., Jody, Roomate Jeff, and Tall Jeff

The ladies: Natalie, Brittany, Sally, and Chiante

The babies: Maycee, Draden, Gracie

This is the best picture I could get of Maycee in her Valentines Day outfit. Love her!!

On our way out of town, we had some dinner at the local drive-in and snapped a little family photo with the bears...they are everywhere up there! This one looks like it might eat Maycee's head!

***I want to thank my husband for all the planning he did for this...not to take credit from the other guys, but I know he spent lots of time and I am so grateful. It shows me how much he really cares, that he would want to surprise me with something so creative and special. I just want him to know how much I love him and hope he knows that he means the world to me! Love you babe, things will turn soon!

Ski The Swiss Alps.......check!

K.C. was able to check another item off his bucket list this week when he finally got a chance to ski the Swiss Alps! K.C. works with a lady at the airport who is from Switzerland and has family that live in a small town in the Alps and run a hotel and restaurant. When K.C. told her that he has always wanted to ski the Alps, she set him up with a place to stay at her family's hotel if he took over 2 big bags of ski jackets for her family to sell at their hotel gift shop. K.C. jumped on the offer and a week later was on his way to Switzerland with his dad.

K.C.'s passport just expired so he had to fly to San Francisco a few days before they left to renew his passport at the passport office, then on Monday afternoon they flew 11 hours to Paris, then 2 more hours to Zurich, then a 3 hour train ride deep into the Alps, arriving into the town of Grindelwald at 9:00pm on Tuesday.....thats a long ways to go for one day of skiing!

The boys had a great trip and were taken well care of by the Brawand family (they let them stay and even eat at their restaurant for free!). K.C. had an amazing time skiing, and Chuck enjoyed just hanging out. On Thursday they took the train and flight back to Paris, and spent the night there. Chuck had never been to Paris, so K.C. took him to the Eiffel Tower for some delicious crepes.

On friday they flew home from Paris.....just another successful adventure for the Anderson boys!

K.C. brought some Swiss Beanies home for his two favorite girls!

All she got for Christmas was....

Her two front teeth!!

Triple Threat

It is said that good things come in threes. That statement could not be any more true with these three. They may be the reason I really had no dates in high school (at least that is what I like to think), but they are three of the greatest men I know! Happy Birthday boys! (sorry its a little late...)

3 little trouble-makers

Happy 29th Birthday!!!

We had a little get together Sunday night at the Jardine's cabin for their birthday. We all had a huge steak dinner and some yummy Texas sheet cake. Fun to hang out with everyone for a night!

Had to get some pics of the the cute girls in their mathcing outfits! Thanks Grandma, for the cute skirt and vest!

Those who could stayed the night and enjoyed a little rock band.

Finally...Christmas Celebrations!

Our humble little tree

So its two weeks past Christmas and we have finally gotten around to sharing the fun we had on the 24th and 25th. Hope all 4 of you who read our blog enjoy...

We spent Christmas Eve at the Burdette home. Starting the night off with a yummy homemade lasagna dinner, with homemade breadsticks too! With our full bellies we headed to the tree for presents. Every year my parents find a different video to help us remember why we are really celebrating...its nice to reflect and remember Christ and all he did for us. Thanks for helping us remember Dad and Annette!

KC...Sally...Becki...Joey...Dad...Rob Clintos...Annette& Maycee...Lee...Tiff...Austin

We opened gifts and played our annual gift card game, and ended the night talking about how much our family changed this year...we added two new babies! They have brought us all so much closer...we love you Maycee and Sophia! Thanks for all your love a genorosity to our family, we love you all!

Maycee wanted to eat all the presents...instead of opening them. Her first gift, Christmas jammies!

My brother wanted me to fix a hole in his sweatshirt so he gave me a bunch of thread to do it! His real gift was a gift card to Nordstrom...Thanks Rob!!

Grandpa and Grandma...Maycee loves you!

Christmas Morning

This year was by far the best Christmas ever. Even though Maycee didn't really know what was going on...it was fun to watch her play with the new toys, but she mostly wanted to eat the packages and wrapping paper that was on the toys.

We got up around 9 and headed downstairs to open presents. Maycee got lots of fun toys and some clothes and finally a blanket from mom. After all the presents were opened we had some breakfast and settled on the couch to watch The Christmas Story. Soon we were all asleep...so nice to be warm and cozy watching the snow fall outside. It was a nice stress free Christmas morning, probably the last time that will happen for a while.

Maycee opening her presents...mostly we had to put the paper in her hand to rip. It was funny!

Maycee with all of her loot...What a lucky girl!!

This is how it looked at our house Christmas morning until around 1 pm. When its a blizzard outside its nice to cuddle up like this:

Such a cute, warm, and cozy baby!! I am so grateful for her...she is the best Christmas present I could ask for!!

Christmas Night

After a little rest and lots of snow it was time to head to the Andersons for more presents and a wonderful Christmas dinner.

First we had some great appetizers to give us energy for the long road ahead of opening presents. I think Jack was the most excited for presents...he basically opened or helped open almost all the presents that were given! Thanks for the help Jack.

Thanks eveyone for spoiling Maycee!!

This is what I was most excited for...they have wanted movie posters for their theater for so long. It was the best gift we gave this year!!

After all the presents were finally opened, we sat down for some yummy prime rib. With our bellies filled to the brim we moved on to a thrilling and competietive game of 7-11. If you want to see this family really fight...watch this game! Couldn't leave the night without some group pics in front of the Christmas tree...

Anderson Ladies (Kristin, Katie, Sally, Tami). Love you girls!

Couldn't ask for better sister-in-laws. Thanks for being so good to me girls!

Little ladies in their matching tu-tu's!

Looks like they are having a deep converstaion...love it!

These three are so cute! Jack had a little sledding accident a few days before Christmas...such a boy!

Thank you Chuck and Tami and the Anderson clan for all you did for us this Christmas! We love you all!
Merry Christmas everyone!! Hope yours was as wonderful as ours!!