Anderson Family Adventures!!!

Virginia:

I feel like we have been gone forever.  But we’ve really only been gone for 6 weeks.  However in that time we’ve seen some really cool stuff.  We were able to see a lot of the historical sites in the D.C area; we went to the Lincoln memorial, White house, Mount Vernon, and a few Smithsonian’s.  It was a really amazing experience.   It made the history of our country seem much more real to me.  Just seeing all of the sites and learning more about those who founded our country was a real testimony builder for me.   It showed me that these men and woman were really led by God.  There was a palpable reverence and sense of the spirit as we visited the historical sites.

Lincoln is trapped in stone here.

Washington Monument.

Korean War Memorial

From Lincolns steps down the National Mall.

Vietnam Memorial

Owen loves his Grandpa Nickell!

Washington Masonic Temple

Arlington.

2 Army men leading the funeral procession.  Megan stopped them and asked for a picture.

White house.

Our last days in Virginia we went to the Museum of Natural History

Georgia:

Damnit.

We finished our trainings in Virginia and now we are in Georgia!!!  It was a 12 hour dive which is always fun with a baby.  We broke it up into two days so that it would be less painful for Owen.  The hotel that we slept in was awesome to say the very least.  We went to the nicest place we could find that was the best price since we would only be staying there for about 8 hours or less.  We had to change room 3 times in order to get a room with a bed and sheets!!!  At which point I told Mike to get our money back and we would go somewhere else however the owner insisted we try the deluxe room and that he was very sorry; they were in the process of cleaning all the carpet.  So we said ok will try it.  It was defiantly cleaner than the other rooms but I still didn’t want to touch anything.  Good thing we had the pack-n-play for Owen because there are not enough wet wipes in the world to sanitize that.  It had a green heart shaped bathtub and the fire alarm that beeped every few minutes all night long.  Best night ever…

…or so I thought. 

So we survived and continued on our way to Georgia.  As we got close we closer we received a phone call that we they would be putting us in a hotel for the night.  This was a little confusing because we were supposed to be diving to a house that the owner of the company was very kindly letting us stay in.

They told us to go get some rest and to come to the office in the morning.  So we did just that.  We checked into the hotel, went and got some food and took Owen swimming.  Which he loves!!! So all and all it was a pretty good night.  In the morning when we arrived to the office they started showing us around.  I soon realized that this was going to be our new home.  They had sold the house and wanted us to live in the office. 

At this point I had never seen the house that they had said we could live in if we came to Georgia.  I don’t know how to explain what I was feeling but I quickly started to cry.  Mike was fine with staying at the office and in hindsight I should have been too, but when we were told that they had a house out here for us to live in I assumed just that.  They said that it wasn’t anything special. But that they had just redone all of the floors and painted that walls.  This meant to me that all the important stuff must have been good as well or else they wouldn’t have told us to come live there.

My very kind brother in law that has done so much for us already saw that I was sad took me and Owen to rest at the owner’s house while Mike went out to sell.  When they got done with work my brother came back to the house with some good news.  The deal fell through on the house and we would be able to stay there!!!  They said to go back to the hotel for a couple nights while they get the house ready.  A couple of nights went by and it still wasn’t ready.  When we went out to the house to see where we would be living and drop off some of our stuff.  Because we didn’t know how long we would be in the hotel we had just kept everything in the car.  I started to notice things that needed to be fixed in the house.  Like….. There was no door or window and the dishwasher was moldy and needed to be removed so that we didn’t just sit there and breathe in mold and get sick.  There wasn’t a door and the window wasn’t in yet, obviously lots and lots of spiders and bugs lived there!!! I thought Lou Ann’s house had bugs.  But they said they had sprayed and just to sweep them of the wall and out of the house and they would go away.  I’m sure you can imagine the horror on may face when they told us to just grab all the spiders and put them outside…

The time came for us to move in and I kept telling myself that is wasn’t a big deal we would just clean the house and it would be perfect.  As we were moving in one of the workers was there helping finish some stuff on the house like taking out the moldy dish washer.  This left a moldy hole with pipes and a cigarette pack on the floor from 1952. The fridge reeked and had mold in it as well which we started cleaning right away.  I scrubbed the floors and Mike went around the house killing spiders.  Then we set up the pack in play in our room because there was no way on earth Owen was going to sleep in one of those rooms without me.  I kept telling myself it would be ok and we would make it work we went to the store to get some food and cleaning supplies.  When Mike reminded me that there was no microwave so I couldn’t get Owen his oatmeal unless I could cook it on the stove!!!!  I started to cry and remembered how grateful I was to have the things I had at home that I most definitely take for granted.  

We got back to the house and realized that the toilets weren’t working.  Well, they worked, but when you flushed them instead of water coming out dead bugs would and then the water wouldn’t go down.   So we went to bed bladders full.  When we woke up in the morning we drove into town to use the bathroom and take a shower at the office.  At this point I had decided that there’s no way I would live in that house.  That office started to look a lot better in my eyes.  There weren’t bugs hanging from every corner and we had toilets and showers that worked a clean kitchen with a microwave.  We have a big room for us and attached is a room where Owen can sleep. 

All and all it’s a lot better and honestly safer.  We have definitely had some adventures that I feel have changed us personally and as a family forever.  I feel that these experiences have brought us closer to one another as well as to the gospel.  The church out here is really small.  There are only about 50 members and we really like our little branch.  The people in our branch stick close to each other and have very strong testimonies.  They truly are there because they love gospel and they live it every day.  It really is amazing to see the members of our church in such a different setting.  It’s something I hope I will never forget.

The awesome hotel!

 He was very happy to be out of the car.

He loves the swings.  Which is good because that is all we have to do when Dad is at work.

Getting ready for some birthday fun at the dollar store.

Owen loves to talk on the phone, and walks around the room chatting with remote to his ear.

First bath in a while.  Since we've been out here he has had to take showers with Mike because we haven't had a bath tub:(

Thinks Dad is sooo funny....!!!!

Owen will watch Miss Spider on the Ipad over and over again.

The house we almost lived in.  This is where the moldy dishwasher was.  And where the pit of moldy pipes and cigerette packet was left for Owen to eat.

This is one of the many spiders we wiped of the walls.  They were all along the base boards of the entire house.  They said if we wiped them of once that they wouldn't come back.  But when we came back to get our stuff the next day there were more.  Which would make sense because there wasn't a door sweep to stop them from coming back.

Closet in the bathroom



In the main area of the house they had painted and redone the floors. It was beautiful.  But there was just too much of the house that wasn't ready yet.

Closet where the woman died of cholora in 1824.  She still roams...

Piggy back.

Loves.

Church accordian doors.  The church is the same everywhere.

OWEN IS 1!!!!

I can’t believe that it been one year since we brought our little Owen home from the hospital.  He is so amazing and it has been so much fun to watch him grow over the last year.  He has one of the cutest personalities and I love being he mom.  He is always on the go and ready for anything that comes his way.  He loves people and kids.  He is always waving at strangers and will give any one a hug who wants one.  Just the other day we were invited to a lady in our wards house and she has three boys.  He couldn’t have been happier.  He followed them around the house screaming just like he used to with Mally.  He kept going up to their 2 year old and giving him loves.  The best part of Owen’s loves is that when he is hugging you he hums.  As if to tell you he loves you.  He loves to be wherever the party is and can’t get an enough of his Dad.  Whenever Mike leaves the room he acts as though he is never coming back.  He is a very passionate little person and he is defiantly one of a kind.  Over the last couple of months it seem as though he is growing up too fast.  He runs around and mimics everything you do.    He has started to seem like a little kid instead of the little baby I brought home just few short months ago.

Owen we love you so much and couldn’t be happier that heavenly father has chosen us to be your parents.   Thank you for all the love and strength you have brought into our family.  I’m excited to be with you and watch as you go through out this life.  We love you more than anything Happy Birthday to our wonderful little Owee   

HAPPIEST BIRTHDAY BOY EVER!

"Did you say cake?"

"You did?  Ok, I can handle this."

$7.99 Walmart.

"Wait, I'm a naked leprechaun with tinsel all around?  You did promise cake."

"It's Squishy..."

"...BUT I LIKE IT!"

"DONE!"

"Who is Mommy's little piggy?"

Ever wonder what an obese naked man looks like carrying a toddler wearing a St. Pattys hat still strapped in a highchair down the hallway of an office building all three of them (including the chair) smothered in a viscous green slime in a disgusting sprint to the shower looks like?

Welcome to Georgia.

Damnit.