Happy Anniversary!!

Today is our 8th anniversary! I can't believe how time has flown and yet it seems as if we've known each other our whole lives...in my case that is sort of true.

Our Story:

Cannon and I met when I was...well to quote Miss Hannigan "Entirely too cheeky" I was fifteen and he was twenty. He came to our house for dinner as a missionary almost every week for the six months that he was in our ward. He thought I was a brat, and I thought he was dead sexy. He was very quiet....but I thought he was hot and you know as a fifteen year old that equals love...sigh. He changed areas and I saw him a time or two after that and each time my heart skipped a beat. I told my sister that I would marry Elder Anderson one day, so because my sister is the best she snagged a picture of him from his birthday party that my mom had for him (my parents are converts and adore the missionaries...lucky for me!!) I quickly put it in my journal so that no one would find it. (I found that picture after we were married when I was going through old stuff)

The face I fell in love with (he's the one with the tie)

So fast forward almost 3 years and I am at the ripe old age of 17 3/4 and I moved to SLC. I ended up at SLC's New Year's celebration called First Night. I hadn't wanted to go but because I didn't have many friends my options were very limited. Cannon was supposed to meet up with a friend earlier that night but decided to go with another group of friends to first night instead.

We always talk about what if we hadn't gone or what if this or that...would we have found eachother?

Anyways, I was standing talking to a friend (Sarah Mabey who is now a mom and married and beautiful...but thats beside the point) We had just finished eating some nasty cheese fries from the Cowboy Grub where I unfortunately worked, when this hot guy catches my eye. Well, he apparently liked the way I looked because we couldn't take our eyes off each other. I realized that I knew him from somewhere and said to Sarah "I know I know him...I'm going to talk to him" He had stopped as well because he wanted to talk to me.

So I went up to him as he was kind of standing around deciding what to do haha! I said "are you Elder Anderson?" and he's like "yeah are you a Stevens*?" *(name has been changed to protect the innocent....wink wink)




Man was I excited! We spent the rest of the night together and had a magical kiss at midnight that seriously, no joke produced a spark!

This was a few months after we met...we knew we were made for each other after 2 months but didn't want to spill the beans.

We literally spent everyday together and got married one year later (AFTER I graduated) I don't know what we were thinking, getting married so young.

We were so sick of pictures by the end of the night...this picture is screaming "my face hurts"

I love Cannon so much and don't know what I would do without him. He is my best friend and is sooooo patient with me. He loves me unconditionally and has proven that to me time and again. He never judges me when I don't cook, or clean or...shower. He is a wonderful dad and is so patient with our kids. He rarely gets mad and he ALWAYS gets up with our early risers! He is always willing to help me with whatever i need and is super supportive of whatever I want to do or try. I love that we have grown up together and have such a long history. I love that he is so righteous and loves the Lord and the Gospel so much, he is such an example to me. I love that he STILL finds me sexy after all this time. When we were dating we used to write long love notes to each other and say "I can't wait to grow old with you" Well the wait is over baby! That day has come...I hope that you love it as much as me : )

I love you Can and can't wait to see what the next 8 years will bring us!

PS these are pictures of pictures which explains the bad quality.

Sleepy Boy

While Amber and I were getting ready for our wreath making activity last week, Levi got SUPER bored hanging out in the kitchen for 3 hours so he decided to take a nap! He just laid down and was zonked...we were clanking and banging and...nothing! This is the kid who won't even take a nap in his crib and who wakes up if you sneeze :)

The person who I love the most in this whole world......

Is my sister Alicia.

Why?

Because she thinks I'm funny. Not just silly or cute but she literally will be rolling with the things I say.

Makes me feel puriity good.

Traditions

There are so many Christmas traditions around. Someone in relief society got up to bear her testimony and told about how they would set a place for the Savior at their Christmas eve table and after dinner they would think of gifts they could give him throughout the year (like goals) and put them on his plate. I love the idea of recommitting yourself to certain things in your life and giving that gift to Christ.

In our ward our annual relief society tradition is a wreath making activity. It was a lot of fun and each year we have more and more people coming...not sure what we'll do next year since the gym was mostly full!

My wreath...I know so creative right? And what better place to hang it then right next to the bathroom?

We finally started a tradition that we think is going to last. Every year we have high hopes and then get lazy and forget all about it. So this year Cannon came up with a fun one.

Since 6 ft Xmas trees across the street from us are literally $140 we just thought we wouldn't be getting one this year. But Cannon asked the guy one block down from the sneak thief and got ours for a much better price :) Each year we have a family night to decorate but this year we decided to make it our tradition to.....drum roll please....eat soup bowls, Christmas guacamole and pumpkin pie! Well we are pretty darn excited that we thought of one on our own. And if you know my family you know that all of our traditions are centered around food.

So we ate our food and then started the tree decorating. We had Sinatra going and even though L decides to start throwing all of the glass balls that we are putting the hooks in, oy, all was well and my visions of glass shards imbedded in little feet didn't come to pass. Phew.

We made our own star, out of cardboard and tinfoil...Cannon thinks we're white trash but then again I am from VA....

E had been so excited all night to put the star up, it was to be the highlight of the night. Too bad our little angel is a big wus..or is it woos? She was so nervous because the tree was too high. First Cannon tried to lift her but woah...too scary. So then he tries again and again....meanwhile I'm saying just lift her like a dancer, like an ice skater like a....a six year old who weighs only 50 lbs? Oh I mean she was too scared. (in his defense he was sick for 4 days)

Then Cannon gets the ladder from her loft bed that is just as high as the tree is but whatever works right? L and I both take a turn climbing it while Cannon holds it to show her that look its fun, after a while she finally gets on but no way its just too high for her taste. So then we show her how she can climb on the bookcase and stand up and be right there. Ain't gonna happen. Finally after another shot at the ladder she decides that she can do the bookcase. I get her up to the top but she won't stand up and actually starts freaking out when I am trying to show her how close the tree is....ahh! Then Cannon reminds me that this fun night could turn into a tradgedy. Truer words...never mind all the fun she'll end up in therapy over all of her horrible Christmas memories. FINALLY she decides that yes I can pull the tree to her and she will try and put the star on. So 30 min. later we have a star on the tree...put on by me.

The events as they happend:

E trying out the ladder

I'm trying to help E get up on top of the bookshelf...notice the look of what are you going to do to me?

Finally on top!

Pulling the tree while pulling her arm to meet it....

results in me putting on the star.

This is obviously pre star or there would be tear stained cheeks and...a star on top.

Also my Aunt Ceci and cousin Lory came last weekend and Ceci, who makes beautiful jewelry made this set for E with matching earrings that she didn't have on yet. You should have seen her this morning for church she was so cute and thought she was a princess with all the beautiful jewelry on. She sent Ceci a thank you note right away and enclosed some of her pearls because "you like pearls so much" Love it!

Here are the recipes (minus the soup because thats way too much work, we'll let whole foods do the hard work)

Pumpkin Pie (from the Weston A Price cookbook):



Start with any flaky pie crust you like, WAP suggests making theirs from pg 557, but I think its a whole lotta work when Whole Foods makes a good organic whole wheat frozen one for a couple of dollars.

1 15oz can pumpkin puree
3 eggs
3/4 C Rapadura
1 Tbs freshly grated ginger ( I use powdered)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp powdered cloves
1/4 tsp nutmeg
grated rind of 1 lemon
1 C piima cream or creme fraiche
2 Tbs brandy ( hiccup...optional)

Cream eggs with Rapadura. Gradually blend in other ingredients. Pour into pie shell and bake at 350 degrees for 35-45 min or until firm in the middle.

This is the BEST!!

Christmas Guacamole:

ingredients

2 ripe avocadoes, well mashed

½ tsp. coriander

2 TBS lemon juice (use half as much if using bottled)

1/4 tsp. cayenne (can add more if you like it hot...but we usually use about 1/8 b/c even 1/4 is pretty spicy)

Seeds of one ripe pomegranate

2-4 TBS finely chopped onion (Blech...I hate onions, but I chop them VERY fine and only put about 2 tbs and it adds a lot of flavor)

1 tsp. salt

directions:

combine all ingredients except pomegranate seeds. Once guacamole is a good consistency stir in pomegranate seeds.

Enjoy!

Sorry about the jumbo font...something is going on with blogger, anybody know why my html cannot be accepted??

Update

Many of my new posts are titled update because I am too lazy to post very often so all you get is one big update : ) A side note from my previous post. The reason I went to DC was because my mom had surgery. She was promised in a blessing that she wouldn't have any pain and she didn't. We were supposed to be nursing her back to health but instead we just had fun! She is such a faithful and strong woman....she is such a great example to me and I am lucky to have her. I love you mom!

Last weekend Elder Holland was here. The stake rented out a ballroom where a few months ago Cannon went to see a boxing match. It was so amazing to be so close up and E was in the childrens choir that sang for him. It is so amazing to feel how strong the spirit is in a room where an apostle is. When I was a teenager President Hinkley came to a regional conference and as we were entering in the handicapped entrance with Laura he was coming in too...my dad ran up and shook his hand but I was too nervous... but now I wish I had done it.

Cannon's parents were in town last weekend well because Cannon was being ordained a High Priest. It was so amazing of them to take time out of their work schedules and come out here for it. It meant a lot to Cannon for his dad to do this. We had a great weekend and E was so happy to see her gramma Debbie and Papa. L really took to Debbie but wasn't too sure about Gordon. I was even able to leave him with her which, for those of you who know him is a huge step! Luckily they came for the coldest day EVER and instead of cuddling up all day watching movies we were out touring around. We had a great weekend and it was so fun to see them...thanks you guys you're the best and we love you!

Even though it was butt cold E still enjoyed herself.

Dancing on the Big piano at FAO which is our fall back location during the winter.

Gramma Debbie and Papa

Thanksgiving this year was fun and we shared it with some great friends. I got my turkey from my Amish farmer in PA who I buy various things from 2 times a month. It had been killed a few days before I picked it up and it was really good and super tasty. We had a really fun day and thanks to the netie pot the sinus pressure I was feeling didn't ruin the day : )

It really looks like a frog....

The beautiful and yummy desert that I made....alright that Amber made.

Things I am thankful for:

The Gospel
My incredible amazing sexy husband (and no he didn't pay me to say this...he may even make me delete it but for right now....everyone knows)
My beautiful sweet crazy kids
Our families
Our health
Being kept safe each and every day
About a million other ones that are too many to name

Oh man and I forgot THE highlight of the holiday was seeing none other than Anne Currie! I mean can you believe it? She was shopping for a turkey at Whole Foods....a turkey! I had no clue that mega stars ate TURKEY!! And we passed right by her! I had to grab onto the butcher as I walked by because I was swooning and thought I might faint dead away. I *think* she may have looked at me, but really how could you miss a grown woman swooning and babbling "anne anne anne"? I finally recovered enough to do the rest of my shopping but I was just kicking myself that I couldn't pull it together enough to tell her that she HAS to brine her turkey. Will I ever get the chance? sigh. PS if you have to ask Anne who? like my lovely friend Amber then please don't even bother reading this blog EVER again. I mean really.. "anne who" c'mon Amber.

Oh and PS L went to nursery and stayed the whole time and only cried a little...he was so proud of himself : )

Homebirth in the NY Times!

Check out this great article that came out last week in the NY Times.( I was too lazy to post about it when it actually came out.) I am so glad that there is finally a positive story on homebirth. It is true that so many more people are choosing homebirth and realizing that it really is a safe way to go....hooray! There are a couple of negative comments but all in all it was very good and Alecia is a doula friend of mine! There are more pictures if you click on the more photos link under the main picture. Enjoy!

NY Times

VA

We (the kiddies and I) spent a week in VA with my family and my long lost sister Alicia. We had so much fun staying up late, laughing about silly things. No matter how old we get it is still the same ol' when we're together. Oh and she finally got to meet L...what a slacker! Here are some highlights from the week.





Alicia and L.



My little brother Hyrum celebrated his 10th birthday while we were there. Alicia is an amazing cook and she made this insanely good cake.



My 12 year old sister Lillian is a little mother to L and E.



L is such a good helper (just like uncle Hy) He was helping me with the recycling this day. I wish E was so willing...




Alicia had a long task list to complete while there. One of which was cleaning my no good garden out. They actually found a cucumber and it was good!



Just making sure its still there.



The beautiful leaf piles! We would play in the leaves every fall so it is so fun to see my kiddies doing the same.








Mia and E









Basketball tricks. Hey I still do this one and think I'm cool.







L had so much fun playing football with uncle Hy.



Mom and Alicia...I love you guys thanks for a fun week!

Halloween

I know that everybody has been DYING for our Halloween update. So I won't leave you hanging any longer.

Drum roll please.....





E had a Halloween cookie party with 6 of her friends. Parties in our tiny apt. are....interesting : )



Meow! This is the first year in 2-3 yrs I have dressed up. It was fun!



The "gymnaftifts girl" She has a hard time saying gymnastics. I kept telling her that its called a gymnast and she said "or you could say gymnaftifts girl" True.



L was a gorilla. And even in this costume someone still called him a girl. What??? Oh and today he was called a girl when he was wearing a grey sweatshirt and spiderman pants.



I had to turn off the flash for this one b/c E always blinks from the flash.



Cannon dressed as himself in his mtn biking attire. L thought he was too cool!



On our way trick o treating on the bus with one friend from Prague and the other from London. This was all new to them. I felt a little silly when I explained what it was all about. Crazy tradition right? Knocking on doors and demanding candy...who's idea was that?



We went to my friend Rachel's big building and hit almost every floor of her 35 floor building. Bing bang boom done in an hour....pretty sweet!



L got the hang of it really fast!



He was pretty sweaty by the time we were done.



Oh joy the candy! Enjoy it while it last kids. (we got rid of it all the next day at the ward party) Usually the candy fairy comes and takes it away and leaves a gift, but she was on vacation this year...thank goodness for the ward party.



This is the door E and I decorated. (Mostly her...wink wink)



L was a little grumpy at the party and didn't want to wear his costume.



Can finally got to go Mtn biking on Sat and we walked home together from the ward along the river. He was showing off for us quite a bit. If I knew how to load video I would show the one I took of him going down the stairs from carl schurz to the path around 81st st.



E went to the dentist today and for some reason they have these cool Ray Charles "glasses" to shield her eyes from the light. L thought they were pretty smooth.



My sweet kiddies. E is so good with L. She is reading him a goodnight story here. Most nights she sings him to sleep. I love these guys!









And of course this guy!