Labor Day Weekend 2011

It was a crazy weekend. I'd gone back to the doctor and found out that I had a sinus infection still. We still decided to go see family. We did a lot while we were there. We canned beans, hung out with family, met a new niece and nephew, and went to a few family functions. The main reason for going was the Cowley Family Reunion (my side). We had so much fun. We were able to see people we hadn't in a long time. We were able to hang out with everyone and take some time to rest.
For the family reunion we had a dinner and played games Sunday night. Monday morning we had breakfast and went repelling. We also had lunch and played at the Rotary Park. I'm glad we were able to have fun.

Birthday Surprise

My younger sister, Cara, had a baby on August 6th. Her birthday is August 20th. We decided to head up to Richfield for the weekend to surprise her for her birthday and meet our new nephew/cousin. It was a short trip. We got some time to spend with her and the rest of my family. We also were able to visit with one of Branden's brothers and his family. Kincade threw Cara a birthday party that night and we were able to spend time with them that night as well. Sunday morning we were able to go to the homecoming of my youngest sister, Shanelle's, old boyfriend that she sent out. After the homecoming we headed home to church. We were all exhausted when we got home, but it was worth it. Now back to another week. We'll also have a new nephew on Tuesday. Babies are adding to the family quickly.

Me, Cara, Jeremy, Shanelle

School is Back in Session

Day 1 - August 15th

Tired after a long day and running home.

Day 2

Brax was so excited to start school this year. He's a big 2nd grader. I can't believe how big he's getting. I struggled with him going back to school for some reason. I didn't struggle the other years. I even cried, not normal for me. I love him so much. He is doing better with reading. Today will be his first day with homework. We'll see how it goes. He has a guy teacher and is kind of excited about that. He also got his new glasses on Wed. He's so excited about them and I think they look great. I took lots of pictures last week and am posting a few.

Day 3New glasses

Preparing to Go Back to School

This past week was crazy at our house. Between family and getting stuff ready, we didn't have a lot of free time. Brax went back to the eye doctor for his annual check up. His eyes have pretty much stayed the same. His prescription is still +6 in both eyes. He's quite far sided. He still has the lazy eyes and the glasses help keep it under control. He is getting some cool new glasses and he's way excited about them. I'll post a picture when he gets them. He also finished another 2 weeks of swimming lessons. He did such an amazing job. He jumped off the diving board and swam four laps during the week. I am so proud of him. The teacher worried he was a little too young and recommended he take level 4 again. He has a few places he needs to improve. He did such a great job and we are both so proud of him.

Cowley Family Trip to Hurricane

August 10th-12th was the annual trip down to Hurricane for my mom, youngest sister, sister-in-law, and nieces and nephew. The Saturday before my other sister, Cara, had her baby and was unable to come. Shanelle had been here all week because we're looking for a job for her down here. If we can find her one, she'll move in with us. That's what we did on Monday and Tuesday.

Wednesday is when the rest of the family came. We went to see the Little Mermaid at Tuacahn Ampitheater. The kids sat through it and had a great time. We had frozen strawberry lemonade and popcorn. We had seats on the right front side of the theater. I was on the outside aisle and sat right by where the seagull did a lot of stuff. We were on the 5th row back. It was so much fun and I'm glad we went.

Shanelle, my mom, Luke, Kennedy, Braxten, Jacey, Katie

Thursday we took it easy. We were all exhausted from the night before and the kids got up early. We lounged around and watched a movie, The Last Song. Brax had swim lessons so we waited until they were over. My mom and I swam laps. After that and lunch we went into St. George and went shopping for school clothes and other things. It was fun to spend the day together. That evening we got pizza and went to the Hurricane City Splash Pad. It's one of our new favorite places. We played there for a couple hours. Around 8:45 we decided we were done. Branden volunteered to take the kids home so the adults went to YUMZ for frozen yogurt. After that we took Shanelle back to the house. Katie, my mom, and myself went to Wal-Mart to pick up a few things. We had a good laugh on the way there due to a driving incident.

Shoe Carnival

Old Navy

Our Monkey Man

Friday we got up and headed to Sand Hollow. We got there about 9 am. We went swimming, cliff jumping, and playing in the sand. The kids even jumped a little. We took them across to the center island. My mom and Katie jumped for the first time. Shanelle had jumped on Monday night when we went out for Family Home Evening. We saw some fish while we were jumping too. Brax jumped off the higher cliff for the first time as well. It was only half as high as the adults were jumping. It wore us all out. Some look like lobsters, some just can't move. We got back to the house about 1 pm. I made lunch, orange chicken. Katie and my mom went to Costco. After that they all got ready to go and headed home. I crashed on the couch after that. I'm so glad they all came down. Shanelle is coming down again next week. It's nice to have her around. It's always nice to see family!

Anderson Family Campout 2011

Every year the Anderson's camp out at Fish Lake in one of the camping sites. This year we decided to go all week. We left our house Sunday, July 24th and headed to Venice. We spent some time with my family and did some work on our other house. After that on Monday afternoon we headed to Fish Lake. We got a single site this year, but everyone joined together in the one big one. We stayed up there Monday through Sunday, but I did head down Wednesday with most of the women for a shower and to help my sister with job applications. We got rained on a lot while we were there. I think we only had two days that it didn't rain. The only one missing from the Anderson clan this year was my brother-in-law Terry. It was nice to have pretty much everyone together again. It's been a while since that happened. A lot of Branden's other relatives came up for the weekend. It's always nice to get away from cell phones, computers, and televisions for a while. We had time to visit, play games, and enjoy nature. I tried to go for a walk every day when possible. Brax had an accident on Thursday night. He was riding his cousin's bike and crashed somehow hitting his chin on the handle bars. His bottom two teeth came up through his tongue. He said when he would drink things the liquid would go all the way through his hole. It was bloody and gross, but is already healed and you'd never know by looking at it. I'm very glad we went and were able to spend time with so many wonderful family members. Being home is also exciting, I'm ready to get back in the swing of things. Two weeks from today school starts!

He looks so cute on his cousin's pink bike.

I couldn't get him to smile.


Branden and our niece, Brinley.


Braxten's tongue after the accident.

Playing horse shoes, we won one game.

Branden and three of his brother playing Pinochle.

Brax thought he was cold so he had his coat and my vest.

Swim Lessons and Splash Pad

This year I decided to sign Brax up for swim lessons at the Hurricane City Pool. He did pretty well and had a great time. He even passed level 3 and just started level 4 today. He is our little fish. He is getting more daring in the deep end, but still is a little scared. I didn't take a lot of pictures though because I signed him up for noon lessons so I could swim laps. He does better when I'm not watching. I did end up with pneumonia and a sinus infection so I didn't swim on the final day. I snapped a few.

For a ward Relief Society activity we had a family picnic at the new Hurricane Splash Pad. It was fun to get to see everyone and have Braxy play at the splash pad for the first time. We were there for 2.5 hours and it was hard getting him to go home. The splash pad is right next to the community center and they also have a couple playgrounds. It's a lot of fun. I can't wait to take him down there again.

Every 24th of July the wards in our stake have a float in the parade that the kids get to ride on. This year I was in charge of getting the candy. I got quite a bit, but it worked. We had more than enough. I didn't feel real great so I rode in the back of the truck while some of the other leaders walked. We had fun, but I'm glad it's over.