The Sanders Family

Oh What Fun!

2010-01-20T16:07:00.003-07:00

All dressed up for Christmas!

Watch out I'm two!

Wow, I can't believe how long it's been since I last blogged. Hopefully I'll get back to being better about this! So much has happened since our last blog...With the main events being Thanksgiving, Christmas, New year's, my (Heather) birthday, and lastly Avery's birthday!

We had some great times together during the holidays. We went to the children's museum the day after Thanksgiving and then swimming after Christmas! We were sad we couldn't be with family and friends in Michigan, but we made sure that we had fun here anyway!

I celebrated my 25th birthday. I don't feel much older, just pregnant. Which has been going well. I'm over my first trimester puking so I'm very happy for that. I've been getting muscle spasms off and on in my abdomen. My doctor said that it's common with babies who are very active like mine :) No other major complaints other than the normal not able to sleep at night kinda stuff. The baby has been growing right on track and moving around like crazy. We did go to our big ultrasound yesterday and found out that he has an umbilical hernia. Which could require me to have a C-Section and surgery for him after he is born. We meet with a high-risk specialist tomorrow morning to find out more. Everything else seems to be developing normally and he's getting the nourishment he needs from the umbilical cord so that is good. Just please be praying for us as we go through this and pray that there wouldn't be any other complications.

Avery just turned two this week! She had a great day! We went for ice cream with her buddy Micah, had cake and presents! She was lovingly spoiled that's for sure! I can't believe how much she is changing even from day to day let alone from 2 years ago! We are so happy to have her in our family. She is such a precious little girl.

Steve is doing well. He's still working in Salt Lake. Which is a good, but kind of a drag that he has to drive so far for work. He's also back in school again. He's still getting good grades! Nothing much is new for him. This spring he'll be very busy finishing off our basement and giving our kitchen a much needed makeover.

I think I've gotten you all caught up! Hope everyone is doing well!

Fall Fun!

2009-11-01T14:43:00.002-07:00

We have had some great fun these past couple weeks! With picking out pumpkins, our church's annual Harvest Party, carving and painting pumpkins and trick or treating at a local nursing home! This year Avery was a kitty for Halloween. She was able to dress up for our church's Harvest Party and for trick or treating at a local nursing home. She was a pretty cute kitty!
Hope everyone has had lots of fun this fall too!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Dancin' With My Father God...

2009-09-13T21:37:00.002-06:00

Tonight we put worship music on for us all to listen too and Avery just started dancing away! It was bringing tears to my eyes because the lyrics of Big Daddy Weave's song Fields of Grace say: "Dancin' with my Father God in fields of grace" and "I love my Father, my Father loves me, I dance for my Father, my Father sings over me." It was just so sweet to see my daughter dancing to a song like that, definitely one of the most precious memories I will have of her. I pray that someday she will know that God does sing over her and I hope that she will dance for her Father God.

Labor Day Adventure

2009-09-08T14:04:00.002-06:00

Yesterday we decided to take a family hike up to Waterfall Canyon. We were very excited to go on this hike and interested to see how Avery would do. So we loaded her up in the backpack carrier and off we went!

The description of the hike said it was a difficult hike, but it was only a little over a mile so we thought even if it is difficult it would be a short trail. The first half of the hike wasn't too bad it was pretty much dirt and a little rocky. The second half...was all rock, absolutely no dirt. Just so you know too this trail was uphill the whole way. Finally we made it to the waterfall! It was gorgeous and the view was just as amazing. Avery played in the water and did a little of her own mountain climbing on the rocks at the waterfall. After a half-hour of playing and eating snacks we headed back down the trail. We were very impressed with how well Avery did. The only time she was unhappy was when we put her back into the carrier, but as soon as we took off she was fine.

After the hike we were very tired and sore of course! We also had a BBQ with some friends afterwards so needless to say by the end of the day we were all ready for bed! Hope everyone else enjoyed their Labor Day!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Our Vacation Thus Far...

2009-07-28T21:48:00.003-06:00

Well, our vacation definitely started off with a bang. I woke up an hour later than I needed to the day Avery and I were flying to MI. Thankfully, I still got it all together and we were out the door only 7 minutes later than I originally planned. Only to get down the road from our house and realize that I left the stroller in the Explorer. No problem, we would just turn around and go back and get it right? Easier said than done, I had closed the door to our house and didn't have any keys. Not to the house not to the Explorer. So we called our friend Zak who is a tow truck driver and thankfully he lives just 5 minutes from our house. So he came and broke into the Explorer so I could get the stroller. Then we were off to the airport now 30 minutes later than originally planned. I got to the airport an hour before my flight was supposed to leave so things were kinda stressful. We got to the airport and I can honestly say that I have never seen the check-in line that long in my life. Thankfully we quickly did curbside check and breezed through security because I had Avery we could go through the "family" line. Otherwise we would have been waiting in line for a long time there too. We made it to our gate just as they were boarding first class passengers. Perfect timing right? At least, as stressful as it was we didn't have to wait in the airport for several hours before our plane took off.

Avery did really well on the plane with only one 5 minute meltdown because she had to wait for the beverage cart to bring her some juice. She had a couple restless moments, but not bad at all. When we took off she said, "Weeeee". She loved it! And when we were descending she pressed her nose up against the glass and loved looking at all the fluffy clouds, she kept saying, "Wow and coooool." Then she was falling asleep with her nose still pressed up against the window. I pulled her away from the window and she dozed on me for the rest of the flight and when we landed. When we landed and everybody was up getting their stuff, she stood up on the seat and waived to everyone and said, "bye, bye!". Everyone though that was hilarious. I just have to say thank God for Benadryl!

So far it's been a great trip. We miss daddy because he had to fly back on Monday, but he'll be back out in 3 weeks. Today we went to the fair. She had a blast petting all the animals and was even kind enough to share her goldfish with them. She also went on her first carousel. She loved that too, she kept saying "weee!". Tomorrow is play day at Chad and Amber's and then Thursday we're spending the afternoon with a friend in Grand Rapids. So far our vacation is going well! Sorry this is so long!

Avery's First Swing Set

2009-07-11T15:54:00.004-06:00

Today Steve went and got Avery a swing set! He found it for free on our news channel's classifieds. Other than some rusting and fading it is in great shape! Some of the stuff is still a little big for her yet, but at least she'll have something she won't outgrow right away! We are going to get a baby swing for her, but today she used the big kid swing and didn't have any problems. She fell off a couple times, but she just got right back on. We sat outside and let her swing for about a half-hour to forty-five minutes, and she was still not tired of swinging! I'd have to say this was definitely a good purchase considering it was free!

Our 4th of July

2009-07-05T21:42:00.005-06:00

Wow, what a weekend! Our weekend started out at our friend's Tammy and Rik's house with a BBQ and fireworks. They have the best view of the fireworks right in the front yard! Avery was a little uncertain about the fireworks at first, every once in awhile she would put her blanky over her face, but then she liked them and kept saying "Ooohh!!!". She did so well with not being scared and with staying up late! While we were there Avery got to ride one of their horses. She was not scared of them at all! She pet the horses and even stuck her fingers in their nose! She really loved riding the horse though. She really has no fear!

Then today our church had service and a picnic up in the mountains. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful view! After lunch we took the ski lift up to the top of the mountain. We were a little worried about how well Avery would do, but once we got on she was in a trance. The ride made us all feel very relaxed! At the top we had a beautiful view! We had to wait an hour to go back down so Avery and daddy played. Avery loved exploring. She saw a huge bee, a caterpillar and lots of other fun stuff! And when we got to our car Avery fell asleep not even 5 minutes into our drive home. We had a great drive down the canyon too, our God is so awesome!

I hope you enjoyed your 4th of July, we can't wait to see everyone soon!

Our little sparkler!!!

Riding the chair lift with daddy

Having fun with dad!

The view from the lift, amazing!

All tuckered out!

Air Show at Hill Air Force Base

2009-06-07T16:20:00.001-06:00

On Saturday we headed to the air show up on base by our house. We all had a blast! Avery loved watching all the planes and jets. The weather was great, maybe a little too great since Avery was the only one out of the three of us that didn't get sun burnt. Oh well, it was worth it, we had a great family day together!

A Memorial Day To Remember

2009-05-26T16:11:00.007-06:00

We decided to go hiking on Memorial Day, but the weather man said that it was supposed to rain in the morning and then again in the afternoon. So we decided to go to the children's museum in Salt Lake City. Then at last minute because the weather was nice out at the moment we changed our minds again and decided to go to This Is The Place Heritage park. It is basically an old pioneer town where you can go into old houses, stores and other buildings. Kind of like a Fort Mackinac type of thing. Anyway, it was very cool! We rode a "train" up to the "town"; Avery pet lots of baby animals; she played in a "mini" village with about six different playhouses; she also played in a manmade stream; and she took a "mini" train around a pond with mom. We all had a
great time, and the weather ended up being beautiful for the entire day so we could have gone hiking. Oh well, we had fun anyway!

Playing "house"

Playing in the stream

Uh oh, Steve died...

Uh oh, Heather died...

Wet n' Wild!

2009-05-19T11:28:00.003-06:00

On Sunday we thought it would be fun to play with Avery in her pool since it was so nice outside! Unfortunately, she was not interested in being in the pool. Steve turned the sprinklers on in the backyard and she had a blast with that instead. She played in the sprinklers until her lips turned purple at which we decided it was time to go inside. Avery definitely disagreed, but was happy to play in the tub instead. I got some great video of her playing in the sprinklers, sorry it's kind of long!

Potty Time!!!

2009-05-14T12:43:00.003-06:00

We decided to get Avery a potty because twice while giving her a bath she's had to go #2. The first time it ended up on the floor and the second time in the tub. I figure I don't want her going in either of those places and she's scared to death of the big toilet so we thought maybe a froggy potty would help. So far she hasn't had to go during bath time so we'll just have to wait and see how she does. She hasn't done anything in the potty, but as you can tell she at least likes sitting on it backwards to watch tv and the bowl makes a great hat. We aren't full on potty training her yet, but just trying to get her comfortable with the potty, which she seems to be.

Happy Mommy's Day!!!

2009-05-10T21:38:00.003-06:00

I hope everyone had a great mother's day today! My mother's day was kind of relaxing which is the best kind of day to have when you're a mom! Steve let me sleep in this morning and made french toast for breakfast. He also bathed and got Avery ready for church for me. He also brought in some beautiful lilacs and tulips from our backyard. Then he fired up the grill and made a good dinner for all of us. Next weekend he's going to take care of Avery all day one day so I can go out shopping for myself. I don't do that very often I always seem to find something for Avery instead of myself. Not a very busy mother's day, but it certainly was a nice one!

Avery Meets Elmo!!!

2009-05-01T17:10:00.001-06:00

A local gym for kids had an open house today so Avery and I went along with my friend Heather and her 1 1/2 year old daughter Olivia and baby Sawyer. Avery and her friend Olivia had a great time just running around the gym, climbing on stuff and dancing during music time. But the best part was when Elmo showed up! The instant Avery saw him she was in awe and she loved him! She would not stop giving him hugs! It was the cutest thing I have ever seen! Unfortunately her friend Olivia ended up being scared of Elmo even though she is an avid Elmo fan. Oh well, what can you do? After and hour of playing in the gym and time with Elmo it was time to say goodbye. Avery did good she even waved goodbye to him. I would say that today was a day well done. All in a day's work right?

A Visit From The Krakers

2009-04-27T15:36:00.003-06:00

We had a blast last week with Chad, Amber and their kids! As Steve said one night at dinner that it was definitely the weirdest vacation ever. We did a lot fun stuff, but a lot of things we wanted to go do were closed. However we did go feed ducks, geese, and swans, Chad and Steve fixed our Explorer, the kids played in the pool, we went to the Air Force museum, we celebrated Elijah's 2nd birthday, and we went to Salt Lake City and Park City.

We wanted to drive a scenic byway south of Salt Lake, but when we got there we found out it was closed. We also wanted to go to Olympic Park in Park City but again when we got there we found out that was closed. We wanted to take the kids to a hands-on children's museum in SLC, and you guessed it closed as well. We've come to discover that pretty much nothing is open until May so we made due with what we had!

The weirdest thing of the vacation though was the motorcycle accident that we witnessed (or I should say heard). A guy on a motorcycle had somehow went off the road and flew full speed down at least a hundred feet over a drop-off into some trees. This happened just as we were starting the scenic byway. We were the first and only ones there so we called 911 and made sure the guy was okay while waiting for the paramedics to show up. Talk about God's hand in us being at the right place at the right time!

We were very sad to see Chad and Amber leave. We pray everyday that somehow God would allow us the chance to move back to MI someday. Until then visitors are welcome after May that is if you want to do stuff!

Like Mother Like Daughter!

2009-04-16T16:41:00.006-06:00

I took these pictures of Avery the other night, looks like she's taking after her mom already!

A Wonderful Easter!

2009-04-12T15:04:00.003-06:00

Avery has had a great Easter so far! She looked so adorable in her Easter dress (the same one as Jordyn's!)! We all had cinnamon rolls for breakfast, then we went to church, then after church we finally had time for Avery to dig into her Easter basket. She got clothes, a pinwheel, a small stuffed Elmo, a noisy book, a new Sesame Street DVD, sunglasses (not all of this was from us). This afternoon we are going to watch her new Sesame Street movie and eat jello jigglers! Two of her favorite things! I hope everyone enjoyed celebrating the resurrection of our Lord!

Curly Sue!

2009-04-06T15:51:00.003-06:00

Last night I had a women's event to go to for church. When I got home Steve was giving Avery a bath for me. For which I was very thankful for! These pictures are after her bath, obviously things get crazy when mom's not around!

Basket Case

2009-03-27T16:02:00.003-06:00

Avery thought her laundry basket was the perfect place to curl up with her blanky and take a nap! What a funny girl!

Brown Eyed Girl

2009-03-25T16:04:00.003-06:00

Everybody always comments on how big and brown Avery's eyes are. I love these pictures because they really show off those beautiful eyes! She did get something good from Steve ;) Oh and be sure to check out the new videos of Avery on here (It's under Family Videos).

Bubbles, Bubbles!

2009-03-16T17:54:00.003-06:00

We had a beautiful day Saturday so went outside for some fun. Avery had lots of fun exploring, picking things off the ground, she rode on her 4-wheeler, and loved blowing bubbles! Also, yesterday we went to a local playground where she went on her first swing! She loved it, she couldn't stop laughing or smiling!

4-Wheelin'

2009-03-14T11:57:00.010-06:00

Well, I got another great deal on our news channel's classifieds. I found a Power Wheels 4-wheeler for $30 when originally the cheapest we could find was $75! It works great and Avery loves it! We let her ride around the house this morning and later today we'll take it for a spin in the backyard. I love finding toys for cheap!

Getting Better

2009-03-12T10:31:00.006-06:00

Well, as you can see Avery is definitely getting better! Her nose is drying up and she just has a little bit of a lingering cough. She is back to her old self for the most part she's running around the house and getting into everything again. With the weather changing back and forth Steve and I keep getting a cold. So hopefully soon the weather will stay warm for more than a day so that we can get better too! Thanks again for the prayers!

Good News & Bad News

2009-03-06T12:44:00.003-07:00

Well, where do I start? Good news Avery slept through the night since she first became sick! Yay, good for her and mommy! Bad news, Avery is still running a fever so we headed to the doctor again today. Good news, her Croup seems to slowly be getting better, not a ton, but she isn't quite has wheezy as a few days ago. So our doctor is thinking that she may not have RSV because usually the wheeziness will stay or get worse. So he's thinking she has parainfluenza which is pretty much a super severe cold. If her fever doesn't go away by Monday then we have to bring her back in again. We still have to watch her breathing. We're also keeping an eye on her appetite, because it has really taken a nose dive and a lot of times she doesn't want to drink anything so we're making sure she doesn't get dehydrated. I think that's all I've got, but hopefully this will be easier to beat if it ends up not being RSV! Thanks for the prayers!

RSV & Croup

2009-03-05T13:46:00.002-07:00

So yesterday we headed to the doctor because Avery was VERY sick. We found out, she has RSV and Croup. We got a steroid to bring the swelling down in her throat from the Croup. The RSV could be okay or get worse and land her in the hospital. We have to watch her breathing to make sure it doesn't get too heavy or too fast. If the RSV affects her lungs then we will likely be at the hospital. Right now it's not affecting her lungs so all we can do is sit at home and pray that it gets better and not worse. Needless to say, she looks, sounds, and feels horrible. We have had some very sleepless nights around here. Poor kiddo, so please be in prayer that both her Croup and RSV would go away quickly. I miss my little girl on the run! Thank you!

New Ride

2009-03-01T09:54:00.004-07:00

So I finally caved and got Heather a bigger car. We got a 2005 Ford Explorer. It ended up that my company decided to sell off it's fleet of vehicles that they provide for the managers. We bought this one because it belongs to my boss and I'm pretty sure he took good care of it. We took it to get washed last night at the local car wash (Avery did good, even through she almost freaked out when the high-pressure sprayers were going down the sides of the car) and we took these pictures for everyone to see.

One Year and Family Pictures!

2009-01-23T11:14:00.002-07:00

Happy Birthday Avery!

2009-01-19T10:47:00.005-07:00

Yesterday was Avery's first birthday, yay! She had a very good first birthday. She had cake and presents, what more could you ask for? She got clothes, shoes, a riding pony, a "kitty", a "monkey", blocks, and some gift cards to buy outdoor toys this summer.

I made her a giant cupcake cake for her and she wasn't too impressed with eating the cake. She was pretty happy just playing in the frosting though! Today we are going to get her one-year pictures done and an updated family photo. I can't believe our baby is a big one year old now!

Cake Attempt #2

2009-01-11T15:26:00.005-07:00

I know this is a little late, but I thought it was worthwhile to see Steve's attempt at baking me an Angel Food Cake...again. The day after my birthday he made me my cake and well you can watch the video to see how it turned out. I'll just say this he wouldn't let me help him in anyway, even when I tried to tell him if he used the Bundt pan to not fill it up as much because it would overflow. I love my husband that he tries so hard to make me my favorite cake. I will say that it tasted very very good!

Happy Birthday To Me!

2009-01-06T10:36:00.002-07:00

So today is my birthday hooray! I'm 24, I don't feel old because Steve is older than I am so that always makes me feel better about myself! It doesn't really feel like my birthday. Today Avery and I are hanging out as usual and tonight Steve won't be home 'til around 9. Then he has to go to bed. He has to drive to Salt Lake for work now and has to be up at 4:30am to get to work by 6. He won't be home tonight because he started going back to college and he has his first class tonight. So it'll just be me and the kiddo tonight. It probably won't be very exciting, Avery needs a bath that's about it. Then on the 18th it's Avery's birthday! My mom and brothers are coming so I'm really excited about that. Can't believe our little stinker is gonna be a year old already!

Christmas Elves!

2008-12-22T12:27:00.001-07:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Avery's Walking!

2008-12-10T17:06:00.004-07:00

So today after Avery had lunch she decided to start walking! And believe it or not I got on video too! I am so happy that I am able to stay home with her and see all her "firsts". Yay Avery!

Oh Christmas Tree...Don't Fall on Avery

2008-12-06T17:37:00.003-07:00

We put up our Christmas tree on Saturday. It went rather quick this year. We had all of our decorations set up in one hour. We waited until it was dark to light the tree up and get some video of Avery checking it out. We think that she likes it.

New Kitty Update

2008-11-14T08:59:00.004-07:00

So just wanted to give an update on the new kitty. We've decided to keep the cat, so long as all the cats get along. It'll take time, but I'm sure they'll grow to like each other. If not my mom (Heather's mom) said she'd take the cat back home with her in January when she comes to visit. We're hoping though that everything works out so we can keep it. I took the cat to the vet on Tuesday. Both of his eyes are infected so they gave me an eye ointment for that and they did a worm treatment "just in case". In two weeks we go back in for immunizations. So for right now he has to be quarantined from our other cats. We've decided to name it Orange Kitty, because Orange just sounds dumb. So, hello Orange Kitty.

Homeless Kitty

2008-11-11T10:07:00.004-07:00

Yesterday around noon I was home for lunch and I heard a faint meow coming from outside. I thought it was our cats, but when I looked out the window I saw a small white kitten crawling in the gutter across the street. Heather told me to run get it so it wouldn't get run over. I ran out the front door barefoot and grabbed the kitten out of the road. It's been cold and rainy here, and it was dirty and wet. We fed it and have tried to clean it up. It's a boy kitten and a tabby, I think. So now comes the ultimate question: What in the world are we going to do with this cat? Heather and I have talked about keeping it, but we do have two cats already. I don't want to be the weird cat people. But I'm afraid that if we give it to a shelter that they will put it to sleep because the shelters here are quite full. Let us know what you think.

Pumpkin Fun

2008-10-31T13:09:00.005-06:00

Tuesday night we went and bought our pumpkins from a small local farm down the road. We had a lot of fun picking out our pumpkins. Avery tried to eat the stem on her pumpkin, I don't think she liked it. Last night we carved our pumpkins and baked the seeds, yummy! Steve did the Michigan one and I did the maple leaf. Hope everyone is enjoying this time of year!

Harvest Party Fun

2008-10-26T19:30:00.003-06:00

We all went to our church's annual harvest party this Sunday. We were going to dress Avery up as a kitty, but we couldn't find any costumes for her size. We ran across this princess dress at BabiesRUs and got it for $4.00!! It pays to wait until last minute to buy a costume. We all had a lot of fun at the party. We ate some chili, went on a hay ride, and talked with a lot of friends. No candy this year since she has no teeth.

Snow Galore!

2008-10-12T13:12:00.005-06:00

So we woke up this morning and Steve took a picture of the first snowfall for the season. That was this morning, right now we have about 6 inches and it is still snowing! We had to bundle Avery up for church, she looks so cute in her hat! I hope you are enjoying your nice sunshiny weather!

Jungle Horse

2008-10-09T20:46:00.003-06:00

Avery got spoiled again, but it wasn't us this time. Andrew and Tiffany sent Avery a bouncing zebra that she can ride on. There are some pictures below that show just how much she likes it!

Baking Bread

2008-09-28T17:41:00.004-06:00

I made some bread on Saturday. It was the first loaf that I've ever made. I really thought that it would be soft and fluffy. It wasn't. It was more like a brick of flour. It tastes good though, and I'll try again in a few weeks for a fluffier loaf. ~Steve

Avery's New Toy!

2008-09-23T16:47:00.003-06:00

On Sunday Avery got a new Leap Frog activity table. She loves it because she can pull herself up to it and stand and because it makes LOTS of noise. We got it off of our news channel's classifieds for $20, after a good cleaning I'd say not too bad of a deal. At least now she has something fun to play with now that she can stand up. Not a whole lot is new with us. Enjoy the pictures!

I have a Job, but I want another

2008-09-21T20:35:00.002-06:00

I took a break this summer from apply for jobs in Michigan. Well, I'm back to looking again and trying to stay optimistic. My job here is very good, but it's the distance from home that is the problem. Heather and I have been doing very well here ever since we left our church and have been attending Alpine Church. It's made living here much more bearable. We still miss our friends and family in Michigan so much. We'll see what God has in store for us!

Look at me, I'm blogging!

2008-09-21T14:17:00.000-06:00

Well, this is a little anti-climatic. Chad sent me an email and told me that blogging was the newest and best thing to do. So after spending half my afternoon trying to figure out how to change colors and add gadgets that don't work even after you sign up for picasa, photobucket, and flickr, I finally got a grasp on using some parts of this blogging thingy. I figure that at least I can type so I can't screw that up. And yes, I'm the only visitor to my family's blog. Sigh.