Tough Times

Today I was seeking some comfort in all that we have been through in trying to get pregnant. I spent lots of time on lds.org, and just praying. I was able to read many things that helped me to work through some of my feelings. I really liked this quote:
"Though our knowledge of the plan of salvation does not explain why miscarriages and stillbirths take place, nor what the eternal result will be, we can know with confidence that God, who is the father of all spirits, is merciful and just. We can know also that there is hope. Worthy parents can trust in him and know that they and all his spirit children will—one way or another—receive a just reward for their efforts and sacrifice, perhaps in ways that we do not presently comprehend."

The Living Christ

Our ward has given us a challenge to memorize The Living Christ in our families. Josh and I have started to read it little by little with Mason every night before our family Book of Mormon study. We seriously doubted that with the way Mason wiggles around during our scripture study that he would really get anything out of memorizing The Living Christ, but we have kept it going. When he will actually cooperate we are very surprised at how much he can repeat with us.

It is so amazing to me how he is now using some of those words from The Living Christ during other parts of our day. For example, he has begun to thank Heavenly Father for our "testimonies" during our prayers.

I now, more than ever before, have such a testimony of teaching our children what they need to know at a young age. Even three years old is not too young. They soak up more than we ever know and I am so grateful for all of the wonderful materials we have at our fingertips to teach our young children the gospel of Jesus Christ. I hope and pray every day that he will gain his own testimony which will help him to make right choices throughout his life.

Trip to Tucson!

Josh had a work conference in Tucson and Mason and I decided to tag along for the week. Mason absolutely loved Tucson!

I think he just loved being off schedule and sleeping in the same room as mommy and daddy. He was able to keep his eye on us at all times and knew for certain that we were not doing anything fun without him. We did a lot of swimming because it was SO HOT! We also took a day to meet up with Shel and Corey because they were in Phoenix. We could just not pass up an opportunity to see them since they were so close. Mason was extremely excited to see Asher and Beckett! He has seen all of his cousins this summer and he has had so much

fun with them. He really loves to be with his family. We all went to the Diamondbacks Baseball Game and the boys all had a blast running around together. Unfortunately we never really managed to get a picture of the three of them at the same time in the same place. It really was so much fun though and we always have a blast when we hang out with Shel and Corey.

On the way to see Michelle and Corey we decided to make a stop at the Mesa Temple. It is so amazing how much peace I feel just being near the temple. I really am so grateful for the blessings we are able to receive through the temple and the work that is done there. I know that Mason was able to feel something special there as well. When we walked into the visitors center he walked straight to the statue of Christ. He continued to point out different details on the statue and listened carefully as I explained to

him the nail marks in His hands and feet. Every time I see this statue I am brought to a deep state of humility for what our Savior has done for us. It truly is amazing that His love for us is so perfectly unconditional. I truly hope that Josh and I will be able to teach Mason of this amazing love so that he too will be lead to gain His own testimony of Jesus Christ. I am grateful for these small moments we are able to have as a family to remember what is truly important in life.

I love the quote by Henry B. Eyring that says "Our most important and powerful assignments are in the family. They are important because the family has the opportunity at the start of a child's life to put feet firmly on the path home."

Happy Actual Birthday!!! June 14th

Every year Mason's birthday falls on flag day. It was supposed to be on the 4th of July, but he came three weeks early. He was meant to be with the flag! So... every year we are sure to take his picture with the flag. Mason thinks its pretty cool!

I took Mason to the zoo on his birthday because we heard they had some dinosaurs roaming the park. Mason had a blast, but I have to say we didn't really spend much time looking at the animals. Instead we spent most of our time doing the random little things like sitting on the pretend wooden horse and waving to the train. Waving to the train as it went by was probably the highlight for Mason. I let him do it like five times before I finally begged him to let us move on to something else. Now before anybody asks "why didn't you take him on it", let me mention that Mason likes to "watch" and not do. He is not sure the train is safe yet, but he really enjoys watching the people and waving as they go by. This child is very careful about "dangerous things". I am actually really shocked that he wanted to get on the horse. That is something we usually beg him to do for a picture. Now I just have to beg him to smile and look at me for pictures. Little cutie!

They are doing a lot of construction at our zoo right now so right in front of the construction site they have these little tractors so the kids can pretend to help with the building. Mason loved picking up and dumping the dirt. So cool!

Then of course we had to go inside the big gift shop where he gave a hug to every stuffed animal he saw. Quite the tender little child.

Mason loves the elephants and he found some just right for us to play with. I took the picture right as he was handing me the elephant I was to play with. "Mommy.... play me."

So the dinosaurs were so amazing! They really were awesome! Their heads move when you walk by and their eyes follow you too! Then suddenly they let out a huge roar! At first Mason wasn't sure if he should be afraid or not, so he just watched all the other kids. Then he got a little braver and stood there to watch on his own. He stared at the dinosaurs for a very long time. He thought they were much more interesting than the animals. Unfortunately the dinosaurs go away in August.

This is Mason after he got really close to the dinosaur, heard it roar, and turned to run away! I was so thrilled that he was actually having fun with them. When I asked him his favorite dinosaur he said "the one that shoots water". There were two dinosaurs that spit water when you walk by. He didn't quite stand in the line of fire, but he did get pretty close.

When we saw the sand to uncover the dinosaur bones, Mason got really excited. It was funny when he went right into the sand found a dinosaur pamphlet and opened it to read. He is very into pretending to read these days. I love listening by his door at night when he is supposed to be going to sleep, but instead he is holding a book and making up a story about a pirate ship going down a waterfall. He is such a smart boy and we are so proud of him. I just can't even express how much fun I have with him every day! I just want to bottle him up and keep him forever!!!

Last of all we went to the Mayan because Mason actually remembered that place from last year. He loves watching the divers jump off the rocks and into the water. This is a great place to go to keep your kids entertained during dinner. He seriously stared at the rocks even when there were no divers. What a fun day! Mason was so spoiled, but he deserved it! We are so thankful Heavenly Father has blessed us with such a sweet, special, sensitive, loving child!

Happy Birthday Mason!

I can't believe Mason is 3 years old! He is growing up so fast and every time I think of it I turn to tears! He is seriously my best little pal and I don't even remember how life could have been even the least bit exciting without him around. Don't worry.... Josh agrees!

Mason loves the story from the Book of Mormon where Nephi builds a ship. Ever since March when his cousin Troy had his birthday party with a Buzz cake, Mason had been telling me he wants a cake with "Nephi and his hip". I thought for sure he would change his mind by the time his birthday came around, but the idea stuck and that is what I attempted to do.

Mason could not wait to dive into the cake. Those kit kats were just calling to him. He does not like to get his hands dirty so he dove right in with his mouth. Oh does my boy love chocolate!!

After cake and presents Troy, Mason, and Grandma and Grandpa painted and built some little wooden boats so that we could head over to the park for a little boat race.

Grandma and Grandpa painted their boat mostly blue to make sure we all knew where their loyalty was (BYU), but they did add a little red so that they could support their rebel children who prefer red. Mason's favorite color is blue so he chose all blue, even though it killed his daddy to see it. Troys boat was all red to support the "U" of course. Ha ha! It's funny.... our little guys have no idea yet, but it's all about the sports.

The boat race was so much fun! Mason had a blast and was so glad some of his favorite people could be there to help celebrate!

Jazz vs. Knicks

Last night was my (Josh) first Jazz game ever in my 9 years living in Utah and it was a great one! Some friends of ours offered us their tickets to last nights game. We went back and forth on whether or not we should hassle with finding a last minute baby sitter, but decided to see what we could do. Thanks to Jen's mom we were able to make it happen! ....And boy am I glad we did!

First of all let me say that I had no idea what kind of seats we had until I picked up the tickets. They gave us 4 so we invited Kayla and Jake , but once I picked up the tickets the entire night changed for us. We were on the 8th row, Center court. It was AWESOME!


What a great game. Price of the entire date was 5 dollars for parking! This rocked! Here are some other pictures...thank you Barney's!

Pretty sure the screamer is my brother-in-law. He is a great person to watch sports with.

Oh yeah... Jen and Kayla made a new friend that night.

(Thanks for letting me steal the blog babe!)

Peanut Butter and Ketchup?

Mason doesn't usually put in his request for meals, so today when he said he wanted ketchup I decided to pull out a hotdog as well. When I had everything on his plate he stared as if something were missing. Next, he pointed to the bread. I thought "oh, he actually wants to put his hotdog on bread this time... this is great!". Then he asked me to put peanut butter on the bread. I figured he changed his mind about the ketchup. I handed him the sandwich, put the peanut butter away, and when I turned around he had wasted no time. He was taking a big bite a his peanut butter sandwich dipped in ketchup! Yuck! I was laughing so hard! Sure. Why not put all of your favorite things together in one bite? Mmmmmm!

Daddy/Mason Day

About a 6 months ago, Jen found a Power Wheels Jeep on KSL that was not only red but still in great working condition. We had to buy it since I (Josh) have such a fetish with Jeeps, especially Red ones. So we cleaned it up, unplugged the battery, and put it in Mason's room so he could play in it. He has truly loved his jeep in his room.

Last night Jen went visiting teaching and left Mase and I home alone and Jen had been asking for awhile now when I could move the Jeep into the garage so we could charge it for when the weather gets nicer.

So I went to put Mase in his PJ's and saw he only had short sleeved PJ's. Remembering Jen likes him in long sleeved PJ's during colder months (good Husband memory) I had to run down stairs to get some. When I got back upstairs I noticed Mase had pulled his Jeep to his bedroom door and then quickly jumped into the Jeep when I got there. Me being the lazy husband at times had two thoughts.

1- Put the Jeep back in the corner because I really don't want to move it right now.
2- Take the Jeep downstairs and plug it in for Jen as she has been asking me.

I decided on number 2 but when I asked Mase to get out of the Jeep so I could take it down stairs he would not get out. (He has learned by my bad habits how to shake his head "NO") So I was placed with two more decisions.

1- Physically remove him and listen to him cry as I drag his toy away.
2- let him stay inside and give him the ride of his life down two flights of stairs.

Again I choose number 2. Check out his reaction. (Sorry about the fuzzieness, I took the pictures with my phone)




So the Jeep is charging as we speak and this weekend, with 60 degree weather, we will have to plug the battery in and see how Mase reacts. This was so much fun...I totally recommend trying this if you have a Power Wheels at the top of some stairs. We had a blast. I love you Jen!

Wow! It has been forever since we have posted anything so I thought I would show a picture of my cute little man!
He is the one that does the most changing around here.

Life seems to go by so fast these days. I just can't seem to keep caught up on everything I want to do. I hope to be a much better blogger in the future for those family members who don't get to see this cute little guy very often... because he really is so darn cute!

After months and months of stealing other people's fingers to get to where he wants to go, Mason is finally getting the confidence to do it on his own! Go Mason!

And in the same day Mase decided he was going to sing his first and pretty much only word all day long! It was so cute!

Rough Day For My Little Man!

Usually I can put Mason right down after a song and he will go right to sleep, but today he decided to make things a bit more difficult.  It has been a while since I've had to let him cry himself to sleep.  When I walked in to check on him after he'd stopped crying, I found him like this totally asleep.  His legs were straight out in front of him and he was bent over clutching his favorite blanket.  My poor little buddy!

 

After his nap, Mason decided he would empty all of his toys from the basket.  I thought it was cute so I had to take a picture, but I had no idea he would take it to the next level... (see the next picture).

Mason actually climbed into the basket (probably against his will, although he wasn't crying at all).  I was laughing so hard!!! He just gets cuter and more fun every day!

My Little Helper!

I folded a load of laundry and piled everything neatly into the laundry basket so that I could put it away while Mason took his nap. It was driving me crazy that there were dirty dishes in my sink, so I left the basket in the family room with Mason. I expected to hear him crying in less than one minute of my leaving because he has some sort of separation anxiety. :o) After loading the dishes into the dishwasher I decided to peak on him as I hadn't yet heard a peep. There he was unloading the laundry basket. One by one he picked one article out of the basket, shook it, and dropped it onto the floor. What a helper!


I think he knew he was being a "good" boy because when I called his name to take a picture, he had no problems smiling for me. I was laughing so hard. I am sure there will be many more of these kinds of stories to tell!

Mmmmmm! It's so good!

It is so much fun to feed our little guy. When you feed him he tells you exactly what he thinks of his food by saying Mmmmmmmm after almost every bite. It is too fun to be apart of so we took this video so you could be apart of it too. Enjoy!

Boy do we love our little boy!

Fun With Cousins in New Mexico!

Mason just loves "little people". When he sees anyone close to his size walking he reaches for them with his arms outstretched and his hands opening and closing.  He really enjoyed his visit with his cousins!

Mason with Blaise and Keagan!

Mason with Jacy! She was his second mom the whole trip! She stayed right by his side!

Mason and Asher! Mason loved the attention Asher paid him!

The weather was pretty nice in New Mexico so we walked to the park.  Mason had his first turn on a swing all by himself.  He couldn't stop smiling! It was so darn cute!

Merry Christmas!

Santa came to visit our ward Christmas party and although we just knew Mason would scream, we had to have a picture of him on Santa's lap.  Everybody has a picture of themselves screaming on Santa's lap as a baby... right? So we took our child (who tends to scream when anybody, but Mom or Dad tries to hold him) to sit on Santa's lap. 

Not only did he not scream, he seemed oblivious to everything that was going on.  With Mason you just never can plan your outcome.  He lives to surprise us! What a cutie!

My Daddy sure does love me!
(Before reading it is important to inform you that the events & stories did infact happen, the emphasis however was added for humor purposes)

So this year had many accomplishments and this is not an end of year blog entry. It is however an opportunity for me to share with you another one of my White Sox stories. This year, one of the greatest things happened to Jen and I with the birth of Mason. He has been such a blessing and joy to our family and we just can't get enough of him. He has also been a great addition to the "Anderson White Sox Fan Club" by watching games, screaming at the pitchers, and crying when we lose a game or two. Some people say he likes the movement on the screen but we know better...he really likes the White Sox!
So this year the Sox did pretty good and won the American League Central Division and I was so excited because that meant more Sox baseball and the hat MLB put out was pretty cool.

Well this hat was nearly impossible to find. I wanted to get Mason one because it was a Sox hat, they won their division, and it was the year he was born. I thought it would be cool for him when he gets older. So I looked everywhere and the hat was always sold out. I had Aunts and Uncles in Chicago and Grandparents in Ohio looking everywhere for this hat and still no luck. I searched online and the best I could find was a Alternate hat, which was not my favorite, or one on ebay for 56 dollars. (Jen wouldn't let me bid on it though)
(JK, I'm not that crazy).
I even called the manufacturer of the hat and they gave me a list of stores to call that would carry or sold the hat but every store was sold out too. So as baseball season came to an end I was on the verge of giving up and accepting the fate of Mason's broken heart that his Daddy didn't get him his favorite hat, I decided to check one more time....and there it was! It was like I found a golden ticket to Willy Wonkas Chocolate factory! It was like the Sox just won another world series. The hat was for sale again! So after making sure it was in stock, and under 25 dollars, I called Jen and placed the order while asking for her approval at the same time. (Gotta ask the wife first right!) She of course said yes and three days later Mason got his first real White Sox hat!

Isn't he so cute!

That's my little Sox fan!
So the hat is going in a plastic bag and will be put away for a rainy day.
Maybe even his first game at US Cellular field. Who knows!
"I love you buddy!"

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