YOU'RE INVITED

MISSIONARY FAREWELL

As you all know Eli has been called to serve in the London, England South Mission.
His farewell is Sunday, March 22nd @1:00 PM.
Any of you who would like to make it are more than welcome. It will be at our church. We will also have a light luncheon for close friends and family afterward at Hanna and Chris Terrill's house.

HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!

Christmas & New Years Update

Sorry we haven't blogged in awhile, but since Marissa (Ralph & Annette Perez's daughter) mentioned we hadn't updated for forever... here you go.

Everett was joking around and made an ornament which had a noose around Obama's neck hanging from the Christmas tree. He thought it was pretty funny. (We didn't all concur)
Seems he received a special invite to the White House
and was able to get a picture with his new BFF
which we proudly hung from our tree.

Grandpa and Grandma Anderson surprised us and came up to our 3rd annual Christmas eve party over at Cindy and Ken's house. It was really good to see them. They don't travel much anymore so it was a neat surprise. Bonnie and Pat also came up to join in the celebration.

We all get together and eat soups, desserts, exchange white elephant gifts, and sing Christmas songs together.

Scruffy look and matching PJ's are a Coon tradition for us
and all the grandkids on Christmas morn.

You can see all the excitement in my face as I begin the hour long marathon of cooking crepes for Christmas morning. Actually, it went much faster this year because I used three pans at once and got a good rhythm going. We used Rebecca's crepe recipe from her blog and a syrup recipe given to us by Empey's in our ward.
(It is to-die-for good!)

Empey's Killer Homemade Syrup
2 cups sugar
1 cup water
1 cube butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp almond extract


Don't play with Matches!

Alison came up to visit after Christmas with her kids.We had a real nice visit.
She helped us by cleaning ashes out of our stove downstairs and placed them in a cardboard box.
She had Eli put them outside the door. He put them just of our front steps.
Patsy and I could smell smoke really strong and we looked out to a blaze in the box and an adjacent garbage sack resulting in melted siding .


New Year's Hot Celebration!

Patsy didn't think the fire I had going downstairs was hot enough
so she cranked it up to get it good and warm before closing the damper and inlet drafts.
Eli was playing the Wii downstairs with some friends and it was too hot
so he opened up the window to let in some cooler air.
All of the sudden we could smell stinky smoke.
He looked outside the window
and our house was on fire!
I ran out and with his help we doused it with snow and water.
It was still smouldering between the chimney and the house wall
so I called the fire department and soon we had all kinds of flashing lights and noise.
They squirted it down good and ripped off siding and insulation
just to make sure it was all the way out.

Thanks to the Firefighters and other civic and emergency personnel who keep us all safe and respond to our needs when it would be nice just to be home with their families!

Ralphie (Ralph Perez) has been after me to go ice fishing so we bit the bullet and went out to the Roberts gravel pond. Eli, Everett, Ralph, Rod Blaylock, and I caught about 123 perch.
It was a blast! We were toasty warm in Ralph's palace of an Ice Tent. Ralph had all the gear and we absolutely had a great time.

Our perch weren't quite as large as most pictured here. 4- 8" mostly.
When we got back I the work began. I spent 2 solid hours filleting the perch and cleaning the 2 trout we caught. But it sure will be good eating!


May Your New Year be as pleasant and filled with happy and treasured memories
as our past year has been! We are soo grateful for our faith, friends, and family!

Dates

Everett and Eli both went to girls choice last month. Eli went with Ali Pierson (Gails' daughter) and Everett went with Emily. They had a lot of fun. Mom even made these amazing corsages for the boys to give to the girls. She is such a creative genius. I'm proud of her resourcefulness and clever hands. She never ceases to amaze me!

Patriarchal Blessings

We (Dad, Mom, Everett, and Chris) had the privilege of going with Eli when he received his patriarchal blessing last Tuesday. Pres.Guthrie is still going strong! Alison was the first girl to receive a blessing at his hand... and Eli has now brought the number to 724 blessings given and received by his hand under the influence of the Spirit! Awesome. Eli received some very special blessings that perhaps he might share more with close family.He was told that he would serve missions (plural) and that he would be blessed with the ability to explain gospel truths using scripture simply and convincingly. He was also promised that if faithful he would lead quorums,congregations, and many congregations. Pres. Guthrie also shared some insightful remarks with Everett. The Spirit was close and the Lords influence was unrestrained. It was an enjoyable and remarkable evening!
It was evident again that the Lord leads, directs, and inspires his chosen servants!

The Joys Of Home Teaching.......

Each month we have the privilege of going Home teaching to some really neat families. We get to hear stories, share a message and on special occasions we get to do service projects such as, raking leaves, giving blessings... and with all of the snow this year we have had the opportunity to shovel some walks and roofs. Both Eli & Everett lent a hand. Everett even slid halfway off the roof a few times. I stayed on the ground on my hind legs & directed roof traffic and chipped ice with our ice wedge and pried ice of the hips and valleys. We got some huge chunks of ice off and had fun w/service.The warmth you get doesn't just come from physical exertion! Here are a few pictures of our most recent service project!