So Long!

2009 was a year full of mixed emotions. Obviously, we were so excited for the year and what it was going to bring. The first half was filled with planning for and anticipating the arrival of 'Little Poppy'. Now we know that 'Little Poppy' is a beautiful little girl and I can't imagine life without her. What did we ever do?? She has brought so many smiles, joy, and love into our lives. It's funny how your life keeps changing and with every new adventure, you find a new way to love. Not only our new daughter, but to love each other. It's fun to see Aaron as a 'daddy', and it makes me love him on an entirely new level.

July was one of the roughest months I've had...probably ever. When Shannon got diagnosed with colon cancer, it felt like I was living in a dream for about 2-3 weeks. My entire family would probably say something like that. It just didn't seem real, it still doesn't. Words really can't describe it. But, one thing I know - it puts life into perspective.

Shannon is doing really well - this week will be her 9th round of chemo, she'll be done after 3 more rounds. The weeks of chemo are tough, but she is getting lots of help. She is such a strong woman. Of course she is my big sister, so I already knew that about her and looked up to her. But, now more than ever, I look up to her and I am amazed with her strength and positive attitude!

I guess regardless of what major event we went through in 2009, whether it was having a child or dealing with a family health issue, it made me realize to find joy and peace in the simple things in life, and to love & live life to its fullest.

So long & farewell to 2009!

This New Year's Eve we had friends over at our house. My friends from college and their husbands came over. I have some WONDERFUL college friends --- luckily we married some great guys that also enjoy each other's company, so it is enjoyable to have us all together!

Depending on how long you've been following my blog, you might remember my good friend Amy and her husband Adam (the White's) - they live in Amsterdam right now, they moved there last January. They were home for the holidays, so they came to visit us & to meet Addalyn for the first time!

Jill and Tim (Faber) were here from Fond du Lac and of course Rachel, Jeff, and Ella (Scheel)joined us as well! It was a great night filled with some girl talk (of course!), and great company to ring in the New Year and the new decade.

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Addalyn & Ella are having some fun before bed time (they didn't make it 'til midnight, go figure! Don't worry, I didn't even consider trying!)

My Stout Ladies! Rachel, Jill, me & Amy

Our hubbies - Tim, Jeff, Aaron & Adam

We met each other 5 years ago on NYE!

Amy & I

The Group! "The Anderson's, Scheel's, White's, & Faber's"

***Happy 2010 to Everyone - and Happy New Decade!!!***

Sadly, Amy & Adam had to go back to Amsterdam. We got to see them one more time this past weekend. The Scheel's, Aaron & I met them out for dinner along with another girlfriend from college, Katy. Her little boy was home sick, so unfortunately Katy's husband couldn't make it to dinner.

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One thing I love about the holidays is catching up with family & friends. I wish we could see everyone everyday, but of course, that is unrealistic. I guess in the mean time, we can't take for granted the moments that we have had & the times we get to spend together.

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Amy & Adam White - miss you guys already!

Stout Girls Again, this time Katy is there & Jill couldn't join us (she lives 4 hours away...sad)

The group - Ella even joined us on our dinner! Addalyn spent the evening with my mom & dad. Thanks mom & dad for watching Addy!!

"Don't Count Every Hour in the Day, Make Every Hour in the Day Count"

Christmas in Michigan

We had a great time in Michigan over Christmas! We ended up getting an extra day there because we left earlier than planned to beat the storms that were predicted on Christmas Eve. We did have good driving weather, so I'm glad we made that decision because it would have definitely been a different story if we had waited.

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We spent Christmas Eve day hanging out at Aaron's dads and then we went to church with Tammy (Aaron's sis), Ed (bro-in-law), Brandon (nephew) and Alesha (niece). After church we visited Aaron's grandma Barb's.

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Christmas day we spent the day at Aaron's dad's house with his sisters and their families. Grandma Barb stopped by for a bit and so did Aaron's Auntie Di & Uncle Lance. We played lots of cards and had a great ham and turkey meal cooked by Tammy (Thanks Tammy!). Something exciting that happened --- Addy got her first tooth! I had joked for a bit that she was asking for her 2 front teeth for Christmas. Well, she woke up from a nap a bit fussy, so I felt in her mouth, and there was her front tooth (bottom, left) poking through!

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Saturday we went to our nephew Brandon's hockey game - which they won! Aaron went and played basketball with his family and friends in the afternoon and that evening we had Christmas with all of the Anderson's at Aaron's aunt's house.

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Sunday was a really nice day out, so we actually got to go outside sledding and such - even Addy went sledding! We went to the Congress that evening (pizza place in town). Almost all of Aaron's family was there (Dad, sis, aunts, uncles, cousin, etc), plus we also met the Charbonneaus' there. Jason is a really good friend of Aaron's, and we met up with him and his wife Maryellen.

We headed out Monday morning back to Minnesota. Addy did really good the entire trip. She had a few moments where she was not too happy, but that is because she needed more sleep than she was getting. Really though, she was a great little traveler - which is good since we will have many more trips as she grows up :)

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As usual it goes WAY TOO fast! I'll let the pics do the rest of the talking...I took over 100 of them :) Of course, we talked about getting a cousins picture with Addalyn and her cousins, but somehow we never got it...I'm bummed about that, but we did get some great pictures, none the less!

Right before leaving for church on Christmas Eve

Great Grandma Barb with Addalyn

Family Pic on Christmas Day

Aaron & his Grandma...I really like this picture of them :)

Playing Cards ("Booger Bridge") Clockwise around the table: Ed, Alesha, Brandon, Lowell, me, Aaron, and Grandma Barb --- This picture makes me laugh because Brandon is texting - can't even look up for the pic!...which is what he does 24-7 & gets teased for it all of the time!

Addalyn Jane and her Papa Lowell!

Addy's new winter hat from Grandma Barb (will fit next year!)

Aaron with our nephew and Godson, Anthony

Thanks Auntie Tammy for putting this on my head!

Our niece Holly Sue & I posing with with our hats on!

BATH TIME with Holly!

Baths at Papa Lowell's are fun!

Posing with my cousin Brandon after his hockey game. They won & Brandon got a goal! Brandon & Jeffrey gave Addy the sweatshirt that she's wearing...it is an Iron Range Hockey sweatshirt of theirs. It's a little big now but she'll get lots of use out of it through the years!

Addy & Sadie - one week apart. It will be so much fun watching them grow up together!

Thought this was a cute one of them checking each other out :)

Sledding & snowmobiling outside

Here we go!

Good thing Papa got me this awesome snow suit so I could play outside!

The family going for a snowmobile ride! (we barely went a block and went about 2 miles per hour!)

At the Congress - Tara (our nephew's girlfriend), Holly, Addy, & me --- this picture is about 5 minutes before Addy to grab that glass of ice water and dump it ALL over herself!!

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It was a WONDERFUL time with family - and as usual, we wish we could have visited longer!!!

"You don't choose your family, They are God's gift to you, as you are to them" --Desmond Tutu

First Christmas of the Season!

This past Saturday we had our first Christmas of the season. We are really lucky because we never have to miss a family Christmas. Since the year that we got engaged, my parents have moved up our family Christmas so Aaron & I can be in Michigan on the actual day of Christmas...and Aaron's mom always does Christmas in January. It is so great to not have to miss out on any Christmas's and be able to spend time with all of our family. We have great families -- love you guys!

We started off the day with some family pictures and brunch, and then went into presents. My parents actually made an ice skating rink in their back yard, so after presents, we went outside and ice skated. The set up is perfect, it is right next to my dad's shed that he has a wood stove in...so we had a little "warming house" too. No one ever really used it, but I think it will come in handy this winter.

I had so much fun - I hadn't skated since high school, I forgot how fun it was and want to go out to my parents a lot this winter to keep skating. Aaron actually helped flood the rink last week while my dad was out of town. I'm hoping to get him into skates this year and next, so then in a few years, he can help teach Addy how to skate!

The girls' (my nieces Brynne, Ella, and Brooklynn) all pretty much learned how to skate on Saturday. They were troopers, some of their falls made all of us adults cringe, but they acted like it was no big deal and most of the time, didn't want any help! So much fun!

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Addy with one of her new presents (she loves this monkey!)

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Posing by the tree - in her pretty Christmas outfit

I'm quite certain Addalyn has picked up on her mom's love for shoes...anytime she has new shoes on, she loves to grab her feet and play with her shoes. That's my girl!

Addy with her cousins: Drew, Brooklynn, Brynne, Addalyn, Ella & Hunter

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Playing with a new book!

Fun Family Photo - Go Wild! We are big hockey fans in my family...we had some serious photos also, but this is my fav! The Crazy "Gooo Wild" Photo! I love how Addy is looking around like "What the?" & Ella is sitting in the front row with no expression but everyone else is going crazy!

The Ice Skating Rink!

Playing "Train" on the ice!

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The "Son-in-Laws" (& Drew!)

My sister Angela, me, and Brynne posing on our skates!


Addalyn hanging out by the rink with us

Miss Ella getting the hang of things!

Brynne was pretty brave! I wonder how many bruises she had, she was getting too brave and took some hard falls!


Brooklynn Hope. She really got the hang of things too. That little chair she is pushing around helped her get the hang of things. My parents actually had my sisters and I use the same chairs to teach us how to skate when we were younger...aaaaah, memories!


The ice-skaters!

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It was truly a day of pure family fun...a great start to Christmas and time with family. We are very excited to be in Michigan and see all of you guys up there! We will be heading up Christmas Eve day. I'm hoping we are there in time for Christmas Eve mass, but if not, we will go to mass on Christmas day.

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We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas with family & friends. If you are traveling, please be safe. Make sure to take time to appreciate all that is good, and remember what Christmas is all about. Merry Christmas from the Anderson's! ---Aaron, Marissa & Addalyn

Big Girl!

Addy has started to take big girl baths! The other night we were at my parents, and didn't have the little bath, and since she's been sitting on her own for a bit now, we figured we'd go ahead and try giving her a regular bath. She seemed to enjoy it so now we have done it at home too.

At first she was just sitting there staring at the water like "what is this strange stuff"...but eventually she realized it can be quite fun. By the end she was moving her hands through the water and starting to splash. Give it a few more times, and I'm sure we'll be drenched from all the splashing!

This is sorta fun, mom!

Starting to twirl her hands around and the water and make some splashes!

Santa!

Addy got to meet Santa for the first time last Saturday --- twice! We first went to meet him at Hiller's (a carpet store in Rochester) with my family. My family has gone every year to this, but we've never had a reason to join...now with Addalyn, we joined in on the fun! They provide a gift for each child and also serve lunch - it is really a very generous event!

Addalyn really loved Santa's beard!! I think Santa was a bit nervous that other kids would notice her grip on the beard :)

She was not scared of him at all, just sort've stared at him.

Waiting in line to meet Santa for the 1st time!!

Addy's first Santa encounter! Notice the grip on the beard!

Second, we went to the store that I scrapbook at with the Scheel's and met Santa again. This was Ella's first time meeting Santa. Both girls did really good :)

Addy & Santa (again)

Ella & Santa!!!

The girls :)

I explained to Addy when I got her ready for bed that night all about the reason that she met 2 santa's and why they didn't look exactly the same. She seemed to understand that Santa is just such a busy guy this time of year, and that he has so many places that he has to be, that he has helpers so that all the kids get the chance to tell him all about how good they were and what they want for Christmas. :)