Let it snow, let it snow, let it SNOW!

It snowed for two days straight. School was cancelled. There was SO MUCH SNOW! My mom of all people really wanted to go and play in it and so we donned the multiple layers and braved the outdoors. The weather wasn't cold at all, but just perfect for playing.

Any day in the snow requires 4 things:
1. Snowball fight
2. Snow Angels
3. Snowman
4. Hot chocolate

Naturally we began with a snowball fight--instigated by my mother. McKenzie and my cousin Michelle joined us and it turned into a splendid war. Kameron got on the Brute Force (mom's fourwheeler) and started plowing the snow into a big pile in preparation for a later snow fort. He joined us eventually and we made pathetic attempts at trying to hit him. I got him square in the face once, and got more than my fair share of payback. Between the three of us aiming at him we might have made 1 or 2 hits, but we were all pretty lousy shots.

Next we attempted to make our snow angels, at my mother's request. But Michelle insisted that you can't make snow angels in this snow, "because, watch." She dropped to the ground with her arms outstretched and a mound of snow fell on her head, covering her face completely. Because, apparently, you get buried. Point taken.

But of course we all had to try. And we were indeed buried.

We discovered that this snow was not particularly ideal for snowmen, even though it rocked for snowballs. The pretty and round shape typical of these winter figures was very difficult to create. First of all it didn't roll very well. Secondly, it had a bad habit of picking up cancerous growths. We heave-ho-ed the pieces together and then shaved them into the roundest shapes we could muster. Mom found a carrot, scarf, and plenty of buttons and we slowly created his face. She found an old pair of spectacles and a hat that belonged to my grandpa and we added them to the mix. Kam cut some tree branches for arms and Michelle took sticks to make adorable eyebrows. I'm fairly certain this is the cutest snowman I have ever made.



Michelle, McKenzie and I brainstormed ideas for a name, because he most assuredly needed a name. Walter, Sedgwick, Franklin, Sylvester, Harold, Fredrick, Robert,..... but he looked most like a Howard. So this is Howard our snowman.


Michelle made a little dog for Howard and he was the cutest thing ever. With buttons for his eyes and nose and a cute red ribbon, who can resist such a puppy? The Santa hat was also a nice touch.


Girls make snow angels and snowmen, and boys get in snowball fights and make snow forts. Kameron had amassed a enormous pile of snow and so we made it bigger, packed it down, and began to dig through it. It's hard work, let me tell you. I let little Megan do most of the digging and I helped clear out the extra snow. It took a long time but they made it all the way through the pile and made a little room. My kneecaps froze (I know, right?) and so I baled before it was finished, but they worked on it until the sun went down and I had hot chocolate waiting for them inside. It's so wonderful to come inside and take off your wet clothes and warm up with hot cocoa.



The next day it rained and this was all that remained of poor Howard. He may be lost, but he is not forgotten!

Best day in the snow ever? Heavens yes! Why I haven't done this in years I'll never know. Thanks mom. :)

Hot Apple Cider

Tuesday was a whir of running around town doing errands and scrambling to get my photography final ready to turn in. In the midst of this frantic mess I drove past two little kids sitting out in the cold next to a card table with some lovely treat atop it. Lemonade stand in December? It reminded me of all of my failed attempts as a child to do the very same thing. We live by a dead end and so not many people came down our little street. We never sold very much lemonade, even if it was the raspberry kind.

I decided to support these brave souls and when I drove past again I stopped to see what treats they had. The little girl was the only one there, standing in front of a crockpot full of hot apple cider. She was kind enough to inform me that the cookies were "sold out." So I donated my dollar to the cause and got a steaming cup of cider. I haven't ever loved cider, I prefer hot cocoa, but then again I haven't tasted it in a long time. But this warm cup of deliciousness was infinitely better than I remember. I felt excited for Christmas again, a feeling that has been gone for the past few weeks due to stress. But the simplicity of those kids, and the warmth of cider made my day and gave me hope that "this too shall pass."

And now I have an insatiable craving for apple cider. When I get home I'll raid the pantry, there has got to be some somewhere!

Doodles in the Snow

After Psychology Jess and I were chatting, as usual, and putting off going to class and work, as usual. The snow was light and just barely covering the side walk so each footprint left a nice wet hole in the snow. Jess and I discovered this and so we began sliding (or attempting to slide) on the slush.

This sliding soon turned into shuffling and we began to trace loopy patterns in the new snow. Jess and I connected our shuffle marks and made a haphazard heart. Sadly the only camera I had on my person was my cell phone.

It soon became addicting. We had just been discussing how sad it was that we couldn't draw with chalk anymore, and then we discovered a new type of childish artwork. Snow Doodles.

So Jess and I spent a good 30 minutes in front of the BNR drawing things in the snow.

A sun, a flower, a flutterby. Jessica commented on her butterfly that "You can't even tell what it is." A man with (no joke!) dreadlocks to his knees walks up and says, "Of course you can!" with a big smile.

I'm sure we got a lot of strange looks. I know a couple people chuckled, most people looked miserable, but I like to imagine that we got a few envious looks. People wish they could be as cool as us.

One man walked past and said, "What is that? A parking meter?" with a chuckle. He was referring to my flower.

Months ago we planned our next chalk outing to be a space mural. We would color a huge collage of stars and spaceships and moonmen. In honor of this we attempted to make a ginormous space ship in the snow.

And failed.
It looked more like a penguin.
And so we did.

Like his gumdrop buttons?

Pretty much the greatest day on campus ever. I know all of you at BYU are jealous of the dreadlock man, because you should be.

Winter isn't as incredibly boring as I previously thought. I guess... Life is what you make it.

Turkey Day Football

Thanksgiving break was fantastic. No worrying about school, lots of Rockband, lots of sleep and of course stuffing yourself with delicious food! But no one can overlook the most wonderful Anderson tradition--the Turkey Bowl. Last year dad was still very fragile and we had to be very careful with him, but he still played!

Tyson came to Thanksgiving last year and met the family. It was really weird not having him there this year. He has only come once but it just wasn't the same without him. A lot of things aren't the same without Tyson, but I missed him a lot on Thanksgiving.

In light of that I just couldn't quite convince myself to play football this year. So I dubbed myself a photographer and I took pictures of the event with my lovely sidekick, Kylee.

Here is a little blurb about Kylee: she is my cousin Hollie's daughter and just turned 8 and was baptized. I went to it a couple weeks ago and it was really sweet. I remember her being born and I remember the wonderful things that led to Hollie and Steve's temple marriage. I used to babysit Kinzi, Kylee, and Kobe all the time and we had lots of fun. I happen to be the oldest and will never have little nieces to adore before I have my own children, but I've adopted Hollie's kids as substitutes. Kylee is my buddy and I adore her.

So we spent Thanksgiving watching her little brothers (Kobe, Kortland and Kole) and taking pictures. Kortland is a cute little bugger and I gave him my pink gloves because his hands were cold. He tried to do a "too cool" face for the camera but I caught a good one.

Anderson Football is the greatest. We just play two hand touch--otherwise we might end up with lots of broken bones. We always let the little kids help out, and there are always great stories. My dad is always the QB for his team and before each play there is a huddle and a specific lineup and strategy. You feel like you're a real football player because you are all sneaky trying to trick the other team. The teams are as fair as we can make them, and even though Anderson men can't get rid of the competitiveness completely, we are always nice and fair--it's family after all.

I didn't get any super great pictures, I brought the wrong camera, but here are a few to give you the feel of our wonderful family tradition.

Here is a typical play:

1. Attempted organization

2. Line up

3. CHARGE! (Hike)

4. Melee

5. To throw or to run?

6. Points or no points: Whatever benefits the most people wins. :)

And that, my friends, is Anderson Thanksgiving Football.