Madisyn Sage Anderson

Madisyn Sage finally joined our family at 12:41pm weighing in at a whopping 9 pounds 5 ounces and 19 1/2 inches long. Maddie and Shelly were doing so well by the next morning that the doctor let them come home. It hardly even feels like we left home.

Anticipation

On Monday we called Shelly's doctor to request if she could schedule a time to come in and be induced since her arthritis has been flaring up so bad. He told us to call Wednesday morning to make sure that the Labor and Delivery department wasn't crowded so that she could go in for voluntary induction. We just called and looks like today is her lucky day. We are getting ready to head up to the hospital right now and hopefully will have some news for everyone really soon.

Temple Square Carriage Ride

Every year we go down to Temple Square to see all of the Christmas lights and to take a carriage ride. We decided to go a little earlier than usual this year since there is no way we would try and go after Shelly has the baby. Shelly's sister Alicia and her boyfriend joined us. The kids' favorite part is getting hot chocolate and waving to all of the other horses.

Pinewood Derby 2008

Adam had his Cub Scout Pinewood Derby a few weeks ago and it was a lot of fun. There were basically 3 kids that kept getting first and second in all of the heats. Adam ended up tying for second place after 20 or so races and so they had a 4-heat tie breaker which he won keeping him in second place overall.



The video below is one of the races where Adam actually barely beat the car that ended up taking first place. (His car is in lane 4 - the farthest from the camera) All of the parents had a blast talking smack and we look forward to next years derby. For next year Adam is already asking to try and design a car that looks like a big boat for some reason.

Time To Catch Up

Sorry it has been so long since we have posted anything. The last few months have been crazy and every time I think about getting caught up I get distracted by something else. Sometimes I feel like a chicken running around with it's head chopped off. As soon as I get something finished there seems to be two more things that need to get done. Anyway, I am just piling a bunch of pictures into one post and putting some captions with them.


Adam had several soccer games this summer, three times as many practices and 3 tournaments - one of which was down in Las Vegas over Halloween weekend. His team is a U8 team and one of the tournaments they entered was the Sparta Cup in the U9 division and they went away with first place. Adam is an awesome defender and even when he gets put in as a forward he always ends up running all the way back to defense because he is so concerned about not letting the other team score. With the weather becoming cold outside his team is now playing indoor futsal and he is loving that as well.





Chris and Nat came and visited this summer and we were able to get all of the cousins together and go to the zoo.





We took the kids to the Utah State Fair and they spent most of the afternoon riding rides.



My sister, Chelsey, made these cute skirts and headbands to match. Aren't they just adorable!



The Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey Circus was a little too long of a program for Bailee so Adam became the perfect pillow for her.




Adam & Lexi during a trip to Gardner Village - Sibling Love - If only it was always like this. LOL



Lexi and Bailee with their friend Peyton playing dress-up.



Bailee and Peyton - Best Buds.



A quick stop at Cove Fort on the way down to Vegas. I remember stopping here with my family when I was younger. Shelly had never been and neither had the friends that drove down with us so we decided to stop and take a break.



Adam got baptized last month! Thanks to everyone who came. It was a great day. What a wonderful feeling it was. I can't believe my little boy is growing up so fast.





For Halloween this is what the kids chose. We tried to get the girls to pick a princess or a more feminine costume but they wouldn't budge.

Lexi and her Sunshine Progression

Lexi's Sunshine Generation class had a float in the children's parade for Pioneer Day. She has been excited about this for the last 2 months since she has known about it. She has definitely come a long way since she started and is no longer so shy when performing. I don't have a picture of it because I forgot the camera but they just did another performance yesterday at the Salt Lake County Fair. Adam was at a soccer tournament all day and Lexi and I left long enough to get her to her performance. After dropping her off at the stage and taking my seat to watch the kids came out for their songs. During one of the songs I see Lexi come forward to the microphone and she belts out a whole verse to the song that is a solo part. She smiled and sang loud and you could understand her perfectly. I was completely caught off guard and was so proud of her. Apparently, the boy who had the solo didn't show up and the teacher chose Lexi to do it. She usually does the actions and sings softly when they perform even though she runs around the house all day with Bailee singing them loud. This was a huge milestone for Lexi and her public shyness!

Marker Monsters

My brother Chris and his family came out from California for a visit and we were able to spend some time with them. In the past, Bailee has confiscated markers and likes to draw on her arms but this time she was able to find a canvas to draw on - her cousin Lylee.

Temple Quarry Hike

The kids also had a Primary activity last month where we went to the Temple Quarry and did an activity where they had to find and mark off thing that they saw and the short little hike. They had a great time and were very engrossed in finding the things to mark off. Afterwards they all got some ice cream bars for all of their hard work.

Mercer Reunion 2008

I have been so busy lately that I haven't had a chance to post anything from the last month so let's try and get caught up. Last month over the 4th of July we had our Mercer Family Reunion. It was great to get together with so many relatives and we had a great time over the weekend visiting and spending time with all of our extended family.

We took Adam and Lexi and did the Timpanogos Cave hike. They did a great job hiking and it felt so good inside the cave after that hike up. :)


The next day my sister, Cassie, came with us and we took all three of the kids rafting down the Provo River. It was very mild but at least had a few exciting areas for the kids. Adam, Lexi and Bailee kept wanting to hang on to the side of the boat and float along in the water. I would definitely recommend this trip for anyone with younger kids. They had a blast and it is a great family activity.


The kids also had a great time with each other and all of their cousins. It was a great weekend!

Sweet & Sassy

Lexi was invited to a birthday party at Sweet & Sassy. It is this total girly girl place that does updo's, makeup, dress-up and a whole lot of pampering. The girls get to walk the runway to music and dance. Lexi is so very shy when she is in groups and I was amazed that I actually got her to look at me and smile.

S'mores

Shelly wanted to get me a firepit last year for father's day but I think she really wanted it more. However, at the time, I couldn't find one that I really liked so I said we would just keep looking. Time passed but I always was on the lookout for one that I liked. About a month ago Shelly again told me that she was going to get me a firepit for father's day and told me about one that she saw. I, of course, didn't like it that much but she said if I didn't find one that I liked that she was going to go ahead and get it. I spent a few weeks looking through ads and browsing stores but still no luck. I was finally resigning myself to the fact that I was just going to have to settle for the one that Shelly first saw when I happened to be at Target getting something for the kids when I passed the Seasonal section. There it was - and it was on sale. I immediately asked a salesperson to get one for me when they said that they didn't have any except for the floor model which they wouldn't get rid of for at least another month. I had them check the other stores and they said that the store in Murray had two. They told the store to hold one for me and off I went. When I got to Murray it took them 10 minutes to tell me that they actually didn't have them but they were "ghost" locations. Aaaarrrrggghhhh. Again I asked them to check the other stores. They said that Jordan Landing showed two as well so we called there. No one answered their phones though so I got the number and started on my way there. By this time the kids kept asking why we kept driving around and that they were hungry and wanted to go home. Right as I was reaching Bangerter Highway I finally got through to someone at the store. I asked if they indeed had two firepits and if they could hold one for me. They checked and said that they did have two in the backroom but they were already on hold. The guy then said that Murray and Sandy both have two and I should check there. I laughed and told him that the computers were wrong because I just came from those stores. He said the new South Jordan store wasn't completely set up on their stock communication system and gave me the number for them to try. I called and after a few minutes on hold they said they showed that they had one in the backroom. I asked if they would mind going back and double check to make sure that it was actually there. It took about five more minutes and by the time the girl got back on the phone I was almost to the store anyway but she said that yes it was there. I said I would be there in just a minute and gave her my name. Woohoo! After a couple of hours of running around the valley I finally was able to get the one I liked. The best part was setting it halfway in the trunk and trying to tie it down so that it would stay. It's a good thing I always keep some tiedowns in the vehicles. The kids were happy that I was happy and that we were finally going home. Yay!

The first thing the kids wanted to do though was roast some marshmallows and eat some s'mores. Adam enjoyed roasting the marshmallows and eating the s'mores. Lexi liked trying to barely get hers brown and then freaking out when it would catch on fire and then giving it to mom so she could eat the burned part. Bailee enjoyed stuffing the marshmallow immediately into the rocks in the fire and catching it on fire. Then she would give it away and do another one. We did get her to eat one but she spent more time getting it stuck to every part of her other than in her mouth.