Where Oh Where Has My Memory Gone?

If you were a curious 21 month old and happened upon a memory card (that happened to have all of the last 2 months worth of pictures on it) and was carelessly left in the memory card reader... where would you put it? Just askin'.

Forward March

This is probably the 14th time in the past 3 weeks that I've gotten on here with every intention of posting "something." This is the first time I've actually started typing. I look at that last post with Emmett's sweet smile and I feel guilty "moving on." I know it sounds irrational and it's just a blog for heaven's sake but it's what I feel. Everything seems so trivial in comparison. And, I don't feel like anything I can say will do justice to who he was and is. So this is my buffer post. My moving forward but not without remembering this sweet little boy and not without realizing that I have a sister (and her family) who are still grieving in a very real way post. I still cry every other day or so. I ache for my sister more than anything. I know how her heart must break over and over again each new day and I just wish I were there with her to help ease the pain (if that's even possible.)




Go hug your kids. Tell them you love them. Show them you love them. Be patient with them (even though it's hard.)



Tomorrow I will post some Halloween pictures.

Funeral Information and Obituary

"Emmett Paul Anderson was struck suddenly last week by a very rare post-infective neurological disease, Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis (ADEM), and his spirit returned to his Father in Heaven. Emmett passed away peacefully in the arms of his parents and with his family by his side Friday, October 9th, 2009.

Emmett was born the fifth child, and second son, to Loren and Dani Anderson on January 25th, 2009. During Emmett's short time here on earth he easily gained the love of all around him, even people he didn't know. He smiled from the time he woke up, to the time he fell asleep. He was known as the "Smiling-est Baby". He also looked like a tank, weighing in at 25 pounds and measuring 33 inches tall at just 8 months! Anyone who held Emmett thought he must have been eating steak and potatoes, but his mom would proudly reply, "No, he only eats breastmilk." Emmett was a perfectly healthy young boy who had just started crawling and pulling himself up on furniture. He spent much of the summer on the river and swimming and never complained about having to wear a life jacket! He was loved greatly by his four siblings: Calista (age 10), Spencer (age 8), Kaia (age 5), Bryn (almost 3). They loved taking turns playing with him and affectionately called him "little buddy". Emmett knew he was a perfect son and brother. Unfortunately for all of us, God chose to receive him back into his arms. Little Emmett is sorely missed!

Emmett is survived by his parents, Loren and Dani Anderson of Kennewick,WA; his 3 sisters and 1 brother; his grandparents, Craig and Laura Bisel, of Tucson, AZ, and Fred and Kathleen Anderson, of Sunnyside, WA, along with many aunts, uncles, and cousins.Viewing will be Thursday evening from 5-8pm at Mueller Funeral Home- 1401 S. Union. The Funeral will be Friday at the LDS Stake Center in Kennewick. 515 S. Union- 11am Family viewing from 10-10:45

Emmett Paul

Emmett Paul Anderson

January 25, 2009 - October 9, 2009

I don't have words. My heart just hurts so badly for my sister and her family. What a blessing to have the gospel and know that Emmett is once again with his Father in Heaven. We will miss him and ache to have him here but we know that he is at peace.

I pray for my sweet sister. I can't even begin to imagine how her heart is breaking right now. Oh to be by her side and comfort her.

Pleading for Prayers

My 8 month old nephew Emmett is in the ICU in a Seattle hospital and we could use all the extra prayers we can get. He's been diagnosed with Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis. Which, as best I can understand, is a neurological disorder a lot like MS except that it is just a one time occurrence rather than a chronic disease. He has been in the hospital since Monday. He was nearly comotose for the first two day and then spent the past 20-24 hours without sleeping or being able to keep any food down. They just found out he had been having seizures for 20+ hours, thus the inability to sleep.

I can't even begin to tell you how heart-breaking it is to talk to my sister and hear how helpless she feels. She is so strong but I'm sure she is feeling like she's ready to break down at any moment.. Emmett is the youngest of 5 and they are three and half hours from home right now so you can imagine how hard it is on her family.

Anyway, just keep him in your prayers. He has a long road ahead of him and his poor little body is just exhausted I'm sure.

School Pictures...

I guilted myself into ordering McKay's school pictures. "It's her first year" I told myself. She HAS to have her first school pictures. So I ordered the smallest package and swore I would set up an appointment with JC Penney to get some cheaper one's taken where I can actually choose the one I like. I will be calling JC Penney today.

Now don't go thinking I'm a mean mom. I told McKay these pictures were adorable and kissed her sweetly on the cheek before I went in the other room and laughed hysterically. It doesn't even look like her. But it sure was worth the laugh.

Am I the only one that thinks this is a funny picture?

Kimball Pants

Happy Birthday to My Sweet-Little-Spitfire-Angel - Kimbalita!

FOUR!

Can you believe that? I can't. When did my little Kimball Pants get so big? I want her to stay little forever. She has such a fun personality. She's shy about 80% of the time. She hates unsolicited attention, especially from strangers and/or non-family members. But at home, she's the life of the party. She just walked in the room with a HelloKitty bandaid on her mouth and started wagging her finger at me. I started guessing what she was trying to tell me... "no talking?" NO. "No singing?" NO. What? I don't know what you're trying to tell me. She slowly peels back the bandaid and sings "No-thing to dis-cuss." Not sure what exactly that means but she made me laugh, which is what she's best at.

She's really good at what we like to call toilet humor. Her favorite time to use her "humor" is right before family prayer. And her laugh is absolutely contagious.

I think she is the definition of "cute" - with her untamed slightly curly hair and adorable little dimples. The irony in it is that she hates to be called cute. Pretty or beautiful she is completely fine with but please do not tell her she's cute. She frequently refuses to have pigtails because she doesn't want people to tell her she's "cute."

I just absolutely adore this little girl. LOVE YOU KIMBALL!!

Giving In

I just emailed this to my dear sweet husband:

I can't do it so she wins. Tonight she can sleep where ever the heck she wants. I don't care if she's in my bed or on my floor but I need sleep and so does she. If that means sleeping with her for a while then that's what's going to happen. She keeps me up all night and makes me tired and grumpy and then her poor siblings get the brunt of it because they're home all day. It's not fair to the family. So I am giving in. That's my final answer.


Any guesses on how he'll respond to that?

Onion Burgers

This is one of our favorite meals so I thought I'd share. It's not really a hamburger, don't be fooled by the name. When we were first married Seth's mom gave me a family recipe book and this was one of the first recipes Seth requested. I was reluctant 'cause it just didn't sound appetizing. But they are SO good. Give it try. Seth doesn't even like onions or mushrooms and it's one of his favorites.

Hamburger Patties (4-6)
2 Cans of French Onion Soup
1 Can of Mushrooms (pieces and stems)

1 Loaf of French Bread

Brown the burgers with a little salt in a deep frying pan. Drain the grease. Add the soup and mushrooms (do not drain water from them). Let simmer for 30 minutes or so.

Slice and butter the bread and toast it in the oven on broil until golden brown.

And that's it. Let everyone serve themselves, my girls eat them separate but it really tastes best with the burgers on top the toast and the juices dripping down into it.

Enjoy.

** If mine turn out pretty enough tonight I'll snap a few pics.

Things that Make Me Smile

I've been a bit of a negative-pants lately so I thought I should try and make up for by posting a few happy thoughts.

Our cute little house makes me very happy

The new color of my bathroom... It took a couple tries to get it right but now it's perfect.

This makes me happy to the point of giddiness... I love a cute little sleeping child.

My lime tree. I love limes. Mmmm. So yummy. But I do need some pruning tips, a few of the large branches are dying or dead. Do I just cut them off? Where do I cut them? Are they dying because I did something wrong?

Rain. Nothing like a few years in AZ to make you absolutely love the rain. And look at their faces... it might as well be raining lemon drops and gum drops...

And what's better than being able to laugh at your brother. So here's one to make you feel a little better about something stupid you've done lately. (I'm not calling my brother stupid, he's actually very smart, just not at the moment caught here.)

Bj's Not-So-Smart Moment