Harvest Moon

We did our annual trip to Avila Barn and picked out our pumpkins along with posing for Mom's camera and her gazillion pictures she takes each year.



Living on the Central Coast for the last 11 years has been amazing. Now we have had our back and forth epiphany's. Where we moved in a leap of faith for a better job but we always ended up back here. We are approaching that epiphany again where we feel we will find a better job and lower cost of living out of the state of California. We might even find a place where we can settle into a house with a backyard. This is hard for Zach and I because we love it here on the Coast and we really would love to stay. For now we are still here experiencing our Indian summers at the start of November. Going to the Beach on Halloween and just living in Paradise:)
There was a beautiful harvest moon a few weeks ago. We happened to be driving home and we were all able to enjoy the great view. It has been hard to tell if it is fall or summer but either way we are looking forward to the Holidays and all the joy this time of year brings!!

Keynan's first year in pictures!

 

 

 

 

Hello!!
I am so glad to be back on the blog scene . I am backed up with posts and our adventures and I can hardly wait to post them all. Here is a little slide show of Keynan and his first year. I can tell you that this little boy has been pure joy for this family. It is so special to watch how his older brothers have taken on this new little one. I am sure glad my boys have one another, being an only child can bring adversity at times and I am glad my boys will not have to experience that. They will get to grow up with one another, learning from one another, playing, laughing, fighting sometimes with one another. As I have gotten older I have struggled more with being an only child. Special days come along in your life where a sister or brother are very helpful and needed. I can admit I have had to do some growing up in this arena by excepting the cards that were dealt. Recently I read in Proverbs(don't quote me,lol) that a friend loves at all times but a brother is there for adversity. This was profound to hear because watching my boys I can see the diversity a brother can bring. I have been blessed marrying into a big family, My husband has 2 sisters and 4 brothers. I can honestly say I have learned a little of that diversity from just being part of a big family for 10 years. I will never know the fullest extent of that diversity just because I did not grow up in a house full of kids. My husband told me of a story of his sister Tiffany when they were kids she got so mad at him she was chasing him around with a vacuum. I can picture it but I truly will never know what it is like to grow up with that diversity. Maybe I am lucky in a way that I never had to share a bathroom or a room, or my toys or anything for that matter. Even though I will always be an in law at least I can say I have come closer to knowing what it is like to have siblings. I know in the eyes of the Lord we are all brothers and sisters so in that I guess we are all related somehow.

I bring this up because the first year in Keynan's life has been memories of a little child growing up around his big brothers. They laugh with him and smile with him. Thayne and Ayden have taken to him so well. I heard some friends stories of how their children were jelous of a new baby, to my relief my boys excepted with open arms. Keynan has really been a snap. I think it is because for one he is not my first child, for two there is just him and not two babies at one time,lol. Bath time, bedtimes,feedings are much simpler. I do feel I have grown as a Mother. I guess that is common sense that one would get better in time. Keynan is a very happy baby who loves to sleep. He takes a liking to putting anything on his head when he can and when he does it is super funny. He started crawling at about 6 months, walking at 14 1/2 months. His first tooth came in at around 8 months. His first words were Mama and Dadda. He recently has learned to say baby eats, T_zo(Thayne's nickname)ball his abc's up to letter L and a few other word's I can't remember right now. This week he was so cute by grabbing a diaper and bringing it to me, to my surprise he had a poo diaper(I was thinking to myself man if only the twins did that!!). I am thinking he will be easy to potty train! His birthday cake was not destroyed and cake wasn't everywhere it was hardly on his face. The only thing he really wanted to do is throw it off the highchair. Keynan will be 17 months on the 17th of this month he has brought such great memories. There is one more great memory we all share is when he came into this world his birth was a planned V-back(vaginal birth after C-section). My husband and I got to birth our baby the natural way and it was such a special reward and blessing to experience!

Behind in blogging:)

Oh my gosh it is almost October and I have so much to post. Unfortunatly, I will have no access to my pics until this weekend, so hopefully then I can catch everybody up. We have been super busy as ussual and we are getting excited for Halloween and then the kids 6th Birthday. I really liked this video. I also statred two new blogs our School for the gifted blog and my Famtastic Recipe Blog. I don't have much up yet but I will soon. Here are the links:
www.andersonsyearntolearn.blogspot.com
www.andersonssoulfood.blogspot.com

Mojave Narrows

We have had a lovely trip back home to the High Desert. I didn't get to visit or do all that I wanted, so I think I will be coming back in September. For now we are headed back home tomorrow after I shoot a Wedding. I haven't been doing much business in photography due to not having a camera. My camera arrived while I was down here and I have been in heaven. These are pics from Mojave Narrows a really fun camping area in Victorville, Ca. They have a place to rent a horse to go horse back riding which I love. I really have a passion for horses and would like to have them someday.
Behind the narrows is where Auntie Cole lives and she takes me out on a horse when I visit. Since I was a chicken to take my camera out on the horse this time. I missed the best photo's ever. Tat Nichole's new horse(mind you this horse is huge and she is only a baby!) just happened to buck her off for the first time ever. Of course I was kind of scared that she was going to get hurt but in the end Tat dumped her right in a pile of leaves. I wish though I could of caught that for some laughs after wards. Auntie Cole is ok and a very experienced rider, you can always be even more humbled by knowing even experienced riders can have unexpected things happen. Auntie Cole always let's us ride her horses or usually a friends horse when we visit. We didn't ride at the Narrows that day, instead the kids played in the water and sand and played on the play equipment. We had a great picnic lunch and I enjoyed one of my Ron Paul books as I watched them play. I thought I would have a hard time with the heat but I've actually really enjoyed it. We are use to about 69 F and here it was in the 90's F and so forth. I really think my body needed some Vit. D. Even though I grew up in the heat you get used to the beach weather. I will just have to remember to visit in August because the summer temps are going down and it is not as hot as July.
I've got to say it was nice taking pics with my new camera it is so awesome, I think I might even give her a name..(Yeah I know I'm kind of bias thinking it's a she!)

P.s. I plan on hooking up with you Edie and Luke next time,I'm sorry we missed you guys! We really want to meet Caden and Cienna!

My two big fishes!!

This is what the stroller looks like before we go down to the pool. We swim and swim and do more swimming. Both of the boys are now swimming without swim vests. We have taught the kids ourselves how to swim. We never could afford swim lessons so we google what they do and play teacher. The vests were a great help in the process. Ayden took his vest off last summer and now Thayne just recently graduated to no vest. Kenyan is a water lover as well and is not frightened by the canon balls and splashes let off by the boys. As for me swimming is fun I bring a book or invite friends over it is really relaxing. I also do exercising in the pool which saves me time. If you are in the area come out and swim most likely we are chilling by the pool:).

Happy Independence Day!

I would have to say that this year was the best Firework show yet at Pismo Pier. For the last 8 years we have been going down to the pier. Last year we had family up and we parked our cars on the beach. We really didn't get to see the fireworks up close and personal like we usually do. We still had a great time with all the cousins and hoping one year we can do that again. It was the first time all the grandkids(cousins) were together at the same time! This year we did our same routine. We Park at a local grocery store and walk 2 miles down to the pier. There is 20,000 people down there so we chose to walk instead of getting stuck in traffic for 2 hours after the show. Oh, and don't mind the blurry pictures the little point and shoot is such a bummer right now,lol!









Independence Day is very dear to me. I have always been an avid reader of history and as a small child had to memorize a lot of speeches and was taught a lot about the Constitution. I felt really emotional(not uncommon for me,lol) as the fireworks went off. They sounded like bombs and gunshots. I recalled the Paul Revere story of the midnight watchmen. I feel our Country is in great danger of it's freedom and I have felt this way for a long time. For the lyrics of the Universal Soldier is a song that has repeated in my head for years. I know another American Revolution is coming. Our Government today reminds me of the stories of the British back in 1775. I am proud to be an American and I realize why the Book of Mormon is so key in my faith. A land of Zion and of promise. A land of free will and free agency. I will always hold these truths to be self evident.

Beach Dayz...

I find myself at the beach a lot these days. I love being near the crashing waves. It really makes me feel closer to God and my inner self of the universe. I look at it's vast space and I notice there is no ending. It is my place to let go of anything that is on my mind. This has been sort of a ritual of mine for many years.I also have for many years walked along the shore for miles at a time, especially if I have something to sort through that is bugging me. I've learned to release it to the universe. So while the kids are playing I am enjoying my peace of mind.

The kids and I will spend all day there with 2 cans of sunblock, umbrella's and hats intact. I'm fortunate to live only 2 miles from the beach so we go a lot. I usually have a car full of sand and it really doesn't bother me. Speaking of sand Keynan is busier then ever so keeping him still is just about impossible. So to keep up with his brothers, I just have to get use to him getting sand all over the food, in his mouth and all over the blanket I have laid out. The ladies sitting next to me kept saying your son is eating sand! I replied thanks and of course tried to stop him. Eventually, I gave up because I would be keeping an eye on the twins in the water and would turn around and Keynan would have sand everywhere!