Sawasdee cap

They said in our adoption classes it was important to keep some Thai traditions. Jacks takes it to a new level as we practice our traditional Thai Wai greeting of Sawasdee Cap. 

Love how Siri even busts out a "Stop Jack!"
  :)

Dale turns 5....

This has been a fun few weeks for the Anderson family.  Since Dale's birthday and Siri's birthday fall so close together (and both in the middle of the week) we celebrated Dale's 5th birthday a little early.  We had our family party at P3: Paint, Party, Play pottery studio.  The kids had fun painting their pieces and I can't wait to see the finished products.


The birthday boy got to make a plate with his handprint in the middle.

 

All of the guests got to put a thumb print on the plate.




The boys painted wolf man mugs and the girls painted ice-cream cone jewelry boxes.





We sang a little karaoke, ate cake and ice cream, and had fun watching Dale open his presents.

This is the first party we have had outside of the house, and it was nice.  The kids had fun, and we left the mess there.  This is also the first time I ordered a cake instead of making one.  It tasted great, and no-one got ill from too much food coloring.  All in all a great day for a very special little boy.

Thank you to all of our family that helped to make Dale's birthday so wonderful!

On a side note, basketball season has began.  This year we are playing at The Courts, and we are probably the youngest, smallest team in our division.  But the boys have worked hard, and we have actually made a couple of basket this year, unlike last season which ended without a successful basket (and this includes practice).  Dale has even managed to make a couple of baskets during practice, which is huge for him.  Last year he couldn't even hit the rim with the ball. 

 

The Sharks may not score the most points, but they work hard and have fun....

 

...and they have the best cheering section!



A good blogger I do not make....

So, over three months with no update. Turns out blogging isn't really my thing. I have these great posts envisioned in my head, but they never seem to go much further than that. So, instead of a thought provoking post, here is a quick photo update of some of the highlights of our last few months.



September, 25th - Jack turned four. For Jack's birthday we had a racecar party. The weather was great and we had lots of fun with our wonderful family. Jack lovesto tell everyone "I am four, just like Dale". Dale always pipes up, "But I've been four longer."

Jack blowing out the candles on his car cake.

Off to the races in our cardboard box race cars.

On your mark, get set, go....

Siri and Stella enjoying their cars.



September also brought the start of soccer season.  Turning four has really helped Jack's soccer game and he has really enjoyed playing this year.

Jack with his soccer buddy Tyler.

We also had our fist overnight family camping trip.  It was a lot of fun and everyone did great, even Siri.



Great playground by the campsite.

Can't go camping without smores.

First pumpkin carving of the year.  Siri made an Elmo pumkin of course.

Siri discovers a love of hot chocolate.

Yum.  Good stuff.







Fishing was fun, even though we didn't catch anything (unless you count Dale catching himself).



This weekend we had our traditional Anderson Fall outing. 

The Anderson Clan

David 's parents put pumkins in the field then the kids get to go on a hayride and pick their favorite pumpkin.





Jack found a good one.

Siri picked hers.

Siri's pumpkin may have outweighed her.

The finished product (Siri, Dale, Stella, Jack and Matthew).

Jack's not so sure about Uncle Mike?!?





Car Seat Dancing to "Move Like Jagger"

Siri loves to dance, followed closely by Jack (Dale thinks we might all be a little off our rockers). 

At first I thought Jack was doing the robot, but on second look, I think he was doing some Kung Fu as inspired by the recently watched Kung Fu Panda II.  And I promise Jack has shorts on.  I guess he hiked them up to get his grove on.  :)

Display Your He{ART}: Handmade for Hope

Check out this awesome ETSY basket raffle to raise money for the Joplin tornado victims. Every dollar you donate gets your name in a raffle for one of 31 great baskets. The hard part is picking the basket! The deadline to enter is July 1st, so be sure to get your dollars in soon.

Display Your He{ART}: Handmade for Hope: " Almost 4 weeks ago, one of the biggest tornadoes America has ever seen swept through Joplin, MO., just 45 minutes from my home town. The ..."

A Few Pictures From La Valle, WI

While on vacation...

Dale made Siri her first Smore.  It was a hit!



We ate at the MooseJaw Pizza Company, which not only has good pizza, but gives you a cool Moose Hat.

And we spent two days at the fabulous Kalahari Indoor water park.

The boys got fun airbrushed tattoos and surfer necklaces.

 Against my wishes, Dale did the water wave surfing thing.  He actually did really well.  Here are some quick videos of Dale and David surfing.

~ Danyel Anderson

Nine Years

This weekend David and I celebrated nine years of marriage.  It was a wonderful weekend!  Siri and the boys spent the night at Nana and Papa Collins (Thanks Mom and Dad for babysitting) and she did great.

We went for massages at Zen 3 Bodyworks, which was wonderful.  Then, while on Pickwick Street, we discovered a really neat little grocery store.  It is called Homegrown Food.  Everything they sell is made in the states, and most of it is made locally. We got some really great Apple Butter that was made in Dunnegan, MO by Ozark Country Kitchen.  We also got the best granola I have ever had.  We had the Dark Chocolate Cherry Granolove and is made right here in Springfield, MO.  I love how when you look at the list of ingredients on the back, you know what they all are.  We will definitely be shopping there again.  


The following morning we decided to go mountain bike riding at Little Sac.  Once we got there, we decided to try our hand at Geocaching.  We were using the app on our phone, which gets you in the ballpark of the hidden cache.  On our first one, we started on the wrong side Highway 13, which was unfortunately full of poison ivy. 

The second one was a lot more challenging.  We made it much more difficult that in actually was.  It was located right by the trail, but we took a very off trail approach.  While hunting, we came across a newborn fawn.  He was so cute, just huddle up in the grass.  At first we thought he might be hurt and we should help him.  But then we decided he was just really young and it would be best to just leave him there.
 

Finally, we stumbled upon the box.  It was hidden really well.

This one said it had a travel bug inside. We didn't find one, unless it happened to look like a broken golf ball.

Turns out Geochaching is a lot of fun and we plan on doing it again. Maybe we can work it into our road trip to Wisconsin this summer. Although we will need to improve some on our hunting skills or it may make for an extra long trip.


Thanks for an amazing nine years David! We have had so many exciting adventures; I can only imagine what the next nine years will hold. I love you!


Danyel

Volunteering in Joplin

Today two friends (thanks Amy and Piper) and I went to Joplin to volunteer.  We were planning on volunteering in the missing person call center, but when that area was full we ended up out in the neighborhood helping with debris removal.  And I am so glad we did.  I know we have all seen pictures on the news of the devastation, but to see it in person is surreal. 

Here are some pictures from the neighborhood we worked in:

We were not even working in the most heavily damaged area because they are still conducting search and rescue in those areas. So we spent the day with about 20 strangers clearing out the backyard of two homes. We made a lot of progress, but there was still a lot to be done. A lot. It was a bit frustrating that so many of us worked so hard and barely made a dent in the work that needs to be done.

But I have to share, what touched me the most were the volunteers themselves. One traveled from Texas, another from Pennsylvania. We also had folks that had driven in from Oklahoma and Arkansas. They had seen the devastation on the news and wanted to come help. I can't say that if I saw that a tornado had hit Pennsylvania, I would feel compelled to drive there and help out.  I can tell you that I will now. 

There were so many wonderful random acts of kindness today.  A great couple came by and brought sandwiches and water for all.  Another group came by an hour later with cookies and chips.  A truck was driving around offering work gloves to those that didn't have any.

When catastrophes such as these happen, it's easy to search the depths of your spirituality to find a reason as to why this was allowed to occur.  In the past, I've spent so much time trying to figure out God's rationale, and fully knowing that I could never come to know His reasoning, that I lose sight of what's right in front of me.  In this case, I still don't know the "why", but what I do know is that God was felt all over that place today.  I truly feel that God is love.  And despite what might look like a wasteland in pictures, God's presence is unmistakable.

Want to volunteer?  It's easy.  Show up at Missouri Southern State University. There you will fill out a volunteer form and they will give you a wrist band to show you can be in the area.  You will take a bus to the volunteer site, then go with a group leader to a damaged area to work.  The biggest needs today were people that could run chainsaws.  There are a lot of trees that need to be cut down.  Hats off to AmeriCorps for organizing the cleanup volunteer effort.

Danyel Andeson

Magic Milk

I know this is not a proper update, and I promise to post one soon, but since I have a few minutes I thought I would post some pictures.  Things are good and Siri is doing really well.

The other day her friends Maddax and Tyler gave her a doll that has one of those magic milk bottles. 

When you turn it upside down the milk disappears.  Siri just can't figure out where the milk is going.  She will feed her baby, then try to take a drink herself.  It is so cute! 

Siri loves to do what her big brother's are doing.  She HATED brushing her teeth in Thailand.  Now she can't wait to brush her teeth and tries to do so many times a day.

She loves to dance...

...and she loves cheering on the boys at their soccer games. Go Rockets!  Look for the pigtails at the bottom of the screen.

We had a family outing to Chuck E Cheese over Easter weekend and Siri loved dancing on the stage with her brother and cousin Lilly.  Afterwards, they were all so tired, they were asleep before we got out of the parking lot.

 

Easter was good.  Siri had fun coloring Easter Eggs and ate way too much candy. 

 

 

Speaking of the little tornado, she is awake, so my computer time is up.  :)

 

Danyel