Homesick

The day that I miss my family the most is on Sunday. I miss them all the time, of course, but Sunday is always the hardest. Today I went to mass and as I sat there by myself, I kept thinking about how I always thought going to church would include my whole family like it did when I was a little girl. My grandparents, those lovely people holding Braxton in the picture, have been so close to my heart my whole life. I love them with such a strong love, the thought of one day losing them breaks my heart and makes me ache. Growing up, we always went to their church, Lakeview Church of Christ, no matter how far it was to drive. We would go to Sunday morning service, and then hop in the car to go to Mamaw's house! Mamaw and Papaw have lived in the same house since I was born and still live there today. When I was young, my cousins would join us there in the afternoons. My brother and I grew up with my cousins: Andy and Phillip, as if they were our brothers. I remember walking into the house after church and smelling the roast or brisket or whatever had been cooking while we were worshiping God and my stomach would start letting me know about it's approval immediately! Mamaw is a wonderful cook and I miss her food so much! (mmmmm cabbage!)

After we would all crowd around a table that really wasn't meant for that many people, Papaw would ask the blessing. He has said the same prayer for as long as I can remember and it is perfect. I could probably recite it if I tried. (ok I'm getting hungry... moving on)

After lunch, Mamaw, my mom, and I would thumb through the sales papers from the paper my cousins and I walked to the little gas station to buy, while Papaw watched either Bonanza, Gunsmoke, or the game. After we "window shopped" either us kids would play outside in our tree-houses (which had no "houses"), Rollerblade, or skate through the neighborhood. When we were played out, we would take a nap. To this day, I can take the best Sunday nap when I put on a western for background noise, close my eyes and picture I'm laying on Mamaw's couch all snuggled in the pillows I stole off the bed.

The worst part was having to wake up and put back on our Sunday clothes for the night service. It's hard to wake up and go be good for another hour. :)

As an adult, my Sundays have continuously changed. Catholics only have one service (I admit I like it that way) and then we're done for the day. Since my family obviously doesn't attend mass with us, they would all come over to our house, after the night service, for dinner and card games. Those nights aren't as sweet a memory as when I was a kid, but I still wish I had them. (warning: on the verge of tears,.. blink blink,.. deep breath,... ok :)

I wish with all my heart I could see them tonight but I know that is impossible. So I write down my memories instead hoping they know how much they all mean to me:

Mamaw and Papaw: you have been my favorite people and that will never change. I love you more than you will ever know.

Mom: I miss you so much. I wish I had you here to go do girl things,.. ok now I am crying :( and to look at houses with me. I wish we could go buy decorations together and have cooking nights

Jose: miss you too :)

Jeremy: you never even talk to me anymore. :( we used to be so close and I feel like I lost my brother. it sucks. fix it!

Andy: I miss you so much. You were like a brother to me and I hate that God took you before He took me.

Phillip: I know you won't read this but I love you and I worry about you. Don't get into a whole you can't get out of. You can always call your cousin if you need to talk. For all intents and purposes,.. I'm your sister.

Uncle Cary: I'll get that tripod thing in the mail soon,.. promise. I miss saying mean jokes to you ;)

Maybe it's the rainy weather that's got me all sappy, but I don't care.

May your Sundays always remind you of your loved ones and of your God who is always apart of your memories. God Bless You!

New Chapter Starting!

Well we finally found a house we love and are waiting to see if they accept our offer. I'm so ready to have our own home to decorate, cook in and clean! (Ok I'm not really looking forward to cleaning, but cleaning OUR house is much better than cleaning someone else's)

Braxton is now 18 months old! I can't believe it!!! I still haven't found a costume for him (not that he can actually eat the candy anyways) but I think he'd make a cute dinosaur! :)

Kody is enjoying his new position as the DSM of the Salt Lake office. He doesn't have to travel anymore which is really nice! He has been spending a lot more time with Braxton and I know Braxton really likes it. The original plan was to be four months pregnant by now with a second baby,.. but that was before we moved across the country and were homeless! So baby plans have been put on hold for the time being but let me tell you: the baby fever is strong!!

Things are going pretty well in the Anderson household,... except for one thing: Kody's dad really needs some serious prayers. After his transplant two years ago, the GVH (graft vs. host disease) was pretty bad. This year the GVH hasn't been very noticable (i.e. no rash all over his body) but it wasn't gone. Rich has been outside doing yard work and the sun has made the GVH morph into scleroderma. He is losing flexibility in his hands and feet and it is almost as if his body is turning to stone. Through exercise and physical therapy, it seems to be getting better. Please keep him in your prayers so that it goes away and doesn't enter his organs.

Hate to be a downer on such an exciting blog, but Rich is an amazing man and I know Braxton adores him as much as Kody does. So new house, Kody's new job, and Rich,..... keep up the prayers,.. WE LOVE THEM!

A hunting we will go!

My mom hinted ever so gently yesterday that she wants me to blog some more because then she gets to see more pictures of Braxton; not me,.... Braxton. So this is how it is huh? You become a mommy and simultaneously become invisible???? NOT FAIR! :) Oh well. I don't have too many pictures ready to be uploaded right this second,.. but I will try to put some on here within the next couple of days. As for the picture that is here, it is of my brother Jeremy with his nephew while we were in Texas.

This Friday our little family is going hunting for two weeks! WHOO HOO!!!! I unfortunately do not get to hunt on this trip, but I get to go watch which is almost as fun. So I will be out of town for a while but I will have TONS of picture to share when we get home. I'm hoping some of them will be of Kody's dead monster buck so if you're squeamish,.. you might not want to look.

As for what has been happening since I last blogged, I started doing photography. I have a blog, www.kiraandersonphotography.blogspot.com and even have business cards!!! YAY! I've even made a little money already. I still have so much to learn, but I'm very impressed with how far I've come in such a short amount of time. Please wish me luck!

Kody has been getting the fever as we get closer to the hunt and even bought a brand new Matthew's bow. It was like watching a kid on Christmas morning as he opened his case and showed me his pride and joy. :D I hope it lands him a trophy next week!

Braxton is walking like a crazy man and has learned to sign himself (good little Catholic). His new thing is spitting though. I think it started when I was teaching him to spit his toothpaste into the sink, now he thinks he has to spit on everything which is soooo darn funny! It's so difficult not to laugh!

Wish us luck and check out my pictures! I'll try to post more when we get back! Bye Y'all!!!

Scary Trip to the Doctor

Kody noticed yesterday that Braxton's lips were blue and his hands and feet were really cold. I knew his hands and feet had been cold but thought he might just have cold extremities. The blue mouth I foolishly chalked up to gogurt. I'm with him all day, I'm his mother. I should have been the one to see this not Kody. That's the thoughts that were swimming in my head all night. I called the doctor to tell them about the symptoms and they told me to bring him in this afternoon.

When we got to the doctor's office, they checked his oxygen to make sure he was getting enough. That turned out to be normal, but the nurse was even surprised at how his feet felt like ice cubes. The doctor checked him out and I told her he's had an upset stomach and has been throwing up a little but not excessively. I thought the antibiotics might be making him queasy. The doctor was stumped, which is never good. She brought in a cardio specialist (which made me worry even more) and even she said he seemed perfectly normal. All in all he's doing ok and I'm just keeping a close eye on him to make sure he doesn't turn smurf-like again.

Sitting in that room and watching two different doctors try to figure out what is going on with your little boy is the worst feeling. I felt so helpless and was mentally kicking myself for not being more paranoid like my husband. So today I'm grateful he's ok, but I'm feeling like the worst mommy ever. :( I guess this feeling happens to every mom, but it still stinks.

I told you I was bad at this!!!

Oh my goodness! I have been so bad at keeping up with this blog! I started a new one today about being catholic, but I can't let the one about my family slip through the cracks. Sorry for the delay, but here is the update!

We just celebrated Braxton's first birthday!!!! I can't believe he's already 1!!!! It was an awesome party and he had a blast! He didn't know quite what to do with the cupcake, but then he's never really had much sugar. Lots of friends came and he got quite the loot!!! Thanks to everyone who was there. Braxton loves his new toys and when I try to hide a few to give him later, he manages to find them anyways. :)

We sold our house a couple of months ago which is an awesome burden off our backs. Now we can start saving for our mountain dream house where ever it may be. YAY!!! Kody's been very busy with work and a little too stressed lately. He's been sick a few times and I've had to play nurse to a stubron patient. (Love you honey) But everyone's feeling better now which is GREAT news for me!

I promise to try to be a better blogger,.. just in case anyone actually reads it. ;-) Have a great day and if you happen to see Spring, tell it to get here soon will ya?

Utah Dwellers!!!

I've been meaning to update this blog for so long! Moving, Christmas, New Years, and life in general kept getting in the way, but since my little boy decided to wake daddy and me up at 5 a.m. I decided to finally get it done! I'm sorry I've taken forever. The drive to move here was VERY LONG, but we are officially Utes! (If you facebook me you already know the fun I've had getting my driver's licence! ugh!!!) Christmas was fantastic! We had a lot of snow that week and it still hasn't melted away. The morning view I have of Lone Peak is breath-taking. Sometimes I take my coffee with a warm blanket and go sit on the porch to take in the scenery. We have a lot of very good friends here and have been having tons of fun!
Braxton loves his Grammie and G-pop and has started pulling up to stand. He'll be walking before I know it. I can't believe he'll be 9 months old this Monday. "sigh"
He learned to clap and I'm trying to get him to talk. He has the sweetest little voice! (Except when he decides to use it during mass "rolling eyes")
I'll write more another day. Take Care!

Catholic Family

As I sat in Mass this morning, watching all the different people we have come to love enter the church and wave at Braxton and me, I had a deep ache in my heart. I am going to miss our parrish so much! Being Catholic has changed my life in so many wonderful ways. I was raised in the Church of Christ and my family has had a hard time accepting the fact that I have a new church home,.. well they still haven't accepted it actually and probably never will. The first time I went to mass was a pentecost Sunday. What first caught my attention was watching all the people taking their seats. They came in, bowed to the altar, and got on their knees. I had never experienced a church with such a strong connection to God before. Right away they were focusing on the real purpose of being there,.. to worship Him. They weren't gossiping about what so-and-so did last week or who was sitting in who's pew,.. they were there to experience holiness. I loved it! Where else should the word "Adoration" be spoken but when refering to spending time in God's presence? Catholicism isn't for everyone and that's ok. But it is DEFINATELY for me. During a time in my life when everything seemed to be spinning out of control, I found the church and it has captured my heart ever since. I LOVE going to mass. I LOVE serving in His mass. I'm going to miss Most Blessed Sacrament so much and I can only pray God brings us to a wonderful parrish in Utah for Brax to grow up in. To everyone from church who reads this,.. thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your love and friendship.. you will always be a part of our family.