A Little Blurb about Lolly and Rob

When the Going Gets Tough...

Rob has changed vocations, and decided to be a Professional Football player instead of a Podiatrist.

Well, if that's not true, it is true that his Podiatry profession did take time to Los Angeles for a five day training recently, which happened to be across the street from Universal Studios. :)

It also is true that he took 1st place in a recent Research Competition, and fixed his first broken ankle last Saturday!

And it's always true that when the going gets tough, Rob pulls this face and steps up to the plate.

Aside from work he is busy doing dishes, making mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving dinner, catching a BYU football game here and there, grocery shopping on the way home from work, doing fun things with his family, wresting and playing games with his kids, playing basketball Tuesday nights and Saturday mornings, singing in the Ward Choir, teaching the CTR 5 class at church on Sunday, and taking his wife out on the town on Friday nights.

He may not be a professional football player, but he sure is a professional Dad.

He is our conquering hero who returns at the end of the day to a house full of his biggest fans.

His homecoming is the best part of the day, and every time I take out the trash Trevor runs in as if the garage door opening is an alarm signaling that Daddy is home. He is such a fun dad, and the kids love to wrestle him and corner him long enough for him read them some stories. He reads to them from the "Friend" magazine every night, and we're also reading the Magic Treehouse Series together when he stops by for lunch on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

We are grateful to have a hard working dad at our house who keeps going when the going get tough. He's our hero, and we're so proud of all he is accomplishing.

So, this is what I've been up to lately...

growing a baby.

This pregnancy is going very well (once I made it through the nausea), and I'm gearing up for another extremely active boy as he is now doing gymnastics constantly. Only another 10 weeks!

Besides being pregnant, feeding my family three nutricious meals a day, home schooling and nurturing three precious, little people, and housekeeping (which take most my time, energy, focus, and attention), I am also enjoying my new calling at church. I am now the Secretary in the Young Women's organization, and it has really been a wonderful experience. The girls in our congregation are amazing, and I'm the one who is learning from them.

I've also loved the opportunity to sing in different small numbers lately, as well as practicing with the ward choir to get ready for Christmas. It's the best time of year to be in a choir, and I love to sing. I also strummed the few chords I know on the guitar to accompany a group of kids who sang at a Rest Home recently. I am still exercising which helps me in so many ways. Especially when I get to go walking with my wonderful neighbor Lynne on Wednesday nights. I read whenever I can, and as always am an avid journal writer. I love doing fun things with my family, and going out on dates with Rob. I squeeze in e-mail, blogging and keeping up with family and friends and it makes for a full life. Life is really wonderful, although it's definitely not easy. Sometimes I feel like I'm trying to swim in peanut butter because everything takes so long to get done with three kids. But, it onlly provides an opportunity to become more patient, right? I have many opportunities to grow and progress, and I have so much to be grateful for. Most of all, I am blessed to be around absolutely amazing people who are always inspiring me.

I fell very blessed this Thanksgiving! Thank you all for being a blessing in my life.

T-R-E-V-O-R, Trevor!

My friend told me she makes up a song for each of her kids with their name to help them learn how to spell it. So, we came up with one for Trevor. He loves it! And, it worked! He notices the letters from his name best of all the letters and loves to find his name written anywhere.

His song is just the baseball game chant that gets faster and faster, "T-R-E-V-O-R, Trevor! T-R-E-V-O-R, Trevor! T-R-E-V-O-R, Trevor! Dun, nuh, nuh, nuh nuh nuh...Trevor!"

He's potty training...still....

I love this picture.

Trevor idolizes his big brother, except when he's picking on him or chasing him around the house.

Still snuggly, and mom and dad are lovin' it.

At bedtime he sticks out his bottom lip and says, "Mom, will you snuggle me?" then he follows it by saying my answer for me, "One minute, then all done." (because it's time to STAY in bed, and GO TO SLEEP!)

"I do it like myself!"

He's making "soup"

He's getting ready to be a big brother.

I'm sure he doesn't realize it means he'll be dethroned as king of the house.

I have loved coloring wth Trevor on my lap lately.

When the big kids get out their school work he says, "I need to do my coloring now" and gets his coloring out. He is really growing up, and he is talking about everything.

We start our kids on piano lessons at 2 years old.

JUST KIDDING!

But, because Ellie and Ryan are practicing,

Trevor thinks he needs a turn too. He climbs up and says, "low notes, high notes, low notes..."

He is the strong, silent type for sure. Often when disappointed or upset he walks over to the bottom stair or a stool, sits down, crosses his arms, and pulls a knit eyebrow pouty face. No tantrum, no fanfare. It is so sweet to watch, he's even cute when he's upset.

"MM, that's yum."

He seldom puts a "y" on things that usually have one. It's his own lingo.

We laugh because he has this low little voice, and he's such a cool, tough kid.

"That's yuck."

He is a sweetheart! He is very independent, and spends much of the day entertaining himself in his own little world. His imagination is taking off, and it's so fun to watch him morph into all kinds of creatures on a daily basis.

He also is just one of the kids now, and actively involved in playing pretend, and any arguements they are having. He is very opinionated, like most two year olds, but has a very easy going, happy personality for which his mother is most grateful.

I love these handsome boys!

The boys are sharing a room now, and it has been so nice!

Trevor is sleeping better, and stays in bed to fall asleep by himself which he wasn't doing very well before. Ryan loves taking care of his little brother, and making sure Trevor knows he's the BIGGER brother.

His mannerisms are so fun to watch. He has his own unique way of expressing himself.

We often call Trevor a "monkey," for obvious reasons.

We're enjoying watching this little guy grow up!

Such a fun kid. 

October Festivities

We hope you had a Happy Fall Ya All!

I always love fall, and we really enjoyed the season this year.

 

October's highlights began with waffles for breakfast on

 General Conference Weekend.

It's a tradition carried over from the Anderson family, and it sure is tasty.

We always have them with strawberries and whipped cream, but this year we added a scrumptious apple syrup recipe we got from our friends. It was so good, it's a permanant tradition for sure.

We loved Conference Weekend!

Another October highlight was a random Wednesday night when Rob got off a little early (I love it when that happens!) and we grabbed a pizza and went to Ann Arbor so we could see some of the fall leaves.

The kids loved a little place called, "Fairy Woods, Troll Hollow" where we could build little houses for the fairies out of sticks, pinecones, etc. This is our family masterpeice.

Gotta love these boys.

We felt very seasonally festive when we went to the

Three Cedars Farm with several families from our church.

Doughnuts, Tractors, cow "milking,"

friends,

a hay ride,

and getting lost in a corn maze!

We felt like genuine hillbillies, I tell you what.

Lovin' life down on the farm.

We also took advantage of opportunitties to enjoy the

 fall leaves in our neighborhood.

This is our backyard.

The Monday before Halloween, Rob got off early again, and the weather was perfect!

So, we took the boys (Ellie was at a friends house) on a bike ride to the park.

The fall leaves were at their peak!

After our bike ride and dinner, we made

caramel apples.

and carved pumpkins!

HALLOWEEN

included a spooky feast for lunch

(provided as a surprise by the ladies of the family)

Ellie loves to cook, and it was fun to surprise the boys with a spooky feast together.

We made Mummies in a blanket, monster mouths out of apples and almonds, worms in the mud, and a mixed up potion for our drink.

SUPERMAN

Rob's sister sent me an old costume of Rob's for Ryan to wear.

No, he's not a power ranger, tube of toothpaste, or a smurf.

He's a high-tech, ultra powered, hyperactive

ROBOT

Our little Tink, in a costume designed by herself.

She makes a pretty cute, little pixie.

We all enjoyed the Chili cook off at our church.

Trevor's a little ladies man in our ward, most of his friends are girls. Little Natalie (the puppy on the right) has to sit by Trevor every week in nursery class. He's pretty humble about his popularity though.

Rob's co-resident and his wife came, and it was fun to catch up with them.

I made an appearance as a pregnant witch with my bubbling brew (homemade rootbeer with dry ice) for the Trunk or Treat.

The kids loved going Trick or Treating with their daddy.