Home for the Holidays

This Christmas season has been one for the record books. Sarah flew to Sacramento with Scout to visit Grandma and Grandpa Durand then met me in Reno for festivities with the Anderson family. Nevada is a wondrous land full of magical things. Don't believe me? Then come along, I'll take you on an old fashioned Christmas in Reno, Nevada.



First off is the trip from Utah to Reno. In a truck stop bathroom, a guy can get pretty much anything he needs, including a fresh squirt of his choice of cologne for only 25 cents! Feel fantastic! Refresh Yourself!



Our next stop is Great Grandma Dahl's ranch house, snuggled tight against the Ruby mountains in beautiful Northern Nevada. Here's me saying "what's up" to Randolph, the door man.



Besides close friends and family, the next best reason to come to Nevada is that unlike their unlucky neighbor, Utah, they have a delicious place to eat called Jack in the Box. Get on board, Utah!



On Christmas Eve morning, Jordan and Ruth had everyone over for a delicious breakfast. Here's Jordan giving the camera a "thumbs up". What a guy.



Uncle Bill and Aunt Debbie dropped by the Anderson Compound to say hello while we were there. Two of the most lovable people in the region of Northern Nevada.



Scoping out the new house mom and dad are building (or should I say paying lots of money to have professionals build...).



Mom and Dad looking cool in their new "scripture blankets."













Random Cute Pictures Of Scout.

The Many Faces of Scout

Here she is when she's confused.



Here she is when she's happy.


Here she is when she's contemplative.



Here she is yelling at a professional football game on T.V.



Here she is sadistically smiling over the knowledge that her mom and dad change her diaper about eighty times a day. Little does she know that soon we're going to hook her bottom up to a constantly running vacuum to keep things clean.



Here she is wearing the skull shoes that mommy made for her. I'm still waiting for my pair...

A Nice Visit

This last weekend, we had a visit from one of the missionaries who taught Sarah the discussions when she was investigating the church. He is stoked to know that we have gotten sealed in the temple and had a baby and that Sarah is the spiritual strength of the household. On Monday, he took me snowboarding at The Canyons in Park City. What a guy. Also, Andy Szafran has officially moved to Provo, which is awesome! Scout loves having Unkie Andy around and I have a feeling he's going to like it here in Provo. So far, after one day of work, he's already gotten a raise and, in the fear of possibly being gossipy, a nice young lady asked him out the other night and they've hung out a couple times since. Good Work Andy!



Cedric, Sarah, Scout and the former Elder Pennepacker (penny packer).



Cedric and Zac Pennepacker at the slopes.



A Video of Cedric unabashedly sucking at snowboarding.

Lazy Sunday

Today was a nice Sunday. We have had a lot of visitors since Scout was born, but today was a lot more mellow than it has been. Our neighbors/good friends, Shane and Maria Oka, brought us a delicious lunch on their way to church, so that took care of our cooking needs. The rest of the day was mainly taken up with entertaining Scout's every whim. She eats a lot and poops a lot. Somehow, I still think she's cute. I'm not asking other people to think that she's cute, just offering my own humble opinion (if I hear about anyone who doesn't think she's cute, I'll gut them and throw them into a pit full of starving llamas). Anyway, I love spending time with the ladies (Sarah and Scout). Here are some pictures-



Sarah started using the baby back-pack today.



Sarah and Scout baking some cookies even after a long sleepless night. What a couple of Cool Ladies!



I submit that the Enchanted Forest looks even more enchanted when covered in snow.

Not Really News...

I need to at least write this, although many already know- We Are Staying In Utah. We had solid plans to move back to Reno to finish school there and reunite ourselves with our friends and family. My former boss-ladies at Renown Hospital were just waiting to give me my old job back and Sarah was looking forward to living a mere two hours away from her parents. But fate steered us gently back to BYU to the tune of a substantial government grant given to us through the university. Anyway, we're really glad to stay here among so many nice folks and such beautiful scenery.

Dad Thoughts

Being a dad is very cool. I feel a little inadequate at times, but mostly I feel lucky. I can't think of a better mom than Sarah. She's doing a bang up job of it. I sometimes feel like it's a crazy commitment to be a parent. I'm going to have to be the one to reassure Scout that there's no such thing as closet monsters or the boogie man or Rosie O'Donnell, when I'm still not convinced that they don't exist myself. I'm going to have to lie and say that Santa Clause and the Tooth Fairy exist (and probably dress up as each... not for my own pleasure, I promise). I'm going to have to watch as she goes on her first date with some guy I already don't approve of, even though he's probably pooping his diaper right now.I'm going to have to veto outfits, turn off the television, stay up late waiting for her to come home safely and even ward off a gang of dangerous gypsies who may try to steal her away to a nomadic lifestyle someday. I'm perfectly happy doing all of this, so long as she doesn't become a hippy. Seriously though, I want her to know foremost of my testimony of Christ and the importance of obedience to his commandments. If she never doubts my and Sarah's testimonies (as I never doubted those of my parents) I feel like we will have done our job right.

Paparazzi Photos of the Anderson Household

For weeks, I've been suspecting foul play around the Anderson home as creepy, badly dressed guys with baseball caps and apparently no scruples whatsoever have been popping out of our closets and from behind our furniture snapping photos without warning. I didn't put two and two together until I saw the front page of a tabloid which read like so-



The front page was shocking enough... here's what was on the inside-



Here are some photos that didn't make it into The Enquisitizer-


Scout's first bath. I think the tabloids wouldn't publish this one for fear of legal repercussions.



Scout looking smooth in her high-class robot onesie that dad made for her.



The two most beautiful ladies... There's a kind of hush all over the world tonight.

Enter the Scout!

As many of you know, Samantha was born on Thanksgiving morning. So here's the full scoop- Samantha Scout Anderson, born at 4:50 am. November 22nd, 6 lbs. 12 oz., 19.5 in. long (I think I ate a hot dog at Costco about the same size). She wasn't nursing too well at the beginning, so we had her in the nursery at the hospital for a spell, but now she certainly does suck, we've got her home, and we couldn't be happier. To most, she may just look like a little blob with eyes and a nose, but she's a pretty cute little blob to us. Here are some pictures. Enjoy.




One happy Mama.



A proud Pa.



Grandma and Papa Anderson.



Grandma Durand. Bless this woman. She bought me The Complete Calvin and Hobbes.



Scout- looking fashionably current in her Pooh threads. Thanks Katie and Leo.

Happy Days. Man Days!

Friday started out pretty stressful and swear-word-full as I woke in the wee small hours of the morning to get to work early and get a head start but realized that I had misplaced my car keys. After a bit of frantic searching I of course found them in the most obvious place- a birds nest high up in a tree. Just kidding, they were in my jacket pocket. After a mildly busy, but not too bad, day at the ol' hospital, I came home to a tired wife and house guest (Andy Szafran). They were of course tired because I woke them in my early morning fugitive hunt for the keys. That's when things got good. I went to school to take a final exam for a VERY hard biology class I was taking online and I ended up with a much better grade than I thought I would get. I'm not going to say what the grade was, but trust me it was good, OK? After that, we learned that Andy (one of our close friends from Reno) got a cool job here in Provo, designing custom homes for big-wigs in Park City. So now Andy is moving from Las Vegas to Provo! Sweet. We celebrated that night by going out to watch a very cool western flick. As in most western movies, this one included the two good guys in a shootout with about 600 bad guys. I love these shootout scenes because whenever the good guys hide behind wooden barrels or sacks of grain it is as though they are invincible to the bad guys' bullets. Wooden barrels and gunny sacks are like the riot gear of the old west. Awesome. Saturday was MAN DAY. In the morning, I (with Andy's help) fixed the sink- Like a Man. Then Andy and I helped Leo Patrone fix his bass amplifier- Like Men. Then Andy, Sarah and I watched football and ate nachos- Like Men (except for Sarah). Kolby Doggins came over and we went on a manly bike ride. That night, we went to the mall for a stroll, after which Andy, Kolby and I went to a Saint Sebastians School for Wicked Girls House Party Show. Good times. We all ended up at Leo's backyard for a fire-side chat after the show. Good times- times two.




A lost cause, right? Not On Man Day!






A 'Thumbs Up' is a simple reassurance that everything is going fine. I gave Sarah alot of 'thumbs up's' while fixing the faucet.




Mounting up for our Manly Bike Ride.



At the mall, preparing for super-villaindom.



At the Ol' Malt Shop. I think Sarah had the Zombie-Flavored Shake (One of The Malt Shop specialties).



At the Saint Sebastians show. Micah and Leo are probably the most attractive men Utah Valley has to offer.




Roasting Pineapples over the fire at Leo's house.