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For those of you who don't know, I've gone back to work for this school year. This means that I will only be updating my blog every few months and each entry will have a TON of pictures. I FINALLY uploaded my pics so here's what we've been up to the last few months.

Belen and Cody still love eachother

Belen and Thyssen still love to eat.
We traded in this (actually dumped it in the ally, but you know..)
For this- a 42inch Plasma (it's awesome!)
Hung out with T-n-A
Admitted Belen to rehab.
Took 2 good mom-shots of Belen

Played with cousins at Nonni and Papa's
Forced Uly into a floaty boat

Walked Belen down the isle

Turned in Skippy to Gang Intervention
Watched Thyssen fall and bump his head- AGAIN- he doesn't even cry anymore.

Made some cute stuff for Thorey's Shower

Ate some good stuff at Thorey's Shower
Took a cute picture of my then prego sister, Thorey

(who had a beautiful baby girl last Tuesday!)

Well, that's our story- see you all again in a few months!!

Happy Times

This is a picture of Thorey (my big sis) and me at my bridal shower 8+ years ago. Yes, that's me about 30lbs ago :P I love this pic because our faces actually look alike.. We look like sisters!! (no one ever thinks I look like my sisters, so this picture is very exciting for me) Anyway, Thorey is expecting her first baby one week from today and I've found myself so excited about it!! I was at work this morning and I was in such a good mood because every few minutes, I thought about Thorey's baby being born and it made me so happy!! I can't wait to meet little miss Bauer! Oh, and Thor- we can use this pic as our inspiration to get back to pre-baby bodies :)

AND- Trena is expecting a GIRL!!! It's baby mania!! LOVE IT!

pics, pics, pics

So here's what's been going on with the Andersen kids this last month.

Daddy-daughter double-date to the Angels game.

Skippy and Jason had a ton of fun with thier little dates!

Go Angels!!

Trips to Seal Beach to get the BEST tacos at EBJ (El Burrito Jr.- try it!!)



Friend's Water Party
My children ALWAYS get along perfectly...
Belen and Eli- He's smiling for me!! It's a miracle!
(this cute boy will never smile for my pictures)

Prego Sisters

Trena (3months) Thorey (8months)

Belen Ballerina

Belen is taking into to Ballet through parks and rec. Her teacher is so good. The girls get to pretend to be a different character every class and there are always props they get to wear to go with the characters. It's so fun to watch!

The local watering hole

We met our old neighbors at the kiddie pool. Jack doesn't like being told "cheese"

Mount Whitney

Dave, Casey, Skippy, Justin, Jeff

Back in January, Skippy decided that he wanted to accomplish hiking Mount Whitney. He has his eagle scout and was an avid back-packer back in the day (just ask him about Teenage Mutant Philmont Backpackers) So, he put in for the permit and was so excited when it actually came time to go. (Excited to carry 3 days worth of supplies on your back while hiking to 14, 500 feet??- I don't get it either) He packed all his gear, got new boots, and dusted off his sleeping bag- all the while Belen asking him if she could go camping too- she loved the idea of wearing a backpack and sleeping in the sleepingbag. He left Thursday night and started hiking on Friday. He did great until he hit about 12,000 ft. Then the altitude sickness started- altitude sickness is the worst possible feeling- nausia, vomitting, dehidration, dizziness- yuck. But, did he give up? NO! He persevered with the help of his friends and made it to the top. He can now say that he has puked on the top of Mount Whitney- not many people can say that. I am very proud that he stuck it out and made it to the top and accomplished hiking to the highest peak in the Continental US. Good job Skippy!!

On the trail

At the top , after the 3rd barf- looking good, Honey!

Momshots

Here are some of my recent momshots. I have been trying to use some of the features on my camera like shutter speed and zooming and whatnot. I also have been working with filling the frame with my subjects (kids) and lighting, as I just read abouit on Jessica's blog. I took Jessica's momshots advice and started to read the manual for my camera. I had a few realizations: One, that I have no clue how to operate my camera, two, that my camera is pretty rad and it does a lot of stuff. I think that if I learn one new thing a week, I will now how to successfully operate it in about a year. Anyway, I hope you enjoy my little set of momshots!


4th of July- Statue of Liberty down the slide
Eli Wagstaff's 3rd Bday party
At mother's beach last week- I like how I got Belen in the background.

A great shot of Luke- but it's immpossible to get a bad shot of that kid- he's so darn cute!
Mean Lady Liberty- pre-street bike parade
If you are interested in trying to make your momshots all they can be, I whole heartedly suggest reading Jessica's momshots blog for tips and inspirations.

NEW YORK

"Skippy! You just graduated! What are you gonna do now?"

"I'm going to New York!"

So here's what you can accomplish in NY in 5 days with out 2 little tag alongs.

-Yankee's game
-Wicked on Broadway
-tons of site-seeing
- loads of eating

On a sad side note- we forgot our nice camera, so we were forced to buy a few disposables. It was absolutely humiliating taking pics with a disposable camera... So here's what we got with our little 35mm disposable with limited flash and no zoom:

A scary theater somewhere off of 42nd street

Times Square- if you look straight down from the P in Pontiac, you can see Skippy.
The tour bus- it was crowded and at one point, the tour guide was scolding some poor boys over the microphone. Yeah, only in New York.
A VERY exciting Yankee's Game. Instead of guys walking around selling treats and hot dogs, they walk around selling beer... THAT'S why their fans are so crazy! They're ALL drunk!
To Skippy's disappointment, we didn't see any Rockettes.
Famous Ray's Pizza--- SO GOOD!!!
Lady Liberty- She's big, She's green.

"Remember me at Harold's Square...."

My personal favorite: Little Italy... I need to go back and spend about 4 days just going from restaurant to restaurant.



Empire State Building- our hotel was just around the corner- it made for a good beacon when we were lost.

Gray's Papaya Hot Dogs... YUM! it's a hot dog/juice stand in Greenwich Village

BTW-there was some great shopping in the Village and in SOHO.. I just needed some girls to do it with.

Ground Zero- it was pretty sad to see the giant hole that was once huge buildings filled with people.

I have to say that while being with out the kids was fun and we were able to accomplish a lot with out them, we missed them terribly. We were so excited to return home to them.