Our Little Princess

Hailee has grown up a lot over the past couple of months. I guess that happens when you're busy and not looking.

She has many new hobbies that started when we moved to Utah, because we have been shut up inside a lot more than before. She loves to play puzzles and play her Click Start computer. She will color, cut, glue, or tape, anything within reach. Disney.com also has a lot of activities that keep us busy when John works late. She is still quite the social butterfly and has made a lot of friends at our new gym (her new daycare) and loves to go there every day. Her favorite person there just happens to be the General Manager, she has to flirt with him every time she spots him. John and Hailee have had a couple of daddy-daughter bonding moments playing in the snow, I can't tell you how glad I am that he'll take her out there. I'm not much of a cold person as you all know!

But, Hailee's favorite thing of all Dora. If any of you have 3 year olds, you can relate. Something about Dora is so enticing for her. She has a Dora movie that she would watch 24-7 if we let her. She also has a Dora book that we read every day before nap time and goes on every car trip. She has a couple of the stories memorized word for word and she amazes me at the words she remembers to include in the stories.

Here are some updated photos of Hailee. She wanted to be a Princess, but she couldn't bring herself to wear the princess slippers, so she has her new shoes on. The other was taken in January (when John actually got home before sunset) and they played in the snow until we had to bring Hailee in kicking and screaming! The morning before this picture was one of the biggest storms we had this winter-oh, how we love Utah!

Christmas Pictures!!!!

Better late than never!?! This year, we got to go to Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa Anderson's house and we had a great time. Hailee got spoiled (as usual), Dad got to go snowboarding, and Dana helped Jenna chase the kids around the house. Here are some pictures.
Dad and Hailee playing the new "computer".

Look how cute my little girl is . . .The debut of "baby Fiona" . . . don't call it a Shrek baby!

Darcy with Izy . . . "glowing" because the new boyfriend.

Hailee is really going to miss being an only child . . . she'll never get this many presents again. :0(


Hailee getting messy with the cake.

Omniture

John started his new job with Omniture when we moved to Utah. Omniture is a web analytics company that is growing like crazy. The recent acquisitions of Visual Sciences, Offermatica, Touch Clarity have kept him quite busy with SEC filings in his financial and reporting division.

Omniture was started by an LDS BYU grad -- Josh James. A fast-paced, exciting, competitive environment makes each day fun. Some of the highlights include the onsite video game room, the elegant formal Christmas dinner at the Grand America Hotel, conference rooms named after Adam Sandler movies, and other stories John would LOVE to tell you about. The culture is work-hard, play-hard and the company attitude is described by the phrase "mean people suck." To see more go to www.omniture.com.

Big Sister????

Hailee sure had a fun time holding the new baby and playing the big sister. She wanted the baby to come eat with her at the restaurant and play with her . . . no, Dana didn't give birth. Justina, Dana's sister had baby Braydon on Saturday. Here's a little shot of Hailee playing "big sister" in preparation for our little girl that will be here in March (hopefully - April sounds too distant).

Another Girl...

That was John's reaction to the doctor telling us that yes, in fact, we will be having another girl join our family sometime next spring. As if Hailee and I don't create enough drama for one man to handle!

The ultrasound showed that she is growing on track. The technician was getting a little frustrated because every time she would get a good angle for a picture, the baby would move. Yes, she is very active, already.

Hailee is slowly adjusting to her new home in Lehi, UT. She has had a rough couple of days trying to figure out the rules and limits again after spending a couple of days with grandma and grandpa.

So, what have we been up to since we got here...

Well, John has been working long hours at Omniture, so its been up to Hailee to help me make the difficult transition of leaving Arizona. Luckily, I was able to transfer to the Life Time Fitness in South Jordan. Even though I was sad to leave my "groupies" in Palm Valley, AZ, I think this will be a good place for me to learn and improve as a group fitness instructor.

Hailee is liking the new daycare at the gym for the most part. I just have to go in with her and help her find a friend to play with before I leave.

We have also had fun hanging out with family again. Its nice to have somewhere to go and people visit with on especially on Sundays.

And we are back in the midst of "The Home of the Cougars" and were able to attend a basketball game where BYU throttled the Jackson State Tigers. It felt like home in the Marriott Center, cheering on the Cougs. John is so excited for the BYU vs. Utah game this weekend that he is hardly sleeping, hopefully that ends in victory.

CRASH into me yeah . . .

I do love to listen to Dave Matthews Band, but I don't think that even Dave himself had quite the crash I had on November 7th.

Dana and I were coming home from my Deloitte farewell party and were going to meet to buy a new bed frame (finally, right Dana?) at Mor Furniture. I was getting off the 99th street exit under the I-10 & 101 interchange when the white Pontiac in front of me hit their brakes, and I hit them at 55 mph.

It is still all a little hazy, but the 2001 Nissan Sentra was a mangled mess, I had seat belt bruises, minor air bag burns on my hands, and a few small scratches from my hand hitting the AC vent. Other than that, I was in one piece, unharmed. I was a little "loopy" according to the officer, but there was no brain damage (in addition to what Dana already thinks I already have). The other party, two people from Mexico were fine.

MORAL OF THE STORY: Wear your seat belt. Had I not buckled up, our little family may be without their dad. I thank Heavenly Father daily for the chance to be on the earth another day with Dana and Hailee. All it takes is a click!

GO COUGARS!!

Ever since dad took me to a game when I was 1 year old, I was hooked on BYU athletics. 26 years later, I still cannot miss a game albeit I can only listen to most games on internet radio.

Hailee was spoon fed the cougar kool-aid since she was little as we were students at BYU. She loved the song and danced to it whenever we had it playing. It also was the only thing that kept her from fussing in the car on long road trips . . . no kidding. "Rise and shout" = ON? Happy baby. OFF? Crying.

She used to have a crush on cosmo, but that faded when we left Utah and now she is "scared of him." She will have to get over her cosmophobia now that we are moving back and getting season tickets to basketball games. Just thought I'd let you know if you wondered if I was raising my kids in the right way. ;)