3.25.2009

Our Family Birthday

Yes, I realize this post should have been done nearly 3 weeks ago, however, its still important! And I really wanted to let people know how much I LOVE my sweet husband, and cherish being married to him. :)
I'm copying my sister-in-law who did this same type of post, and maybe she copied it from my sister, and who knows who she may have copied it from. ;)

1) Height and Weight: combined, that would be 11.2 ft and 285 lbs.

2) Fave Color: Purple, Blue, Green
3) Fave Movie: Meet the Robinsons, Lord of the Rings, Over the Hedge, Charlie & the Chocolate Factory
4) Fave TV show: Chuck!
5) Fave Food: Korean Food ,Cafe Rio, Sushi, Pasta...ok fine, so Topher and I like everything.
6) Fave Treat: Vanilla Ice Cream, frozen yogurt from Yogurt Stop, fruit pizza
7) Fave Toy: our cameras and bikes
8) Fave Outfit: pajamas on ourselves. topher loves me in skirts/dresses. i love him in CLEAN, dark blue jeans and a nice collared shirt with his hair done. ahhhh my hubby is a babe.
9) Fave Activity: Playing games! WE LOVE to play games. our current favorites are Shadows over Camelot, Munchkin Quest, & Ticket to Ride
10) Fave Subject in School: We both seem to like biology a lot. He obviously is big into engineering and computer programming, I like art and writing more.
11) What do you Want to be when you Grow up: What do I NOT want to be is a better question. I find myself wanting to try everything and be everything. Topher wants to be a biomedical engineer, and possibly a Dr. But we both want to be fabulous parents!!
12) What Makes you Happy: Being together. Playing games, relaxing, eating good food, watching Chuck or a good movie. We also like to go on short and sweet hikes...preferably to a waterfall please.
13) What makes you Sad: When we are not together. When Grace is sick or in the hospital. When we don't get alone time. When Topher is always at school!!
14) Best Friend: First and foremost, Each other. Our favorite people to hang out with as a family though, would be Dacia & Joe, and Austin, or in other words, our families. They are the best!
15) One Wish or Dream you Have for yourself: That we can continue to build a healthy, happy family. That we will always have each other and our babies,and to someday have a beautiful happy home with Topher in job that makes him happy.
16) Personality Traits: klutzy, scatter-brained, Loving, Affectionate, silly, fun-loving, kind-hearted, and Topher is uber smart. :)
17) Special Stories about You from the Past Year: We have had quite a year. Starting with my giving birth to our little Gracelyn, and culminating in her 1 yr. Birthday! It has held many ups and downs. Times of worry, pain, sadness, but to balance them all out, immense happiness, and hope. We have been emotionally, spiritually and even physically, stretched throughout the last year. I know there is most assuredly more to come, but at least now we have a sure knowledge that Heavenly Father will be right there with us through it all, to help us, to lead us, and often times to carry us.
The central things that have happened are obviously, that Grace was born, had an open heart surgery at 5 days old, and then had a heart transplant at 5 months. No biggie right? :) But some other things, that are still very special/important to us are that Topher joined the Navy. This has been such an exciting thing. We never thought it was a path we would go down, but it has been such a blessing for us, and the real work hasn't even begun!! 2 more years exactly, and we'll be in South Carolina! Then the real adventure will begin, right?
Also, I have begun going back to school. Its been so nice for me to have something that is just for me, and that helps me build confidence in myself. I also ran a triathlon, which took a lot of training, and personal butt-kicking, but it was so worth it. I actually participated in the triathlon the day after Grace's heart transplant!! So, she was motivation to finish.
It's been a crazy, hectic, and beautiful year where we have grown as a family and come to love each other as husband and wife more than we ever thought we could a year ago.

Topher is such an amazing husband and best friend. He treats me like a princess, even when i don't get to shower for 3 days! lol. He gives me sweet priesthood blessings when I just don't think I can endure another day of motherhood.
He cereal and orange juice in bed, and always takes out the garbage, (even if it is with a LOT of aggressive encouragement). He reminds us to read scriptures and never leaves for school in the morning without offering a word of prayer with my hand in his. He has an enormous work load for school, and yet always comes home ready to play with his baby girl. He is all I could have ever dreamt of, and I am so grateful he is the rock of our family. He has made this past year so much easier for us with his constant smiles and optimistic perspective. I love him so! And am so grateful to be married to him!
Happy 2 year Birthday to our little Andersen Family!!

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a very cute new blog outline. I like this new setup. Now go give mine a facelift! And what a sweet inspiring blog again, you sweet, inspiring girl. This past year has made you all much stronger, sweeter, more grateful and humble and so much more in touch with the spirit. So what can we say, it was all good. And on top of that we have been so very blessed with the sweet Gracie doll who is so healthy and strong and feisty. Love you all, Mum

Mythreesons said...

What a big year! That's kind of a lot. Hang in there, Bugs. Some weeks and months are harder than others. You guys sure make cute people, though. happy Anniversary. Now how about some more Gracey birthday pictures?

princess jen said...

I'm glad you "stole" my family birthday idea! It's a fun tradition--one of our absolute favorites! I'm really happy to came to visit me today. It was so fun to see you! And I loved seeing Gracey love on my kids. I love you all so much!

Amy Finnegan {BookshopTalk.com} said...

What a fun, and also touching post. It's amazing to think that it's been a full year since little Grace came into all of our lives - and has ruled the world ever since ;)

You are all wonderful :)

Love you guys! Happy Family Birthday/Anniversary.

I'm hoping you have pics from Gracey's birthday too!!

Sara and Company said...

I love LOVE you guys! You are a truly beautiful family, inside and out! Happy Anniversary!

Liz said...

i love you so much!! you are such a good friend to write on my blog and make me feel amazing when you are one of the most amazing people i know. i don't tell you enough! but happy birthday, again, and i love you and will hopefully talk to you very soon!

Super Daysh said...

Yay! Finally a new post! It's about time. I'm glad that you are so happy with your Topher...I think he's a goober. ;) j/k You do have a sweet family and all seem perfectly suited for one another. May the next years be a little less eventful, but full of fun times and all sorts of good stuff!

Anonymous said...

WOW!

We just LOVE your little family. We will be down to see you on the first of April. We have a BD present for Grace and we will bring you dinner. Just call and let us know if it is all right if we show up about 6:30-7:00.

Love
G and G Atkinson

Mimi said...

Cute Cute post!!

She looks sooo great!! You need to give us your secrets on getting rid of the NG tube. Mia is miss lazy bones.

Happy Family B-day!!

The Stewart's said...

Happy Birthday to your family! I'm blown away by how much we have in common, not just with how Grace and Alex have been. We also celebrated our anniversary just two days after you, only we celebrated 6 years. It's been a wild and crazy year, and I'm praying this coming one is a lot less eventful. I could handle boring! Heart Hugs! The Stewarts

Jons and Celeste Leigh said...

Leash, your family is beautiful! You sure have grown this past year. I admire your strength and your testimony. Your little Gracie is precious!

Austin said...

You're married to a mountain man.

Rachel's Mommy said...

Fun post! R and I are at an Internet cafe while your dad is getting the car where we had to leave it two days ago for our hike. Grace is a doll, Topher is a dude, and you're a dudette--go Andersen fam!!!

Thoughtful Runner said...

I'd say that year was pretty memorable - even if it wasn't one you would care to repeat anytime soon. Very nice post....you two are a very cute couple....and you three a very cute family. (Did you think about adding Grace's height to yours?? Perhaps then you would be able to see over a Hedge?!)
It is REALLY nice having you all close enough to spend time with you regularly....and, as you probably know, GAMES would definitely be on my list/our list, as well!
Love you!