Andal's Crazy Life....

Date night and Super Bowl

2012-02-05T20:53:00.000-08:00

Being in Las Vegas with out family is a blessing and a curse. I think it has been a blessing in that Mark and I have to lean on each other more, and we don't have the escape of family to run to in hard times. (Which is also a curse sometimes.) But then we don't have family around to celebrate the holidays or birthdays, or be with family for other events. It has also limited us in our dating, which has been virtually non existent. Mark is gone a lot, and then there is the issue of money, and getting a babysitter. We just haven't made it a big priority, but that is about to change I hope.
One, Mark's parents are buying a town house basically kitty corner to our home. They are already talking about having the kids sleepover every Friday night. And coming over and doing the gardening, and I don't know what else they think they will do. But one of the nice things about the town house they are buying is that it has an exercise room and a pool! This will be very nice for us in the summer time, and it is very close. I did worry how this will affect our relationship with them. I VT a lady who didn't get a long with her mother-in-law until she moved to Las Vegas. Now they are friends, but distance was the key for them. I worried this would be the case for me and my in laws, but I have prayed and have peace that this will be good for both of us. I hold on to that other wise I might be freaking out right now.
Two, there is a lady in our ward Alisa Jenkins, who Mark is their family home teacher, came over this week so we could get to know each other better, and let our kids play. She has a daughter Jade who is 3 1/2, and son who is 8 months, and she just found out she is pregnant. She was telling me how she has a sybling somewhere who trades babysitting for a date night. They have about 5 couples, and they trade off who is the babysitter while the rest of the couples go on a date. I thought it was a great idea. She had another couple who was supposed to join us, but they never brought their kids. So right now it is just us and the Jenkins, but I thought even if Mark and I only go out once a month that is one more time than we were doing before. So we went out on Saturday evening. I was fasting so we didn't want to go eat, and I got a text a 30 minutes into it that Alex hadn't stopped crying. We ended up just running errands, but at least we were together. I felt bad because when we picked them up, Alex had started crying again so for 2 of the 3 hours we were gone, they were dealing with a crying kid. Got a love separation anxiety.
We are not sports lovers in this house so it is very nice that on the Sabbath, we don't watch TV. I will watch a movie, or let the kids watch something that I approve of. But for the most part, I couldn't tell you who was playing, or who was on a team or any stats what so ever. We did decide to make kobe short ribs and won tons. Alex was doing this little turn with her head tilted. We called it the won ton dance. I just wish I would have taped it. So cute. And then for the last quarter, Mark and Sarah were watching the game. It was funny because Sarah isn't familiar with any of the lingo of football. So she was asking what a field goal is vs a touchdown. What 1st and 10 means, and what other things mean. I thought we are doing something right for her not to know this stuff, but maybe a disservice too. What if down the line she marries a sports aholic. But it was the New York Giants playing. So of course Mark being from New York, he was cheering for the Giants. I don't see Mark get into sports very often, but he had a good time with what he watched. Thank heaven the Giants won. It was a good game. Good times. I am so glad I don't have to do this all of the time. 1 hour once a year, I think I can handle that. Just don't get me started on Magic. That is another story entirely.

New year new fun

2012-01-29T21:09:00.000-08:00

Our stake had a Women's conference yesterday. One of the seminars was on blogging. The woman giving the seminar told of how she loved to write, and blogging became a source of therapy for her when she had her 1 yr old daughter die. It started out as a place to write down how she was truly feeling, and she just had her family and close friends reading it. Then it networked into over 100,000 people reading her blog. She has been able to reach out to people who have had similar experiences. She has been able to bear her testimony, and reach people all over with her blog. I have been taking a family history class during Sunday school. I feel like I need to do better with my own personal history. I always thought I could blog to do it as a fun way to preserve mine and my families history. Now I just need to do it. So I am going to do better. I have been blaming it on my camera the last few weeks because I was having problems transferring my pictures from my camera to my computer. Pictures or no pictures I am going to do this.

I did just figure out a different way to get my pictures. Yea!!!
We had a great Christmas holiday. Mark's parents were able to fly in to be with us. I think Sarah and Annadele were very happy with what they got for Christmas. Alex could care less for the most part, but of course Alex and Annadele loved each others gifts.
We had a great New Years Eve. We had some Kobe short ribs, wantons, s'mores, a veggie tray, chips and dips, and shrimp. The best part was all of the good company. I am sorry to say that I crashed about 10:30. We had stayed up late 2 or 3 nights in a row. My body just couldn't do it any more, plus we had 9AM church the next day. Mark had even tried to play match maker for Melodee and invited his friend Jeff. Jeff is a great guy, but not a match for Melodee. Thank heaven for Mike and Amy for trying to welcome him and talking to him. Mark was on a no magic allowed night, but Jeff looked so bored and wishing he was some where else that I told Mark he should start up a game. Mark said they all had a good time. I think for me it was best I went to bed. It was great to have so many people around to bring what I hope will be a great new year.

One more thing I need to mention berfore I go to bed. Annadele went pee in the potty chair for the first time on Thursday. She has been sitting on it for a while, but has never done anything until now. She has been saying her diapers are bothering her, and I told her maybe we need to switch her to panties. It happened for all of a couple of hours because then she had an accident, and then we had to go out. But I hope to try again this week. Crossing my fingers.

Dress up fun

2011-10-23T20:55:00.000-07:00

One afternoon Annadele wanted to play tea party, and so Sarah thought we should dress up for it. We ended up not playing tea party, but having a fashion show with the misc. stuff in the dress up box. Although for Annadele, this is her purple princess butterfly outfit that she has to wear everyday.
A friend of mine recommended that we check out Fancy Nancy from the library. She said because my girls always look so nice and fancy she thought they would enjoy it. Oh how Annadele is my Nancy. She is only two and 1/2, but we had to do beauty parlor today, and I got to trim and paint her hand and toe nails. I couldn't stop at just her toes, but her hands had to be painted also.

Alex's 1st birthday

2011-10-16T21:14:00.000-07:00

Alexandra had her 1st birthday. I can't believe it has already been a year since she was born. Mark really wanted to have a birthday party for her even though we had celebrated it in Utah. He had a work event going on the weekend of her birthday, but we decided we would celebrate it in October. But on her birthday we were invited to another little girls birthday. A co-worker of mine had her little girl Azalea on Sept 23rd and I had Alexandra on Sept 24th. They are one day apart. She invited us to Azalea's birthday party. It was really nice. Thanks to her parents they had it at the M Resort at the studio B buffet. It was really good. Crab legs, shrimp, lots of variety. Rated one of the best buffets in vegas, I found out later. It was fun to see Alex and Z interact with each other. One of their friends even had a daughter Annadele's age. Except for it being nap time, the girls and I had a good time. Mark was even able to make it for the last 20 min., and glad he did.

So last week we gave Alexandra her party on October 8th. It was so funny because if you asked Annadele who the party was for, it was for her. She was very excited. I got the house cleaned up, and I tried to reuse some balloons we had but the place I went doesn't sell the helium separate I would have to rebuy my balloons or buy new ones. I opted for no balloons. It is only her first birthday. She isn't going to rememeber. It was funny because Adele was worried we weren't going to have enough food. I was worried we would have too much. Plus there was no room in the fridge for left overs. She was trying to talk Mark into going and ordering more food an hour before the party. I had already talked him out of only making one pan of ziti instead of two. In the end, I was right. We had plenty of food. The hit was the egg rolls Tony was frying as people were arriving. I think every one had a good time. And people actually showed up. Although I did call everyone we had invited Thursday to find out if they were coming or not, so I knew how much food to prepare for. Annadele still thinks the presents are hers, but I guess that will come with time.

Play time and visits

2011-08-14T21:16:00.000-07:00

I totally missed posting in July. I kick my self because I didn't even take any pictures of the 4th of July. It was Alexandra's first, and I missed it. We went to one of my old co-workers Angelica Hopgood's house. She has a daughter born the day before Alex's (even though she wasn't due til 2 wks after me). We just hung out and talked and ate food. It was low key. We were just glad to be invited. On the way home, we found the perfect place to watch the fireworks. It is really close to our home, and every where we looked we could see fireworks. The best part about it was no traffic. I think we plan to make it a traditional place to go.

My girls have been having a great time playing with each other. They built this tower of blocks one morning. I thought it was great team work, and pretty creative.

For Big Mommy's (Adele) birthday we went to eat at her favorite place when she comes to Vegas, In-N-Out. She wasn't there in person, but she was thought of and loved from afar.

I just love to see my two little ones play and make each other laugh. Plus they are so great when they are clean.

Adele has given Sarah a couple of the American Girl dolls, and gave the baby to Annadele. She had sent the matching pj's awhile ago, but they were too big for her. Now they fit, and I had to get a pic of Mommy and baby. It was freaky how much the baby doll looked like Alex when she was 4 or 5 months old.

One thing I have been doing with my girls is taking them to the library for story time. They had a special performance with Jim Gill that I took them too. We all had such a good time. I even had to buy one of his cd's, and a book. I told Sarah I would buy both, but the book she would have to wait to open at Christmas time.

We had the Sorenson's stay with us on their way to Cailfornia, and then again on their way back. Mark went all out for breakfast. He had Emiko help him make cat head biscuits and gravy. It was yummy! They did a great job. : )

On their way home, they stayed again. I took them to M&M world. We saw the 4 floors of the store, watched the little movie they had, and then it was time to go home. I would have liked to show them a few more places, but everyone was tired and worn out. Three days of Disney Land and they had had enough. That just means they have to come back to visit again. Mark made a delicious dinner of prime rib, mashed potatoes, veggies, rolls. Sarah and I had made cookies the night before. I don't think any one went hungry that night. Kimi and I stayed up way to late that night chatting, but it was so fun to have girl time. It took me a couple of days to recoup, but can't wait for another good time at our reunion.

Sarah had a birthday shout Hooray!!

2011-06-27T14:32:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Sarah's 9th birthday last week. It was a busy day, but I think she had a great day. She was going to have her party at a bouncy house and then decided to make it a swim party. The girls met at Jen's house. Mark, his niece Rachel, and his mom all went swimming. I decided to stay home with the girls so they could get a nap in, and then pick up the pizza later. (Little girls with out naps makes for a very long day.) The girls came back to Jen's house to play games, eat pizza, and have donuts. Sarah's sisters love her so much they just wanted to be in the middle of it all. Sarah isn't a big fan of cake so she decided she would rather have donuts instead. Her mom and her saw this idea on a show. Krispy kream donuts didn't have the strength to hold and kind of got smooshed together. But they still tasted good.

Later that night, we ate at the food court of the Santa Fe, and then went bowling. Rachel is on a bowling league back in New York, so she kicked our butts. But we all had a good time. We ended the day going to Cold Stone for ice cream. We dropped Sarah off at her mom's. And a few hours latter, Mark dropped off his parents, and niece at the airport. It was a busy day, but a good one.

Alexandra turned 9 months on Friday. She is growing and developing too fast for her mama's sake. She is crawling all around and standing up. Not really cruising yet, but I am sure that will come. She has 7 teeth and 2 more coming in. She just started saying mama. I love it. Now I am trying to get her to say dada.
Alex and Annadele are great daughters. I love to see them interact with each other, and make each other laugh. Annadele has eczema all over her body. She loves to be in the water, but I think I need to limit how much she is in the pool. We bought a kiddy pool to put in our back yard. She would want to go outside and help water the plants, and then start undressing her self right outside so she could go in the pool. We emptied out the pool so she can't go in to try to help her skin. The sad part is that we just got a membership to the YMCA across the street which has a great pool. We went for the first time on Friday, but I don't think I can go back for a few days until her skin is looking better. The poor girl has scratch mark all over her body. I have a cream the doctor gave me, but it seems to work for a little while and then it comes back. I bought her a good lotion, and I am trying to moisturize her twice a day. I hope it helps.

Just got great news from Mark. He passed his series 65 test. I am not sure what this allows him to do (something with investing), but I know he is the first person in his office to complete it and pass. Everyone else has failed thus far. Go Mark!!!

The fart stirkes again

2011-05-19T21:58:00.000-07:00

So Mark and I are in Sam's Club, and he likes to get a drink and a hot dog. It is cheap and easy. I am off shopping while he does this. He is just leaving putting the condiments on the dog, and he leaves a silent but deadly fart. A woman just purchased a hot dog and is coming to put condiments on her hot dog. She sniffs the dog, and smells something noxtouis. She smells the dog again, and then throws it away.
What am I going to do with my man? He tells me the story, and I am laughing so hard I am crying. Poor woman will probably never buy a hot dog from Sam's Club again, and all because of my husband.

Cruise pics

2011-05-14T23:28:00.000-07:00

I tried to copy at least 20 other photos. But it didn't work. I will try again later.

Crusin

2011-05-14T21:48:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it was just a month ago we were on our cruise. I think for the most part we had a good time. Unfortunately for me, I got sick right before we left, and didn't fully recover until after I was home. So we left Las Vegas Saturday morning to ensure we would be to the dock Sunday morning. I was hoping by having all of that time on Saturday we would be able to jump start our vacation and relax and have fun. Well, I was relaxing, or more importantly just trying to breathe. I was so congested I couldn't breathe out of either nostril. I have had colds before, but this was a doozy of a cold. But at least it wasn't the flu.:) Needless to say, I wasn't sleeping well, and Sat. night Annadele wasn't sleeping well either. The one nice thing is that Mark was able to see his college friend Maria. He took the kids so I could try to take a nap. What a good husband! They went to a mall that was near by, and Sarah and Annadele tried on hats.

We got to the dock, and registered to board the ship. Then we had to wait for the ship to be ready to board. It was rainy and cold. I got a kick out of all the people wearing flip flops and shorts. The first thing you do when you board the ship is go to the buffet area, and have lunch. They don't have your rooms ready yet, and it allows them time to get the luggage to the rooms. Plus after waiting a couple of hours to board, most people are hungry and ready to eat. I will refrain from posting most of the pics of food. But if you want to see it go to Mark's facebook page.
I think the first thing we noticed was all of the pink dots on the boat, and then the lido deck.

It is the same place as the buffet area. It was nice with the pool and the big screen. In the morning, they would be playing world news, and at night they would feature a movie.
Tuesday was our first day at port in Cabo San Lucas. We had scheduled a driver to take us around the town.

The binki

2011-04-18T21:57:00.000-07:00

After two days in a row of having Annadele throwing a fit because we weren't letting her have her binki (after she had gotten out of her crib because it is only for sleeping times), we decided to get ride of it sort of. It is something that needed to happen sooner than later, but it has been a rough couple of weeks since we did it. The second day Mark and I looked at each other, and said lets do it. Maybe a cruel thing to do, especially when we cut the tip off right in front of her. But I let daddy be the mean guy.
The consequence of it has been her sleeping habits and ours for that matter. The first week I think she woke up almost every hour or two, and needed to be held and comforted. I felt like I had a new born again, but at least dad can help out with this. Even her nap time was affected by it. But I am glad to say that I think the roughest part is behind us. Which is good since we will be on vacation next week. Now Annadele just wants to hold her binki. This is fine with me as long as I don't have to try to find it in the middle of the night. She still wakes up sometimes, but I am glad to have my little girl back and not a little monster.
The next new thing will be moving her into Sarah's room, and moving Alex into the crib, but that will have to wait for a couple of weeks. Mexico here we come. We are so excited to be taking a cruise to the Mexican Riviera. I am a little nervous how Annadele and Alex will do, and me for that matter with sea sickness. But hopefully we will have a great time. Need to book a couple of excursions. If nothing else, I know I will be eating good food that I didn't have to cook or do the dishes. Yay!!!

Birthday and umpa lumpa

2011-03-28T19:37:00.000-07:00

Annadele turned 2 years old on March 9th. She is such a delightful daughter. I love seeing her grow and develop. One of her favorite things to do when we go to Walmart is to see the fish. So we thought we would add to our family and get some fishies. We have one red, one blue, two sucker fishes, and one frog. It has been fun for the whole family to watch them swim around and interact with each other. And I am okay with it as long as I don't have to clean the tank.

We had a great time seeing family in Utah. The time is always too short. It was hard to leave not knowing when I will be back, but greatful for Manda and Myndie for letting me stay with their families. But life goes on and I needed to be here to see Sarah do a presentation for school. Her class had to invent a candy machine. The teacher had the kids pretend they worked in Willy Wonka's candy shop. So for a few minutes she is a umpa lumpa (?). Her project is called the wheel of WOW. I think the class had a good time creating their inventions, and then presenting them to their parents.

Happy Valentine's...I'm Back

2011-02-14T13:21:00.000-08:00

Ok so it has been exactly a year ago since I have blogged. I hope that will not be the norm, and I am going to try to make it not. My intent today is just to get on and start this up again. Some day soon there will be a very long post to recap 2010. But my father-in-law is coming tomorrow, and I need to get some things done that I wouldn't normally worry about.
The Andal's are doing well. Alex just had her 4 month appointment last week. She is 14 lbs 5 oz. I have no idea where she is because my doctor doesn't tell you, but she seems healthy and doing well. They say she should be turning over by now. She has done it but only a few times. I guess I need to give her more tummy time. She is a sweet thing, and usually fast to give a smile.

Happy Valentine's Day

2010-02-14T21:07:00.000-08:00

Jen (Sarah's mom) took a couple of pics to practice for a photo shoot and she sent these.

I have been meaning to blog for a while, but I have been sick and tired for the last month. I tell my self it is all for a good cause, but right now I can't wait for it to be over. We are adding to our numbers in the Andal household. I am only 7 weeks, and thinking I am crazy to have an 11 month old and one on the way. But we are excited and hopeful for this new addition to our family. I know it is a blessing from our heavenly father, and pray that I can be a good mother, and worth of the spirit I am being sent.
This has been a long week. Annadele and Mark have had the flu. I don't know if I had it too since I am always nauseous, but I think it felt like more than just being pregnant. I stayed home from work on Friday, and Mark and I took turns sleeping and watching Annadele. I felt so helpless. She would just lay on the floor so lifeless and no energy, none of us daring to eat. I thought she was better yesterday, but apparently not. She had a relapse in Elders Quorum, and just soaked Mark's shoulder and her dress. Poor thing. No bottle tonight and she wouldn't drink the pedialite. It could be a long night. Mark and I both agree, we can't be sick at the same time again. One of us needs to be well to help with the children and the sick spouse. ; )

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

2009-12-26T15:49:00.000-08:00

We have been busy this holiday season. We made it a little crazier by flying to New York in the middle of the month to celebrate Mark and Merilee's birthdays. I will say that I have had better birthdays. I had stayed up late the night before to make sure we were packed, dishes done, and the house in not total disarray. Mark was so excited that he didn't sleep. I woke up at 2:30 AM, and Mark had a birthday present ready for me. What a great guy. We woke up the kids around 4AM to go to the airport. I was hoping Annadele would fall back a sleep, but she didn't. Our flight was for 6:30. Sarah is a seasoned traveler and did great. Annadele was pretty good for her first flight. But she didn't want to sleep and got restless. So I ended up standing in the back of the plane for an 1 1/2 until she finally fell asleep in my arms. Shortly after, the captain announced something and woke her up. Doesn't he know to be quite with sleeping children? We had a short lay over in Atlanta, GA which was just enough time to get something to eat, hit a restroom, and get on the next plane. We arrived in New York and Mark's brother picked us up. I think they were more excited to meet Annadele for the first time than anything else.
The next day Adele had planned a birthday party for us at a Japanese restaurant. It was nice to see family and friends. Mark with Jeff Hedbrerg and daughter Ivy.
Mark's nephew and girlfriend Marianne and Russell, Mark's niece and boyfriend Rachel and Anton, and friends Kevin and girlfriend (?). Rebecca (beck beck) and Natale, Sarah and Annadele the girls with there little sisters.

Mark's parents were friends with a few Filipino families growing up (I think they were all nurses together). They are considered family. The four boys try to take at least 1 photo together when ever possible. There is Herb, Sonny, Mark, and Jing.
It was also nice to meet Claritsa, Mike's girlfriend for the first time. I thought she was great, but Mike is against marriage So we will see how long it last. Annadele just woke up so I will write more later.

So what are you?

2009-11-08T15:15:00.000-08:00

We have had a fun couple of weeks. We had our old neighbors over for dinner a couple of weeks ago. They lived down the street from us at our old house. We were sitting in church a couple of weeks ago. It was a missionary farewell. I think the guy must have been pretty popular because the chapel was packed. But then we see our old neighbors the Davis'. We just thought they were visiting for the farewell, but then they told us they just moved into our ward. How cool for us, especially since they have teenage daughters. We are thinking if we need a babysitter we now have somebody we trust to call. When they were over for dinner, I found out that the mom grew up in West Jordan. I graduated with her younger brother Victor Steinfeldt, and she has another brother who graduated in Monica's class Anthony Steinfeldt. I was so glad that mom had just brought down my year books. Her kids had fun looking for their aunt and unlces. What a small world. Do any of you know a Steinfeldt?

Mark's parents were in town for the week of Halloween. It was nice to have them here. They did some more building and organizing. We are greatful for all they do for us. On Friday my work had a pot luck lunch, and they told us we could dress up. Us three girls in the office decided to be house moms. It was more an excuse to wear our pj's and be comfortable at work. We do work for the US Forest Services here in Las Vegas. The guy who buys the shirts and hats for some of the Fire fighters is retiring this month. He promised us that before he retired he would have Smokey the Bear come visit us. So for our luncheon we had a special visit from Smokey.

Then after the luncheon, I took a half day off work and we drove to Glendale which is about an hour north of Vegas and we went to a corn maze. I don't think we really made it out but it was fun to be together and enjoying the nice weather.On Halloween, Mark's parents took off and went to the casinos, and then Mark and I went to our wards trunker treat. I think it was all of the wards that go to our building which is interesting since we are not all in the same stake. It was fun to see people in our ward. Mark wore his Shalin Monk out fit, and I was getting ready for a bath with my rubber ducky.

The Dryer

2009-10-19T20:04:00.000-07:00

Annadele just relaxing in the tub.

Mark has this thing he likes to do with Annadele. We like to put a blanket on the ground so she can crawl around and play. (We are trying to save the carpet for as long as possible.) He calls it the clothes dryer. She is usually giggling, and just loves it. But of course as soon as I get the camera out, she is so serious. But still adorable.

Mark is Toxic

2009-10-08T20:43:00.000-07:00

Okay. Funny, sad, gross story. Mark calls me from work on Monday, and asks if I want the good news or the bad news. I always say, "give me the bad news first." He then proceeds to tell me that he is shopping at Walmart to pick up a few items. He has been having really bad gas lately. He lets one rip, and then shortly after a little kid walks into the wind. After he smells the bad gas, he pukes. He is followed by another little kid who after seeing his friend puke, does the same. At that point Mark leaves the scene as fast as possible. He buys his items and calls me. The good news is he filled the water bottles.
I laughed so hard, and then had to tell my co-worker the story. And now I am sharing with you.

I love my husband, but doesn't that make you feel sorry for me. : ( (He is actually not bad at all. )

What a trip.

2009-09-30T20:49:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to say thank you to Mom for driving down all of my stuff that has been at every one's houses. Thank you to all who have stored my stuff. It is a trip down memory lane to open them up and see what I have. There are some boxes I haven't seen since high school. I have kept a lot of junk, but some of the things are priceless to me.
One of the things I have found is my baby blanket. Mark washed my blanket today and had Annadele take a nap with it. He said she was very excited to have my blanket. I didn't see it, but I will have to take his word for it. What a find. I can't believe I have kept it so long. It is silky on one side, and has Holly Hobby on the other. I loved my blanket. I guess I still do.
What a trip.

2009-09-20T14:22:00.000-07:00

I wanted to post this last week, but it wasn't meant to be. Annadele is growing and developing all of the time. She is starting to crawl. Last week it was the stick the butt in the air and roll. Now she will get up on all fours and push her feet. I'm sure next it will be that she has her arms and knees going. But I am not ready for that. The house isn't baby proofed yet. We have started to feed her solids. And a lot like Emma, she wants nothing to do with it. But we are trying to continue. Just today, she actually ate with out crying and took a couple of good bites. Yeah. Little victories.
The reason I was too busy to post is that Mark and I spoke in Sacrament last Sunday. So we were busy preparing our talks. I think we did a good job. I felt the spirit. Our topic was conversion. The bishopric member gave us a couple of conference talks to base it off of. For me that was different. I felt like I was giving a Relief Society lesson, with no question time or feed back. We spoke with another couple. At first I was a little taken a aback. This was the 3rd time in 2 yrs that Mark and I have spoken. We have never had a hard time taking up the time. In fact, both of us have had to cut things from our talks to allow the other person enough time. So to find out that we would be sharing the time, I didn't understand. We have always liked to speak because it allows people an opportunity to get to know us. I think I didn't want to share the spot light. But now that it is done and over with, the other couple we were speaking with were young and inexperienced. I think the Lord knew exactly what he was doing in pairing the two couples to speak. It gave them an opportunity to speak with out having to take up the whole time. And Mark and I were still able to speak, and had many people let us know how much they appreciated our talks. The bishopric member even wanted a copy of Mark's which he just handed over. Mark received his first calling in our new ward. He will be the employment specialist. He received an awesome blessing. Hopefully he can help others in his own search for work.
I tried to load a clip on Friday, but the video wasn't loading up. This one isn't as fun, but it will have to do for now.

Befor and After

2009-08-19T20:44:00.001-07:00

I thought it would be fun to do some before and after shots. Kimi and I had our baby's just months a part, and it was so fun to see Keiomee and Annadele together. I am so lucky to have Kimi as a friend. And I am very grateful for her friendship.
Not much is going on in the Andal house. Sarah starts the Second grade on Monday. For me, work has been slower than usual. This is a nice change from years past. But I also think I like being really busy. But at least I am not having to remind my self to breathe. That is good too.

Moving in

2009-08-09T21:38:00.000-07:00

Ok, I had problem with our internet last week so I just finished the before pics. But I wanted to show some of the after and disaster pics from when the carpet was laid.

We still have a lot to do, but we had a couple of friends over for games last night. It was nice to have people over and just have them know we are still moving in.

Our new HOME

2009-08-02T14:35:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to let you all see our new home. It is still a work in progress. We have had to paint everything or nearly everything. We recently got new carpet. It is amazing. I just hope I like it for a long time. We haven't hung one picture yet. And still have boxes everywhere. But we love it. We want everyone to feel welcome and know that if you are in the Vegas area you have a place to stay. These are the before pics.

say chesse

2009-05-31T12:31:00.000-07:00

Recently Annadele has started to smile. What a joy it is to see her face light up and the sparkle in her eye. I have tried a few times to get it on camera, but I have not been very successful. These are a few of my attempts.

Sarah just found out she will be in her first grade spelling bee. She is one of nine students who will compete. She is definately her daddy's daughter. We all know the Sharp's aren't known for their spelling.

Happy Mother's Day

2009-05-12T21:09:00.000-07:00

I went back to work on Thursday. Mark is playing Mr. Mom, and doing a fabulous job. One thing that made it easier on me is that I work with great people. They were all happy to see me and very welcoming.
Since Sarah would be with her mother on Mother's day, Mark decided to celebrate with me, Sarah, and Annadele on Friday. It was a long day for me. But we had a fancy dinner of KFC, and then we all shared an ice cream sundae at Ghirardelli's. In the end, I think it was too much for Annadele, but she fell asleep in the car. And that was great for mom. Good food, good company. What more could a girl want.

We're #1, We're #1

2009-04-26T16:19:00.001-07:00

Sarah had a dance competition yesterday. She did a great job. The three girls got a little trophy and won 1st place in something ( I can't remember what). They were great. Here is a little video of the dance. Hope you enjoy. The video isn't very good, but Sarah is on the left.

We're in the money (with the Rich's)

2009-04-26T10:21:00.000-07:00

We were lucky to have the Rich family come visit us on their way to Arizona. We played games, we sang, we danced. I think a good time was had by all. The girls started the night with the intention of a sleepover. I was told after the fact that it didn't last. Oh well. In the morning, Mark had Sarah, Breanna, and Ashlynn help with breakfast. Mark taught them the pancake happy dance. But I think they were happy to come and see their new niece and cousin. We enjoyed having them and hope they come back soon.

Happy belated Easter

2009-04-16T09:38:00.000-07:00

We want to wish everyone a happy belated Easter. I feel like it has taken me this long to get back in the grove of things and do the simple things of life like shower. We are lucky to have Mark's parents here for the week. they flew in Saturday and Adele actually left Wednesday morning but Tony will be with us til the 20th. We had a nice easter. Adele had bought beautiful dresses for Sarah and Annadele. We were blessed to have Sarah with us this year. As I was feeding Annadele I could here everyone else having Easter egg hunts, and saying warmer, warmer, colder, colder, hotter, hotter. We went to church and then Mark had made a Sunday gravy. It was delicious.
We ended the day with a family home evening reading scriputers about the atonement. It makes me feel so greatful for the Atonement and our Savior.

Christmas parade

2008-12-07T19:04:00.000-08:00

Ok
So after how many months of no new blog we are going to try this again.
Our life is still crazy. Our house is still full of boxes. Who knows if we will decorate for Christmas? I think it is more important to me to have a house unpacked and organized than to decorate for Christmas. But we might have to do a little bit for Sarah. But I know I will get done one box at a time.

Yesterday, Sarah was in the Boulder City Christmas parade. She was dancing with her dance group Triple Threat. We had a great time cheering on everyone, and lending support to the dance group. Mark was there the night before to help with the float, and then eariler before the parade to help set it up. We were much better prepared than last year. Last year we just showed up, and I froze. My toes felt like they were going numb. So this year we brought chairs, warm clothes, and food to snack on. Being prepared can make a difference, and sitting in the cold a lot more enjoyable. Sarah did an awesome job.

Malls and Zoos and Old Friends

2008-06-25T02:22:00.000-07:00

Day four (Tuesday) starts off with us waking up and making a plan to go to Secaucus New Jersey to engage in the sport of queens. Yes Shopping. But with the temperature and humidity being over 100
my mom decided that driving to NJ and "walking" (ugh!) would not be a favorable activity. So we first decided to make a short trip to the Bronx and see some friends of mom's.
First was mom's friend Angie she gave Sarah a TON of gifts and her children just loved Sarah upon meeting her. The photo was taken at the Emergency room of Montefiore Hospital, where mom & dad work. After that we decided to go indoor shopping at the fourth largest mall in the country. The Palisade's Center Mall in upstate New York. It's a nice mall quite large and has both a ferris wheel and a carousel.

We spent a lot of time there and unfortunately very few photo's. The Ferris wheel was poorly manned so no rides nor photos of it. Not much else to say for that day except that it was nice to be indoors in temperature controlled splendor and not too much walking to do. My dad and I spent more time playing sudoku than anything else.
The next day day five (Wednesday) was back to wilds of the Bronx that is.
It was Wednesday and that is pay what you want day at the world famous Bronx Zoological Center.
Instead of giving a play by play of the day let me just give you a sample of the things we saw.
(Click on any picture to enlarge).

One area I will comment on was the gorilla exhibit.
There were so many gorilla's and baby gorilla's and then
there were two big ones that came right up to the glass enclosure and you get the feeling
like the were about to go *ahem* banana's and break the glass.

The rest of the day was spent walking abround the very large zoo and seeking exhibits.
And taking the odd camel ride.

We were supposed to spend a part of the day next door at the New York Botanical Gardens but
it was soo late and we still didn't eat any lunch.
Afterwards we grabbed a decent meal at one of my favorite pizza parlors (sorry no food pics)
and lounged at a park near my old apartment. We didn't spend as much time as I would have preferred as I had made an appointment of some old friends of mine to visit them and their family. They are the Fillmore's Shane is currently a Branch President and he is also
a drummer for this really cool band. Check them out here Highbench

These are Shane & Chyayn's four daughters. Bailey, Samantha (Sammie), Claire, and Jane.
Our visit with them was all too brief. I always enjoy getting to say hello to them and catching
up on old times. Anway that was day four and five. The next blog is on the longest day
but unfortunately it will probably be the shortest posting. But we shall see.

The 2nd Longest Day

2008-06-19T05:20:00.000-07:00

New York Day 2.This was an ambitious day and we started off leaving at 9 am to take an express bus into Manhattan. To get into Manhattan from Yonkers we had to pass through
the Bronx. In the second photo you can see the famous Yankee Stadium in the background.

Once in Manhattan it takes us through Fifth Avenue. This first half of it being known as Museum Mile. One famous museum we did not make on this trip was
the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art aka "The Met" or "MOMA".
On Mondays alas it was closed so we didn't go but there was a rally interesting exhibit.

But we made it to our first stop. The Central Park Zoo (Wildlife Center)

One of the more interesting exhibits at the Central Park Zoo was the polar bears.
It is over 100 degress outside and HUMID. So the lucky bears go out
and swim and play a little rough with each other.

Check out this cool video I got of them playing around.

We saw some other cool things like turtle's at *ahem* play.
And then Sarah got something she always wanted. A tattoo!!!
Check out my little "tough girl"

We left just as the clock rung noon and we were able to watch the daily chime
that is at the entrance of the zoo.

After that we headed over to the children's zoo and got to do some cool and funny photos.

And Sarah got to feed some of the animals.

For most people that would be the day and they'd be enthusiastic about it
but for Andals? Nope we're just getting warmed up. While we were still in central
park we headed over to the boat lake but not before going through some famous landmarks
in the park. First off was the Gallery. If you look carefully you may have seen this
place in the movie "Enchanted".

Right around the corner of it was the boathouse and even though it was fully sunny hot and humid I wanted the two to get a ride on the lake so we rented a rowboat for an hour
and I got myself a nice shoulder and abs workout. Look how nasty green the water was
but we actually got some nice breezes and the water felt cool whenever I splashed them with it.

These photos were taken from the rowboat by Merilee if you look carefully you'll remember it from three famous movies.
1) Crocodile Dundee 2 , 2) Rosemary's Baby , and 3) Ghostbusters.

By the time we were finished I was pooped and we were all starving!
So instead of taking a cab we hired a pedicab. And then walked

and then walked
and then walked..
until we made it to Serendipity 3
\
It has been one of our goals to go back to this place since Merilee went there the first time.
Now we were able to share the experience with Sarah and look at her smile when she had it.
Well once fed with lunch and dessert what is there left to do? But more walking of course.
This time we took a subway ride and ended up at AMNH aka the American Museum of Natural History. To the movie buffs it was where "Night at the Museum" was filmed. Outside there was much fanfare about their newest exhibits and it was about horses.
But we didn't come to see horses we wanted to see the bigger stuff.
But no one told us how dangerous it was!!!
We were getting attacked left and right!

Aside from all that we then crisscrossed the park several times and out in much miles on our feet. Sarah even remarked, "Daddy, did you hear me once complain about my feet!" She didn't bless her heart.
And while we were waiting for our bus to take us home I took this pic of what some apartments
were selling for. (Like all the pics click to enlarge)

End of day 2.

It's gotta start somewhere

2008-06-18T04:55:00.000-07:00

Okay first post. Let's start off by saying. I'm a Nevadan, there I've said it. It's my home and where I'm going to live for at least another 12 years. Okay, with that part accepted let me state I've been brought up in New York and a major part of me will always belong there. My last trip to New York confirmed it. I was back and saw all my family and friends and even the weather which was uncomfortable at times was fine. I miss the house I have here and my ward because I do love the people here but I just don't have the connection as I do back in New York.

These two though. As long as I'm with them then I'm truly home. This is the start of our vacation and it's like 11PM on Friday night (June 6). As you can see they are prepared to sleep on the plane both of them in their PJ's. We're at the Las Vegas airport and getting ready to depart. Just to satisfy your morbid curiosity here's me with my Merilee.

Can you tell we haven't been married even a whole year when this pic was taken?
Well first stop was Minneapolis. It wa 5:47 am local time so we could trek to the Mall of America unlike the last time I was there. But we did manage to get some tasty breakfast sandwiches. My two ladies were able to get some sleep on the first leg but unfortunately not too much on the second leg.

But we made it as you can see.
We rested somewhat and then made it to my friend Herb's house.

It was his eldest (of three) daughter's confirmation party. There she is cutting the cake with
her mom right behind her. The other two people behind her is my brother Sonny and hs wife Racel.
There were plenty others at Christina's confirmation.

My niece Rachael and Herb's youngest daughter Natalie.
Herb's middle child Rebecca and my awesome nephew and Godson Russell.
The next day was Sarah's New York birthday. And sadly I hardly took any pictures.
But here is what I did take.

Rachel my niece and her BOYFRIEND?
*sigh* she has a boyfriend and he's a nice guy. His name is Anton and he really listens to her.

Jeff Hedberg, Me my Bro, and Mike Caroll my brother from another mother (and father)
and our friend Danny and Russell.

Sarah got quite a fashion haul at this party. Clothes galore!!!
Having her yummy cake and eating it too!

The day was HOT!!!! and it ended with a rainstorm. Sarah & Merilee had a ton of fun playing!
I even took a small video of them playing in the rain

In the end it was a great firs two days. There was also a place I forgot to take the camera
when I took them to stewleonards. It's a cross between a high-end grocery store and disneyland.

The next post will deal with a very busy Monday.