Mary's the Boss!

Mary got a promotion at work and beginning March 1st, she'll begin as Director of Budget and Resource Planning for the College of Fine & Applied Arts!

Anderson Christmas '08

This year, most of the Andersons got together to celebrate. It was a weekend of turkey, Rock Star, and fake Christmas gifts.

After Mom tried a little tennis on our new Nintendo Wii (our Christmas gifts to each other), Mary, Rob, and Tina made a great Rock Band. Mary led on vocals, and Rob and Tina switched back and forth between drums and guitar. Mom danced. Dad drank cold coffee- just like they would at a real concert.

Rob wrapped Tina's gifts inside boxes of household items - an oatmeal box and a Wheat Thin's box. One of the most memorable moments of the weekend was when Tina was so thrilled to get oatmeal for Christmas. Her reaction was, "I'm so glad you got me oatmeal, because I'm worried they don't sell this kind in New York." Later, Rob tricked her by saying "Uh Oh! Santa forgot a box!" He handed her an empty box of Coke with something inside. It was the same box of Tangoes he gave her earlier. Then, he brought around an empty box of Tissues with her digital camera stuffed inside(by this point, it was old news though).

Tina had a lot of talking to do, especially about Nathan, her wedding plans, and her paper that she received an extension on. Her hard drive crashed after she had spent eight hours on her final paper, so she spent a few hours re-writing it while here.

Mary cooked up a glorious feast. The bird, the stuffing, the potatoes, the veggies... They were all fantastic. She also cooked up a plethora of sweets. She owes all of the family the Seven Layer Bar recipe.

Play the video below to see the pictures from the weekend (there is no background music, so don't worry about volume).

What We've Been Doing

Wii

The other day, we spent two hours at Best Buy playing Wii and looking at flat screens. Mary rocked the Wii Rockband game - she got some great scores for her singing and I did well on the gee-tar. They need Countryband and Christmasband.



Decorating
Our tree is up, we've hung a wreath outside...good thing too. It sounds like we might host the Anderson Christmas on the weekend before the big day.
Most of our neighborhood is "light-less." I wonder what they're waiting for? 2 weeks, people!



Rob's Birthday
Mary spoiled me during my "birthday week." I hit up two of my three favorite foods: mac&cheese and pizza (hot dogs are not in season). We went to Miko (Jap teppanyaki), watched football, relaxed, shopped, massaged. I could not have had a better birthday. Gifts include new shoes, pajamas, and a couple of really cool books.


AND, locked out of the house.
Luckily, Jamie and Eric live nearby and have a spare key (just for this reason). I hustled over, got the key, and hustled back before Mary became a frozen ice cube. But she did, however, have a frozen icicle hanging from her nose.

Mary's New Coat (by Rob)

My wife is so hip - she's got a new winter coat. It has fur on the hood so she looks a little like an eskimo. Want to see it?

Click Here!

Yummy Deer (by Rob)

Amanda is a game-atarian. The only meat she eats is from animals she kills herself. I couldn't do it - I'd drive off the highway just to hit a cow so I could eat a burger.

Saturday, Amanda bagged her first deer. What's more amazing is that she did it with a bow and arrow.

Happy Anniversary!

We don't celebrate our 1 year anniversary until Dec 28th, but we bought our anniversary gift last week - a new fridge! Our other fridge was on it's last leg and we figured we could use a new one for Thanksgiving (all of the Nutters are coming to C-U).

Welcome Home, Ray! (by Mary)

My family traveled to Tennessee last Thursday to watch my brother's plane from Iraq land in Fort Campbell!!! The Army arranges a welcome home ceremony for the soldiers and their families, so it was definitely an emotional reunion for everyone. They even had popcorn for us while we waited! When the plane landed at 5:30am, all of the guests gave out a big cheer. Our soldiers are now safe on American soil!



We then watched as the 300+ soldiers from the plane carried their equipment and lined up into formation. The families were behind a fence and instructed not to touch their solider at this time. Which one is Ray? We hadn't seen him in 15 months and they all look alike (I guess that is the point). I definitely thought I saw him, then zoomed in on my camera and was wrong.









After a quick THANK YOU to the soldiers and prayer to God for bringing them home safely, we had 20 minutes to reunite.


We missed him, and are looking forward to keeping him in the Midwest for awhile now :) Any comments on the matching red tshirts?