Playing Catch Up!

It's been about a year since I have blogged...where in the world did the time go?! The past 12 months have felt like a whirl wind and I am ready to play catch up with our family blog :)

Allie Kate had a wonderful Kindergarten year with a teacher who showed her so much love and encouragement. That was exactly the thing our girl needed to leave momma for 5 straight days, all day long for the first time ever! The beginning was tough. She cried, I cried, even daddy teared up at drop off. Raising these babies is not for the weak! She made the sweetest little friend, Gayle. Allie Kate loves that Gayle speaks Spanish and I am thankful she found such a sweetie to share her Kindergarten days with. She enjoyed dance, tumbling and soccer and earned principal pal, Student of the Month, Award of Excellence in Dance Reflections and ended the year with a good character award. Our hearts are so full! We sure love our girl.

Clayre Jessye also had a big year! She started Scissortail Day School twice a week for 1/2 day. She, also, had a kind and understanding teacher who helped her transition to her "school days." She went to Tumble Time once a week, and we watched her perform in her first recital. In June, we celebrated her THIRD birthday. She asked for Elsa and we celebrated at one of her favorite spots...the park! Our girl is getting so big. We love her so!

The most exciting thing that has happened in the past 12 months is Allie Kate's decision to be baptized. She had been asking several questions about baptism, the meaning, etc. One night she came to us and told us she wanted to let our Pastor, Chad, know she would like to be baptized at our church. The next Sunday, she went by herself up to him after service to let him know. He scheduled a baptism celebration right away, and that same Sunday 7 others joined her, including her cousin Carter. It was a beautiful service. If there is one thing Clay and I want for our girls, it is for them to know the love of Christ and grow in their relationship with him as they mature. 

We randomly put our home for sale in March. Nine days later we had a buyer and were packing our bags! We never planned to move far and broke ground on our new home (just across the street) in June :) We stayed with my parents for the summer, and the girls LOVED living with Taylor, babysitting her puppy, swimming and endless time with Nae Nae and Pop Pop. In July, our Grandma Ann and Papaw decided to purchase a home (with a lake view for Papaw) that became available a few streets away.  For now, they are keeping their Tulsa home and traveling back and forth, so they offered the house for us to live in while we are waiting for our new home to be finished. What are so grateful!

We celebrated the 4th of July with sweet friends at the cabin! What a great time!

Allie Kate has Mrs. Bear this year. She was very excited when she learned she was a "bear cub", and she is off to a great start. I can already see her learning new things!

Miss Clayre Jessye moved up to the Rose Rock Classroom at Scissortail. Although she still sheds a few tears on the way to school, she dries them up quickly and always has a great day. She loves to tell me how "big and tall" she is now that she's 3 :)

More exciting news for now is my sister (Aunt Tay Tay) got engaged! Clay and I drove out last minute for the celebration and even snapped a few pics on the golf course the next morning :) Here are a few of my favorites! 

I've already been listening to the "wedding talk" between her and my mom and I must say, it's going to be stunning! Can't wait to see her become Mrs. Watson!

I think that just about sums up "big stuff" the past 12 months :) maybe I will stay on top of things and blog again soon! Hope everyone's school year is off to a great start! We are super busy as always, but I wouldn't trade it for anything! 

Much Love,

The Andersons

So Long Summer!

With Fall just a few days away, football season in full swing and back into a school schedule, our Summer has come to an end... Here's a look at our busy and fun Summer 2015!


Clayre had a big summer! She turned 2 with a Bubble Bash celebration. She also showed interest in potty training. She's been doing pretty good, but we have a ways to go before we wear big girl panties around town!

We snapped a few pics for daddy's new office. The girls were by a tree filled with TONS of butterflies...some of these are REAL some I added in :)

In June, Allie Kate performed in Florida, representing Fliptastic Gymnastics, at World's Perfect. They had dancers, twirlers, gymnasts, cheerleaders and martial arts. I was so proud of Allie Kate's performance in front of the judges and how hard she worked on her routine. She even learned a new skill to go, a round off backhandspring. Besides performing, Allie Kate absolutely loved going with Grace. Grace is an older gymnast at Fliptastics and extremely talented! They had the best time together. Nae Nae also joined us. We had a great time on our "girls trip!"

Clayre didn't make the girls trip, but she enjoyed some time with her daddy :)

Allie Kate also participted in Fliptastics' Rising Stars program. She enjoyed being with the big girls. And to be just 5, I thought she hung tough! 

Late June, we took a family vacation to Pendaris. It was GORGEOUS and we enjoyed the down time. Pendaris is in New Mexico. It's a golf course on the mountain about 20 miles north of Las Vegas (NM). In the 1970's, my great granddad Milo purchased the cabin with my great grandmother, Jean. They LOVED the cabin. They would come and stay the entire summer. My dad, Mitchell, Todd & Shana would come too. They adored Milo and Jean. Coming to the cabin for the summer was the highlight of the year when they were kids. Although my memories of GaGa are not from the cabin, I know my dads are. We love to visit and are grateful for a peaceful place to stay that is still apart of our family. Milo and Jean made their family a top priority, such a blessing to us.

The cabin is a place to RELAX! Golfing, morning walks, resting, cooking, board games, picnics & porch swinging are the highlights of the trip!

Deer EVERYWHERE!

Pop Pop always makes cookies at the cabin.

Picnic at the lake

Feeding the Alpacas

We celebrated the 4th of July at PaPa Phil's house...the kids love the pool!

We also shared a coke with sister...to celebrate to our FREEDOM ;)

July hip hop dance camp!

We decided last minute to take one last summer "trip," so we headed down to Gaylord. The theme was Wizard of Oz...and so we followed the yellow brick road to the water park!

Early August our church held a one day FROZEN bible study. We had 75 kids come to "LET GO" of fear and trust in God's love...what fun!!!

Allie Kate went to Kindergarten and Clayre started Children's Corner. Allie Kate's teacher is Mrs. Tate. She was also Clay's 3rd grade teacher! So neat! We are looking forward to a great year!

Allie Kate was Mrs. Tate's 1st Principal Pal of the year. She said one reason she chose her was because Allie Kate was such a good friend to others the first week of school. Of course I want AK to excel academically, but if there is one thing I want for my girls, it is to love others. Proud of our girl.

Clayre has always tagged along with us taking Allie Kate to dance and gymnastics lessons...recently she said, "Me too!" And so that is exactly what we did. She LOVES it :)

Hope everyone's school year is off to a great start! 

Much Love,

The Andersons