Father's Day Weekend

Father's Day weekend was kept simple, just the way Daddy likes it! Time was spent together as a family playing at the park, grilling out and enjoying homemade strawberry shortcake! When it comes to Matt, we have much to celebrate! He is an absolute, incredible father and husband who invests in his family. He works extremely hard to give us the amazing life we enjoy. We love and appreciate you more with each new day. 

Thank you Daddy!

Exploring a new park 

Hanging out in the dugout after church

Sliding down the fireman's pole

A silly moment with kitty

Fireman Caleb

Caleb has always loved firetrucks, but his passion has grown tremendously from watching the cartoon, Fireman Sam! One of our neighborhood parks has a play structure in the shape of a fire engine, perfect for every firefighter in training. I just love watching his imagination at work!

A Special Project from Gram

A couple of weeks ago, we received a surprise package from Grandma Ann. We've been blessed with receiving a lot of packages from back home, and it never gets old watching Caleb light up like a Christmas tree. This package had a little something for each of us. Caleb's favorites were a pair of green safety scissors and a door hanger coloring kit.  Matt took a walk down memory lane with some old photos, and I received some great scrapbook stickers and little projects to do with Caleb. Thank you Gram; the package made our day!

Thank you Gram!

Sharing Jesus

Adding his name

Finished project, and my prayer for Caleb

I Love Dirt!

With Matt juggling many projects on campus, there has been no shortage of big trucks, construction equipment and dirt for Caleb to enjoy. On this particular day, Caleb got to drive a mini excavator, watch a dump truck in action and play in a giant pile of dirt. He came home with a lacrosse ball, a pound of sand in each shoe and a great story of how he figured out how to honk the horn on the excavator. Another awesome day with Daddy doing all the things boys love to do!

Kicking the soccer ball on the old baseball filed

Running up and down the seating berm

Climbing the dirt pile

"Driving" the mini excavator

A big smile for the camera after discovering how to honk the horn

Watching the big equipment at work

I Love Dirt!

Saturday Morning on Campus

Matt needed to be on campus Saturday morning, and Caleb and I decided to tag along. Caleb is always looking for an opportunity to go to work with Daddy, and summer is the absolute best time to take in the beauty of a college campus without all the student activity. It's also a great place to watch planes making their way to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, located just southeast of campus. Caleb enjoyed running and playing in the grass, and throwing pennies in the fountain. At the fountain in front of Old Main, the first building constructed on campus, a little girl showed Caleb her collection of lizards caught that morning. I can't help but think that will soon be Caleb.

More Fun with PVC: Sprinklers

The PVC pipes originally used to create a car wash are now a collection of giant backyard tinker toys. They've been used to create a variety of forts and sprinklers, perfect for our outdoor loving, little guy. Here Caleb is playing with two different, Daddy designed, sprinklers. 

More Fun with PVC: Faucet

 Caleb's play kitchen was in need of a new faucet, and Matt came up with a very creative way to make that happen. With some PVC pipe, knobs and a drill he recreated a faucet for Caleb's kitchen and enhanced his playtime fun!

Faucet constructed and ready for installation 

Installation in progress 

Testing it out

Finished project

Summer is here....

and it sure tastes good 

Car Wash

I found, in the Lowe's Creative Ideas booklet, project instructions to make a car wash sprinkler using PVC pipe. It was such a cleaver idea; we just had to try it! With an assist from Mark and Mike, Matt went to Lowe's for supplies and began constructing a car wash for Caleb. We chose to only make a portion of the car wash to conserve both water and money. You can keep it simple or go all out with sponges, foam rollers and mop heads to really give it the feel of a working car wash. Our car wash is very simple, and there is no shortage of fun!
http://lowescreativeideas.com/idea-library/projects/Kids_Car_Wash_Sprinkler.aspx

The Anderson Boys

When I married Matt, I not only began an incredible journey with my best friend, I gained two pretty amazing brothers too. Now Matt and I have Caleb, the joy of our lives, and it's been awesome to see Mark and Mike fully embrace their role as uncles. They adore Caleb and he them. I'm so very proud to call Matt my husband, Mark and Mike my brothers and Caleb my son. These are the "Anderson Boys".

Good Times with Uncle Mark & Uncle Mike

We had the pleasure of spending a long weekend with Matt's brothers, Mark and Mike. Matt's parents arranged for us to meet in Tucson as a college graduation present for Mike. It was a highly anticipated weekend, especially for Caleb, who absolutely adores his uncles. The weekend was spent sampling Tucson and simply being together.

Mike arrived Thursday evening, and Caleb didn't let him out of his sight.

Friday morning at the zoo with Mike and Caleb.
Most kids visit the zoo for the animals, Caleb goes for the grass play area!

Off to campus with Uncle Mike and Daddy

Gathering rocks at our picnic site on Mt. Lemmon

Uncle Mark demonstrating for Caleb what not to do

Matt, Mark & Mike

Mike and Mark exploring at Windy Point

Caleb hiding out in the shade while his uncles explore

Saturday evening at the playground

On campus kicking the soccer ball

Just prior to leaving for the airport, wishing we didn't have to say goodbye

Hugs for Uncle Mike

Hugs for Uncle Mark

Enjoying an extra evening with Uncle Mike after his flight was cancelled