Christmas 2009

New Photos

Andel Playing in the Sandbox...

We'll Anadel is loving our newly decorated deck. She's a goof. Always doing something silly, from drawing with her chalk on the walls to taking all the pebbles out of the plant jars.

We're moving!

We'll if you haven't heard we're moving. See Pictures below.

Anadel's Bath-time Prank

Anadel loves to play pranks on people. When she was a tiny baby she used to pretend she was asleep in our arms at church and then when people would come to look at her she would wake up quickly with almost a boo sound and scare them. Then when she learned to crawl, she would hide by the side of our couch and reach up and tickle our feet and scare Ben and I. She is such a happy funny kid and is constantly on the move all day long, finding new joys in her life to laugh about. The other day I was giving her a bath before bed and I was sitting on the edge of the tub washing her down. I let her have her little cup we wash her down with to play with and then turned around and leaned over to pick-up her cloths on the floor in front of me. Anadel then grabbed her cup full of water pulled the back of my pants down and poured the water down my britches and laugh. She is only 16 months old, I couldn't believe it! Funny Kid!!!

Easter Weekend-Pixie Playland Day

We celebrated Anadel's first real Easter by going on a family trip to Pixie Playland together. She doesn't like candy at all so an easter egg hunt was out of the question. I was thinking of filling her plastic easter eggs with gold fish crackers for her to find but we decided that taking a trip as a family would be just as special. Maybe next year we will have a better chance and she will be old enough to decorate eggs and talk with us about the true meaning of Easter. Pixie Playland was a great family outing and the weather was gorgeous. Anadel had a blast and loved the rides. Her favorites were the carousel horses, riding the small train, spinning in the tea cups with mommy and driving her first car with her daddy around the miniature electrical car track. We then went to the duck pond outside the gates and watched Anadel play with the ducks. I think she thinks that she is a duck now because she pulls both hands behind her with fingers flared like the back of duck wings when she walks now. I will have to get a picture because it is very cute!

My New Creative Blog-If Life Should Give You Lemons...

I know I am getting Blog crazy, but this one is for my own creative therapy as a mother. It is called, If Life Should Give You Lemons...! I have collected tips and creative ideas for years and have wanted to share them, so starting this blog is a dream come true. I hope it will help a lot of people since a lot of the ideas have to do with saving money or helping others in these hard economic times. If anyone has any ideas they would like me to share I would be more than happy to post them. I am loving this blog! Please check it out and pass my link on to your friends http://iflifeshouldgiveyoulemons.blogspot.com/

Our Killer Fondue Birthday Party-My 31st Birthday!

Last Night I celebrated my 31st Birthday. Ben and I threw a Killer Fondue Birthday bash at our home. We invited a few of our friends and filled our little home wall to wall. To the Left is the invitation I made for the Party. We had chocolate fondue with all the fruit fixings, white chocolate Fondue, A meat fondue with little smokies and spinach dip with sourdough bread, lemonade and some assorted puff pastries. It was quite the spread of food! What an amazing way to celebrate another year of life with some wonderful families and awesome food to go with it!

Benjamin has a Music Blog now! I Think I Was Born To Blog! :)

Last week Ben gave me permission to do something I have always wanted to do for him and that was to built another blog to help Ben share his music with others. His blog is http://benjamincassani.blogspot.com/. This has been quite the learning curve for me to start this blog for him. Not only have I had to sort through hundreds of his songs he has recorded over the years, (which is quite a pleasure I may add) I have also had to learn how to format them to fit into a play list on a blog since they were recorded different ways. We have also set up a facebook group for him and has quite the following within just a few days. We are so thrilled with how many people have taken an interest in his beautiful music. We both hear wonderful comments each day about his songs from everyone and I really hope that we are able to at least get one CD of his works out into the public.

I think I was born to Blog!!! I manage not only Ben's blog and our family blog, but also an exercise blog too. I started a ladies exercise group at church with the ladies called "Slim Sisters" a few weeks ago to help me and all the other mothers get into shape without having to fight their children to exercise for an hour. We meet on Tuesday and Thursdays now to workout together and it is going so well. Anadel even enjoys having an hour to play with all the other children too to socialize. I am sure it must be lonely being the only child all the time so we try to go to the parks and meet with other children as much as possible. This program has really been a blessing for all of us and I am so thrilled that there are a lot of other ladies who are excited to do it with me and keep me motivated. We are even weighing in every 4 weeks and the Sister who has lost the most weight gets to pick from one of the local restaurants where we will take her to celebrate and treat her for her progress and dedication in the program.  Here is the blog for this program at  http://slimsisterprogram.blogspot.com/.  I have been busy each week providing the ladies with healthy tips to loose weight, healthy recipes and new updates on all our classes. All of these little projects have been so great for my need for a creative outlet and social outlet each week.  I am so pleased that I too like Ben with his music have been able to share my talents and service to benefit others through these blogs and programs. What a blessing talents are and I am so glad the Lord has given each of us these to Serve and lift one another during this life. :)

Banana Ana-Girls Just Want To Have Fun!!

Here is our little Banana Ana-del in our kitchen. Ben took a picture of her this morning sitting (I may add dangerously :O) ) on the kitchen countertop like a little monkey. She was getting a kick out of being somewhere she knew was forbidden usually to sit and enjoying munching on her little banana teething cookies. Anadel finally slept through the night two nights in a row for the first time in Months. Boy are we so happy about that!! This little girl just wants to have fun all the time, even in the middle of the night when she wakes up she is giggly and wants to go play or read her books!

Sparkling Toes

Ben surprised me on Friday and scheduled a special birthday gift for me. He took me to get a wonderful 1 1/2 hour pedicure/wax/message. The experience was amazing and I got to relax in a zero gravity massage chair while she scrubbed, massaged and dipped my feet in paraffin wax oh and who can forget the wonderful smelling lavender eye pillow to really put you at ease. I haven't had a pedicure since I was in Cosmetology school and that was quite a different experience than this papering.  I told Ben that I understand now why there are so many high matinence women out there who get pedicures, massages, etc all the time because once you get this royal treatment it is hard to not want it again. Ha Ha! This was quite the ultimate gift for me since my feet have taken a beating since my mission and having Anadel. Thank you my love for treating me like a queen and for the wonderful birthday surprises! I have sparkling toes now! Yeah!!

Anadel in the Garden

Our Little Sprite Playing In The Garden.

Spring weather has finally arrived! Anadel has been walking now on her own which makes play in the garden much more fun for all of us. Here are a few pictures of some of her favorite toys and places to play at the moment. There are also a few photo's of her eating her favorite little veggie puffs. She has been eating like a bird lately due to all the teeth she has been breaking in.  Anadel has 8 teeth now, two of which are molars. We are all thankful that they have finally broken through the skin and allowing her and us to sleep a bit better at night.

Valentines and Family Visits.

We had a lovely visit last Sunday with Grandma Adriana and Uncle Andy who made a surprise visit to our house.  Grandma Adriana was in town for a quick visit to see Grandma Anadel's sister in a play and we were able to see her for a few hours before they took off for a dinner party at her brother David's home. We all had a great time watching Adriana and Andy play Wii tennis like they were teenagers again! Thank you for the visit. Baby Anadel loved her new Valentines Day outfit as well. 

Speaking of Valentines Day!!! Ben and I were able to get away on Friday night to celebrate our own Valentines Day and avoid the crowds. We had a lovely dinner at one of our favorite restaurants called Buckhorn Grill and then went to see a movie. The movie was called "Confessions of a Shopaholic"  and we were surrounded by teenage girls. Ben was one of 6 men that attended the movie and I was so grateful that he didn't have a problem going to a chick flick with me! The movie was better than we expected and extremely funny and clean which is hard to find these days. It had a great moral to it and great concepts about how we should be spending our money! Thank  you Ben for two wonderful years of marriage (I love you! xoxo) and Happy Valentines Day Everyone! :)

Anadel reading in her leather chair we bought her for her last birthday!

Uncle Andy and Grandma Adriana's visit to our home!

Our Little Equestrian Child, Riding Chestnut.

Anadel is such a gem and is quite an active and lively child. Below is a picture of her on her rocking horse that her Grandma Ro Ro bought for her for Christmas. The horse makes sounds and moves it's head when you touch the buttons on it's ears. Soooo Cute in her blue and pink polka dot dress! Anadel is a proper equestrian too! She rises in the saddle and even rides like a lady with both legs to one side at times. I have no idea where she picked that up but she is a natural. She also adores riding the rocking sheep at Grandma's house when we visit. Every time we see a horse on a movie or on the roadside she will begin moving up and down as if she is riding. It is quite funny to watch! We haven't named the horse yet, but I was thinking Chestnut was a cute name I remember a sweet little English boy I once knew named his rocking horse!

Our little Yankee Doodle riding on her pony.

Happy Birthday!!!

We just celebrated Ben and my sister Trish's 27th birthday! Our whole family joined together at the Moroccan restaurant to party and watch the birthday kids dance with the belly dancers. Our little 1 year old niece Felicity stole the show and did her famous knee bounce as everyone belly dancing joined in a circle she went straight for the center! What an entertainer! Our little Anadel was a bit frightened by the experience at first till she saw her cousins get into it. She has also been teething so she was a bit drowsy and warn out. We all had a great time. Happy Birthday Ben and Trish!

Cheeky Monkey !

Anadel loves to pose for the camera and is not a shy child. Every time Ben takes the camera out she giggles with delight and starts modeling for him.  She is so fascinated when he shows her the pictures from the digital screen and will give you her sign of approval with a big smile and nod if she likes the pictures taken of her.  This is Anadel in her Sunday dress before church with her favorite monkey doll. The monkey and her are great friends and I will catch her hugging, kissing and talking to him each day. Sooo cute!

Anadel loves to climb into our dishwasher and licks our oven. Watch out Mr. Clean!

Our little one is learning to walk, talk and do the boogie dance!

Anadel has now just leaned to take her first steps. While at a linger longer activity after church she began walking away from her Daddy. I guess she became bored with his conversation. lol She has been walking ever since and is also doing better on our stairs too. 

Ben is doing very well at Conoco Phillips. He just got his 90 days benefits, pay raise and a promotion to Technician status. We are so proud of him. He is also searching the web for Masters programs in Engineering. 

I am keeping myself busy with teaching Anadel to read with a new baby reading program I found called Monki See Monki Doo. She loves it and I have really seen the impact on her. I have also been keeping busy on Facebook and finding friends and mission companions from long ago. It has been such an uplift for me during the day when Anadel goes down for a nap and I have to do something quiet~

Anadel visits Grandama Anadel. She is 13 months old now!