Christmas in Atlanta

The Anderson Family... seven grandchildren and counting...

Andy and Ocean... looking so cute for church on Christmas Eve

After our trip to St. Petersburg and Jacksonville, we were home in California for just seven days before heading to Atlanta. While we were in Atlanta, we made a quick trip over to Montgomery to see Daddy's family one more time before he deployed. The boys had a great time playing at Uncle Wil's farm.

Then we headed back to Atlanta to celebrate with Mommy's side of the family. It was fun to see everyone after six long months. The cousins had a great time playing together and getting spoiled by Grammy and Granddad! We feel blessed that Grammy and Grandad have a house big enough for our entire family and more to come and stay for the holidays!

Montgomery, Alabama

Playing in the front yard after Andy's very first hunting trip! Sadly, they didn't see any deer.

The boys got new fishing poles from Memaw and Papaw, but after too much instruction from the grown-ups, they decided they would rather fish with sticks by themselves.Daddy caught a real fish for for the boys... with one of their fishing poles. One last hunting trip before heading back to Atlanta for Christmas.

Atlanta, Georgia

Grandad gave the boys some mini guitar lessons.
Playing with the cousins.Christmas Eve... new pajamas from Grammy and Grandad
We always start Christmas morning with breakfast casserole and then Grandad reads us the story of Christ's birth from the Bible.Grand-Charlotte got to spend Christmas morning with us this year.
We sure did miss having Grandad Fain with us!.Christmas morning is always exciting with so many little cousins.
We all take turns opening presents, so we have a fun and long Christmas morning!
...presents...Christmas 2008We had a lot more of our extended family come to visit after Christmas. It is always busy in Atlanta, but wonderful to see everyone!...climbing the big tree at the park...

Our holiday trips were great! After so much traveling we were ready to get the boys home and back on schedule.

Merry Christmas From Our Family To Yours!

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."
Luke 2:14

We have had another whirlwind of a year. We feel so blessed to have been given the opportunity to live in Coronado. This is not a place we would have ever chosen to live, yet God's plans are always greater than ours. Though our hearts are always yearning to be closer to our family on the east coast, God has given us a wonderful church family and dear friends in this community. Coronado is by far the most beautiful place we have lived. We are cherishing our time here, yet praying that if it be God's will, that we will get orders back to Jacksonville at the end of this tour.

Matt is enjoying flying the MH-60 Romeo. He finished his training in March and was thrown right into the fire of the new squadron. He will be deploying early next year and is expected to be gone for around six months. He is deploying on an Aircraft carrier, so this will be a whole new experience for him. This will be our first deployment with kids. We would covet your prayers for peace and perseverance during this time. We know from past experience that deployments are times of great spiritual and relational growth for us, so we are excited to see how God is going to work on our hearts during this time of separation.

I have been staying busy with our two little boys. Andy started preschool two days a week for just a few hours. Zach is staying close to home and enjoying a little one-on-one time with Mommy. Both boys are full of energy and growing fast! Island life is perfect for burning up all of this extra energy. Our favorite places are still the park and the beach. Although our newest activity is riding our bikes for hours!

We try to keep the blog up-to-date, so keep checking back for updates throughout the year. Thanks for checking in with us! Our prayer is that you and your family will have a very Merry Christmas and a year filled with blessings.

East Coast Trip

On Thanksgiving Day, we flew to Jacksonville and drove over to St. Petersburg to spend time with the Loesch side of the family. We had lots of fun relaxing at Memaw and Papaw's house. The next weekend, we drove back to Jacksonville for Uncle Casey and Aunt Carolyn's wedding. Matt was the best man and Andy and Zach were the ringbearers. Everything went really well and now I finally have a sister-in-law on the Loesch side!

The boys were so excited to help decorate Memaw and Papaw's Christmas tree.

We visited Great Aunt Mickie and Uncle Eddie.

We went to Sarasota to visit the Mawhinney family (mommy's cousin's family). The boys had a great time playing together. We wish we lived closer!

Climbing in the big tree at The Club Continental.

Looking good before walking downstairs for the wedding.

Our little ringbearers.

The boys helped Daddy with the toast and threw in a little cheer for the Gators.

Zach loves his new Aunt Carolyn!