If you have landed on this page it means you are either a FB friend or a internet ninja! Since I did not get around to sending out Christmas cards, again, consider this your official Anderson Christmas card and update.
It’s been a year since we moved from Florida back to Maryland. We live about ten minutes from our old house and love being back. We’ve had a steady stream of visitors and are always excited to welcome friends and family for a visit, so if you are looking for an excuse to take a vacation to the D.C. area we’d love to have you!
Cora Jane is four going on fourteen and enjoys every minute of being the baby of the family. She learned to swim this summer and enjoys playing with her big sisters and cousins and bossing everyone around. She got her ears pierced this weekend and barely flinched. She’s smart, sassy, and very funny.
Faith turned seven this year and is our resident fashionista. She could care less about math, but she’ll spend all day in my closet trying on shoes and purses. She enjoys making clothes for her dolls and designing outfits on paper. She’s quite outgoing and has never met a stranger.
She had her tonsils out in August and the staff claimed she was the best patient they ever had. She recovered quickly and got right back to swimming and riding her bike before summer ended.
Peyton turned nine and is growing into a beautiful young lady. She’s taller than her older brother and is one of the nicest kids you’ll ever meet. She loves to sing, dance, cook, and read. If you can’t find her, she’s probably tucked away in a chair reading one of her favorite books, for the fifth time!
Peyton has also taken up writing stories, she has several she’s working on right now and is even collaborating on one with a friend from co-op.
Liam, our eleven year old, is our resident soccer star and chief outdoorsman. His Florida team went undefeated during his last season in Florida and his play on the middle school team helped them win the championship this season. When he isn’t playing soccer he loves to be outside playing sports or looking for new adventures.
Liam got a hamster for his birthday and does a great job of taking care of Freddy.
Asher entered the teenage world this year when he turned thirteen. He’s started playing goalie this year in soccer and didn’t allow a goal during the championship game. He took a photography class this semester and has impressed us all with his photos (his self portrait is below).
This year Asher finally wore me down and got a dog. Miles became an Anderson in May after a great life with his previous owner who did a wonderful job of training him. Miles is part lab, part rhodesian ridgeback, and eighty pounds of muscle. He loves Asher and sleeps right outside his door every night.
Tristan is seventeen and it’s hard to keep track of what he’s doing lately. He’s got friends all over the country (thank goodness for unlimited texting) and is always busy. He works part time at an auto repair shop and is a junior in high school. He’s taken up guitar, piano, violin, obstacle races, and about twenty other things.
He keeps us laughing with his sarcastic sense of humor and all his adventures. He’s driven himself to Tennessee and Florida this year and took a road trip out west with some friends. He’s a huge help around the house and has become our resident chocolate chip cookie maker.
Arden is nineteen and a sales lead at White House Black Market. She spent a year at Liberty University and then decided to take a break so she could figure out what she wanted to do with her life before she spent any more money on tuition. It’s great having her back at home although she’s working forty hours a week so she isn’t home a whole lot!
When she isn’t working you can usually find her hanging out with Shane (aka the boyfriend). We think he’s pretty cool and hope she keeps him around.
She’s still our drama queen and was able to see Wicked (again) and Les Miserables this year.
David spent the first part of 2013 living with our good friends, the Olsens, since our house sold before it was time for his new job in Maryland. He moved up here in February and got settled in his new job just long enough to get picked for a tour in Afghanistan.
He left for the sand in October and should return home next summer.
David has been bit by the fitness bug and lost about 30 pounds last year. He enjoys racing with Tristan and doing crazy workouts in our home gym. (Warning- if you visit he will ask you to join him!) When he isn’t working out you can find him “cleaning our pool” or at least that’s what he says he doing. I think he just likes to be outside in the summer working on his tan and a cold beer.
He still puts up with all my crazy ideas, projects, and traveling which is saying something because I seem to have an unlimited amount of all of them.
Toni, I’m not going to write about myself in the third person, so excuse the grammatical change! I’m still homeschooling the kids but thankfully my job as chief taxi driver has been passed down to my two oldest who can drive. I’m hoping they can take over as chief of laundry too- but I’m not holding my breath!
I’m still working, traveling, speaking, hosting parties, and starting new house projects on a weekly basis so if you want to follow along I usually share most of my adventures on Facebook or Instagram.
As we reflect back on 2013 we realize how much we have to be thankful for, especially our friends and family near and far. Our door is always open and we love visitors so pay us a visit us in 2014!
