Andrew's Blessing Day

Today, November 19, 2006, Chad blessed his son, Andrew Riley Anselmo. Below is a picture of the family: proud mom, Kristen, baby Andrew, Chad and Alex, wearing his Spiderman backpack. We drove over to Newport Beach (their meeting house is the stake center, right across the street from the Newport Beach temple). (above) Here's Alex and I, just before we headed over to Chad and Kristen's for a really nice buffet spread. (above) I was able to hold Andrew while he snoozed. Chad and I got out his baby picture, then called Kristen over for an evaluation. "Yep," she said. "Looks just like Chad." I think Chad will post some more photos, so I don't want to steal his thunder. Watch this space (or Chad's blog) for more info.

Just keep swimming...

Well we are enjoying the birth of our new Son/Brother, and trying to get some much missed sleep. So if any sentences are rambles or have gross misspellings now you know why. The addition of a second child was so aptly described to me as going from a Zone Defense to a Man-on-Man. It is much more than that...there is no break. One of us constantly needs us to hold or play with him. In fact I am typing this blog while having Drew on my lap, and Xander watching "Dash" beside me. (This could also be a reason for any misspelled words) On a plus note, Kristen is recovering nicely and is able to do most of the things she wanted to do before the pregnancy. Here are some pictures of the newest addition: 

On a side (page) note, our family now has its own blog. Please feel free to read or to link to us: http://ckanselmo.blogspot.com Best, Chad, Kristen, Xander, & Drew

The Wizard of Oz-ume Costumes

Happy Halloween! We hope the collage of pictures might provide some insight to the light atmosphere our family feels around this enjoyable holiday. As the pictures show, we decided that subjecting our costumes to a theme not only creates family unity, but it also makes it easier to pick one out. Emilee was thrilled to be Dorothy and loved carrying around her new best friend "Toto" in her candy basket. Emilee picked up where she left last year and was running from house to house trying to amass a candy fortune. While approaching a door Emilee took a tumble on the cold cement and refused to be taken home...she picked herself up, ran to the door, and while crying, she exclaimed, "Trick or Treat! I'm Dorothy! I fell down and hurt my knee." Emilee, invoking the sympathy clause, found herself on the receiving end of two pieces of candy instead of one. Megan's role was that of Glinda, but let’s be honest; she was more involved with the Snickers she couldn't unwrap, than the dress she was wearing. Megan's new word is "stuck", which we not only hear when she has crawled into a tight space, but when the candy cannot be removed from the wrapper. Kim's costume of The Wicked Witch is definitely not fitting (Emilee will disagree while employing stall tactics after 9 pm). Kim's dedication to recording the family pictorial history is the reason we have all these wonderful photos. Kim is enjoying this holiday taking the lead on pumpkin carving and fall time activities for the family. One activity we all enjoyed was a trip over to the apple orchard for hay rides, fresh apple cider, and the picking of pumpkins. Matthew's costume of the scarecrow is symbolic in both extremes...He is working on his MBA at St. Thomas trying to improve his brain. He is also heavily involved in politics (and if the Dems do not take the House...he will feel like his party does not have a brain). Matthew has enjoyed the colors of the fall season and is looking forward to seeing his parents early November. Matthew also feels bad for his siblings because their kids aren't as cute :) .

This years Pumpkin Line-up. Emilee's little pumpkin with a scary face, the annual cat pumpkin, the carved "bat on a pumpkin" pumpkin, and the "what did I eat?" pumpkin.

Emilee carrying Toto in her basket. Love the shoes!

Rohrrrrrrrrrrrr! Megan thinks she is Dracula and has a smile to prove it.

Our two little girls snuggling together in their Halloween PJs.

Emilee is trying on her golves and hat as the temperature has changed. We have already seen snow flurries.

Megan holding one of our beautiful fall leaves. We had a yard full of reds, yellows. and oranges. Fall is one of our favorite seasons and defines the beauty of the midwest.

November's News

Peter

(Since there was no new photo, this is an old photo of Peter with Alex.)

To all, Life is great in Davis. It finally rained a few days ago, breaking our streak of perfect weather. It also means I have a lot more free time on my hands, as no one want to ride their bikes in the rain. I've taken to reading more lately; I recently finished "Papillon" by Henri Charriere, and "Never Eat Alone" by Keith Ferrazzi. Both were good. Megan had been plowing through the Harry Potter series, She started a month ago, and she's up to the latest one already. School is going well overall, for my writing class, I gave a presentation on Danny Elfman last Tuesday. It was one of the funner presentations I've ever given. I played soundclips, including "This is Halloween" from The Nightmare Before Christmas, which was appropriate, as it was the 31st. Midterms are kicking in, I have one in Mineralogy tomorrow morning, speaking of which I need to go study for. -Peter 

 

Dave and Barbara Charon

Hello Family! Well it has been an eventful month, just the same as last, We really can't wait for life to find its way to the normal side. Yeah I know, our family normal! Probably not! David and I are just getting ready for the holidays, lucky for us we have finished shopping for the kids, we now are working on family gifts. They won't be quite the splendor of last year, but they will be homemade again! Keagan is so excited about school and ballet, she is just a joy. We truly love having her in our lives. Her new favorite phrase is "amen sista!" She learned it from me, guess I need to watch what I say a little better. She loves her little brother, no matter what his mood, he will always giggle when he sees her come over to him. It's such a blessing that they get along! Riley is recovering from surgery, not quite out of the woods yet, but we are getting there. They probed his little rectum and cut straight out through his little bottom, so pretty much the Grand Canyon is in his diaper. He has always been in good spirits and always has a smile on his face. What a doll. We look forward to talking with you all soon this holiday season. Love, The Charons

The first picture is little Darling laying out her clothes the night before school.

Riley pulling his sister's hair. Hilarious of course!

 

Then litle Riley just hanging out before he went into surgery.

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Keagan on Picture Day at school. What an angel.

 

Mom and Dad

(Dave reading a book to Alex, the night his baby brother was born.)

(Mom holding Andrew, the newest member of our family.)

 Our news revolves family and traveling. Since last month's post, Dave has been to the Netherlands (an invited speaker at a Workshop) and then for a complete change of pace, to Oakland California (related to TSRTP--never mind). I've been to school (only a 30 minute drive each way), Utah (for John Lippincott's wedding), Orange County (to pick up Alex, to drop off Alex, and to see Chad's family). I was able to stay with my parents while in Utah, something I always look forward to. 

We're most excited to welcome a new child to our extended family, and hope that he'll have a happy and safe life here on earth. I guess we always knew that grandchildren would be in our future, but now that they're here, we are amazed at our great and good fortune. It is truly a blessing to greet and meet these children, and we are extremely grateful for good parents who are raising our grandchildren with great love, copious amounts of affection, and of course, a good book or two at bedtime. 

Elizabeth has learned a thing or two about grading research papers: that Wikipedia brings a whole new dimension to the word "plagiarism," and that the most poorly written papers take the most time to correct. She dances around the room, however, when she gets to grade the paper of a conscientious and thoughtful student. 

Dave gets quite a few calls from Blockbuster reminding him that the movies are overdue, but does occasionally enjoy our anniversary gift to each other: the bigger TV. He's also been into buying soups, and since Elizabeth gets tired easily when she has to confront the kitchen after a long day of teaching or grading, they've come in handy. Both of us are looking forward to the trip this Wednesday to Minneapolis to see Matthew and his family. We'll bundle up against the crisp fall weather. Until next month, love, Mom/Dave