Better than Lime Jell-O

Ok. So my blog was hijacked by my wife, and she held me hostage for 40 days and 40 nights. ;-) I love Jessica!

A lot of cool stuff has happened since my last post...four months ago! This is going to be a long post, so go get some licorice or hot tamales and a Sprite and take a seat. (Wow, that sounds yummy!)

First, Kellan got baptized and confirmed a member of the Church in February. The privilege was mine to perform these sacred ordinances for him. It was quite emotional for me, as I feel like he is my own flesh and blood. On December 19th, 2007, I adopted Jessi's son Kellan and his big brother Aidan. I am sooooo lucky to be their daddy!

Also in February, Scottie turned 11. Wow!!! One more year and he'll be a deacon! Unfortunately, we couldn't squeeze in our birthday date until the end of April. We popped some popcorn and watched Star Wars, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. I wouldn't let him and his siblings watch this because of some of the graphic violence, but Jess and I figured out a way to get around that and allow them enjoy the rest of the movie. Scottie was so excited! :)

During March, Eliza turned 9, and I'm embarrassed to say that I haven't done our birthday date yet. This has been a bad year for birthday dates actually happening. Can you forgive me, Eliza? She is such a patient, willing, and obedient daughter, and she has a heart of gold. When you think of how you'd like your kids to behave, she's the perfect example. I have to laugh, though, because while she's so gentle and kind, when her siblings push her buttons, that little feisty part of her comes out and she holds her own.

Switching gears now...At the end of March...beginning of April....Jess and I had a peculiar thing happen. We had decided earlier in the year that right now would not be a good time to try to buy a house. But one Sunday night Jess got looking at rentals and houses for sale and asked me for my opinion. I hadn't been thinking too much about it, and so Jess was quite concerned because our jobs are both in Salt Lake and the drive was killing both of us. I said, "Let me do a bit of looking on my own and I'll let you know what I think." The next day I started looking at the housing market and got pretty curious if we could actually buy.

A couple of days later, our home teachers came over for a quick visit, and toward the end of the visit we brought up the whole house thing and we ended up getting referred to great real estate agent, Sam Willis with Coldwell Banker (801-850-7439). He helped us a ton and referred us to a really good mortgage broker, Ryan Harding with Security Home Mortgage (801-380-4226). (These guys are that good! I couldn't pass up the opportunity to put in a plug for them!) To make a long story short, though, we ended up discovering that we could afford to build a nice home on a very modest lot. (Check out Jessica's post on the topic.) Sam was extremely gracious and Ryan is still working the mortgage for us.

Since we got under contract with Flagship Homes on April 28th, things have been FLYING along! It turns out that our building permit and the builder's financing for our home got approved the very next day after we signed with them. Wow!!!! Here are some pictures of the building process with dates for each.

5/4/2010: Footings poured

5/10/2010: Foundation poured

5/10/2010

5/12/2010: Window wells installed;
dirt filled around foundation & compacted

5/17/2010: Basement & garage poured;
framing going up

5/17/2010: I brought donuts, juice, & milk
for the framers today; they appreciated it!

We are so danged excited about this! Being at the lot, seeing the hole dug, the foundation poured, the framing going up....all these things have brought back a lot of memories of when my dad ran his own land development and construction businesses. My name used to be "Manuel Labor" during the summers as I would help with preparing basements and window wells, sweeping off curb and gutter for water tests, and cleaning out framed homes in preparation for all the interior work. And then there was the landscaping maintenance for the model homes. Lots of hard work! Lots of memories...fond and not-so-fond. :)

The next photo is of a home up the street from us. These colors are the basis for what we chose, except Jess and I made a few adjustments to suit our taste. This is approximately what our home will look like when it's done (I've flipped the picture to reflect the floor plan we chose):

Two interesting facts about this new home: 1) I used to work for the firm that developed this subdivision. I was a senior accountant at Development Associates at the time many of the deals were made that formed SilverLake at Eagle Mountain. 2) One of the owners of Flagship Homes was my MTC Branch President back in 1991. I served as his assistant while I was there. What a small world. :)

Now, amidst all this hustle and bustle for a new home, I submitted my application for the Professional MBA (PMBA) program at the University of Utah on April 15th. I couldn't have done it without you, Jessi! This event was significant in and of itself because I had never considered a master's degree a possibility in my lifetime. I struggled enough to get my undergraduate degree, and so I breathed a sigh of relief--for myself and for many others that had awaited this day--when I "walked the plank." I was just jazzed to be there! Jess had talked about me getting an MBA, because we saw so many people come to BYU and then leave with their MBA. But I was always thinking, "Holy cow! Are you serious?! That would be great, but I'm not so sure I could do it."

Then I got something in the mail from Vanderbilt University suggesting that I apply to their B-School. Suddenly this rush of confidence came over me and I wanted to do it. I wanted to do it for the family, but I also wanted to do it for myself. Jess and I started planning what we wanted to happen, but it was still way out in the future. We knew Vanderbilt wasn't in our future, but we started looking close to home at BYU, the U of U, UVU, USU, and Westminster College.

Last fall we decided to make it happen. I bought GMAT study guides and Jess helped me enroll in a GMAT prep course offered by BYU. In October, I attended an information session at the U for their PMBA program and decided it was the one for me. February came and I knew I had to take the test soon. I seriously stressed. Jess helped me study for the last week before the test (she had just aced her NCLEX to obtain her RN license!) and did her best to put me at ease. Well, it worked, because I got exactly the scores I needed to submit my application to the U.

Fast forward to May 7, 2010. Jocelyn and I went to the mailbox and got a big stack of mail. I wondered if anything important was in there. When we got inside, I sifted through the mail and a beautiful, cream-colored envelope with the U's PMBA return address found its way into my hands. I freaked out and showed Jess. I was excited and scared. I was preparing myself for a polite "try again" letter as I opened the envelope with my left index finger. I felt like I was opening my mission call or something. :) My heart started to pound like crazy.

"Spencer Anderson, we are pleased to inform you...." I didn't really read a word after that because they were pleased to inform me. I was in!!! Wahoo!

Things start up there on the hill on August 10th. Would I be terribly redundant if I said we're excited? :)

Jocey celebrated her second birthday just recently. I have one picture that sums up this event, and I'm going to leave it at that:

Ok. I can't just leave it at that. Jocelyn has me wrapped around her finger. When she can't get Jess to do something for her, she'll always come to me and say, "Daddy?" And it is so hard for me to resist! She is thoroughly enjoying her presents, especially her new trike. She can't quite reach the pedals yet, but she has become quite adept at shuffling along with her footsies. :)

Now for the best news of all: WE'RE HAVING A BABY THIS WEEK! The difficult thing, however, is that this accelerated due date is the result of some complications. The doctor put Jess on "modified bed rest" because of several symptoms she briefly mentioned in a recent blog post. I have been trying to keep Jess from pursuing her usual "work your butt off" work ethic, and so far I've been pretty successful. When Jess first mentioned the bed rest, I got kinda freaked out, but she assured me that the doctor was taking preventative measures so that things won't merit me freaking out. Whew!

I am so excited for this little one's arrival! I owe Jess everything for going through pregnancy and childbirth to bring us another precious, heavenly angel. What is she going to look like? Is she going to be another pistol like Jocelyn, or is she going to be "mellow yellow" like Eliza? Will she have blonde, brown, or red hair? We know she'll have blue eyes, but will they be Anderson or Schone eyes? Will she have Jessica's cute, little bottom, or will she h.......well, let's pray she doesn't have my tushy. :-/

So, just a little recap: Kellan's baptism/confirmation; Scott and Eliza's birthdays; building a house; GMAT success, submitting U of U PMBA application, and receiving PMBA letter of acceptance; and, having a baby this week. Not too bad, eh?

I really should've mentioned Jessica's NCLEX more. She thinks she hardly studied; but I'll tell you she studied hard. For heaven's sake, she aced the darn thing! For some reason I always wanted to marry a nurse, and Heavenly Father answered my silly little prayer. She is the BEST thing that has EVER happened to me for so many reasons. I saw a friend's Facebook status over the weekend. He had just married in the Temple on Saturday and he said, "Today I am the luckiest man alive!" I have to correct him:

No, Dan, I am the luckiest man alive! And here's my proof:

Ok, Spencer's blog is being hijacked by his wife, 'cause he's been slacking off! Where's all the posts you promised? Where's all the wit and humor and punny jokes that we have all come to love about you?? Where, I say?

What about that deeply theological post you were working on so late the other night? (It was good, I'm telling you). I might have had a spectacular night of love and romance, but I sacrificed my needs for the greater good! That's right. So where the post, man?

It's up to me to keep the world updated on the non-stop world of Spence, so here you go world! Tonight he made Toll House chocolate chip cookies and colored Easter eggs with the kids. He just got back from a fabulous time at Disneyland! He's collecting letters of recommendation for his MBA application at UofU. His phone is RED!! He's financially analyzing analytical finances, and everything else you can imagine at his awesome Headwaters job in South Jordan. And most of all, he's taking care of his pregnant wife who works as a nurse all week and then crashes and sleeps 20 hours a day on weekends! ...plus add a sick 2 year old tonight. Phew...you're a busy man Spencer Anderson.

Keep up those super human efforts. You're making the world a better place...one day at a time.