Welcome Grace Andersen

Grace:

• A state of sanctification by God; the state of one who is under such divine influence;
• Elegance and beauty of movement or expression
• Seemliness: A sense of propriety and consideration for others;
• A disposition to kindness and compassion;
• (Greek mythology) One of three sisters who were the givers of beauty and charm;
• To decorate: Make more attractive by adding ornament, color, etc;
• Be beautiful to look at;
• The free and unmerited favor or beneficence of God;
• Our own definition is below...

Megan and I both feel that this name is very appropriate for our new little girl. Megan felt extremely blessed from day one of her pregnancy. She never got sick, never had cravings, never had pre-labor pains... Late last night, Megan thought her water might have broken, but didn't think much of it and went back to bed. I woke up, got ready to go to work and was about to walk out the door, when Megan thought we should at least call the hospital and get checked. So off we went, not expecting to stay there and have our beautiful baby girl just 8 hours after we walked in the door. After the birth, Megan looked at me and said, "I don't get it, I thought this was supposed to be harder." I looked at her in absolute disbelief. She is the most amazing girl I will ever meet. What a miracle. Again, I wonder how anyone can tell me that God doesn't exist. Megan and I both agree that having a baby has been the most spiritual experience we have ever had. Before the labor got too intense, I was able to give Megan a priesthood blessing and felt that I should bless her with the ability to focus more on the Atonement of Christ and how he felt and not on the pain that would soon come. After the delivery, she told me she was able to think about it alot and felt closer to our Savior than ever before. Needless to say, Megan and the baby are doing very well.

Megan, only two days ago.

Megan's 23rd Birthday! July 25, 2008

Even when you are eight months pregnant and you think you can't do anything fun, birthdays are still a good time. My 23rd birthday was no exception this year. Neil took me to a restaurant at Thanksgiving Point for dinner. Afterwards, we strolled around the gardens and enjoyed our time relaxing together. Neil apologized for giving me such a laid-back birthday, but I really enjoyed the time we had. We did a little shopping that evening for the baby and returned home. I was expecting Neil might have a little something more up his sleeve for the evening, but I had no idea what was waiting for me at home. He said we were just going to get a movie from Redbox and he would make me icecream. However, when I walked inside I saw that there would be no movie that night. Our little apartment was filled with our family and friends, waiting to give me a surprise party! Come to find out, Neil had been secretly scheming the whole thing for days and was very careful to not let me know about it. He even sent my sister on a "mission impossible" to get a copy of our apartment key so she could let everyone inside before we got home.

Shawnne, James, and Spence enjoying my favorite flavor of ice cream: mint-chocolate chip, yum!

The toddlers had fun playing with the baby's stuff in her room.

The best gift Neil could give me this year (other than a daughter) was something to kick my feet up on. He surprised me with a rocking chair-just what I wanted! What a sweet hubby I have.

Since marrying Neil, I now share my birthday with two grandpas. My Grandpa Bowman and his Grandpa Bennion both have my birthday. This year was Grandpa Bennion's 80th birthday, so the whole family celebrated big time for him. All of his grandchildren were invited to join the festivities the following day at Aunt Marcia's home. Neil and I hope we can be as smart, witty, and wise as he is when we turn 80 years old!

Neil's First Day of Work

On June 2nd, Neil started working for Grant Thornton, a large international accounting firm, in Salt Lake City. He is working in the Business Advisory Services and has really enjoyed the new challenge and opportunity to apply what he learned at BYU. The work environment is great too. The partners are really nice and the employees are fun to work with. The partners believe in a "work hard, play hard" mentality, so they have no problem with the employees taking a break to play fooseball, a game of pool, or watch a game on the big screen when they need a change of pace. They even have a free soft-serve icecream machine which Neil has become quite fond of! He is more motivated than ever to work hard. He wants to take the exam to be a CPA and realizes he needs to take two more exams including the GMAT if he ever wants to be a manager and get his MBA. His days of studying are certainly not over!

Neil's cousins came over after his first day with pizza and cake for Neil's big day. It was so sweet of them to show their support.

Our First Anniversary: April 27, 2008

Our anniversary fell on a Sunday, so we did most of our celebrating on Monday, because I didn't have school. Our big day began at Cosco, test-tasting food samples. Then, Neil surprised me with a croquet set and "Scrabble". Ok, I know what you are thinking, we are already acting like 90-year-old's with our Cosco and croquet, but hang in there! It gets better. After Cosco we went goofy golfing at Trafalga. We played 36 holes! Neil may or may not have had a hard time with his putting...

Believe it or not, we experienced a monumental event in our golf game: I WON!! The evening ended with dinner at Los Hermanos and "National Treasure" at the dollar theater. We also took part in the tradition of eating the top of our cake that my mom froze for us after our wedding reception in Wyoming. It looked pretty yummy, but it didn't really taste that way. I don't think wedding cake is made to be frozen for a whole year.

Neil's Graduation

University commencement was on Thursday, April 24th. Elder Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was our guest speaker. He talked about learning how to love learning and service. He advised the graduates to continue learning and serving for all the years to come. Friday was the Marriot School of Managment's convocation. Dean of the school, Ned Hill, pointed out the uniqueness of BYU students by recognizing the large majority of graduates who were returned missionaries, spoke more than one language, were married, found their spouse at BYU, and/or had children. What a blessing it is to get an education from such a prestigous and honorable school. Neil's family and I are so proud of him!

Neil and Dad Andersen with Ned Hill, the Dean of the Marriot School of Management

Neil earned a Bachelor's of Science in Information Systems

Me and my graduate!

The Marriot School hosted an open house for all the graduates and their families.

Neil was pleased to have his "in-laws" come all the way from northern Wyoming to celebrate with us. They brought onesies, booties, socks and other baby accessories from half the state who has all heard about the soon arrival of our baby girl. Mom says, "No one in the state of Wyoming is excited for this baby"... Mom and Dad Andersen brought Matt and Spencer from Arizona to join in on the fun. James, who is about to get married in May took time out of his busy schedule of wedding planning, working, and moving out of his apartment just in time to watch his brother receive his diploma.

Also in attendance in Neil's fan club were my grandparents, the Bowmans, from California, Neil's grandparents, the Bennions, from Utah and Neil's brother CLayton and his wife Amber Andersen. Neil sure has an excellent support group!

WE'RE HAVING A GIRL!!!!

Megan and I found out last Friday that we will be having a girl. We are both so excited. Before we found out, I had a few dreams about holding and playing with the cutest little girl. So unlike the majority of the Andersen clan, I had a feeling the boy predictions would turn out incorrect. During the ultrasound, we were able to see all the limbs, the face, toes, fingers, and heartbeat... It was amazing and we became even more excited to be parents. In all the excitement, I ran to the BYU bookstore and bought a pink outfit (the first pink thing I have ever bought). We continue to feel so blessed as we wonder how something like this is even possible. The updated due date is August 30th.

GO COUGARS!!!