Alison Anderson...My Fav.

Alison is my sister-cousin-niece-daughter-best friend. She has become such a wonderful part of our family over the last 3 years. 

I met Alison when I got called to be the Young Women's President in Dillon, MT. My first night at mutual she took the time to sit next to me while we ate refreshments and talked about her life goals. First she wanted to go to BYU-I and then serve a mission and get married. We talked about all kinds of things. And from then on out we became the best of friends. 

Time Capsule activity

Winners of Personal Progress March Madness

I did her hair and makeup for her Winter Formal

Stake dances became epic when we both attended.  

80's Zumba night

Throughout my time as her leader we started noticing some strange coincidences...her name started with "A" which is a must to be a child in this family. He middle name is Jean, which is Joe's mom's name (and later Ariana's middle name). She even shares a birthday with Joe. It was obvious that she was meant to be a part of this family!
After a year being her advisor and leader we found out we needed to move. I told all the YW together that I had some news. Alison was heart broken. She thought I was going to tell them that I was pregnant (which I was). There were many tears shed and hugs given, but she would soon be at BYU-I and be much much closer to us.

 Once she got to school she visited us here in Idaho Falls fairly frequently. She brought friends from all over. She knew she was always welcome. She would frequently join us when she had a day off of school.

 It was time to move again, and there she was helping us day after day to clean out rental before we moved into our new home. She even offered to babysit while Joe and I went out to finish a few errands. When we came back our entire kitchen had been un packed and she had started in on the kids bedrooms. What a gem!!

deep cleaning hard water off of these stubborn windows. 

 After we moved into our new home her visits became more frequent as she began to prepare for her mission. Some weekend she would just stay in "her" bedroom in the basement and help with whatever projects we had lying around.

 So my firendship with her is the best, but her attachment to my children makes it all the more wonderful. She has stolen the hearts of all three kids. Ariana would frequently ask for "alice" instead of me. I pretended to be jealous, but I secretly loved that they had such a great relationship. Once her schedule opened up a bit more once she got her call to serve in Texas, we started cramming in as much time together as we could. So much that she came on a few epic road trips with us, just to help with the kiddos.

Late night Panda Express.

St George Aquatic Center

Disneyland

Andy's class field trip

Saying goodbye was hard on everyone. The kids didn't quite understand that all phone calls, texts and visits would have to stop and we would have to rely on videos, photos and emails to stay in touch. We made sure to drive up to Dillon for our final goodbyes on the day of her farewell.

What a gem we have in our life and I know she will be an amazing missionary. We look forward to sending her all our love and prayers while she serves the Lord. Those people in Texas are lucky to have you!