They Love Grandpa!

I'm not sure who asked to be picked up first but Grandpa couldn't say no to either one! :) Payten and Taylor just love Grandpa and he just adores them! He is Taylor's best buddy and playmate! I love capturing moments like this ~ truly special!

Christmas Day & Almost Over the Flu!

Still feeling a little tender but so much better. I was actually able to spend a good part of the end of Christmas Day with Mike's family while we opened presents. Of course, when I came upstairs Mark had to act like I had the plague and pull his hoodie up over his head and cover his face except for one little hole which everyone thought was completely hilarious. He is such a character! He knows exactly how to push each situation to its fullest! Wouldn't be the same if he didn't!!! I'm so thankful though that Mike and Taylor have not gotten the flu because that would truly be horrible! God has been so good and kept them healthy! Oh, side note, the night before Christmas Eve, I was putting together ham pickle roll ups and was eating them and now that it was the last thing I ate before getting the flu, I don't think that I will be able to eat another one again. So sad. And yes, I will be ending this note with the topic of ham pickle rollups! :)

So Handsome!

I have the two most handsome guys in the whole world! I don't know what I would do without them and I love them so much!

Christmas Eve & the Flu!

Yes, I did mention the "f" word above. Unbelievable, right? That is totally what I was thinking Christmas Eve morning as I was sick in the bathroom. I actually prayed to God and said, "You know how much I've prepared for this day.....why would You let this happen?" And then immediately apologized and thanked Him that I wasn't sicker. But still! The Lord had really helped me though because I hadn't prepared half of the food that I was suppose to bring so none of it went to waste. I'm so thankful to Jesus that the medicine the doctor called in worked because the next step was to go to the emergency room for iv's which would have been so much more horrible. And Mike was home from work so he was able to be with Taylor and let me rest. I guess if there was any time that I could have the flu this was the best time. Oh my, I actually said that. As far as emotions go though, my family kept sending me photos of what they were doing throughout the day and I was crying every other hour knowing all that I was missing. But they were just trying to be sweet and include us in everything even though we couldn't be there. It doesn't feel though like we have experienced Christmas and I'm not sure when that will change. What a different day it turned out to be.

Macy's 8th Floor...

Now that we have Taylor, we go to Macy's 8th floor - last year we went with just Taylor but this year we also went with Grandma and Grandpa Henderson.

We stopped at the candy store where they make the best caramel popcorn and got that to share. Even though the story was still the same, its one of the best that Macy's has ever done so I thought it was good that they did it again.

Taylor of course got lots of treats and had a great time in the toy store with Grandpa while Grandma and I rested...:) Afterwards we went to Wendy's for dinner and got some hot chocolate from Starbucks because we also went to go look at Christmas lights in The Lakes. That's a tradition that we have had since we first got married so now I think we are just going to do that from now on - put them both together.

It was such a wonderful memory and I'm glad that Taylor has those memories to look back on!

Cole in 4D!

What a miracle each baby is! Last night, we had a 4d ultra sound done at Bella Angel Imaging in Maple Grove. Both of our parents were able to be there with us and it was a very special time! We had one done when we were pregnant with Taylor and we just had to have one done for Cole. My dreams of him possibly having a little bit of me are somewhat dashed - he, just like Taylor, seems to strongly resemble his daddy. But since their daddy is a very handsome man, I have no problem with that! :) We were able to get a 20 minute dvd and 3 pages of pictures which was very special..... Afterwards, we took everyone to Olive Garden to enjoy a great meal (one of my favorite restaurants!!!) and all too soon, it was over. My parents came back with us to our house to watch the Monday night game which was fun too and prolonged the festivities of the night! :) Its so very special to us to have these memories and these photos! Love it!

Christmas Program!

"Don't you just love this time of year?" My opening line for the Christmas program tonight! And it went so well! The bus kids came with us to the South Campus to sing a special before the program started and they did such a good job! I'm so proud of them! They looked so cute up there on the platform in their blue choir robes singing at the top of their lungs. I wish that I could have gotten a video but everyone I know was in the play or doing something for it or didn't have a camera.....so oh well....
I remembered every line and so did all the others! It turned out so very well! The Lord also helped with the sinus infection I had been battling so I didn't have to deal with a stuffy nose! My cousin Katie and her husband were in town from IN which was so special! Never in a million years did I think that they would be there!
After the program, we had a cookie fellowship and the kids really enjoyed that. Mike took everyone home on the church van and then he just went home. I took Taylor over to Heather's to meet up with Brian, Katie, Connie and Gary. Connie and Gary bought everyone Subway which was so nice and we just hung out, caught up and watched the Vikings. It was so much fun to be together! All in all, it was a very memorable night!

Merry Christmas, Grandma!

Christmas has changed over the years for us.....I remember so many years, heading to my Grandma Anderson's on Christmas Eve and all the cousins would be there and the aunts and uncles. Grandma would have her Christmas village in the bay window that overlooked the channel to the lake and her tree would be decorated with multi-colored lights with a million presents underneath that were just dying to be opened! So many memories.....

Now that we all have children of our own and my mom is now a grandma, Christmas Eve is spent at Mom and Dad's with all the brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews. It is as magical for them as it was for us and such a special time! Since we no longer see my Grandma and aunts and uncles, the Saturday before Christmas is now spent together at either my Grandma's house or my Aunt Sharon's house. This year it was at Sharon's and we all brought food and played games together. We didn't open presents because my cousins still see everyone else on Christmas Eve and Grandma had bought us similar gifts and she didn't want their presents to be ruined. This year, I put together a "heritage" album for her that has current pictures of all the kids, grandkids and great grandkids. I know she liked it and it was really fun to put together. No matter how much the traditions have changed, this time is still very special for us! I'll always think of Grandma Anderson when I see a Christmas village (I started one this year!) and remember all those Christmas Eve nights and just how memorable they were for us!

Merry Christmas, Grandma!

Christmas Practice...

Thursday night Christmas Practice has come and gone! I can hardly believe it! What a busy time of year and what a busy night! Our Christmas program is on Sunday night at our South Campus and instead of having everyone come to practice on Friday night, we had practice tonight with a spaghetti dinner before. It was really good! I ate too much because I could hardly keep any breath support during the practice from how full I was! Ginger lead the rehearsal this year and I think it went really smoothly! I'm so nervous though! I've tried to memorize every one of my lines but I'm having difficulty with the last couple paragraphs. I shouldn't say that I've tried because I think I've read it through maybe two times at home in between other practice times so the fault lies with me. I will be studying very hard this weekend though! :) Taylor was pretty good through most of the first practice but by the end, Mike decided that it was just best if he took him home and I would ride back with Mom Henderson. It worked out really well because Taylor was able to get to bed on time and I was able to stay until the very end. Prayerfully everything will go just as wonderfully on Sunday!

Johnson Family

Matt, Jess and the kids came to church looking so nice this morning that I just had to take some pictures! And these are how they turned out! Such a beautiful family!

Elf Party 2009

A new Anderson tradition! Southern Living had this idea in their Christmas book they print every year and Heather & I just fell in love with it! I'm not sure the kids were as enthusiastic about it as we were but I'm sure they'll grow into it......right? :)

We all tried to wear as much red & green as we could (Taylor looked a little weird), eat a lot of red & green things and do Christmasy stuff like decorate a gingerbread house

with Grandma Anderson (Bomstad name)/Nana (Henderson name)/Mimi (Johnson name).

We have decided that if we all want to call our mom the same "grandmother" name, we are going to have to merge them all together and call her "Grandnami"!

I don't think that's going to play out! :)

It turned out to be really fun and something that I think the kids are going to look forward to.

Stinker

Not sure why he wouldn't smile when I tried to take a picture of us together - he sure was okay to smile when it was just him! I still thought these were pretty cute! :)

Diabetes or Not Diabetes...

Okay, so it sounds more drastic than it really is - I had my check up today for Cole and it included a glucose test for gestational diabetes. I'm so thankful that they have orange flavored drink because if they only had lemon lime, I don't think that I could do that (previous health experience has completely ruined that flavor for me). While we were waiting for the test to be completed - quite the long hour - we checked out Cole and he is head down and the doctor expects him to stay that way til it's time.....wow.....only 10 1/2 weeks to go.....wow! His heart rate is great and he is very active. All the time! Much more so than Taylor ever seemed to be so I'm wondering..... :) The rest of the time that we had to wait went by very quickly playing on our phones - I'm so thankful for technology at times like that - it flew by! No news is good news so I'm just waiting at this point! Oh the things we do to have little ones! Totally worth it!

Happy Birthday Honey!

Every year we celebrate Mike's birthday by spending the day downtown on Nicollet Ave shopping, eating and doing whatever we feel like doing. Its one of the most relaxing days in the whole year! :)

This year we went to lunch with Mike's parents at Chilis and then they watched Taylor for the rest of the day so that we could celebrate his birthday and go on a date at the same time! They are awesome grandparents and Taylor LOVES to be with them!

Of course we immediately got a Starbucks hot chocolate and we sat for the longest time and talked and relaxed. It was a wonderful day - one that I look forward to every year!

Happy Birthday Sweetheart!

Christmas Tree Time!

Today is one of my favorite days of the year....

....today we go and get our Christmas tree!

Mike worked a half day from home so we were able to leisurely get up and leisurely get ready and leisurely enjoy the day. I brought out all my other Christmas decorations and put those up around the house while I was waiting for him to finish working. Then we headed off to Menards! I know, Menards, but hey, its been the tradition since we got married so that's where we go and probably where we will continue to go although Mike has already mentioned that when the boys
are bigger he wants to experience cutting down our Christmas tree with them. It was colder than we thought out in the yard, but that just makes the experience more fun! :) I think we picked a pretty good tree even though it hadn't had a chance to fall.

I can't wait to decorate it tomorrow!

Happy Thanksgiving!

"Count your blessings instead of your crosses;
Count your gains instead of your losses.
Count your joys instead of your woes;
Count your friends instead of your foes.
Count your smiles instead of your tears;
Count your courage instead of your fears.
Count your full years instead of your lean;
Count your kind deeds instead of your mean.
Count your health instead of your wealth;
Count on God instead of yourself."

Dr. Appointment

Today was another doctor appointment for Cole. I knew that I would have to get the H1N1 shot this time since they didn't have it last time so I wasn't looking forward to that....but.....everything went great! Dr. Flore was right on time (sometimes she's on call and we have to wait awhile) and she was very thorough and spent quite a bit of time with us. Of course, I had to have that awful flu shot afterwards but how lucky for me, I didn't even feel it! I think I make a mountain out of a mole hill when it comes to shots. Next appointment I have to have a glucose test for gestational diabetes - love that orange drink! So thankful that Cole is healthy and doing well!

Christmas Shopping!

Today we met Erica at the Rosedale Mall to do some Christmas shopping.....well, to do Erica's Christmas shopping! :) I tend to start very early and have almost everyone done by the time the Christmas season rolls around. But it was so much fun to get out and relax and go out to eat and get coffee and check out all the deals. I didn't purchase much - just an approved buy at Bath & Body Works to get more oil for our burners (Mike said that we needed to make sure we had replacements on hand - he's a huge smell guy! :) !!) I wasn't planning on staying out that late but we ended up just talking so much at Caribou that the time just got away from us. Oh, and by the way, for anyone that's wondering, even though Caribou has gotten Guittard chocolate to make their hot chocolate (and other drinks) with, it still does not compare in any way to Starbucks hot chocolate! And for those of you out there who have not tried Starbucks hot chocolate, before this Christmas season is over, you HAVE to go to your nearest Starbucks and order a venti hot chocolate - it will change your drinking experience forever! :)

Goofy Boy!

Mike thought it would be funny to have Taylor wear the pop carton on his head and Taylor went for it whole heartedly!!! He walked around the house with it moving his head from side to side and had the best time with it......why do we buy fancy toys again?

Matt & Jess!

Moved! They finally closed on their house! And we are so happy for them! The house is just perfect and the neighborhood is perfect and they are not even that far away!

I thought with them purchasing a house in St. Francis it would be like forever away but it is just a short drive up 65....so nice!

I'm so happy that everything went smoothly and now they are in and ready to LIVE in their house! Congratulations Matt & Jess!

Chocolate Covered Cherries!

It's that time of year again! I can't believe how quickly it comes and how quickly it goes! But what a day it is! Nana watched all the grandbabies again while we went to my Grandma's to make all the cherries. What a treasured memory it is to have that time with my Grandma....I know that one day there will be a time when she's not the one melting the chocolate but right now, I am going to cherish each and every year that we can do this together. Getting 700 cherries done in 7 hours is a pretty good accomplishment and I am happy to say that they are probably the best cherries we have ever made! My sister-in-law is going to be very happy on Sunday when I give her her first sampling - she loves these! Now the holiday season can begin!

Happy Halloween!

Today was Taylor's first Halloween! I know that we had him dress up last year, but this year was his first year that he could go trick or treating! I totally picked out his costume since I figured that by next year he would have an opinion as to what he wanted to be and I couldn't resist dressing him up in something absolutely adorable! We went over to Heather and Donald's because they live in a nice quiet neighborhood on a dead end and we didn't have to worry about traffic. Most of my family and extended family were there too because Deron is leaving to move to Washington state and it was the last time that we would be able to get together as a family so we kind of did everything at one time. Mike made the cutest video for YouTube so I've posted the link for everyone to be able to view it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pl7VSRLX8Bo
Happy Halloween everyone!

Fall Day!

We visited the apple farm today since it was such a beautiful day! I had the feeling that if we didn't do it today it wouldn't ever happen or that there wouldn't be another nice day to do it...

We went to this little apple orchard out in Wyoming and it was perfect! They had donkeys that Taylor could feed, a horse to ride, wagons to drive, a little gift store and of course the hotdog stand which Mike definitely took advantage of. It was great to get all those pictures. On the way back from the apple orchard, we found a pumpkin patch just a few miles down the road and we were able to get pumpkins for our yard. It turned out to be the perfect day!

I'm totally going to sound like my mom and say that I love making memories like these!

So Happy!

I cannot say how much I love my husband because I can't ever quite put it into words.

There is no one else in this world who knows me like he already knows me and still tries to know me better. There's no one else who loves me like he so unconditionally loves me beyond what I feel I deserve. There's no one else who looks beyond my little (and huge) idiosyncrasies and ocd's and still wants to be with me as much as he does.

All of that is wrapped up in one big lovely life and I'm so completely thankful for it!

When the normal happy moments are captured, I want to memorialize them forever!

Baby Brother!

We had our ultra sound today! Mike and I were so excited to find out what we were having and we couldn't wait for this day to come!!! Mike was so sweet and planned a date for us after the ultra sound which was just the most special treat! Our technician was knowledgable and friendly! She showed us so much more than the ultra sound we had with Taylor and it was amazing.....we are so blessed and God is incredible in His design. To be able to see that makes me realize every day how much He cares for us and desires to know us. I always think of that verse in Psalms where it states "For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb." When I knew that I was going to be going in with Taylor for induction, the beginning of that chapter has a verse that stayed with me all night and through that day, "Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways." It was such a comfort to me that God understood every point and my fear and my anxiety and my excitment - He knows all of me! I'm so humbled to understand that in my small human frame and from my very narrow view point but He is so wonderful to me.
God showed us very clearly that this little one is a boy! He is so much more active than Taylor was and that makes me very excited to see what he's going to be like and how different they will be but how good of buddies they will be. We have decided to name him Cole Allen - the dr immediately said that he will probably be a banker with that name. :) But he's healthy and whole and doing very good. I still haven't gained any weight but I believe the Lord is just making it easier for me to lose the weight that I've needed to lose for a long time after Cole is born. So needless to say, I'm thankful! We are so blessed and so excited to share this wonderful news!

Family Party 2009!

I can't believe that I didn't take any pictures of our annual family party but Jess did and I'm going to have to get them from her!
Anyways, we always have a party around this time of year to just have the family over. Most of the time I go way out of the necessary with the food and try to do the whole "Bobby Flay" grilling thing, but being pregnant this year, I decided to do the "norm". The family doesn't have to bring anything because Mike and I love treating everyone to a day of no preparation.
I decided to have a burger bar, potato salad and baked beans. The burgers turned out really great! Why am I just talking about the food? Okay, then.....
Most of the time, the weather is great so we can hang out outside which tends to work really good since our house is so teeny but this year, it was soooooo cold! And I'm not over-exaggerating!!! Heather refused to stay outside and my dad showed up in full hunting gear! We did end up keeping all the kids inside because there really wasn't a way to have them outside and keep them warm. It was amazingly breathtakingly cold!!!
We finally ate and then I brought out the dessert bar which was a lot of fun....talking about food again. You would think that my addiction to food would cause me to gaine some weight with this baby but God has been gracious to me and has kept me from gaining any so far. We'll see what the doctor says this next appointment.....
The night was really uneventful and relaxing. We played the new Scrabble game, the card game and the commercial for it had made it look very exciting but it definitely was not. It was still fun but probably not something that we will play on a regular basis.....
All in all, it was a great time! Relaxing, the kids got along, the guys enjoyed all the football, and everyone left happy and full. I love my family!

Men's Retreat

So Mike left for the men's retreat yesterday after working a half day. Dad and he went up there in the truck - you should have seen that thing packed to the gills. Who knew that two men would need so much for such a short time period!!! They finally got rolling about 2 hours after they had planned to leave and by the time they got up it was raining which isn't the best weather to go camping in when it's your first time.
Speaking of that, I had such a good time getting Mike ready to do this because my whole life, we've always gone camping and my dad trained us so well (to the point of being able to camp in the Boundary Waters for a week! Never will forget that!!!) that to be married to someone who has NEVER been camping is kind of foreign to me. But it was so much to go and get the stuff that he needed and start to build our own family stockpile of camping gear. So now we have a camping tote that holds all our stuff - like we have alot at this point! :)
So getting back to the Men's Retreat, they got packed, got up there, set up their tents, endured the rainy night, woke up the next morning and promptly packed up and came home. They didn't even have breakfast there! Taylor and I had barely gotten up when he walked through the door!!! Wow! I felt so bad that his first camping trip had begun and ended like this. I'm already praying that next year is night and day different!
I would have to say that this Men's Retreat failed to meet the high expectations that Mike had. Oh well. At least I got an extra day off with my Baby!

Cutey Pies!

Have you seen anything cuter?! I love how they are partners! Taylor is definitely not a momma's boy! And I'm very happy about that! :)

First Haircut!

Taylor got his first hair cut today! It had just gotten way too long but it was so hard for me to cut it when it had taken so long to come in in the first place! But he sat so good in the chair and he sat so still while Mike buzzed and cut....we were so proud of him! He is such a good little boy!

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Favre Fans Forever!

We have jumped on the Favre bandwagon! Fully! We bought tickets for the last pre-season game even though there was a slim possibility that we would get to see him play but we brought our binoculars just in case! Then we went to Walmart and bought Favre clothing because.....the exclusive tshirts that we ordered online did not come in on time!!! I told you we were on the Favre bandwagon! And it's wonderful! The game was really good even though we lost and we got some close up pictures of Favre which made it all worth it! Lovin' the Favre Fever!

Weekend in Duluth

This past weekend, we decided on the spur of the moment to go up to Duluth. We were on our way to go to the Vikings Locker Room at the MOA to get Favre shirts and see what else they had but the day was so beautiful and wonderful that we went straight into the Mall, got our stuff and went straight home to pack. We were on our way by 3!!! It was so wonderful and so nice! So incredibly delightful! Taylor was so good too even though he woke up on Sunday morning bright and early saying my name, basically asking me to get up too.....wasn't that nice of him? We went down to the pier and saw the ships come and go and walked across the lift bridge, went shopping, ate popcorn and icecream and took a ton of pictures! It was a wonderful weekend!

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Kaylee's Celebration!

Amy invited us to join her, Kaylee & Nick, Angie and the kids, and Ginger and her kids to go to Build A Bear at Ridgedale Mall. It was so very nice because Taylor was able to pick out his own bear and I picked out a little vest. He watched it being made and when we registered the bear, I decided to name it Baylor Bear because we always call Taylor "Taylor Baylor" and I thought that it would be really cute to name it that. We took all the kids to the play area to run off some steam. Taylor had a great time going in and out of the little houses and going down the slide. I love how big he is getting and how independent he is getting....makes me sad that the time is going by so quickly.....he is so precious. We ended up at the food court - couldn't really find a lot of tables together so we had to put the kids at one table and the boys at another and then shove some more together so the adults could sit together. I ended up leaving before everyone else because of nap time. It was so much fun and I'm so glad that we were able to celebrate Kaylee's birthday with her!

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Happy Birthday Kaylee!

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No Syrup!

Normally Taylor does not get syrup with his pancakes, ever, and there is a great reason why......

So now, no syrup! :)

Sunday in TN...

This morning, when we got done getting ready for church, we found out that Alex wasn't feeling too well so Kim and Alex stayed home! We went with Tim, Ashley and Austin to Middle Tennessee Baptist Church where Pastor Tony Hudson is the pastor. It was a great moving service and the music was especially awesome!
We went home for lunch and Kim had made this wonderful grilled chicken, grilled veggies and so much other food. It was great! Taylor isn't really eating anything during this trip. He has tended to eat alot of sugar and not much else. And I'm just being a softy and not forcing anything on him but that's not good either....I'll have to work on that when I get home.
So for the evening service, Kim was scheduled to sing at Franklin Road Baptist Church and she asked me to play for her which was a real honor but I was just terrified. The last time I played for that many people was in college! She and Alex drove in a separate car so she could take him back home after she sang. Taylor went screaming into the nursery but after we picked him up, the nursery worker told us that he had been very good the whole time. Which makes me so very happy! :)
After church, Ashley had a youth group function so Tim, Austin and we went to Steak and Shake and had a great time! Taylor loves his cousins and Austin is so gentle with him and so kind. I love the relationship that they are developing. I included some pictures from our dinner out - they were so cute!

Day of Celebrating!

Oh what a day! What a wonderful fabulous relaxing day!
We woke up early this morning (what's new?), got packed for the pool and headed out the door. This pool is amazing! I'm not sure if I've ever seen one that equals it.....hmmm.....nope, I haven't. There are kiddy pools and wading pools and swimming pools and pools with fountains and pools with slides and more slides and kayaking and inflatibles and, and, so much more I can't even begin to describe!
Taylor had a blast is the short way of putting it. But he seems to tire very quickly and he is more than a little afraid of the water. Since he just barely started walking, he is not sure at all in the water so he won't do anything without holding on to something. That really doesn't allow me to do anything else but I really can't do anything else anyways and why would I want to do anything else but be with my little fella?
We split the day in half by having a picnic outside the pool grounds. Kim is an amazing picnic packer......chicken salad croissant sandwiches, fresh fruit, yogurt, cheese with angel food cake for dessert.....amazing. She impresses me all the time....one day I want to be just like her when I grow up! :)
After swimming for a little while longer, we decided to dry off and get ready since the fireworks in Nashville start at 9pm. We went down to the Opryland Mall which is very impressive and so close to the Opryland Hotel but since it was close to dark we really couldn't see anything and on top of that it was downpouring so I'm hoping that we will be able to come back and see it. We ate at Chilis Too and while we were there found out that since the thunder storm had come through earlier, they had decided to start the fireworks earlier so we didn't even get to go down there and see them. We were really disappointed that we missed them but were able to leisurely stroll back to the car, leisurely head home, leisurely start another movie and leisurely eat some more icecream! Yeah! My kind of night! :)
I'm not sure if I've said it yet but it was a fabulous wonderful relaxing day!

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Firworks!

Last night was a great night! We ended up relaxing most of the day, just hanging around the house and talking. So fun! Towards late afternoon, we all decided that it would be nice to get out and get something to eat. Getting everyone ready is a little chore but its worth it because we all look so nice! (so proud!) We went to this great steak place and of course, being pregnant, I had to have a steak and baked potato (the waitress was carrying one out right as we were being seated and I knew immediately that was what I was going to have) which was fabulous. We then headed to the waterpark some distance away and got our seats right down by the water. There aren't hardly any mosquitoes there (thank you, Jesus!) and it was a beautiful calm night. After the fireworks, we headed home to another movie and more icecream. A wonderful day!

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