Me and Mine

story time

2012-02-11T18:38:00.000-08:00

Our life has a pretty crazy schedule. Ben goes to school full time and works full time. That doesn't leave a lot of time for home. Some terms are better than others. His schedule this term isn't too bad. We get to see him every morning and every night right before the kids go to bed. There are a couple of other times during the week that we get to sneak an hour or two here and there. He is great about making the best of his time with the kids. He gives them all sorts of love and attention. He is pretty much the best dad! I think I have mentioned before that he has been reading Harry Potter to the kids. We love story time! Ben is a great reader! He does all the voices and gets very into it. It is so fun to listen to him and to watch the excitement in the kids. Mostly just Jackson. Dutch has a harder time sitting still and listening. Though her and Jackson play Harry Potter all day long and she seems to know a lot about it. I love that my kids love Harry Potter. They love books! Here are some pictures of the family at story time. I uploaded instagram to Ben's i phone and played with it for the first time. I like it.

Can I wear this???

2012-02-01T08:14:00.000-08:00

So I moved AGAIN. Moving is the pits and really stresses me out for a long time before and after. During this move our camera finally gave out completely. To me no camera means no blogging. My husband has i phone so that all of the big moments have been captured. I don't know how to easily get those pictures from there to here. Especially since it is with him all day long and I can't play with it to figure it out. On the other hand I do not have an i phone. But my phone does have a camera. I capture lots of kid moments on it but the quality is not great. And it takes a lot of work to get the pictures on to my computer, so it's not something I really do. I also use it to take pictures of myself and send them to my sisters to ask if what I am wearing is acceptable. You see, I used to live with my sister and I got used to her being right there to tell me. Now I am not sure. I want to be stylish yet age appropriate. I wouldn't mind being a bit daring but I get nervous and just can't do it sometimes without a little push. I thought it would be fun to share. I usually send the pictures to my sisters Katie and Kallie. Kallie almost always tells me no and Katie almost always tells me yes. She actually tells me that she wouldn't but that I can. So I put it to you. Can I wear this? The top two I wore. The rest I didn't.

I wasn't sure about the bright earrings with the bright scarf. I was wearing really bright shoes that had both colors in them.

My new circle scarf that my friend made me. I love it!

You can also wear part of it as a hood if you want. I wouldn't wear it inside. If I was outside and it was chilly could I add the hood? It's not like it would add that much warmth, but in the appropriate setting could I wear this?

This is Ben's shirt. I've seen pictures of women wearing men's shirts, but I just am not sure.

If I were to wear it do I tuck it in or belt it?

Idaho

2011-10-09T16:57:00.000-07:00

This summer we went to a family reunion in Idaho. Actually it was more like 3 family reunions. Every year in Fairfield, Idaho my mom's side of the family and my dad's side of the family have family reunions on the same weekend. I think every family that lives in that town has a family reunion on that weekend. It is the most exciting weekend in a very small, unexciting town. So many of my own family came that we did our own thing and had our own sort of family reunion. Fairfield is tiny and so are the events. On this same weekend they hold their county fair which includes a couple of bounce houses and a parade made up of family floats. They also close down the only paved road in town to have a street dance. As a teenager I thought that Fairfield was the least attractive place to be in the whole world. All I cared about was cute boys. And whenever I found a cute one he would end up being related to me in someway. So you can see how I felt like Fairfield had nothing to offer me. But now that I don't see my mom and my sisters nearly enough, this was the event of the year for me. It helps that I get to bring the hottest boy I've ever met with me. Gone are the days of crushing on boys that turned out to be my distant cousins. Now it's all about meeting new nieces and laughing with my family. It's about making new memories and reliving old ones. This was my dad's favorite place in the world. I want my husband and kids to be apart of this place. My kids loved it! They had a great time. They loved being with their cousins and grandma. We also went to Boise for a day. I had so much fun being with my family.

Katie's babe Lydia with Grandma Jo

This pool was a hit

Jackson and his cousin Zack having a light saber fight

Blue eyed girls in blue towels

Dutch and Ava

Cute boys

It had been way too long since I had seen Katie

We talk on the phone almost everyday

Hayley and Jackson

My nieces Karlee and Whitney

My mom is always holding a baby whenever she can
Preferably the youngest
This is Kallie's baby Reese

Yummy ice cream beard and stach

My sister Erin

Kallie........always making a face

Sharing the love

Kallie's boy, Owen

My brother Dan came along for the ride
Apparently he takes after my Grandma Rena

super yummy and super easy

2011-09-14T07:57:00.000-07:00

I have been trying to be better in the kitchen. When I first got married everything I made came from a box. Then I would add frozen chicken to whatever it was. I have slowly gotten better. More and more fresh ingredients and less boxes. Lately I have been trying lots of new recipes. This has been frustrating for me! I have put a lot of work into things that were almost inedible. I don't know if it is me or the recipe. I think sometimes it is both. When you aren't used to the ingredients it is hard to know what combinations actually sound good. I have also made some pretty good stuff. Some have become staples for me. To be a staple it needs to not only be good but also EASY and fast. I don't have enough time, energy, or money for things to be too complicated. To the point, I have A Rachael Ray cook book and in it is this super, yummy, easy recipe for buffalo turkey burgers. They are seriously so dang good! My kids even like them(without the hot sauce). So here it is. Try it!

vegetable oil, for drizzling

1 package ground turkey(1 1/3 pounds)

1 1/2 teaspoons poultry seasoning

1 tablespoon grill seasoning such as McCormick's Montreal Steak Seasoning

2 garlic cloves, chopped

4 scallions, finely chopped

1 celery rib from the heart, with greens, finely chopped

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/4 cup hot sauce, such as Frank's Red Hot

crusty rolls, split

1 cup sour cream or ranch dressing

1/2 cup blue cheese crumbles

salt and pepper

leaf lettuce

Place a healthy drizzle of oil in a mixing bowl. Add the turkey, poultry seasoning, grill seasoning, garlic, scallions, and celery. Mix the burgers and form into 4 1-inch -thick patties.

Heat a nonstick skillet over medium high heat and cook the burgers for 6 minutes on each side. Remove to plate.

Wipe the pan clean and reduce the heat to low. Melt the butter in the pan. Add the hot sauce to the melted butter. Return the patties to the skillet and turn to coat in the hot sauce-butter mixture. Place the burgers on bun bottoms.

In a small bowl, mix the sour cream or Ranch dressing with the blue cheese crumbles and season with salt and pepper. Top the burgers with lettuce and blue cheese sauce, then set the bun tops in place.

After the first time you make it, it becomes easier and cheaper. You already have the hot sauce, blue cheese and spices. I usually buy deli sourdough bread and toast it in the oven. It is very good. TRY IT!

Just Dreaming

2011-09-09T18:58:00.000-07:00

I dream of this white couch. I love it! I found it one day on Macys.com. Not that I am any position to buy a new couch right now. And even if I were, buying a white couch would be crazy! I have little kids. Not just any little kids. DUTCH. I just really love it. Someday right?

Jett Man

2011-09-03T09:10:00.000-07:00

Jett turned 1 back in May. Just two days after Jackson turned 6. He is getting so big! He is walking all over the place. He didn't really start walking until he was 13 months old, but now that he has it down he is fast and has even started running. 13 months is also about the time he cut his first tooth. At 15 months he now has his two bottom teeth and that is it. He is soooooo funny! And so sweet. He still loves to cuddle and kiss. He screams and whines like any one year old, but more often then not he is happy and walking around with a big giant toothless grin on his face (see pictures at the bottom.) He is saying a lot of words now. It is so fun! All of the sudden he will attempt to say almost anything. He is my runt. He didn't really grow between his 12 month and 15 month check ups. The doctor said this is usually when they drop down to their genetic curve. So no worries. I am so in love with him! Snuggling with him just makes me so happy. I could do it all day.

Here are his 15 month stats

Length - 31 in - 47.96%

Weight - 20.13 lb - 3.47 %

Head - 19 in - 80.21%

holding his birthday card on his birthday

as you can see birthday cake decorating is not one of my talents

eating his first birthday cake

Below is his new camera smile. I love it!

My Big Boy

2011-08-31T18:26:00.000-07:00

Jackson turned 6! His birthday was actually a few months ago. I didn't post it because I was waiting for someone to email me pictures from the party. Still no pictures but that's okay. If I ever get them I will add them because he had a pretty cool party. So here are some pics of him having breakfast in bed the morning of his actual birthday before I lost/refound my camera. He was so excited! My kids love the breakfast in bed thing. They also get one present in bed. He got a whole set of power rangers with crazy animal vehicles to match. Ben had them from way back when and had never opened them. Sometimes it pays to have a super nerd for a husband.

He also just started first grade. We was super excited to start school again! I actually wasn't very emotional about it. I had my breakdowns when preschool started and when kindergarten ended. Those were both extremely hard for me. But first grade I was ready for because he was so ready.

first day of first grade

Jackson is such a great kid! I love him so much. He is just so happy and easy to please. And the kid is just so dang smart. He is a GREAT reader! And he is so full of smart questions and witty things to say.

favorite food - mac and cheese

favorite color - red

favorite movie - harry potter and the chamber of secrets

favorite book - meet ash (pokemon)

favorite thing to do - open presents

I was just quizzing him and these were his answers. I loved the open presents one. I love that too! Who doesn't right? I do have a rule for my kids that they have to read the Harry Potter books before they can watch the movies. So Ben spent the summer reading Jackson books 1 and 2. He just saw the second movie for the first time and loved it. Some parts made him super nervous but overall he thought it was great. It's fun to see him compare the way he imagined it to the movies. He will proclaim that someone doesn't look right or that the movie skipped something. It's fun. He knows so much about Harry Potter it is crazy! It makes me happy :) He tells me all of the time that he is "kinda a fan of Harry Potter now." He is just such a cool kid!

After Dinner Bath

2011-07-18T09:08:00.000-07:00

Hey, it's Ben. Amy and I thought the ol' www would get a kick out of this video:

From the first time he hears the word "bath" you can see him perk up. It's funny, because just three months ago, a bathtub was worse than the gas chamber to this kid. Now it's his favorite place to be.

I am a sucky blogger.......sorry everybody

2011-07-09T12:43:00.000-07:00

I don't really know why I suck so bad. It's not like I never take time to sit down at the computer. Because I do. I spend way to much time sitting here and looking at other peoples blogs and dream shopping (Ya know looking at stuff and houses that I don't intend to buy anytime in the near or not so near future.) But when it comes to blogging I always feel like I need to catch up. And then it gets so far away from me that I don't know where to begin. All the boys in my little family have had their birthdays since I last blogged. And I only have pictures of Jett's birthday on my camera because I miss-placed it for awhile. So I had others take pictures of Jackson's birthday and don't have access to them yet. I can't post about Jett until I post about Jackson who's birthday is two days earlier. But I can't move on and post about something else because this was Jett's FIRST birthday. And then there is Ben's birthday and the family reunion and blah blah blah blah blah. You know. So therefor I suck. I can't promise that I will get any better. I would like to. I did just find my camera so that is something. But I have not uploaded any birthday pics so I am just going to post some oldies that I like just to keep things interesting.

We often all sit together in this chair so we decided to have a photo shoot.

Jackson did karate for a month and it was sooooo dang cute.

Eating a nice healthy snack after licking the cookie dough beaters.

Arm wrestling.

Jett before his cute new haircut.

This is what a day at the park looks like with my fam.

I just love this one!

Jett

2011-05-19T09:39:00.000-07:00

He loves to play with the kids and they are great at including him. They sword fight with Ben almost every night before bed.

Jett used to always make this fish face after every bite. I loved it!! I am pretty sad that he doesn't do it anymore.

Vegas

2011-05-14T23:04:00.000-07:00

Vegas was perfect. We had a great time! Instead of a story how about some pictures.

view from our room at mandalay bay

the tub :)

tv in our bathroom!!!

cute playpen sofa in our room
(whatever that is....... it made me feel fancy)

3-d tv demonstration

rainforest cafe at the mgm grand

kissing a frog

m&m store

my big hat

cheesecake factory
(he looks sad but he is really very happy!!)

caesars palace

the lion king was amazing

in the lion king theater waiting for the show to start

i love the bellagio

inside the bellagio

house of blues in our hotel lobby

palm trees make me soooo happy

best view of the whole trip

Back from Vegas

2011-05-05T19:20:00.000-07:00

I will blog about Our trip soon, but until then enjoy this old video of Dutch playing with my paperdolls.

a little bit of sunshine

2011-04-14T07:24:00.000-07:00

So I am totally a blog stalker! I admit that a couple of my daily blog checks are people that I have never come in contact with. Blogs are crazy! I feel like I know and am friends with people that I have never met. One of the girls that I blog stalk has super great style. Which is one of the reasons I can't stay away from her blog. To me, her house looks like sunshine. It's bright and beautiful. Now Ben pointed out that having a nice camera and living where the sun is actually shining most of the time helps. And I know that. But my style has changed and I have been waiting for an opportunity to decorate my house with a little bit of sunshine. I recently had a chance to do a mini makeover on my living room. I love it! It makes me so happy! And now that the sun is actually shining outside it's even better.

Dutch's piggy bank was my color inspiration. I am really in love with light, bright colors and white!

I painted most of my picture frames white and put up a painting( I actually made it for my room but it wasn't up yet so into the living room it went). I practiced this on the ground sooooo many times and took pictures of it until I got it just right. I just couldn't bring myself to really be random even though that is the look.

I got a new green pillow for my couch to go with my existing blue ones. I also got a new lamp. Someday I'll get a new, beautiful, white couch, but for now I've got to work with what I've got. I also plan on painting my side table white.

My new $20 Ikea rug. It's right in front of my couch but I didn't get a picture of it incorporated into the room. Oops!

Last but not least is my new Ikea TV stand. I absolutely love this. I got the baskets at the bottom from Ikea. The blue ones were on clearance at Walmart. The little decorations like the orange vase and the green pillow came from TJ Max. Even though there are a lot more things that I would like to do, my house just feels much more welcoming! It makes me super happy!

Jack

2011-04-07T20:09:00.000-07:00

(Jackson doing his version of the robot. It gets serious after his singing)

We really dance party it up in my house all of the time. The kids love to listen to the Tarzan sound track over and over again and dance there little hearts out. I love how there styles of dance change with each song they here. Anyway, I got super sick of Tarzan and put in a random mix of Ben's. For some reason Bootylicious really inspired Jackson to do the robot. I guess he thought that singing along would be fun even though he had never heard the song before. He's a pretty fun kid!

My favorite Jackson quote....

"Mom this parmesan cheese is the weirdest salt I have ever tasted!"

Little Miss has turned into a poser

2011-04-01T20:03:00.000-07:00

Obviously she had no idea the camera was set to video.

I have no idea where she learned the peace sign from.

All of the ones of her in my room she is looking in the mirror.

(below)

life

2011-03-31T19:13:00.000-07:00

Too many kids, not enough husband! :) Just saying.

These outtakes are a little more realistic then the all together family pictures on the side. I la la love my kids so much , but it would be nice to love them one on one occasionally. And I miss my husband. He's a pretty great one and I don't see him nearly enough.

I'll go ahead and call it a blessing

2011-03-30T09:32:00.000-07:00

In about one month I get to go on a vacation with JUST my husband. Four whole days and three nights without my kids. I can't even imagine. I am soooooo excited!!!!!!!!!! This has never really happened before. I have three kids in a two bedroom apartment, no washer and dryer, and a husband who works FULL time, and goes to school FULL time. I NEED A VACATION!!!! So does Ben. The only reason this is even possible right now is because Ben won $5000 in a raffle at work(of course only some of it can go towards a vacation). Thank you to Ben's work for being AWESOME employers!!!! And thanks to our brother and sister for being willing to watch our kids. I seriously cannot even express how excited I am!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So I have new swimsuits, new sunglasses, and a new BIG floppy hat. Las Vegas here we come! Don't worry...... I will post ALL about it after we go. Oh and if anyone has suggestions about where to eat and what to see, let me know. YAY!!

New to me and smart on my part

2011-03-21T10:04:00.000-07:00

I have discovered some things that make my life just a little sweeter. Most of you probably have known about these for years but I have just figured it out. Sorry no pictures, just me rambling.

The first is SUSHI. This is my new love. Not just sushi but also anything tempura fried. YUM YUM YUM!!!!!! The first time I tried sushi I spit it out. That sushi was from Costco. I don't recommend it. Years later I had a friend introduce me to the real stuff. I love that friend. Now it is the only thing that no matter what mood I am in I want it and it never disappoints. So I have never been addicted to anything and I know that I am not addicted to this, but it relaxes me the way I imagine a cigarette would a smoker. I know I sound CRAZY, but hey we all knew that I was a little crazy. For example I was super mad at Ben for something having to do with school (pretty much the only reason I ever get that mad at my husband) and I stormed out. I went to Target which is my fav free place to go. I called my sister Kallie which is funny because she lived with me at the time and witnessed the whole thing. Anyways I decided she had to meet me for sushi so I could spend money that I don't have and treat myself to something delicious. The second the sushi was in my mouth my whole body just relaxed. It was insane. I am so sad that good sushi is not more attainable. You can't just buy it like a bag of chips and have it around for your eating pleasure. At least its an extra special treat when I do get to go out! p.s. Have you ever tried the surf and turf roll? It's the best!!!!

Skinny jeans and boots. I consider myself a pretty stylish person, but it took me a looooong time to really accept skinny jeans. After they were back for awhile I finally could say that skinny jeans were stylish on others, but they were just not for me. My thigh to calf ratio really discouraged me from the shape of the skinny jean. A couple of years ago I bought a pair of ugg style boots (which I also rejected for a long time) and they look much better over jeans then they do under. So I would work really hard to shove my regular jeans down inside my boots and they still didn't look great. Finally less then a year ago I got my first pair of skinny jeans. Now the skinny jeans, boot combo is as easy and casual as throwing on flip fops, but it is much cuter! I just bought my first pair of cute fancy boots to wear over my second, more bold, skinnier then the first, skinny jeans. And I feel super cute!!! I have also gone as bold as to wear my skinny jeans with flats......that time I didn't feel so cute, but I will get there.

Hummus. Love it! I am not much of a breakfast or lunch eater. I am lazy and easy food just doesn't taste that good. So I usually don't eat until close to dinner and then I snack into the night. Not great eating habits, I know. But hummus on a warm pita is delicious, easy, and good for me. I now enjoy it for lunch all of the time. I am thankful for hummus!

The gym. I have never loved working out probably because it is torturous. But a couple of years ago I had a neighbor who worked out all of the time. She would drop her kids off at the gym daycare and work out kid free. So even though working out didn't sound appealing, dropping my kids off for a half an hour a day sounded very appealing. Now you need to understand that my husband works FULL time and goes to school FULL time and breaks are pretty much non existent for me. So I got a smoking deal on a 3 year, paid up front, VIP(free daycare for as many kids as I have) gym membership. At first I worked out all of the time. I actually started to feel the positive effects of running and lifting. I liked it. This is a huge step for me. But then I got pregnant and now I have a nine month old who would definitely not tolerate being put in daycare. So I have 1 year left on my membership and as of right now it is going unused. Sad. But I plan on figuring it out and getting back to the gym. Because being healthy feels good and getting a break feels even better!

Ok, now to the smart on my part. My kids beg for food all day long. They are well fed kids who act like they are starving to death. They want a treat and if not a treat then mom can we please have a healthy snack. ALL DAY LONG. Since having kids I have had a hard time keeping up on my scripture reading. Seems unrelated to the story but is now very related. I have combined snack time with scripture reading. So now instead of asking for snacks my kids beg to read scriptures because they know that is the way to the food. They bring me the scriptures and pressure me into it. Even if I feel like I don't have time or I say not right now they are pushy little kids that won't stop. So now scriptures get read and with there little mouths full of snacks the kids are quiet little listeners. Smart right?

Funny Girl

2011-03-16T19:11:00.000-07:00

I had this conversation with the girl yesterday......

Dutch-"Mom I have a booger."

me-"Oh you do?"

Dutch-"Yeah it's already in my mouth."

me-"Yuck, Dutch don't put boogers in your mouth that is so gross!!!!"

Dutch-"Yeah, don't tell my mom."

me-??????

Just one more fun one from the girl. I have been calling her beauty just because I think she is soooo pretty. Sometimes she is accepting of the nickname and sometimes it makes her mad. One night when I put her to bed I said, "Good night beauty." And she replied, "Good night beast."

Okay one more cute thing. She calls ponytails "hairtails." She always has, and now I do too. It just makes more sense!

KIDS UPDATE

2011-03-13T08:47:00.000-07:00

Jett man. Jett was my smallest baby by far weighing in at 7lbs 4oz. It was a quick and easy birth and he has been a super easy babe ever since. He is soooo sweet and happy. The older he gets the funnier he gets. He has a great sense of humor! He is a huge mommas boy. He still prefers me to Ben which is amazing. He is nine months old and he still loves to snuggle. Even though he is a little cuddle bug he is also one determined babe and will claw his way wherever he wants to go. He could climb well before he could crawl. And he is now pulling himself to standing all day long. We all love him so much!!!!! He is such a JOY!

Little Miss Dutch has been giving me a run for my money ever since she turned one. She was the easiest baby ever and then she somehow hit her terrible twos at one and is still going strong at three. This one tests my patience like no other. She eats anything and everything besides food(pencil erasers, marker tips, bracelets, the list goes on). She makes bigger messes then I could ever imagine. She has been able to take down Jackson since before she turned two. She is headstrong and smart! Her sweet moments are the SWEETEST. She is soooo beautiful and entertaining. Its funny because she is a little bit of a tomboy but a girly girl at the same time. I love her so much. She is everything that I hoped she would be. Sometimes I wish that she would just calm down but then I remember that she is Dutch and this is who she is. And I love it!!!!

Jackson has always had a special spirit about him. He has always been the sweetest kid. He is very loving and accepting of everyone. I say Dutch hit he terrible twos at one, well Jackson didn't hit them till he was three and they only lasted a couple of months. He has always had a lot of curious energy but he was never really a limit pusher. He is a GREAT big brother. He is helpful and good at catering to his younger siblings. He makes Jett laugh like no other with his silly dances, faces, and noises. Jackson is a super smart kid. He is now in kindergarten. He is doing great and loves it! I love this kid so much. He is so fun and cool. Five is a great age because they can just hang out and chit chat. He is reading over my shoulder right now. He won't leave me alone. He thinks this is soooo funny.

I'm back.........hopefully

2011-02-01T15:49:00.000-08:00

It's really not my fault! Ben and I have MAJOR computer problems. We are the opposite of "everything they touch turns to gold". So I am back for the time being. I would love to post often and I really think that I will as long as things go well with the technology. No promises, but don't delete my name from your lists just yet. I am going to do an update on all three of the kids very soon (and yes there are three now) so stay tuned. Here are a couple of pics just for fun. My friend Stacy took them. Isn't she amazing!

BIG CHANGES

2009-06-08T14:52:00.000-07:00

We moved!!!!! We love our new place! We still live with Kallie and her new husband Chris. But we upgraded to a place with a lot more space and a lot more light! It basically has 6 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. Its a condo and its only a few blocks away from our old place. Here are a couple of pictures of the main living space. We were moving things around for Jackson's birthday so the small couch is in the wrong spot. It usually is turned in and splits the room in two separating the living room and dining area. I am going to have to get new pillows for my couch because of the red walls but for now I'm still using the old ones. I will post more pictures of the rest of the house at another time.

Ben got accepted into his program at school!!!

FINALLY!!! We are soooooo excited. Our plans have changed a lot since we moved to Utah. Mostly because we got a big slap in the face. The whole process has been a lot harder then we thought it was going to be. But we feel like we are on the right track now. What a relief! The program is computer science with an emphasis in animation. It is going to be 3 more years and it is going to kick our butts, but it creates a bright light at the end of the tunnel and I really think that this is what we are suppose to be doing. Plus with the great new place and the super friends and family that we have 3 years doesn't sound so bad. Also Ben just got a promotion at work that has a more flexible schedule. Everything just seems to be falling into place! We really feel blessed!!!! Life is good!

Next up Jackson's birthday and an update on Dutch aka snot face

Hey everyone....if anyone still reads my blog

2009-05-28T17:15:00.000-07:00

I haven't had access to the Internet in over a month. First my screen went out and then I moved and we just got it up and running. So I am back and I will post soon! And I will be catching up on reading all of your blogs.

They each deserve a post all to themselves but......... they can learn to share

2009-04-09T07:07:00.000-07:00

So my little sister got hitched!!!!!!
We like to call it a wedding in a day. They technically decided to get married that day at 1am and by 2pm it was done. It was just going to be a courthouse thing but with the neighbors and all of the talent around it ended up being a wedding. The above picture is the cake that was not planned just made. And not by a professional baker just by a friend and her sister. Isn't it amazing!!!!! I went with the groom to pick out rings and grab some ring sizers for a perfect fit until they have time to go back and get them sized. Don't worry they didn't just meet. They have been dating for awhile and have been talking about marriage. They ended up being married at the LDS church by Kallie's Bishop. It was actually really sweet! They are a very cute couple and I wish them all of the happiness in the world!!!

This bow tie belongs to my neighbor's 4 year old son. We decided it would look good for the reception.

Aren't they cute.

So chronologically this is all backwards. But we have had lots of visitors over the last couple of months. These are pictures of Dutch and Ava (my sister Katie's daughter). They came and stayed with us for 2 weeks. It was a blast and the girls played soooo cute together!

These are pictures of Phoebe and Jackson. My sister Jenny lives in Idaho and she was able to drive over just for one night! It was really fun to have them!

My mom got to come for a week and we had some much needed girl time. My mom got to see both of my sisters that came to visit. But they didn't get to see each other. So we didn't all get a picture together. But we did get one of "the three little girls" with our mom. It was soooooo great to have my mom here. I love her so much and always miss her when she isn't around. To be able to be around her for a whole week was amazing! I LOVE MY MOM!!! We splurged the whole week. Lots of lunches and dinners and trips to the mall just for fun. We played lots of games and even had a breakfast throw down. My kids had a ton of grandma time all to themselves. It was GREAT!

We also got to spend a lot of time with Ben's side of the family. I actually got to spend the whole week up at Ben's brothers house. His parents and brother Aaron and his family were here from out of town. We had a blast. Again lots of girl time and lots of WII time. So between all of us there were 8 kids 8 years and under. Oh man those kids had a blast!!!!!! They got to ride a train and see a 3D imax movie. And they got to play in the biggest, best play room ever. Now I did bring my camera but when I tried to take a picture I found out that my memory was full of all of the pictures from when my mom and sisters were here. After a day or so I decided it would be worth it to go through and erase some of the pictures so that I could get some of these cousins together too. But when I turned it on........... beep, beep, beep, ........low battery......die. So I guess it wasn't meant to be. I'll have to get pictures from someone else.

Last but not least I got to go to Oregon for the weekend to watch the Cheerleading State Championship. And finally my team took 1st. Technically they aren't my team anymore I am just the choreographer. But I love these kids and I am so proud of them. This is a picture of me, Jenna and Julie with the girls that were on the team back when we coached. Most of them are seniors and this is their last year. I am so happy for them that they get to go out with a bang!!! Congratulations Thurston Cheerleaders!

Happy Birthday Dutch!!

2009-01-21T19:40:00.000-08:00

My BEAUTIFUL, baby girl turned 1!!! I can't even believe she is already a year old. Though it's hard to think of my life before she was in it. She is such a joy! We are so in love with her!

STATS

height-29.8in-74.5%

weight-21.23lbs-54.41%

head-18.5in-93.28%

She is walking now. She started taking good steps a little before Christmas and she has taken off. It is her first choice but she doesn't usually make it to where she is going before she falls and then crawls the rest of the way. When she does make it she is very PROUD of herself but not as proud as Jackson is of her. He praises her with every step that she takes. He gets very excited and wants to make sure that nobody misses it.

Here are some of the words she is saying

mama

dad

bye bye

uh oh

pampa (grandpa)

ba-ba ba-ba (♫ backpack ♫ backpack)(from Dora)

nana (banana or any food)

tane tyou (thank you)

two - tee (two and three) one time I yelled ONE at Jackson and she finished for me

I'm pretty sure she says Jackson but it sounds nothing like Jackson she just mimics our inflection when she calls for him

This was her adorable cake that my neighbor Drie made for her

Playing patty cake in her birthday dress
(she is marking herself with a D)

Sitting on her presents and eating the wrapping paper

(just like a one year old)

Her first taste of cake

Don't worry she got the hang of it!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DUTCH GIRL!!

New Years Eve!!!

2009-01-09T12:42:00.001-08:00

We rang in the New Year with an AWESOME Vegas style masquerade party. It was super fun making the masks. We made like 10 and there were only 4 girls. We used the extras for decor. We played games all night and ate really, really, good food. It was a GREAT night. How did you ring in the new year?

Ben wore his grandpas tux
I have to say my husband is a handsome man!

My camera died right after these pictures I don't have any of the group. I am going to try and get some from someone else and then I will post them. It was a good lookin group!

The Babes First Christmas

2009-01-08T08:50:00.000-08:00

Dutch LOVED her new care bear!

On Christmas Eve we had a party with some of our neighbors and Miss Kallie's boyfriend. In the tradition of my family we made chili and sugans (aka fried bread...other people know them as scones and they were called anything from scogies to scooners at our party by people who just couldn't remember what we call them). We also had a white elephant gift exchange where I received glasses that say BLING on them. They are AWESOME! And in the tradition of Ben's family we opened PJ's and spent the rest of the night and the whole next day in them.

Look at how cute my babes hair is!
(Christmas morning)

Jackson's reaction to everything was "What the......Where did this come from?". And then he would literally hold every present over his head so that I could take a picture of it and then he would go ask his dad to open it so that he could play with it. I have about 10 more pictures just like the ones below!

Jack got Ben "Starwars Monockoly". They were both very excited about it! Jackson was so excited that from the time we bought it he asked Ben where it was everyday. Which sort of ruined the surprise. Good thing he was so cute about it!

This Christmas really turned out wonderful! We even had a chance to teach Jackson about giving and about what Jesus would want him to do. Kallie's singles ward last minute adopted a little family that was going to tell there 5 year old twin boys that there was no Santa because they didn't have enough money for Christmas. They announced it at church on the Sunday before Christmas and were collecting things that night at ward prayer. So Ben being the GREAT guy that he is dug into his unopened Starwars collection (which is bigger then even I knew) and found two storm troopers that he was willing to part with. We decided to let Jackson in on it. Luckily the day before we had read an article in the Friend about a secret giver. When we first showed Jackson the toys he really wanted them!!!! We explained what we were going to do with them and why and reminded him of the story. After about 5 minutes he was ready to give up one of the toys........." How about this one stays here and you can take this one." big smile"...and you can take this one too." It was so sweet when he decided to let us take them both. Kallie and I then went to our neighbors who gave away an amazing amount of food and gifts to the family! Apparently Jackson thought that we went to give the little boys the storm troopers because when we got home he was jumping around asking what they said about them. He really is a GREAT kid! Thank you to everyone who helped make this Christmas so special. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas too!

Tagged

2008-12-15T10:11:00.000-08:00

So I am not going to update. I just don't want to. And if I wait until I do want to then I will just never post. So There are some cute pictures of the kids on Halloween in my slide show. Check them out. I got tagged forever ago but I'm gonna do it now.

6 random, non important things about me

1- I have turned into a nerd wife. My nerd husband has opened my eyes to certain things and I love them. For example Lord of The Rings, I don't only love it but I quote it. And I always know when Ben quotes it. Also I know the names of way too many super heroes and their villains. Not just the ones in the movies the ones from comic books that aren't all that popular. "You are such a nerd wife, I LOVE YOU!" I hear this way too often from my husband for me to ever be considered cool again.

2-I love to dance! Love it! Mostly just going out and dancing (not that I do anymore but I used to all of the time back in my single days). But I also like to cheer/hip hop dance. Me and my neighbor have started making up dances for exercise after we put the kids to bed. Last time we popped in some Britney Spears and danced for an hour. Made up a pretty cute dance too!

3- I hate being cold. Ben always drives and therefore always has the keys to get back in the house. This is especially a problem in the winter because Ben is a slow mover and a time taker. When we were first married he always thought that I was mad at him because I would raise my voice and talk really fast and bluntly when outside. But really I was just trying to let him know how important it was to hurry and let me in the house!

4- I am obsessive compulsive when it comes to cheerleading. Not anything else. Just cheerleading. I don't currently coach but I do choreograph. I fill notebooks and all kinds of scrap paper with my ideas. The funny part of that is I have it all memorized. But if I make one little change I sit down and rewrite the whole thing because I like to see it written out. I color code everything. And when I put people opposite of each other they not only have to be equal in skill which is normal but I like them to be the same height, build and if at all possible hair color. I know I am crazy!

5- I use cheap shampoo. I am a hair dresser and I know better but I use it anyway. The being poor gets the better of me and I just can't bring myself to buy the good stuff. I used to the good stuff and it was great and someday I will again. But for now my shampoo comes from the grocery store.

6- I am the girl with glasses. In high school I always wore contacts because insurance only paid for glasses or contacts and of course I wasn't going to wear glasses all of the time. After we got married I got a pair of glasses to wear sometimes especially at night when my contacts would get sticky. Well I pretty much wore them all of the time. After awhile I found out that my description at the salon was the girl with the glasses in the back. I had no idea I was the girl with glasses. Now that I have no vision insurance and I already own a pair of glasses I guess I am going to be the girl with glasses for a very long time.

conversation with the boy

2008-10-27T08:47:00.000-07:00

So I often give Jackson choices when asking him to do something or when we are trying to figure out what we want to do. Lately these choices come after he has requested to do something and I say "no" but you can do this, this, or this. He has started giving me choices back. So today it went something like this...............

Jack- Mom can I play computer?

Me- No not right now but you can play Lego's, or miniatures, or color, or play with playdoh, or do puzzles....

Jack- Mom, I can either play computer, or star wars miniatures, or go outside, those are my choices.....those are the things that Jesus told me to do so I need to do them.

Me- How about miniatures

Jack- miniatures or legos

He ended up playing with legos.

The things that 3 year olds come up with are so cute. Sometimes when he gives me his choices he calls them rules and if he can't do them he gets very upset because those are the rules. He sure is a silly boy!!

9 months

2008-10-22T09:12:00.001-07:00

weight - 19.16 lbs - 57.25%

height - 28.07 in - 69.11%

head - 18 in - 91.08%

Not such a baby anymore

2008-10-17T20:37:00.000-07:00

Dutch became an expert crawler about a week after she started crawling and now she is always pulling herself up on anything and everything. Half of the time she is going for something that doesn't have enough weight to back her up. So her and lets say the empty laundry basket both come tumbling down.

Speaking of empty laundry baskets that doesn't happen often in this house. Especially right now! The kids and I went out of town last week and my husband and sister stayed home. I left a couple of baskets of clean clothes behind and very little dirty clothes. I didn't do laundry while I was gone and neither did the fam left behind. I came home to a mound of dirty clothes with a trash bag in my arms full of more. So since I have been home I have been trying to get a hold on all of the dirty laundry. I have been washing and drying like crazy but NOT folding. I literally have a playpen FULL of clean laundry. I had to keep the laundry moving through and I didn't have the time or the patience to sit and fold. So what do you do when all of your baskets are full? I say ya start dumping them into the playpen. Hey a playpen looks just like an over sized laundry basket right? Good thing it was set up in my bedroom and not in the living room.

I thought I would throw in a couple pictures of Dutch in her cute hoodie and spare you all the picture of my giant laundry pile!

projects,goals, and sanity

2008-10-13T06:20:00.001-07:00

First of all I am trying to be healthier. I am just not a very healthy person! I eat almost NO vegetables and I NEVER workout. Yes I chase around my extra busy 3 year old but I never really workout. And having my husband gone for almost every meal doesn't encourage the best menu for the fam. I usually ended up making Jackson kid food(hot dogs, pb and j, you get the idea) and later making me something just as easy. With Jackson I do usually add in fruits and veggies but when making my own not so much. I just don't like most vegetables and never have. The motto in my house growing up was you have to eat everything on your plate, but you also got to pick EVERYTHING on your plate. So back to my goal....I want to be HEALTHIER. And I have started at the veggies. Most I couldn't even remember trying. So I have started the trying and here are the results (keep in mind these are just the NEW ones, there are already a few veggies that I love).........

Peppers -really good

Peas -yuck

Broccoli(raw) -yuck

Broccoli(steamed with cheese) -yuck

Green beans - do-able

Mushrooms - not so good but if I can't taste or feel them then I can eat them

That is as brave as I get for now but I am going to continue to try and try everything. I am finding fun and yummy ways to incorporate these new things into my diet. Thus the picture of the BBQ'ed skewers above. I am lucky that I LOVE fruit(besides bananas - yuck). I am even eating yogurt for breakfast when I really never ate breakfast and am not hungry in the mornings. I actually gagged on it the first couple of times but have pushed past and can get a whole container down. I haven't started working out yet but it will come. Baby steps right?

OK so I live in a basement apartment facing the north. My carpet is really dark and so is a lot of my furniture. It is always dark in my house and it was really starting to get to me. My old pillows were getting disgusting and torn up soooooooooooo with help of my lovely sister in law Mo we picked out some brighter colors and made covers. They turned out great! And after getting home and putting them on my couches I was inspired to rearrange my whole living room. It feels soooooooo much better. I have the same amount of furniture but it feels so much more open. I also got a little rug from target that was clearanced down to $6. I haven't framed the pictures I want to yet and I haven't moved the old ones and so they aren't centered with my furniture. But after I finish everything I will post more pictures. I hope that this post wasn't to boring. I just feels good document my goals for my own sanity.

whatever

2008-09-29T13:18:00.000-07:00

I just can't make myself do a real update. So I've decided to just do little ones whenever I'm up to it. Sorry folks but that is all you get. These pictures are a couple months old because my wire to get my pics from my camera to the computer is ruined. I now there are other ways but they take way to much effort and for now I'm just not up to it.

Jackson built these and I loved them because they are almost perfect opposites. Maybe its the cheer coach in me but I thought it was a really big deal! (:

These are Jackson's robots/guys that he built with his big blocks. They are daddy, Jackson, Dutch, and the neighbor boy Chewy(no mom). Jackson wrote his first letter about a month ago. It was a J and it was really exciting. He loves letters. He sees them everywhere. He got so excited when he found an L in the stucco on the outside of our building. He is also starting to draw really well. I have pictures of his pictures but they are still on my camera. Jackson is also a Star Wars expert. It is really funny. He is Definitely Ben's son. Someday when he gets to watch the actual Star Wars movies he is going to be one happy boy!

Dutch started clapping and waving about a month and a half ago. A week ago she started really crawling and she is fast. She is super fun and funny!!!

This is my nephew Adam.
My sister Jenny and her two kids came and visited in the beginning of August. It was fun and our kids loved each other.

This Phoebe and Jackson brushing there teeth.

5 YEARS!!!!!!!!

2008-08-18T19:49:00.001-07:00

August 16th was our 5 year anniversary!!!! It has been the best 5 so far. We have two beautiful and sweet kids. We have a whole lot of school behind us and a whole lot more to go. We have become part of each others big families and have made our own little family.

Ben is the best decision that I have ever made! I love him soooooo much! He is a GREAT husband and an awesome dad. He provides for us, goes to school for our future, and does everything he can to make our life happy!! Even though he works full time and goes to school full time when he is home he is down playing with his kids and giving me a break. Jackson and Dutch adore him. Jackson calls him my best friend daddy. Dutch stares and smiles at him when ever he is around. He was the first to make her laugh and will always be the best at it. Kids are drawn to him because he is and always will be one of them. Not just because he is soooo good at playing but because he is happy and good inside. He is hard working, intelligent, talented, trustworthy, funny, and is a worthy priesthood holder. And he is dang hot! I LOVE HIM and appreciate him. He treats me like I am the best thing that ever happened and makes me feel so special all of the time.

THANK YOU BEN FOR BEING THE BEST HUSBAND EVER!!!

We celebrated on Friday night. My sister Kallie watched the kids and we spent a night out in Salt Lake. We went to the Melting Pot (our first time) and then stayed the night in the Radisson Hotel. It was soooooooo great. We had such a fun night! The Melting Pot was unbelievable! If you have never been I highly recommend it. We were both mostly excited about the cheese but oh man, the meats were sooooooo good and the strawberries dipped in chocolate were to die for. The Hotel was nice and we ended up with free breakfast because they made a little mistake with our room. Before breakfast Ben had to run and buy me some flip flops because in my excitement for my new heels I forgot to bring other shoes. It was a perfect night and the perfect way to celebrate 5 YEARS!

All ready to go

I rolled up my pant leg to better show off my new shoes

At the Melting Pot

The yummy dessert plate

It was prettier when it came out but we dug in a little before the picture

6 months

2008-07-24T21:03:00.000-07:00

length- 28 inches- 98.79%

weight-17.15 lbs- 73.40%

Head- 17 inches- 71.43%

She is a big little bugger!!!

Dutch is the sweetest little thing that I have ever been around. I have a hard time believing that she is real and that I get her! I feel so blessed. She truly is a little angel!!!!!

I do have to say that when she gets ticked she sure lets you know, but that isn't very often and she usually isn't ticked at me. So its cool.

She has started sitting up all by herself!

She is rolling all over the place and she really wants to crawl so I think that we are going to have to baby proof the house soon.

She smiles so easily and she loves to laugh!

She is super patient when all of the little boys around including her brother want to hold her forever.

She LOVES Jackson sooooooo much!

She is a great sleeper and a great eater.

She really loves the water.

Dutch is the very best foot clapper that I have ever seen!!!

She loves me but she is a daddy's girl and he is in love with her!

And if I do say so myself she is BEAUTIFUL!!!!!

catch up

2008-07-16T20:39:00.000-07:00

I love to look at other peoples blogs and I feel great after I post a new one. BUT........... the thought of sitting down and posting is too over whelming. Especially when it has been so long and I have so many things that I meant to post about and that I don't want to skip. So here is a very short catch up.

I was going to dedicate a couple of posts to my wonderful husband on fathers day and his birthday because HE IS AMAZING! Life was too crazy and now our anniversary is coming up so check back later to here about my super man.

We also took a trip to Oregon where both of our families were in town. It was great!!! Crazy crazy crazy but really GREAT! There definitely was not enough time to do everything. It was a little stressful because to fit in both families I had to be missing something else going on at one place or another. I also was choreographing for The Thurston Cheerleaders again. It went really well. I love doing it. All in all seeing everyone and getting my kids with all of there cousins at once was just a super good time. We got Andrus family pictures that I will post as soon as I can get my hands on them. I took some random pictures of my own but not many sooooo I will post one.

Dutch and Ava

I will try to be better at updating because its something that I want to do but no promises. :)

Oh yeah Happy 22 to my sister Kallie and a late Happy 28 to Ben!!!! I love you both!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JACKSON!!!!!!

2008-05-24T13:37:00.001-07:00

Our little Jackson turned 3 yesterday!!!!! Ben had to work so we celebrated on Friday. We went to Chuck E Cheeses for lunch. Jackson LOVES it there. He calls it Chuck E Cheeses house and asks to go there all of the time. We had a great time and played lots and lots of games. Then later in the evening we tried to have a BBQ but it didn't work out so we cooked hamburgers and hotdogs inside. Chris and Mona and Jacksons cousins came over. So did his friend Sammy along with his parents Stacy and Steve. The kids all ran around like crazy. Jackson loved it! He loves his cousins and Sammy!!!! Ben decorated the cake and everything was Spiderman themed. We got Jackson a shiny, new, red bike and he thinks its great! All in all it was a pretty darn good day! I can't believe my baby boy is 3. CRAZY! He is the sweetest little boy and we love him sooooo sooo much!

PROUD MOMMY AND WIFE!

2008-05-13T19:56:00.000-07:00

BEN GOT EXCEPTED INTO BYU!!!!!! We are super happy and he can't wait to be in school again. I am so proud of him! Life is good! He made me the BEST card for mothers day and got me some chick flicks. He is such an amazing husband and dad.

Dutch finally rolled over for the first time yesterday! Woohooo. She could have actually rolled over a couple of weeks ago but it happened while I was out of the room and Jackson claims that it was him. So we will count yesterday as her first. She is a DREAM! We put her to bed between 8 and 9 when Jackson goes down. We put her in her own crib in Jacksons room awake and she falls asleep and doesn't get up until around 5:30. She gets up eats and then goes back down until Jackson gets up around 8am. I am super proud of her! Jackson plays in his bed and yells for us and gets up to go to the bathroom every night and she just sleeps through it. All I have to say is we are soooooo blessed! She is so happy all of the time. It is super easy to make her smile and coo. She loves to talk really loud and she loves to give kisses!

Jackson is the best big brother ever! He loves Dutch so much. He would hold her all day if we would let him. If only he was big enough to do it all by himself that would help me a lot. :) He is such a smart, polite boy! Anything with a rhythm he picks up so fast! He is amazing at singing songs and counting(he can count forward and backwards and in Spanish). He can sing Hey Jude and it is sooo cute. He puts his own dishes in the sink when he is finished eating.......which gets a little dangerous because he throws them in. He is definitely almost 3 and can be a little terd but he knows how to turn it on and be soooooo sweet especially when he wants something! He calls Ben his best friend daddy. I love it! He does big boy puzzles with me almost everyday and he is soooo good at them. I do the edges while he does the recognizable faces and bodies and then we fill in the rest together. He plays computer games like a pro. He knows his way around playhousedisney.com like nobodies business. He can go to the bathroom all by himself though we usually have to help him put his pants back on. Sometimes we just find him in the bathroom on the potty. He is such a big boy and tells us so all of the time.

Name that tune

2008-04-28T10:32:00.000-07:00

No Tag-Backs!!

2008-04-16T20:11:00.000-07:00

Hey, it's Ben. Katie the Cheater tagged me, so prepare for a treat:

Four jobs I've had...
1. Taco Bell (and I still love the food)
2. Roaring Rapids Pizza Company, boyee!
3. Wedding DJ
4. Apartment Manager

Four movies I could watch over and over...

1. Signs
2. Daredevil
3. Edward Scissorhands
4. The second part of any trilogy (Star Wars, Back to the Future, Pirates of the Caribbean, Indiana Jones, Terminator, Spider-Man, X-Men, Lord of the Rings, the Matrix, etc.)

Four places I've lived...

1. Springfield, OR
2. Orem, UT
3. Guayaquil, Ecuador
4. Pasaje, Ecuador

Four T.V. shows I love...

1. Seinfeld
2. The Office
3. Law & Order (and all spin-offs)
4. Lost

Four of my favorite foods...

1. Amy's Jumbalaya
2. Pancakes
3. Taco Bell (just put nacho cheese on it, and BOOYAH!)
4. KFC Mashed Potatoes and Gravy

Watch out, I'm gaining weight. The bad kind.

Four sites I visit daily... (almost)
1. Nintendo8.com
2. homestarrunner.com
3. wikipedia.org
4. marvel.com

Four places I have vacationed...

1. Vegas
2. Hawaii
3. Washington
4. California (Disneyland)

Four places I'd rather be right now...

1. Ecuador
2. California
3. Texas (what can I say, I love Republicans)
4. Hawaii

And I'm adding on my own touch here, not for me, but for you! A random TV quote from off the top of my head, the first thing I could think of:

"Check out this cool tattoo Err gave me. It's tough, isn't it. It's a clown, and it represents gang warfare. I'm part of the Clowns now, you dig?" -Meatwad

I'll let Amy do the tagging. I don't have the strength.

Baby Blessing

2008-04-07T17:08:00.001-07:00

Okay, this post has an insane amount of pictures and it's going to be super long! So good luck to all. First Kallie drove down with Julie before everyone else. Julie dropped her off and then was off to Colorado to see her mom. Kallie's moving here so she needed a little time to settle in before the craziness began. A few days later Hayley, Karlee, and Whitney flew in. The first day everyone just relaxed and got to know Dutch. And played a whole lot of Blokus! Jackson followed Whitney around all day long! All of the kids love her!

(Karlee, Hayley, Me, Whitney, and Kallie)
Ben had the day off on Thursday and we all drove up to Salt Lake and went to the Gateway Mall. It was freezing cold but we had a good time. Hayley treated us all to lunch at the Thaifoon restaurant. It was amazing! That night my sister Jenny and her husband Mike along with their kids Phoebe and Adam came to join the fun. Everyone else was suppose to show up on Friday at around noon but were about 3 to 4 hours late. So at around 3:30 My Mom, Dad, brother Reese, niece Hanna, sister Erin, nephew Zack, sister Katie, and niece Ava rolled in. It was so amazing to finally have my family at my house! I've lived here for a year and this was the first time that my side of the family have been able to come and visit. And they were all finally meeting my little baby girl. We only had a few hours to settle in and then we met Ben's side of the family at the Mayan. Ben's Dad, Mom, brothers Aaron and Chris, sister-in-law Mona, and their kids (Hunter, Jada, Cole, and Brooke). The Mayan was soooooo much fun! For those of you who don't know the Mayan is a restaurant with a jungle-like atmosphere and a giant waterfall in the middle. About every 20 minutes they have a show where people dressed like Mayans dive off of the waterfall. The kids loved it! And I am pretty sure the adults all had a great time too! Having both of the families together was really fun!!! Ben and I are very blessed to have such wonderful families!

( Whitney, Jada, and Jack with one of the divers)

(Zack, Jack, and Phoebe)

On Saturday, my family had a big lunch at my great-aunt Jenny and uncle Bills house. All that day Ben's parents were sending warnings to me that the weather was supposed to be bad. I was planning a BBQ at the park that night and didn't really have room to host it anywhere else. A couple people offered to let me host it at there house but I didn't want to impose if I didn't have to. All day Saturday it was pretty nice so I decided that we were on for the park. Right as everyone was showing up the wind kicked in and the temperature dropped! IT WAS FREEZING! Even though the weather was miserable everyone was a good sport. We pushed through and had a memorable time! The next morning we woke up to at least 4 inches of snow. CRAZY! We had even more family and friends show up to the blessing. Ben's grandma and grandpa Fullmer came from Colorado, and Uncle Steve and Aunt CC (Julie's brother and sister). Stacy and her little guy Sammy came from Pleasant Grove, too. The blessing was beautiful. Afterward the families were invited to our house for soup and sandwiches. (Kallie and Ava)

(Katie, Ava, Me, Dutch, Jenny, and Adam)

(Jack and Phoebe joined in)

(DUTCH AND DUTCH )

This moment was very emotional for me!

(Grandma Jo and baby Dutch)

(Grandpa Craig and Dutch)

(Dutch and daddy)

(My parents)

(Chris, Cole, Hunter, Mona, Brooke, and Jada)

(Ben's Parents with Brooke)

( Ben's brother Aaron and my sister Erin)

(Whitney, Karlee, and Hayley)

(Reese and Hanna)

(Dutch and Ava)

Sunday night there was a delicious turkey dinner hosted by Aunt Jenny and Uncle Bill.

Most everyone left Sunday night or Monday morning. Thanks to everyone who was able to come. We had a wonderful, fun, spiritual weekend!

A family of 4

2008-03-20T10:43:00.000-07:00

So two parents and two children equals a family of FOUR. I have to say that I really like it! I was really nervous about having two kids, but I love it. It really is much easier then I thought that it would be. It helps that my kids are super good. I feel really blessed! Little Dutch sleeps really good for us. Every night she goes for a 5 to 6 hour stretch wakes up to eat and goes back down for 3 more hours. It has been this way ever since she was two weeks old. Jackson has really become a big helper and is very patient with us and with Dutch. He is in love with her. He proclaims his love for her often and tells me that he NEEDS to hold her. Sometimes he loves her too much and we have to save her from him. Dutch is smiling all of the time now. She laughed for the first time the other day at Ben. It was soooooo cute! We are having a lot of fun together!!! I LOVE my little family! BOOYA!!!

Can you believe she is already 2 months old?

Jack lookin like a G all ready for the park

Sleepy baby

She is not big enough for her bumbo seat but Jackson loves it!
The tray won't click in because he is too big but he insists on having it.

Jackson and me playing GO FISH
(he used to say "No, gold fish crackers" instead of go fish)

Loving each other

For Katie!

2008-03-15T08:08:00.000-07:00

Tummy time

Things that make you go Hmmmm....

2008-03-11T20:51:00.001-07:00

Time to update this blog again. This is Ben bytheway, and I may have been designated as the official blogger of the house. A decision Amy may live to regret. Because guess what? I'm at work, with some spare time. And away we go.
Amy and I created this game last night in the style of the World Series of Pop Culture tie-breaker. We pick an actor or director and go back and forth seeing who can name more of their films. We probably played for an hour. Then later we brainstormed who the best actors would be to play my favorite comic book heroes in as-yet-unmade movies. That's how much she loves me.
So, in 2 weeks almost ALL of our families are coming to town for Dutch's baby blessing. It's such a blessing that so many from my side AND her side can make it. We're going to have the best time. We are all so excited for them to come, even Jackson. Amy spent some time with him today looking at a family portrait to make sure he knows all of their names.
Jackson goes through funny phases. He used to yell "Don'choo ever Daddy!! Don'choo ever!!" Before that if he ever started to cry about anything it would always include, "I can't ... (sob) ... be yate (late)!!!" More recently, every word that comes out of his mouth is from the Jungle Book, like "Go away and yeave me ayone (alone)," or singing "The Bear Necessaries." And we proudly announce that he is fully potty-trained (knock on wood). He's great.
Baby Dutch is going to meet her extended family here soon. They will never be the same.
Amy spends every spare minute, which are few and far between, choreographing cheer routines for non-existent squads or watching America's Next Dance Crew on MTV. Or she will sit and watch old X-Files with me.
I am speaking Spanish at work still, although I have only gotten one call in the last 9 hours. (It's a nice job.) I'm spending the free time drawing for the portfolio that I'm turning in to BYU at the end of the month. I'm taking a break to write this. I'll post some drawings here one day.
On a personal note, I'm extremely stoked for the Indiana Jones, Batman, Iron Man and Hulk movies coming out in the next few months. If you know anything about me, you should have guessed that, though. I'll have to buy Jackson all the new toys (but who are they really for...?)

Oh yeah, here's a P.S. that I have to include. It's about Jackson, I must love him or something. Whenever we open the back seat for him to crawl into his carseat, he pats the carseat and says "It's beautiful! It's beautiful!" The End

New car and old pics

2008-03-02T08:09:00.000-08:00

Hey, it's Ben. We've got some swell updates for the blog today. First some big news, we got a new (used) car last week! Here's the fotos:

2005 Chevy Malibu

We bought it at the Church Office Building. It was previously driven by a pair of LDS missionaries in Texas. It was a great deal, the price was well below wholesale, and the Church gives their cars oil changes and check-ups religiously (no pun intended).

This is our first car with power options and keyless entry, so we're more than happy.

Now for a great story of the day we bought the car. We had just handed over the check and we got in the elevator in the parking garage, when who gets into the crowded elevator with us??

Why, it's the Elders M. Russell Ballard and Quentin L. Cook!
(Elder Cook is new to the Apostleship as of October, he was called to take President Faust's place.)

So, our little family of 4 is crammed in an elevator with two apostles and some other folk. Jackson looks around at the adult faces in the elevator, and STOMPS on Elder Cook's foot! (I'm exaggerating a little, it was a gentle sort of foot placement.) But still, how many people even get that close to an Apostle, let alone tread on his shoes! Little monster.

Speaking of Jackson, we found an old roll of film that we had never developed, so we took it to Target. Most well-spent $9.00 of our life! Look at little Jackson from a year and a half ago. I almost don't remember him looking like this!

Someday I'll write something but not today......just lots of pictures

2008-02-19T11:35:00.001-08:00

I love this one because this is what she really looks like!

more kid pictures

2008-02-05T17:47:00.000-08:00

I've got a great little family

2008-01-31T21:25:00.000-08:00

Meet the Husband

2008-01-29T13:28:00.000-08:00

Hey hey hey! It's Ben. I want to post something, and I know Amy's secret password (1077) so who can stop me? Not you! Not anybody!
I'm at work right now, and this is one of the only websites on the whole Internet that isn't blocked for me. I work for a medical company, talking in Spanish on my fancy headset like so many high-profile celebrities you may have seen on TV and in the movies. I spend most of my 10-hour workdays reading or playing Tetris because so few Latinos call me. So I thought I would spice up my life and type something here. Amy knows so many of you, and you know her, but who really knows me? I mean really knows me? Maybe no one.

First I better just say, as it goes with the recent theme, that I love our new daughter, Dutch. Amy's dad is so proud that we chose that name, which has been his nickname his whole life. Amy and I thought it would be a great girl's name. And we were right.
If anybody saw Jackson when he was little, Baby Dutch looks so much like he did. If you ask me, Amy and I sure do make cute babies. Cute, giant babies.
To introduce myself, I am Amy's opposite, and that is why we are a great pair. To quote Paula Abdul, as I often do, "opposites attract." I am Chandler and she is Monica. To a disturbing degree. 'Nuff said.

But we also share a lot of interests, like movies, certain TV shows and books, making babies, etc etc etc.
There are things that I like, however, that Amy will have no part of. For example, I can eat cereal like the day is long. Life, Cap'n Crunch, Alpha-Bits (which I cannot find in any store, anywhere), Fruity Pebbles, Cinnamon Toast Crunch... I care for Apple Jacks a great deal. And the company that makes Chex used to make Ninja Turtles Cereal, which was basically Chex with marshmallows. They took it off the market, but re-introduced it again a few years later as Spider-Man cereal, and I was in heaven again. I also should mention Lucky Charms, Super Golden Crisp, and Honey Nut Cheerios. Anything I forgot, just let me know.
I love comic books. I have collected them on and off since I was about 13. I have favorite characters, favorite artists, and favorite writers, but assuming most of you are like Amy, I will spare you the details. But Jeph Loeb, one of my favorite writers, has had a lot to to with the shows Lost and Heroes, and the movie Batman Begins was based on his Batman stories, as is its sequel, due out later this year. So..... respect.
Amy supports my love of nerd movies, usually going with me opening day to see Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Spider-Man, X-Men, etc. And in turn I will go opening day to see a movie she likes, such as From Justin to Kelly, or Alien vs. Predator. (Upon reviewing this post, Amy requires that I point out that the previous sentence was a joke. She may or may not have ever seen FJTK.)
Amy taught me to dress, although my knowledge does not necessarily extend to being able to dress Jackson correctly. Also, Jackson and I share the love of a good Pixar or Pirate shirt, and Amy will allow it.

And to finish this up (this post is longer than I thought), how about a list of favorites, to show that I am not so different from all of you, the little people.

Favorite TV shows still on the air: Lost, Heroes, the Office, Law & Order, the Soup, SpongeBob Squarepants, SNL, Conan O'Brien.
Favorite TV shows now discontinued: Seinfeld, Friends, X-Files, Futurama, the Tick, Alias, Dexter's Lab, Mystery Science Theater 3000. I will also add the Simpsons to this list, because their best days are behind them.
Favorite movies: Lord of the Rings, Back to the Future, Star Wars, most anything based on a decent comic book, anything directed by M. Night Shyamalan, Alfred Hitchcock, Tim Burton, or Steven Spielberg, anything starring Johnny Depp, Tom Hanks, Bruce Willis, or a Muppet.

to be continued, because Amy gave the OK...
Ben

More Pictures!

2008-01-24T16:17:00.001-08:00

These are for our families who live far away.We want them to be able to see her grow so I am going to be posting lots and lots of pictures.

Baby Dutch

2008-01-22T20:47:00.000-08:00

Lola Dutch

Born January 20th @ 5:06pm

8lbs 7oz

20 inches long

She is Beautiful and very sweet! We are so excited that she is here and we love her so much!

No baby yet soo.... here are some cute pics of Jack

2008-01-13T18:30:00.001-08:00

Ben made Jackson's name out of Lego's and now wants to make everyones name out of Lego's and display them all over our house........we'll see how that goes.

After a bath wearing his new robe that he got for Christmas.

He is back to being healthy and HAPPY!

100% done

2008-01-05T14:25:00.000-08:00

38 weeks and counting

(its not a great picture but it works)

I have about a week to go but I am done being pregnant. Jackson is just getting over being super sick (cough, runny nose, fever, and throwing up) , and we are trying to get things ready for the baby, and I just feel too pregnant for any of it. I just want to lay around and do nothing, but when I do I get so anxious about everything that needs to get done that I can't relax and I definitely can't sleep. I'm just ready to be done with this part and to move on to the next part where there is a little baby. Not that it will be any easier but we are all ready to have her come and join the fun. Hopefully next time I post I will have pictures of our new little girl!

Poor kid

Jackson in the babies car seat with the baby monitor. Just trying to help get things ready. The picture on top of this one is Jackson stuck in the car seat base wearing Ben's beanie that magically turns him into Superman!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!

2007-12-23T18:15:00.000-08:00

So this is our tree a couple of weeks ago before it was finished. We got some cheap glass bulbs and didn't realize that they didn't come with the hooks. I wasn't going to post any of the pictures until the tree was finished but now our camera is broken. I didn't want to let Christmas come and go without posting these pictures of our cute short tree and our cute boy! A couple of days later we finished our tree and it looks great! It's mostly red and silver with superman on the top. I am so excited for Christmas!!!! Jackson is old enough to understand about Santa and it is making things super fun. Ben's parents and brother are coming. I'm going to miss my family and our traditions (mostly just ripping in to everything with no organization and chili on Christmas eve) but I am also so excited to be here and sharing Christmas with most of Ben's family. I hope everyone has a WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!

CRAZY KID

2007-12-10T17:24:00.000-08:00

So Jackson does a couple of things that are just so weird! They would be funny except for the fact that they drive me crazy.......

He stores food in his cheek. It used to just be when we ate chicken. He would take as many bites as we made him and chew a little and then keep it in his cheek. He's pretty good about hiding it if you are not looking for it. It is turning into a very bad habit. This week it turned into everything. Even things that he really loves. Oranges, french fries, olives, ham, and more. He will keep it in there for HOURS. No joke. We restrict treats, or computer time, even bath time until he swallows it but he never will. Eventually we have to let him spit it out. I just don't know what to do!

OK one more thing. Jackson is very concerned with mine and Ben's happiness. He will always ask us if we are happy or sad. That alone is fine but he always does it after he does something that he knows he shouldn't do. If he has an accident he'll look you right in the face and ask "Are you happy mom?". Or you'll ask him not to do something and he'll do it anyways and ask " Are you happy or sad?". The worst is the combo of the two things.......when I ask to see in his mouth and there is a cheek load of food in there and then he asks if I'm happy.

I love the kid more then anything and most of the things he does and says are so cute and make me so happy!!!! But I don't understand why he can't just chew and swallow his food. Right now him and Ben are playing and they are so cute and my life is GREAT! I guess if these are my biggest complaints then we're not doing too bad.

Ben teasing Jackson....if you listen real close you can hear Ben in the background telling Jackson to be careful which is what is making him laugh.

all ready for church

and

crazy hat hair

Thanksgiving and SNOW

2007-12-01T15:43:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving!!!! The whole trip home was great! We got to spend a lot of time with both sides of our families. We are so lucky that our parents live so close together and we can see them both in one trip. We always do Thanksgiving at both of our houses and it works out great! Ben's family is always so willing to compromise because my family already has so many people to work around. Both dinners were fantastic! I love feasting!!!!! We got to be around a ton of little kids and even got to meet Jackson's new cousin Adam who is adorable! We never brought our camera anywhere so the very last day I got a couple of shots right before my baby shower started. Jackson loves all of the babies and has taken a special liking to his cousin Ava and wanted to hold her all of the time. So I am glad I at least got a shot of that. So the last day i was home my friend Tyleen through me a baby shower for Dutch and it was great! We got soooooooo many cute clothes! Seriously everything is so great!!! She is going to be the best dressed little girl ever. I am going to have to post a picture everyday so that everyone can see all of her little outfits. Thank you to everyone who made our trip so GREAT!

So we woke up this morning to snow!!! Jackson was so excited! It was really hard to get him to eat his breakfast. He would take a bite and then run to the window and look outside. He did this all through breakfast. When we finally went outside he loved it! We mostly just walked around in it. For awhile he decided to clean off all of the big rocks and then later he started to pile more and more snow onto the cars and rocks. He even got brave and tasted it. He doesn't have snow boots yet and he had to wear a pair of my gloves but it didn't seem to faze him. We only stayed outside for about 20 minutes but we had a great time!

My growing belly!

2007-11-13T21:34:00.000-08:00

Very beginning of October

(24 weeks)

End of October
(27 weeks)

Middle of November

(30 weeks)
New brown hair!!!!!

Jackson singing BOOK OF MORMON STORIES.

We always sing songs before bed and lately this is his favorite! For awhile he would only accept the spiderman song and when I tried to sing anything else he would just say NO the whole time I was singing. So I am very glad that he has decided that Book of Mormon Stories is also acceptable. I just noticed that in the majority of my Jackson pictures he is shirtless. He really is usually fully dressed. Sometimes when we eat I take off his shirt so it will stay clean and this seems to be when I take pictures and videos of him. I'll have to work on that.

Jack got a haircut!!

2007-11-04T11:42:00.000-08:00

I can never decide whether or not to cut Jackson's hair. It's definitely not for sentimental reasons. I didn't even have a hard time with his very first haircut. Maybe its because I am a hair dresser but I just think if its time its time and it will grow back. But I just can't decide what I think is cuter. His hair is a great texture and I love the shaggy look! But sometimes it just looks so crazy and not very becoming. I had an extra tough decision this time because sometimes it looked so great and exactly what I wanted. But ultimately I decided it had to go. And he looks so great with his new haircut! I'm glad I did it. He looks so old and I love it. And he loves it!

Ben was making tapes for his car because he doesn't have a CD player and cannot live without music. Jackson just started dancing and it was so cute! His dance has changed a lot in the 2 1/2 years he has been alive. There used to be more foot and arm action......but now as you can see its pretty much all hips and bottom shaking.

So Jack has been wearing big boy underwear for about 3 weeks now. The first 2 weeks we had a lot of accidents and not a lot of fun. But as of this morning we had gone 6 days without an accident. And then at church we had him go right before nursery. But that didn't stop him from pooping his pants in the middle of church. Oh man! It didn't get through his pants but changing them at church was not fun at all. We ended up having to come home an hour early because I was just not prepared for such a big mess. Extra underwear and pants just don't cut it sometimes. I wasn't smart enough to bring a plastic bag for the soiled goods. I just want to put him in pull ups for church but that is like giving him permission to go in his pants instead of the toilet. We already gave in and we let him wear diapers to bed. So its underwear the rest of the time. Hopefully next week will go better.

I was informed after showing this video to Ben that the little toy is not the punisher. I just assumed because of the skeleton on the belt but I was wrong. I have also wrongly taught Jackson that Jango Fett was Boba Fett. I was proud of myself for knowing that it wasn't a storm trooper and I thought Ben would be so happy that Jackson new who it was. But that didn't work out so well. That has been corrected though and Jackson now knows that his guy is Jango Fett.

Jackson is so funny lately. Instead of using the word am or do he says do do. So if I say that he is handsome he says "Yes I do do handsome" or do you want to play with your toys " Yes I do do want to play with my toys." Ben thinks he is saying so so but I think it is do do. And he often tells us that he has a good idea. And the other day he told me "Thank you so much for buckling me up mama." I just switched from mom to Amy yesterday and I think that it is cute so I let him call me whatever he wants. I definitely understand the terrible two thing. They are into everything and they know how to get on your last nerve and they tell you NO, but it is the cutest most fun stage. Seriously Jackson has never been more fun!!!!!! And he is just so adorable!

HALLOWEEN!!

2007-11-01T15:35:00.000-07:00

Ben was Mr. Incredible! He has been this many times but it gets better and better every year. We have been adding onto the costume ever since he first wore it the day that the movie came out. I am especially happy for the red tights this year because he used to wear red sweats under those black butt tights.
I was a seventies chick. With out the wig this wouldn't even be a costume. These are my regular clothes. Though I don't usually do my make up like this.

And Jackson was Buzz Lightyear!!!!!! He looked so cute and he was so happy all night!

This is Jackson and Sammy saying cheese for the cameras!

Halloween is so fun with kids! This is the first year that Jackson understood what was going on and what he needed to do. Ben had to work so we practiced tricker treating in our house with him before he left. And then later we went real trick or treating with Sammy and his mom and dad (Steve and Stacy) around the complex. The boys had soooooo much fun! It helps that they love each other. They would both yell knock knock knock every time they knocked on a door. At the second door we went to as soon as they opened the door Jackson just ran right into there house. I had to run in after him and get him. And not very long after that Jackson decided that it would be a good idea to instead of knock and wait to just open the door. I caught him before he could open it very far but that didn't stop the girl inside from noticing and getting a little freaked out. Needless to say from then on I held his hand after a couple of knocks at each door. Ben met us over at Steve and Stacy's house later where we put the boys to bed and watched a scary movie. Overall it was a GREAT day!

Forward roll

2007-10-25T15:01:00.000-07:00

Just a funny little video of Jackson trying to do a forward roll! I am wearing Bens clothes so don't judge me. I really don't usually wear his clothes but I'm pregnant and they were comfy.

HEE HAW FARMS

2007-10-10T13:43:00.000-07:00

FOUR WHEEL BIKES

HE NEEDED A PUSH

HUANTED HOUSE

PIPE SLIDES

SAMMY AND JACK

So we went to the pumpkin patch a couple of weeks ago with our friends the Taylors(Steve, Stacy, and Sammy). It was really fun but very different from my previous pumpkin patch experiences in Oregon. First of all there were huge condos pretty much on the same property, which took away from the country feel that I think every pumpkin patch should have. Also they had taken all of the good pumpkins out of the patch and set them on shelves......so those of us that wanted to pick our pumpkins straight from the patch were left with old yucky ones or green ones in the middle of giant sunflowers. We gave in and picked off of the shelves. Even though there was a little bit of disappointment there were some really great things too. The little courtyard area was super! It had all sorts of things for kids to do.....a train ride, a couple of slides, a little haunted house, these go car things, animals, and more! Perfect for Jackson. Plus we didn't get all muddy because its Utah! It was a little rainy and so they didn't have everything that they usually had going on so we have free admission for another day if we want it. We already have our pumpkins but we might go back just to play. We decided it was a little more Jackson friendly to paint our pumpkins instead of carve.

finger paint doesn't stick to pumpkins very well.....
I decided to go for stripes because I didn't have any better ideas

Ben decided Darth Maul would be the best way to go!

Jacksons sleeping in his big boy bed

2007-09-29T08:14:00.000-07:00

OK so its been 3 nights with Jackson in his new big boy bed! Overall he has done really great! We are potty training right now too so he has a lot of growing up going on. Night #1 ....I put him down and besides checking on him, I didn't see him until 8 am when he ran in our room and told us he needed to poopy in the potty (which he did). I was very amazed but not very excited about trying nap time in his bed. With the daylight and now knowing he could get out I was sure that it was not going to happen. I layed him down and he went right to sleep and didn't get up for 2 hours. Night #2....... He shows up in our room at around 4am thinking its the morning. He told us he needed to go potty and we could see the light on in the living room and could hear the TV. Ben took him and slept the rest of the night with him in his bed. He napped great that next day. Night#3..... He shows up at 1am and hands his dad his cup and asks for more water and then goes right back down.....he showed up again around 4am thirsty again and then went right back to sleep and woke up at 8. We will see how tonight goes. We got a digital camera because we had a gift certificate and it was time. So I have pictures of his new bed. I am pretty proud of the rooms set up. It took us a long time to decide how to best use the space. We have a bed, a crib, a rocking chair, toys and a dresser all in 1 little room. We managed to fit the dresser in the closet and got a bed with more storage which definitely helps the space. I painted some letters and have each name over their beds. I don't have any girly bedding yet so I didn't take pictures of dutch's side besides her name.

Its hard to tell but its pink and brown

Here is a video of Jackson singing his ABC's. He just started going into Twinkle Twinkle at the end instead of Now I know my ABC"S.......It is the same tune so I guess it works. And instead of star he says lamp because he thinks its funny.

One more amazing thing that I have to tell.......Last night we went and rented a movie and then we were getting ice cream at the McDonald's drive through. When we got to the window to pay, the cashier told us that the car in front of us already paid for our order! No message nothing. Isn't that AMAZING! We'll have to wait until the next pay day but then we'll have to pay it forward. The most amazing part is that we are extra tight on cash right now because we just bought Jackson's bed and gear. I just thought that I would share.

old black and whites

2007-09-24T14:29:00.000-07:00

Wearing Daddy's shoes

Back when my hair was long. It looked good when I did it!

Jackson and his best friend Sammy! Jackson is making the funniest face ever!

Some things that I forgot to write about earlier. We are having a BABY GIRL! We think that her name is going to be LOLA DUTCH. We are super excited! We are in the process of buying Jackson a big boy bed. Which is fun but much more expensive then I realized! You've got to buy a bed and a mattress and twin size sheets and blankets....oh yeah and a safety bar thing so that he doesn't roll off the bed onto the floor. Crazy!!! We are excited for him to sleep in it but a little nervous. I've heard its sort of like retraining bed time. We will see how it goes. Right now we only have two bedrooms so Jackson is going to have to learn to sleep with the baby. At first we might figure something else out but within 6 months of the baby being born he is going to have a roommate. Okay one last thing. I finished Eclipse ( the third book in the Twilight series) when I was in Oregon and I loved it!!!!!! I liked the first book, I really liked the second, but I loved the third! One of my very favorite books. Up there with some of the Harry Potter books. I highly recommend it. And I found out there was going to be a fourth. LOVELY! I'll update about Jackson and his new bed as soon as we give it a try.

OREGON!!!

2007-09-18T19:51:00.000-07:00

Jackson and I just got back from a three week vacation to Oregon. It was a blast, but much too long to be away from my husband. Unfortantally I forgot my camera and I don't have any pictures. Oregon was the Best! It is my home and it will always feel like home. I am so lucky to have so much family in one place. And I have wonderful friends that live in Oregon. One trip and I get a friends and family fix to last me until the next time. While I was there my little sister Katie had a BEAUTIFUL BABY GIRL! I got to wait outside the room with my family while she was in labor and was there the second they would let us in. The nurse waited for all of us before she weighed and measured baby Ava. It was so wonderful to get to be there for all of that. There isn't much to tell about the trip because most of it was just hanging out. Which is exactly what I wanted to do. I choreographed a couple of Cheerleading routines while I was there. My family and I went to the Aquarium which was a blast and Jackson loved it! And I watched a lot of scary movies with my sister. I ate a lot of good food with a lot of good people and had a great time!!!!!! I love Oregon and my family but it is good to be back here with Ben. We missed him so much. Jackson was so excited to see him!! We've had a wonderful couple of days back. And we're excited to see and spend time with all of our Utah friends and family.
Even though I don't have any pictures of my trip while I was gone Ben developed some black and white pictures from about 6 months ago. I am going to post them as soon as I can find where he stored them on the computer.

Tagged

2007-08-11T08:11:00.000-07:00

Here are the facts

1-I hate cereal!!!! Hate it. It' s hard for me to even be in the same room when someone else is eating it because I can smell it and hear it.

2-When I had my long hair I never did it and it was so tangley from putting it in a messy bun when it was wet that occasionally it resembled dreadlocks. I cut it so I would style it more and I still never do. But I love it!

3-New clothes make me feel soooooo good. Especially shirts! I used to measure everything in how many shirts I could buy with that amount of money. It's even motivation to do my hair so that I won't ruin the new clothes by looking like trash.

4- I watch an unbelievable amount of Law and Order. Love it. And its on at all times on all channels.

5-I am obsessed with cheerleading! It occupies a lot of my thoughts. I think I would be so bored without being a part of that world. I love it and I think that I am good at it! Of course I am not the actual cheerleader anymore I am the coach or choreographer.

6- I hate running. I've tried it and I think its torture! If I were being chased by someone scary or if my kid was going toward danger then I would run. Nothing else is enough motivation to put myself through that.

7-I talk to my dad on the phone all of the time. If I ever have a question about anything I call and talk to him forever. Also if I am bored or he is bored we end up talking. It's great!!!

8- I really think that my husband is the hottest man alive! If I ever see a hot guy on TV or anywhere I think...... Yeah he's hot but Ben is hotter.

So those are my 8 facts. The only people on my friends list left to tag are Jenna and Stacy. So you two are it. No tag backs! 8 facts and then pass it on.

THE ZOO

2007-08-06T09:02:00.000-07:00

Ben had a three day weekend, not this one but last one, because he was in the middle of a schedule change at work. It was one of the best weekends we've ever spent as a family! We got a lot of house work and grocery shopping done. And we spent a lot of time having fun all together. We got take out and ate it at the park for lunch on Saturday. Sunday is always great because we love our calling and it was a combined 3rd hour so we got to spend all of church together. And OH MAN does Jackson love nursery! And they love him. Monday we got up early and went to the Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake. It was super fun! Ben took a lot of pictures so that he could draw the animals for his portfolio. Jackson is old enough that he knew and loved all of the animals. This zoo is great because all of the animals are so close. Before we left we bought Jackson some little plastic zoo animals from the gift shop and he LOVES them! They are his new favorite toys and they came in really handy at church this week.

Pictures of Jackson being Jackson

2007-08-01T13:34:00.001-07:00

He built this all by himself!

Reading and showing off his muscles

Making a mess!!!!!!!

Eating and sleeping at the same time

We just got our pictures developed!!!

2007-08-01T13:23:00.000-07:00

Ben being silly.......and lookin HOT!

My old, new hair. I cut off all of my hair a couple of months ago but these are the first pictures of it. Its almost time to get it redone and I can't decide if I want to go even shorter or just let it go through some fun growing stages.

Jacks Birthday!!!( May 24th)

2007-07-27T11:09:00.000-07:00

Jackson opening presents on his 2nd birthday. We had been collecting presents for awhile. Every time we wanted to buy him something we would say it was for his birthday to justify it. We picked up a lot in Disneyland 2 months earlier. It was a great day! We went and saw Shrek the third. We buckle Jackson into his stroller and park in the wheel chair place and then pile him up with goodies. We've seen three movies that way and it is pretty succesful. A couple of days later we had cake with Chris and Mona and the kids.

Harry Potter

2007-07-26T14:10:00.000-07:00

I didn't go to the midnight party not because I am not crazy but because I didn't have a babysitter. I am CRAZY! I LOVE HARRY POTTER! So the next morning Ben, Jackson and I got up early and went out to breakfast and then to Wal mart to get the book. There were a million and there was no line and it was cheap! The first day I read for 9 hours while Ben watched Jackson for me all day. I have a great husband! The next two days all I wanted to do was read but I had other things going on and had to squeeze Harry in wherever possible. It was hard stopping in certain places but I had no choice. So I finished the book on the third day and I LOVED IT! Maybe even the best of the whole series! I called my sister Kallie who I was sure would be done and she hadn't even started yet! What is that? In her defense she has three weeks left of school and a lot of projects due. But still. At first Ben didn't even want to know if I liked it because he thought it would give to much away. But I couldn't keep it in so at least he knows that much. Whenever he has a prediction about where he is at he reminds not to say anything and doesn't even want to look at my face. So I am going insane. I need to talk to someone about it. It was amazing and I have to keep it all in. JK is brilliant! I am sad that I am done. And even though I have read the first ones a ton of times, I will read Harry Potter until I am old and grey and can't read anymore. I told you I was crazy.

DISNEYLAND

2007-07-20T11:00:00.000-07:00

pictures

2007-07-20T10:46:00.000-07:00

Heres a picture of me and Ben in Disneyland. We went in March with the Thurston cheerleaders. It was Jacksons first time. He didn't understand a lot but he loved it. We had a super time and my team took 4th at nationals!!!

our life so far

2007-07-02T12:46:00.000-07:00

I am not a writer and I can't spell so this should be fun for all. Ben always makes fun of me for the way that I word things. He tells me that it makes sense but it sounds like it shouldn't. So good luck.
Ben, Jack and I live in Utah right now and we are waiting to find out if Ben will go to BYU this fall. We won't find out until August and then school starts a couple of weeks later. Crazy! And if you know me you know that I don't prefer the unknown. I like to know what is happening so I can plan my life accordingly. So even though I am happy here in Utah I am going a little bit crazy not knowing what future awaits me.
Ben and I have been married for almost 4 years and we love married life. It helps that I married the hottest man alive! (I'll post pictures soon). We were joking last night that the more he becomes like me the more I love him and visa versa. When he is bratty and fast with the come backs I love it! And the dorkier I am the more he loves me. We work.
Jackson turned 2 in May and we have another little one on the way due in January. Jackson is a big strong boy (he loves to show off his muscles) and he is so dang smart. Lately Jackson has been making up his own songs and it is so funny! Usually he picks a tune he already knows and changes the words to whatever he loves that day. I don't know if any of you know the spiderman song but Ben does and so now does Jack. Well it used to be the spiderman song.......and then it was the Venom song, and then the whale song, and now it is the Sammy song(Jackson's best friend). On Saturday I got all done up to go on a date with Ben, and Jackson told me that I was handsome. It made my day. He usually does.
I love my boys! We have a good time. That's all I've got for now but I will try to keep my blog updated. Or I'll have Ben do it. He is a much better writer then I am.