Happy Birthday Benton!

Benton has been obsessed with pirates ever since we went to Disneyland, so we had no other choice but to have a pirate birthday party. He was thrilled when he saw his costume and all the decorations.



I am really enjoying this fun stage in his life with all of his energy, funny things he says, and his sweet personality. I can't wait to see all that happens this next year with our little 2 year old.

Here, Benton is enjoying his new tent with Grandpa.

All tuckered out after a long day of partying. Notice the multitude of toys on his bed. How can anyone sleep like that? :)

p.s. really slow computer = no patience for blogging= very few updates Hopefully we will be back up and running shortly.

I am in LOVE with my boys!

I got Benton all dressed for church, Christian saw what he was wearing and decided to dress just like him. I was laughing so hard when the two of them came out together. The best part is that Benton really is just like his Daddy in so many ways, and I love it.

Happy Indepedence Day!

This is Brad Elder, one of our good friends. Look at that costume, does it get any better?
Benton enjoying the fireworks with his sunglasses on.

Enjoying cotton candy, how more American can you get.

Just look at that face!
Crash landing! Benton was the first one down the slide at our ward carnival and must ended the night with atleast 30 trips down. I couldn't get him off of it!

The primary was in charge of putting on the carnival games, thankfully I have an awesome husband and sister-in-law who were willing to jump in and help. They took care of the balloon dart board for several hours. Thanks!

More of the primary crew. Look at all that candy!

Benton loves playing with Parker

These 2 boys are so funny together! Benton asks to play with Parker every day, I have no idea what we are going to do when they move next year. They both have a crush on our neighbor Melissa, I think it might have something to do with her capri sun's

Weird Sensations

Last weekend I had some pretty intense heart burn that apparently can cause referred pain down your arms and made my hands numb. Unfortunately Christian was on a camp out with the scouts in our ward and I couldn't get a hold of him. Finally we were able to contact another leader who was with them to let Christian know I needed to talk to him.
One of the boys asked that leader what was wrong and he told them I was having "weird sensations down my arms"
and the scout asked "like when you go through puberty?"
I love the things scouts talk about and think.

I found this on my friends blog, and thought that the message was great. Hope you enjoy!

Top 12 Count Down To A Great Vacation

We loved the Ferris Wheel, and I didn't even use the barf bag
Benton and Christian enjoying the beach
Grandmom, Benton, and Grandad. He loved being with them!
Riley, Amelia, Benton, and Logan giving us a cheer!
Benton loved the rides but hated waiting in line, he would try and say "excuse me" to the people in front of him to try and get to the front of the line faster.
Disneyland is EXHAUSTING!
It was exhausting for everyone, but after a good night sleep we were ready to hit it again.

These are a few of the high lights from our trip with Christian's family.

12 plus hours to get to NewPort Beach, CA

11 really fun people to travel with. Grandmom, Grandad, Aaron, Stacy, Riley, Amelia, Logan, Alisa, Christian, Suzanne, and Benton. (We sure missed having Andrew with us)

10 bags of twizzlers, well maybe not quite that many but we sure ate a lot of licorice.

9 times that Benton hugged Logan and 9 times that Logan cried. Logan is only 3 months younger than Benton, but for some reason Benton kept calling him the baby and thought it was his responsibility to take care of the "baby."

8 dolphins we saw jumping in the ocean just off the beach. How cool!

7 fun days to enjoy waking up to the ocean view from our window

6 times that we went on Pirates of the Caribbean ride, due to Benton who now constantly is asking for more pirates. I think I know who he should be for Halloween.

5 different stops to "Sprinkles" a really yummy but pricey cupcake shop in NewPort. I am sure Alisa is going through withdrawals as we speak.

4 different pairs of glasses/contacts that we broke on the trip. Grandad's reading glasses, Alisa's glasses, Christian's sunglasses, and one of my contacts ripped leaving me blind for 3 days (note to self, always pack an extra pair of contacts when traveling!)

3 days of Disneyland. It was so fun to see Benton get so excited to see Mickey Mouse, even the pictures or balloons got him excited. Can't wait to take him again.

2 times that our adventurous boy fell in the water. The first time was in Downtown Disney where he was looking at the water fountain and fell in head first. He came out drenched and kept telling us how he fell in the water and got wet. You would think he might be more careful next time, but a few days later at the hotel he was looking in a pond with fish and fell in head first again. This time no tears, just him explaining "Benton fall, wet, swimming, wet." Good thing no injuries!

1 set of awesome grandparents that made it all possible, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!