11 Grandchildren!

Here is all 11 grandchildren (from Gary and Margot) that stormed Great-Grandma's Phyllis' and Aunt Linda's house over Memorial Day weekend. The last time we were all together there were only 7 grandkids! We're still awaiting the arrival of #12 in July from Mommy Mindy!

Tracy Aviary

We went with Grandma Margot and Great-Grandma Phyllis to the Tracy Aviary in Salt Lake last week. Here is the highlight from last year with Garrett...


There is also a little carnival outside the aviary, and I think that was the high light this year. :)
Ben even got a turn on a Daddy ride. :) I kind of wanted to go to, but he wanted to go more, and someone had to stay with the kiddos. It's ok, I got to go on the Carousel!

Water and dirt

Here are a few pictures of the boys in the garden.
And, Richard had a water party at preschool and luckily Ben was able to go with him. What little kid doesn't love digging in mud and sliding on water slides?... Richard! he doesn't like getting dirty and he needed some coaxing to go down the kiddy slide with water on it! That makes me laugh since last summer we went to Seven Peaks Water Park a couple times a month and heloved it there! He did love the squirtbottles and digging in the sand!

Sunday at Great-Grandma's

On May 10th (which was Mother's Day and my birthday) we journeyed up to Grandma Phyllis' and Aunt Linda's house in Centerville. We go up every few weeks to visit, usually on Sundays. Looking all spiffy in our Hawaii getup. Ben's mother, Margot and sister Stephanie and her family were there for the afternoon also.

2009 garden

The garden this year includes dahlias, strawberry plants in between, one grape tomato plant, one beefmaster tomato, and 2 cucumber mounds. Since these pictures we have 6 cuc plants growing in each mountain, so that's really cool, plus blooms on many of the other plants. I love watching things grow! I also have hanging baskets with wave petunias...hopefully they'll 'cascade' over the edge and look all nifty.

Dinnertime not so fun time

So Ben works at night now, from 4pm until 9 or later. So it's up to me to make dinner, feed people, bathe people, put people to bed, nurse baby, change diapers, and make everyone happy, all by myself...not easy let me tell you! During dinner Spencer is much happier being up on the table with everyone else, so here we are at dinner, and tonight was a happy night because I made quesadillas served with peaches...Spencer makes bubbles when his nose is tickled, so when he's hungry. :)

Sidewalk chalk

We got out the sidewalk chalk and Ben and the boys traced their shadows. Richard posed really well, like a monster! Chalk is so much fun!

On Sunday I tried styling Garrett's hair. This poor little guy has two swirls in the back of his head, which makes all his hair stick out straight. So this is what it looked like by the end of the day...Someone did tell me once that two swirls means over-average intelligence...yes!


And...more of Spencer...he loves sucking on his hands, and he has to hold the one hand in his mouth with the other one! Very funny!

What? Snow?

This is what we woke up to this morning! Wow!
I was so glad it was a reading day today for BYU...meaning, Ben could take the boys outside while I relaxed inside with Spencer. Plus, I can't go out in the snow anyway with my cast.

So, this is my vehicle buried...


And this is Garrett's...

Introducing....

The newest addition to our family.
Our search for a minivan is finally over! We sold our 2006 Camry last week, and we've been working for several weeks to find a van that would suit our needs, (and pocketbook) and we have a winner! Love the color, the inside is very clean and we are getting some good work done on it by our good friend "Don the mechanic". He's taken good care of us. We've gone over to the dark side of being a Honda owner instead of Toyota...it is a 2002 Honda Odyssey. And see that black box on the ceiling?...it's a DVD player! Considering how old it is it's in great condition and has some neat goodies in it. I am excited to drive it...but that'll have to wait, as my right foot is still in a cast for 3 more weeks! Ha! Hmmm, the lighting from the rain makes it look kind of blue, huh? It's actually a dark gray with a slight blue tint. We have finally entered the world of minivan!!! Wahahahahahaha!I'm going to have to come up with a new hobby now, since looking for a van has been somewhat of an obsession lately!!! Some people do Facebook...I do ksl.com and craigslist...

Conference and beyond

The only picture I was able to get turned our fuzzy...sorry! I always think it's really neat when lot's of family get together, especially siblings! Here is Ben with brothers Daniel and Paul, and sister Sarah. Paul drove from Seattle for Conference and Daniel's family and Sarah live here in Provo. It was fun to have lunch together!
Richard is really getting the hang of reading, he gets frustrated easily, but he understands how to do it. Here he is with Ben and Spencer reading good ol' Dick and Jane. Lately Ben has been reading "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" as a bedtime story since his favorite movie as of late is the one that came out recently with Johnny Depp.

And, because I can't get enough of his cute chubbiness, here is some of Spencer. :) Looking solemn.

Looking smirky...


And loving Elmo!

My brand new foot...

After Spencer was born I started walking at the mall in the morning. My feet killed me! So I had bunion surgery on march 19th, and was anticipating not being able to walk for 6 weeks...but luckily the surgery went better than hoped for and I only had to stay off it for about 10 days. I lived in the living room for those 10 days, with a little crib next to the couch for the baby and I only crawled upstairs to take a bath. I didn't see my kitchen for those 10 days either...I guess it was somewhat workable since food kept emerging from within...Ben really is a good housekeeper when he needs to be. I am now in a walking cast and just have to stay off it as much as possible...which is darn near impossible with 3 little boys to take care...wait, 4 boys...I love being able to be up and moving around, and cleaning up my house!!! I would go crazy if I ever had to be on bedrest! Oh my! But now I have a lot of empathy for women who have to endure that.
Ben wrote "under construction"...I think it's funny. It doesn't really hurt anymore, just annoying. I'm so grateful for all the ladies who came to help me during that first week, including the cleaning, playing, meals and being company. Thank you so much!
The cast comes off in 3 more weeks, and then hopefully I'll be able to walk like a normal person. :) I'll probably have to wear orthodics for the rest of my life since I also have extremely flat feet, but oh well. At least it won't hurt anymore! We'll consider doing the other foot, but I'm sure not looking forward to it!
My Mom also got to come stay for a week on her spring break, so that was great too! She took the boys out to get them out of the house, provided meals and spent time with me!!! Thanks Mom!

Spencer pictures

Spencer is actually 'talking' in his own sweet way in these pictures. See him forming words? Ha...

And, "Dad, what are you doing?"He has also found his hands and loves to suck on them or clasp them together when he's getting upset...

Happy Birthday to Uncle Scott!

My brother Scott is on his mission in Ethiopia, Africa and recently turned 21, on march 8th actually. So here are Garrett and Richard wishing him a happy birthday. They helped make the sign. :)

Blessing Day

We blessed Spencer Evan in church on March 8th, so this is bit overdue, but here are some pictures from that morning. Grandpa Gary was with us for the day so that was special. We also had a lot of Ben's family over for a lunch afterward and that was a lot of fun. Thanks to everyone who came! We love being with our family!

Getting chunky!

Just a happy little guy! This picture was taken February 19th, he was 5 weeks old.


This was taken a week ago. Spencer is now 2 months and weights 11 pounds 6 ounces. Anyone for cooked baby?