You are never too old to play with Barbies

I wanted to update my blog but I had to share these first. This is what happens when your sister gets a hold of your camera...Thanks for the laughs Amber!!!

____________________________________________________________________

I have finally got the ambition to update my blog...


Alot has happened, some I have pictures for and some I don't. Shocking I know.


In the past couple of weeks it has been NON-STOP (well practically) working on our garden. This year we shared our garden's (yes gardenS) with Ben's grandparents. They had the room and the provided the seeds/plants and we do most of the rest. It is so fun to see our accomplishments, but it is alot of work. This weekend we picked over 20 lbs. of green beans and then snapped them and canned them. It was so much fun to work as a family. We had Shiela (Ben's aunt), both Grandparents, and me and Ben all working together...THANK YOU so much to you all for your help. In the end we canned 48 pints and 7 quarts of green beans. Can I get a woot woot!!


Then last weekend we decided to go to Ross Park in Pocatello. IT WAS A BLAST! Our kids had so much fun and it was like $14.00 for all of us. I think that is a pretty good deal for family entertainment! Here are some pics:

An attempt at a family Picture before Chris left for Alaska

This is on the plane to Mississippi..we got there and it was 111 degrees. HOT!

It has been a hard few weeks!

I haven't wrote anything lately because it doesn't seem like I have had anything good to write about....with one exception, Father's Day!

As a late tribute to my Sweet hubby and my Father's I want them to know how much I love them all!!!

My sweet husband is THE BEST Dad! He always is full of energy when mine is long gone, he is always looking out for us and is very selfless! He give up so much for our family. He is also such a great husband and is always there to listen to me complain, cry or just plain vent! I love him!!!

MY DAD:

He is such another great example of selflessness. He would do anything for his kids or grand kids. He is a great Grandpa and love us more than life and he shows it in all he does...I love my sweet dad. Another thing I love about my Dad is than he still calls my "Pumpkin", I love it!!! Sometimes I still get homesick for my dad!

My Father-in-law....another man who gives up so much for his kids! I love him as if I were one of his own! He is also one of the BEST story tellers I have ever met! He is so funny and fun to be around! I am so glad he is closer so my kids can get to know him better!!

So that is the good news.

Some of the sad times we have faced in the last few weeks:

On the 16th of June Ben's Grandpa was killed in a tractor accident in Mississippi. We flew there as a family and were part of the funeral. He was a funny little old man and it was sad that it happened right before Father's Day. We enjoyed being together as a family. We had some fun times together and some very sad moments together.

On the 5th of July my brother moved to Alaska. This was really sad for me because my family is really close and have never been away from each other. I will really miss him!! One of the saddest things is that he had to leave his best friend...his dog Coal behind. That makes me sad! We will miss you Bro!!

Then to top it off on Monday Ben's grandma had a heart attack and ended up being sent to Pocatello by ambulance. This was so scary for everyone because she is such a huge part of our lives! We need her! It was too close of a call and has made us all feel so blessed! She is home and is resting, and we are so glad.

My hero in all of this has got to be Ben's mom! She has picked up and moved away from Pennsylvania, where she left friends that were like sisters, she has attended her Father-in-laws funeral and has a mother in the hospital. This all has happened in the last 3 weeks. She is so Strong and such an inspiration to all of us!!! We love her!!!

Now that I have sat here and cried while I have typed this whole thing I think I will go watch InkHeart. I love the song "The Climb" it really has so many good points and is fitting in our family right now!!!

Happy Birthday Ben!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO BEN!!

His birthday was on Sunday and we celebrated by having a luncheon and presents after church. He is such a great husband and father!!! We gave him an iPod Touch and lots of clothes (he needed them). Family also gave him awesome things! He told me many times throughout the day that he was having the most wonderful day--I am so glad, he deserved it!
We love him and are thankful for all he does for us and all the things he sacrifices for me and our 2 babies! I hope to enjoy a lifetime of birthdays with Ben as we grow old together!!!

Today....

We went to the temple this morning and it was fun to sit in the Celestial Room and watch people at all different stages of life and to ponder on how far we have come so far and how far we still have to go. Life is good!

P.S. I did not take this picture, but I thought it was BEAUTIFUL!!

We keep going and going and going.....

WARNING...this is a long boring post. But great to keep as a journal since I am bad at writing in one.

We have been so busy. In the last 2 weeks we have spent both weekends away from our own home. On the night of the 14th Ben and I had just got the kids to bed and we were tired, not thinking straight and Ben walked up to me and said "What would you think about going to SLC tomorrow?" I was so excited and asked him if he was being serious...he was! So we made plans, arranged hotel stays and started packing-needless to say we didn't get to bed until after 1:00 am. The next morning around 7:15 we were off!!! We had SUCH A BLAST! We did so many things as a little family. My camera ran out of batteries on day 1 so I have limited pictures...so sad!

Some of the things we did are:

Day 1-Friday
--Toured the Conference Center-SO Beautiful!!! Loved it and want to go to a General Conference someday!
--Went to Gateway Mall, walked around and went to Costa Vida, Build-A-Bear (pictures below), Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory-caramel apples are YUMMO!!
--Went to the Discovery Center at the Gateway (pictures below)--long kinda boring for parents, but my kids loved it!
--We spent 45 + min looking for parking at PF Changs, but well worth it!!
--Went back to Embassy Suites to swim
Sometime during the day I went to a Ghetto part of SLC to Walmart. I seriously was one of the most scary experiences I have ever had! There were so many weird/scary people there I felt like I was a foreigner. SCARY!!
We were pooped by the end of the day but my kids went to bed great and all was well.

Day 2-Saturday
--Deseret Book
--Toured Temple Square. I haven't been since I was like 16 and I went with the YW in our ward. It was beautiful as usual. The only downfall was all the homeless people we saw, it was incredible. Made me feel sad for them.
--Made a quick stop at Primary's to visit my friend and I was happy to find out they weren't there, although I was disappointed to not see her!!
--The Zoo. Kinda disappointed because so many of the animals were sleeping. Dang nap time! Oh well the kids didn't know any different and they enjoyed it.
--We went to Rubios and back to Motel to relax. We rented a Paper view and had room service for dessert. I had Coconut Lime Creme brulee. YUMMO!

Day 3- Sunday
--Packed up ate breakfast and headed home.
Thank you to Sammi and Wade who watered our flowers and lawn while we were gone. THANK YOU, THANK YOU! What great neighbors we have! (Also P.S. thank you for not vandalizing our lawn in Yankee junk)

So this past Friday we headed off the Island Park to spend Memorial weekend. We stayed at my Grandma Johnson's cabin with my parents. It was so relaxing and we had so much fun. My parents make great hosts! We ate lots of yummy foods, played lots of card games, went fishing and I even managed to get a nap in on Sunday! Sadly I grabbed my camera but forgot the battery that died while in SLC. I hope we can do this again before the summer is over!!
Now we are at home once again for now and we are excited to greet Ben's family, as they will be here for good in 2 weeks- YEAH!!!!

New Scrapbook Pages

I have really slacked lately on my scrapbooking pages. I decided about a week ago that I need to get back into it or I would be VERY behind. I am proud that I have done a few pages since then even if they are somewhat thrown together. Here are some that I have done:

Mother's Day/Birthday

So this year was extraordinary...I got to celebrate Mother's Day and my birthday on the same day. My sweet husband and wonderful family and friends did so many fun things for me, thank you thank you!! Some of the things I got for my birthday and Mother's Day were:

--iPod Nano to take running or to just listen to around the house. Podcasts are a new thing to me and they are so much fun!

--A Human Body book. For one of my goals this year I wanted to learn something new.

--Hanging flowers

--The new LDS worldwide cookbook

--A new Lyn Gardner book

--Scentsy--YUM, love them!

--Beautiful picture of me and my parents

--A trip to Women's Conference (which meant ME TIME!)--it was SOO much fun!!!

They are all so much fun!!

Here are some random pictures I have taken lately...

Touching!

My 2 favorite Youtube clips..Gotta See!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=And0988vdC4


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2AwPVCfV4M

Time flys while you're having fun!

I haven't wrote about Emily's birthday yet, so....it was so much fun! We had a bowling party for her the weekend before with family and then had a little party at our house with just us on her actual b-day. She is getting so big, so smart, so grown-up so fast. She got SO many presents and was extra spoiled by her Grandparents and Aunts and Uncles!

Easter at our house was also so much fun! I decided this year (with the help of Elisa) that I would have the Easter Bunny visit our house on Saturday so we could concentrate more on the Savior on Sunday. I think it worked out great and will become a family tradition in our home. Here are some pictures of dying eggs with Emily, she had alot of fun.

Today I took some pictures of Emily and Caleb in their Easter outfuts. The weather eased up a little to get some great pictures of my little babies. I couldn't get a good picture of them together, I need help I guess!

I ABSOLUTLEY love my husband!

As I have said many times....Ben is such a wonderful daddy and husband! He is thoughtful and always considerate of what I need. Sometimes I think he knows what I need before I know what I need. Last night I was a little exhausted after getting home from the temple (this was at like 10:30 pm) and we had worked all day and I had been up most of the night with Caleb and not to mention had been at the doctor all morning with Caleb (who by the way weighs a whooping 21.8 lbs. and is almost 29 inches tall). So we got home and I told Ben we needed to make a trip to Idaho Falls and I thought it would be fun to bring his little sister with us. Instead Ben said "Why don't you and Courtney go alone and I will stay at home with the kids" I was so excited! This is just what I needed!

So today I got up and left around 10:30 and was gone until 4:30. Courtney and I had so much fun!!!!! We shopped and ate out (at TGI Friday and the waiter was a total dud!) We went to Kohls, Sam's, Target, Walgreens (3 of them) and Shoe Carnival...LOVED IT!!! Thanks Courtie!!!!!

I think Ben had fun too! He went to the store and the park. Had a picnic in our backyard, washed the windows and took care of the kids. What a great husband. He is pooped! And he even offered to put Caleb to sleep tonight. I love him and so glad that he is a wonderful man!!!

On a sad/happy note Emily is spending the night with Courtney tonight. I was planning on getting some things done, putting Caleb to sleep early and yet he is still wide eyed and bushy tailed.....I think he misses Emily too!!! :(