Bennett Fam

My little Bro. . .

2010-01-19T10:27:00.000-08:00

All my Mother wanted for Christmas was senior pictures of my brother...so I begged and pleaded him to let me take his picture!! He did not want me to....or anyone to! But after weeks of annoying the heck out of him, on December 23, he agreed to let me take only a few! It was dusk and FREEZING COLD out! But for a not so into it model and bad weather, I thought they turned out okay!

This little guy...well he's not so little any more, it my favorite teenager on the planet! He and I have always been close! He slept in my bed until I was married!! I am so proud of him and I CAN NOT believe he is so old...wow! I love this guy!!

Tree Hunting...

2010-01-09T08:53:00.000-08:00

We go to the forest every year to get our Christmas tree!! And every year it makes for quit the adventure!! This year was no different!!

We went up a mountain, and Chris took us on some crazy hard hike to find...."our family tree"....it took almost an hour of walking to find the right one!!! Good thing Chris is so much fun and completely entertaining or this might not have been so much fun!! The kids had a blast! He let them help chop it down too! They also got little trees for their bedrooms!!

When we did make it back to the car, it was fun to play a little, and have a little hot coco! Chris got his Jeep this summer and this is it's first Christmas tree hunt with us! Chris was pretty excited to test it out in the snow...and even more excited after our handle gripping ride because it drives so well in the snow!! It really is and out doors guy kind of car...and that is why it fits my hunky husband so well!!

It was dark by time out tree hunting adventure of 09 was done!! It was lots of fun, I'm so grateful to live in such a beautiful place, were tree hunting is actually possible!!

Poor number 3....

2010-01-09T08:46:00.000-08:00

Sometime the holidays can just be exhausting!!

Especially if your child #3!!!

ALWAYS napp'en on the fly! ALWAYS a spectator at the Beenz show or the Mase show! Well today while getting her dressed I left her shirt on the ironing board...went to get it and came back to her like this!! It's was only 9:45 in the morning too!!!

Snowflakes. . .

2010-01-09T08:33:00.000-08:00

My little Beenz has become a pro snowflake maker! She got so into this this year! We have probably 100 snowflakes hanging ALL over the house! Plus we've given many to Nana, the neighbors, some friends, and her teacher at school! It was really fun!

Mase's were not ummm...as detailed. She tried to teach him how to fold the paper right, but it's pretty tricky!! So his were a little different than hers but...I told them, no two snowflakes are the same! After making their first 100 or so...they decided to spice them up with glitter! It makes the most beautiful snowflake, it what Beenz said...that is what I keep telling myself....since it's January and I'm still cleaning up glitter!!

But it did make our living room, and kitchen and bedrooms and bathrooms and playroom....all look so festive!!!

Gigner Bread Houses....

2010-01-09T08:11:00.000-08:00

This year we had 2 Gingerbread House making parties!!

One with the little ones, and one with older girls!

First the little kids, Mase, Moosee and 3 other little boys! They were all really into it at first! The boys were really interested in opening, looking through and sampling, all the candy! Mase surprised me and spent about 25 minutes on decorating his house! The other boys were out of there pretty quick once the decorating began! Moosee stayed the longest adding all her candy...and once hers was all gone she just started using everyones left overs!

Once she was done, I found myself and the other Mom's all sitting around decorating the houses! We had lots of fun laughing as our houses leaned to one side and some even collapsing!!!

The next little party was with 5 little girls! Wow...what a difference!!!

These little girls were all about the decorations!! Once the construction of the houses were done, they went to town!!! Trading candies, getting ideas from each other, it was adorable! They spent almost 2 HOURS decorating and chatting away! I LOVED it!!! My camera died and I did not get any shots of the girls...big bummer!! But again, me and the other moms just could not help but get in on the action! We had fun decorating and fixing falling house!!

This was such a fun Christmas thing to do! It's a must do again next year!!!

Polar Express. . .

2010-01-07T18:20:00.000-08:00

This year our family went on the Polar Express!!

Now, it was not quit like the movie...actually pretty far from it...but that did not stop us from having SO much fun! My children, my husband, myself, my nieces, and my older brother laughed so hard that I hard tears streaming down my cheeks, and my side hurt! I was really proud of us for....making it fun!! We could have been disappointed and thought the train ride was a little....maybe lame...but instead we were silly and made the night one of my greatest of all times!!!

I LOVED the Polar Express and with this group....would do it again in a heart beat!!!!!!!!!!

Santa...I want a BIG HOOJ (aka...huge) CHOO-WA-WA Goog (aka...dog) Then she puts her hand out...and waits...for the dog!

Oops! Should have explained this one a little better!

Mase...Can I please get some green army men...you know like on Toy Story the movie...and a race car track, thanks Santa!

Beenz...Hi Santa!!! So...this year I was really really really hoping to get a Rebecca American Girl doll. She's the new America Girl doll, she replaced Samantha because they put Samantha in the American Girl vault, but that's okay cause I have her...but anyway...I would also really really really like a pink DSI, now if I only get one or the other that's okay too, but I've been good this year! ...she says all this with a such animation, you'd think she was on a television show!!!!

Best Buds...

2010-01-07T18:05:00.000-08:00

These two are so cute! They are the best of buds! When Mase is at school Moosee will say...Mom we get Ma from school nooooow???...it's pretty cute!

Make Up. . .

2009-11-30T16:20:00.000-08:00

Last week Joy invited me to a "make up" party, and oh my gosh it was so fun!! I NEVER wear this much make up! But it was fun, to try new stuff and learn new ways of wearing make up!! Fun girls day!!

Halloween. . .

2009-11-21T19:06:00.000-08:00

This year for Halloween our family was the Peter Pan Crew! This was all Beenz idea because Moosee loves Tinker Bell so much! It turned out pretty cute and we all had fun with it!!I was Wendy. . . My goodness...that Captain Hook is handsome!!
aka...Christopher!
Beenz was Tiger Lily!
Mase was Peter Pan!!
and Mo was Tinker Bell!!!!
Playing games at the Ward Party!!

Trick-or-Treating with all the cousins!
We had a great Halloween, I can't believe it has already come and gone!!

Pumpkin Patch. . .

2009-11-04T10:38:00.000-08:00

Playing with the pumpkin sling shot! Funny thing is...right after I took this picture Chris stood up and the two little ones went flying on their bums!!

Moosee's is a Daddy's girls!!!!!

When Moosee's would get scared of something she would close her eyes like this!! So funny!!

Leave it to Beenz to find some kind of animal....this time it was a frog! He was her best friend all day and she was sad to leave it!!

So because of 2 soccer games a Saturday, a school carnival, a church activity, pta training and work....we had not made it to the pumpkin patch as a family yet...so on Halloween day, we decided to go! It was so much fun!! I am so glad we braved the foggy...almost raining weather! The kids had a blast!! Almost no one was there and everything was 1/2 price!

Slumber Party. . .

2009-10-20T09:40:00.000-07:00

Just recently Chris's sister and her husband and their little guy...who we call Bear...moved here and my kids love having them around!

Our husbands were both out of town Friday so we had a movie night, slumber party!! The kids had so much fun jumping on the air matress and Beenz!!

It's was great fun!!

Oh My Moose. . .

2009-10-20T09:31:00.000-07:00

Last week I was cleaning my bathroom...which was way over due for a cleaning...and Moose was playing in the playroom...or so I thought!!!

I come out to find her and this beautiful sight!

She is such a big girl, she got the paint out, got out a paper plate, poured the paint on the plate, got out a paper and a paint brush, put them all on the counter and then decided after her paper was all full she would jsut pain herself!!!!

Talk about Miss. Independent!!!

It's that time again. . .

2009-10-19T17:59:00.000-07:00

That time again...for crazyness!!

SOCCER SEASON!!!

But we love it!!

This is Mase's first year playing and Daddy is the coach! Mase loves that! We have the youngest most timid team out there but they are having fun!!

This is Beenz first year in U-10!

Holy competitive!!

Wow don't know that I was ready for it!

But again, she loves it! She has a the greatest U-10 coach, Uncle Joel and her 2 cousins are on her team so it's been a fun season!!

They have had a good season and it's fun to watch her play with the same girls and watch them all move up together!

All this soccer makes for a busy week!!

Mase's Turn. . .

2009-10-18T12:26:00.000-07:00

So 2 weeks after Beenz started school it was Mase's turn! Mase goes to such an awesome pre-school! He went to the same one last year, and it was a little painful! He was shy all year and I stayed with him most days but...this year...SO different!

He was like see ya Mom! I know what to do!

I was a little shocked...as were his pre-school teachers! Moose if course cried when we left...she wants to go to school so bad!!

When I went to pick him up he was as happy as can be! This year has been a dream compared to last year!

I am so grateful!!

(and I only cried a little)

Our Little...3 Grader...WHAT?!?

2009-09-09T18:38:00.001-07:00

This was the outfit she wore on her 2nd day of school! Nana took the girls shopping and they all 3 bought this matching outfit!!! They looked adorable!!!

Beenz was so super excited for her first day of 3rd grade!! I on the other hand can't seem to face the fact that she is really in 3rd grade!! I must have told 10 people that she was in 2nd! It just sounds so old...a 3rd grader...!!!!!!!

She was thrilled and picked out her outfit all by herself! I love her teacher this year, she was my 5th grade teacher...funny! But I loved her then!

Beenz was most excited that she got her own desk that actually opens!! I didn't cry at school and made it almost all the way home, when Chris said just think, next year Beenz will be in 4th grade, Mase in Kindergarten, and Moosee will be in preschool! Well that did it, the tears then started!!

Even Better Little Water Park. . .

2009-09-09T18:05:00.000-07:00

So my girl friend, who showed me the first little water park we went to, had heard of this other water park that was a blast! So my sister in law and I and 6 kids pack up and met my friend there! It was so much fun!! It's much bigger then the one we had went to the week before and it had some of the coolest play ground toys I've ever seen! I hear there are a few more hot days left this year...we would love to make it back here again!!!

Fun Little Water Park. . .

2009-09-05T08:03:00.000-07:00

Lasts week we met the cousins (all 18 of em) at this fun little water park! It's small and simple but the kids loved it!

We brought lunch and played in the water!!

Fun day!!!

LETTERBOXING. . .

2009-08-22T11:35:00.000-07:00

Everyday this week the kids and I have went letter boxing!! It has been so much fun and best of all...it's free!!! So if you've never done it...here is what you do...or at least how we do it!!

First you get a stamp that kind of describes you, or if your super talented carve one of your own...we would now like to try this our selves! You'll also need a notebook to stamp the stamp you find on and a ink pad! Once you've got all your stuff, get on line google Letter boxing and get some clues for a letter box near you, and your off!!

You follow the clues until you find the hidden box, in the "letter box' is a notebook, where you stamp your stamp and write a message if you'd like and then you take the stamp you've just found and stamp your book, we also write where we found it the date and maybe a few detail of the day!!!

This has become one of our favorite things to do this summer!! We've done it all over near our home and a couple different locations at the coast!! Beenz is the clue reader and Mase calls him, self Mr.Detective Man, Moosee is just happy to follow!!

We have visited so many different parks and done lots of little hikes that I would have never thought to do on my own, it's made the summer really interesting!!! We also like to sometimes take lunch and kind of make a day out of it!! Lots are really easy walks so if you've never done it try it!! I'm sure you'll love it!! We DO!!!

American Girls Place. . .

2009-08-15T10:15:00.000-07:00

Chris and I decided about a year and a half ago that we would challenge Beenz to read the whole Book of Mormon before she was 8 and got baptised! Kind of a big challenge I know, but we told her we would help her and that she could do it!

Well...3 months before she turned 8....she finished it!! She started when she was almost 7, we would read with her on Sundays and usually at least one other day of the week. But she read faithfully on her own lots!!! We were so proud of her!!! So for her reward, she got to pick something to do! Chris and I both knew this one was coming...she wanted to go to the American Girl Place in Southern Cali.

Chris had scout camp at the end of June and so it worked out perfect! Nana and I and all 3 kids packed up and went down! Nana stayed at the hotel with the little ones and Beenz and I had our whole day planned at the American Girl Place!

It was SO much FUN!!! I can't not even begin to explain how much fun we had! It was one of the BEST Mommy Moments I have had yet!!! She was so excited and thrilled to be there and the place is amazing!! We have read almost all of the girls books, and all of them are smart good girls. The kind of girls I want my girls reading about!!!

We stayed at an amazing hotel in Down Town, the pool was on the roof, great views, the kids loved this!!!

Beenz in front of the American Girls Place!!

Our day started off with a photo shoot, Beenz got her picture on the front of an American Girls Magazine! It's pretty cute!!

Next we headed to the Cafe for lunch! It was so adorable! All the food was not only delicious, it looked almost to cute to eat! I had set up a birthday party for 2, so when we got to our table it was decorated for the birthday girl!!!

Beenz loved her cake! It's so adorable!! Plus it was delicious! The little ones that stayed back with Nana were really excited when we brought them the left overs!!

We also got little party favors! They were all so fun!!

After lunch we had a doll hair lesson! Beenz does her dolls hair all the time so she was especially excited about this!!

Then it was time to SHOP!!!! So fun! She had saved money, along with birthday money! SOOOO many option, it was so hard to decided!!

We visited all the American Girls little rooms!!

Moosee and Mase and Nana met us at the end of our day and Moosee was in HEAVEN, with all the dolls!!

She even got her own Bitty Baby!!

Mase was not so thrilled to be there!!

But he cheered up when we went out and got to ride this little train!!

This is on the ground right in front of the front door to the American Girl Place and it says....

American Girl celebrates girls inner star~that little whisper inside that encourages her to stand tall, reach high, and dream big!!!

What a wonderful day it was!!!

the 3. . .

2009-08-15T10:11:00.000-07:00

.....these 3 kids are loved more then they could ever know....

Grandma & Grandpa Bennett. . .

2009-08-15T07:37:00.000-07:00

Every year that we have been married we have been so lucky to have a visit from Chris's parents! It is a LONG trip, and it's expensive and takes a bunch of preparation for them to get here....we are so grateful that they make this HUGE effort and come all the way here to our home every year!!! They are the world BEST long distance Grandparents ever!!! This year they were able to come out West for Beenz Baptism!

While they were here we did so many fun things. . .We went down town and looked at all the cool doors and had lunch!!Played lots of games. . .Celebrated Chirs's Birthday!!Watched Beenz tennis lessons!

Went to Wild Life Images...which was super fun! You drive through the animal park and get to see all sorts of different animal

...that is why Moosee is in the front seat on Chris's lap... At W.L.I.'s they also have a fun petting zoo. The kids loved this, Moosee loved the goats and kept saying...I need it mama, I take it home?! Pretty cute!! We also got to ride the little train ride, for free and Mase even got to help drive...pretty cool!! We went to the Lake for the day! Grandma and Grandpa were such good..fun sports and both took turns riding the tubes with the grand kids! I'm not sure that we will get Grandma on it again because as they were pulling her in she says....

"That was a little to much for Grandma!!!"

Who was driving the boat anyway.... The kids love to just to swim in the middle of the lake!! Of course Chris has to do back flips of the top of the boat rack!! He's crazy!! Moosee is OBSESSED with ears...why...no one knows! Once you get to ear massaging status with Moose, you know that she loves you dearly!! Cousin Logan became the favorite!!! She loves to rub you ear when she is tired! Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt Aubum all made it to this status!! We all went camping at the coast! It was the week of 109 temp.'s here so to get away to the 60's and 70's at the coast was nice! We took the kids to the play group and Grandpa and Chris, of course play all the goofy games...Chris always tries to get me to play them with him, but since he always wins it just not that fun anymore...so thank heavens his Dad was around to be his victim!Chris also started a game of tag on the play ground, with all us adults! The poor children that were actually trying to play on the play ground were scared by all these adults running full speed and yelling and laughing! We even got some of the kids there to join in! Of course every time Aunt Aubum got tagged she would go for Mase, the easiest prey!! It was alot of fun!!Moosee and Logan because the best little buds!! At our camp site they collected little pincones forever!!We played on the beach! It's was a beautiful day!!Swimming in the Ocean in Oregon is a sign of a true Oregonian!!!!We went and explored the tide pools!! They are so cool!!We ate Watermelon and Chris even made us a fire on the beach...that was fun!!We celebrated Beenz birthday and Grandma even treated the little birthday girl to her first pedi!!!We had Chris's and Beenz family birthday parties together!!!And most importantly they were here for Beenz baptism!! It was so special to have them there and to participate is such a special day in Beenz life!!!

This is what all the kids do the day they leave!! Mase hid in the coach and would not show his face!!! They cried and cried!!!

We love them so much and are so grateful for their visits!!!

Can't wait to see ya again!!!

The Coolest Birthday Party Ever. . .

2009-08-12T19:12:00.000-07:00

So...I asked Beenz what she wanted to do for her 8th Birthday...she could not decided, so I told her that I would plan it, give me a list of 10 girls and I would do the rest!

On my 8th birthday, my parents surprised me and had a limo come pick me and my friends up! So we decided to do the same for Beenz.

It was so easy and SO much fun!! We did it during the week and kind of early in the day, so the limo guy, gave us a great deal! Beenz and her 2 cousin were here playing and when the door bell rang Chris yelled for her to get it!

I snuck outside so I could film the reaction! It was great! The girls flipped! They were SO excited. After the limo picked us up, we went to pick up all her little girl friends. Beenz went to the door of each girls house, and they all were also SO excited! After picking up 11 girls, we drove to Medford for a pizza dinner!! Then back in the Limo for the drive home! On the way home, the girls had sparking cider and Beenz opened her presents!

They all had so much fun!! We rocked out to a little Taylor Swift, a little Hannah Montana, some High School Musical!!! Plus inside the limo is a disco ball and lazor lights!

It is amazing! Chris and the little kids and I road along, and had a fun time watching all the girls completely spazz out!! The limo dropped us all off at our house and the girls had cake and ice cream!!

Beenz said it was the best surprise and the best birthday ever!!! I love it!!!

Beenz Baptism. . .

2009-08-12T18:44:00.000-07:00

Beenz was baptised last week and what an amazing event it was. We were so lucky to have so many family members and close friends come and support her. Her Grandma and Grandpa Bennett came all the way from North Carolina to be there!

We let her pick who was going to do what for the program, and she choose Grandma Bennett and Uncle Joel to speak, they both did a really good job! We sang I am a Child of God, and Families Can be Together Forever.

Her and all her little cousins sang Jesus Came to John the Baptist...which was super cute, Heidi Ho, played the piano, Daddy Baptised her, and Pa confirmed her! I cried most of the evening, and was trying to hold in my "Ugly" cry....flipping out inside that my sweet, kind, smart, fun, little adorable baby girl is really 8 and getting baptised!! Scary how fast it goes!!

She was really grateful and felt very loved and supported!! It was a great night! Thank you to all that came and helped!! We are so grateful to live in such a great town with such great people!!

Lower Rouge. . .

2009-07-16T23:32:00.001-07:00

Wow what an adventure! Last week-end Chris and I hiked the lower Rouge trail! It was amazing! We started almost at the coast and hiked our way back to Graves Creek, or Merlin! It is about 45 miles! There is no rodes in once you start, so you have to carry all your supplies, food tent, clothes, soap...lots of stuff. My pack ended up weighing 27 pounds and Chris's weighed 50...ya he carried all the heavy stuff, tent, stove! But he was happy to do it! Chris has hiked this trail 3 times before and has really wanted me to go for a long time! I am so glad he convinced me! It was one of the best times we have ever had together!! The river is so beautiful! It is so untouched, so different from the upper Rouge!!

Our packs, his is a Mars and mine is a Venus! Kind of funny!!

Day one!

After our first day we hiked ten miles, set up camp and them, Chris tells me we are hiking again...up to this water slide! I was so scared to do it! The water was freezing, first you have to swim over to this rope ladder thing....I was kind of scared of all the stuff in the water so Chris carried me on his shoulders across...you climb this rope ladder thing, which is so much harder then is looks.....next you sit up here and stop the water for a minute, to give yourself a little push... ...then lay down real flat as you slide cause at the end the rock comes out at the top, if you sit up, you'll need stitches!!

It was so much fun!!! I did it twice!

This, is our stove, it's how we cooked all our meal!! We also had hot coco every morning and every night!! We'd be cold after swimming!!

Day 2...This sign was the half way point from were we started!!

We camped on beaches right next to the river 2 of the nights!! It was beautiful! We swam in the river twice a day...and in a couple streams along the the way!!! The streams and water fall are amazing!! Pictures don't do them justice!!
We also ate, any and all black berries we could find!! Yum!!

Day 3, despite all our efforts...changing socks mid-day, mole skin, I got huge blisters!!! A total of 13!! We ended up doing 18 miles day 3, our camp we were going to stop at...we missed and there is no where to stop on the trail...I was dead!!! But don't you love my cute hiking skirt, Chris got that for me, picked it out all by himself!!

People told me that I would hate my pack during this hike, I never had any problems with my pack, my upper body never even got sore...I did however hate my boots!!!!There are beautiful wild flowers every where on the trail!!!

This is how we got water, we pumped it from a stream ,with our water filter!! I was a little weirded out by this at first, but got over it pretty quick and it tasted, fresh and cold and delish!!

I am so grateful to have gone on this hike with my own personal Bear Grills!! This was such an amazing experience!!! I love you Christopher!!!

Moosee 2. . .

2009-07-16T23:22:00.000-07:00

Every year on my girls birthdays I take their picture in this dress that was my Grandmothers! My Grandmother made it! I love it, Moosee got board of her photo shoot pretty quick! But I'd say she looks pretty dang cute!!!

Mason 4. . .

2009-07-16T23:15:00.000-07:00

Every year on my kids birthday I take their picture, I take Mase's in the same white shirt of Chris's! It show how much they have grown from the year before and it has been so fun to look back at these pictures!! So here is Mase at 4!!

Sorry. . .

2009-07-16T22:51:00.000-07:00

So today my Mother in Law told me I get the Biggest Blog Loser of the year :( So I will try harder to keep up with my little "blog"!!! Sorry, favorite Mother in Law of mine!!!

But why Mom.....

2009-03-07T08:07:00.000-08:00

To say my children like dogs would be a huge understatement!!!!

All 3 of them LOVE dogs. This is the Bennett in them, because Chris's family are huge dog lovers!! But along with the Bennett love of dogs trait comes the Bennett curse....almost all of Chris's family are allergic, so far my children have not shown signs, but they are still young!! So since our Daddy is allergic and we can't ever have a dog, we do the next best thing...we visit the pet store on a regular basis!!! This week there were lots of puppies and it was fun!! The kids love the puppies! But it never fails, as soon as we get in the car, but why is Dad allergic??

Kansas City. . .

2009-03-07T07:13:00.000-08:00

The GP guys, SO entertaining!!!

The beautiful place setting at the award night!!

Our room....

Wow...so I NEVER EVER imagined that I would have loved 4 days away with no kids!!! But I DID!!!! Chris had a insurance conference in Kansas City, he has not been doing the insurance thing long and we had never been so I was not going to go!!! There was not way I was going to fly half way across the country with out at least, my baby. Well with lots pressure from fellow agents...mark!!!....and LOTS of reassurance from my mother...who is amazing and kept my children!!!...we went.

And it was SO MUCH FUN!!!! We left Wed. morning at 3:30am...I cried the whole way to the air port, I had major stress the whole flight, then when we got there, and check into our amazing hotel, I called my mother and the kids were eating donuts happy as could be.

I just relaxed and we had so much fun!!! The company took us to different placesevery night for dinner, and just spoiled us. Just to be with Chris, doing whatever was So much fun!!!!!

The last night they had a big awards dinner, all the agents from the whoel country that qualify are there.

As we were getting ready we got a call that the president of the company requested that we sit with him....we had no idea why but assumed this was some kind of big deal!

Some how I ended up sitting right next to him, and if you know my goofy husband at all, you will think this is hilarious, he wanted to document me sitting next to him, so he turned the flash off and tried to be all secret agent and take my picture, but no...Chris in NO secret agent....the president noticed....I felt like a RETARD...he said, ummmm...would you like a picture with me?? Oh....umm sure, I said as my face is turning red!!!! Good thing the lights were low!! I was so embarrassed, Chris also made me take the lady's magazine in the seat next to me in the plain who was sleeping, we laughed until we cried because she kept waking up, but all because he wanted a 5 dollar itunes coupon, I have to admit it was funny!!

Anyway, Chris won the award for New Agent of the Year! It's a big deal in the company and it was really exciting!! I am proud of him!!!

So I must say, I have been converted to a little va-ca with out the kids!!!

Some days I am sad that we are not in Kansas any more.....

Cheer Camp....

2009-03-07T07:06:00.000-08:00

Beenz loves Cheer Camp!! The High School Cheerleaders put on a week long camp and teach the girls a dance and cheer. Then they preform at half time for the Varsity Basketball game. She just loves it!

This year about half way through the performance she noticed her school teacher in the crowd and stopped dancing and just waved at her!!

She was so excited that she was there. But she still was so adorable!!

Fun to watch!!!

The J man...

2009-01-29T13:22:00.001-08:00

Funny grumpy face!!!!!!!!!

This is my brothers little boy...he is a nut, my bro asked me to take some pic's of him and what a challenge it was...he was bouncing all over the place!!! But he sure is cute!!!!

Enjoying a little sun. . .

2009-01-29T13:11:00.000-08:00

Moosee loves her baby doll!!!
Mase...sport'en the oh so stylish rain boots!!! His fav!!!

Moosee calls this little baby pack her pa pak....it was Beenz and now Mossee wants to wear it all the time...it's a lovely affair every time we have to take it off to get in the car seat!!!

Moosee lasted about 4 times around the church parking lot before she decided she wanted to push her baby around!!!

We have a little tiny bit of sun and I loved it!!! I was so grateful for the chance to be outside!!! I can't wait for more nice weather!!!!

Jesus Wants Mase For a Sunbeam....

2009-01-21T15:50:00.000-08:00

Wow...my little Mase is already a sunbeam....!!!!

He was really excited his first day of Primary!!! It's nice that he has 2 boy cousins in his class, and I am the teacher....again!!

Don't these boys look so cute with their scriptures and cute church clothes!! I love it!!!

Girls Night. . .

2009-01-13T20:13:00.000-08:00

Me and Jen, great friends since middle school!!! Jen and I were the only retards that would pose with this lovely guy!!

As she was standing there waiting for me to take her picture I pretended like I was trying to get my camera to work so she stood there posed like this while this huge group of people walked by, it was not until after I took the picture that she realized what I was doing!! Funny!!!

Me, Jen, Heidi, and Holly!!

Heidi says she is 19 weeks pregnant!! Ya right!! If only I could look so good pregnant!!!

Last weekend for my birthday these

girlee's and I went to dinner and a movie!!!

We had so much fun!! We laughed so hard and

talked so much that we almost

missed our movie!!!

I love girls night!!!

Thanks girls!!

yes...we did see twilight and no I'm not saying how many times that is for me!!!!

Just ONE....

2009-01-13T16:54:00.000-08:00

All I wanted was

just ONE picture...just ONE...

of all 3 of my kids...

in their Christmas outfits...smiling....is that to much to ask??

Why is that so hard??????

Family Hike...

2009-01-13T15:37:00.000-08:00

One of our most favorite family things to do is hike up the mountain in our back yard!! It is so fun!! The kids love it! Last week we had a really nice day, so we jumped on the chance to be out side!!! We hike about half way up the mountain, to the power towers, and ate lunch!! It is a beautiful view!!!! It is such a fun family activity!! I am so ready for more nice weather!!!

New Years. . .

2009-01-10T17:08:00.000-08:00

Every year...since I was born...our extended family gets together for New Years!! We all bring yummy food, and play games, and hang out waiting for the new year!!!!

This is some of the yummy food! Home made cheese ball..yum..home made taquitos...all sorts of home made dips...and I brought....

Si Casa chips and salsa....I got busy!!!

Us adults played a Uno Flash game the was SO HILARIOUS!!! You have to move super fast and it went on and on and on and on!!! We were laughing so hard and even better Joel was Losing!!!!
Here is what my super competitive brother looks like when he is losing to his little sister...and that is what my little brother looks like when he is making fun of Joel for losing to ME!!!

Chris ended up winning the game!!!

Then at the New Year...we all got outside and make noise.....

Chris is obsessed with the fire work lighting....

Moosee just wanted to stay with the dog...all night!!

and of course the Mid Night Kiss!!!

Merry Christmas...

2009-01-10T10:56:00.000-08:00

The kids all slept in the same room and came in to wake us up at 5:50 to open presents!!

Mase was a little excited about the Geo track train set Santa left him!!!
I LOVE Mase and Moosee's hair in this picture!!! They both always wake up with wild crazy hair!! Beenz read the American Girl Kit books this summer before the movie came out, then got the Kit doll for her birthday and all she wanted was Kit's tree house, thank you Santa...and his helpers!!Santa always leaves a ribbon tired to the kids stocking so they know what their presents are wrapped in! Beenz were red paper with red ribbon, Mase green paper with green ribbon, and Moose was red paper green ribbon!!! Oh and we went sledding with Destiny and Nate and their girls on the 23 and Beenz flew off her sled and on her face...that is why her face is scratched!!!! Lovely!!!Father son matching ties...Mase loves this!!

Moosee loves Mase rain boots that he had, and so she got her own matching ones with Beenz for Christmas and of course they were to SMALL...so she settled for wearing Mase's...for most of the day!!! Moosee's favorite gift from Nana and Pa!!! All the grandchildren...so excited...opening gifts at Nana and Pa's!!

Chris and I have found that playing the parent role at Christmas is SO much fun!! We LOVE it and get way into it!! Our children were so excited for Christmas and SO excited for Santa! It made this Christmas season especially fun!! We wonder how many more we will have when all the kids believe so much....I hope many more!!! What a great Christmas we had!!!!

Christmas Eve...

2009-01-10T10:45:00.000-08:00

Chris's parents live on the other side of the country so we always open presents from them on Christmas Eve! This year my adorable mother in law...who always has such good ideas....sent out a bunch of magazines to the kids for them to look through and circle stuff they liked and mail back to her so she had some ideas for Christmas. The kids LOVED this, and the circling got a little crazy!!

So here we are opening gifts from Grandma and Grandpa Bennett, on Christmas Eve! They loved all the gifts!! And so did Chris and I!! Thank you Grandma and Grandpa!!

Quick Trip Up North...

2009-01-04T17:07:00.000-08:00

The weekend before Christmas we made a quick trip up North, my adorable little nephew was having his first birthday and my brother and sister in law are moving across the country...which makes me sad...so we went up to visit them and say good bye!!!

On the way back we stopped off at some friend and were going to go out to dinner...ha ha ha...the kids were so crazy and just excited to be around each other, they were dancing and singing while we were waiting for a table...we decided to get it to go!!! B

ut it was so good to see every body!! I sure miss you guys!!!

Snow Days...

2008-12-31T16:56:00.001-08:00

It was dumping snow when we first got there and I was having such a hard time trying to get my camera to focus!!

Beenz and Spenc!!

Last week my cousin Heidi Ho...as I like to call her...and her 2 boys and my 3 little ones, and my mother decided to drive up the mountain near by to play in the snow, we got a little tiny bit at our house, but not enough to really play in!! So away we went, we did not go up so high, I started to slide a little and decided we had went up far enough!! There was still at least 8 inches of snow!! The kids had so much fun!! It's crazy how entertaining the snow is!!! All 5 kids were having a blast from the time we got there until the time we left. I love the snow, it is so beautiful and so peaceful, I wish is would snow here!!!!

Our Tree!!

2008-12-31T16:47:00.000-08:00

So when we got our Christmas tree home, it was a lot fuller and bigger then we realized up in the woods where is was next to enormous trees...and the branches are not so strong! The kids decorated and redecorated the tree as the ornaments fell off over and over, it was pretty funny! But with a little trimming and creativity on getting the ornaments to stay, it turned out to be a beautiful tree, and it stands right next to the fire place and looks so festive with all our stockings and the mantel all decorated! I really love our tree.....it's full of character!!!

Our little Down Town...

2008-12-31T16:32:00.000-08:00

The fam, in front of the sining Christmas Card!!

Mason and his little cousin Kyle, they are good buddies!!

Our little down town is so cute! It is always decorated so festive and I just love it!!! My kids love these big things, that they call the singing Christmas cards! Each one plays a Christmas song and kind of tells a little story. So for Family Night we got all bundled up, met our cousins got some Dutch Bro's hot coco (the milky way hot chocolate is delicious by the way!! it's like drinking a candy bar!!) and walked up and down 7th Street to see all the "singing Christmas cards"! It was freezing!! But fun!! The kids loved it, us 4 adults were exhausted by the end of it from chasing kids and keeping everyone out of the street, but defiantly worth it!! The kids loved it!! They are beautiful and kind of magical!!

Our Christmas Tree Adventure...

2008-12-30T08:14:00.001-08:00

Moosee, just tagg'en along!!

Nana was scared, for real, that we were going to see a bear! Chris told her this black moss was bear hair and for a while she believed it! It was hilarious!!!!!!

My mountain man!!

That tree...behind us...that was the one!!!

Beenz was just happy girl...like always!!

Mase is ready to cut down the tree...
This Christmas we decided, instead of pay 60 dollars for a tree from a lot like last year, we would go out in to the forest and cut down our own tree, for 5 dollars!

Wow!!! I had know idea that this would be so super fun!!! It was such a great day!

I was real nervous about it all and how the kids would do, but they did great!

We drove up to the top of a huge mountain, Beenz was not so happy about this part, she is SO scared of falling off the mountain, any time we drive somewhere like this she has a fit, it did not help that Nana came and is the same way!!

But once we got there it was BEAUTIFUL!!

It was sunny and the views were breath taking!!!

We started out looking for a beautiful Christmas tree and after over an hour I was ok with any tree! Big....small...thin, I didn't care!! Thank goodness it was not to much after this point that we found our tree! Mase, thought that he was pretty cool since he helped Chris saw it down and then give it the last big push to watch it fell to the ground!!

The kids had so much fun hiking through the woods, as did Chris and I!! It was just a really fun day, we will definitely do this again next year!!!

What do you do when the car breaks down....

2008-12-30T07:57:00.000-08:00

Chris and I took the kids out to look at Christmas lights, it was fun..or at least started off to be...

We got hot coco and looked at a couple houses and then....when we were watching the amazing house with the music that goes along with the lights, Chris pulled up to turn around and the car, which we call the Ford Subdivision...(it's a excursion) starts like screaming and stops...1/2 in the road 1/2 pulled off the road.

Chris is stressed by this, the kids are going crazy and the music from the house down the street is still blaring!! I could not help but laugh!

There was nothing we could do...it was 8 pm and so amongst all the craziness I decided to pull out my camera and document the night! Chris was not so thrilled about this. What is always funny to me is when the car breaks and people say...pop the hood, I'll look at the engine...So of course we did this and as we were looking I said...yup, looks like an engine!!!...come on we don't know anything about cars!! Thank goodness Chris has such a good sense of humor, it was not to long before he jumped in on the laughter, and not to much longer after that, that we were rescued!!

I am Thankful for Thanksgiving...

2008-12-30T07:43:00.000-08:00

This year we had such a nice kick back Thanksgiving!! Chris played quarterback in the annual turkey bowl that morning and was so sore the next week it was hilarious!! The kids and I made Pilgrim hat cookies and got all our Christmas stuff out and decorated the house!

Then came the Christmas lights....only 2 of the 12 strands we used last year work, me I think go buy new, Chris....no way he can get them to work...he thinks!

Well hours later of checking and chaining bulbs we then had 2 and 1/2 strands of lights working!! We have the icicles lights, that is a lot of lights per stand!!

We had to give up at that point to meet with the fam for dinner! We had a delicious dinner and it's always fun to eat with Chris who always comes up with some game, this year is was see if you can fit your mouth around the glass!! This became so funny at our table!

All in all a really good Thanksgiving, and I am grateful to have a day to set a side and be together!!

FINALLY!!!!

2008-11-22T10:51:00.001-08:00

This picture made me laugh for 20 minutes before the movie...had to be there...this guys is so funny!!!!
Some of the fam...waiting to see it!!!

I got to sit next to my own...Edward!!!My brother...being a dork...like usual!!!!

So last night was the night...we went to a private viewing of TWILIGHT!!!! If you don't know Chis and I are HUGE fans!! We read all the books out loud together....so fun! And have since read them again...together!

A friend of ours rented out the theater! It was so

fun to go with a bunch of fellow twi-hard fans!!! We had so much fun!!! Most of my family was there to and it was just super fun!

So the movie...I LOVED it....and I HATED it!!! Some of the character...just did not meet up to my standards!

Edward looked beautiful in some parts...like when they are first talking in Chemistry...then totally lame in others! The WORST part was when he had to suck the venom out of her! We actually broke into laughter at that point!

But Bella was fantastic!!!

And I did not have high expectations anyway....how could you possible make a movie as GOOD as that BOOK!

Chris and I both thought for the most part it was good. It did not ruin the book for me....or my take away all my characters...it was fun to see someones else take and I just loved being a part of the whole thing!!

And of course the

book was better!! But Duh!!!! It always is!

I'd see it again!!!

Thanks Shelly for getting it all together!!!

the FORCE was with us this Halloween. . .

2008-11-20T20:01:00.001-08:00

We tried to get a family picture with my camera set up on the car...what a joke!!!

The Kids Sorting out the good stuff and trading with each other!! They were so cute!!

We had such a fun Halloween!! The kids have really gotten into Star Wars as of late...and they decided that we should all be one of the characters for Halloween!!

It was so fun how much the kids got into! I love dressing up every year and I am so glad that Chris is not against it!! I just think it is so fun!! My costume was so funny!! Well the wig was...I do not look good with dark hair!!

On Halloween we met all the family at my Grandpas house and did quit a bit of Trick-or-Treating! The kids LOVED it!!! I can't believe how much candy they got!! I felt bad but seriously more than half went in the trash when they were not looking!!!

Carving Pumpkins with the J-gang!!!

2008-11-06T14:54:00.001-08:00

So we kind of started this tradition of carving pumpkins with one of our favorite families...which we like to refer to as the J-gang! We did this together for FHE a couple years ago...then they cheated on us last year...but have since then repented and we got together again this year!!!!

We had so much fun carving with them...and even better we watched a home movie of the last time we carved together! My goodness how our families have changed so quickly!! Thanks for the invite J-gang! We just love you guys and your lil family!!

Beenz Birthday. . .

2008-09-30T15:58:00.001-07:00

I realized the other day when one of my in laws asked to see pic's that I forgot to ever post anything about Beenz Birthday!

She decided that she wanted a American Girl Tea Party! She had 9 little girls over and they all brought their favorite doll!

I had so much fun with tissue paper...who'da thought. I made all the flowers that are hanging, and hats out of tissue paper...I think they turned out so cute!!!!

The girls painted little tea cups, for their dolls. . . .

They then played Tea Party Bingo...a little game I just made up.....

Then they had tea, we have a little Tea Shop down town and it has children's tea. So they each had their own bag. My mother and I hunted Good Will's for all the real china tea cups and saucers and even a tea pot. None of them match and they are all so cute! Even better I think the most expensive one was 2 dollars!!!!

Next the Girls had tea....which they loved...and lunch, they all got into it so much! They were quiet and acting all proper...super cute! Beenz had so much fun and it was so fun to watch! This is one of my favorite birthday's I've thrown.

The guests of Honor!

Thanks to all the little girls that came to the party!!!!

Beenz had a great birthday!!! I love this little girlee....she is my sweet darling girl!!!!!!!!

are YOU smarter than a 5th grader......cause I'm not!

2008-09-30T15:45:00.000-07:00

So one of the things I'm in charge of for PTA is the Birthday table. One day each month, we decorate a table in the cafeteria and anyone who had a birthday that month gets a cupcake and to sit at the totally awesome "birthday table"! Well I handed out the cupcake's and stuff this month. When the kids come to the cafeteria if they had a birthday that month, they have on a sticker that says Happy Birthday.

Well....today a 5th grade girl, told me she lost her sticker and that her birthday was yesterday....what would you do....say no you little fibb'er....or some thing?!?

Well I believed her, who would have the guts to lie to adult in 5th grade, well she did! She totally got me!

I saw her standing talking to her friends before she came over and I know she was saying watch I'll totally get a cupcake, and she did!!!

The cafeteria lady told me she did not think that it was her birthday and she went and check...NOPE...not until March!!!

They made her come say sorry and I'm so glad I ordered 2 extra....I would have NEVER tried something like that!!! Especially in 5th GRADE!!

Do you think you'd fall for it?

BUSY MAMA. . .

2008-09-17T16:08:00.002-07:00

I have been a little busy lately. . .I took on the VP PTA position this year at Beenz school, which is a bunch of new stuff for me, and it won't be so bad once I get stuff all set up and organized, but in the mean time, it's taking some time, plus with our fall schedule of 2nd grade, pre-school, soccer twice a week, piano, dance....yada yadaa it's been crazy around here! So last night, I was trying to finish some thing and thought that maybe my kids could put them selves in the tub and I could get just a few more minutes to finish out what I was working on....well they did put them selves in the tub and a whole bottle on Johnson's baby wash! They got in my jet tub which makes HUGE bubbles I should have known, the bubbles were seriously 3 feet higher then the tub!! They had a blast, and are very clean!!

Soccer is on. . .

2008-09-17T16:08:00.001-07:00

So soccer season has started once again! Beenz is loving it!! This season she is playing with almost all new girls! They are called the Blue Crush...cute name! The younger ones love going to practice, which is twice a week for an hour and the games on Saturday, they play none stop at the play ground! It's nice, it gets them all tired out and ready for bed!! I don't think were are going to have quit the season that we have last spring but it will be fun!! We DO have the BEST U8 coach out there though....Uncle Joel, he is awesome!!

Sisters. . .

2008-09-17T16:08:00.000-07:00

Is their anything as cute as matching siblings. . . .I just don't think so!!!

NOT again. . . .

2008-09-11T10:51:00.001-07:00

So yesterday was my little mans turn....he started preschool! He is doing an awesome preschool a the High School, I was so glad he got in, he's been on the waiting list since I was pregnant with him!!!!! I was in the program when I was in High School, I loved it, it was by far my favorite class, one of my most favorite teachers, Mrs. Bennett...is still there and her little ones are actually in Mase's class!!

He was so super excited, Beenz went the same school and so I'm not sure if he remembers but we've been talking about it lots and trying to get him ready. Well I think that he was ready but I was not. Again I was the ONLY mother crying her eyes out....ok so the full on UGLY cry.......AGAIN!! I did not think I would do that this time. It's 3 hours 4 days a week, come on, not so bad...right? But he just seems so little and this is just the start! The start of a whole new era in my little mans life!

He did great, I stayed for about 20 min.'s and got there 45 min. early and he had a blast. They focus on learning through play, which in my opinion...if you do it the right way like they do, takes a lot more time and creativity!! They sure pull in off, I love his preschool teachers too!

The kids get to do so much super fun stuff!!

I'm so grateful he is in such a good program!

But I miss him!!!

Will. . .

2008-09-05T08:50:00.000-07:00

Yesterday this Handsome guy left for Iraq! This is Chris's younger brother Will! He left his lovely wife and adorable boys to go serve our country....we are so proud of him!

Please keep him and all the men and women that sacrifice so much in your prayers!!!

We LOVE you WILL!!

1st day of school

2008-09-03T17:53:00.000-07:00

Beenz 1st day of school outfit....so cute!!!

These are just 3 of her 7 cousins that will all be at the same school...so awesome!!

These are her styl'en PE shoes...last year a girl had the same pair and they got them confused, so we made sure that would not happen this year!!!

What the heck....why do people always ask me if I'm excited for school to start...like I want to get time away from my kids....or like my life will become easier because of school......well NO!!! I don't like school starting....NO I don't like sending my little Beenz off to some one else for 6 hours a day and a big fat NO that my life will become easier!!!

Now that I got that out of the way...
Beenz started school Tuesday, she is a big 2nd grader now....wow!! She was super excited! She has a great teacher...I was so excited that she got her, she is young and super sweet and Beenz loves her! So I guess since she has to go to school, this is the best I could ask for!! You would think that by 2nd grade I would be done with the tears...but no!
Preschool and Kindergarten I bust into tears in the classroom, and not just tears but the full on ugly cry!!! 1st grade I made it out of the classroom and to the office before is started and this year not until we got in the car...so I'd say it is getting better! Who knows....maybe next year I will be excited for school to start.....doubtful!!!

Camping. . .

2008-09-03T08:56:00.001-07:00

My feet nearly froze every night.....I forgot socks, so that is why I am sport'en Chris's sock and shoes...styl'en I know!!

This last weekend Chris and I packed up Friday afternoon and took the kids camping at the coast.

We had so much fun! The kids had so much fun!!

We had a great little spot that was right off the beach. It was such nice weather, thank goodness, I was a little worried! My mother brought the other cousins over on Saturday just for the day, and the kids had lots of fun playing! We took long walks on the beach, found lots of really cool rocks, made smores, walked along down to the port and check out all the cool boats, got ice cream on the little pier, and just enjoyed being outside with a nice warm fire!!
We stayed 3 nights and enjoyed every bit of our laid back, chill camping trip! All the kids did great!

I did not want to come home and start....school!

What was I thinking. . .

2008-08-20T18:55:00.001-07:00

Today I went to the store and then had like 5 other things to run and do...all in the car, so while in the store Mase some how talked me into getting him some little chocolate donuts. Well out of desperation to entertain Moosee and keep the peace while I drove through the dry cleaners, I let Mase give her a donut....this is the result! She was perfectly quiet all right...so I guess mission accomplished....?

Idaho. . .

2008-08-20T18:37:00.001-07:00

So this last week we headed up to Idaho with my parents and My bro and his fam to go visit my Mother's Father...the kids call him Grandpa Cha-cha-lu! That really is not his name but since they can't say it that has just stuck, it's so funny!!

While we were there we went to this awesome water park!

It was so much fun!! Water Parks are such a blast!! The kids loved it, I don't think Mase stopped playing in the water except to go the bathroom and take about 3 bites of lunch! They were so tired at the end of the day!

It had a wave pool, which was so much fun! I'd have to say that I think that was one of the favorites!

It was great to get to see my Grandpa and Grandma and get to see some other family too! Why do vacations always go way to fast!!!

Primary Temple Trip...

2008-08-13T12:44:00.000-07:00

Me and Heidi Ho at the temple!

All the kids...trying to be still while waiting to go inside!

Every year our Primary takes a trip to the Temple. My kids think this is

so fun and "grown up"! They get to go in the waiting room and speak with the Temple President and learn things about the Temple. Today the Temple President also gave all of the kids a picture of the Temple. Then we go out across the parking lot and all the kids leave little Thank Yous on the wind shields of all the cars in the parking lot and then we have lunch. It is so fun to take all of them to the Temple, I'm so grateful we have such fun leaders in Primary!

Were Baaack. . .

2008-08-10T16:04:00.001-07:00

We had SO much fun at the beach!! It was great!! The weather was so nice, 88 degrees which is awesome for the Oregon coast! Our room was amazing, and we LOVED the book! We read it in our room, on the beach...for hours and we both got fried...and in the car and at the Smith river. We read the whole thing this week end and had so much fun with it...we kept trying to figure out what was going to happen!!

We LOVED the ending,

I don't think you could ask for better!!! What a fun time it is to be able to just be together! But one week end is good enough...we both missed the little ones so much and were ready to be with them again!!!

I say way to go Stephenie Meyers...we were NOT disappointed!!!

Train Park. . .

2008-08-07T09:27:00.001-07:00

My Couzins from Utah were in town and one of the fun things we did was go to this little Train Park in Medford. Mason was in heaven!!! As you can see him in his little conductor hat! He really wanted to drive the train! We rented the park for 2 hours and the kids got to ride over and over as many times as they want! Mason never got off! He loved it!! The rest of the kids really liked it too! Marlee even liked riding!

Death Prom. . .

2008-08-05T16:53:00.000-07:00

So Friday night...so fun! I met a bunch of fellow serious Twilight fans for a night out at the DEATH PROM!!! We all got dressed up and look pretty dang cute!! We had so much fun! We filed in the Excursion and drove to Medford, to Barns and Noble! They had games and food and stuff, and I must say I am still kicking my self for that ONE question...who likes Jasper anyway?
I played in the Twilight trivia game and lost by 1!!! One question, I don't know that I can really call myself a fan anymore...such a disappointment!!

Serious hard core Vampires right there!!!
check us out!

THIS is what I would like Edward to do to Bella....for the love...please!!!!

This is a group of THRILLED girlee's!!! So excited to get the book and, I have to say I was pretty excited to get my 9 inch plat form vinyl lace up, knee high boots off also, I kept saying, is is hot in here or is it just my vinyl boots??!

So I'm happy for all you reading it but...if I haven't told you Chris and I read them all together and so we are seriously obsessed together and I'm not kidding...it has been one of the most fun things we have ever done together! I had never read them or did not know what to expect when I started them and so it was so fun to get into it together! We went on a cruise in March and every night we put the kids to bed ordered cheese cake and read to each other! FUN!

I must also state for the record I am NOT in love or obsessed with Edward, I love the love story between Edward and Bella...I married to my own personal Edward...!!!!!

So we are not going to start reading until this Friday, we are going to the coast just him and I and staying in this awesome place right on the beach...and all we are going to do is read...well maybe that's not all, but we are so excited to go away together and be able to finish our little obsession!!!

Boat'en with the" J Gang"

2008-07-31T09:13:00.000-07:00

We took the boat out with the"J Gang."..as we like to call em...and had so much fun!

They are just a fun family! It's nice when every thing meshes well...!

So Matt was awesome on the wake board...I'm pretty sure that he might loose his hearing in one, but hey you have 2 right, it's all for big air!!! Gotta love it.

Also Matts adorable lil sis came along! My kids used to think I was cool when I wake boarded now, their like Mom how come you can't do it like that! Thanks Natt!!! My kids love her!!!

Chris of course wake boarded look'en like a pro....!!! He did tweak his neck pretty bad jumping the boo-wee the 2nd time!

It's started to dark so we had to break out the tubes!!

So fun! Our adorable husbands went on the monster tube with Berklee and Parker and they fell off like 5 times...the DADS that is! They were being so silly, jumping up and down, dancing to High School Musical...I think they were even standing on their heads at one point...crazy! We were laughing so hard!!!

So after they went, I forced Erica who was perfectly happy on the boat to ride with me, and Natt! Well after Natt and I pulled her off the tube and forced her to get wet...and then it took like 20 minutes for us all to get back on....we had a Crazy ride...thanks for that Chris! Poor Erica, of course the one who didn't really want to go in the first place....was the only one to go fly'en off...bout' 10 feet in the air...no big deal!! I don't know that her neck will ever be the same!

Matt took all the picture...lets just say maybe Matt should stick to Dentistry!!!!

So 3 injuries, a little Beasty Boys and Alvin and the Chipmunks, and one good time later our boating adventure came to an end!!!

So fun...lets'aaaaa go again soooon!!!

Happy Birthday My Love.....

2008-07-29T06:39:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday to the Man made for me!!!!

My Father knew what he was doing when he hand picked my husband!!! Chris is so super perfect for me it's funny! Today he is 31 so for his birthday here are 31 reason and/or memories of why I LOVE him so!!!!

.....IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER.....

1-He married me in the temple...of my choice...big bonus!!

2-He and I created the 3 things that make me happiest in life!!

Berklee...Mason...Marlee

3-He is FUNNY...!

4-He loves the Rouge Valley...that I love!

5-He loves and respects his Mother deeply!

6-He loves his children!

7-He wants to be better!

8-He loves the out doors! as do i!!

9-He and I LOVE the Twilight books...together...so fun!!

10-He and I can get lost in movie quote talk...I used to be left out when him and Mitch would go off on movie quotes..but now we can do this and it is so stink'en funny to only us who understand!! He and Mitch still leave me in the dust when they are together!

11-Inside jokes....we have a million, and they are all hilarious!

sum(seriously chris you need to come up with something better than that..I'm still waiting!!)...he smillee teeth so white...hey look at her hair...just to name a few!

12-He loves the Young Men and takes their success personally!

13-He loves North Carolina!!

14-He served a worthy mission...and looked dang good doing it :)!

15-He honors his priesthood!

16-He always supports me in all my crazy ideas!

17-He is UNSELFISH!!!

8-He does not complain about dinner...ever!

19-He makes me breakfast in bed on my Birthday!!..nice..

20-He is fun...which I'm realizing is not a quality lost of adults have...he is always the adult that is swimming and running and playing with the kids! FUN!

21-He loves Scouting...I am always joking that we need not fear, we have an "Eagle Scout" amongst us!! :)

22-We never fought building the house....that is now our home!!!

23-He stays up taking with me until the wee hours...I'm sure it's more for me than him but often we lay and laugh at nothing...and say over and over ok stop for real this time! i love it

24-He can find the good, when others get stressed or annoyed he picks up and pushes through and makes the best out of it! I try to be more like him in this way! It's a true talent!!

25-He goes along with and follows all my "parenting ideas"...family bed...anti spanking....thank you love!!

26-He has a personal and different relationship with each of our children...quality not quantity.....he gives them quality!

27-He has been super supportive during all my pregnancies, rub my feet, ignored my moodiness...most of the time...., way excited and way into my labors!! and let me just cry...lots...especially with the last one!

28-He loves the lower Rouge River trail and has such passion for it...makes any one who hears him talk about it love it too!

29-He handles what I call all the "man" stuff, taking to neighbors about fences or dealing with problem renters or a wrong bill....anything that has to do with confrontation...even if it's my deal, he'll help, gotta love a manlee man!!

30-He works hard for our team....week after week!!

31-We have great chemistry :)!!!

I LOVE YOU!!!

(your getting old!!!)

The Adventures the Erica and Stephanie. . .

2008-07-28T20:20:00.000-07:00

OK. . . so the last week both our husbands were at scout camp and I must say having a partner in crime sure made the week a lot easier to get through! So we took

our kids...7 all together...to the little water slide park in Ashland.

We had so much fun! I'm not kidding the day was seriously a disaster! We got a late start we got food on the way and it was a huge mess...but it was all so super fun!!

We laughed our butts off! The kids went down the slides over and over...we had to go with the little ones and then we went down to the lake and swam for a while, we were a sight to see with towels, a double stroller, an huge umbrella...which blew away down at the lake and we never really needed anyway, food, water bottles, snacks, bags, cameras, floats.....you name it, we had it!!!!

We were laughing so hard at our selves, it was pretty funny! The kids ended up having a great time together and even with all the obstacles we had fun! On the way home we were looking dang good too! Gotta love pink sparkle lip gloss!!! Seriously...it is Erica color!! To bad we did not get any pic's of that!!!!

Letter Boxing....

2008-07-28T17:38:00.000-07:00

Me and My sister in law and my little nieces and nephew and of course Nana went to the coast and tried out Letter Boxing for the first time...it was so fun! You get your self a stamp, some people carve their own but we just bought some, all the kids have there own and it's some thing they like! They you get a cute little notebook, a ink pad next and get a location off the Internet and your set! We found one in Bandon, but they are all over the place! The kids had so much fun with this! The girlee's especially! We printed off the directions, like a treasure hunt and the girls got way into it!

After we found our little letter box, we went to the beach and the kids had a blast! The water was super freezing but they did not care, they all got soaked! The ran in and out of the water for hours and then played in the sand for a few more hours! The beach is just heaven when your a kid! I must say I had a great time too!!

Letter

2008-07-28T17:35:00.000-07:00

Frogs. . .

2008-07-18T11:13:00.000-07:00

We have a seasonal pond in front of our house, it fills in the winter and then drains in the summer. Last summer we had

tuns of frogs, so at the begging of this summer Berklee and Mason went down the little pond and caught a bunch of tadpoles and we got a book on the life cycle of a frog and everyday the kids would check to see what was happening. It was such a fun little science experiment, we watch as the tadpoles got bigger and their legs grew and when their tails fell off! They were tiny little frogs, I've never seen a frog so tiny. Marlee tried to eat it when we put it in her hand! Nasty!! It was such a fun little thing to do with the kids!!

River fun!!

2008-07-16T13:24:00.000-07:00

We have the most awesome neighbors, we went out the to Applegate river with them 2 week ends ago and had so much fun!! The water was beautiful and it was super HOT out, so even though it was pretty cold it felt good! All the kids got right in, even Marlee was playing in it no big deal! Up a little ways is a little rapid so the Dads took the kids in inter tubes down it...it was lots of fun! There is also a rope swing that is a crazy jump, it hangs from a tree on a cliff that is like 20 feet up from the river and you have to hold on forever before you can let go so you don't hit the rocks, so my neighbor, Mike....does it just fine...but when it's Chris's turn he can't just go off the rope swing, nooooo....he climbs a tree like 10 more feet so it is the most dangerous it could possibly be!!! Of course he loved it!! I didn't get a pic because I was to nervous to look away!

THE 4th...

2008-07-14T15:35:00.000-07:00

Holly & I soaking wet...lovely!!

Seriously...I have a big mouth!!
This is the whole, Jessee 1, Jessee 2, Jessee 3, Bennett, Arnold, Huff, Stutz and Parker Gang!!

Love em!!

We have so much fun on the 4th of July...my parents and aunts and uncles all started the funnest traditions and I LOVE that we still do them!!

1st of all we played games and my cuz Heidi Ho's house! Balancing an egg on a spoon and water balloon toss, fun stuff!

Next it's time for the coolest Obstacle course ever! Ya right, my Dad used to do this and now some how Chris and I have taken it over and it's just not the same! But still fun...all the kids, that want to, run through the obstacle course, they have so much fun! It's fun to watch!

After the obstacle course we all head over to Nana and Pa's for a good old fashion BBQ and some swimming, well I was not planning originally on swimming...hennss the white shirt, but my couz was trying to push my little niece in, who I already had a bone to pick with for a soda throwing incident...So I thought I'd help Holly out, well my sweet big bro, pushed me in...NICE!! As my couz went to grab me a towel, her sweet little nephew pushed her in! So we both went in, in all our clothes! It actually kind of felt good...I'll get Joel back....soon!

But then we go right into the talent show! Berklee and the girls did a bubble gum dance and Mase and the little boyz did tumbling, Spencer did a magic show...all sorts of cute fun stuff, but the best was the Fluffy Bunny competition! Me, Tyler (heidi ho's husband) Joel, (my bro) and Chris (my hot hubby!!) were all in this little competition...you put a big marshmallow in your mouth and say Fluffy Bunny! You have to say it every time you put a new one in and who ever gets the most wins! Well Chris was out 1st...no surprise, I think he got 4...Joel was next with an impressive 8, and Tyler almost had me with 10, but I blew them out of the water with 12....I almost threw up! I don't really know that being the winner of Fluffy Bunny is something to be proud of, but is sure was funny! The kids also decorated their bikes and gave us a little parade while we waited for it to get dark! Berklee really gets into that!!

After the entertainment, it was time for fire works, I think we only had like 12 burns from sparklers...seriously, they are so dangerous! But the rest of the little show was fun, all the kids took turns lighting and had lots of fun with it! My Grandpa has been in charge of the show ever since I was born and he never fails to impress!!!

What a fun day...can't wait until the next 4th!!

SO FUN!!!

2008-07-02T18:57:00.001-07:00

The wait is over!! My little Beenz has been dieing to see this movie and it came out today...or the day I started this post that is!!!

yahooo! Kit Kitredge is am American Girl...Berklee and I read these books last summer! They are great! We are big American Girl Fans!! We love all the stories, they are all about smart, nice girls! They all face problems and work there way through them...they are great!

We had a little Premier Party in honor of the movie, the girls acted out a little mystery play, they had a blast and then went and saw the movie! It is such a good movie, I would see it again! Such a touching, sweet story!! I would definitely recommend it!!!

My Little Dancing Queen

2008-06-30T14:49:00.000-07:00

Berklee was just in her 4th dance concert! She loved it! This year she was in a Jazz/Hip Hop class! She was the youngest in the class but had lots of fun in it! They did their dance to a Cheetah Girls song. She was probably not the best dancer on stage but we thought she was by far the most fun to watch! She was smiling and you could tell she was having a blast up on the stage! Her favorite part of the night is when her old teacher surprised her and showed up to watch!!! Berklee was so excited!! She really misses Teacher Brynn!!!! We got to see her little girl also, who is adorable and chat for a little bit!! This picture of them is from 2 years ago at Beenz dance concert! I can't believe she's been in dance for 4 years already...pretty fun!!

CInderella Ballet....

2008-06-28T09:27:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday me and my girls decided to have a girls

and night and went to dinner and to see the Cinderella Ballet. We were so excited to see all these fun, adorable girls there! The play was adorable my girls loved it! It's so fun to take a little girls night some times!!

Now I think I need a big girls night....!

Girl Time...

2008-06-27T10:29:00.000-07:00

All in all we had a really good time, just the girls. It just seemed to be real laid back...left overs for dinner, last minute trips to the park, things like that! We did so much in the couple days the guys were gone, it was lots of fun! We laughed a tun and just enjoyed being together! We went to 2 parks, had picnics at both, went to a movie, went to Wild Life Images...which was really fun by the way....went to a tea party, played games, and did a little shopping! I was grateful for this time to get to know my adorable little nephew Logan better(who I hope to see again soon) and for my kids to get to hang with Grandma, it was fun!! Maybe we should send the guys aways for a couple days every time! By the was Grandma...I'm still finding popcorn in interesting places...?....and Aubum....I don't know that I have ever seen a movie so stinck'en funny!!

Love you Girlees!!

Tea for 7....kind of!

2008-06-27T09:52:00.000-07:00

There is this adorable little Tea Party place called Eve's Garden...It is super cute! I've been before and was so excited to take all the girls there! They have a huge dress up room full of hats and dresses and jewelry and gloves...so much fun stuff! Well I'm sad to say that I did not get one picture of all of us dressed up!!

The day before this I got 2 wisdom teeth removed, I woke up that morning in so much pain and took 2 vicodin...yuck!!! I have never taken that before and come to find out ...it does NOT like me!!! I got so sick, in the middle of our tea party I could feel the nasty coming up in my throat and started stripping off my dress ups and SPRINTED to the parking lot barley making it in time and threw up all over , I was so sick I spent most of the time sleeping in the car and throwing up in the parking lot a couple more times! I was so bummed to miss it, but glad that every body had a good time!! I'd have to say my mother's get up, wins the prize, I wish I had a better picture of her hat....so funny!!!!

Boyz HIKE!

2008-06-27T09:28:00.000-07:00

Thursday of the week with the in laws, the boys left to hike the lower Rouge River, the girls stayed home and missed these handsome guys!! I don't know about the rest of them but Chris loved it!! He loves this hike, he thinks it's beautiful!! I'm so proud of them, not only did they hike 40 miles but they carried 50 pound packs!! I could barley carry Chris's in from the car!! Boys are strong!!

The Hellgate...

2008-06-27T09:06:00.000-07:00

How fun is the Hellgate jet boat trip....!!! I think it's one of the most fun things to do in GP!! We took my mother and father in law, who we've taken one time before and also my sister and brother in law and their 4 month old little Logan...who Mason calls his friend Ogan...they had never been before! We had so much fun, the ride is awesome and beautiful! We did the dinner trip, we rode down the river had dinner and then rode back! The kids did real good, Marlee and Mason slept most the way down, on the way back we thought our boat driver was going to throw Mason off, he put rocks in his pockets at dinner and while we were driving...pretty fast....Mason throw them over board!! They made such a loud clank as they hit the side of the boat!!!

We got to see some fun wild life and had great weather!!

2008-06-21T17:08:00.000-07:00

Ok, Pocahontas....I took your little quiz
and I am definitely cooler than you (haha!)!! I'm Aurora!!!

2008-06-21T16:00:00.001-07:00

Welcome Bennett's!!!

2008-06-21T15:22:00.000-07:00

Last week Chris's family came to visit. His parents flew out all the way from North Carolina, and his sister and her husband and their adorable little baby boy, drove down from Madras OR. We were so excited to have all of them! What a fun and quick

week it was! They all arrived on Saturday and then Thursday the boys all left for a hike down the lower Rouge, while the girls had fun just hang'en out! We went and picked up the boys

Sunday after sacrament and they all left later that day.

We are always so excited to have them come and so sad to see them go!!!

It's crazy how fast time goes while they are here! The kids have been counting down the days for months, I can't believe it's come and gone!

Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for once again making the long journey out west! You guys are troopers! We miss you lots already, and can't wait until we can see you again!!!

I going to put a few posts about some of the stuff we did while they

were here...really fun stuff!!

Love'en Summer!!

2008-06-21T14:36:00.000-07:00

I just love summer!!

We have been having so much fun...the kids sleep in, we've been doing crafts, going on walks, just doing whatever...when ever and I LOVE it!!

Most of all we love swimming!

Nana and Pa have a pool and the kids have a blast in it!! My mom set up this little pool this year and it has been a huge hit with our little Moosee!! (aka marlee)

Keep bringing on the Sunshine!!

Fun Summer Craft..

2008-06-21T13:26:00.000-07:00

Berklee, Mason and I made these fun little Bird Feeders, a little messy but fun!

1st, you find some pin cones

2nd, cover then with peanut butter

3rd, roll them in bird seed and cover all the peanut butter

4th, attach string and hang them in a tree!

We used bright green string so we could find them easily! The kids had so much fun doing this and we have seen lots of birds on our little feeders! FUN!!

PINK PAIN...UNDEFEATED LIVES HERE!!!!

2008-06-17T15:47:00.000-07:00

Beenz GOAL!!!

So Berklee is on a U-8 soccer team called the PINK PAIN..

(i wanted them to be the pink ladies, but since the are 6, 7 and 8 they didn't get it and were not interested!) Well they have the GREATEST U-8 soccer coach out there...UNCLE JOEL!!!

He is so AWESOME with these girls, and it's not just

because he is my brother...he really is GREAT!! He had all the girls last name put on the back of their uniforms...they looked so cool, it's such a Joel thing to do!! In the spring the same 9 girls were together so it was a super fun group of girls that all know each other well and had such a fun season! These girls are GOOD! They are the only U-8 team I saw who's coach could yell out 1,2 or 3 and they knew right were to go! They played 9 game and

WON EVERY SINGLE ONE!

My little Beenz is not the fastest girl on the field...but has

become a pretty dang good little defender! It has been so fun to watch her the last couple of years start to understand and get better at the game! So, last fall was her first time in a league were they keep score....real soccer, and she did not make one goal all season!

She was bummed, so this spring she kept saying,

"If I could just make one goal...at least one!"

Well you'd NEVER believe it, I'm not kidding, it was straight out of an after school special movie...The very end of the last game, Alyssa (my niece) passes

to Berklee and sure enough she

SCORES!!!!!!

It was so cute, she went crazy and her whole team knew how bad she wanted to score and were running up to her...handing out high 5's, so cute! I'm the lamest "soccer mom" ever I was seriously tearing up!!! Coach Joel told the girls they could have a slumber party

at his house if they were UNDEFEATED, they were super excited! Chris and I made a slide show of all the girls this year and it turned out really cute...the girls loved it!! This was Berklee's 1st time spending the night any where but Nana's! I was pretty nervous, but she had fun! What a great season, I hope next season, is just as good!!

We love our little soccer player!!

Bennett Boyz do a 4 day 40 miler ~

2008-06-17T10:56:00.000-07:00

Enjoy~

Who Da Thought

2008-06-02T16:33:00.000-07:00

Today while I was trying to get ready...(trying being the key word there!)
Mason and Marlee were playing outside my bedroom,
I heard her laughing so
hard and looked out to find this adorable sight!
How cute is Mason!
He was pushing her back and forth...surprisingly gentle I might add...and she was cracking up!! Sometime there are huge benefits to having a 2 year spread!
He is such a good Big Bro to her, very protective!
It's pretty cute!

Bikerzz

2008-05-30T11:09:00.000-07:00

What fun! This week end we all rode our bike to the boat-nik down here in lil of GP, we caught the end of the parade and went to the little carnival! There we 7 adults 5 kids and 1 infant what a sight!

We could have been in the parade!! Berklee of course crashed...my fault really...but being the super kid she is jumped up and did not shed a tear, got back on her bike and kept on going! We had so much fun riding our bike this week end!

Our family ROCKS!!

BIG WEEK END 4 BEENZ

2008-05-30T10:55:00.000-07:00

Berklee has wanted to cut her hair for awhile now...I have not wanted to,

I just like to be able to do it! and it's just so cute! Well she talked me into it...and I guess it is her hair after all! So I cut her hair...kind of scary don't look to close, it's not to even! But she was right it is ADORABLE...I love it! She look so cute!

After all the hair cutting, at church she was wiggling her tooth during sacrament, and it really needed to come out, it was so loose that she really looked like a snaggle tooth when she would talk, so Chris said let me wiggle it and pulled it right out, you can imagine how reverent our bench was!! She was so excited! I think she looks so cute and big with her front teeth missing!! What a big girl!

Marlee is 1.....

2008-05-30T09:45:00.001-07:00

Wow, it's crazy how fast time passes, I feel old every time I say that and I find myself saying that a lot lately! It really feels as if time just goes so faster and faster and I don't like it!

Marlee was my hardest pregnancy by far! I had never been sick with the other 2 and got so sick with her! The worst part is I would wake up every single night between 12 and 1 and start throwing up! Sometimes 2 times sometimes 8....yuck! So I was so tired during the day! Just yuck, then we started building our house, trying to rent our old house ( can I just say Nightmare!) and I got in a car accident and started bleeding, anyway, it was a hard time! So I thought for sure she was going to be a hard baby!

Thank Goodness I was wrong! She has been my easiest!! She is so happy! So much fun, So easy going! The poor thing is always napping on the fly, going to dance and soccer and piano and play dates and school plays! She is known by all the kids at Berklee's school, I volunteer there and she always comes along in her front pouch, so kids are always walking by and saying hi Marlee and Chris goes...do we know them?

So this last Monday she turned 1! We had the fam over

and had a little party for her! I made her little princess cake and had a little to much fun with it, she opened some presents, with the help of her sibling of course, and picked at her cake! She got into it a little bit, but not he dive in I was hoping for!

She is such a sweet good girl and we are so grateful that we could be blessed to have her come to our family!!

First Birthdays are so fun! It makes me sad it has come and gone already!!

Funny Turkey!!

2008-05-27T12:31:00.000-07:00

So we have tuns, seriously tuns of wild turkeys that rome all

around our house!!! We see about 25 a day!

They are so funny, and they can actually run pretty fast, so the other day

this retarded turkey caught his reflection in the car and was fluffing his feathers and making his loud gobbing sound and pecking at his self in the car for..........2 hours!!! We were laughing so hard! Mason stood in the window and

was cracking up!! I think is would have stayed longer if Mase didn't run

after it! It pooped all over the drive way, they get annoying! I can't believe some talented

hunter has not taken out at least the lame one...(hint hint, Emment:)!!)

Anytime you want to come back and try again I'd

love to see the outfit and get up again!!!...FUNNY!!

Happy Mothers Day to me!!

2008-05-27T12:10:00.000-07:00

So I know this is old news but I've been busy! So for Mothers Day Chris and the kids.....got me this Venus backpack from REI and a matching sleeping bag! Kind of a funny gift,

but I love it!

We have always loved to hike together but the last 2 summers have been taken up with Marlee.

First I was prego and sick...yuck!...and then she was a new born!

We have never hiked over night together though, so this should be a new adventure, we are planning a one night-er this summer, we'll hike in 7 miles camp and them back out the next day! Not to bad....just the 2 of us!

Should be fun!

Matching...

2008-05-27T08:40:00.000-07:00

So here are my cute girls..matching again! I love doing this, who knew it was so much fun!! I'm so glad Berklee is into it!!!