I'll just have a sugar packet or two

It seems to be about 2 days is all I can go without sugar. I've been trying to be diligent about being good, but it's 1 am and I have eaten half a sack of licorice and 4 graham crackers.

Kev finally got home in the middle of the night last night. I wasn't expecting him back that soon and I was so happy that he was home. However, no deer.

I took Mad to get her first set of shots yesterday and we've been paying for it all evening. I was over at mom and dads and Clo was off the hizzy crazy hyper and Mad was screaming so hard she couldn't even calm down enough to nurse. I was bawling and basically ensuring that my sister never wanted to have children. Ever. Mom finally just took Maddie, while dad scooted Clo into the other room. Mom heated up some wet washcloths in a ziplock and put them on both of Maddies thighs. Poor baby. However dad told me how patient I was with the girls (which absolutely made my night considering I feel like Mommy Dearest half of the time) and Maddie finally fell asleep, so I didn't end up going crazy.

Anyway that's all. Talk to you all later. Leash

Randomness nonsense Lydia

Hello I'm not dead, I feel so bad I just have so much going on right now in my life I just don't get a chance to blog! I wish I had witty things to blog about, but I just don't have that many funny things to say.
Living out is getting better everyday, it's so great to have Jordan as a roomy, I hardly ever see him but when I do, it's well worth my time! We have a small deal worked out that he turns off the light when he leaves for work at night after I've fallen asleep. Like my older sister I get scared, only because I thought it would be a good idea to watch the ring 2, yeah not so smart. So together Jordan and I are slowly getting back to me sleeping with the lights off! Moving on the other night we were both starving and he let me have some beans- like bacon and beans and we had cheese quesadillas. So so good I felt like a cowboy or something.
Tonight I'm just at the U with my friend and it's well on it's way to getting close to 1 in the am I've been here formatting my ipizzle! Early this evening we wanted doughnuts so we thought it would be a good idea to got dumpster doughnut hunting so we did, and we came close a couple of times to find or so we though “safe” ones in telling no garbage on it! I got out at this one place that was making them for the next morning and they didn't see us I was all but in the actual dumpster when a gentleman came out to see what was going on! So what does Carly, Chels and my other roommates do but drive off! So here I am trying to explain what's going on and all he does is go back inside to bring out two dozens for me and the car that is now half way down the street! It was classic. Anyways that's all for now I'm trying to proof read some of this and it's just making me made cause half of it isn't making any sense, and flowing as well as I thought so I'm giving up! Oh and p.s. the other night I went and saw (well after this show) one of my top 3 favorite bands ever Pretty Girls Make Graves I highly recommend them to any and all. They were amazing in concert if you've ever heard of the Murder City Devils it's the guitarist from them after splitting up new band. Awesome anyhow blog ya later!
Oh and p.s.s. you should all go and see Corpse Bride it blows Nightmare Before Christmas out of the water if you can believe that can happen!
Lets think I think that's all I have that's been that fun and exciting in my life to mention! Love you all Lydia

To pierce or not to pierce

I realize I probably sound like a huge weenie compared to those of you who really stay by yourself, but let me clue you in. I am a huge weenie. The other night I fell asleep all sweaty and gross from working out. I woke up at 3 and decided to shower. I was in our shower, no more than 15 feet from Kevin, and I was freaked out of my mind. I had to sing I am a Child of God so I could finish washing my hair. True story. I don't know what my deal is.

Anyway Jess, the girls and I just got back from the mall. I make a pilgrimage there a couple times a year and was surprised to find jeans at Vanity that were too long. I immediately bought them. I was in need of a pair ever since I took a spill down mom and dad's stairs the other day and ripped the butt on my Silvers. Anyway, I had never been so happy. It must have been due to that delirium that I decided it would be a good idea to try and get Clo's ears pierced. She seemed ok with the idea, so we went for it. I expressed my fear that she might freak and want to leave when they told me I had to pay first. I'm sure you can see where this one is going. They got the dots on her ears and we have the earrings sitting here in a bag. They said we can come back anytime. I'm thinking we'll either have to wait a year, or sedate her. She freaked. We bribed, begged and pleaded, but to no avail. Oh well.

Anyway, that's it."Had I been blogging from the toilet, I might have been killed." I could barely get that one out I'm laughing so hard. Possibly my best blog quote. Leash

chels

Hello everyone! It's been a while. I never post, but I always read. Everyone sounds really good.

This week has flown by! I cannot believe that tomorrow is Friday. I slept over at my Mom's Sunday night to Monday. It was a lot of fun, I ended up taking work off and Ash and Linds stayed home from school. We went to lunch and hung out. My office seriously hates me, I'm getting monitered closer and closer everyday. It's awesome. I'm right there with ya Jess, how did your interview go? I really need to start putting my resume out.

Ashley got her driver's liscense last week on her Birthday. She's already caught on that gas is very expensive. I haven't even gotten a ride in her car yet. She's pretty funny. I guess she called my Mom because "her windows were all foggy and they wouldn't stop." She explained that she had tried the windshield wipers and everything. She's pretty crazy.

Lindsey had a softball game last night with her competition team. She does really well and it is seriously the highlight of my week. It's starting to get cold though but I think we'll be okay. She goes to St. George the beginning of November. I'm super excited.

Cortney is just hanging out, sorry...she's not too exciting. Niether am I.

Mindi, are you excited for The OC tonight? Like I cannot even explain how ready I am to just take it all in. I'm so over fighting it. I'm gonna be honest, I LOVE THE OC! ha ha :)

Well, nothing else is going on with me. I have a long awaited nail appointment on Saturday. That's going to be great. See why I don't post? Real boring.

Love ya,
Chels

Happy Birthday Cameron!

Happy Birthday Cameron. I hope you have a wonderful day! It was good to hear from you again. Thank you for your post, I love that scripture. I like to tell Mike he has to cleave to me.

Alicia, I'm confused. How does having an adult man and woman two flights of stairs away count as sleeping in your house alone? Alone is mom and dad leaving for two weeks and being in their huge dark house, in the basement, with no curtains on the windows, near the woods, and not even having my dog anymore. But I'm proud of you none the less.

Mom is yelling at me because I'm supposed to be loading a CD of pictures for you AND making Sadie a peanut butter and honey sandwhich for lunch. So I'll write more later. I blog you all very much. Blog, me

Crabbs

Ok so it has been a little while. We are totally settled in the new house and are ready for visitors and all. We have been enjoying a lot of family time the last couple weeks and next week the work will start all over again as we attempt to start a yard.
I have been thinking a lot about families lately. I am really greatful for all the time I get to spend with Monica and the girls. Thank you to Brooke and Mike for sacrificing so much so that I have that in my life.

"The savior of the world, Jesus Christ, said those who would be part of His Church: 'Be one; andi if ye are not one ye are not mine' (D&C 38:27). And at the creation of man and woman, unity for them in marriage was not given as hope, it was a command! 'Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh' (Gen. 2:24). Our Heavenly Father wants our hearts to be knit together. That union in love is not simply and ideal. It is a necessity." (Elder Henry B. Eyring, "That We May Be One," Ensign, May 1988, 66)

Well that pretty much sums it up. I will blog again later.

Retarded

MindI. You know as I wrote it, it didn't feel right. For the love of Pete I know how to spell your name, I was just so preoccupied with the fact that maybe you were mad at me that I was concentrating on how I could word my apology. I'm sorry. That's the worst when someone misspells your name. It's like, don't you have enough consideration to know how to spell my bloomin name? Sorry again.

Well I survived another night alone. I rented Monster In-Law because I knew Kev wouldn't watch it with me, but now he has to. I was laughing my head off in some parts. I don't know why I liked it, maybe it was because of my great love for the oh so patriotic Jane Fonda.

Clo and I are off to work out. She's quite talented at standing on top of my step, right directly in my way and dropping my weights on her toes. Can't wait to start.
Leash

ColoradoBennett-needless worry

Alica, baaah, no offense taken about the gut-less wonder comment. My grandma uses that phrase all the time. I am, however, very hurt that you spelled my name wrong. Haha. So is little Kev off on the big hunt or something? I also join you in hatred for husbandless nights, it's downright scary. Mine is home tonight, bravely protecting his family while watching "The Jon Stewart Show". So I'm off for a good night's rest.
Blogoholics Anonymous--Lydia, Chelsea, Cameron, Mike, Geof. and Cory: DON'T FALL OFF THE WAGON!
Happy Happy Birthday, Cameron (by the time you read this it will probably be your b-day or later)

I guess I've arrived

Well I did it. After twenty-three years I finally spent my first night alone. Actually I did sleep at mom and dads one time alone, but as you all know, that's like sleeping at Fort Knox. It doesn't count when I had my choice of firearms as well as an alarm system. Actually it didn't really count this time either because Aaron and Missy are in the basement. However I see it as a huge milestone for me. I told Aaron if he heard a blood curddling scream in the night to run on up, gun drawn. Anyway, it was fine. I woke up a million times, but I did it.

Mindy, I've been worrying about the gut-less wonder comment ever since I wrote it. I hope I didn't offend you. I was by no means trying to make light of your mom's situation. Sorry.

To all the potty training moms, I've taken Brookie's approach with Sadie. Wait until they're like 3 or whatever she was. Sometimes I think about it, but I guess I'm just waiting until she one day comes up to me and tells me that she's done with the whole diaper bit and to please hand her a pair of panties. We'll see.

That's it. Love you guys. Maybe I'll blog you sometime, is your number still 911?

potty trained- too soon for Darla?

Okay...so not to sound ungrateful or anything...but this potty training thing is starting to get on my nerves. Don't get me wrong, surprisingly Cole is doing wonderfully and has only had a few accidents when we've been out out and we forget to ask him if he wants to go. I don't know, I guess I'm just lazy. Who knew kids peed that much in their diaper? I swear, it's like every 15 minutes that he's olding himself and running to the potty. And 2 out of 3 times he's going #2 as well. Poor Cole. We used to get so excited...we'd clap and scream "yeah Cole!" and give him a sticker for peeing and a cookie for pooping. (I'm sure Lydia, Chelsea, Jessica and any others without kids are loving this). Now when he runs to the toilet I holler, "don't poop Cole!". I'm serious! I hate cleaning out that stupid toilet. I try to get him on the big toilet as much as possible but many times I'm tied down nursing Dayne and he just has to run in there by himself. So now he's tried taking on the task of cleaning out the toilet himself which turned out to be a very bad idea. He got yelled at by both mom and dad while in the process which resulted in hurt feelings and lots of tears (especially when Geof. does it). He still asks for "dickers" (stickers Adam!) but we no longer give him cookies because it's getting a little out of control how often he pushes himself to go. Anyway, enough of that. I think the Lord just knew how much I dreaded this process and made it surprisingly easy for me and for that I'm grateful. Good luck Mind and Meags. I've heard a lot of kids have problems pooping in the toilet..myself included. I hate it when that water splashes back up on my....okay, gotta run. Darla

ColoradoBennett--not potty trained

I feel I have deceived you, Meagan. I wouldn't really call Sierra "potty trained". She was wearing panties for about three weeks with no accidents, except for every other day when she pooped in the panties. On the day she didn't have an accident she just held the poop in until I thought we might have to spoon her out. She has some crazy paranoia about pooping in the toilet. After a particularly nasty accident on Saturday, Adam demanded that she get back into diapers until she could prove she was panty worthy. It hasn't happened yet. Today she prrooommised that she would poop in the potty, so we put the Dora panties on and all is well until tomorrow between 10 and 3. Kaia has pooped on the potty more than Sierra has. Darla, hope things are going better with Cole than the above described.

i'm so happy i could cry

so i was reading darla's blog the other day and it made me mad. so when wil pooped his pants friday morning i said we are done. i cleaned him up and put him in underwear. it was not fair that cole and c-bear were wearing underwear and wil was not. i don't care if he is younger, he has no excuse. he knows what he's doing. well, it has gone very well. he had a few accidents the fist two days, none on sunday and monday, but today he has now had two. one as i was writing this. i have gotten lazy today, because he did so well the last two days. but he hasn't wet the bed during nap or night. yesterday i was driving to the store and i really did almost cry. i have been changing diapers solid for six and a half years, most of the time two sets. to think that i only have one more to train is almost too much to handle. well i must fly, i have to get dinner before soccer.

blog you.........meags

Toilet Troubles-Jessica

I believe it was my brilliant cousin Mindi who said "toilet troubles are the worst troubles." Or something like that...well that came to fruition for me today. Our toilet was clogged yesterday and today I forgot and made the mistake of flushing it. It started to over flow and I was freaking. I was plunging like a mad woman but to no avail. It was a mess and it took me forever to disinfect everything.

Well I got a couple of month-free gym passes to Gold's and so Alicia, Tony, my friend Allie and I have all been going to the gym. It is great. I went to a bodypump class on Friday and I have been paying for it since. What a great feeling...although I bet it would feel even better if I was eating healthier. I have been eating like a pig, oopsie.

Well I have some good news. I have an interview at a place called Fidelity Investments on Wednesday. I think it will be great if I get the job. My friend Allie works there and referred me. Hopefully I will get in. I will keep you updated.

Mindi, I am soooo sorry about your mom. I hope everything goes well. Brookie, your poem was adorable. Well I am about 20 pages behind on BOM reading so I gotta go read.

Love you all. Love Jess

YIKES

Mindi,I thought Adam was being sarcastic about them removing your mom's stomach, but then I remembered that my Zoology teacher had his removed also. His wife called him the gut-less wonder (however, I probably wouldn't use that one on your poor mom for a while). That sounded just horrible about the bloody potassium. You would've thought that her brilliant doctor could have figured out that she could've taken the pill before she had to go through all that. Watching someone in pain like that, especially your mom, is like, well it's horrible. I'm so sorry for you. Let us know how it goes, we'll be praying for her.

I don't have much to talk about. Wait, Chloe went to nursery by herself yesterday. And by herself I mean we came in half way through, I sat there with her for 20 minutes, then I snuck out for the last bit. This may not sound triumphant to anyone else, but the mere fact that they didn't have to come and find me in Sunday School because she was freakin was momentous enough for me. Not bad after a year. Anyway, I've got to go plant some trees I bought at the Junker and then jump down turn around and pick a bail of bloggin. Leash

ColoradoBennett-Defending My Mother

My poor mom. Adam wasn't even invited to visit her in the hospital because of his crappy comments about her healthy lifestyle being the root of all her troubles. She had the flu really bad this week, same symptoms I had last Tuesday, except her stomach filled up with so much air that oxygen got behind the stomach lining, into her liver, and swelled her up so much her stomach split inside. The doctor said it looked like gangrene was developing in her stomach and intestine and that's why he wanted to do emergency surgery. Gram and I were there visiting her tonight and the nurse was giving her a potassium IV. The nurse cranked it up to 100 (she said she was under pressure from the Dr. to give my mom 4 bags of potassium before her shift was up) and in a few minutes my mom was crying and writhing with pain on the bed. It was horrible. It took about 45 minute of this happening, then then nurse would drop the flow down a few notches, then the pain would come back, on and on. I just got a call from my grandma saying that the doctor finally said my mom could just take a potassium pill instead of the IV from hell. Anyway, hope everyone else is healthy and gangrene free. Brooke, what a beautiful poem. You are very talented, are a wonderful wife and mother, and you have a outstanding husband.
All we need is Blog...

Seattle Bennett living in Colorado

So happy birthday Leash I know its way late but I married Mindi and there is no chance of me competing so I just pretend that her birthday cards are from me too at least I hope she puts my name on them I've never actually seen one of them.

Well Shelli went into the hospital today the doctors say her stomach lining is dead and that her stomach will have to be removed. So now she is waiting for a second opinion but they were hauling her into surgery and she and Don made them stop, the doctor said judging by the MRI's that she needs her stomach removed right away but she looks good so she just has to stay at the hospital till more opinions and tests can be made. The doctor also said she hasn't seen a stomach in that condition on any one under 80. I guess he hasn't met Cory, and yes Mindi and him are growing more alike by the minute, seeing as she is sure she will inherit all of her mothers problems.
My personal opinion is that she took to many herbs and didn't let her stomach do the job so it just shut down and let the herbs take over. That and the fact that all she eats is healthy crap, my stomach would have died too if it didn't get ice cream doughnuts brownies and all those other "stomach will to live foods" every once in a while. With that in mind I baked some brownies and tried to feed them to anyone I could Mindi and her Grand-ma however would not partake (martyrs) Grand-pa Sierra and Kaia however enticed their stomachs to hang in there.
Love ya all

ODE TO MICHAEL

Michael, my love, you were sent from above
to fill my life with joy.
We have three gorgeous girls, two that have curls,
but alas we do not have a boy.

But that's cool with you. You've never been blue,
you've taken it all in stride. Our life has been
magic, sometimes a bit tragic. But hey, that's
part of the ride.

Whatever I do, I know I have you
to back me when things get rough.
I know you're a softie, a lover, a friend
although to a sranger you're tough.

When I think of you I see Mt. Dew,
poured into glasses of ice.
I see you in a chair holding dolls
with no hair while your daughters
dress up to look nice.

We've been coast to coast, lived more places than most
but we've always had "love at home."
We're not always together, we've seen all kinds of weather.
We've lived where the buffaloes roam.

I love your hands, your voice, your smile. For a wink from you
I'd walk many a mile. I still get butterflies way down in my tummy when you
walk in the room. Phew that I chose you
those long years ago to be my handsome groom.

This year will be long, to be apart is so wrong.
But just remeber this. Almost twelve years ago
we made promises strong and sealed them all with a kiss.

I love you and I'm sorry I didn't even mention you (actually I did- as provider of the LOST addiction) in my last blog, it's not for lack of love.

ColoradoBennett-Sierra&Grace's Cake

I decided posting pictures is more important than vacuuming. And speaking of bra sizes, I was trying to go for a modest mermaid here but ended up with a size DDD behind those shells and flowers.

ColoradoBennett-grumpy momma

I've been a grumpy momma the past few days. Whining, potty training troubles, sickness, etc. have all started to add up and suddenly I have a short fuse. The best thing I did all day was to drop everything and just play on the trampoline with the girls (and 2nd best was leaving the girls with Adam so that I could go to Womens Conference). Brooke, I loved your post about bra sizes. I catch Adam looking at me with that look in his eye, the one that says "we've got to get those fixed", but I'm in no hurry. Congrats on the weening process success. By no means is Ellyn a late weaner, by most of the world's standards. Well, enough about boobs, I've got to start the vacuum. Blog your way to $800 a month...

Weaning- Day Two

Okay, yesterday I sat Ellyn down on the counter, looked her in the eye, and told her we were done nursing. We couldn't nurse any more. Since that time she has only nursed once- in the middle of the night. Not only that but yesterday she would start crying and take out her binky to nurse and then she would stop and put it back in. Today she hasn't even tried. I guess waiting till they are starting pre-school and can understand exactly what you are saying really helps with the whole weaning thing. So in just a week or so I should have completely even A cups. I've only been nursing on one side for about 6 mos. now. Ever since I thought I was going to wean her in "just a week or two" and let her nurse just on the one side. It will be just so great to be so evenly flat again.

Besides that, let's see. Meagan and I, and Cory when he's home, have been going pretty much non-stop. Going, as in "playing" but I don't want to say that too clearly. Actually it always involves seven children, so you know how much "playing" that really is. The high-light of our life right now is LOST. Mike got us hooked on the first season. So now, for the past three nights and continuing tonight, we put the children to bed and watch until midnight or so. Yes, on school nights even. Don't worry the kids go right back to sleep and they are going to bed waaay earlier than usual because we are so anxious to begin our journey to the island. I'd wager that LOST could beat the pants off OC any day of the week.

Anywho- Leash, you crack me up. You could live the way the other half lives. Just start doing stand-up. I laugh and laugh and laugh and laugh every time I read your blogs. By the way I really enjoy all the comments about how great our blog is and how these people just love it. It's so sincere, so spontaneous. It just makes me want to find a way to earn $800 dollars a week from the comfort of my own home.

Okay, I have to go now. I told Meagan I needed a couple of hours to get all the crap done that mom wanted done before she got home and look, I'm blogging. I dare say moving back home really brings out the kid in ya. You should all try it. Mom actually asked me if my bed was made and my room cleaned up when I came up for breakfast the Sunday before she left. Granted, she had made breakfast for me, so I forgave her after an hour or five. Alright, I've wasted just enough time that I will only have time to feed the kids and load them in the car and drive down to go with the Allen family to the BGHS football game. We are going to watch it from the park across the street. Don't worry, I sound all tough and rebelious and lazy and stuff but I'm not a teenager anymore. I actually did a few loads of laundry, unpacked my last box, and cleared all of Ellynn's and Brind's and Jordan's shoes off ALL of the shoe shelves in the garage and established official STINCHFIELD shelves. I'm sure Ellynn won't mind in FOUR AND A HALF MONTHS!!!! YEAH!!! Evidently I'm in to caps and exclaimation points today. I love you all. Chels and Jess, good to hear from you. Lyd, as well, although now I think it is actually time for you all to blog again. Take care fam.

Happy Late Birthday Leashy-Jessica

I am sooo sorry this is late but I did tell you in person that day, does that count. I am also sorry that I wasn't able to spend the whole day with you...curse my job. You are the greatest and I love you. Love Jess

False eyelashes and a gift from the chef

What else could you need to make a birthday complete? I went and got makeover in the morning from my favorite lady and I always end up looking so fabulous that I just mindlessly hand her my Visa afterwards, purchasing every product in an attempt to try and recreate the beauty when I get home. What usually happens is I end up pretty well pissed off the next day, holding a $13 eyeliner. Anyway, she put some fake eyelashes on me and I think I looked somewhat like a young Audry Hepburn.
So we go to dinner at a place called the Metropolitan. I felt like we were in New York City. It was so cool. You know the food that Julia Roberts has to taste and review in "My Best Friends Wedding?" - it was just like that. We order and shortly afterwards we are presented with a gift from the chef. I don't know about you guys, but I don't usually get a whole lot of gifts from the chef at the Golden corral. We were pretty well out of our element as six servers came and in a carefully orchestrated, simultaneous manner presented us with the gift. It was a slice, yes a slice mind you, of strawberry with a dollop of goat cheese, topped with mint. After the initial giggles and jokes we all enjoyed the morsel. We then proceeded to enjoy the rest of the meal, which as a result of, I will never be the same. Now I know how the other half lives. Every bite of everything was disturbingly delicious. We sat and ate as our one neighboring table of gay men toasted every 5 minutes and the other table of doctors discussed a case involving a smashed 4th metatarsal. It was pretty crazy.
Anyway, it was a pretty fun birthday. I got to go to the gym with Jessi in the morning, making it possible for me to be civil for the rest of the day. Also, Kev braved Walmart by himself (that act alone is a huge display of his love for me) and got me CD's, flowers and a huge balloon. Chloe kept singing Happy Birthday to me all day and reminding me with this cute little falsetto voice that we were going to have a "party!" It was a pretty cool day. Anywho Maddie is back asleep so I'm outta here.
Leash

the 22nd rules

happy birthday alicia!!! those of us born on the 22nd are cooler than most:) hope your day was a sweet one.
-cor

ColoradoBennett-Happy Happy Birthday Leashy dear

Hi Leash,
I wish my little prophesy of warning would have gotten to you sooner, but alas, it is all part of motherhood, right? Hope you have a blissfully wonderful time out to eat tonight. Cory, Meagan, Brooke, the pictures are all wonderful of your trip to the zoo. Sierra is estatic about coming up to visit the cousins, as are the rest of us. Cory, I'm really glad things didn't work out between you and the vampire. Chelsea, please tell Cortney that I'm sorry I've been spelling her name with a "u" all this time and I'll get it right next year. Kaia and I got sick on Tue night/Wed morning and had to miss the birthday party for Sierra and Grace at Chuck E. Cheese last night. Big bummer, but they all had fun without us. My mom bought Sierra a giant box of princess costumes and I have a feeling she's going to be going around as snow white, cinderella, or sleeping beatuy quite often. We are at my parent's house right now, hanging around just long enough to get two free meals out of the day :). Better go, Sierra just turned on mom's stove. "What do you think I do, sit around and blog all day?" Steve Martin, "The Jerk"

Happy birthday sweet red headed cousin that could be my daughter's mother

Leash, we are on our way to the park. I tried to blog at home but there was something wrong with my cookies. So now I am at Meagan's and all of the kids are in their strollers and on their bikes and I am taking just a moment to blog you a happy birthday. I hope your day was fabulouso. I love you. Love, me

oh alicia

happy happy birthday, leashy dear, happy days will come to you all year. if i had one wish that it would be a happy happy birthday to you from me.

i was going to write you a poem, but then i remembered i am neither cory or geof., so i will not try.

i am so glad to hear you are only 23. i was going for 17, but this is much more realistic. i am sorry it's your birthday. i know you hate growing older as much as i do. but hey if you can be 23 and still that dang hot it's ok i guess.

i will write more on another day, but this day is just for leash!!!

meags

Mike

I knew I'd forget someone. Hey Mike. How's it going?

Attention Everyone

I think I have something to say to everyblogger. Here goes, in no particular order. LeAnne, saw Cory's pictures, you're there. You've arrived. Too skinny.

Darla - I've found the loop hole around not eating chocolate. Just drink tons of water after you eat it. Mom told me to do it after I Maddie went nuts when I ate some ice cream. It worked with chocolate for me as well. I'm real excited that I found that out as I sit here with my last 15 lbs. hanging over the top of my jeans, but oh well.

Meagie, I can't tell you how proud I am of you and the Hood to Coast. I ran for the first time the other day without any form of a stroller and I only went 2 miles. Eeps! I can't even imagine going that far! Good Job! "I am a Machine!"

Brookie, just thought I'd tell you that I was talking about how I didn't even say two words to Sadie when she was here, and Lyd said, and I quote "I would dare say that she is my favorite." Apparently she is a little darling. Unfortunately,I wouldn't know.

Geof. - loved the surfing story. My favorite was your knowledge of the sport coming from the movies you've watched. Classic.

Cameron - I hear we're in trouble for not stopping in the other day. A - I didn't think you knew who we were, B - Mom and Dad are all business when it comes to garage sale-ing, we were off to the next one and C - we didn't want to bug you.

Lyd - I love you.

Chels - I loved your comment on Mindi's perfectly timed birthday cards. I could actually hear you saying it.

Mindi - Thanks for my card. Let me share with you my recent experience. I have to plan a day in advance if I want Clo's hair to look cute. In the night I sneak into her room and carefully lean over her bed (with back breaking coordination) and slip in some sponge curlers. She usually rips them out as soon as she's awake, giving it this silly bed-head curl. I too enlisted the help of my mother in hopes that together we could successfully pull off a 15 minute, high quality, Wal-mart photo shoot. No such luck. I think Clo thought we were at the doctors and proceeded to freak out. I sat her up on the table and she was screaming her head off. We promised her everything from a sucker to a trip for two to Disneyland. She slid of the table, cracking the back of her head on the edge, which sent her even further into space. We eventually got her to at least put her arm around Maddie for one picture. It's beyond words. I will post a copy of it when I get it. Mom had to take her out and we finished the mandatory other 6 shots with Mad by herself. It was definitely a memory made.

Cory - hysterical as usual. The funny thing is, as with Chels, I could just see you standing there singing those songs in your head. Also, how long did Meags not speak to you for even mentioning the "K" word on the blog?

Jessi - I talk to you every day. Not much to tell you. Thanks for watching Clo today.

Adam - Bono is not gay.

Paula and Joanie - write more often.

I think that's everyone. Today is my birthday. That's right. The big 23 (That's where I'm holding and no one can stop me). We're going to go to one of those restaurants in the city that Jess mentioned. Anyway, Maddie's done being patient so I've got to go. Love Leash

allen pics

for anyone who gives a rip, here are some recent pics...
-megs & cor

one more thing on the melting pot....

So Jess...how much did the whole Melting Pot event turn out to be? I've been dying to go there ever since my VT partner told me about her experience going there on her birthday. She said she and he husband were there for 3 hrs. and literally "rolled out". So yeah, let me know. I can't stop laughing at Cory's random blog. Will you kindly grant us the pleasure of hearing from you more often?! The whole vampire story was hilarious. So she hooked up with your friend or her friend Summer? Sounds a bit fishy to me. Anyway, I'm always about 5 Chapters behind Geof. in our BOM reading. Whenever we find time to read as a family he loves to point out how far ahead he is. Thanks Jessica for letting us all know how much we'd need to read to catch up. I'm in Jacob 5 and will skip WofM and Omni 'cuz I read em with Geof. I love it though. It's great to have a challenge like this. I don't know what you're talking about Brooke. Like my great Uncle "Pres." Bryan, scripture reading has been such a blessed, spiritual event at our house. Cole is just filled with the Spirit as he recounts the stories told in that great book of scripture. He's such a good little boy. Yeah...not so much. I feel bad saying this but Cole isn't really included in our BOM reading. Sometimes he's "around"...wandering through the house repeating the words "airplane" and "helicopter"...I'm know we need to include them. Even if it seems like they're getting nothing out of it at all. So what you're doing is great Brooke. Your girls are dolls and will thank you later in life. Well...gots to go. Cole's asleep and I just can't wait to get started on my Meteorology class....ugh. Blog ~darla p.s.Cole's potty trained! And Dayne's rolling from back to front...soo cute!

Dear, sweet vampires...

I went to the Melting Pot for a dance during my junior year in high school with this dear, sweet thing named Kate. We, too, gorged ourselves on the many wonderful things and cheeses and chocolate stuff and fruit and what have you. It was amazing. But, even better, were the events that followed that magical dining experience. Upon Kate's request, we went and looked at graves in the local graveyard, then re-located to the woods around Battle Ground lake so Kate and her friend Summer could play vampire. They would chase each other, one would act like a victim and such, and then one would proceed to bite the other's neck. A fun time had by all? I think not. I just hung out, not getting involved in all of the neck biting business, quietly humming RadioHead songs to myself. A couple of months later, while we were still going out, Kate became romantically involved with my best friend.

Needless to say, it didn't work out.

have a great day, all.
cory

So Jealous of Jess

Jess, there is a Melting Pot in Portland and I have wanted to go there for nigh on nine years now. It all stems back to this birthday party I went to at the Hackings (many of you know the infamous Ricky Hacking). Well they knew how to throw great parties and this was the the highlight. The entire dining room table was laden with fruits and breads and meats and angel food cake and all manner of wonderful things to eat. We each had our own skewer and there were cheese sauces and chocolate sauces and we fried and dipped and gorged ourselves for the entire night. It was in high school and I can't even imagine what it must have cost to feed twenty some odd teenage kids, especially including me, but oh how that memory has stuck with me. In fact it's probably a little bit disturbing to think of how often I think of that food. Well anyway, before Mike left we did two all day dates. On one of them we went hiking and then we were going into Portland for dinner. We contemplated the Melting Pot but we didn't know anyone that had been and we were ravished and we didn't want to risk the disappointment so alas, we did not go. Macaroni Grill did not disappoint, it was wonderful, but now I just can't help wondering and you've made it worse. I might just have to go there by myself one night. I'm not afraid. Plus, it's all the more for me.

Just to update you on our little family BOM reading. Mike is in Mosiah, probably Helaman by now and I am struggling through 2Nephi. Man, I will be happy to be done with 2Nephi. So will Ellyn and Sadie and Jane for that matter. I felt so guilty on Sunday because the talk that Meagan and Cory didn't get to hear was on keeping your covenants with an emphasis on the promise Pres. Hinkley made if we read the BOM by the end of the year. Pres. Erickson (yes, Darling Darla, your uncle) was telling us not just to trudge through them but to study and ponder and enjoy and I was picturing in my head all of us laying in bed, me reading over the top of Sadie's running commentary, telling Jane I had as little idea of what they were talking about in 2Nephi as she did, moving the book up and down and sideways while Ellyn tries to grab at the pages, until I get so frustrated I say "Okay, we're done for the night. Go to sleep." and turning off the light within five seconds. That is not every night mind you, some nights they are all asleep and I read aloud to their sleeping angelic faces. Those nights are really spiritual.

Okay, that's enough for me now. Chels, I know it is too late to even make it worth a hill of beans but wish Court a late happy birthday for me. I don't have my own calendar up in the kitchen anymore and now I'm slacking. Alicia, just to be on the safe side I am going to wish you a Happy Birthday now and hopefully again on your birthday. I love you all. In fact the love I feel for you positively bloggles the mind! I've been wanting to use that phrase all week!

Melting Pot-Jessica

Well Hello Family

This weekend was filled with a lot of me just sitting around because Tony was at work. I have started watching the first season of Felicity on DVD...what a great show, I highly recommend it.

Saturday night was the highlight of my weekend. They are doing this deal in SLC where you can go to the more expensive resturants for less because they are doing a deal called "Dine-O-Round." So we went to this restuarant called The Melting Pot. It is all fondue and it was AMAZING. It took us about two and a half hours to eat because you have to cook it right there at your table. So the first course is cheese. You get to choose two kinds and then you dip bread, apples, veggies and chips. Then you choose two types of broth and they bring you a plate of raw meat. There was shrimp, salmon, steak, chicken, pot stickers and veggies and you just dip them in for about 2 minutes. Then the best part...dessert. So you can choose two types of chocolate and we got one that was chocolate and peanut butter and the other was white chocolate with oreos. Then you dip bananas, strawberries, pineapple, brownie, pound cake, cheesecake and the best part were these oreo and graham cracker covered marshmellows. It was probably the best thing I had ever eaten. I honestly ate until I thought I was going to burst. I had to bend over when we left because it hurt to stand up straight. It was amazing.

Sunday night we went to dinner at mom's with the whole family for the first time in a long time. It was great. Mom is doing awesome.

Feel free to read this next paragraph in Ellynn's nerd voice. I did some calculating and if you started reading the BOM today, you would only need to read 5.35 pages per day to finish by Dec. 31st. I currently am on page 114 and I only need to read about 4.15 pages a day to finish. Or you could just take what page you are on and minus it from 531 and then divide by how many days are left.

That is all for now. Blog out. Jess

Do you know the blog? Does he call you at home? Do you have a dorsal fin?

ColoradoBennett-Alma, NE

Leash, you were right. I was doing genealogy that morning. We drove 6 hours out to Alma, NE to visit my bio dad and his mom who just got diagnosed with lung cancer. It wasn't as bad as I'd imagined, I did learn a lot of family history stories, most of which I wish I'd never heard. Most importantly, I learned that I am 1/32nd Cherokee Indian. One step closer to being just like the ideal "in-law", Cory Allen. But the bread thing, I only wish I had a loaf in the oven. I made the terrifying discovery that I have an intolerance to wheat and have been trying to avoid all forms of it.
On Friday night we went to the mtns with some friends and Adam brought along a bunch of MREs from his old 72hour kit. I was super hungry, I think we all were, so we ate the MREs ignoring the fact that our every instinct told us not to do so. Well, it was a long jeep ride down the mtn, and VERY bumpy, with Sierra on my lap, and I was ready to send that MRE right back into nature. Not too long ago I was thinking, why not invest a ton of money into MREs and use that as food storage. Boy have I ever changed my mind. I felt terrible for two days post-mre-consumption.
Gee, Geof. I don't know where you are supposed to be in the BOM. Just read a chapter a day and then cram the rest in on Dec. 31st. Your little adventure in Cali sounded great. When is the next trip to Colo? Meagan, we are equally counting down the days until the Washington exodus. Do you guys have an extra port-a-crib lying around that I can use for Kaia? And if you ever see any cloth diapers for sale, I'm looking for a few. I've discovered that having 8 just doesn't cut it for full time cloth diaperness.
"Alright. Already. Even if things get heavy, we'll all blog on alright." Modest Mouse

povo-ca.-povo

This weekend was California dreamin slash nightmare. Not really nightmare. Okay so this student wanted to do some cross country's so I said I'd love to instruct him along the way. We flew out of Provo leaving at about 3 am so we could get in a night cross country. After sitting in this small plane for six hours we touched down in California. Not only are the roads crowded in that state the sky's were full of planes. All the traffic controllers in CA. are about as patient as our mothers in a hurry. Those suckers sure made you feel warm and cozy as they yelled instructions to you. Anywho we landed and visited the guys family. Then his sister took us to a beach near Santa Cruz and I surfed. Not just out there sitting in a wet suit looking rediculously good looking I got up several times and road the waves. The whole time out on the drive I was telling them how good I would be because I'd seen back to the beach, blue crush, endless summer, and whatever dumb surf movie had ever come out. It's kind of a lot like the movies. If you're not local they don't really like you. A guy yelled at us for being near his line etc.. It was awesome I wanted to start calling all the locals howlies and telling them to leave but I didn't want to be drowned. Then we got in the middle of a huge traffic jam and went on the most terrifying car ride of my life post high school. Screaming through tiny housed neighborhoods (each house costing over a million) until we were finally encircled in the loving arms of an in n out burger. It was great. The next day we woke up and flew over Darla and my old place in Folsom, CA.. then we cruised over Lake Tahoe and finally meandered into Provo. I'll post some pictures or a link to some soon. Things are good and crazy. Cole is nearly potty trained and that makes us happy. Dayne loves blowing bubbles which basically just means she spits a lot. We'll blog soon. Jess I have no idea where I'm supposed to be in the reading but I know Mindi know's so lets get a stat Mindi. Blog soon. ps I remember jess and ellynn when they first danced to the song bootylicious.

what no dinner

yesterday morning we had a very nice brunch up at the allen homestead. we ate like kings then sat out in the sunshine while the kids collected bullet shells. oh what a life. sacrament meeting was very spiritual...for someone, but not for us or anyone unfortunate enough to be sitting anywhere near us. i only had to leave the meeting 15 times. wil doesn't think he can leave my side so as i went out for the 15th time to take princess pee to the bathroom he screems bloody murder. cory has hazel in his arms and is trying to pick wil up while he has a death grip on some other fellow who he thinks is cory. needless to say by the time cor got wil out into the hall he was about to blow a gasket. thankfully all the stars were aligned so wil decided he could go to nursery, but cor had dad's sunbeams so i still had to keep hazel during my lesson. as i'm lugging her around with all my crap i am really starting to cuss the fact that mom and dad are in hawaii and not here helping me. but the cussing really starts when we realize that we have no place to go for dinner. we had already used our only resourse for breakfast. the kids were like "where are we going" answer "home" kids "why not to danna and pa's" answer "because there not home" kids "but we could still go up there and eat, we can't eat at home, it's sunday". oh how right they were. it was very disturbing to eat alone on the sabbath. i don't intend to do it ever again. even if i have to drive to aunt jack's.

we are counting down the days until adam and mindi come. it's like christmas in october. alicia i've said it before and i'll say it again, you should do stand up. you slay me. some of my favorite memories are with you as little kids laughing until my stomach and cheeks hurt. i love you.

i love you all hope you have a lovely autum. it's my and cory's favorite season. and besides it reminds me of that beautiful time in my life with adam and alicia.

blog ...... me

Hicktown

Well so Wednesday was my anniversary. Remember how we used to worry that I would ever get married? Hard to believe that was 4 years ago. Crazy how fast time flies. Kev and I got real crazy and went to Cracker Barrel to celebrate (It reminded me of that Jeff Foxworthy bit where they go to McDonalds - "Could you supersize that for the little woman? It's our anniversary.") Actually it was because I hadn't had sugar for two days and I made him take me to Cold Stone before we ate. I was pretty sick by the time it was dinner time. Anyway, Maddie just finished nursing, so I'm back to bed. I realize it's almost seven and Meagan is running and Mindi is up working on her geneology while her bread bakes, but oh well. Talk to you later. "It feels right because you're here, and it feels right because you're blogging" ("What About Bob").
Leash

chels - word from my mother

Hello all. Jess, I know how much you love the song, and thinking about it reminds me of some good times. I'm definitely going to have to locate that cd. Mind, when I was over at my Mom's for Cortney's Birthday, I picked up the picture you sent to her of your girls. While doing so, I said..."Unbelievable." When everyone turned to see what I was making reference to, they all immediately agreed. Cort said, "I know! It got here today, on my exact Birthday. I don't know how she does it." It was awesome. I know everyone appreciates your thoughtfulness. So Cortney is no 18. Does that not weird everyone else out? I am just crazy? Ash will be 16 and driving on Monday. Lindsey is now playing on a Competition Softball team based out of Centerville. She only knows one other girl on the team so that made it a little difficult at first, but she enjoys it. The coaches goals are to have each memeber of their team advance onto the High School Teams. I hope she continues to do well. She's a lot of fun to watch. In fact, she has a game tonight and games all day tomorrow. Well, I'm sure you are all wondering what my title means, I will now answer that question. Brooke, my Mom wants me to tell you that she got your message about the crib. She says that we would love to have it back if you are done. However there is no rush. Who even knew you had our crib? I didn't.... I'm in the dark on this one, but I'm just passing on the info. So Mindi, did you watch The OC last night? I did. My class got out early and I was so excited to partake in it's richness. :) ha ha, jk. But I do love that show. Okay, I'm done, this is boring. love, chels

Aren't we all so dang funny?

I really want to print all of these blogs out into a hardback copy of our lives. Jess, loved the Jazzy Jess. Mindi, hilarious the words to that song. Actally I was dying at everyones blogs.
Ya, we're really proud of our junior trucker Chloe. Today's phrase was the best. I was nursing Maddie when Clo decided to kick off her diaper. After asking her a million times to bring it to me and to stop rubbing her little bum all over the LuvSac she finally obeyed. I was trying to put it back on one-handed and was starting to get "an-gry". Son of a #$%@+! I exclaimed. Clo quickly reminded me "Not son of a b%$#& mom, oh dangit." That's what I tell her anytime she says it. Pretty funny. My own words coming back to haunt me from a 2 year old. Anyway Clo just told me it's "time to lay down" so I'll blog ya tomorrow. Leash

ColoradoBennett-DJ Jazzy Jess and the Fresh Princess of Denver

TSM, Jess! Dang funny. Adam and I need to up the anttie in our BOM reading too. I don't have much to blog, I just couldn't resist responding to all Jessica's hilariousness. Chelsea, good to have you back. Hope Courtney had a great birthday yesterday. Please tell her the Blog wishes her happiness in the next year of life.

"bloggin', bloggin', bloggin' time...(wisper)bloggin' time" (to the tune of "Summertime" by DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince)

Jacob 5...oh crap-Jessica

So, I too have taken on the challenge of reading the Book of Mormom before the end of the year. I started September 1st and decided to try to read 6 pages a day (which for me is a stretch in normal reading let alone BOM reading) so far I have done pretty well, but then I read that Geoffie is already in Jacob. I must really be off. Geof, when did you start reading and how many pages do you read a day. Do I need to up my anttie?

Well Tony came home from work today with a migraine so now I guess we will enjoy a quiet, dark evening together...that is until the U of U game comes on. I think he secretly faked sick so he could be home for the game.

Geof, Chlo is alive and well and here is a story for you. Yesterday was Alicia and Kev's 4th anniversary so Lyd and I watched the girls over at mom and dad's last night. I was on the front porch with her and we found a tiny piece of crumpled paper in the flower planter and as she is opening it I tell her it is just a piece of paper and then she says, "piece of paper...what the hell is that?" I was dying. You had to hear her voice, she almost whispered it but it was clear as a bell...it was great.

We got our laptop last Thursday and I have yet to get my hands on it. It is Tony's new baby. No I am kidding I've played with it like two whole times...anywho there is this sweet program called Garage Band where you can make your own songs. I am obsessed and I am getting pretty good at it so keep your ears open for a new mix by DJ Jazzy Jess in all the clubs. JK

I love you all and I love the blog. Blogalicious is my favorite word because I love the song bootylicious. Jess

chelsea!

Hello everyone! It's me, finally. I've done some calculations and discovered that it has been over a month since I have posted. Pretty ridiculous, to say the least. I'm sorry! I've been so incredibly busy, but so are all of you...I understand that's no excuse. Anyways, I'm sitting here at work and I'm trying not to have a nervous breakdown. A few weeks ago, I told my Dad I wasn't putting up with this crap and I told him I wasn't coming back. But, here I am. I am so incredibly stressed. Our "department" (if you could even call it that) is being re-vamped. I have a feeling that I will slowly be pushed out. To make a long story short, Jess..I'm looking for a job too. And truthfully, I don't know how you've stayed at Alpine so long. (I hope my Mom isn't reading this.) Dr. Bleak is insane. Get out of that, get out quick. Alicia, I was in-between errands in Kaysville the other day and I was right by your house. I proceeded to drive by very slowly. I carefully considered actually approaching the door, but I didn't. With my luck, I would've stopped by and rang the doorbell right after you got the girls down for their naps. So Lyd, Jordan and I are roommates. It's pretty awesome. I hope you guys aren't too jealous, cause it rocks. Okay, too many fellow employees have arrived. I keep having to minimize this screen and I'm getting fed up. Blogalicious.

povo

Hey blogernauts how’s things? Well the week here has been awful what with the hurricane and everything. Obviously I’m lying the hurricane hit several miles to the south of us. But seriously I think that I am tired and wanted to post something on the blog. Things are going well. Darla and I are trudging through our courses and not really enjoying them like we should. Of course I should be more grateful that I can receive an education. Without it I could not be cleaning up a factory at night. I hit my head on a machine the other day and have a lovely black eye to prove that I have the coordination of a Brooke Stinchfield. Alicia just a concern, is Chloe still around. I haven’t read a mortifying experience in days and am sure she’s done something to stir you up. Reading Chloe stories has replaced Dave Barry. Mike thanks for writing to the blog and playing with us in Provo. I’ll just have to visit you in Korea and we can go shop for baseball mits and other sweet items. Mindi and Adam I wish I could have been with you for the climb. I just finished Jacob 5 in an effort to get on pace for the BoM reading and that chapter is the bane of my reading experience. I wonder if there is a meaning or if it’s just a joke or maybe a horticulture page got slipped in from a weekly issue of Nephite lawn and gardening. Whatever it is I keep thinking one of these readings I’ll have great insight but that has not occurred yet. Oh well maybe next time. Alright everyone peace out.

quote "I'm a big idiot" Jane Fonda

flyin' over Povo

Since everyone's doing it I thought I'd contribute my quote of the day. "We got to spend the night at our grandparents last night 'cuz our parents got real DRUNK!" - girls next door. The kids our in bed finally and I have about a half hour until I should be going to bed...so I thought I'd do a history quiz and maybe work on my meteorology class that i've done pretty much nothing with yet...but here I am on the blog. It's addictive I tell ya. Mindi, I love your pictures. It'd be so fun to have a digital. oh well. So did Sierra just love climbing?!! I'm glad that you and Adam seem to be really getting into it again. It's fun to be able active with your spouse...Geof. and I can't wait until the day the school and flight training is really over so we can do more together! our week days and weekends seemed to be booked for the next year with flying. Not that i'm complaining. He's finally instructing and now it's only a matter of time before he's hired on with an airline. Okay, so about the title. Geof. took one of our good friend's Derek up for an intro-flight tonight for his b-day (Derek's wife paid)..he called us about 20 minutes into the flight and told us to go outside (derek's wife was over at our house). So we got outside with Cole, Dayne and their little boy and Geof. and Derek flew right over us. Pretty cool. Geof. is doing so well and I admit it's pretty dang sexy to have a husband that can fly (is that gross enough for you brooke?). Anyway, your blogs are great. Meags...or Brooke..whomever wrote, our address is 1400 N. 300 W. Provo, 84604. And to all of you living up north...please come down and visit some time!! We were going to go camping this weekend but turns out Geof.'s flying to San Jose with some kids and he just can't pass up the flight time. So maybe the next weekend? We need to come up and see moni and cam's new house. I'm sure it's gorgeous. ANyway, life is good. We're blessed. love to all of you. Darla p.s. i forgot to thank adam and mindi for an awesome weekend!

bg me

a quick quote "plumbing trouble is always a lot of trouble"
-mindi m bennett

Alicia's picture slays me as well

Mindi, I have had the phrase "that picture slays me" stuck in my head all week long. Funny thing is, I see Meagan every day and I have yet to tell her how stuck it is. It's slaying me.

Well mom finally said that she had had enough with the dog. She gave me the guidelines for keeping it which were basically "if you can surround the dog in a bubble and ensure that she neither pees nor poops nor sheds nor eats nor plays we should be okay."

So... Mike's brother and his wife are doing a test trial with her. They have been talking about getting a dog for their boys so they will try her out. Hopefully that will be comforting to Jane. As Adam said when she started a new school last week on the same day her dad left "why don't you just shoot the dog and make it a perfect day?" I don't blame mom though, she has never been a dog person and she tried. She's just obsessive compulsive in the clean department and she started in with that nervous tick and head bob the Dr.s have warned us about.

Sadie is sitting here reaching over and pushing as many buttons as she can before I move her hands off the keyboard. It is making for slow progress. Mike called as I was about to lay the girls down for their nap, so it was too late to get her to sleep before we go pick up Jane. She just ran out of the room and came back in her pajamas. Perfect, from ballet leotard to sleepers. got to go. blog out.

ColoradoBennett-climb like Brandon

We took the girls climbing on Monday night with the Wymans for FHE. It was a blast and EMS lets you climb for free. I don't think they were too keen on all the chaos we brought with us (when Sierra wasn't climbing she was running into the display tents and under clothes racks and such, also, Kaia ate a lot of chalk when we weren't looking and tried to destroy the PowerBar display and the display in the main window). There was a little girl dressed up in a Tinkerbell costume who was at EMS with her mom. She watched Sierra climb and really wanted to try it. I told her she could try on Sierra's harness and she was excited. We ran into some trouble when her tinkerbell wings wouldn't fit, so her mom promised her she could come back and climb with her dad someday. It was really cute.
Mike, I was so happy to see you on the blog. So what are you doing there in Korea, or is it too top secret to blog? I don't mean to ask any questions that will risk national security.
So our toilet flooded our bathroom floor today and now I'm waiting for the plumber to show up. Plumbing trouble is always a lot of trouble. You can quote me on that.
Oh, before I wrap up, Sierra started telling us that she wants to climb like Brandon Smith. Not like mom, not like dad, but like the old manny.
Bye, Bye, Mrs. Blogger Pie

comments slay me

that one's for you, mind. hey to geof., darla or anyone with their address. i have a little package i need to send but don't know where to send it. a speedy response would be appreciated. loves........me

ps i think my whole family tree is a bit crooked:)

ColoradoBennett-tsm

Today something funny happened. I can't remember what, but I remember thinking "that slays me." And then I thought, "where did I hear that from?" Then I remembered that Meagan said it a few times during our phone conversation a few days ago. TSM, much better than LOL.
Well, I'm dragging Adam out to Nebraska this weekend. My bio dad's mom just got diagnosed with lung cancer. The dr told her it was inoperable and gave her approximately two months to go. I think she probably smoked for 40+ years. I want to get out there and visit for most-likely the last time. I've only been in contact with her for the past two years. She has two of her sons who are totally dependent on her (one of whom is my dad, the other is paralyzed and I'm told will probably lose all desire to live once his mom dies). There is more sad stuff, but I'll spare you. Just a crooked little limb on my family tree, I guess. But we get to stay at a hotel with a pool and free breakfast, so that should be fun.
We set up Kaia's crib in Sierra's room tonight. So on Kaia's 14 month birthday, the girls start sharing a room. Sierra told Kaia today, "You are going to sleep in my room! No crying Kaia." Yeah, that'll work.
Go, Bloggers. Go

bg me

um you guys crack me up!! alicia the picture slays me. the inventers of annoying toys should be made to sit in a room as they are going for...like...a week. that would show em. cameron that was very brave of you to break your silence,and admitt that it is yours.

jess, love the quote. oh and how i long for the days when i could play fun little games with cor. the only fun game we play now is "quick they're asleep"... now we can talk (our kids never shut up), now we can clean, now we can....well you get the idea. and don't be too hard on yourself cory was suppose to start looking for a job in may....of 2003.

lyd it was good to hear from you. i have some advice about the roommate, just kill her now, save yourself any future headache.

alright i'm a brat so i better be off.

blog uuboo blog...meags

"A heart that beats, a voice that speaks the truth"

OK, the Barbie should be at my house. I was cracking up at the whole hostage situation, and you were right I didn't want her back. I was telling Monica about yesterdays blog and Harley overheard and started crying because she thought Kevin was going to kill her doll and she'd never see it again. Needless to say the only way she would stop crying is that I told her Monica would get it back. So, you should be hearing from Monica to get it back. Then your life will go back to being quiet and I will get to sit around the house with ear plugs.

Well, better get back to work.

cam

Quick Quote-Jessi

"I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read, and all the friends I want to see." John Burroughs

Bread Ball-Jessica

s s for not w on the b
That was Tony lingo for so sorry for not writing on the blog. Mindi I loved your email about lol and tty. Just the other day Tony and I were playing this game where we would say a sentence but just use the first letter of certain words, I am pretty darn g at it but Tony on the other hand was using more letters than words and I kept saying "what???" finally we had to stop because I was too confused. It was soo funny.

Anywho, Meags when I read the "half a bread ball" thing I was lol. We went to the zoo last week (which was great by the way, we should all go next time you are here) and for some reason I grabbed a loaf of bread to take. Alicia and I were laughing about it and thinking of the Bennetts because you guys always take a loaf. In the end it did save the day when we were all starving.

Mind, I loved the camping panties...how resourceful. Brookie, speaking of being cold, the last two days it has been very chilly and I just don't know how I am going to survive another winter in my little house. It is a toss up...freeze to death or use the "death trap carbon monoxide" heaters. What can you do. Alicia the picture of Barbie was priceless. I am surprised no one has claimed her yet. They must not want to live their dreams and find destiny.

I am going to start looking for a new job, Tony keeps nicely hinting at the fact that it is now September 12th and I was going to start looking on the 1st. I am so nervous though, and I just don't know what I want to do.

That is all for now. Love Jess

Ruthless Alicia

Did anyone ever see the movie Ruthless People? In it these people take Bette Midler hostage. However, she's such an incredibly annoying person that her husband doesn't even want her back. I think that's the case with ol' Barb here. I love her (Clo and I have her songs memorized) but Kev is ready to rip her song box from her chest. We've now dropped the $2 randsom. Please claim your doll.
Also, Mike, I realize we know each other about as well as nothing, but I really like you. Just thought I'd let you know. Maybe someday we could break out the "Getting to know you" book over a cup of hot chocolate, but until then I just wanted to let you know that I almost started crying when I saw your blog. I can't even imagine what that must be like for you (and Brookie). I'm sure you hear it all the time, but thank you for sacrificing so much so we can be free.
Brookie, I too was laughing at your blog. I almost snorted at Lyd's part where you were like - you just, just, just. Hilarious.
We just got back from Primary Childrens where they took an ultrasound of Maddie's little sacral dimple. Everything is normal. Although, the tech didn't say a word (I realize she probably can't diagnose, but hell, the weather, nice shirt, something) the whole time making it the longest 7 minutes or so of my life. Anyway, we're very blessed. Maddie is amazing. I keep wondering if something is wrong with her because she is so good all the time. Maybe she's deaf. No, never mind, she passed her hearing test. I don't know. I guess I should just enjoy it.
Ok, I guess that's it. Oh, wait. Cory, we were up camping this weekend with the family. Tony laid down on a blanket outside for like 10 minutes and when he got up he was all zipped and was like "power nap!" I started laughing and had to share the Cory Matthew Allen Rome Italy (no kidding) 9 second power nap story. So we were in our hostel trying to decide what we were going to do next when Cory stopped talking (for seriously just seconds). All of a sudden he pops up "how long was I out?!" He couldn't stop talking about how great he felt, and we couldn't believe he actually even fell asleep. Obviously a location thing, so dang it, let's fly to Rome and try and relive it.
I love all of you guys - Leash

Wow, cool, I remembered the log-in -Mike

Yes I know this is maybe my first or second post to the beecher blog, but since I am the guy that started the whole family blog thing I have all power to blog whenever I want. So why am I posting? Just want to say thanks to all for the fun summer. I am here in Korea doing well though I am finding the loneliness an unwelcome old friend. So now that it is only 0430 am in the states, I am spending my evening on the Internet after my workout. I would go play Mario or something but then rescuing the princess might make me sad for my sweet wife;-) So, I will just blog. It is not so bad here, eveybody says it is more rundown than Japan but I do not see much difference. Seoul especially is very nice. It is funny that the Japanese and Koreans despise each other because they are really quite alike. I am enjoying being back in the asian culture. It feels comfortable and reminds me of some great times in Japan. On post it just feels like the states. Right now I am cooped up in a hotel room for a couple of weeks while I in-process. Nice to be a Captain at times like these when everybody else is staying in rooms of 3 or 4 during this process. Makes me feel really blessed. Mind - the book has been a great resource this week- thank you. Brooke - I love you and "I'm laughing" at your post. (inside joke all) Take care everybody.

Mike

Lydia- im so so sorry

Ok I’m sorry, I know I’ve neglected the blog like I’ve never seen from any of you. And I thank you all for that, and getting me through one- well not of the best summers! But I am still here. In my house I don’t have access to the internet. Well I do but this crazy girl named Stephanie said that I could borrow it but now has some sort of power trip and says that I can’t. Yeah she’s crazy she also parks in Jordans spot all the time, and she really loud.

Anyways moving on, I got a new job as receptionist at this talent agency. Don’t ask me if I like it, I’m on the fence of quitting after the first day! This last weekend the whole family and I went camping. That was fun we just got home and now I’m supposed to be doing the butt load of homework that I have but, of course the blog sucked me in. I’ve yet to have time to look at any blogs. I’m hoping my job will allow me to do at least that, in between answering the 6 lines that never stop ringing and doing the dishes of everyones coffee cups, that I’ll be able to catch up on em, and do homework! Well I miss all you guys and I’ll try and blog some more later. Love ya Lyd!

good sabbath to you

yes i think brooke is quite right, that is a phrase we should use more often.

anywho we made it through our first soccer game. and i must say it was pretty fun and very funny to watch. although jackson did say he was done playing halfway through the first half. cory and i are great coaches we run up and down the field yelling to the boys all the things we forgot to teach them during practice. while the other coach is sitting cross-legged on the ground very calmly. but they only beat us by one point, althogh two of those points were scored by their players. only one of their points were scored by our player. so, at least we taught our boys which goal to kick in to. linda, rose and her baby showed up to watch the game and mom came too even though she says she's not a soccer g'ma. next time i'm going to feed jack more than half a bread ball before his game. then maybe he will want to play more of the game. thankfully mindi will be here for most of his games so she can remind me to not starve my poor children.

i was quite satisfied with our day until i saw mindi and adam's pictures. rock climbing? is that really fair? you get to go and be all rugged and i go to soccer games and costco all saturday. have i really turned into that person? because the scarry thing is i enjoyed it.

i just got done trying to explain to jackson that if he dresses up as the easter bunny for halloween he will get made fun of. i am only trying to save him from any "peter pansie" episodes.

jess, chels and lyd i miss you so. please come back!!

blog to your mother....me

So Mindi

So what is arrhhgkthoeht in chat lingo? Whatever that was, I just couldn't memorize all the letters. Your pictures are all fabulous by the way. Any day now I am going to figure out how to download the pictures off my new camera. Mike was going to show me before he left but we just ran out of time. I'm going to try to figure it out myself with my manual and other wise I will turn to sweet sweet Cory to help me.

So Lyd and Chels, HELLO? No, you are just too cool now that you have your own place. Remember Lyd, how much you relied on the blog to get you through those days at camp and now- you just, just, just I can't even say it. I'm too emotional.

Right now I'm sitting in my mom's kitchen freezing my butt off because these cheap people that actually have to pay for their utilities don't want to turn on the freaking heat and it's 63 degrees in here. I'm going to have to get fuzzy slippers and down filled body suits for my whole family. Luckily Ellyn doesn't seem to be too fazed by it, brave little toaster that she is. She is not on my good side this morning. She woke up as I was getting off the phone with Mike at 6:45 this morning and would not go back to sleep. I tried to explain to her that now that soccer season has begun this is my only day to sleep in and she didn't even care at all, just started kissing my whole face with her big open mouth slober kisses. She is lucky she is so dang cute.

Dad came to Jane's soccer jamboree yesterday and in the car he was using this funny obnoxious voice that only dad can do and now that's the only way Sadie wants him to speak. She keeps saying "Pa, do funny stuff three times." It's pretty cute. Janie played well at her soccer games. They are on much smaller fields here and their refs aren't as strict, which I actually find irritating now. Funny, because when Ft. Benning got strict refs I was completely annoyed but obviously I got used to it.

I have to go now. I need to try to find mom and dad's hot tub manual on line to see if I can get it off the lock setting. It's cold and rainy and I want to climb in for oh an hour or so. As soon as the little bambino goes down for her morning nap.

I love you all. Good Sabbath to everyone (we watched Fiddler on the Roof a few weeks ago and I realized that is a phrase I want to use more often).

ColoradoBennett-crappy climb

Double posting, awwwaggghhggft. Ok, I'm over it. Tonight was just too funny to not post. We decided to take the family climbing in Golden. There are these cliffs on a plateau overlooking the city and it is just beautiful. I don't know what we were thinking (kinda tough to keep Sierra and Kaia from rolling down the steep grade mtn while we are climbing and belaying) but it felt good to just get out. We hiked up to the routes, Adam had Sierra on his shoulders and I had Kaia in the backpack carrier. We found a climb that we thought I could lead. Adam wanted to look around a few others but I was in a hurry and said "no no, I can do it, let's just climb this one". Well, about half way up I was in the crux. And at about that time both girls decided they had to poop. Poor Sierra was wearing Dora panties so we had clean her with wetwipes as good as we could in the fading light. I didn't have back up clothes so we had to use a hankerchief and we called them "camping panties". Pretty funny. Not so funny for Adam, because he still had to carry her down the mtn on his shoulders. Anyway, all the poop distracted from the fact that I couldn't make the climb and had to climb down. Geof. where where you when I needed you?

ColoradoBennett-lol

So I've joined three Yahoo! groups and now I'm way into chat slang and acronyms. Just kidding. I'm totally lost. A girl I visit teach was instant messaging me last night and she was like lol and dd and tty and I had no IDEA what was going on. So she sent me a link that has a chat slang dictionary and I found out that lol means laughing out loud and tty is talk to you later and dd is dear daughter which is what everyone calls their child (or ds for dear son or dh for dear husband) on these yahoo groups. Something about all that bugs me, I'm glad it hasn't infected our blog. So I'm about to get sucked into the OC again. I violently fought watching the second season, but I may not have the willpower to resist the third. What is it? I mean it is all so silly and ridiculous, but they are all so rich and good looking and they frolic around on the beach and on sail boats. Much like my own life, I guess. Hey, I gotta go. Adam just got back from the scout camp-out and now we are going climbing as a family. Happy day...blog is well

Guilt or Guilt

My specialty, feeling guilty about everything. I feel guilty that I still don't have my house put together yet I also feel guilty that I have forsaken the blog. So here I am attempting to feel less guilty in one area. I can blog much more quickly than I can put my house together. Plus, it's much more entertaining. You see, the thing is I have three more boxes of clothing to put away but all the drawers are full. Plus it's winter stuff and lingerie, things I won't be needing for several months.

Well we got Michael safely to Korea this week. He says it's beautiful and he is happy- considering. Jane started school and actually loves it. She has made friends in her class and she meets a girl from church for recess every day. She gets to play with Jackson and Bennett before and after school and she talks to her dad every day after school. She likes soccer and adores her horse back riding lessons. She keeps asking me if I think Santa might bring her a horse for Christmas. Let me think- um, no.

Sadie is going to take ballet with Bennett and thanks Heavenly Father for ballet class in every prayer. She hasn't started yet but she has borrowed one of Bennett's leotards and hasn't taken it off. It has a skirt and she thinks it's divine. I was barely able to get it off to go to the circus last night. Even in her sleep as I was laying her down (she fell asleep in the car) she asked me to put it back on.

Ellyn is great. Her sleep schedule is killing me but we'll live- and I nap. It's true I don't like it but I do do it. I do.

As for me, I'm good. I put off writing for a few days because I was too emotional,
but we have made a very busy schedule for ourselves and Mike and I get to talk once a day and e-mail. I'm happy that he isn't off to war, that he isn't in some school that believes in breaking down before building up. Just North Korea five miles away, but I try not to think about that. I wonder why in the world I didn't just pack up and go with him but that is still a possibility for the end of the school year. I am so grateful that we have the gospel in our lives, that we know our marriage is eternal and this is just a blip on the screen. It keeps everything in perspective. I still miss him. He is my best friend. This past year has been especially wonderful and I know it will continue to get better from here.

Okay enough of my babbling on, I feel like Geof. and Darla when they were engaged-yuck. My other guilt is now overpowering this guilt, plus a few other sources of guilt are creeping up. Traing the d a m n dog on the fence for instance. I hope we can figure that out. I love you all. Have a blogalicious day.

Povo

Well the weekend was great and now it's back to the grind o life. So you know the contorted face is one I use when people who pull along side me in a car look over. It's great. Darla and I wish we were still in Colorado but Utah will do for now. I had my first intramural ultimate frisbee game tonight and that was super fun. I've probably lost 5lbs. over the last few days. My new job at Geneva Pipe is total grunt labor. I am blue collar now. Very dirty and tiring work but it is good. Also since gas prices started rising I have ridden my bike everywhere. I purchased slick tires for it today and can't wait to try those puppy's out. They say they'll increase my speed by 4 miles per hour. We'll see. Things are good as usual I helped no one this week and don't see it coming up in the future but maybe someday. Hope things are good for all, especially you Brooke. Take care. Antidisablogimantarialism.

we didn't read but we had fun

well we have now made it through four soccer practices and two days of school. the boys scrimmaged tonight and cory had them be shirts and skins. what a joke these boys are never going to make it in the sports world if they always make a huge deal about taking their shirts off. they wouldn't make it as strippers either.

as for school "we didn't read but we had fun!" is about all i have gotten out of jackson about class. he must be a typical boy, you must pry every detail out of him. except for recess that is. he could talk all day about that, and this year he has two of them. i caught him singing a cute little song in his room so he had to admitt that they do sing fun song in school.

brooke mom and i had a great run today. benny road her new princess bike, and brooke and i pushed the babies. mom helped of course. then we went to the gym to lift. which was great for the 15 minutes the kids weren't trying to kill each other, (saddie and wil). then we ran home. i loved it!!

mindi the pictures are great, geof. that face slays me. cam i'm glad you guys had fun and that your family if full of good samaratins. one day i would like us all to go to lake powell, i have never been, and that's just wrong. however i am willing to wait until gas prices go back down or we start rolling in it. which both will probably never happen so i guess i'm s o l.

once again all my kids are screaming so i must go. funny, they're always screaming, huh. i'm such a lucky girl.

glogdigity........me

Crabbs

It has been a while since I have posted and it took forever to get caught up on the rest of the blogs. It’s good to see all the new posts.
Lake Powell was awesome. We had the perfect weather. For the first time ever we had mice get on the houseboat. We caught them crawling up the anchor lines. We had a lot of fun teasing my mom and sisters since they were so scared of the mice. It ended up being a mouse hunt on the boat with brooms and ores. Oddly enough we found out that they swim. We threw them out in the lake about 20 feet away from the houseboat and they’d swim back.
On a better note we were able to find a few opportunities to serve while we were down there. On the first day my parents and sister were in the ski boat and they saw a brand new Cobalt boat (very, very expensive) just banging up against a rock wall out in the channel. Not knowing what was wrong with the boat they didn’t dare start it, so they hooked it up and started towing it in. They made it about a mile when a houseboat came back up the channel screaming that it was their boat. The had been towing it behind the houseboat and the clamp that was towing the boat broke. They had no idea how long it had been gone but from where they were and where the boat was it had been up against the wall for about 1 ½ hours.
Second chance to serve came when the wind picked up on Thursday night. The next morning we woke up and a houseboat up the beach from us had not anchored very well and their houseboat blew sideways and beached itself. The next morning we went over and dug out his props and then pulled him off the beach.
And our third chance to serve came when a guy showed up behind our houseboat asking us to tell him where he was. He had gone out on a ride by himself and got lost and couldn’t find where his group and houseboat was. He explained where he thought it was and we told him which way to go. About an hour later we decided to go up to Dangling Rope and get an ice cream. We saw him still out looking. He had been out about three hours lost, with no water and no sunscreen. So we gave him our water and sunscreen and then made him follow us up to Dangling Rope because he was about out of gas. We fueled his wave runner and bought him a root beer float and then took him into the ranger station to see if they could radio his house boat. Luckily they just turned on their radio and then they came and took him back to his houseboat.
We had a blast with the girls playing on the beach and swimming like crazy. With gas at $4.00/gallon we chose not to do a lot of boating which was ok because I was so stiff from the few times I did wakeboard that I probably couldn’t have kept up.
While we were there we read our new book and I suggest this series to anyone who likes fantasy. I had already read “Eragon” 3 times and the second book “Eldest” came out right before we left. They are awesome, I got Paula and my dad on them too. The author is a guy named Christopher Paolini. He was fifteen when he started the first book and it was released 2 years ago when he was 19. He is now 21 and working on the third book. Book 1 will be made into a movie and released next June. Read it, I think you’ll like it.
The new house is great. Harley now begs us to spend time at home instead of always asking to leave. They finally have space to run around and play.

I will post some powell pictures later. Hope I didn’t bore you all to death.

ColoradoBennett

ColoradoBennett

ColoradoBennett

I'm with you, Alicia, no need to find a reason to nap. I nap, therefore I am. Dang, you are hilarious! I plan to post a few pictures from this weekend, but not tonight. I've just been researching Elimination Communication (EC) also known as Infant Potty Training. The girl I visit teach told me about it and even though it sounds like the wackiest thing ever I'm really starting to think I'm going to give it a shot. Look up http://www.freewebs.com/freetoec/index.htm and search around on that site. I'm still waiting for the book I ordered about EC to arrive at the library, but as soon as it does my girls are going diaperless. Ha ha ha.
Cameron and Monica, how was Lake Powell? Chelsea and Lydia, where are you? Geof. and Darla, I'm going house shopping for you in Colo Springs tomorrow. Meagan and Brooke, how was Jack and Jane's first day of school? Brooke, how are you doing with Mike's departure? I'm so sorry, I can't imagine. But I am endlessly grateful to him and to you guys for the sacrifices you make for our freedom and security. Well, I have to leave the room because Adam is watching some scary show about inmates torturing each other. Plus it's past my bed time. "All we need is blog"...

Finally

Finally someone blogged. Thanks Meagie. I didn't think I could blog two in a row. Meags, Jack will be fine, although I'll be ten times worse than you I'm sure.
We had a fun weekend too. Yesterday Kev didn't end up having to work so we went on a hike/jog with the double jogger (which turned out to be Kev holding Clo's hand while she walked along side us, then later turned out to me carrying her because she refused to get in. That's ok, burns more calories right Meagie?). Then we went swimming at Joanies with mom, dad and Jess. It was the first time I got to swim since I had Maddie. Chloe can now do a somersault in the water all by herself. I don't think I could do that until I was like 10. Anyway, then we went to Kev's uncle Steve's house for a barbeque. Then lastly, and most importantly, I talked Big Kev into going to Cold Stone. I wish I could live there in a big vat of cake batter ice cream. There is a Krispy Kreme next door and he was taunting me by saying we should go get some hot ones. I do love that man.
Anyway, that's all. Clo's asleep and Maddie just joined her. That means I'm next. I however, don't need an excuse to nap. I nap, therefore I am. Supercaliblogulis.
Alicia

back to school

today i had to let jacky go. all day without me to guide him. this is what we have been preparing him for his whole life, right. with scriptures, primary songs, family prayer, fhe, church and the like. now i just pray it's enough. can he make the right choices everyday all day long? i know he can. he is a very smart, good boy. i don't know how i'll get through the rest of his life without him. i had him so i would always have a buddy around. oh well now the other three will have to entertain me.

i hope everyone had a lovely weekend. we sure did. on saturday we cleaned the house and hung out then went on a family run/bike ride on a beautiful trail, then had a picnic dinner at the college. on sunday we went to some falls with mom and dad then on a reverent walk along the river and up to some train tracks and through a tunnel. it was very fun. on mon. we didn't get as much done because wil had another fever. 104.7 sad little baby. all he wanted was mommy to hold him. we did go over to mike's parents for a bbq, one last get together. none of us are good at the whole good-bye thing so we just ignored it for the most part.


hazey is screeming so i must go put us all down for a nap. oh how i love getting up early to go for a run, so i have an excuse to sleep.

check you later.........meags

I'm so sorry that I'm sick

I woke up this morning and I still had an upset stomach. It took me a minute to remember what I had been worrying about. I'm so sorry Adam and Mindi. Kev thinks I'm nuts because I started crying twice last night just thinking about it. I'm a jerk. I don't know what else to say other than Adam if you stay mad at me forever I don't know what I'll do. The other day I was thinking about the relationships that mean the most to me and they are all with members of my family. I love you more than anything and feel like a complete idiot that you worked so hard to put this together and everyone honked you out. PLEASE DON'T BE MAD AT ME! I'm so sorry. I also assume that you think my reasons for not coming are completely retarded, but I just feel like I still don't know what the crap I'm doing with Chloe. Everyday I think about what a bad mom I am. I have like less than no control of Chloe around my sisters and I didn't want to create a babysitting weekend for them. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I love you guys. Alicia
p.s. If the phrase "when you live your dreams you'll find des-ti-ny is written in your heart" means anything to anyone, I have you're Barbie and am holding her for a $2 randsom.

little sis in bg

i love you adam!!

oh i'm so happy

i know i should have spaced out the reading of the blogs over a few days or even a few hours incase there is another drought, but i was just so excited to see so many i couldn't help myself.

yes the huricane thing is very upsetting. i have to admitt i did want burbon street destroyed along with any of the scumm who frequent the strip joints, but for everyone else i am so sad!! people had worked so hard to makes those old homes beautiful again. and all those who have lost loved ones, homes and lives. i doesn't even seem real. i think i would have to be there to really have it come alive for me. i can't help but think that this is just a sign of things to come. more and more natural desasters until the second coming.

adam i am proud of you for taking those boys all that way. i'm sure it won't kill them and i'm willing to bet they have all been up after midnight on a school night playing video games and such. which reminds me, yesterday at practice we picked a name for our team. all the boys, except jackson, voted on fireball. he of course wanted autobots, (they are the good trasformers). so when he didn't get the name he wanted he said he was going to quite the team. (later that night) cory said, "good idea, now we'll buy you video games and mcdonalds, so you can just become a fat boy." isn't he a good dad. i was cracking up and jack was crying. i promise we're not always that mean. oh and don't tell linda our she'll take him away from us and put him in couseling.

i talked to aunt jack this morning and she sounds so good. it makes me happy to hear good old jackie again. it's so funny, jackson will not let anyone but family call him jack or jackie, because that is his aunts name that he was named after. it doesn't really make complete sense to me either, but he has it all worked out in his mind and it's very cute.

if you ask wilohm what his name is he says "motocycle bimmers". what a crack up. when hazel was crying last night kept saying, "shh, shh it's alright hazey, daddy coming". he loves to take care of his bebe.

as for bennett she just wants to spend the night with danna every night. i asked her if she wished danna was her mommy and she say "yes because she lets me stay up really late." so mom is winning my daughter over with bedtimes. not fair.

jesse i hope your eyes feel better, i've never experianced it, but it doesn't sound like fun. cory just called to tell me that gas went up 10 cents overnight. so he is just going to live at the office and come home on weekends so we will never see each other either.

blog long and prosper.............me

ColoradoBennett

Hey bloggers-who-are-coming-to-the-cabin! I'm going to hit the grocery store on the way up the mountain so Adam and I will cover the first two meals or so. Then we can divy up meals from there, OK? Bring church clothes for Sunday b/c there is a nice little ward 10 minutes away. Bring swimsuits because there is are lakes and a indoor pool nearby. I tried to check what the weather would be like up there, but the weather channel must be too busy elsewear because nothing came up. So be prepared for anything between 70-32 degrees. And if you need driving directions, call Adam. I better get packin'!! Yipppieeeee

ColoradoBennett-fruit trees

So Adam got home from his biking adventure last night at about midnight and said, "I think a lot of people are upset with me right now." His poor boys probably had to get up around 5 to make it to seminary and school. But he said they all had a great time. The Young Women and I ended up going door-to-door in the neighborhood surrounding the church asking for donation items for hurricane victims. I had the girls do all the talking and sometimes they would talk really fast and nervous and the people would look at me like "what the heck did she just say and why are you on my porch?" But one family was very kind and gave us a lot for our little hygiene packets.
So a few weeks ago my grandpa came back from Utah with a bunch of apricots from the 100 year-old trees his grandfather had planted in Hayden, Utah. The story is that in 1905 o' Hyrum Gurr was homesteading and in order to lay claim on an extra 160 acres he had to prove that he was "improving" the land. So amongst buildings and farming he planted three apricot trees. One day he went into town and saw a horse with three small trees tied to it. He went into the store and asked "who's horse is that and where did you get those trees?" A man spoke up and said that he found them and Hyrum Gurr made that man get back on his horse and replant the apricot trees back on his land. So anyway, those trees are still there. My grandpa's uncle, Beryl, was able to grow a apricot tree in his yard from the seeds of the original trees, so I'm going to try the same. At first I just put them in some pots with some dirt and started to water but then I looked up fruit seed growing on the internet and found that it is much more complicated than that. I had to did the seeds out of the dirt, wash them off, let them dry, and now they have to sit in the fridge until mid-January afterwhich I cover them in sand then put them back in the fridge for 60 days and then plant them in the dirt. Long process, but I'm very excited. My parents have a grapefruit tree growing in their house that is about 4 Ft. tall. My great-grandpa Jack, who is now 98, started growing the tree from a seed he got out of his morning grapefruit a few years ago. So anyway, I'm taking up a new hobby here and one day I'll have acres and acres of fruit trees growing on my happy little tree farm. Just hide and watch. Blogout...