DUMMY HEADS

UH, I DONT KNOW MIN. I DONT MISPEL WURDS!!

ColoradoBennett

Sorry to hear about o' Tuco. Do Aunt Jack and Uncle Kev want Tracker? I could go drag him away from the people down the street and mail him to Kaysville. Just say the word. Jess, thanks for offering Tony's help. I spent over an hour on the phone with the ipod people and finally they just told me to mail it in. I too look forward to one day listening to the B-O-M on the P-O-D (isn't that a line from a Kid Rock song?). Meagan, I don't believe anything povo says about your 9-15 years. I'm sure you were every bit as marvelous and delightful as you are now. Happy Birthday.
p.s. have you ever noticed that when you do spell check here on the blog, and you type in a word that the spell checker man doesn't know he sends out a giant pop-up with a frighteningly long description of the potential hazard of posting words that HAVE NOT been validated as replacements. It surprises me every time.

Trickster

I came to mom and dad's house after work today and dad was cooking up a little somethin' somethin'. I asked what he was cooking and he said chicken. So as I went to eat it I thought, "I don't remember seeing any chicken thawing out...but I do remember seeing that pheasant that Little Kev shot sitting in a pot." I said, "Wait a minute this isn't chicken." Dad was tickled with himself. It was surprisingly delicious.

So yesterday was a horrible day. Mom called me at work and told me the bad news. She wanted me to go find Lyd and tell her. We were both bawling. I do miss my little Tukie. When I came to mom and dad's and knocked on the door I didn't hear him run to the door barking...it was sad. Mom and dad are pretty upset...it was hard to see them yesterday. Hopefully grandma is taking care of him.

Things have been totally crazy. Work has been out of control crazy but it is starting to slow down so hopefully my blood pressure will normalize.

It was great to see Geof and Darla and Moni and Cam. Geof and Darla, why didn't you stop back by on Sunday? I was telling Geof that Danni Nutter applied to work at my job. Who has seen her in the past 10 years? She wouldn't know me from Eve so I didn't dare say anything. Her resume said she went to Issaquah High...it was funny to see that.

Happy Birthday to Mike and Meags.

Mindi, if you still haven't figured out your iPod call Tony, he can help...aren't they the most amazing little things ever. Which one do you have, the 40 gig, the 20 gig, the mini, the nano? My friend has the nano and it is adorable. I have the book of mormon on mine so I listen to that on my way to work and I listen to music on the way home. It is great. By the way, because I have so much driving time I was able to fly through the BOM...I finished it today, I am very happy about that although I asked Tony if it counts to listen to it rather than read it but he said it does, so YAHOO!!!

Well I am off to buy stuff to make chilli for dinner tomorrow. Tony is off this weekend so it should be fun.

Love Jess

povo

It is hard when the rigby's lose a pet because they actually keep their's around long enough to get to know. I still miss alley. luckily we bennett's never allowed anything to live more than a few months. other than the cat that commited suicide when we nudered it. can you blame him?
as for the holiday's, Cameron and Monica thank you so much for playing with us. it was great to see you guys and even get the visit from tony and jessica. that was seriously great. we need to get together as cousins more often.
Meagan happy birthday you are a stud and I'm glad you've been alive other than those years from 9-15 when you were really emotional and abusive. just playing. much love from provo. peace out dawg.

oh ya

Happy late birthday Mike - Alicia
And Meagie Happy birthday tomorrow.

Tell me whatcha gonna do

See you at the crossroads, crossroads, crossroads. See you at the crossroads. Who puts it better than old Bone Thugs and Harmony when it comes to a loss? I realize there are about 2 of you out there who are even going to give a hoot, but little Tuco died today. He's been really sick and finally mom took him to the vet. They took an xray and found he was full of cancer and only using 30% of his lung capacity. So they had him put down. Needless to say mom and dad are taking it pretty hard. I hate the little son of a gun and I'm taking it pretty hard. I'd hate to see how I'd be if I hadn't detatched myself from the little shedding, pooping machine years ago. Anyway, it's really crappy. I helped dad dig a hole in the garden and then went inside while he buried him. I'm just going to pretend like it didn't happen. You know, the really healthy way to deal with it - repress it. Anyway at least the little stink can breathe now.

I took Mad for her 4 month check up and shots yesterday. She never, never cries and today she's screamed louder than I've ever heard out of her. Poor sissy. I hate giving babies shots. Anyway she's a petite 20 pounds 5 ounces and if she were on formula the doctor says he'd want her on a diet. But he said he's not about to put a nursing baby on one. Mom says they tried to put me on one when I was a baby but she refused. Pretty funny. He doesn't even want her in the baby car seat anymore because she's so big. I can't imagine putting her in the bigger car seat. She's just a baby!

Anywho that's it. Later, Leash

ColoradoBennett--we second that

Happy Birthday, Mike! Hope things are going good out there in the land of the east. Give us an update on military life when you get a chance. Are you still going to Germany? Or is it back to Oklahoma next year?
love, Bennetts in Colorado
p.s. I was going to post date this to yesterday so that it wasn't obvious that we're late in wishing you a happy birthday, but the option to change date and time is no longer availible. What's up with that?!

happy birthday Mike!

Hey..we feel a little stupid being the only ones posting but we just wanted to wish Mike a happy korean birthday...you know, being in korea and all...love The Povo Bennetts

Seattle Bennett living in Colorado

So besides Sierra taking a header off the couch and throwing up because I'm sure she had a mild concussion, Thanksgiving was a success. However, my in-laws decided that right after the meal when you are suppose to lay on the couch and watch your stuffed belly thump with the beat of your heart while enjoying the nail biting Broncos game, that they will decorate the cabin. 12 boxes and Christmas tree later, I am pretty sure the only thing that got decorated was in between me and the TV. I'm making a shiv for New Years and someone will die if they block the game then. Of course they will choose that time for taking down all the decorations.
Mindi said something funny today (we have three cans of whip cream left over from thanksgiving) "We need to find some fun activity to get rid of all this whip cream", and while she may have spent all day pondering what to do I had an brilliant idea in milliseconds.
love to all Adam

Thanksgiving Proclamation

My dad sent this to us. -Darla and Geof.

Thanksgiving Proclamation

by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863



“It is the duty of nations as well as of men to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God; to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon; and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations are blessed whose God is the Lord.



We know that by his divine law, nations, like individuals, are subjected to punishments and chastisements in this world. May we not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil war which now desolates the land may be a punishment inflicted upon us for our presumptuous sins, to the needful end of our national reformation as a whole people.



We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in numbers, wealth and power as no other nation has ever grown.



But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us.



It has seemed to me fit and proper that God should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice, by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the Untied States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November as a day of Thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens.”

left out...

Okay...so Geof. and I are sitting here reading the blogs and looking at the Europe pictures..feeling a bit on the lame side!!! When do we get to go?!! Someday. Anyway, Cory..we're both very sorry for your loss. Geof. just shared with me the story of your gpa and the horse. Funny. So we ate a ton today and exercised oh, not at all. The weight thing is really getting to me. Alrighty. good night. Darla (and Geofy!)

ColoradoBennett--European Dreamin'

Alicia, in reply to your question "what do you do?" in reference to the wild ones we are raising, my answer: just blog. Tonight I was doing dishes and Kaia scooped out handfuls of dry rice all over my just swept/mopped kitchen floor. I couldn't clean up without closing the door to keep her from doing it all over again. She was pretty upset about getting locked out of the kitchen for a moment, so to calm us both we sat on the couch and looked through Europe pictures.

Details

First Cory, I'm super sorry about your grandpa. Kev has a friend who's grandpa died just last week. We're at the funeral and I asked Kev what we were going to do when our family starts passing away. I envision something like Mindi's story. Me collapsing into a pile and not moving for like weeks. Sorry Cor.

Anyway, actually, I really don't remember all the details - but here's the gist of the fight. It was Meags and my first Ed week and I was desperately struggling with LeAnne's 5 dollar a day diet. I'm pretty sure LeAnne had bought the bananas (we were staying for the first and actually the last time in a dorm) and I was about to eat the last one. Meags was like - are you really going to eat the last banana? I think we were all on edge from lack of calories and from there the fight ensued. I don't remember anything else other than that. Maybe Meagan does. It was pretty stupid, but as she and anyone else who knows me can attest, don't mess with the food. Or my sleep for that matter. But never the food. Do you guys remember how that was the advice Meags gave Kev on our wedding day? Classic. I love that you know me that well.

Today hasn't been my favorite being a mother day. Clo's new favorite thing to do is run. Anytime, anywhere, from anyone. Every time I open the garage I have to hustle to get Mad clipped in before she takes off either on foot or on the big wheels. Today she was chasing her ball out of the garage and stopped, to my relief, just before she got to the road. Later, we're at the library and I'm carrying Mad's huge seat and like 20 books out to the car when she does it again. Luckily a nice grandma sees me and is like - can I help you? I'll watch the baby, you go get her. She'd run around the front and was headed for the busy street. I do my best redneck yell for her to stop but she thinks it's funny and runs faster. I almost started crying as I yelled for her again to stop. Anyway, she finally did and although I have never spanked her, I almost vigorously administered two or three right there on main street. I honestly couldn't tell you the last time I was that mad. I always thought that I was a patient person. I used to think about what a good parent I was going to be because I usually didn't get too angry over things. Ya right. I've been absolutely furious more times in the past couple of days than I have in my whole life. It's amazing how kids can bring that out in you. Anyway, she then resisted a nap for close to 2 hours and needless to say I'm feelin pretty angry right now. Again, I need that bloomin sleep. She's now outside playing very independently and I'm battling a huge headache. Oh well, what do you do? Talk to you later. Leash

ColoradoBennett--Pop

Allens, I'm so sorry to hear about Pop. I couldn't even imagine how I'd deal with the loss of my Pop, or Gram. How are your kids holding up? My Gram had lung surgery yesterday and has to stay in the hospital till Saturday. Every time we go to visit I imagine getting to her room and seeing a swarm of nurses and doctors and getting the feeling that something has gone wrong and that we've lost her. At which point I would collapse into a heap in the middle of the hall with my girls in my arms and cry and cry and cry. Needless to say I'm pretty teary-eyed by the time I get to gram's room, fighting off all those thoughts. And I just found out that the valve she had replaced three years ago on her heart is only supposed to last 7 to 10 years and she told Pop that she is NEVER having open heart surgery again. It is all so heartbreaking. But on the lighter side, my girls and I were walking down the hall in the hospital, almost to gram's room (so I was distracted with my thoughts, not paying enough attention to where Sierra was) and I look over just in time to see Sierra hit the big blue handicap button that opens the door to this lady's room. Boy was she surprised to have her door open for no apparent reason as she is getting dressed. The look of shock and embarrassment on that poor, helpless old woman's face will for ever be burned into my mind. It was horrible, I didn't even say sorry, I just grabbed Sie and ran into gram's room. Just at that moment I noticed a sign that said "No children under the age of 12". Whoops. I'm going to have to start sneaking them in with the cleaning cart. Speaking of sneaking into hospitals, have I ever told you about the time Gram dressed up in a nurse costume to go visit her friend in the hospital? She put on this old, old nurse outfit, did her hair and make-up very badly, and walked into her friend's room like she owned the place. She pulled out a urine sample cup, filled it with Mountain Dew, then handed it to her friend along with an aspirin and told her to take it. I guess the look of shock and confusion on her friend's face made gram burst into laughter and ruin her joke before she got to the blood sample. Then another time Gram was visiting my uncle in the hospital and took some flowers from uncle dave's room that he didn't want and pretended she was a delivery person and took the flowers into a random room. As luck has it, she delivered the flowers to a man who was dying of AIDS. The lover was sitting there and insisted that my gram tell him who the flowers where from. She tried to cover her tracks and say they were anonymous, but apparently the lover had his mind fixed that they were from someone that his man had been cheating on him with. It turned into a big terrible scene and my gram feels so guilty to this day for the trouble she caused there. Sorry, I just suddenly felt like sharing stories of memorable hospital visits.
Can we hear the details of the great banana fight of '91?

14 years from now

so alicia i can see a pattern here. when we were 14 we had the banana thing, and now at 28 (well almost for me) we have this. we just need to be on our toes 14 years from now to avoid another heartache.

speaking of heartaches, cory lost his grandpa this weekend. it has been very sad to watch his family loose someone they charished so dearly. i know geof. remembers him in a bit of a differant light, but he truely was such a sweet man. he thought hazel looked just like the baby on ice age so now she is our little "lumpy". she will love it when she is older. sunday afternoon cory and i went up to the farm to be with the family and as sad as it was, it was also very good to see everyone so close. all these big tough guys crying for the loss that seemed unreal. we also went to the hospital for a veiwing, and the memory of grandma came rushing back. all though cor's family hopes they can be with pop again, they don't know for sure. how blessed we are in our knowledge of a forever family. everyones main concern now is for gran, they have been married since she was sixteen and have never really been apart that much.

we love you all and are glad to see the bennett girls signing in

...........meags

Turkey day

hey...just wanted to wish everyone a safe and happy Thanksgiving. Ha! That sounds like something my mom would say...or every mom would say. Wait! I am a mom! I still feel like i'm 16! I read the Bennett girls' entries and I think...hey, that was just me the other day. I'll talk to the YW in the ward and think I'm so cool...you know, one of them. And then I realize they probably don't think i'm that cool. I'm old to them. I remember my YW leader....she had 3 small children and yes, i loved her but she definately didn't "understand" me. Crazy. Anyway, I'm at the library 'cuz our computer is once again tweeking out. Geof. called my brother in law today and told him we need a computer and he said he'd give us his dad's old one (which is probably no more than 2 yrs. old). Aren't we the moochers?!! We're going up to Logan for Thanksgiving. I'm excited. I'm feeling a little under the weather today though so I hope it goes away by Thursday...I can't miss out on the feast! Anyway, the library closes in 5 minutes. Gotta go rescue Geof. from the kids. It's a blast to read all your blogs. you guys are hysterical. love Darla

Oh sweet, innocent Geoffie

I realize that the word "stake conference" conjures up two very different definitions between the two of us. My family's definition: (as defined since we were little by my father) free day. Your family's definition: how can I help and what can I sing? It took until I got older that I realized that we really should be going to it. I would love to go to it now were it not for the fact that it would be like 2 sacraments back to back. Clo has to run up and smack the stand at least twice during sacrament and any rest song is the perfect excuse to do pirouettes in the aisle. I just don't think I could handle it mentally.

I can't and I won't believe that LeAnnie has an ipod. Crazy.

Mindi, I was laughing out loud at how you said you were laughing too long at your shirt joke. Oh the high school jobs.

Well it's the most magical time of the day - nap time. Later, Alicia

povo

Yo team.
So I'm racing to the airport this morning. I get in the car with a bowl of cereal in hand. I raise my hand and it bumps against my back pack. Full bowl of cheerios all over the car. Ahhh. Oh well eh it's all cleaned up now. Last night was fun I got to fly with a student over park city up through the canyons. Do a landing at Ogden and then at Salt Lake. Night flying is exactly like the peter pan ride. Only Adam and my sisters don't conspire to lose my hat along the way. As usual this weekend there was the dancing with cole and the coddling with Dayne. That girl loves to be held. Not just held if you break eye contact she'll start to whine. I've interpreted her whine. She's saying "HOW DARE YOU CEASE TO GAZE AT MY CUTENESS." Darla is working like crazy with school and the children. She's a good momma. Hey Lindsay Go Utes yeehaw.
Mindi if you can't figure out the ipod call LeAnne and she'll help you. I mean she has one now. No doubt she won't be able to figure it out and throw it away after a week. I heard a rumor that Brind thought he could take me in a wrestling match upon his return. Normally I don't hit women but I'll make an exception for Hermana Brind Bennett. If only you hadn't quit wrestling like a Nancy you may have stood a chance.
Alicia my question is did you still go to church when you discovered it was Stake Conference. Alright I'm done now it's time to fly. I hope to see as many people as possible this weekend.
Cory I'm sorry to hear about your Grandpa. Obviously he will never be forgotten by me. You're in the prayers.

blog out

ColoradoBennett--icrap

Arrrggghhh,
I can't get my new ipod working and I'm so flippin' mad. All I want to do is download "Diddly Wack Mack Mormon Daddy" by Sons of Provo and carry it around with me everywhere (look it up, you'll laugh, along with the song "Dang, Fetch, Oh My Heck"). Any help by those who understand these confounded gadgets, would be much appreciated. It came in the mail this morning and Adam had the back engraved with "to my favorite person i love you @#$$%^* (not an expletive, I just can't reveal to you my nickname). Isn't that sweet? My own engraved ipod that just blinks "Do Not Disconnect" over and over. There is meaning there.
Ashley, glad to hear you are attending dances and working at the dry cleaners. I did both when I was 16. I didn't last long at the dry cleaners, I must admit. I hated talking to pesky customers. One time a guy came in and told me my shirt was on upside down, I looked down and he started busting up. "Your shirt can't be on upside down," he roared. Right then I plotted to ruin his kacky pants. And one time I called someone who had left their shirt way too long with us, left a message saying "Hey, this is your shirt, I'm lost!", hung up and laughed way too long. I hope you enjoy your experience more that I. Linsey, I'm glad that you have so much confidence in yourself and that you are true blue BYU fan. Rise and shout the cougars are out. Sorry to hear about your knees and those braces. Cortney, wow, more puppies for Anne! Are you going to keep any? What else are you up to? Chelsea, don't get too spooked by the wedding showers, it'll be you before you know it and you'll be blissfully happy.
Well, back to cursing my lack of ability to maneuver modern technology. iBlog

Bananas

I guess we were due for a misunderstanding since the last one was the great banana fight of Education Week - eh Meags? Glad that's over. To tell you the truth, I really was bluffing all along. When I said I wasn't going to write anymore I felt like I could've written my own article similar to the one my mom saw online. She was doing some research on oxycontin and found this one entitled "I can't live without oxycontin." - Cold sweats, shivering, halucinations. I can't live without the blog.

Anyway, yesterday was fun. I pray for patience every Sunday and all that ends up happening is my family pretty well hates my guts by the time we get out the door for church. I always try to have a positive attitude, but by the time showers, breakfast, dresses, hair, diapers, shoes, car seats, hair again and diaper bags are done and loaded, I A. usually look like I did it all in the middle of a dusty wind storm, B. am so angry with Kevin for having jumped through the shower, into his clothes and into the car that I can't see straight, and C. vow to get to the store that week and buy something cute to wear so I can stop wearing my ugly, ugly clothes week after week. Actually the list goes on and on, but I'll cut it short. Sundays are the worst for me. Anyway, so after all of that - we're just about to get loaded up - and Missy and Aaron call us and tell us it's Stake Conference. I realize how good that makes me look and yet still chose to tell the tale. We're retarded.

Ok, talk to you later, Leash

Lindsey

not funny brooke that would suck

Mindi- Mike's Address

Yes, it comes as no surprise that Mindi is requesting Mike's address for his birhtday card. She is definitely going to the Celestial Kingdom. Thank you Mindi for being so thoughtful. We love you.

CPT Mike Stinchfield
HHC 2X(G3 Ops)
Unit# 15041
APO AP 96258

Bennett girls, so fun to here from you. Yeah, glad to hear you like the spiced up version of the blog. Ash- sorry about the car, that stinks. Lindz-we'll still love you even if you have to wear big ugly braces on your legs that embarrass all of us.

Leash, it would be more convincing that you are going to continue to write on the blog if you actually did write on the blog. Just a thought. In the meantime everyone still thinks I'm a big fat liar and that you knew the gun wasn't loaded.

Well, off to wake up the nine year old for school. I hope she's not as tired as I am right now. Love you all. Brooke

chelsea, cortney, ashley and lindsey

Hello Everyone. Now that the blog is starting to get interesting, I have convincened Cort, Ash and Linds to join us. :) ha ha... On Friday night I went to one of my friend's wedding shower's. It was weird. Everyone is getting married and it's real weird.

I am now going to type word for word what each of them tells me to write.

Cortney: "Annie babe (our dog) is going to have puppies on December 7th."

Ashley: "Now that I'm sixteen, I have been to two dances. The last one I went to was the Halloween Dance. We dressed up like nerds and school-girls. It was a lot of fun. Two weeks after I got my new car, I wrecked it by pulling too sharply into the garage. Lindsey and I were singing/dancing and having too much fun. I sure learned my lesson. I also now work at Gary's Dry Cleaner's with Cortney. Let me just put it this way, I find some interesting things in pockets occasionally. The money is worth it."

Lindsey: "I am amazing. I am so cool and I have a lot of friends. I got a little depressed on Saturday night because BYU lost in an amazing overtime game against U of Poo. I got my own cell phone a few weeks ago, yet I still need to pay for it. Now I am even ten times faster at texting. I also really enjoy taking funny pictures of me on my cell phone. I have this really cute one, and dang...I look good. For those of you who are not used to my real personality, you better get used to this. Just to let you all know, I went to the Dr. to get my knees checked out. When I'm standing normally, both of my knees turn inward. It's really weird. I have to go to physical therapy to slowly move them back to normal. But don't worry, I won't let this affect my fun self and all that I do."

Well, hope you enjoyed that. Gotta go.

Love,
Us

ColoradoBennett--HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BRIND

To the Elder, far, far away,
May you have the chance to read the blog one day.

Ok, I'm done with my rhyme. Diego was singing 'Rescue Pack' in the back ground and it threw off my poetic rhythm. So Pa is here with us in Denver. We went to a wedding reception with him last night to honor Josh and Vanessa Winters. It was very nice, except that T.J. Winters was in charge of the D.J.'ing and T.J. doesn't dance, therefore T.J. doesn't make good dance mix cds. But I'm totally over it.
I was reading Elder Eyring's conference talk this morning and I like the following he said in reference to President Hinckley's challenge to read the BoM this year: "We will then have a choice of what to do after January 1. We can choose to sigh with relief and say to ourselves: 'I have built a great reservoir of faith by starting early and being steady in obedience. I will store it away against the times when I will be tested in storms.' There is a better way to prepare, because great faith has a short shelf life. We could decide to persist in studying the words of Christ in the scriptures and the teachings of living prophets. This is what I will do. I will go back to the Book of Mormon and drink deeply and often. And then I will be grateful for what the prophet's challenge and promise did to teach me how to gain greater faith and mantain it."

World War III Narrowly Averted -and- G'day Bidet!

For those of you completely confused by what just happened let me just say- we were confused as well. Leashy and I had a little communication glitch due to a crackly phone and I have Alicia here at gunpoint to agree with me. Don't worry, our Leashy will continue to blog and I know that is a relief for all of us. We are now all on the same page and that's enough of that. So that being said here is the blog that I had started writing before the you know what hit the fan.


Okay, I'm back from an absolutely wonderful trip with my one and only true love. It was so fun to be just two adults with no responsibilities. We could wake up when we wanted, eat when we wanted, decide to leave for the day and be out the door in two minutes (if I was already ready for the day that is). The worst part was leaving Mike again. I was so proud of myself for how well I did in September but this time I didn't have to "be strong for the kids." Oh, and I wasn't. I just don't know how many times in this career I can do this. I guess as many as I have to, it's what we have both decided we need to do for the next 15 years or so.

Well, as promised here is the bidet story. One day we went into Seoul and decided to eat lunch at Outback- hence the title. At the end of the meal I go use the restroom. On the stall door it gives detailed instructions for using the bidet feature on the toilet. I think "No, too risky. I am Brooke and with my luck..." It does state quite clearly that in order for the spray to turn off you need to push the stop button. So when I go to flush the toilet I don't see any flusher or sensor. On the side of the toilet are all these buttons for extra features, they are all in Korean. I think one even flosses your teeth for you. But...no obvious flush button. So I think I'll just delute the water a bit with a sprinkle from the bidet so it looks flushed (you put paper of all types in a garbage can next to the toilet- wierd) So I push the bidet button and I watch in horror as this nozzle immediately lifts and starts spraying the entire stall, including me. I was picturing this light sprinkle like I saw with the bidets in England, but no, this could have watered your lawn. I'm cowering in the corner of the stall and finally angle myself around most of the shower to push the stop button. Luckily I was not too grossed out because I saw that the nozzle was a seperate part from the toilet but the front of my shirt was totally wet, and yes, some of my hair as well. So I go wash my hands and then to dry myself I have to squat over these U shaped hand dryers they have over there, you put your hands down into the dryer. Of course I'm holding the front of my shirt down in instead. But I must say the whole time this is happening I am laughing hysterically to myself and thinking what a story this will be for the blog. So just as I'm leaving a girl from the table next to us comes in, so I rush out the door, down the stairs, and tell Mike we need to leave right away. I can't even imagine what she must have thought walking into a dripping wet stall. Maybe that it was condensation, or maybe a tropical storm, but most likely that the girl before her was a freaking idiot. So that's my story and I'm stickin' to it. I would love to keep writing on and on now that the knot I've had in my stomach for two days is gone but I told Jane she could finish her Halloween bucket for after school snack if she gave me all her Tootsie Rolls and right now they're calling my name.

I love you all. Blog out. Right Leash? Love, Brooke

povo

Well I guess I missed something but to back up Alicia on being a good parent I have placed Cole and Dayne on the 11:55 express bus to Kaysville. Imagine the trust I have in you. Of course Darla and I are utilizing this time to go see Harry Potter. Fleur Delacur does not look very hot which is dissapointing to me. I've had to go back to 3 jobs cause the happy reality of bills entered my life again. Hey blog ninja I have some of your books and I feel it's time to go skiing. Flying is fun and the kids are great. Cole loves to ride his big wheel we'll go on these walks all over provo and he just pedals along. He also loves to dance. He asks me if I want to dance with him and then he starts his sweet moves. Very cute. Dayne loves to growl a lot and wake up every couple 30 minutes or so. Anywho I'm off to purchase some movie tickets. Okay peace out.
P.S. Alicia please remember to pick up the kids they get so hungry and scared when left alone.

THIS PARTY SURE DIED

WELL THE BLOG NINJA BETTER FIND A NEW FAMILY, IF ALICIA OFFENDS YOU. IM DEFINNITELY GONNA GO DOWN IN A BALL OF FLAMES. ALICIA IS THE MOTHER THERESA OF MOTHERS. I SWEAR SHE HAS A HALO AROUND HER HEAD WHEN SHE WALKS. I ALWAYS THOUGHT IT WAS WEIRD WHEN PEOPLE BOW TO ALICIA IN PUBLIC, BUT NOW I KNOW WHY. I DO NOT WANT TO OFFEND ANYONE, SO IM GONNA START A SUPER SECRET BLOG WITH SEATTLE BENNETT.

Seattle Bennett in Colorado

Aw bull crap
nice try Leash you little sucker you try to delete your blogs and well I will just repost them Mindi has spent the last hour and half backing up the blog on her flash drive that she now wears around her neck, and if you back me into a corner here I will have to jack your journal and post it on a new secret Beech Tree blog or maybe I'll set up little hidden cameras so I can keep updated so if I send you a box with a new clock, smoke detector and teddy bear think nothing of it and just try to put the items in seperate rooms no sence in double coverage (also if you are still having your box elder bug aerobic episodes make sure one of my "gifts" is appropiatley situated) that would be much funnier on a web cam. I do know where Brooke is coming from Jane has a mind like a spunge that is why I try to fill it with good wholesome things like how I killed a grizzly with my bear hands and the time I jumped on that mooses back and rode him until he was tame enough to sell to the circus you know those little everyday stories of my childhood.
Born to Blog Blog to Live

The Blog Nazi

I want to address this issue that was meant to be private and has now been made public. Alicia and all those I have offended- I'm sorry your feelings were hurt, that was not my intent. I believed when we spoke on the phone that you understood where I was coming from involving an isolated incident. This is a family blog and I'm sorry if you feel censured. I did ask you one on one how you felt about it. One of my goals in starting this blog was a family history we could keep and be proud of. Something our missionaries could read once a week, a way for our families- including our children if they were interested- to stay in touch and get to know each other better. Alicia, I think if you read through the blogs you can see how many times I have mentioned how much I enjoy your blogs, in fact I think they are commented on more frequently than any other blogger on here. They bring joy into our days, they are hysterical. I love your sense of humor and your ability to laugh at life. Just read through the archives (which were boxed in red for you) and I think you will realize what an asset you are to our family, not just on the blog.

Life is life and this blog has made it so fun for me and I think for many of you as well. I don't want anyone to feel uncomfortable, I don't want anyone to go back and edit all their blogs and hopefully once the rush of feelings has subsided this will be realized. Alicia, please continue to write and everybody else. I love you, I love what we have done here.
Love, Brooke

no i am sorry

i am sorry that i have offended you. that was not the intent. alicia i think you are truely one of the best people i know, and i value our relationship more than you probably understand. i love you blogs, i love your stories. i would be heart broken if you never got on here again. i know that differant people have differant ideas about things. in this case it comes not so much from the way i was raised, but what has come up in raising my own children. we will all have differant experiances that will affect us differantly, i just pray that we will be able to talk (or blog) through them. and still maintain the loving realtionship we have always tried for.
love........me

Sorry

Although I vowed I was never going to get on here again, I can't stop thinking about this. I just wanted to apologize to any of you that I have offended. I guess Meagan especially. I haven't been able to eat since I talked to Brooke and I have this constant pain in my stomach. I am so embarassed I can't even see straight. Kev was like - should we go back through and read all of your blogs to see what they mean? I just wanted to go back through and erase all of mine. I'm just sick. I'm really sorry. I'm sorry that you have to shield your children from me. I didn't really realize that they were being read to the children, nor did I realize mine were so questionable. I just wish someone would have told me earlier that my stuff was offensive so I wouldn't have wasted your time and mine. Anyway I really should concentrate more on my own journal. I write like 2 paragraphs in there each night, so now I'll just write in there. That way just my kids can read it (at their own risk) someday. I realize we have different ideas about things (stemming I believe, from our polar opposite mothers) and you have the right to say when you don't like something. I'm sorry. Again, I'm more embarassed than I can even say. I should be a better person, but I am doing the best that I can. I'm really sorry. Alicia

Unbelievable.

Speaking of ...

Mindi, that looked like so much fun. It made me remember that I want a vacation. A vacation from MY PROBLEMS! No, but I am going to have to insist that Kev and I do something fabulous next year for our 5 year anniversary. When I first mentioned a cruise to him, he's like - without the girls? That's the idea, I replied. We'll see. I'm a big talker. I leave them for the night and I'm ready to go get them after about 3 hours.

Ok, I've got to go nap while Clo is down. Leash

BLOG NINJA IN THE HOUSE

NICE TRY ALL OF YOU, BUT NO DICE. YOU FELL FOR MY RUSE AND i HAD YOU ALL THINKING I WAS SOME REALLY REALLY RIDICULOUSLY GOOD LOOKING FAIRY!!!! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA. I GOT YOU GOOD. BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD MY PEEPS. LYDIA, THE THOUGHT OF YOU MAKES PEOPLE PEE THEIR PANTS AND TREMBLE IN FEAR. STRANGE, BUT AMAZING COMBINATION. JESSICA ON THE BUS? HA HA HA HA HA. HOW MANY TIMES HAVE THE HOMELESS PEOPLE PROPOSITIONED YOU? MANY I THINK. WHAT A SACRIFICER. JACK, I AM TERRIBLY SAD ABOUT YOUR RECENT GROWING OLD PAINS. EVENTUALLY YOU'LL HAVE A NEW EVERYTHING. HOORAY. ALICIA, IF YOU LOVE LETTERMAN, THEN MULTIPLY LETTERMAN TO THE 3RD POWER AND YOU HAVE CONAN OBRIEN. HILARIOUS. WELL, TIME FOR ME TO SEND OFF. SOON I WILL REVEAL MY IDENTITY WITH CANDID PHOTOS. UNTIL THEN, SO LONG. AND MEEGAN. THE ANIMALS NEVER SHOWED UP. PEACE

Lydia in the george which is saint

I’m not gonna lie it was a fantastic trip, ya all wanna know why I got to go –well because my job had to “let me go” as they said, so know I’m jobless and have nothing else to do but mope around and go on vacation with the cousins. Now I’m home waiting for my new job to start next Monday at jessi place of employment which should be fun. Just hanging with chole and sleeping in, but now I’m off to school.

Oh and also I think I know who the ninja is and if I’m right I want those skis I think, with this new job I should be rolling in the dough!

Peach out bloggers Lyd

chelsea

Hello. I had a lot of catching up to do. I love seeing all of the pictures when I pull up the blog! Everyone sounds lovely.

We (me, my Mom, my Dad, Cort, Ash, Lydia, Linds and her friend Brynn) all went to St. George this weekend. Lindsey had a softball tournament down there. It's hilarious, but I swear if Lindsey didn't play this sport we wouldn't be together as much as a family. Ha ha! It was fun. I think she played about seven or eight games within 24 hours. She did really well. Her team took 5th place out of 16 teams.

I cannot believe November is half way over! Mindi, I hope you had a wonderful Birthday. Sorry I'm so late in telling you that.

Jess, next time you're at the New Yorker, you should get the Lobster Fetichinni (spelling). You'll never be the same. PS-Can I have a job there? Not even kidding.

Gotta get back to work, peace!
Chels

ColoradoBennett-Casa Bonita

To me, Casa Bonita is the happiest place on earth. If you haven't been, show up next year around the 8th of November and join us on our annual trip. Not Adam's favorite place, but because he loves me he plays along. This year we had twenty family members join in and it was a dream come true. Cliff divers, Black Bart and his scary cave, the gorilla named Chiquta that Kaia really hates, all you-care-to-eat sopapias, skee ball, mariachi bands, and the worst actors and skits imaginable. My uncle Steve said, "These are the drama students that made it." Too funny. We had our family portrait drawn by a cartoonist but unfortunately it didn't turn out very good. Poor Kaia, everybody is going to think she is a boy until she's about 4 or so because that's how long it is going to take her to grow some hair of significant length. Her personality is starting to shine through and she is a dang funny kid, and she knows it. She'll give Sierra goofy, sideways glances and then laugh to herself. She'll tease and schmoose and win over most any friend or stranger. So attached is a picture of my mom and I in a moment of pure joy at Casa Bonita. Then a picture to entice you to join us there next year. And then our family cartoon.

Abraham Lincoln: "It is difficult to make a man miserable while he feels he is worthy of himself and claims kindred to the great God who made him."

The cat is out of the bag

You blew your cover when you mentioned hot dogs and vanilla coke. Only one person comes to Aunt Jack's for those items. Where the heck have you been? Tony and I were just talking about you the other day.

Well I just got back from a very romantic dinner with another man...actually it was my boss...and he is gay so no one has to worry. We got to go to dinner again for free. Yeah!!! We went to the New Yorker and I got a filet mignon the size of a baseball. It was delicious.

Riding the bus has proven to be more drama than I can handle. Today I missed the 7:20 bus by seconds and had to take the 7:33 so I was 20 minutes late for work. Oopsie.

That is all for now...it is 9:00 and I am falling asleep looking at the screen. I gotta go to bed.

Love Jess

seven!

talk about birthcontrol....seven children. 9, 6, 4, 3, 2, 1, and 4 months. i am going to loose my mind before mom gets home from mutual. i am doing better now that i don't have to sing with mom tonight. that stress hanging over my head was far more than i could handle. she confuses me for ellynn, or brooke. um, yeah i'm not the singer. i can't wait until elly and brooke get home to take their rightful place as preformers. i can not handle one more embarrassing singing experience.

i shouldn't be doing this because my feet are sicking to the floor from the pancakes i just fed the seven. but i had to tell mister ninja man i know who you are and i bet i know what you are doing tonight. it involve sitting around a fire waiting for the aminals to come and fight.

crazy.....me

I've got it - maybe

I know who you are. There's only one other person who makes fun of Mindi like Adam does. Do you want me to blow your cover? I actually had a dream about who the crap you were before I read the blog today. I dreamt that you were Cole all grown up. Crazy.

Anyway, we were watching Letterman last night, who by the way if you haven't watched for a while, like I hadn't - go back - he's as good as you remember. He said something and I laughed so hard I almost horked the mouthful of cereal that I had. Anyway, that's beside the point. Clo was watching it with us (I think it's because I try so hard all day to keep her from watching t.v. that when Kev gets home and the t.v. finally goes on - she'll watch virtually anything) and she turns to me and tells me "you be the tooth fairy, I be a princess and Dad be a dragon." It was pretty funny. She is talking so much lately, it's blowing me away. My favorite is - I have to ask you a question. The other day I was laying down with her and she's like - what I suppose to do now? She's pretty dang funny. She woke up the other morning and I was in giving Mad a bath. She comes in and is like - I wake up and I say -Where mom? Et's go bind her. I love how she gives me the dialogue in her head.

Well ok, talk to you later. Leash

OH SO SNEAKY

THE GAME IS AFOOT. WELL WELL. AREN'T WE ALL LITTLE DETECTIVES. LITTLE SHERLOCK HOLMES IF YOU WILL. WELL YOU WILL FAIL. THE BLOG NINJA IS NEVER CAPTURED. HE ONLY TERRORIZES AND THEN MOVES ON. MINDY DOES NOT KNOW MY IDENTITY. HER FUNG SHUAI DIET IS THROWING OFF HER DETECTIVE SKILLS. YOU CANNOT CAPTURE A SHADOW. A WIZARD OF THE KEYBOARDS. A CRAZY PERSON. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO FIND ME. CAUSE I DON'T KNOW KARATE, BUT I KNOW CRAZY. SO TRY AS YOU WILL. BUT YOU WILL FAIL. HA HA HA HA. NOW IF YOU WILL EXCUSE ME, I HAVE TO GO COOK SOME JACK RIGBY SPECIALS. HOT DOGS AND VANILLA COKE. ACTUALLY A LITER OF COLA. LATER MY FAMILY. NINJA VANISH(POOF)!!!

THE ORPHAN
BLOGNINJA

OH SO SNEAKY

THE PLOT THICKENS. WELL, WELL. WE ARE ALL DETECTIVES AREN'T WE? WELL THINK FAST CAUSE THE BLOG NINJA IS NEVER CAPTURED. HE ONLY TERRORIZES AND THEN MOVES ON. MINDY HAS NO CLUE. HER DIET IS THROWING HER DETECTIVE SKILLS OFF. NOW IF YOU WILL EXCUSE ME BEECHER FAMILY. I HAVE HOT DOGS TO EAT AND VANILLA COKE TO DRINK. ACTUALLY A LITER OF COLA. LATER MY LOVING FAMILY. NINJA VANISH(POOF)!!
THE ORPHAN
BLOGNINJA

please steal my shoes

blogninja, i have my suspissions about you. my only quandry; are you really a "he". if you are who i think you are welcome and if you are not, don't judge us. also i give you permission to steal our shoes we have far too many.
blog....meags

ColoradoBennett--true identity

Thank you to everyone who blogged or called to wish me a happy birthday. It was marvelous, my family (especially my husband) spoil me rotten. BLOGNINJA, I know who you are, I'm happy you joined us, and everyone would be delighted if you reviled your true identity, but I'll leave that up to you. Brooke called me from Korea and told me the Outback/bidet story: please blog soon, Brookie, it's too funny to not share immediately. I'm so happy that you are blissfully frolicking around Korea, climbing big mountains/rocks, etc. with your husband. I just spent the last hour trying to get Sierra and Kaia to take a nap at the same time and now Kaia just woke up. Better go resort to the sleeper hold. Blog to your mother...
ps. the pictures are of Kaia in a monkey suit, Adam's new toy, and the beautiful roses bought me.

OOOPSIES

Mindi - I'm so sorry I didn't talk to or blog you yesterday. I was meaning to do it all day, but never could. Happy late birthday. I second all of the great things everyone said about you. I'm so glad you're in our family. I know I've told you this before, but I've liked you ever since Adam told us you wouldn't let him kiss you on your first date. Loved it. Anyway, hope you had a fun day. That's all birthdays are as you get closer to thirty I've decided. A fun day. Fun until you start thinking about how just yesterday you were turning 20 and now your life is almost half over. Just kidding.

Brooke, I agree. The picture is way cute. In fact, I said to myself, wow, she looks cute and skinny, even before I saw that Mike thought it was cute. Anyway, I hope you're having fun.

I don't get the Ninja thing. Am I alone? Who are you?

Ok, I'm watching Walker and he and Clo are taking turns jumping off our Little Tikes slide onto the LoveSac. Now they are pushing each other off. It's a matter of time before someone starts bawling. I better go break it up. Leash

P.S. Someone please post Brind and Ellynns email addresses if they would. Thanks

BLOG NINJA IN THE HOUSE

DO NOT BE ALARMED. YOUR BLOG HAS NOW BEEN INVADED BY THE BLOGNINJA. YOUR FEEBLE ATTEMPTS TO GOOGLE ME WILL NOT WORK. FOR I AM A NOMAD. A ROGUE, A RABBLE ROUSER ........... IF I DO FIND OUT YOU ARE ATTEMPTING TO FIGURE OUT WHO THIS IS, I WILL COME TO YOUR HOUSE AND STEAL YOUR SHOES. SINCE I DON'T HAVE A FAMILY, I HAVE DECIDED TO JOIN YOURS. SO NOW YOU WILL START TO HEAR ABOUT THE BLOG NINJAS DAY. SO FAR TODAY IS WELL. I HAVE FOUND MY LONG LOST FAMILY WHICH IS GOOD. THE BLOG NINJA HAS DECIDED HE SHOULD LEAVE NOW. YOU WILL HEAR FROM ME LATER. HAVE A GOOD DAY FAMILY. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MINDY. HOPE IT WAS GOOD AND THAT CHEAPSKATE HUSBAND TOOK YOU SOMEWHERE NICE. LATER

I think this is a very cute picture, Brooke objects.

Ok we are not bloggin just yet, but this was Tuesday's activity, it was beautiful. You could hear monks chanting from a shrine on the way up too. Brooke has a great story to share..think Outback Steakhouse (yes, in Seoul) and a bidet...

Come on Brooke...get off that rock

If I never see a freakin' rock again....

Brooke and Mike after a long climb up Dobong-San (it was pretty dang cold)

Happy days will come to you all year!!!

Happy Birthday Mindi...I hope you had a great day. I should have a card in the mail for you but I am just not that on top of it. You are the best and I love you. I think you are such a great addition to this family. Isn't it funny how all of the spouses have just melded into this family.

I started riding the bus to work today and Tony got off late to pick me up from the bus stop so I decided to walk down to mom and dad's house to visit and much to my surprise Alicia and the girls were there. What a great day. I started running towards the house when I saw her car.

Things are going well. We had a fun weekend. We went out to dinner with my friends from high school on Saturday. It was fun to get together. On Friday we went to the Jordan River Temple for a session, I had never been there. It was hopping, Tony says it is one of the busiest. It was great.

That is all for now. Really I just wanted to get on and say Happy Birthday to Mindi.

Love Jess

HOLA Mindi!

happy happy birthday
from all of us to you
we wish it was our birthday
so we could party too - yay!

**insert clapping here**

and here's a happy fake mexican in a hat.



we loves you mindi, happy berfday.
-cor

happy happy birthday mindi dear!

WE love you Minders! love Darla, Geof., cole, and dayne

he called

yes, geof. called just to talk to me. i don't know if he read the blog or if he's just that good. either way, it made my day. geof. you are an increadable person and i love you. some day all your hard work will pay off and you will definately have mansions in heaven, and probably here too mister smarty pants.
loves..me

daddy do

so this morning i'm writing to elly and brinders and trying to be all uplifting and paint a picture of words expressing how wonderful my children are as they are playing quietly in the other room. then i hear two of wilohm's trucks crash and he says, "damn it all!!". "wilohm, we don't talk like that", i say trying to lovingly correct him. and he says, "yes, daddy do". i was cracking up. i mean i can't really argue with that. daddy do, it's true. geof., you slay me and it's good to see that you are alive. cory said he talked to you the other day, but i didn't believe him, because i knew if my brother had called he would have insisted on talking to me. right!

anyways there are no garentees that i will get to blog tomorrow, so i would like to take this oppertunity to thank mindi's mother for bringing such an increadable spirit into this world 27 years ago tomorrow. happy birthday little mindi. i am so thankful you were born, so that my brother could marry you, and i could have another best friend!! i hope all your dreams come true on your speacial day.

i wish all of you a wonderful day as i'm sure mine will be if i ever get to get out the door for a run.

bloggy birthday......meags

povo

Howdy, ya'll. Jessica that cowboy shirt brings back many memories of our happy halloween together. Speaking of Halloween it was fantastic. Cole was Zorro but insisted on being called Batman. Of course you dress him up in a costume and then it's freezing so you throw on a jacket over the top. Cole has a camouflage polar fleece jacket. So he's wearing that and his cape over the top. He of course was asked if he was an army man. He went around with another two year old and they thought it was the greatest thing ever. To quote Seinfeld "You mean people are just giving this candy away?" On the first doors they just walked in and started to go to town on the candy bowl. It was hysterical. Of course we're concerned with Cole's health so Darla and I have strived to eat all his candy for him.
Alicia I have had Darla start experimenting with files and brownies. Mindi that book club sounds great. I would rather stick a pencil into my temple. Not the reading part but having to listen to others argue over points which are the same. I was trying to picture a bunch of men being in a meeting and one of them saying that they would die in 4 months. The only thing I could think to say is "that sucks." Stirring and profound. Alicia, Darla and I have been brainstorming for about a year on who would get the kids in the event of our simultaneous demise which is how I'd love to go by the way. So far it's a toss up between Jane the natural born mother and Deepac Chopra because I agree with many of his teachings.
Mike we went and saw your little sister Anne play a volley ball game friday night. They won and she is awesome. I feel funny admitting it was the first uvsc sporting event I'd ever been to. Brooke she plays a lot like you when you played except for the 90 mph spike thing.
I was about to apologize for not writing much. This is a guilt similar to when you apologize to your journal for not writing. As though the pages feelings are hurt. Usually when you write that plea for forgiveness in your journal it is the only thing that gets written.
In example
10/10/98 Dear Journal, I haven't written much lately and I apologize. I will write more later.

06/22/05 Dear Journal, repeat the entry enter 10/10/98.

Okay I'm gonna go snuggle with my lovely ladies Darla and Dayne. peace out.

Five to ten?

I was showing Kev the picture of Maddie that I posted and he's like - Have fun in jail. I guess I was the only one who thought it was cute. So until I hear from DCFS, somebody please practice baking a nail file into a cake. Leash

I don't know what i'm doing

that's right folks, i really don't know what i'm doing, but there there aren't they! i've done it before but i just couldn't figure it out this go around. enjoy my kick a#$ costume that i made, well ok jackie helped a bit, but only with the skirt i did the rest. and it's true cam i love seeing picutes on the blog it make the situation a lot better! well i've got to go play with chole blog to blog ya later.

Jordan and Girls

I always love to see pictures on the blog. Here are a couple from Halloween morning of the girls. I'll have to get their costume ones on here another time. The Zombie Mambo is Jordan on the last night of Lagoon. He did an amazing job, it was fun to go down and see him perform.
Halloween was great. As we were leaving each house Harley would yell "Let's do another one". She was Cinderella again and Eliza was a Giraffe. They both had a great time trick or treating.
Sorry so short, the pictures say it all.

ColoradoBennett--grown-ups

Leash, I love that you turn to the blog in the early a.m. when you can't sleep and there is minor discord in your marriage. Adam and I aren't big fighters either, we usually just "agree to disagree" (quote from Anchorman). Thanks for the grown-up compliment, I'm beaming because of it. I've spent about 20 minutes trying to write a cleaver Alicia-style blog, but I cower under the tower of your greatness. Nothing brightens the day quite like a good dose of Alicia Hatch humor, and I know about 54 bloggers that will back me up on that statement. This morning it really hit me how much I miss being with LeAnne, Brooke, and Meagan and co. every day. They are phenomenal moms, they have phenomenal kids, and I love how much they can accomplish in a single day. I've tried with all my might to come home and keep house as well as they do, entertain children as well as they do, exercise as well as they do (I still haven't been able to break a sweet nearly as well as those Bennett girls can), and maintain the spirituality in the home like they do. Meagan made a profound statement in Institute one day about how the nighttime routine with four kids was so hard until they started doing scripture study all together and then they were blessed with more harmony and ease at nighttime. I just amazed. Adam had Sierra sit with us through scripture study last night and I was amazed at how much she picked up. She always likes to repeat words, especially during prayers, and she started mumbling about Nephities and Lamanites. I think she associated Lamanites with "night" and how she didn't want to lay down that night. I hope she can be like Wilohm who can now quote about 76% of scripture because he knows to say "And it came to pass" before every verse. Well, my morning quite time is all used up...and it came to blog...

Now what?

I wasn't going to write again because I'm sure everyone would like a break, but I can't sleep. Kev and I got the girls to sleep early at 9:30 after one of the bigger arguments of our marriage. I say argument, but I mean basically us not agreeing on something and not being able to come to the same conclusion. He's really good that way. He never fights with me. Anyway we're applying for life insurance for him and they need to know who will take over the finances and care of the children should something happen to both of us. I, of course, was sure that it would be my mother. I mean, give me a break. J'Lynne has had a good run. Sam alone is worth like 45 1/2 kids. But I, collectively, labored for 13 hours for them and I should have say as to where they will fulfill the rest of their lonely and miserable life without me. Anyway, we finally stopped talking about it and remained quiet the rest of the night. I'll let you know how it goes.

Mindi, I'll tell you who I want to be when I grow up and it's you. Between signing time videos, big boobed Barbie cakes, family history, hiking with your cute family in a beautiful forest and reading grown-up books, I don't think I'll ever be able to measure up. I thought I was doing good because I have my journal and scriptures by the toilet and that's how I get them done. I can't imagine being able to read something in time to be able to discuss it with others. You're amazing. Also, that was pretty unbelievable about that poor lady. I would've immediately started bawling and would've had to send everyone home. It makes anything any of us are going through seem pretty trivial.

Anyway, I'm going to try and go back to sleep before I eat anything else. Leash

ColoradoBennett-Book Club and OC

I'm sitting at the computer, pretending not to listen to the OC that Adam is watching. Dang that devil-of-a-TV-show-that-sucks-me-into-these-crazy-California-lives. So I had my second book club meeting tonight. We talked about "The History of Joseph Smith by His Mother" and I really, really recommend you read the unabridged version because it talks in detail about the controversy surrounding Mother Smith's book. When it was first published, Brigham Young called it "filthy lies" and told all members to send their copies of the book back. Later he softened up and helped the book get published again (there are actually 15 different publications). Anyway, I love Mother Smith and hope to be just like her when I grow up. My first step is to work on my "take charge" voice. The Book Club meeting was quite a scene. I just love hearing the insights that each person has into something because of the experiences they have been blessed with in this life. The two most opinionated ladies got into an argument for about 10 minutes and I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to change the subject and get them to stop. It was always a battle of who could talk louder and I always lost, surprise? But at the end of the argument they both realized they had exactly the same point. Then just when I thought I had the meeting wrapped up and all of them headed out the door at 8:30, one lady tells us that her doctor told her that she only has 4 months to live. It was amazing what compassionate and loving words of comfort came from the other women. A wonderful conversation emerged about how to best spend our time here on earth (I thought I should add blogging to that list, but I decided to keep my mouth shut) and it was a very memorable moment. I guess there are those of us who look forward to the next life, even if we will miss our loved ones that we leave behind, and there are those who think any endurance of mortal misery is mush preferred to death.
Oh, they just talked about "Craig's List" on the OC. Another reason to watch I guess.
Bloggerfornia, here we come.

Halloween

Yes, the curls did take forever and no, we're never doing it again. I had her up to the bar, trying to feed her, sing songs with her, anything to distract her, all the while she's fidgiting and proclaiming "this is STUPID!" every time she could feel the heat from the curling iron.

Meags and Darla, I too wish I could just sit and snuggle and smell Mad all day. I never did it with Clo either. Mostly because I was so tired and angry after nursing her every two hours from birth to one year, that I just wanted a minute to myself. Talk about horrible. Now I can't get enough of little Maddie. She smells so delicious, she can't stop smiling and she slept for 7 hours last night. She's killin me.

Meags, I would've loved to see that spill of yours. No doubt you were trying to hurry, trying to look cute and boom you're down. Priceless.

We went for a walk around mom's neighborhood yesterday when we were stopped in front of her house. It was an older lady, out campaigning for her son who was running for mayor. She sees Clo and was like "aren't you a cute litte thing?" Clo says, and I wish I were making this up, in her most - you're annoying me voice - "Gimme a BREAK." Ha Ha, I laughed nervously as I unbuckled her from the stroller and nudged her towards the house. It was great. Let it begin I guess - kids saying things you wish they wouldn't.

Oh yes, to everyone that doesn't write: Write or I'm going to hunt you down and beat you. I loved the story about bathing Hazel in the sink and Darla not liking country music. They're so cute and so wrong. Just kidding. Not the bathing part, just the not liking country music. Ok, I love you guys - Leash

Pretty in Pink-Jessica

Hi all,
I have been so busy I haven't been able to read the blog in about a week. I have no, I mean no, down time at work so I never get a chance to read. Great blogs this week, I loved the pics. Alicia's blog "Roasted Chicken" was pure genius, I called her wheezing because I was laughing so hard.

In reference to the title...I have pink eye again. What adult gets pink eye, let alone twice in two months? My boss was not happy. He was all freaked out he was going to get it and I told him I promise not to rub my eye on yours.

Work has been CRAZY, it is nice because the day just flies by. I didn't even eat lunch until 3 today, the other day I didn't even eat lunch at all. We had a career fair yesterday so I was at work from 9 am to 9 pm. It was fun because I sat in the lobby and signed everyone in and gave out candy to the applicants and all the people that already work there. It was great. Then after work we all went out to dinner. It was me and my boss and a big wig from Boston and a big wig and a girl from Texas. We got to order whatever we wanted because the company was paying. So I ordered butternut squash ravioli $18.95 and lobster bisque $6.95 (which, who knew was soup?!?) It was great. I was the only person not drinking. All the other jokers ordered martini's and I got a raspberry lemonade...it was classic.

Halloween was great. Chlo and Mad made my day, not to mention Lyd. I will have to post pictures. Darla, that one pic Alicia posted is from when we were decorating mom's house for Halloween, we decided to just dress up in a bunch of different costumes. That one was a Pioneer outfit. So, back to Halloween. I got off work and went right to mom and dad's. Stan and Heather brought Con over so we all visited for a while. Leash and Kev went up to the Hatchy's so Lyd talked me into going to a little party at Mandi McKean's (Greg's sister). I dressed up as a cowgirl. Tony was at work so I was sad without him but it turned out to be a great night.

Well that is all for now. I gotta go snuggle down and get caught up on some TIVO shows. I love you all. Love Jess

bg me

darla i know what you are saying, my poor little hazel never gets held enough. i could just hold jackson all day long, plus elly and brind were home, so he never touched ground. poor third and fourth children, huh geof.
anyway i thought of a funny story. the other day, halloween as a matter of fact, brooke and i were going visiting teaching. notice the last day of the month, but hey we got it done. so we stopped by the school to drop off the popcorn balls mom helped me make that morning, and as i am walking to the class my feet keep slipping out of my flip flops. on the way back to the car i take them off so that i have better traction as i run across the grassy field. i get half way across and my feet go flying and i do mean flying out from under me. brooke said i had great air and my legs were straight up when i hit the ground. i was laughing so hard!! i was glad brooke saw it or it would not have been worth it. you know as an adult you really don't get to fall down all that much (unless you are lydia), i felt like i was playing soccer again or something.

ok one more quick one...as i am wrapping jackson up in his costume (he was a mummy and oh that skinny little body all wrapped up tight was so cute!!) wil says he would like to be a 'vampirate' for halloween. i was cracking up.

now i have to go gaze while dinner is cooking.........me

provo mom

meags, i feel the same way you do. my life just seems so boring and i don't have the wit of half of these bloggers to make it sounds interesting...so many times i just sit back and read. but honestly, i do love your blogs....and you're a Bennett (or maybe it's from the Beecher side right?) and you're all hilarious. I'm dying for pics of Hazel. I'm sure she's so beautiful and round. I love it. Dayne is getting big...well, tall at least. Yesterday she got her 6 month shots (can you believe it?) and the dr. said she was in the 85% for height and 25% for weight. Hm...don't know where that came from. Definately not my side of the family. She's not sitting up yet but she's just dying to. She lays there grunting all day wanting someone to pick her up...so we do once in a while. okay, that sounds horrible but like my mom and le anne say, "if i didn't nurse my babies i wouldn't hold them". Isn't that true (for me at least)? I'm racing all day to get who knows what done and if I didn't stop once in a while to feed her she'd never get loves from me. poor bebes. My friend offered to take Cole for a few hrs. so i could go shopping. i'm so excited i could die! and it's nothing more than grocery shopping. isn't that pathetic? i'm pretty sure Geof.'s trained Cole to hate shopping as much as he does...just to save us money. I swear, every time we enter ANY store he starts up. I can't handle it. My mom and I went to the mall the other day and I'm tearing through the place trying to get out without killing both children and she's wondering why we can't bum around a bit. ANyway, that's all i have for my boring blog. hope all is well. Chels, not to offend but i don't like country so it's likely that I don't know that group...sorry. Leash, Madison looks so dang cute in those pics that you blogged. Is it me or is she Clo's twin? oh..and by the way, what was Jessica's costume? Brooke, you must be so excited to go...it's just you alone right? how long? Darla

bg me

so i'm pretty sure i am the crappiest blogger. i totally take advantage of you all. always reading and laughing and never writing. but my life just isn't as exciting as yours or if it is i just can't express it in a way which would make it sound exciting. so well mindi is gone and halloween is over, so we are back to the grind. i mean yesterday i went shopping all day with mom and brooke. work, work, work!! i would have enjoyed it more if i could fit into anything in a decent size. but i should anytime now seeings how i spent all the grocery money. i have this crazy shopping addiction. I LOVE CLOTHES!!!
the kids are cute as ever. hazel is getting so round and beautiful. i gave her a bath in the kitchen sink this morning. i think that is my favorite thing. she's all round and soft, then you wrap her in a warm fluffy towel and lotion her up. ohh i love babies.
the candy situation baffles me, i don't know what to do with all of it. i'm pretty sure i'm just going to snap and throw it all away. did anyone notice my misfit child in all the pictures? so, i am racking my brain trying to find something interesting to tell you but either i am too thick to think of anything or there really is nothing. either way i must be done.
my mind really is bloggled..........meags

ColoradoBennett-You mean they just give me candy?!!

On the way up to my grandparent's last night there was a Seinfeld skit on about Halloween. He said, "Do you remember when you first heard about Halloween and your mind couldn't even comprehend it? You said, 'You mean they just give me candy? Everyone we know is just handing out candy?! Sure I'll wear that, I'll wear anything you want!'" And that's what Halloween means to me. The girls had a great time trick-or-treating with their dad. Kaia came home with 64 pieces of candy (I had to count them because the older kids were having a contest, Jack won with 104). Pop's elk chili was awesome, as usual (another Gurr family tradition). I was overpowered by some rotten cold/flu thing and so I mostly moped around, stole candy from helpless children, and hung out on the couch. I tried to work up the nerve to watch "Americas Scarriest Places" but I had to change the channel every 5 seconds or so because I just couldn't take it. 'I'm a mean old blog with a hat'