A.I.

Tonight Joey and I decided to take the boys to the American Idol concert. I bought the tickets online this morning, so needless to say they won't be the greatest seats. It should be fun though, it will be the boys' first concert. I know I always say this, but I really will try to get pictures posted.

They are only here for two more weeks and I don't even want to think about how quick the summer has felt. Makes me nervous because the wedding is going to creep up just as quick and we have much to do!

The girls got back from California with my Dad. Sounds like they had a fun time. Sea World, the Beach, and the play Wicked.

Cortney started working at GBS with my Dad yesterday as a part time thing. She seems to like it a lot. Last night we went to Walmart and she got a bunch of stuff to decorate her cubicle with. Pretty exciting!!!!

Ashley is still balancing all her little summer jobs. I forgot to mention this a while back, but she made the theatre play acting whatever club for High School. She had to sing and dance at tryouts and passed with flying colors. She's really excited for it. Lindsey's boyfriend is also in the club and she keeps joking that Ash and Landon are going to get two lead roles and have to kiss. Oh the drama! :)

Lindsey's bday was on the 18th and she finally turned 16. She's been driving around but actually being frugle about her gas. She's applied for a job at Target but waiting to get things finalized. Can't you just see her hopping around in a red shirt?

Our little get-a-way to Island Park Yellowstone is not this weekend but next. It's going to be a lot of fun. My Mom is super excited.

Okay, that's all for now. Please blog, I've been so bored at work! It would be embarrassing if I admitted how many times I check it each day.

~Chels

um...Geof. said he was going to edit that last post. I hope no one is offended by it. (:

hysterical

i'm not 30 yet but darla's like 35 so i'm an honorary member>
HOW SOON WE FORGET.
>
>
>THE SPOILED UNDER-30 CROWD!!!
>
>If you are 30 or older you will think this is hilarious!!!!
>
>When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with
>their tedious diatribes about how hard things were
>when they were growing up; what with walking
>twenty-five miles to school every morning ... uphill
>BOTH ways .. yadda, yadda, yadda
>
>And I remember promising myself that when I grew up,
>there was no way in hell I was going to lay a bunch of
>crap like that on kids about how hard I had it and how
>easy they've got it!
>
>But now that... I'm over the ripe old age of thirty, I
>can't help but look around and notice the youth of
>today. You've got it so easy! I mean, compared to my
>childhood, you live in a damn Utopia!
>
>And I hate to say it but you kids today you don't know
>how good you've got it!
>
>I mean, when I was a kid we didn't have The Internet.
>If we wanted to know something, we had to go to the
>damn library and look it up ourselves, in the card
>catalog!! And it never failed--the book or magazine
>you needed was already checked out!
>
>There was no email! ! We had to actually write
>somebody a letter ...with a pen! Then you had to walk
>all the way across the street and put it in the
>mailbox and it would take like a week to get there!
>
>There were no MP3's or Napsters! You wanted to steal
>music, you had to hitchhike to the damn record store
>and shoplift it yourself! Or you had to wait around
>all day to tape it off the radio and the DJ'd usually
>talk over the beginning and mess it all up!
>
>
>We didn't have fancy crap like Call Waiting! If you
>were on the phone and somebody else called they got a
>busy signal, that's it! And we didn't have fancy Caller ID Boxes either!
>When the phone rang, you had
>no idea who it was! It could be your school, your mom,
>your boss, your bookie, your drug dealer, a
>collections agent, you just didn't know!!! You had to
>pick it up and take your chances, mister!
>
>We didn't have any fancy Sony Playstation video games
>with high-resolution 3-D graphics! We had the Atari
>2600! With games like "Space Invaders" and
>"asteroids" and the graphics sucked! Your guy was a
>little square! You actually had to use your
>imagination! And there were no multiple levels or
>screens, it was just one screen forever! And you
>could never win. The game just kept getting harder and
>harder and faster and faster until you died! Just like
>LIFE!
>
>When you went to the movie theater there no such thing
>as stadium seating! All the seats were the same height!
>If a tall guy or some old broad with a hat sat
>in front of you and you couldn't see, you were just
>screwed!
>
>Sure, we had cable television, but back then that was
>only like 15 channels and there was no onscreen menu
>and no remote control! You had to use a little book
>called a TV Guide to find out what was on! You were
>screwed when it came to channel surfing! You had to
>get off your ass and walk over to the TV to change the
>channel and there was no Cartoon Network either! You
>could only get cartoons on Saturday Morning. Do you
>hear what I'm saying!?! We had to wait ALL WEEK for
>cartoons, you spoiled little brats!
>
>And we didn't have microwaves, if we wanted to heat
>something up we had to use the stove or go build a
>frigging fire ... imagine that! If we wanted popcorn,
>we had to use that stupid Jiffy Pop thing and shake it
>over the stove forever like an idiot.
>
>That's exactly what I'm talking about! You kids today
>have got it too easy. You're spoiled!!!!!!!!!
>
>You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in 1980!
>
>Regards,
>The over 30 Crowd
>
>

Provo

It's been so long since i've been on the blog i can't even begin to catch up so i read the most recent blogs written by each person and then i feel like i'm caught up.
First of all, monica i gotta agree with michelle. you're being had! i think you should up it to at least 20 a session. if you make up a little news letter explaining about your time like you did on the blog, they're gonna be cool. and it will also make it easier for them to understand why you will still charge them for their missed lesson if you don't receive notification at least 3 hours in advance. just my opinion.
well things are going well. i'm almost done with school!!! well the end of september but there is at least a light at the end of the tunnel. if only i could've talked brind into moving back his wedding date til after i graduated then i could go home for a good two weeks. as it is, it'll be a quick 2 day trip. (well 4 with the driving). i can't blame him. i definately didn't put off my wedding for anything. which by the way, if anyone else is planning on a trip that short and wants a couple of tag alongs, let me know.
lately we've been spending as much time as possible at school, work, or up at jason's parents house. mostly because our house is roughly 200 degrees. and it is physically impossible to get any sort of breeze, draft, moving air whatsoever, through that house. when i am home i sit in front of the fan and spray myself with a squirt bottle to keep from having core melt down. jason just laughs at me. what can i say, i'm a washington girl! and to have my first summer in utah this hot is pretty much a guarantee that i won't be spending many of them here. i think i'll threaten jason to keep my hair short until we move to washington.
chels we too have been getting serious about running. and i think if i keep saying it, it'll keep me serious. i just feel bad for jason because he runs with me. he's so nice though. he never leaves me to run at his own pace although i tell him to at least every time me go but we do live in a rough hood ya know.
alright i'll sign off now. love you all and hopefully i'll see you all on the 25th!
ellynn

VA

yo team whssup.
good to read the blogs and get the goings on. Mike i loved reading your log of events in europe. i would really like to go to those sites with you. cameron i hope you enjoy being the girls camp director. chelsea i think your work out sounds good. i am doing this thing where i stand on a tread mill and do what ever feels tolerable. sometimes this brings me up to speeds of 1.5 mph. the family is doing fairly well. june bug is very cute and the kids love to swim. that is pretty much all we've done since i got home. my time away from home as of late has seemed to drag on. last trip i was able to sneak away to down town madison wisconsin and tour the capital building and other lovely sites. other than that just a lot of reading, though i can't talk any 14 yr. olds into loneing me their copy of harry potter 7. what jerks. we miss having family around and hope all is going well with moves and trips etc.. peace out.

Crabb's

Well hello all. I have missed the blog. I have a couple more to read before I catch up, but it sounds like life’s adventure is continuing with everyone. I know this is a couple weeks past but, I can't tell you all how much fun we had in Washington with the Allen clan and Uncle Ellery. I am so glad we made it before the big move. It was so nice to stay at Meag and Cory's house. It is such a great home, but I won't reminisce too much for the sake of Meagan’s emotions. Because I know how hard it is to leave. I still hurt when I think about our old house and how much I loved living there. It is especially tough in a home that was in need of renovations, when you renovate them yourself it really becomes your own. Well their house was awesome, but where they are headed is definitely worth the heartache. They really have come across an amazing piece of property. One that you could live your life in with no regrets what so ever. It is amazing, and I am so excited and jealous. If I could find a way I would be begging for a partnership and moving with the Bennett’s. That would be the life.
Well all is well here. Crazy busy, but good. We will be departing for girls camp next week. Yes, we... Cameron kind of had no choice in the matter I volunteered him for priesthood the minute we set the date. I knew I would need a strong anchor for my sanity. Just in case I come close to a nervous break down. I didn't want to take any chances. In all reality though, I think it will be a blast. We will be repelling, canoeing etc. On our last night we will set out around 3am for a sunrise hike up the glacier side of Timpanogos. It is about 9 miles to the top, but we will be stopping 7.5 miles up at a place called Emerald Lake where we will hold our testimony meeting at sunrise. Following the meeting, those that want to continue to the top to sign a register there can, but I thought it safer in sunlight. After doing quite a bit of reading once we reach the lake the hike becomes quite a climb with many boulders. I thought this might be too much of a liability issue. Just hiking to the lake is a 15 mile hike round trip. It will definitely be an adventure esp. with Beck and my camp directors 3 month old in tow. It sounds crazy but I think it will be great.
Aside from the Young Women my little bit of voice teaching has really taken off. At some point I need to learn to say no. Jordan’s wife told my Mom I needed to change some things because people are taking advantage of me. I couldn't agree with her more and here advice is just what I needed to hear. When I started teaching I said I would take no more then 10 students and at that point I would start a waiting list because I am a Mom first. Well... I haven’t done such a good job of keeping to my original plan as of the fall I will have a total of 17 students. And in all reality it really is too much esp. with everything else I am doing. I am afraid the things that matter most will start to suffer. As of right now I have been charging friends and family $10 for a 45-minute lesson. And my other students $15. Not only this but each student is taking home a CD with the recording of the lesson. So here is the advice. First I need to shorten my lesson time to 30 minutes which I totally agree with and will be implementing starting August. Second I need to be charging more. Michelle suggests $20 to $30 per lesson. In all reality the very most I would be willing to increase is $5 more per lesson. But even this is would be tough. I agree with all those who have put in their 2 cents on the matter that the friends and fam should be paying $15. But I don't know if I can increase it for everyone else. As of right now over half are receiving the discount. Well I am looking for your advice on the matter if anyone has an opinion let me know cause right now I am struggling. But something definitely needs to change I am having many no shows, this or 15 minutes prior to lesson quick phone calls letting me know they can't come. They are all very apologetic. As of now I will offer a make up and sometimes I will not charge. This she said should change to 24 hours notice or they are charged etc. I am going to be invoicing soon, because yes receiving payment is sometimes a problem also. My time is becoming very precious. Every minute I give to teaching is another away from my kids. Michelle said these changes would weed out those who are and are not serious about lessons. I agree, but it is quite scary for me to do this. Any input would be welcome.
Ok enough about me sorry. Well the kids are doing great. Harley and Liza are enjoying there last days of summer together. In the 100-degree weather we have spent as much time as possible in the water. Harley's play is coming right along. Beck has been a little under the weather. I took him to the Dr. yesterday because he had shot a high fever, and in the last week I think I have washed my sheets at least 4 times because following every 6am feeding he loses the entire meal everywhere, following a 3-minute coughing attack. Yesterday when they said we would send him in for x ray, I had a moment of panic. But all is well he has a little bronchitis in his chest, but with some antibiotics and some TLC he should be back to normal in no time. The nights have been hard on him with continuous coughing attacks, but his days are much better. He is really looking up today I don't think it will be long. Well I love you all.
Moni
P.S.Chels I would love a copy of your spreadsheet. My 10-year is in less than a month.

the last bglife

i'm not even going to start with all that has gone on in the last few days. that would take more time than you have and more strength than i have. but this will be my last blog from the house we have called home for almost four years. it is bitter sweet, like so many things in life. mom has urged me to write this and i have not porpose avoided it because if i stop long enough to think about everything that is happening my emtions will take over and i will cease to function and who has time for that in the middle of moving out of a house. i love you all and i will update you more when and can. ................love, me

Run, run and run some more.

This has been on Joey and I's mind for the last few days. We are becoming completely serious about getting in shape. I have found a 10 week running plan via the wonderful internet that is completely reasonable and do-able. (I've approved it with my mother, so no need to worry.) Each workout is 30 minutes long, nothing crazy. We go Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturdays. Tonight will be day two of week one. This week's agenda consists of the following: run 2 minutes, walk 4 minutes. Do this 5 times, totaling 30 minutes. We went to the nearby high school track, which was extremely convenient. Keat and Ike bring their football and run in the middle of the field the whole time. They've started to play tackle football, so at the same time it's entertaining for Joey and I to watch. Week two we progress to: run 3 minutes, walk three minutes. By week ten we will be able to run for 30 minutes straight. I'm really excited and we are both dedicated about it. If anyone is interested in the schedule, I have it created on a neat little excel spreadsheet, complete with check off boxes. :) I'm sure it's easy for many of you to run for longer than two minutes...but for those of you who can't, this seems like a real great way to start. Wish us luck! :)

Keat, Ike, my mom and I visited Jacki and Kev last night while Joey was still at work. They have done a lot with their backyard and it looks marvelous! They were out working on an awesome stone path in the soft drizzling rain! You should post pictures Jack! It looks great!

Mike and Brooke, I checked out your pictures and they look amazing! What a fun time you guys are having.

Cort, Ash and Linds are still in California with my Dad. They get back late tomorrow night. I talked to all three of them yesterday and they were hanging out at Sea World.

Blog out!
Chels

Trip Pictures and Travelogue

Head to my family blog, The Sundry Seven, for pics and description of our trip. It might take a while to load if you have a slow connection.

Mike

Bavaria in Paris

Wow, what an amazing family we have. Mindi and Jack, how lucky are we to have two highly organized, caring women in one family? I can't wait to update my birthday folder that Mindi made for me. Well, we finally are in a place with internet and I wanted to get on the blog and wish my sweet, sweet Cory a happy birthday, also Monie, Ki, and all the other July b-days that I now know- oh and Tristan's is coming. I hope you all have a wonderful b-day and I love you all.

So we are now in Paris. We spent several days in Normandy visiting the D-day beaches, museums, the American cemetary, and a beautiful little village called Bayeaux. From there we drove to Disneyland Paris. It was fabulous. We had so much fun. We stayed in little Mobile Home type cabins at Davey Crockett's Resort and while Disney considers it their "budget" offerings we loved the setting and the autonomy of our own little cabin. At Disneyland they gave us a handicap pass for Ellyn and so we didn't have to wait in any lines on the rides she could ride. It was a lifesaver for all of us. Dis. Paris is much more strict as far as riding when pregnant and there were only a few rides they would let me on, but Pirates was one of them so I was okay.

Last night we drove into Paris. We have an amazing little apartment with the yummiest, cheapest little restaurant down the street. Today was pouring rain but it was the day we had planned for the Louvre so it worked out well. A bit crowded but amazing. Our kids did a whopping five hours. Mike and I were very impressed. We would love to have a few more days there but we have to much to do. Two more days here and then off to London.

It sounds like you are all doing great, except maybe mom and Mindi. Mike and I were dying laughing and also feeling terrible for you both. Thank goodness you had the Bennetts. They are such a great family.

Jess and Tony, I'm so sorry to hear about Indie. I know that she will be loved and cared for in every way. I know that you will be blessed and sustained and that little girl will make all of your hardships worth it. I understand, to a lesser degree obviously, what stresses Dr. visits, uncertainty, and the constant concern for Indie can have on each of you. Please remember that we are all always here to support you and help you in any way we can. We all love you so much.

I love you all and miss you very much. I will write again at some point. Love, Brooke

Pretty good day.

Hey everyone, this is Cory.  This is a huge THANKS to everyone yesterday who gave me a shout-out on my birthday.  Starting very early in the morning and lasting all day long I received phone calls, messages, text-messages etc. full of songs, pictures, and well-wishes.  It is honestly amazing to be part of such a supportive family.  To me, it's stuff like that that makes for a great day.  I always hear stories from different people that detail their hatred of their in-laws and extended family, but I have no idea what that's like.  When I got married, I gained a lot more than my beautiful wife ... I got a whole bunch of best friends as well. 

 

Thanks again.  You guys are the best.

 

love, cor

ColoradoBennett stranded in Middleton, ID

I hope I have time to blog the jist of our travel woes. Le Anne, Sierra, Kaia, Tristan and I left Denver at 6:30 a.m. yesterday, two hours later than planned. As we crossed the Idaho border, the check battery light went on in Adam's truck. We had an inverter plugged into the lighter and had a GPS and a DVD player plugged into the inverter. We stopped for gas and called around to find the nearest car repair shop. The GPS has a great feature that gives you addresses and phone #s of the nearest car repair shops (plus driving directions), but it wasn't working. So we kept driving and an hour or so later we hear this high-pitched beeping. It was the inverter so we unplugged it, to the horror of the girls who could no longer watch a movie. Then the speed dial and every other dial on the dash starting bouncing back and forth out of control. So we cut the cruise and AC and figured we'd only be stranded if we turned off the car. We stopped in Boise, turned the car off, then right back on, and sighed a sigh of relief thinking all was fine because it started. The scene in the gas station was one I never want to repeat. The girls were literally bouncing off the wall, not afraid of any threat I came up with, running all through the isles, squishing chips, etc. An older man passed by and told me, "You really have your hands full." I get that a lot, but usually people say it in a much nicer tone. Turns out the truck wasn't fine, and a nice man who runs a tow truck helped us get things started again and directed us to Shucks. The guys at Shucks checked the battery and said it was dead and wanted me to come in and pay for a battery and new alternator. I went in there and they talked to me for about 10 minutes, I didn't understand 9 minutes of that conversation. Finally I said, "OK, lets sum up." And I got from that that they really couldn't help me. I walked out of there fighting back tears. So we went to the truck stop and they said they only worked on Semis but they gave us the number of a Tire and Oil company. Tony from Jack's Tire and Oil said he would meet us at the truck stop to look at the alternator and that we should leave the truck running till he got there. Well, that was probably around 10:30 p.m. and he didn't get there until 11. He spent about an hour jumping the two batteries. We told him we had friends in Middleton and we wanted to get there tonight. He then suggested that we take back roads because the main highway was under construction and was down to one lane. He said if the truck died on the only lane of the highway, people would most likely get very upset with us. Then he told an awful story about three people who used their car to ram a lady off the road, set her car on fire, beat her almost to death, then robbed her. He said two ladies just shouldn't be alone on the road with the kind of trouble we were having. We sure didn't feel much better after that story, and we felt even worse when the truck died on us on dark stretch of road between Eagle and Middleton. As we were thinking, "What are we going to do?" Jack pulled up beside us. He said he was on his way home, just happened to be going the same way we were, and noticed our lights dimming. He decided to follow us (he doesn't know it, but we are confident the Spirit whispered for him to do so). We died in the best possible spot for him to pull up next to us on a frontage road and hook up the jumper cables. We started off again and soon after the lights started to dim. This was a big problem because cars were flying on this two lane road, passing us, and we were worried that someone would start to pass in the other direction and not see us because we were just a black hole. This time when the truck died we were able to coast into a gas station. Sure enough, Jack pulls up beside us. We were so grateful to him, Le Anne told him "I want you to know that you are an answer to prayers." We only gave him $40, and he was really reluctant to even take that. I'm sure he'll be blessed for a night of good deeds. We drove off once again and Jack stopped in the next town to get gas. It was so disappointing when we missed the street we were supposed to turn on (our lights were too dim to read the sign) and by the time we turned around the truck was dead again. It was 1 a.m., we were so tired. We called Mark Bennett and he drove down, gave us our 5th jump within 5 hours. I was overjoyed when we got to his house and led us to a bedroom with a crib, an inflatable mattress, and a king sized bed. We all slept like bricks and even made it to 9 a.m. church this morning. We got to crash Susan's family party this evening and had some of the best b-b-q known to man. The kids are having a great time, but are very eager to go see the cousins. Tomorrow Susan's dad is going to take the alternator out, test it, and do his best to get us running. We've seen miracles, we've been strengthened and protected. My testimony has been strengthened that God is in the details of our lives.

ColoradoBennett

Jealous? This blissful baking moment took place on Monday night. More than several dozen cookies were consumed in less than 72 hours by the grateful. And what is my wonderful mother-in-law doing now? Cleaning our upstairs apartment like it has never been cleaned before. And once again, I am grateful.

Sorry Cory!!!

Sorry Cory, I don't know how I could have made such a mistake!!! Love you Aunt Jack

jack i love the organization by month, that makes it even easier. only two corrections from me. first jackson was born in 1999 which is very important other wise i would have been 8 months pregnant when we got married. and secondly you forgot cory altogether which i know was totally unintentional, because you had him on the original list. his birthday in 7-22-77. yes this sunday i will be married to a thirty year old. wow, i love older men! thanks..........me

Me again!

Let me know if there are mistakes again and I know that there is one because the first list has 56 on it and this second one has 57, but I can't find the goof. Candy bar for the one that finds it or just let it go. Love you all! Aunt Jack

Who can say OCD!!

January
Arlene Stevenson 1.10.1927
Lydia Mae Rigby 1.22.1986

February
Stephen Anthony Smith 2.11.1981
Ellyn Stinchfield 2.14.2004
Adam ElleryBennett 2.22.1976
Bennett Jean Allen 2.27.2001

March
Le Anne Bennett 3.09.1953
Wilohm David Ellery Allen 3.5.2003
Geoffrey George Bennett 3.17.1980
Indie Marie Smith 3.19.2007
Ellynn Marie Willmore 3.30.1983

April
Jackson Cory Allen 4.13.1999
Jaclynne Beecher Rigby 4.19.1955
Alec Jay Robbins 4.19.1990
Shelli Rae Beecher-Seitzler 4.30.1973

May
Dayne Dorothy Bennett 5.1.2005
Isaac Sam Covington 5.17.2002
Chelsea Marie Bennett 5.21.1985
Paula Jean Robbins 5.23.1958
Chloe Lynne Hatch 5.23.2003
Jordan Michael Robbins 5.24.1981
Michelle Hunt Robbins 5.24.1986
Sadie Jean Stinchfield 5.28.2002

June
Ellery Kent Bennett 6.13.1948
Joan Marie Bennett 6.14.1960
Hazel LeAnne Allen 6.28.2005

July
Kevin Reed Rigby 7.2.1952
June Bethanie Bennett 7.5.2007
Monica Jean Crabb 7.12.1979
Kaia Jane Bennett 7.13.2004
Lindsey Arlene Bennett 7.18.1991
Cory Allen 7.22.1977
Tristan Ellery Bennett 7.26.2006
Madison Belle Hatch 7.27.2005

August
Jessica Marie Smith 8.4.1981
Kevin Roy Hatch Jr. 8.8.1975
Brooke Anne Stinchfield 8.13.1974
Jane Esther Anne Stinchfield 8.14.1996
William Jay Robbins 8.18.1955
Keaton William Covington 8.18.1998
Eliza Mary Crabb 8.29.2003

September
Cortney Anne Bennett 9.14.1987
Ashley Lynne Bennett 9.19.1989
Cameron Marc Crabb 9.20.1978
Alicia Lynne Hatch 9.22.1977

October
Beck William Crabb 10.7.2006
Sierra Marie Bennett 10.12.2002
Brian Wiley Seitzler10.14.1970

November
Joseph Christopher Covington 11.14.1975
Brind Beecher Bennett 11.19.1984
Mindi Marie Bennett 11.26.1977
Michael Kenneth Stinchfield 11.28.1970
Meagan Jean Allen 11.30.1977

December
Jan Weston Robbins 12.2.1987
Cole Geoffery Bennett 12.2.2002
Joel Christian Robbins 12.9.1985
Jason Michael Willmore 12.17.1984
Harley Jean Crabb 12.21.2001
Darla Erickson Bennett 12.22.1978
Madeleine Ann Seitzler 12.25.2006
Kel Joseph Robbins 12.30.1991

hello

Let me start out by saying I am truly amazed by the blog Jess and Ton. You guys are wonderful. Indie could not be blessed with better parents. We love you!

Last week was pretty quiet and seemingly slow. The boys have been gone since Tuesday afternoon and they get back today. They went with their grandma on their mom's side to a family reunion/camping trip ect. We hope they had a good time, but we are sure excited for them to be back.

Joey and I had our couples golf league on Friday night. It was supposed to be glow-in-the-dark golf with glow sticks, glow in the dark balls and everything, but plans changed. Apparently with all of the technology in this world...sprinklers get a little complicated. The course was unable to figure out how to turn them off from their regular watering time, which would've been during our game. I was disappointed, but pulled through. Instead the format was alternate shot golf between Joey and I. He would hit the ball then I would from where ever his would land, back and forth ect. It was pretty fun.

On Saturday, Joey played in a golf tournament with his friend. They won! I guess they have won this tournament 5 years in a row now. Pretty cool. When he was done, we drove up to my Dad's 2nd home in Eden up by Pineview Lake. We stayed Saturday night and golfed Sunday. It was so so hot! I played sorta bad...but it was still fun. The twins are 15 months now and they are adorable! They have their own little language and they "talk" nonstop. Pretty cute. We stayed up there last night as well, which made for an early drive home this morning. I am pretty tired, but it was a fun weekend!

Jack, thanks so much for doing the Birthday list. It is wonderful! Even though it's not officially official until December 1st...here we are:

Joseph Christopher Covington November 14, 1975
Chelsea Marie Covington (almost) May 21, 1985
Keaton William Covington August 18, 1998
Isaac Sam Covington May 17, 2002

Cort, Ash and Linds are headed to California with my Dad this week. They will be gone for quite a while. They are going to an Angels baseball game and going to see Wicked. I hope they have fun! I'll try and get them to post pictures or at least post anything! Slackers....

Mindi, I think the blog you made for you house looks great. I'd buy it! Good luck with that...let us know how it goes.

Brooke and fam, on days like last week, I would switch you climates in a second. It has been over 98 all week! The heat definately effects me. Super hot is not all that great.

Meags and fam and Moni and fam....your weekend together sounded pretty awesome. I love Washington! I'm sure it was fun. Would love to see pictures!

I hope everyone is doing well and having a great summer!

blog out,
Chels

bglife

aunt jack you rock! the only change i have is wilohm was born in 03 not 02. thank you for so much for doing that. if anyone has anymore changes let us know then i can mark my calander and at least think of you on your special day. more later. love.........me

"Sheaves of Wheat" Family Reunion

Dear Family,

The Stevenson's Family Reunion renamed by my kids as the "Sheaves of Wheat" Reunion is going to be held on August 25th at Joan's house, that is of course that she reads this and says that it isn't! HaHa She never reads this! Anyway more to come on that. Love you all Aunt Jack

ColoradoBennett

Wow, Aunt Jack that is impressive! Here are a few details I noticed:
My birthday is 11-08-78
Kaia (you had Kiai)
Tristan 7-26-06
Dayne 5-1-05
Cameron--I have your birthday as the 29th and Aunt Jack has the 20th--who is right?

Birthdays Let me know if there are any mistakes!

LeAnne Beecher Bennett 3.9.1953
Ellery Kent Bennett 6.13.1948

Brooke Anne Bennett Stinchfield 8.13.1974
Michael Kenneth Stinchfield 11.28.1970

Jane Esther Anne Stinchfield 8.14.1996
Ellyn Stinchfield 2.14.2004
Sadie Jean Stinchfield 5.28.2002

Adam Ellery Bennett 2.22.1976
Mindi Marie Redding Bennett 11.26.1977

Sierra Marie Bennett 10.12.2002
Kaia Jane Bennett 7.13.2004
Tristan Ellery Bennett 7.26.2006

Meagan Jean Bennett Allen 11.30.1977
Cory Matthew Allen 7.22.1977

Jackson Cory Allen 4.13.1999
Bennett Jean Allen 2.27.2001
Hazel LeAnne Allen 6.28.2005
Wilohm David Ellery Allen 3.5.2003

Geoffrey George Bennett 3.17.1980
Darla Erickson Bennett 12.22.1978

Cole Geoffrey Bennett 12.2.2002
Dayne Dorothy Bennett 5.1.2005
June Bethanie Bennett 7.5.2007

Ellynn Marie Bennett Willmore 3.30.1983
Jason Michael Willmore 12.17.1984

Brind Beecher Bennett 11.19.1984

Jaclynne Beecher Rigby 4.19.1955
Kevin Reed Rigby 7.2.1952

Alicia Lynne Rigby Hatch 9.22.1977
Kevin Roy Hatch Jr. 8.8.1975

Chloe Lynne Hatch 5.23.2003
Madison Belle Hatch 7.27.2005

Jessica Marie Rigby Smith 8.4.1981
Stephen Anthony Smith 2.11.1981

Indie Marie Smith 3.19.2007

Lydia Mae Rigby 1.22.1986

Paula Jean Beecher Robbins 5.23.1958
William Jay Robbins Jr. 8.18.1955

Monica Jean Robbins Crabb 7.12.1979
Cameron Marc Crabb 9.20.1978

Harley Jean Crabb 12.21.2001
Eliza Mary Crabb 8.29.2003
Beck William Crabb 10.7.2006

Jordan Michael Robbins 5.24.1981
Michelle Hunt Robbins 5.24.1986

Joel Christian Robbins 12.9.85

Jan Weston Robbins 12.2.87

Alec Jay Robbins 4.19.1990

Kel Joseph Robbins 12.30.91

Joan Marie Beecher Bennett 6.14.1960

Joseph Christopher Covington 11.14.1975
Chelsea Marie Bennett 5.21.1985

Keaton William Covington 8.18.1998
Isaac Sam Covington 4.17.2002

Cortney Anne Bennett 9.14.1987

Ashley Lynne Bennett 9.19.1989

Lindsey Arlene Bennett 7.18.1991

Shelli Rae Beecher-Seitzler 4.30.1973
Brian Wiley Seitzler 10.14.1970
Madeleine Ann Seitzler 12.25.2006

ColoradoBennett

Here is the blog I've created for our house. http://5247perrystreet.blogspot.com/
Any suggestions would be helpful. Le Anne is here working hard as always. She is washing windows and I just heard her say, "Sierra if you touch the windows it doesn't do me any good to wash them." We worked for hours this morning to get everything ready for the open house. Not sure how it went b/c the realtor hasn't called me yet. I can't believe she gets 9 grand if we sell, Le Anne has already done twice the work she has. While the open house was going on the fam went to the river to float on tubes. Good times. After another vigorous round of cleaning and a hearty dinner, we are off to the drive-in. Blog on alright already (modest mouse)...

Happy Birthday Kaia Jane!

Dear Kaia,
here's your birthday card from the VA Bennetts: We love you and hope you have a wonderful 3rd birthday!! You're the cutest 3 year old around! love, Geof., Darla, Cole, Dayne, and June

Well, that's not as good as Mindi's homemade, stamped letters, but that's the best we can do for now. Things are going well. Le Anne left a few hours ago and let me just tell you, I'm already feeling it (like that's surprising or something)! Thank you again Le Anne for saving us in times of need.

Jess and Tony,
your blog really touched me. What wonderful people you are. You have such a perfect outlook on this and I just think how happy our Father in Heaven must be knowing such a special spirit is safe with the two of you...as well as all of your family. We love you and want you to know you're in our prayers.

Crabbs

Wow, where do I begin?

We had a great time in Washington! Thank you so much for all that you did to show us a great time, Meagan and Cory. Your family was the perfect host and also thank you to Uncle Ellery for spending time with us while we were there. LeAnne, we are sorry we missed you this trip but we will definetly be doing it again. It was so much fun getting to know the kids too, I am already trying to think of more stories for next time we see you so I won't let Jack down!

Meagan and Cory had an indoor soccer game on Saturday and they were short a couple of people so I played with them. That was the first time I'd played soccer since high school and the first time I'd ever played indoor. I only played for a few minutes and I had a great time but it really did show me how out of shape I am.

We had a great 4th of July and it was fun to meet Cory's family and spend the Holiday with them. If anyone else in the family has ever thought to go up you should, it was so much fun. We went and picknicked at the ocean and at a river, went to a farmers market, watched fireworks, relaxed, the whole bit. We got some great pictures too so I will have Moni post some of those soon.

Jess, Tony and Indie. Our prayers go out to you and we love you guys. What a great example you are with how you are dealing with this. I can't even believe that I have complained about my small trials when you have been dealing with this. Little Indie is so sweet and she is so lucky to have you as her earthly parents and I'm sure our Heavenly Father feels the same way. Keep us posted on the family fast as we'd love to join in as well!

bglife

jessica and tony i can not think of two parents that would be better for that sweet little spirit. you two have always impressed me with the amount of love you have for others, so i know that indie could not be in a better place on this earth than in your arms. we will keep you all in our prayers and would love to fast with you, just let us know when. love.......me

ColoradoBennett

Jess, Tony & Indie, you guys are amazing. Your positive attitude, faith and strength is unbelievable. Thank you for sharing all with the blog. You will certainly be in our prayers.

Monica, happy birthday. I just called to tell you so (b/c I forgot to mail your card, it got stuffed away when I was cleaning house for a showing, how's that for an excuse?) and your babysitter answered. I said "Hi Monica, this is Mindi." And she said, "oh, this isn't Monica, I'm the babysitter." I hope you had a wonderful evening out.

We had a showing today and another one tomorrow morning. Adam is taking Kaia and Sierra to my mom's for a party (Kaia turns 3 tomorrow and my parents are busting out the big water slide) in the morning and I'm driving 4 hours to pick up the YW from girls camp. I'm determined that "blessings come when service is least convenient" (our friend said that once) and I'm looking for blessings.

Gram and Pop got Kaia an accordion for an early gift today. How cool is that.

It's INDIE... rock and roll for me!

We have something to tell you all and if your moms are as good at keeping secrets as my mom then you probably already know…

Our little Indie has some issues…she has a rare genetic abnormality called partial trisomy 13. It is a genetic disorder where she has extra material on her 13th chromosome. We are waiting for more blood work to be done to determine what part of her chromosome has been duplicated and that will better indicate the severity of the problem and what types of things will be affected. Don’t be too scared when you google trisomy 13 and look at the images because they are awful, she is already doing way better then most, as most full trisomy 13 babies only live 1 or 2 days so we have already been blessed immensely. Due to the abnormalities in her genes, doctors found that she has what they call “agenesis” of the corpus callosum. This means that during gestation she never developed this part of her brain. The corpus callosum is centrally located in the brain and is a structure that is basically a network of nerves that allow the left and right halves of the brain to talk to each other. How much of her cognative function will be affected by this is yet to be determined, however, we have done some limited research and have found that some literature states that as high as 75% of children born with this abnormality have normal brain function by the time the reach three years old. Again the waters are murky as to how much of her higher brain functions will be affected. but we have all the faith in the world that miracles are real and she will have all the opportunities that heavenly father intends her to have while here on earth. A couple of other things that they have found in their testing is that she has a fairly normal atrioseptal defect, in her heart, and a small cataract in her right eye, neither of which should require immediate surgery or intervention and should cause no problems with her activity or vision.

We have been working with the most amazing doctors. Her pediatrician is brilliant and the geneticists at the University of Utah are world renowned. We are working closely with Primary Children’s Medical Center as well as the Moran Eye Center near the University of Utah and we feel comfortable that all of these facilities are the “best in the west!” She is in the most capable of hands.

We’re sorry we didn’t tell you all sooner. We were waiting to get some more definite answers from her doctors but because things are still unclear and probably will be for a while we figured we might as well tell everyone. At least this way you can keep her in your prayers. I wanted to call you all or tell you face to face but it is kind of an odd subject to bring up and I have had a sick stomach thinking about how to tell everyone and when to tell everyone. For the longest time only our parents and siblings knew and I just told grandma and grandpa a few weeks ago. It is hard because every time we tell someone they go through all of the scared emotions that we went through months ago and we go through it all over again so I guess I wasn’t ready for that but now I am. We really didn’t know how else to handle the situation, none of us have ever had to deal with anything like this, and this is how we decided to approach it.

We just want to let you all know that we couldn’t be happier right now, Indie is the most incredible blessing in our lives and we wouldn’t have things any other way. She has brought an indescribable spirit of peace and love into our home and we have already learned so much from her. She is truly a blessing in every sense of the word and everyone who knows her and has been around her can feel it. WE ARE SO PROUD!!!

On August 11th she is going in for an MRI of her brain to make sure everything is working properly including her eyesight which is something they are slightly worried about. Alicia suggested we do a fast sometime before then so if you would like to join us that would be great. We will let you know.

We love you all,

Jess, Tony, and Indie

Bavaria

Hallo! I hope you all are recovering from your fun last week. It is Thursday now and I can see no reason why any of us should not be blogging, except maybe Darla.

It is yet another cold, wet, rainy day here. It's a joke. Saturday and Sunday were our only sunny days- though not incredibly hot- in over two and a half weeks. We have had two pool worthy days since school got out. This spring was incredibly hot and dry but that's been it. At least most days it clears up enough for the kids to play outside for awhile. I should be happy that it is cool with my extra 30 lbs. of insulation and if it was hot I would probably be complaining in that direction, but...it is going to make winter very long if our whole summer is wet and overcast.

Darla, I don't know if I said that or not. I'm always spouting off little nuggets of wisdom, it's hard to keep track. If I didn't, I'm in complete agreement. Watching the video and seeing how exhausted and breathless you were made me say a little prayer that my epidural works. I'm a little nervous about that. One natural child birth (on accident) is enough for me. How are you feeling? How's our baby?

Chelsea, your summer sounds like alot of fun. I'm excited to have ALL of our kids at an age where we can hang out at the golf course or Lagoon. In the grand scheme of things that is not that far away. Really, three years from now we will be close. Where do the boys go the other days of the week? Are you both working full time? I can't remember at the moment.

Well we leave for France on Monday for two weeks. We are very excited. I really pray that everything goes smoothly. I want this last little bit of time all together as a family to be a happy memory for all of us over the next year and years to come actually. I will download pictures, I promise. I went to H&M yesterday to pick up a couple of pairs of leggings for under some maternity dresses that are too short and to look at capris for Ellyn and hit a great sale. I only got my two pair of leggings but each of the girls got a couple of pairs of very cute capris for about 5 bucks a piece. Those will be good for layering days.

Jane helped her friend unpack her room last night and she asked me when we got home (Mike and I had a date, we renewed our temple recommends and then tried out a Thai restaurant which was amazing) if she could have her own room in our next house. I had to laugh. I told her that we were now officially a big family. That at a certain age Sawyer would need his own room in a house full of girls and Ellyn would probably have to end up with her own room and that Jane would probably be sharing until she went away to school- where she'll share again! She was in total dismay. I explained to her that I always shared a room, Meagan, Geof., Adam, etc... but that didn't seem to make anything better. Kind of funny, kind of sad for Jane our former only child. How boring would that life have been? Mike and I were talking about that last night on our way home, how we could have never imagined having this family and how we can't imagine anything different- after Sawyer.

Okay, since you all swear I don't bore you here is another nice mundane blog. Just so you know I am wearing a white nightgown that is made from yards and yards of silky material that mom would know the name of and I am about to eat Cinnamon Toast Crunch for breakfast, with a peach. I'm pretty excited about that. I've decided to fully embrace and profess my love for sugar cereals. They have to be better for me than waffles and pancakes and they are whole grain with vitamins and minerals and I love them. I do love Grape Nuts too though, I might have them for breakfast now that I think about it. Plus the commissary keeps putting Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Lucky Charms on sale for $1.89 and who can turn that down? Of course the amount we are spending on milk is scandalous.

Adam and Mindi, anything on the house? How about mom and dad's? Meags and Cor, did everything work out for yours? Jess, I feel like we haven't heard from you forever and ever. I know you wrote a great update blog not too far back but I miss you. Mon and Cameron, I'm guessing you are home safe at this point. I hope you had a great trip. Ellyn, I won't even mention your length of time away from the blog. I hope you are alive. Okay, off to wake up the youngest member of our tribe. She only woke up for about 15 minutes last night, it was fabulous! I love you all.

a right hander in a left handed world

ok i'm having fun in va. with darla, geof. cole, dayne, and baby june. i can relate with all the stories of spilled milk, poopie diapers, and i remember distinctly what it was like to fix meals for kids and why it was i hated to cook. let's see--1hour minimum to make it---15minutes of them verbally and or visually giving you their opinion of what you have spent your time, effort, and what little brain power it takes to create yet another delectable kids meal that they are not thrilled about. to explain the verbally-- "i hate this why do we always have to have what i hate?"
"Wait a minute, you liked it last week."
"That was before you made us eat it 3 days in a row."
"can you blame me? it looked like something you would eat without a fight."
visually-- they smear it everywhere there is an available surface.
which leads me to the 1 and 1/2 hours worth of clean up.
followed by the last and final phase--a lifetime of trying to keep all that delicious peanutbutter and jelly and cold cereal and spaghetti and whatever else from taking up permanent residence on my rearend and thighs.
yes yes yes while it was a phase of my life i valued and realize the value of i can't tell you how glad i am that it is your turn and i get to come in for a little while, play g'ma and leave.
i am so impressed with all of you. it is not an easy job and you all do it so well and lovingly for all these cute little kids. just remember it goes by faster than you think.
we are off to the pool. we nearly always have the pool to ourselves. the most people i have seen there are 2 until last night when there were 4 women that came down to the pool to put their feet in the water and watch Caleb the 9 year old boy that was with them "swim" in the shallow end. the whole time he had his hand on the side of the pool. they were all so funny. they told him to let cole teach him how to swim. he said he was embarassed enough. it really is true. the black people here don't swim and are deathly afraid of the water. they were all laughing and clapping for the kids. cole and dayne put on quite a show. they loved all the attention. these guys are truly fish. cole is amazing in the deep end and is working on his surface dives so he can get things off the bottom of the pool. he can get down about 5 feet, but needs a little push to go to 7 feet. dayne is amazing in the deep end also she can hold her breath long enough so that you can swim across the entire pool to retrieve her. i'm trying to teach her not to run on the deck not mind you so she won't slip and fall, but so that we will be somewhat close to her when she decides that she is ready to jump in. i can stand in shoulder deep water and shove her to the bottom. she pushes off, pops to the top and says, "Again!" she is an animal. now we need to get her to learn how to come to the surface and take a breath for those times we haven't been able to keep up with her.
baby june is beautiful and it's so nice they have decided to take a little indian placement baby into their home. she is so dark. wait a minute, she's not that dark ever day or night because she has jaundice and so has to have a blue light pad on her at all times hence she has earned the nicknames gloworm or june bug.
we had so much fun on the 4th. i fed geof. and darla crab and grilled red peppers till i thot we would all pop. then we went to the fire works at maymont park. the richmond band was there and there was a choir at one point. we walked around for a while and then settled in to watch the fireworks. they played an arrangement by tychousky (i can't spell) the conductor made the announcement that they were the only band that could play the piece as tychousky had intended because they had everything available to them. you see it calls for fireworks and cannonfire and a carrilon. the army had their big cannons the fireworks were in sinc and everything went off perfectly. it really was spectacular. i thot of mike going and all the men and women over the years that have fought for our freedom and the blessings we enjoy in this country and went ahead and bawled--it was dark and so no one saw. we came home to pie and ice cream. all in all a great 4th. followed by a great 5th with baby june being born.
i could write a whole bunch more but i have puzzles to put together, cookies to make, games to play, costco to shop and then their is swimming with the maniacs. i will miss them horribly, looking forward to the next visit already--now on to denver
take care, le anne

congratulations from bglife

geof. and darla june is beautiful!! i am so happy that she has come into our family. i can't wait to get to know her. the pictures are incredible and the video of right after she is born is amazing! darla what you did was way more impressive than anything i have ever done! all of you women that have babies naturally blow me away. talk about taking your body to the edge! i love you guys and hope you are enjoying your time with the tiny one, they are little for such a short amount of time. love.........me

ps the kids loved the pictures too, until they saw the picture of danna, then they just got really sad.

little June

I just want you all to know, that although my birthing experience wasn't everything I hoped it would be, I'm still so happy with the "results". Little June (hey, 8 lbs IS little to us) is a completely perfect angel. She's beautiful. She sounds like a little kitten with her little whimpers and cries...it's so fun to have a tiny one again. She nurses like a champ...I felt a bit like a rebel at the hospital because I wouldn't fill out any of their intrusive "nursing sheets"...asking me how many times a day I'm nursing, for how long, how many gulps the baby takes, etc. Give me a break!! How I wish I'd delivered in another setting, but I guess that's what comes with being induced. Cole is adorable with her and very concerned for her well being. Dayne, on the other hand, thinks she's more like a dolly and pats her face and pokes her in the eye quite a bit. Geof. adores her (and Wimbleton)..and equaled his time with both at the hospital. I'm blessed to have such a good family...and such great help from Le Anne. Like Brooke said, this is really all that matters. Didn't you say something like that Brooke? Oh well, someone did. (:

va. in july with june

well i will never know how women go about having children. one time after thanksgiving dinner...better stop. darla and I went into the hospital 7/5/07 at 6:45 so she could be induced. she wants to go natural. to me that would be like going into have your kidney removed and asking for no numbing stuff i'm not gonna try and spell anastetics. well they break water and not much happens so they give her pitosine. the ride begins and it was crazy. darla thought she was gonna die (seriously). my hands thought they were going to be squooshed into pudding. the baby hung out in the birth canal for far to long but in the end graced us with her presence. it was very sweet. darla did incredibly well and I was able to watch much of wimbleton in the back ground. the mother and daughter are both alive and beautiful. grandma survived caring for cole and dayne which is as amazing as is delivering a child. here's a link to all the pictures. peace out
http://picasaweb.google.com/lovescole/BabyGirl?authkey=avHgQzzf3qI

I can't think of a title....

Well, it's been a while again since I've posted. We have been so so so busy with Keaton and Isaac. I cannot remember the last time we have been home before 10pm, even during the week.... If it's not swimming, golfing, Lagooning, its something else. But this is truly why I love the summer. The fun never ends!

The 4th was great. Started out with the classic Kaysville parade, then swimming at "Miss Joan's" (as the boys call her), a hot hot round of golf and last but not least fireworks. The boys seemed to enjoy the "Kaysville" way of celebrating the holiday. It was pretty great.

I took Thursday off as well and Joey didn't work for too long. As I was falling asleep last night I realized that tomorrow (today) was Friday! Having two days off, my mind was thinking it was going to Monday. Needless to say, I was pretty excited. Feels like another weekend is about to begin. We are all pretty wiped out though, so we might just grill some steaks at home and go to blockbuster.

Work is slowly starting to pick up and it is helping my sanity. I have been insanely bored each and every day for the last few months. There is finally a light at the end of the tunnel!

Last night we planned a little get-a-way with my mom. We (Joan, Cort, Ash, Linds, Joey, Keat, Ike and I) are going to West Yellowstone (Island Park, Idaho) in August. We rented a house for a long weekend. Complete with river rafting, horseback riding, ect. It's going to be awesome. http://www.islandparkidaho.com/Yellowstone_cabin_rentals.html
Check out the link. They have ginormous cabins that sleep 35 people comfortably for $400 a night. Do the math, divide that by a mere 5 families and you've got yourself a cheap little piece of heaven. It's about 3.5 hours from our house so not too far. Keep that in mind because my mom is already trying to talk us into doing it for Christmas. We'll see...

Like I mentioned before we have been golfing sort of a lot. I am falling more and more in love with it. I have like 3 different tan lines, including an awesome one on my ankles from my socks. Keat and Ike love it too. This is Isaac's first year and he is doing better than expected. I made the mistake of letting him drive the cart (fully on his own at the age of 5) and I wasn't paying attention. For some reason he slammed on the brakes (on flat ground) and I almost flew completely out the front. My shoulder hit the metal bar that comes up from the base of the cart to connect the roof. Pretty crazy. It's fun though.

Meags, congrats on the race! That is awesome. I started getting a little worried recently when I realized my wedding dress is going to be arriving in less than 2 months. I need to whip myself into shape.

Darla, I'm so happy for you and little June. I'm also excited for pictures! I think child birth is amazing. (Haven't experienced it, but you know what I mean.) Joey's sister just had her third baby on the 4th of July. Her husband is in Iraq, so it was kind of ironic.

Brooke and fam, I read the story about the accident to Joey and we too were talking about how tough that would be. You guys are an amazing family! And congrats on the boy! I love the name... Boys are so much different than girls. I'm still not used to Keat and Ike and their "boy talk", but it's so much fun.

Adam and Mind, good luck with the house. I hate moving, it's such a pain. I hope it all works out!

Okay, I'll do the family update since I'm the only one from mine that blogs...

Cort put in her two weeks at the bank. She is going to work for my Dad at GBS instead. Her and Rodger are going to Las Vegas with his family for a real estate convention next week.

Ash is working an array of summer jobs. She cleans Alpine Dental each day, works at the local concession stand during soft/baseball games and watches Keat and Ike every Monday.

Linds turns 16 on July 18th and has been keeping the countdown current since Christmas, literally. Little Kev helped her find a car and my mom bought it yesterday. It's a Toyota Corolla. She's pretty excited. However, on the way there....Keat, Ike, my mom, Linds and I were all together. Lindsey was driving and we got pulled over for speeding. The cop was way nice and let her go, otherwise she wouldn't have gotten her liscense until January. Pretty lucky.

My Mom is already requesting days off before the wedding. I think she's more worked up and excited about it than me. :) Ha ha, just kidding.

Lydia, are you reading this? Since when do you think you can leave the country without even telling me? Your mother gave me her calling card info and I meant to use it on my way to work this morning but I left it at home. I will call you though!!!!

Okay, honestly....let's talk about boring everyone to death now. I swear this is the longest blog ever. I am bored at work, remember? :) Peace out...

Chels

ColoradoBennett

I'm trying to blog really quickly while the kids are eating. But that's not working b/c I can hear Sierra running around with a cup full of water, Bubs is yodeling, and Kaia is building tee pees under the table with fish sticks. I, along with Meagan, think no blog is boring and would be well entertained to read what color shirt everyone is wearing and what you ate for lunch. I happen to be in a blue shirt. Congrats on the race, Meagan, you are absolutely amazing. I loved the play by play, I could picture it all in my mind. Hopefully one day I'll be there to run the last 100 yards or so with you. My big accomplishment thus far today has been saving Kaia from a terrifying, nay I'd say one of the scariest scenes imaginable. Her and Bubs were downstairs having "play by yourself in the playroom" time while I read Meagan's blog and made lunch. I could hear crying, but it was a strange far off sound. I went down there and Tristan was innocently crawling up the hallway. Kaia wasn't in the playroom, finally I located her cry coming from the closet under the stairs. I opened the door to find a really scared little kid covered in sugar who could barely speak through the sobs, "Bubs locked me in here!" We have a 50lbs bag of sugar that we used to feed the bees in the food storage under the stairs. The bag is ripped all crazy so I can't close it tightly (well, I haven't really tried) and Kaia thought she was in heaven with such access. Until Tristan crawled by and leaned up against the door. Then it must have been close to that closet scene in "The Sixth Sense". Well, that's what I would have been thinking about, but Kaia will never see that movie if I have any say. My other accomplishment was to put the soggy fish sticks back in the oven and pull out wonderfully crispy ones to save the day, and lunch. Homemaking is truly the ultimate career.
Darla, I sure hope recovery goes well for you. Sorry there were no "chanting, towel-on-her-head-yoga-loving" hippy nurses or doulas or midwives there to help you out in your quest for natural childbirth. There is always next time. But try not to think about that for a long time.

bglife

brooke, bore us i think not. i feel like i have such a limited view of what is going on in your life. you could tell me what you ate for dinner and what color your shirt was and i would be thrilled and interested!! i'm sorry you did not have a fun fourth, but i sounds like you will make up for it with your up coming trips. france?....when, where?

ad and mindi, we are fasting and praying and reading our scriptures, your house will sell. the appraiser came last night, but we were gone so we don't know the deats yet, but things are rolling. we took dad, monica and cameron up to the property on the fourth and they all fell in love with it.

geof. and darla, we need more details, mom maybe you could get on and blog a little something, something! we are so excited for you! we, like brooke, can not wait to see some pictures, i'm sure she is beautiful. you two can't make any other kind of baby. we love you!

i hope everyone had a great holiday! ours is definitely an extended one. cory has gone to work for a few hours this morning but he will be back soon and had yesterday off as well. our fourth started with moni and cam arriving at 6 am. the best way to start! then dad took me to ridgefield (a town by us) and i ran my first 10k (6.1 miles) and.....i came in first for the women!! i have never come if first before! i was really excited. i told dad and cory that i just wanted to come in the top three of my age group, but then i got there and was like there is no way. there were more people than i thought and lots of skinny, runner looking women. so i just decided to have a good time and see what happened. one of the scary fast looking women only ran the 5k so i didn't have to compete with her, yeah. so, as people started turning around and heading back toward the finish i didn't see any women except the one just a 100 yards ahead of me. so i determined that i could catch and pass her, which i did but then this ripped running mama who was probably 45 passed me. but i was ok with that because she really looked like she knew what she was doing. i tried not to let her get too far ahead of me and with about 2 miles left i caught up with her and she said she was just going to try to stay with me and i told her she was totally pushing me and we both laughed. (i'm sure you all love this play by play, it's almost over) well, the last mile and a half of the race was all hills and i have been doing a lot of hill training lately so i just went for it, pulled away from her and even passed a few men! dad thinks there were only about 5-7 guys in front of me. i am very excited. i don't expect it to ever happen again, but i will take it, it was fun! after the race we met cory and elisa and hazel, who were trying to make it to the finish line but didn't, and then went home to pick up the other kids and mon and cam. we went back to ridgefield and watched our favorite small town 4th of july parade. after that we had mexican food and took naps, then up we went to cory's aunts and totally took over their family party with our family. mon, cam, and kids, us and dad, my friend ash and her kids, and brind and jules showed up. it was sweet. we swam and ate way too much food, any of you that have been up to amboy know what i am talking about! we went and looked at the house and land, then went up to cory's folks where chris put on one heck of a fireworks show. he is a bit of a piro so it was great!! yesterday we went the beach, it was 72 and sunny the perfect day! poor benny got sick on the way home, when we stopped for ice cream she ordered, but couldn't even eat it. she threw up all the way home, but was able to sleep in between and monica and i just kept talking over the pukes. the sad little baby threw up every hour all night, but cory and cam gave her a blessing that she would be able to rest and she did sleep very well in between. cory told cameron that it was nice having a priesthood holder right across the hall.

ok well everyone is now up. haz, and i have been up since 6:30 yum! i better go be social and really stop boring you. now brooke, that was boring!

i love you all! and wish you were here, we are having so much fun with the crabbs! ............me

Bavaria

Congratulations Geof and Darla!!! We are so excited that June is here and we can't wait to see pictures. Darla, I hope you recover quickly. We love you guys!!!


I hope you all had a great fourth. Ours was crappy and cloudy- a direct quote from Jane. We have had a solid week of rainy, windy, cold weather. It has been in the low 50s. So on the fourth we hung out here, watched a movie, played a game, and went out to dinner (which was fun) and then we watched fireworks from Jane and Sadie's window. We were invited to a BBQ but I was not feeling well and if I'm not motivated then Mike is definitely not going to be the motivator.

Yesterday we had a fun day. The girls had a bowling birthday party that we were all invited to, then Ellyn had Physical Therapy, and then we loaded up the kids and Jane's friend Abbey and went to the pool for several hours. Today I don't know what we are going to do. My car is in the shop getting new tires put on and it is miserable once again. Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and I think we are going to try to go to Prague with Mike for one last time before he leaves. I just really hope we have good weather for our trip to France. Can I tell you how excited I am for that? It still seems unreal, but then again lots of things seems unreal to me right now. Mike leaving, a baby, a boy, having a middle schooler and a new little kindergartner... It will definitely be an interesting year.

Okay, I think I have bored everyone sufficiently. Adam and Mindi, your house is in our prayers. I love you all. Brooke

ColoradoBennett

We need a miracle. Could you guys please join us in praying that our house sells FAST? Thank you.

ColoradoBennett

We went swimming last night and got lots of compliments on Adam and Tristan's matching haircuts. One kid (he must have been about 12) said he thought T was a really cute baby. A few minutes later, he came over and said "Excuse me, was there something you did right during your pregnancy to make your baby so cute?" I felt awkward because right next to me was a mom with a 4 or 5 year-old boy who was born with some deformities. I'm not sure if Adam noticed that because he started saying things like "eat healthfully and don't smoke, etc." Later I wished I would have answered the question by saying, "because I was so happy to be pregnant with this baby" or something about positive thinking.
Brooke, Kaia's toe is doing really well. So well that we thought we could go swim last night. Now today she is complaining about it hurting so I'm worried about infection. I'll go give her a swig of antibiotics right now.

Bavaria

Geof., those pictures are beautiful. We have to do that as a family- when I can come. This week I have been thinking alot about the trip I made down to Utah with the girls and over to see Adam and Mindi and I have really been missing Utah, southern Utah, the Rockies,..America. It really is such a beautiful country. It is beautiful here too, amazingly so, but I have been thinking of the west lately and all the many, many road trips Mike and I have taken over the years.

Aunt Jackie, thank you for the update on Lydia. I knew I was forgetting something on my last blog and remembered right as I was going to bed the other night. Tuning 4,000 bowls sounds pretty overwhelming. How does one go about tuning bowls? Is it like water in glasses-keep the water at this line and you will be able to play "twinkle twinkle little star." I'm glad she's healthy again. I can only imagine how worried you and Uncle Kev must have been. Your RVing sounded wonderful as well.

Everything is going well here. A new girl moved in right across the street and she and Jane have played together ALOT. She is very mature and supportive of letting Sadie play right along with them, which really is cool. Jane is so great about it too. I remember being quite a jerk about that. Maybe I was nice at that age too. I can't remember. Jane volunteers to take Ellyn out in her wagon all the time. Ellyn loves it. There is a herd of deer (someone owns them) behind the houses the next block over and a little path through the woods and all the kids love to go feed the deer. The owner will give them scraps for the kids to feed to them. The girls both got Heeley's this week and they are really having fun with them.

Um...Meagan, we need to have a few words. I didn't know about the run and a few other things that we need to discuss. Good luck with that.

By the way, mom reacted exactly like you said she would when I told her the baby's name was Sawyer "Brooke, he's not a very moral man." Had to explain that it was the name we liked, not that we were naming our son after Sawyer. I told her to think of Tom Sawyer but I think I might go with it. "I hope my son is a successful con-man. I hope my son is as witty as his namesake. Maybe he'll have a cleft chin too."

Okay, I love you all. I'm really going to bed now. Love, me

Ad and Mindi, how is Ki's toe? Is it healing okay? I hope so.

Well, I'm off to bed now. We just had all of Mike's Platoon Leaders and wives/girlfriends (about ten altogether) over for a big steak dinner and they all just left. They were playing a game and I didn't want to be anti-social and go to bed so I got the girls to bed, checked my e-mails and

va

a couple more pics

va.

hey i hope the picture shows up. any way a couple of weeks ago I went with some friends on our annual man camp adventure. it's some friends from provo and in an attempt to feel like we still have lives outside of work we try to plan a yearly trip. this yr. was havasupai falls. it is the most amazing place that i have ever hiked to. you drive to the middle of nowhere and then hike 8 miles to the havasupai reservation. another two miles past that and you are in an oasis enveloped by the walls of the grand canyon. i am going to try and post a link to a video when we get it put together. we should take a family trip there. there's the option of horses or helicopter if you don't want to hike it. life with the family is good i have the next several days off and we're hoping that darla goes into labor.
cole and dayne are obsessed with swimming. cole swims with no life jacket. the other day at a ward party i was talking to a guy and dayne walks around from one side of the pool to the other. she never once looks at me and walks toward the edge. i tell the guy next to me that she's going to jump in even though there is no one in the water and she hasn't looked to see if i'm watching. he says no way. she jumps. my kids are crazy. we miss you all and hope to get out to see you this summer. chels when is the wedding? meagan when is the 31 miler? peace out team.

VA

hey meags, did your mom make the flight this morning? Let us know.

Swastika

Dear Family,

I talked to Uncle Rulan at Vance's son's wedding last night about the Swastika. It is not a swastika, a swastika faces the other way. That is a horse blanket that he bought from a tribe of Indians down in AZ.. So I guess that will solve the Nazi conspiracy! ha ha We just got back from 10 days RVing, it was great. We were only about 15 miles from Park City and went to shows and dinner there. We also went to Heber to go to their yard sales. So lets see movies, food, swimming, yard sales and being away, all in all it was great! We even went on 2 hikes and I can figure out how I will post some pictures. One with Alicia and co. and then Kev and I went up and didn't get real far when we found bear tracks and unlike Adam (which I still am having a hard time thinking about!!!) we turned around and went back to camp. We had only brought little guns and all they would have done if we would have shot at one, would have ticked him off. Kev said if we saw one that we should just shoot ourselves! Anyway it was great and I'm ready to go out again as soon as I can talk Kev into it. We have heard form Lyd, some by texting and we have gotten a number and talked to her a couple of times. I don't think that I told you the story about her and her heat exhaustion. If I have remember that I'm old and excuse me! Anyway she was sitting in 100 degrees in the sun, with a sweater on, freezing, so they put her in a car to take her where she thought that they were taking her home. She kept telling them sleep and tired, but the interpreter wasn't there yet, so thank goodness they didn't get it and they took her to what they call a hospital. Lyd called it more like a WWII barracks where no one spoke any English and when they took her temp. and it was 103 they all looked really scared. Anyway they shot her in the butt with something and sent her home with some herbs. Now she is very careful to keep her body temp down with wet rags and lots of water. Now we know where they get "Sweat Shops" from! They just left Jinzhou China and are in Qinhuangdao China at the Holiday Inn, you can look it up on line, it is beautiful. Now that they are there she has 4000 more bowls to tune. We still don't know when we will see her and yes it is very hard for us here in West Kaysville to think of her being so very very very far away!!! Good Luck Mike I'm praying for you and your family!! Congratulations on the boy child, maybe Kev should have given it one more try!!! Kaia I'm so very sorry about your toe and hope that you are doing better! I'd better get going, I'm going to be late for Church. Love you All!!!!Aunt Jack

Bavaria

I just got done ordering two motion detector door chimes from Radio Shack. About an hour and a half ago a girl from Jane's school class brought Ellyn to the door covered in pooh. Somehow the chain lock was not put on the front door after church today. Noone heard the bells either that we have on the door handle and while Jane and I were in the kitchen our little three year old escaped out the front door just about 8 feet away. As you can imagine I am sick and a little freaked. I knew it was bound to happen at one point, a major reason for our move, but still... I ordered a medical I.D. bracelet for her earlier this week. Hopefully she'll leave it on, she will, she supposedly can't get it off- I hope it doesn't bother her. As for the poop, she has rediscovered this lovely habit of digging into her diaper within seconds of BM and smearing it all over herself, including her face and mouth. I looked for onsies at the PX and then went out to a German store and bought a few three packs in her size. She now has to wear onsies and pants/capris everywhere (she'll go in through whatever entrance she can find). She has darling summer dresses from Sadie and she can't wear them. Even to church I put her in a casual dress and pants for that so "in" layered look. I'm hoping to get potty training soon. She's gone a few times when I've caught her, so she's at least finally becoming aware. Sorry if that grosses everyone out, besides that Ellyn is still our beautiful, loving, clean child. We are just dealing with new issues and most often we don't know it is an issue until it hits. Very tricky. Yesterday we went to the zoo and they have a dolphin show. The kids loved it but I had to stand at the back holding Ellyn because she was bound and determined to get in the pool with the dolphins. She just loves the pool so much. I don't see Sea World being a family destination in the near future.

I will tell you that in a couple of weeks we are off to France. We are going to Normandy, EuroDisney, Paris, and then somewhere down in the South of France for the last few days. It should be alot of fun. We are very excited and a little anxious, trying to book everything on-line is a little scary, we are hoping everywhere we are staying is as nice as it looks. It is our last fling before Mike leaves, something I am dreading with every part of my being.

Mindi, Mike says thank you for tutoring the terrorists, he hopes you steered them in the right direction when it came to math and physics:). Please don't shoot the messenger. He'd get on here and write it if I didn't.

So we have a name for the baby. It is not Henry or Ben. Our little boy will be Sawyer. I am very excited and I am not going to tell you where we got the idea but I'm sure many of you will figure it out. Henry is just becoming too popular in a snotty, pretentious sort of way. Every boy I know named Henry is an only child -spoiled and whiny. And...Julia Roberts just named her son Henry according to the front cover of People at the PX and she already has a Hazel and I don't want her to think that our family is copying her. Besides that, the real reason is that is just didn't feel right, what can you do after you've had a name saved for 11 years and it doesn't feel right?

Darla, I'm so jealous that you will be done being pregnant soon. I hope the timing of everything works out. We can't wait to see our little June.

Monica and Cameron, have a fun trip. There is nowhere better than Washington in the summer. Especially with Meagan and Cor and I have probably said that all before.

Alright, off to spend some time with my children. Love, Brooke