Bumble Baby Blog

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-30T17:13:00.000-08:00

Can't believe it is Christmas already. Wow, time has gone so quickly. Here is our Christmas tree. I really liked it this year.

Ben and I spent Thanksgiving with my family (oops, forgot to take pictures). However, my family draws names- this year Ben and I bought gifts for my brother, Kevin, and his wife, Stephanie, and their new baby, Gavin. So, we made the trip to their house, brought them dinner from Cafe Rio and gave them their gifts.

Stephanie feeds Gavin while Kevin opens his present.

Kevin is always cold so I thought this snuggie/onsie would be perfect for him. He loved it! He's worn it every day since.
Stephanie was eye-balling some 1500 count Egyptian cotton sheets at the 'What a Woman Wants Show', so I went back and bought them for her. She was pretty excited.

And for the little man, we bought him a pig pillow pet and a blankie. Gavin snorts like a pig when he gets mad so the pig-in-a-blanket was perfect for him.
Every Christmas Eve Ben's dad throws a party. First we play with the singing and dancing toy dogs, then we head downstairs to play games and eat.
Sister-in-law, Brandi, with daughter, Maggie.
Me and my 5-year-old niece, Ava. I absolutely love that she likes spending so much time with me.

Every year we have a contest with prizes. This year we played Parcheesi- the official game of India. Naturally we had to wear turbans.

Brandi and her son, Kameron.
Ben's turban makes him look a little like Tupac.

After Ben, Brandi and Kameron played, it was my turn with Jeremy and Michelle.
Like my turban?
Now, about Parcheesi-Ben won his round, Michelle won hers. They competed against each other and Ben won! Wahoo! The prizes were a) rice cooker, Indian rice, Indian spices, Indian cook book or b) Indian earrings, Indian candles, and Indian toy. Ben and I chose prize b.

Ava loved playing with the toy and kept making it into princess crowns. Of course we had to take pictures of it.

Here is Ava with her cousin, Marley.
Ben's sister, Michelle, with her son Tavin, and niece Mia.
Here is Mia again, with Santa.
Me and Marley-mouse.
Ben's dad with all the kids.
Later that night, Ben and I opened our gifts.
Ben got a new pillow and jammies. I got jammies, a bunch of candy and 3 lift tickets to Brighton. (Now, if only it would snow...)
Christmas morning, after sleeping in, Ben and I went to his Mom's house. The kids and I are playing with my iPad, waiting for the presents.
Ben and I gave Maggie a kitty in a little box.
Ava, Mia and Marley got princess coloring books, princess skirts, tiaras and wands.

Ben's grandma is helping Marley with her princess tiara.
Ben's mom and grandpa.
Ben and Ava.
Grandma, Marley-mouse, and Maggie-moo magpie.

Happy Anniversary

2011-11-28T17:07:00.000-08:00

So, we've been married for 2 years, and together for a total of 6 1/2. That's pretty good.

Since we're broke and couldn't afford to go back to Sea World like we did for our honeymoon, we went to the local aquarium (for free!!!) for our anniversary.

Thanks for being married to me for 2 years, and for putting up with me for 6 1/2 years.

Gavin Lincoln

2011-11-09T15:17:00.000-08:00

My newest nephew was born Monday, November 7th, 2011 at 6:29 pm. My brother and his wife named him Gavin Lincoln. He is so cute!

Here is a pic of me with the little man.

Stephanie- the new mommy, and her son. He was looking a little frosty so they decided to put on jammies for the first time. So exciting :)

Here is Kevin showing off the 1st pair of jammies.

They look so cute, working together to dress their new baby.

Here is Kevin with his son.

Here is auntie Jenn... wishing she could take Gavin home with her...

Stupid Tree

2011-10-29T15:29:00.000-07:00

Sandy City has city beautification twice a year. They come around to each house picking up yard waste and other huge piles of garbage. If you follow the blog, you've seen our previous huge piles of waste. This time around they were scheduled to come on Halloween and Ben and I decided that it was time to get rid of this huge, dumb tree that is slowly dying and falling apart.

The plan was to climb up in the tree, tie a rope on a branch as high up as possible, rent a chainsaw, cut half way through the branch, then pull on the rope. Dangerous, crazy, stupid... maybe. We wanted to try anyway. (Ben didn't believe that I could climb the tree... jerk. Of course I had to prove him wrong.) This is me in the tree.
Here I am again. You can see how high up I am and how tall the tree is. I was proud of myself for getting up this high and so was Ben. It was hard because the tree is so weak and dying. The branches practically broke under my weight.
Ben is holding the rope to show which direction the tree is supposed to fall.
So, we rented a chainsaw. Home Depot provided the protective hat, face mask, and super-cute chaps. Ben looks so cute.
Ben's friend, Wes, came over the help. Of course he wanted a chance to play with the chainsaw. We started on a large juniper stump that we had been unable to pull out with my car.

Apparently the stump was difficult for the chainsaw, too, because it died after that.
So, the stupid tree still stands... kind of. I'm sure it will break and fall apart some more this winter when it is weighed down with snow. Whatever is left will be removed (by a professional) in the spring. Stupid tree.

Witchie Show!!!

2011-10-16T13:02:00.001-07:00

Every year for the past 5 years I have gone to Witches Night Out at Gardner Village.

This year the "Witchie Show", as I like to call it, was on October 14th and 15th.
Witches Night Out started 10 years ago and it was meant for ladies to come and shop and play without kids or men. The ladies are encouraged to dress up as witches in order to get discount coupons throughout the shops. Well, over the years this event has changed and exploded. You will see men, women and children all dressed up and dancing like crazy people. The shops are all open and offering awesome deals, but there are so many people you feel like a sardine packed into a can. Most of the shops have lines waiting to get in.
The "Witchie Show" is so much fun. You can see they have decorated the entire area with pumpkins and hay bales and creative animated witches.

People come from all over with the most elaborate witch hats and costumes.

Like I said, I have been every year for the past 5 years. Here is a pic of the original (2006) "Witchie Show" party: my mom, me and my sister, Kim. I was the only one in full costume that year, but my mom and sister bought witchie hats for the occasion.
In 2007 we were joined by Kim's friend and our sister-in-law, Stephanie. This year, mom and I were the only ones in full costume.
2008: just me, Stephanie, Kim and mom.

2009: my mom, Kim, me, family friend Laura and Stephanie. This is the year that mom made a costume for Kim and Stephanie. For the first time, we are all dressed up!

2010 we were joined by another of Kim's friends, but my mom couldn't make it that year. Kim's friend and I have similar capes. That was the year I decided I was tired of my orange and black witch costume so I made a new one: pink and black. I also made the cape to match. Now I just need a new hat...

Here we are in 2011: just me and Kim. Mom couldn't afford to drive up, and Stephanie is due to deliver her first baby in just a couple of weeks so she couldn't make it either. No worries. Kim and I had a blast! You can see that I definitely need a new hat. My old orange one doesn't match my new costume. I was determined to find one at the "Witchie Show" that night.
Don't we look cute?!?
We arrived at 7pm, which gave us 3 hours to eat yummy soup in a bread bowl, look at all the shops, take in all the crazy costumes and dance until our feet hurt.
Of course I just HAD TO get my face glittered and painted :) The spider and web matched my witchie suit.
Along the way we met some friends. Here are some creepy, super tall bird men.
Naturally, we had to take a picture with them. Unfortunately we had to ask a random stranger to take our picture and strangers aren't always the best photographers. She cut off my sister's chin because the bird men were so tall. I don't know why she didn't just turn the camera side ways.

{By the way, do you see my new hat? I was so excited to find it. So many witchie hats in all the shops but they were way too expensive. This one matched my outfit perfectly and was significantly cheaper than any other hat I saw. So... I bought it and put it over my old hat so I didn't have to carry one around.}
While Kim and I were in a shop, a couple of ladies approached us and told us that they had been looking for me. Some one had commented on the one lady's cape and mentioned that she had just seen someone with the exact same cape, only with pink spiders instead of red. So, this lady tracked me down so she could compare capes. They are very similar, only I added a velvet collar and velvet liner inside so it is very warm. Don't we look cute? Little twin-ers :)
Here is another creepy friend we met at the "Witchie Show". Yes, of course, we took a picture with him.

After eating and shopping, Kim and I spent the rest of the night dancing with all the other freaks and weirdos. Imagine a bunch of ladies all decked out like witches jumping up and down and dancing to songs like 'Monster Mash' and 'Thriller'. They even play 'Boot Scootin Boogie' and 'Electric Slide'. So much fun.

Here we are back home again after a fun night out with witches.
Thanks for coming with me, Kimmy. I had so much fun. Can't wait until next year!

Stephanie's Baby Shower

2011-09-17T16:59:00.000-07:00

My brother and sister-in-law are expecting their first baby in October. Stephanie's baby shower was held at her mother's house on Saturday. My sister, Kim, and her daughter, Kami, came from Evanston to attend the shower. Prior to the shower, we all went to Ben and my favorite gourmet market- Pirate O's- for lunch.

Ben and I go to Pirate O's a few times a month for their deli sandwiches and pirate paraphernalia. Whenever we go we are typically the only customers in the store. On Saturday, however, they were having an event. All the employees were dressed as pirates, a radio station was there giving out free schwag, and they even hired a Captain Jack Sparrow look-alike. It was awesome! I love this store, anyway, but this time it was great.

Here are a few pics of my sis, niece, and I with Captain Jack...

After lunch, we all headed to Kearns for Steph's baby shower. She is due October 28th, but you wouldn't know it by looking at her. Her belly is tiny! She doesn't look 8 months pregnant, lucky girl. Kevin and Stephanie are expecting a baby boy to be named Gavin Lincoln.

Here is a pic of my mom, Steph, Kim and Kami, and me.

1st week of school is OVER!!!

2011-08-26T22:00:00.000-07:00

My first week of school is over and I SURVIVED!!! Monday, the first day of school, is the worst. The high school is on a block schedule, which means 8 classes total- 4 classes per day and they rotate: A day, B day. The first day of school, however, the students have all 8 classes. Such an exhausting day.

Tuesday the students can change their schedule as much as they want according to what they thought of their first day 'sampling' of their classes. For 3 hours the teachers sit in an 80 degree gym while the students mill around comparing their schedule to their friend's and then trying to match it. They add and drop classes, completely redoing all the work the counselors did during registration. I really don't know why the administration allows this "Mass Change Day". They try to discourage students from 'teacher shopping', but then let them change their schedules however they want. Whatever. After the 3-hour schedule swap, the kids go to their B day classes for 40 minutes each. What a waste of a day.

Wednesday is the first 'real' day of school. Each class is at it's usual 90 minutes and it is the first opportunity for the students to see how the class is really going to go and for the teachers to actually get things done. Thursday is the same.

Unfortunately, when it seems like the school year is finally starting and we are settling into a routine, Friday comes and they mess up the schedule again for 2 assemblies. Useless assemblies, I might add. Duh.

Anyway, after recovering from stress-induced stomach aches, indigestion and rippin' headaches, Ben took me to the Bohemian for dinner on Friday. Yummy authentic German food. So good...So bad for you.

If I look dead in this picture it's because I nearly was. Barely survived the first week.

Last weekend before BACK TO WORK!!!

2011-08-20T15:40:00.000-07:00

This summer has been very nice. I sat around, slept in, read a bunch of books, hung out with hubby, relaxed, watched movies... So nice. Though I am ready to go back to work, I hate to see the summer go.

Saturday before I went back to work Ben and I joined his family at the zoo.

It was nice to spend time with Ben's family. We don't get to see them very often. On the train are Ben's mom-Tami, sister-Michelle, Shelly's hubby-Glade, little Marley, and in the front we have Mia, Tavin, and Ava. Cutest kids ever.

Me and Ben. Isn't he cute?Here's Ben pulling the wagon full of littles.

Mia, Marley, Ava, and Tavin pose by the gorillas.
Not a lot of pics, but still a fun day.

Happy Birthday to ME!!!

2011-07-19T12:43:00.001-07:00

Saturday I turned 33. I think I feel okay about that. I am so immature I don't really mind getting older. The grey hair and wrinkles are a little depressing, but the age thing... it's just a number. So, anyway... I'm 33.

I met a friend for lunch at an all-you-can-eat sushi restaurant. I was so sick from all the food I ate, I had a hard time walking out to the car afterward. Yikes. Then after a nice long birthday nap, Ben and I went to the Mayan. Normally, for special occasions, Ben and I go to sushi, but I think I've had enough sushi for the rest of my life. The Mayan was cool. I really like the atmosphere and the shows and the props and the animal noises and the music and... all that stuff.

This is a picture of my Mayan birthday cake.

Thanks for taking me to dinner, hubby. Happy 33rd to me.

School's out for summer!!!

2011-06-04T19:57:00.001-07:00

Oh, today was my first day of summer vacation! It was lovely. The weather even cooperated. I started the day with breakfast at Paradise Bakery with friends to celebrate the end of the school year. Then I came home, laid on a blanket on the grass in the back yard and stayed there until around 6 o'clock this evening... reading and dozing in the warm sun. Ended the day with barbequed hamburgers with the hubby. Lovely, lazy, lumpy day. I'm looking forward to many more days just like it. I feel bad for those of you who have to work year round. Oh, sorry... didn't mean to rub it in :)

ASL Club- Silent Weekend and Lagoon Day!

2011-05-15T17:27:00.001-07:00

I am a high school ASL teacher. I plan tons of fun activities for my ASL Club. Recently we went to Lagoon and Silent Weekend. Unfortunately, I didn't get my student's parent's permission to post their pics on the internet, so here are some generic shots.

For Lagoon day, on May 13th, I let my students go off on their own. They are good kids, very responsible. That means I have to bring someone with me to play on the rides. My sister, Kim, came this year.

This is me and Kim on the bus.

Me and Kim on WICKED!!!! My favorite ride!
The Spider!

Near the entrance, at the end of a long day at the Goon!

Thanks for coming to play with me, Kimmer!

Now, Silent Weekend takes a little more planning. It all started last summer, when I agreed/volunteered to take over plans. Every year we take high school ASL students from all over Utah away for the weekend. They vow turn their voices off and use their signing skills to communite 100% of the time. It is a great experience. This year we went to Camp Williams on May 6th and 7th. Our theme was A*S*L Boot Camp. We had 14 schools attend: 90 students, 15 teachers, and 17 volunteers.

Here I am with the other 2 leaders: Tressa and Lori. It was a lot of hard work to plan the weekend but the 3 of us pulled it off.

Friday night we put the students into groups where they had to create a squad name and banner, and perform a military-style cadence. It was so much fun to see what they came up with. This is the enormous meeting hall.

Saturday morning we used Camp Williams' Leadership Reaction Course (LRC). This is a shot of our M.C. giving directions to the group.

My brother, Jason- who works at Camp Williams, came to help and explain the courses. You can see him on the right of this shot, dressed in Army Camo. The kids had so much fun learning and working together in their teams.

This is J's new truck. Thanks for helping today, J!

Here is a pic of all the teachers (I'm on the far left). They each got a t-shirt, flag with the A*S*L Boot Camp logo, bandana, dog tag and backpack. The students each got a bandana, dog tag and back pack.

Silent Weekend was amazing. I learned so much about myself and what it is like to organize and plan an activity of this magnitude. As great an experience as it was, I will not be volunteering again next year :) Once is enough.

Easter with Jenn's family

2011-05-15T17:11:00.001-07:00

The Saturday before Easter, my family met at a park near our house to barbeque. It was a little chilly that day. Here are Stephanie, Neil and Ben- trying to keep warm near the bbq grill.

Kevin decided the best way to keep warm was to play with the kids - Devan and Kami. Here is Kevin spinning Devan.

Oh, they look a little dizzy.

Kevin is trying to get the world to stop spinning before he gets sick.

Once the dizziness is gone, they climb the baseball fence.

After all the playing, Kevin gets cold, so he puts on Devan's jacket. It's a little too small for him.

Kevin has just found the candy bar Devan had stashed his coat pocket. I think Devan wants it back.

Back at our house, we get ready to hunt for eggs. Here is my bro-in-law, Neil, Kevin and his wife Stephanie, and Kami and Devan.

Pappy, me, Kevin, Steph, Kami, Devan and Kim

Kevin and Stephanie trying to keep warm while the kids hunt for eggs.

Kami found one!

So did Devan.

Happy kids.

Happy Easter!

Easter with Ben's family

2011-05-15T16:50:00.000-07:00

On Easter Sunday, Ben and I went to his mom's house to spend time with his family. This is Ava, new baby Maggie, and Mia. Don't they look so cute in their Easter dresses?

This is Maggie, Mia, and Kameron.
Marley, Tavin, Mia and Ava--basket heads. Ready to hunt for eggs.

Uncle Ben helping Ava reach for the treat in the tree.

Everyone watches as the littles hunt for eggs.

Uncle Ben with the littles. So cute.

I liked this pic- Mia with Tavin and grandma in the background.

Marley and big bro Tavin looking at their treats.

The Floor is FINISHED!

2011-04-20T16:26:00.000-07:00

So, remember how Ben and started tearing out the old flooring in our kitchen and hallway? Well, it's done. We finished it over my spring break--the week before Easter. We are very excited about the end results. Now that the floor is done, we will refinish the existing cabinets and we are adding a butcher block counter top. This process is slow-going but I will post pics as we go.

This is a pic of the 8 boxes of flooring we used to do the hall and kitchen. 8 boxes! Crazy!

First we laid red water-proofing, and protecting pad on the new subfloor.
Here is a pic of the newly laid, hand-scraped walnut bamboo floor. Nice, huh?

Sorry the pic looks dirty. More dust in the air from all the work we've been doing.

Home Remodeling

2011-04-01T18:40:00.001-07:00

Last year, Ben and I remodeled our bathroom. We did such a good job and it looks so cute, we thought this year we would tackle the kitchen and hallway. Here is a pic of our new bathroom. This is the picture I took of the kitchen when I was still trying to decide which house I wanted to buy. You can't see the entire thing but it gives you an idea. You can only see a tiny piece of the nasty blue carpet, and luckily for you, you can't see the hideous wood paneling that covers the other 2 walls. This is going to be a big project so we are doing it in pieces for two reasons: we don't have the money to do it all at once, though it would be nice; and second, we would go insane.

We took off the wood paneling and weird cabinet above the fridge and this is what was behind it. Gross. Doesn't the new window look nice, though?

We had to move the fridge and everything else into the center of the room so we could hang the new dry wall. Under the wood paneling is the same chipped and cracking plaster that we saw in the bathroom last year. Easier to just cover it with new drywall.

Here is the corner opposite of the 'before' pic. This is the corner we are working on first. The other stuff will be finished later. We put in new drywall and we're going to paint it the same color as the bathroom walls. Ben likes the grey. This corner will have a new pantry and bar top with stools because we don't have room for an actual kitchen table.

This is a shot of the hallway with its glorious wood paneling. This is where we've been stowing the drywall that needs to be hung. Look at the lovely blue carpet. That needs to come out, quick.

Yikes! Look at what is under the ugly blue carpet. Red, flowered laminate stuff. That's not the only layer that we took up. There was so much crap underneath.

Under the carpet, the pad, and the red laminate was the old sub-floor. We took that out too because it was really squeaky. Under the sub floor was a black water proofing paper.

All of this was nailed down and we had to pull all the nails out individually by hand.

Now, back to the kitchen. This pic shows one half still with its old carpet and the other half ripped down to the barest wood sitting on the floor joists. I guess we are calling this the sub- sub-floor. The spots on the picture is from the flash lighting up the dust in the air. Gross.

Here is Ben hard at work ripping out the other side of the old floor. Don't think he did all the work. I just paused for a second to take pictures, then it was back to work.

Ben is sitting where the oven, corner cabinets and useless old dishwasher used to sit. We won't be able to replace the stove for a while- they're expensive. We did, however, buy a new dishwasher. I'll post a pic later.

This is how the kitchen looks with the sub-sub-floor exposed. After we screwed it down better to quiet the squeaks it's actually much better than the carpet was. No, we aren't leaving it like this.

This is the new sub-floor. We've ordered the new hard-wood floors... walnut, hand-scraped bamboo. Once they arrive and we get it installed I'll post more pics. This is a serious work-in-progress.

We got the floors in the kitchen and hallway ripped out just in time for our city's 'spring clean up'. We put all the carpet, cabinets, carpet pad, old sub-floor, wood paneling, old dishwasher, some random stranger's mattress that someone tossed onto our pile... anway, we put it all on the curb and they came and took it all away. It was so nice. Such a big help.

Keep checking back... more remodeling pics to come. We're so excited about fixing up our little home!

St. Patrick's Day

2011-04-01T18:04:00.000-07:00

My sister needed to take a test on the Saturday before St. Patrick's day and asked me to watch her 2 kids, Kami and Devan. Well... that day just happened to be the St. Patrick's day parade downtown. So, to get us in the mood I bought us green hats and cooked corned beef and cabbage for dinner on Friday night. Saturday morning we woke up and hopped on the Trax train and headed downtown. I was so excited. I think more so than the kids were. Here we are waiting for the train. Like our hats? Here we are on the train heading downtown. Look at their freckles. Aren't they cute?

This is my awkward attempt at turning the camera around to take a pic of the three of us.

Here are the littles, getting a little impatient, waiting for the parade to start. We got there 15 minutes before the intended start time and got some rockin' seats. We were right on the parade line-no one in front of us. It was a great view.

These are Irish wolf hounds. Huge and a little scary-looking.

Some lion-type mascot in a kilt waving the Irish flag.

I liked this horse because he had shamrocks painted on his body and his hooves were painted green. Very festive.

These horses, however, I didn't like. See how it kind of looks like they are a little close? Yeah, that's because THEY WERE RIGHT ON TOP OF US!!! I thought they were going to step on us. Remember before how I mentioned the awesome seating... yeah, at this point I wished someone was sitting in front of us. Yikes!

This horse looks hungry. A little too hungry and a little to close for my comfort.

Ha, ha! REEEEEED ROBIN... YUM!!!

Here is the Red Robin birdie shaking Devan's hand.

Here are a couple of leprechauns. No, they weren't part of the parade. Just a couple of freaks that came to watch the show.

After the parade, and after Kim's test, we took the kids to the planetarium for while. Of course we had to get a pic of them on the moon.

And one on Mars.

Thanks for letting me watch the kids for a while, Kim. We had fun.

St. George and Zions

2011-04-01T17:18:00.000-07:00

Clear back in February I had a long-ish weekend and Ben and I really wanted to get out of town. We headed to St. George to visit some of my family and also to visit Zions National Park. Friday night my adorable cousin, Amy cooked an amazing dinner of shish kabobs, and fondue chocolate with a tasty assortment of dipping things. YUM! On Saturday, Amy packed up her little family (actually it's a big family of 5 kids) and Ben and I packed up my aunt Sue and we all drove over to Zions. We knew we were taking a chance with the weather for a hiking trip, but it seems like St. George always has nice weather. Not this weekend. It was freezing and snowy. Of course none of us were really prepared for the weather but we used what we had and got in one hike before we all froze. Ben and I in our thrown-together snow clothes. This is my super-cute aunt Sue.

This is Amy, her hubby, Joey and their 5 kids. The kids are ready to go with their rain ponchos. Aren't they cute? I was really surprised at how well-behaved and patient they all were on this freezing, slippery, muddy, slushy, cold.... you get the idea. Such sweet kids, though.

Now that we are ready, let's go! Check out Ben's foot wear. Yes, he had real hiking boots in the car but I don't think anyone has ever seen him in anything but flip-flops... regardless of the weather.

Amy and I stopped for a picture while her awesome littles kept hiking. Look at Ben in his shorts and flops. What a dork. That trail looks clear but a little higher up it was all mud and slush. So stinking slippery. He didn't care, though.

Amy and Joey had to take turns carrying the littlest one, Jayni (the cutest of the 5- sorry, Amy. I had to say it), but the other kids were so good! They just kept walking.

We finally reached the top and saw a gorgeous waterfall with ice and fog. It was so pretty.

Amy and her daughter Mikaelyn hammin' it up for the camera.

Here we are on our way back to the cars.

Cute little kids are ready to be warm and ready to eat. LUNCH!

Here are some of the many pictures I took of this beautiful place. I love fog. It looked so cool against the snowy mountains.

Thanks for the fun weekend, Amy and Grandma. I can't wait until we can do it again :)

Poor "Pigey"

2011-03-23T17:54:00.000-07:00

So, I get home from work on a Wednesday night and there is this thing in the corner of our porch. As I get closer I realize it is a pigeon. He is the fattest pigeon I have ever seen. I assume he is hurt because why else would he be hanging out on our porch? So, we decided to leave him alone and see what happens. We named him 'Pigey'.
Over the next few days, Pigey has been making a huge pile of poop on my porch. He isn't hurt, or sick. He hops into the yard to eat little bugs, he flys around the neighborhood, he even has a girlfriend that he has brought home to his new roost. Now, I'm mad at Pigey. I thought he needed help and a place to stay. I didn't realize that he would be a messy house-guest. I told Ben that if Pigey was still around by the end of the weekend we would ask him to leave.

Well... Monday afternoon I am driving home and Ben calls to tell me that Pigey is no longer with us. Some... thing... ate him. We don't know what was able to sneak up on him because our porch isn't enclosed. Something pretty sneaky had a tasty snack. Here is what was left. Pretty gross.

Ben is so sweet!

2011-01-01T19:57:00.000-08:00

I got sick the Monday after Christmas and stayed sick my entire Christmas break. Of course I didn't lose my appetite. Ben is so sweet- he made me breakfast. He made my favorite lemon pancakes shaped like Mickey Mouse, a heart, the ILY sign, and his nick-name for me: bug. Man, I love this kid.

Christmas Day!!!

2010-12-25T18:53:00.000-08:00

Christmas day was full and fun this year. First of all, here is my Christmas card. I know, I'm a dork. I sure love snowboarding, though.
Christmas morning, Ben's family met at his mom's house for breakfast. It was delicious. Too bad Ben and I had just eaten waffles before we headed up to Momma Tami's house. Shoot! I was sooo stuffed. Here are Ben's grandparents and his brother-in-law, Glade, with little Marley. Ready for breakfast.

After breakfast we all headed downstairs to play and open presents. Ben's niece, Ava, helped me open my presents. She is so cute.

The happy, new parents: Jeremy, Brandi and baby Maggie.

Nate is in on the stairs playing with his daughter's pillow pet and Michelle is helping Marley open the piggy and cow that Ben and I gave her for Christmas.

Here comes Marley to thank us for the piggy and cow. Isn't she adorable?

Nate with Mia and Ava.

Me and Ben.

All the grandkids sitting with Grandma Tami.

Marley Mouse giving Grandma a kiss. So sweet.

Ava is showing Grandma her new camera while Great Grandma holds baby Maggie.

Ben is helping Tavin and Tate play with the new airplane we gave Tavin for Christmas.

I sure missed the snow this Christmas, but it was great weather for flying an airplane.

Princess Mia in her new Christmas outfit. Man, I want a skirt like that.

Marley Mouse rolling on a ball with her new piggy and cow. How cute is she?

After spending Christmas morning with Ben's family, it was time to meet up with mine. Since my brother, Jason, is leaving for Kuwait-again- in a few days, he offered to host Christmas dinner at his new house.

Jason's girlfriend, Ferarri, cooked a yummy dinner. Thanks, Furry. Here are my grandpa and dad, waiting to eat.

Ready for the party to start: girlfriend Ferarri, sister-in-law Stephanie, sister Kim and brother Jason.

Slugging on the couch: mom, dad, Kim and Steph.

Goofy boys: nephew Devan, brother Kevin, brother-in-law Neil and Jason.

Ben watches as niece, Kami, kicks his butt at 'Angry Birds'.

Time for presents. Jason plays Santa. Check out his tree. So patriotic.

Everyone watches as Kim opens the first present.

Grandpa got a journal and fancy pen to document his amazing life of 90 years.

Ben and I got fluffy new towels and a garbage can that opens with a pedal instead of your hands. Ben was so excited about that.

I gave Devan and Kami some knit hats one of my students made. Don't tell my student that I re-gifted her hats. :)

Ben and I gave Kevin and Stephanie new sheets for their KING SIZED bed. Kevin looks pretty excited about them.

We also threw in some new jammies to wear in their new bed.

Kevin was so excited about his new jammies he decided to strip down in the front of everyone to put them on. (Sorry about the blur. I suck at picking the right setting on my camera.)

Before he got too indecent, he headed into the bathroom. Didn't care enough to close the door, though. Funny kid.

Check out the new jammies.

The jammie crew. This is how Christmas should be: comfy in jammies. {Wow, looks like I need to stop eating Christmas junk food and go on a diet. Look at my BUTT!!! Yikes!}

Merry Christmas from my whole family. Notice my dad still watching the television-just like my niece and nephew. Someone has the attention span of a small child :)

Christmas Eve

2010-12-24T17:42:00.000-08:00

Every year, on Christmas Eve, Ben's dad hosts a party at his house. It is a lot of fun. All the nieces and nephews make a huge mess opening presents while the adults play games and compete for prizes. Ben's dad always makes dinner with meat, even though he is a vegetarian. Very considerate of him... and he does a great job.

Ben's brother, Jeremy and his wife, Brandi, just had a new baby. Here they are with their new daughter, Maggie.
The competition this year was Wii bowling. This is Ben and Jeremy on the second round of cuts. It started with couples... Ben beat me. I suck at bowling.

Here is Ben getting mad at me for sneaking pics of him. Sometimes I have to, though. He hates having his picture taken.

Here are the nieces and nephews opening presents with Grandpa.

After the party, Ben and I went home and opened our presents. Here is Ben posing with a few of his presents. Notice his stockings... isn't he cute?

Here we are in front of our Christmas tree.

Merry Christmas, ya'll!

Thanksgiving... TWICE!

2010-11-28T19:00:00.000-08:00

The holidays can be difficult when you have to split them between two families. This year, however, Thanksgiving was GREAT! Ben and I spent Thanksgiving day with my family, then the day after with his family. You know what this means... we ate turkey twice!!! So much for my diet :( Then, Saturday, Ben and I celebrated our 1 year wedding anniversary at Franck's restaurant (a very expensive French branch off of Tuscany). YUM! I LOVE FOOD!!!

My brother, Jason, is going overseas-again- with the military. He leaves December 31st. I am scared, but proud of my baby bro. So, we decided that we needed to take some pictures. J and I both set our camera timers and put them on a chair. When the camera clicked we realized that J sat right in front of my other brother, Kevin.

The pic below is the result of that awesome plan. Let's see if I can name them all: J (or Jason) is front and center, to his left is my sister's husband, Neil, then Ben and me. Behind J on the couch is his girlfriend, Ferrari (yep, like the car). Next to her is my Grandpa (mom's dad), then my sister, Kim. Kevin is hiding behind Jason's big bald head, next to his wife, Stephanie. Next to the couch is my grandma (dad's mom), my dad behind her and my mom on the other couch. We don't all get together often so this picture was a big accomplishment. Since we accidentally cut Kevin out of the first picture (he's the one sticking out his tongue) we decided to try it again. This time J took the pic.

Ben felt bad that Jason wasn't in that picture (plus he hates to have his picture taken) so he took a pic of J. Probably should have warned him first. He looks...um, stupid.

The day after Turkey Day, Ben and I drove up to his mom's house to celebrate Thanksgiving with his family, as well as his niece, Mia's 3rd birthday.

In this picture you can see all the little cousins helping Mia open her presents: Marley, Mia, Ava and Tavin. Aren't they cute?!?!?

Ben is helping Marley stay out of Mia's way while she furiously opens presents. Ben's mom is next to him and then his sister, Michelle, who is taking a picture of me taking a picture of her.

Watching the present-opening festivities: Glade- Michelle's husband; Brandy and her hubby, Jeremy- Ben's brother; and little Tate- Ava and Mia's half brother.

Mia and Ava coloring. Aren't these girls adorable?

Michelle, Glade and Marley.

Ben's grandma and grandpa.

Mia, birthday cake, daddy Nate and Ava. Happy birthday, Princess Mia!

What do you think of my hair?

2010-10-23T10:05:00.000-07:00

I let Ben do my hair today. What do you think?
Ben really likes this look on me, but I don't feel comfortable wearing it outside the house. So, before we left the house for the day, I modified it a little. Ben was disappointed but... oh, well. Isn't he so cute?

p.s. you can see the new witch costume I made on the right. Nice, huh? My old witchie suit was getting... well, old.

Halloween

2010-10-22T22:50:00.000-07:00

For Halloween this year, Ben and I carved Mr. and Mrs. Pac Man. Here they are smooching in front of the fire.
Here they are on the front porch with a little snack. (Yum, ghosts)

Here is the cape I made for Ben's 4-year-old neice, Ava. It is just like the one I made for myself. She was so excited when I told her about my cape, but when I made one for her, she was scared of the spiders. Oh, no! I was told that she did wear it to her daycare's Halloween party and she is planning on wearing in on Halloween night. I will try to get a pic of her wearing it and post it.

Every year, my sisters and I dress up like witches and head to Gardner Village for 'Witches Night Out'. My mom couldn't make it this year, but my sister brought her friend, Nicole.

This is Kim, Nicole, Stephanie and me. I didn't get many pictures because we were too busy dancing.

Bear World and Yellowstone

2010-09-26T20:27:00.000-07:00

For Grandpa's 90th birthday, my family took him to see Bear World and Yellowstone in August. My cousin, Stacy, works as the head bear trainer at Bear World in Idaho so we thought it would be a great trip for Grandpa.

Here is part of our group at Bear World: Grandpa, Stacy, Ben, me, wooden bear, my brother Kevin and his wife, Stephanie.

Kevin and Stephanie looking at the huge fish.

Here is a close-up shot of the huge moose that lives at Bear World. He used to live inside the petting zoo area but they had to move him out when he got too big. Now he hangs out just outside the fence of the petting zoo.

I think he misses his friends.

This goose is biting Ben's toes. Stacy warned him and, of course, he had to try it.

This is my sister, Kim, and her family: hubby Neil, son Devan, and daughter Kami.

We LOVED the petting zoo. We spent so much time there. Here is a pic of Kami and Devan petting a deer with Ben.

Stephanie had her camera in her back pocket with the wrist strap hanging out. This turkey must have thought it was a worm because he kept trying to eat it out of her pocket. So funny!

Devan was a little afraid to pet the animals, but Ben helped him be brave. Isn't Ben sweet?

Kevin kept petting this one little goat. Several times that day we would look around for him and he would be back by the goat. He wanted to take it home. Here is Stephanie taking a pic of her hubby with his new friend.

Kim and Kevin by his little goat friend.

Kim and Kevin are joined by Devan and Kami. Man, Kevin loved that goat.

My favorite animal was this little pig. He was so cute.

He was so cute, Ben tried to pick him up to bring him home. When Ben finally put him down... oh, you should have seen him run away. Poor little piggy. He went 'wee, wee, wee' all the way home.

Since he had so much success picking up the pig, Ben thought about picking up this deer. Then he thought better of it.

Ben and I found another little goat that was so cute. It reminded Ben of a goat he once had named Rudy.

He decided to pick him up to bring him home.

Success!!! Ben picked up the goat.

That goat was not happy when Ben put him down. Ben is trying to get away quickly before the goat kicks him in the face.

After the petting zoo, we went on a curator tour with my cousin Stacy as our own personal tour guide. This is one of several different kinds of animals we saw from the curator truck.

Neil, Devan, Kim and Kami feeding the animals from the curator truck.

Neil, Devan, Kim and Kami paying attention to our awesome tour guide.

Stephanie and Kevin also listening to the tour.

This is me and cousin Stacy.

On the curator tour we were allowed to feed the animals. They provided bread and powdered donuts for us to feed the bears. The bears LOVE powdered donuts. This big girl sits up and waves for a donut. Isn't she cute?

Here are some more bears sitting/standing up begging for donuts.

This bear wanted a donut so badly he started to climb into the truck.

Here is Ben feeding the bears.

Look at that donut headed straight for that bear's mouth. They were really good at catching donuts in their mouths.

Another part of Bear World was the feeding of the babies. This was an extra expense so only me, Kevin and Grandpa were able to feed the babies. It was worth it. They were so cute and they made the funniest noises while sucking.

Here is Stacy getting the baby ready for the guests to feed him. He is sucking on her arm and making the cutest noise.

Grandpa feeding the baby bear with Stacy.

Me feeding the baby bear with Stacy.

After Bear World we decided to drive through part of Yellowstone. This is a buffalo/bison sitting next to the road. A little scary getting this close to him.

Here are the girls: Me, Stephanie, Kim and little Kami. Here is the picture that I paid for with my feeding of the baby bears. I loved that experience. I was looking forward to petting the babies to see if they are as soft as they look. They aren't. In fact, their fur is very course and stiff. It was a little disappointing, but still a lot of fun to feed and pet the babies. Thank you, cousin Stacy, for spending the day with us and taking us on a tour of your job.

Vacation in Cali- part 4

2010-08-17T19:56:00.000-07:00

I love California so much! Look at the plant life growing on the side of the road! Ben and I got to see this everyday on our way to the BEACH!!! Love, love, love the beach.
Palm trees = happy. Whenever Ben and I have seen palm trees, it has always meant that the beach is near.

Here we are at the beach. Not too many pics because we were more concerned with playing than taking pictures. Here is Ben waiting for a wave.

Here is Ben riding a wave.

Here is me riding a wave.

Boogie boarding is my new favorite hobby... it ranks up there with snowboarding. Awesome good times.

Here is another pic of the beautiful ocean. We miss the beach.

Thanks for looking at our honeymoon pics.

Vacation in Cali- part 3

2010-08-14T19:18:00.000-07:00

While Ben and I were in California for our honeymoon, of course we had to visit Disney. This year we only went to California Adventures, but it was enough for one day. We needed lots of time for the beach so we could only spare one day. It was fun.
Ben's favorite ride was California Screamin'. We went on that ride 3 times. You can see it behind us in the picture. It is the white roller coaster.

I absolutely had to have a souvenir. I saw these Mini Mouse ears in the baby section, but I thought they were so cute. And so much cheaper than buying something suited for people my own age.

The Tower of Terror was my favorite ride. We rode that one 3 times, also. Awesome!

Oh, so sad. The sun is going down and it is nearly time to go home. Oh, well. Lots more fun days to follow.

Also, while in Cali, we went to the Wild Animal Park. It was amazing. The fact that the animals have acres to roam instead of being in cages their whole lives was incredible.

You can see these animals lounging in the grass. So nice that they aren't caged.

They really did a good job with the habitats for these animals. Look at this place!

Here is a pic of a 3-hour-old baby black rhino and his mommy. Do you see him? He is so teeny. He is playing in the dirt just to the left of his mom's butt. See him? Isn't he cute!?!?!

My favorite part was the lion exhibit.

Look at this lady lion on top of a car. Why is there a car in their enclosure? No idea, but they loved it.

The best part was that they have a huge male lion. The local zoo at home doesn't have a male lion, so I was excited to see him. See, they love that car.

I really liked the lion exhibit. See me with the two kitties?

Ben's favorite part was the petting zoo. Those animals loved getting rubs and scrubs from all the visitors. Isn't Ben cute? He wanted to bring his new friend home.

I didn't want to bring him home. I settled for a pic of our new friend.

Here we are on our 2nd train ride. It was a very nice way to see the park and all the animals. Ben and I are very lazy people. We were tired of walking around.

Vacation in Cali - part 2

2010-08-13T16:31:00.000-07:00

Okay, more pics from our honeymoon in southern Cali. We spent my birthday riding the waves at Huntington Beach. Awesome. We actually spent several days on the beach, but I will post those pics later.

Saturday we drove down to San Diego to visit the temple. Unfortunately it was under construction. It was disappointing to not be able to see it without all the scaffolding. Oh, well. That just means we will have to make another trip down. Oh, darn :)

Aren't we cute standing in front of scaffolding?

Sunday morning we found the local ward for church. It was the most amazing meeting either of us ever attended, although we didn't hear a single word that was said. Oops, we were distracted. The chapel was so crowded and hot they had to prop the doors open. The most amazing breeze and smell was coming through the doors, it was hard to pay attention. It smelled like the ocean and flowers. Awesome.

After church we headed to Dana Point Harbor where we rented a sea kayak. It was a great day for it. Overcast, which means not too hot. It was lovely. I realize that we were supposed to put the boat in the water in order for this little adventure to work, but I wasn't planning on bringing my camera because I had accumulated a million pics and I didn't want to drop it in the ocean.

So, we put the boat in the water and paddled out of the harbor. We saw some cool things and immediately turned back for the camera (which I should have just brought with us in the first place). We got some awesome pics. This is what the boat looks like in the water. Behind us you can see Dana Point.

This is the real reason we turned back for the camera. Look at those lazy seals! Aren't they so cute? They were just sleeping and sunning themselves on the buoy.

Oh, they were so cute and totally relaxed, even with a bunch of people getting really close to their resting place.

A father/son team on a similar kayak took our picture for us. I was so nervous handing my camera over to a stranger in the middle of the ocean. I was afraid he would drop it. He didn't, obviously. And we got some good shots.

As we were getting ready to head back to the harbor, another couple paddled up in a lake canoe: a big, heavy, awkward metal boat. The boy kept paddling his girlfriend closer and closer to the seals. She was yelling and freaking out and then she stood up to back away from the seals and their whole boat tipped over, launching the couple and their junk into the ocean. So funny... until we realized that they couldn't get back into their boat.

We paddled over and collected all of their floating lunch things. Ben flipped their boat back over and we tried to bail the water out, but the ocean waves just kept filling it up again. Finally, a big boat came by with a pump and emptied their boat. We helped the couple get back into the boat, gave them their stuff that had been floating in the ocean and made sure they were settled before we hauled back to the dock where our kayak was overdue. So funny. Stupid girl. Why did she stand up? I guess she was afraid of the seals but had no problem swimming in the ocean with sharks and other scary things nibbling her toes. I wish I had gotten pics of them flipping their boat. So funny.

This pic shows how far out we were from the beach.

This is another view of Dana Point Harbor. That is where we had just been with the kayak. Gorgeous.

After another awesome day on the ocean we headed to dinner at a sushi restaurant in Laguna Beach. We had the entire balcony to ourselves because the locals thought it was too cold out with the marine layer. Wussies. It was like 65 degrees and they had the outdoor heating lamps on. Ben and I didn't mind. We had a great view of the ocean, lots of privacy, and tasty sushi. Yum.

This is the balcony at the restaurant. Aren't we cute? Ben was so patient with all the picture-taking that happened over the full 10 days. Very sweet. (In case you didn't know... Ben HATES having his picture taken. This explains the lack of smiles on his part)

The next day, Monday, we headed to San Diego's Wild Animal Park. Tons of pics to be posted later. I am wasting way too much time on the computer. Tee hee :)

New bathroom

2010-08-12T20:43:00.000-07:00

Ben and I bought a 55 year old house back in December and since then we have found that with an old house comes lots of "character". By "character" I mean little problems that we didn't see when we first bought the house. For example, our toilet. Not only does it lean a little to the one side where the floor is collapsing, but it doesn't flush properly, and it leaks. Two months ago we bought a kit to replace the guts of the toilet as a temporary fix. We told ourselves that we would fix the leaning issue later when we had more money to replace the entire bathroom.

So, Friday after a trip to the dentist, I arrive home to find Ben trying to replace the guts of the toilet. However, the bolts are so corroded, even after yet another trip to Home Depot, we can't separate the tank from the bowl of the toilet. After literally wrestling with the tank, it breaks and we are forced to visit the Home Depot again... this time for a whole new toilet. This is very upsetting and in a split second decision, we decide that maybe now would be a good time to remodel the whole bathroom.

Here is the bathroom before we started. Old, ugly, carpeted and wallpapered. Desperately in need of a face lift.

We ripped out the 7 layers of wallpaper and the ugly, smelly blue carpet and this is what was under it all. Gross! Look at the floor around the toilet hole. Nasty!
We had a lot of garbage to take out with all the rotten flooring, carpet, wallpaper, old sink, cabinet, toilet... you get the picture. And if you don't, here is a picture :)
Here is my cute man taking out one of many loads of bathroom garbage.
Under the wallpaper is plaster over cinder block walls. Not drywall. There is no way we can paint over this mess.
Here you can see two of the several different layers of wallpaper we took down.
Here is the old sink and cabinet. Yes, it is sitting in our yard and we look like white trash. Don't worry, we'll clean it up.
Here is Ben ripping out the old rotten wood that was under the carpet. Seriously, who puts carpet in the bathroom?
To fix the leaning problem, we pulled up all the rotten layers of linoleum and subfloor to expose the crossbeams. We replaced the floor and put in a thick piece of plywood.
Then we installed a faux tile floor. Cheap, easy, and it doesn't look too bad.
Brand new toilet that flushes beautifully with only one quick touch, instead of holding the lever until everything goes down and then jiggling the handle to make sure it doesn't leak.
Since Ben did most of the demo and the plumbing, I did the drywall and mudding.
Once again, here is a pic of the bathroom before we started...
And here is a pic of our brand new, properly working, clean smelling and very adorable bathroom.
The project took 5 days, countless return trips to Home Depot, and we were without a toilet for a while, but it was worth it. We are so proud of our new bathroom. Ya'll need to come over and take a look... and try it out :)

Vacation in Laguna Beach, California

2010-07-26T14:45:00.000-07:00

Although Ben and I were married 8 months ago in November, we had to postpone our honeymoon until the summer when we could afford to take time off from work. So, we spent 10 awesome days in Laguna Beach, California.

We flew in on Wednesday and checked into our cute little hotel: Laguna Beach Inn. Then we went to explore the beach called Woods Cove, which is right across the street from our hotel.

This is the view of our hotel from the beach entrance across the street.

Before you get to the beach you have to walk down a set of stairs. There is the most beautiful plant life growing along the stairs leading to the beach. It was gorgeous.

This is Woods Cove, a small beach secluded by large rocks and cliffs on both sides. Very pretty but the waves aren't great for playing in.

Look at these nuts houses perched right on the cliff at Woods Cove. Can you imagine living here? Awesome view, outrageous mortgage, and does home owners insurance cover landslides that take your whole house into the ocean? Probably not.

This is a view of the staircase leading up from the beach. I love, love, love the plants. Gorgeous!

The next day, Ben and I headed to San Diego (about 1 hour south) for Sea World. We love Sea World. It is the best place... ever!

First on the agenda at Sea World was Cirque de la Mer: a bunch of clowns and acrobats doing crazy tricks into the water. So much fun, for me. Ben's not a huge fan.

Look at these guys... "Look, Ma. No hands!"

Then there were some half naked, flexy muscle guys. The stuff they can do is amazing.

This was my favorite trick. How are they doing that?

This trick was cool, too.

After Cirque de la Mer, we saw Believe, the Shamu show. We sat right in the "Soak Zone" next to the platform and were really looking forward to getting wet. The day started out so hot.

After a few tricks from Shamu and friends, I put my camera away because I knew we were going to get wet soon. Nope. We sat right in the stupid "Soak Zone" and didn't even get a drop of water on us. Stupid "Soak Zone". It wasn't even a 'sprinkle zone'. So disappointing.

After our huge disappointment, we headed to the polar animal exhibit to cool off. So much better. I was melting and Ben was loving the heat. Crazy.

We came to the walrus exhibit to find this man splashing up against the glass. We have no idea why. It was a little scary. He was hitting it pretty hard and I was afraid the glass would break and we would have a loose walrus running around.

Here is a cute little penguin man. It was great to see them all swimming around and being playful. The penguins at the Hogle Zoo don't do anything. They just sit there. Boring.

Ben really wanted to swim with the dolphins but it was way too expensive. Then he wanted to feed the dolphins but even that was too expensive. So, we decided to settle for the dolphin show. The show SUCKED! The dolphins were only in the show for maybe 8 minutes. The rest was bad acting and lame acrobats. Man! We really wanted to see dolphins, not weird bird ladies.

Some of the dolphin tricks were pretty cool, though.

This one was my favorite. Look closely in the glass. You can see a dolphin pushing a trainer under water.

Ben and I decided to ride the white water rapids ride (I can't remember what it is called and I am too lazy to look it up). The day started out really hot but then it got cold and rainy. Because we waited to ride the ride when it was cold, the line was practically non-exsistent. So, now we are cold and wet and it is still raining. People thought we were crazy.

Then we wanted to take a picture with Shamu swimming behind us. It didn't work very well, but you can see how wet we are. Well, you can see how wet I am. My hair is plastered to my face and I have water droplets on my sunglasses. Cute. If you look below us you can see a little bit of Shamu as he passes.

*As usual, Ben hates to have his picture taken but because it was our honeymoon (and because he is so sweet) he posed for a pic. He doesn't look too happy, does he?

Oh, look. Another pic that didn't turn out and where Ben doesn't look happy to be looking at a camera. This pic was supposed to have both of us and the whole SeaWorld sign. Oops. We aren't great backward photographers.

So, we found a very nice lady to take our picture. Don't we look so cute all wet?

So, this was just the first two days. More pics to come.

Happy 4th of July!

2010-07-05T14:29:00.000-07:00

This 4th of July my sibs and their significants headed up to Evanston where my sister lives with her little family. I've been told that Evanston has a pretty good firework show, and I was stoked to see it.

This is my sister, Kim, with her husband, Neil (who had to leave for work to protect all of Evanston from the dangers of illegal fireworks, ha ha), and their two kids: Devan and Kami.

Here we are waiting for the show to start: me, Kim, Jason and his girlie, Kevin and his wife Stephany. Ben, of course is MIA. He hates to have his picture taken, but he is an awesome photographer. Don't you think?
Me and my sis-in-law, Steph.

We hiked up the mountain behind Kim's house and we could see the whole town.

The people of Evanston were lighting off their illegal-in-Utah fireworks well before it got dark. This is a sloppy view of the town, but it gives you an idea of all the fireworks going on.

Then there was the big show right over our heads! It was awesome. We had the best seats in the house.

Happy 4th of July!!!

Timpanogos Cave

2010-06-29T09:09:00.001-07:00

Some friends and I got together on Saturday and headed up to Timpanogos Cave. It was a lot of fun.

This is Mike, Tressa, Platt, and Ian.

Platt, me, Ian and Mike.

Here we are walking up the trail: Ian, Tressa, Platt, and Mike.

We finally reached the top and now we are waiting for our tour guide.

This is me, Platt... not sure what Mike and Ian are doing.

Here we are inside the cave.

Tressa found her own little cave.

We couldn't let her have it to herself, so we all crammed in.

Thanks for the fun trip!

Spontaneous weekend trip to Arches

2010-06-16T13:59:00.001-07:00

Saturday around noon, Ben says, "Let's go to Moab." Twenty minutes later we were in the car and on our way. We stayed in a little hotel/self-storage (weird) called JR's Desert Inn. After dinner at the Slick Rock Cafe we went for a stroll down a little trail. Look at how green everything was. It was gorgeous.

Here's me walking down the trail in Moab.

We didn't walk long before we came to a bridge, but the river had risen so much it would have been very difficult to cross.

We weren't feeling very adventurous so we turned around and went back to town.
Sunday morning we woke up and headed to Arches National Park. I had never been there before, so I was pretty excited.

Ben hates having his picture taken so I have to sneak them in while he is busy taking pictures of his own. Here he is taking a picture of the Three Gossips.

And, here are the Three Gossips. Ben's a pretty good photographer.
I sneaked another picture of him while he was looking out over the park. It was an amazing view. The park looks good, too :)

Look at the view, and the clouds. Awesome.

Here I am flicking Balancing Rock. It was pretty precarious. I'm sure I could knock it over.

Just kidding. This is how big it really is.
This is Double Arches, which is near Windows.
There is teeny, tiny Ben standing behind the South Window. Isn't he teeny and cute?

This is both of the Windows.

This is Ben standing inside the South Window and looking at the incredible view. Yes, I snuck another picture.

This is me and Ben standing under Delicate Arch... you know, the one most people have on their license plates.

We were walking along to see Landscape Arch and Pine Tree Arch and we were so amazed by how green everything was in the middle of the desert.

Pine Tree Arch gets its name from the pine tree growing in the middle of it. Very creative.

This is Landscape Arch, but I think it should be called delicate because it is so thin. There was a sign nearby that said a whole bunch of rock broke off in 1991. See, it is delicate.

There were signs all over the park warning tourists of the frequent sightings of Big Horn Sheep. We didn't see any live sheep, so we had to settle for a statue at the information center.

My work paid for me to go to VEGAS!

2010-06-10T11:30:00.000-07:00

Yep, that's right. My job paid for me to go to Vegas. There was a teacher conference in Las Vegas June 7-9th and my boss invited me be among the 8 teachers from my school. They paid for the plane, hotel, food... everything. It was awesome. It sucked being away from my new hubby, but I can't pass up free stuff. So, I went to Vegas.

We stayed in Caesar's Palace, which is one of the biggest hotels in Las Vegas. It was huge. This is the fountain in the main entrance.
While waiting for the other 4 to check us all into the hotel, I decided to take a pic of these three dorks. Only Jones wasn't smiling.

Let's try that pic again. Oh, good. Jones is smiling now, but I don't know what Adams is doing.

Amber and I shared a room and it was the biggest/nicest hotel room I have ever seen.

There was a huge sitting area...

A massive tub...

A television in the bathroom- which had 2 sinks...

A fancy shower...

And a phone in the toilet. Sorry about all the hotel pics. My roomie and I were a little excited when we saw our room.

Here is Tanner, me and Amber after eating dinner at the Cheesecake Factory.

After the first day at the conference, we all decided to spend some time outside of our massive hotel. First, we went to Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum. Here is Perschon, Schaffer, me, Amber, and Kathy getting ready to enter the SCREAM room. We had to walk in a single-file line with our hands on the shoulders of the person standing in front of us. We were not allowed to run or stop, and we were encouraged not to touch anyone, and no one would touch us. Yikes!

I was so excited to go to the wax museum, but when we finally got there I was a little freaked out by how life-like they all are. Some of the statues really looked like the person they represent. Others, not so much.

Here I am (freaked out) with Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt.

After a while I wasn't so scared. I got nice and cozy with Mathew Mcconaughey.

Then I tried to beat up Chuck Liddell.

Elvis is singing me a song.

So, Marilyn Monroe was supposed to be a size 12, right? Well, I'm a size 12. Am I as hot as she was? Yeah, right.

Here I am with the President of the United States, Barack Obama.

Schaffer, Perschon, me and Amber listening intently to the former President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln.
After the wax museum we went to see Phantom of the Opera in the Venetian hotel. The next day, Amber and I laid by the pool, took a nap, and walked to dinner at the Bellagio. The pics didn't turn out well, so I'm not including them.

The perfect ice cream cone

2010-06-05T21:36:00.000-07:00

Ben and I went to DQ for some junk food and some not-so-junk-food. The drive-thru guy hands me my chocolate dipped cone and says, "Look at that cone. It is pefect. You should take a picture." So, I did. But, when I showed the guy the pic I had taken, he says to me- in a snotty voice, "I was kidding." Ha, ha.

I look like a witch!

2010-05-28T21:17:00.000-07:00

So, I am cleaning up after school, getting ready to go home. There is a student hanging out and she tells me that she loves my hair cut and she wants to cut hers to look the same. Her hair is long and thick and beautiful. I tell her not to cut her hair because hers is so pretty. She tells me her hair is fake and proceeds to 'take it out'. Five minutes later there is a pile of black hair on the desk.
Against my better judgement, I ask her to put the extensions in my hair. I have always wanted extensions and I have been trying to decide if I want to grow my hair out. I thought that if I could see myself with her extensions in I would be better able to decide. The results are a little silly. I think I look like a witch. Maybe it is the black, or maybe it is the length, but I don't think this is a good look for me. What do you think?
For better reference, this is a picture of my current hair cut. Which do you prefer?

Grandpa's 90th birthday

2010-05-22T20:17:00.000-07:00

For Grandpa's 90th birthday my whole family met at Tepanyaki for dinner. Here are Kevin, Stephanie, Kim, mom, dad, Devan, Jason, Neil, Grandpa, Ben and Kami.
Pappy, mom and Grandpa looking so excited to be there.

Kevin looks excited enough for everyone.

My sister, her hubby, and son.

No matter where we go, Kami ALWAYS wants to sit by uncle Ben. So cute.

Kami has mastered the art of the chop stick. Impressive.

Kim is more excited than the kids.

Wouldn't be an official trip to Tepanyaki unless you catch the shrimp. Pappy's turn.

Jason's turn.

Kevin's turn.

Kim's turn.

Devan's turn.

After dinner we all went to Jason's house for cake and ice cream. Here is grandpa blowing out the candles.

Me and grandpa.

Kim and Kami with grandpa.

Happy 90th birthday, Grandpa!

Girl's Weekend

2010-04-14T18:05:00.000-07:00

Okay, I mentioned that I was going to Boise, Idaho, for spring break, and I promised some pics. Here they are...
Last weekend, I flew to Boise in the tiniest airplane in America and it took maybe 45 minutes...maybe. Short flight and worth it, because I was going to see Cats and my friend Ashlee (aka Schlee).

Me and Schlee, Schlee and me :)

First, we checked into our hotel and got dressed up. The plan was to go to dinner, then to the play. Here, Ashlee and I are dressed and ready to go. Don't we look hot?

Ashlee brought along her friends Christina and Ellen. They look pretty hot, too.

Uh, oh. What is Schlee doing?

I guess she wasn't finished showing off her dress.

Downstairs in the lobby of the hotel, we decided to take a few more pics to document the occasion. I told the girls to "show me sexy" and instead they ended up looking possessed.
When I showed them the pic, they started laughing hysterically.

This time just smile, okay? That's much better.

Here we all are, ready for a night out on the town.

After driving around forever, and several failed attempts at finding a restaurant, we settled on a cheesy diner/pancake house. We were a little over-dressed, but it was more fun that way.

Here are Christina and Ellen.

Ashlee and I.

After some tasty brinner (that's breakfast at dinner time), we headed to the play 'Cats'.

The play SUCKED!!! It sucked so badly, we decided to leave at intermission. We went back to the hotel room to get ready to go dancing. Ashlee decided the theme for the night would be '80s, so we all put on our '80s gear. Here is a pic of me crimping Ashlee's hair. Remember crimping? So hot.

Thanks for taking our picture, Christina. We look 'rad'. Remember 'rad'? 'Awesome'.Here we are in our '80s suits. Don't we look... uh, what's another '80s term? Um, 'gnarly'? 'Phat'?

The club we went to had a live band doing cover songs from '80s rock bands. It was perfect. The band was called Pilot Error. Here is a pic they took and posted on their website: piloterror.net. Do you see us? There's me, Christina, Ashlee and Ellen 'partying like it's 1999'.

At the end of the night we got a pic with the band, but this random 'poser' chic jumped in the shot. 'Gag me with a spoon'. She's the 'hoser' in the long-sleeved black shirt next to the lead-singer who is below me.

Okay, enough with the '80s terminology. Saturday morning, Ashlee and Ellen decided they wanted to get tattoos. So, we drove to a small shop where the tattoo artist just happened to have a recently-opened spot in his schedule. Ashlee, you're first. She was a tattoo virgin, this was her very first. It was a special moment.

After watching Ashlee, Ellen wasn't sure if she wanted to go through with it...

But, she did. She was very brave.

Unfortunately, I didn't get a pic of Ashlee's cute little rump with the finished product, but here is a pic of Ellen's new tat. Nice work, and under 30 minutes.

After tats, we went to lunch at Olive Garden. Then it was time to say good-bye. The girls dropped me off at the airport where I boarded the same teeny, tiny airplane for the short trip home. Sooo worth the airfare, compared to 4+ hours alone in the car driving through boring, ol' Idaho.

*disclaimer: I suck at writing captions for pics, and I realize that I am not very clever. Hope it wasn't too dreadful. Thanks for reading :)

Girl's Weekend!!!

2010-04-01T18:16:00.000-07:00

I am so excited. Tomorrow afternoon I will be flying to Boise, Idaho (the spring break capitol of the world, I know) for a girlie weekend. My awesomest friend Ashlee, whom I have known forever, and some of her awesome friends are meeting in Boise for the weekend. We have big plans. First, we are going to check in to our hotel and change into our 'little black dresses' (actually mine is blue, but whatever) and then we are going to dinner. After dinner we are going to see the play Cats. After Cats, we will head back to our hotel and change into our awesome '80s outfits and head to a dance club. Saturday morning, after we sleep in, we are going shopping! I am so excited. I never get to see my Ashlee and I miss her.

This is Ashlee, aka Schlee. Isn't she cute?

This is my '80s outfit... ... and this is Ashlee's. Hmm, which one is better? Maybe I can convince Schlee to let me borrow her outfit.

I am really looking forward to this weekend and I promise to post more pics... :)

Spring Clean Up

2010-03-29T17:46:00.000-07:00

Three weeks ago, we got a post card in the mail announcing the city spring clean up day. We were told to put all our garbage and green stuff in a big pile on the street by 7am on March 29th. We were so excited that we weren't going to have to pay $200 for a dumpster. We immediately started hacking away at ugly bushes, and pokey plants.

See the two big, ugly bushes in front of the house? Yeah, they've gotta go. So, we chopped and hacked and pulled... but we still have the stumps.

This is a picture of our side yard. We still have a lot of work to do. We want to plant a huge garden but we aren't sure where to begin. It's very intimidating.

Here is one of the leftover stumps from one of the big, ugly bushes.

And here is another. Some day we'll figure out how to pull them up.

Here is a pic of the huge pile of green crap that will be taken away.

Here is another picture, just in case you couldn't tell how big the pile was.

Happy Valentine's Day

2010-02-14T20:12:00.000-08:00

Ben is so cute. He had flowers delivered to Jenn at work. The flowers were to celebrate Valentine's day and the 7/11 weeks they have been married. (When Ben was counting the weeks to order the appropriate number of roses, he left out the month of January. So, instead of 11 roses to represent the 11 weeks they've been married, he ordered 7. It's the thought that counts. The 7th flower is hiding in the back. )
This is the mantle above the fire place in the new house. Looks pretty good, huh?

House Hunters

2009-12-19T18:03:00.000-08:00

Ever watch House Hunters on HGTV? Well, Ben and Jenn decided to buy a home so we'll play a short version of House Hunters so you can try to figure out which house they chose. Ready?

The first house they looked at was a very large home near the top of their budget.

This house has a converted garage to make room for a basement-level family room as well as 5 bedrooms.
This ginormous house has 3 bathrooms: one in the master bedroom...
One bathroom on the main floor...
And another bathroom in the basement.
One of the best features of this house is the amazing front room window and old-school fire place.
Obviously the kitchen (as well as the rest of the house) needs a lot of work.

The second house they looked at is just around the corner from the first, but as a short sale, it is significantly cheaper.

This house sports a split front entry with awesome blue carpet.
Wood paneling covers the walls in the living room, family room, and 2 of the 4 bedrooms.
This kitchen needs some work and a new refrigerator.

This house has 2 bathrooms: a very sad bathroom upstairs...

And a rather nice bathroom downstairs.

The third house they looked at is a little closer to their ideal neighborhood and priced in the middle of the other two houses. However, it is much smaller.

This house has only 1 bathroom and it is in sad shape.

It has 2 front rooms and 3 tiny bedrooms.

This kitchen is also in need of remodeling.

Finally, this house also has a fire place in the first of the two front rooms.

So, now that you have seen the three homes and their details, which house do you think Ben and Jenn picked?

The huge, 5-bedroom home at the top of their price range?

The modest, split-entry home at the bottom of their price range?

Or, the small house with two front rooms in the middle of their price range?

And the house they chose...

There was only one smart choice for them... They picked the smallest of the three houses on a private lane in an awesome neighborhood.

They got the house for a little less than the asking price and plan to use the money for updating and fixing-up the house. Ben and Jenn have a lot of plans for projects on the house and are very excited to have such a huge yard. They are looking forward to planting their very own garden.

Ben and Jenn got hitched!!!

2009-11-28T20:55:00.000-08:00

Ben and Jenn were married and sealed for time and all eternity at the Bountiful LDS temple on Saturday, November 28th, 2009 at 10:30am.

ASL ROCKS!!

2009-11-05T18:05:00.000-08:00

So, apparently ASL rocks. I love teaching ASL at Cyprus High, and obviously my students love learning it. They found my car in the parking lot and wrote on my window. This kind of vandalism I don't mind so much.

Happy Halloween!!!

2009-10-31T22:59:00.000-07:00

Yay, I love Halloween!!! Every year "the girls" get together for the Witchie Show (Witches Night Out @ Gardner Village). It is so much fun: food, dancing, and WITCHIES!!! Tons of ladies, and a couple of strange dudes, dress up in some pretty elaborate witchie suits and come out to play.

Here we are: mom, sister Kim, me, friend Laura, newest sister Stephany.

Me, Laura, and Stephany- my brother Kevin's wife.
My momma made her own dress and Steph and Kim's dresses. Isn't she awesome? Oh, man, the dress I made is looking pretty frumpy. Maybe I should have my mom make me one, too.

The sisters: Steph, Kim and Jenn

Of course it isn't Halloween without a pumpkin. Ben and I carved a sort-of winking Jack Skellington pumpkin.

Isn't Jack Skellington cute?

New babies at the zoo

2009-09-20T10:48:00.000-07:00

I'm sure you all know by now how much Ben and Jenn love going to the zoo. They go nearly every week. Well, there are some new additions to the Hogle Zoo. Below is a picture of one of the 3 baby tiger cubs born recently.

And here is the adorable baby elephant born last month. Her name is Zuri, but Ben and Jenn call her half-a-lump. Isn't she cute?

Jenn went to the temple

2009-09-12T10:00:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time coming, but it has finally happened. Jenn went to the temple!

I want to thank my awesome sister for making the trip down from Evanston to escort me through my first time. (My sister is standing on my right)
I also want to thank my amazing friends for coming to support me. Thank you Heather, Amber, Lisa, and Micah. I couldn't have done it without you :)

My new hair do

2009-08-17T22:40:00.001-07:00

So, remember when I asked for advice regarding my hair? Well, I've been letting it grow this summer because I didn't know what I wanted to do with it. It had been 10 weeks since my last visit to the amazing Daysha (compared to my 4-week standing appointment). I lost the blond and added some red but it is still short. It didn't grow much in 10 weeks, did it? Not quite sure I want to really grow it out. Sometimes I just don't know what to do with my hair, but I am lucky because, as a chic, it will always grow back :)

So, what do you think?

Check out this candle!

2009-07-28T13:18:00.000-07:00

While I was in Kanosh over the 24th weekend, my auntie Norm introduced me to WoodWick Candles. Instead of a traditional wick they insert a piece of cedar so that when it burns it sounds like a wood-burning fire. It is so fun. Turn up your sound and listen to this candle.

24th of July with Jenn's family

2009-07-28T12:35:00.000-07:00

I (uh, this is Jenn talking) drove down to Kanosh to visit my family for the 24th of July. There was a huge parade that morning. Wait, did I say huge? I meant so small that the entire parade had to double back on the parade route to make it worth our time. Kanosh is a teeny town. It was fun though. Most of the 'floats' (if you can call them that) were just trucks pulling undecorated flatbed trailers. EVERYone was throwing candy. My niece and nephew weren't fast enough, apparently, because my dad and uncle joined in the fun of collecting candy off of the ground.
The last to pass on the parade route were the town fire engines. On their final pass, they turn on the water spout and shoot a 50 foot stream of water into the air. Then, all the kids... well, and me, of course, run into the water and get soaked. I didn't want my camera to get wet (duh) so I didn't take any pics, but my sister did. I will post them as soon as I get them.

Here is my Pappy, nephew Devan, and niece Kami. Waiting for the parade to start.

Aunt Norma (I call her Norm because I'm lazy) and Uncle Terry. Oops, Norm, your eyes are closed and Terry is talking. Let's try it again.
I guess that's better, but now neither of you are smiling.

Meet Dathel Whitaker of Kanosh, Utah.

Can you believe she has great, great, grandkids. 270 people all from this tiny old woman. Wow.

Norm was jealous of the only people in Kanosh with a second story view of the parade. Then she felt bad for them because that great view meant they couldn't reach the candy. So, she decided to throw them some. So funny. Love you, Norm.

There's grandpa on the veterans' "float". Grandpa is the one sitting behind the driver. He threw candy right at my face while I was taking his picture. Rude.

One of the "floats" consisted of a swimming pool on a trailer with boys tossing water at the spectators. It was overcast and not too hot that day. The water wasn't very appreciated.

Mexican cowboy with a lasso, lariat... I don't know what the dumb thing is called. It's a rope and he was swinging it around. There.

Best part of the parade. Seriously, that pile was really stinky so we were very grateful for the 'pooper scoopers'.

More pics to come... maybe :)

Zoo Baby!

2009-07-26T12:24:00.000-07:00

Nug, the snow leopard at the zoo finally had her baby. This cute little boy has not yet been named by the zoo keepers, or by Ben and Jenn. By the way, Nug is the name Ben and Jenn gave her. They have no idea what her real name is, and they don't care.

What's better than spending your birthday in YELLOWSTONE?!?

2009-07-18T11:37:00.000-07:00

Thursday, July 16th, Jenn's 31st birthday... Ben and Jenn hop in the car and cruise up to Yellowstone National Park. It took about 5 hours to drive through Idaho to get to the West Yellowstone entrance to the park. They only had two days to see all the sights but were really looking forward to this vacation. They had a map and the route all planned out. They also had a list of animals that they wanted to see before they left. They both wanted to see bison/buffalo, elk, and bears. Ben really wanted to see a wolf, while Jenn really wanted to see a bull moose. Jenn had a really hard time narrowing more than 300 pictures down to the few you will see here. Enjoy!

Here is Jenn at the entrance to the park in West Yellowstone.

Ben had explained to Jenn what typically happens in Yellowstone: The animals are so used to being around people and they hang out right on the side of the road, if not IN the road. Ben and Jenn didn't have any problems with animals in the road, but they had lots of problems with other tourists stopping in the middle of the road, blocking traffic, just to take a picture. "Come on, people! Pull over and get out of the way!"

When they finally got into the park, around 1:30pm, they were starved and were looking for a place to picnic. Nope. Instead they got backed up in traffic. It was a little exciting to see what animal had caused the bottle-neck but mostly it was a pain in the butt. Just waiting... not sure when the cars ahead would move.

When they finally got to the cause of the commotion, they

were surprised to see a beautiful bald eagle and a nest... with BABIES!

Once past the eagles, they pulled off the road and
ate a picnic next to Gibbon River.

Back on the road, they came to another bottleneck. This time there were several cow elk resting on the other side of Gibbon River.

It was cool to see these animals... until one cow elk jumped in the river and started swimming toward our side of the river. She wanted to eat some pesky tourists who got too close. Not Ben and Jenn, of course, because as soon as that elk jumped into the river, Jenn ran away.

Jenn's a chicken. She doesn't look scary, right? Jenn was convinced, though, that elk was coming to get HER.

Next on their stop through Yellowstone was Beryl Springs. This is just one of the stinky, boiling pots of sulfur and other minerals. Cool colors, though, caused by algae and really tough bacteria.

The water looks nice and inviting, but really it is beyond the boiling point. You WILL die if you get in this water. There were several signs warning tourists that it is against the law to leave the man-made walk ways. "Yeah, you don't need to tell me twice." Ben, on the other hand, needed several reminders.

Next stop on their lovely tour of Yellowstone was the Artists' Paintpots. This trail was about 1/3 mile one way and worth the hike. Although it stunk (and there weren't pink paintpots), it was beautiful.

This is the view from the top of the trail at Artists' Paintpots.

It's amazing the different colors that algae and bacteria create.

This paintpot looks like it needs to be stirred.

"I don't know who would want to paint their house this color." :)

This is Emeral Spring. One of many springs and geysers near Steamboat Geyser.

Between Upper and Lower Falls, they finally saw some bison/buffalo. There were a few more further back in the trees, but these big boys were right up next to the road. Incredible. One man standing nearby said, "Someone get him to chase you. That will make a good picture. One, two, three: not it." That man was funny. Okay, really he wasn't.

Ben hates having his picture taken, so Jenn

sneaked a shot while he was distracted. Hee hee.

Jenn doesn't mind having her picture taken.

In fact, you will notice that she is in several of the next shots.

Here she is at Beryl Spring.

Oh, look. Here she is again at Artists' Paintpots. No, the arrow is not pointing at her leg. There are no paintpots in her shorts.

Here is Jenn again at the Lower Falls of Yellowstone River.

Here Jenn is standing in front of Biscuit Basin. Mmm, biscuits.

Again, here's Jenn. Sitting in front of Firehole Falls.

Ben may not like having his picture taken, but he is a pretty good photographer.

This is Sheepeater Cliff. These rock formations are nuts. They look like they were stacked intentionally by someone. "I wish I had read the sign to learn more.

Oh, well."

This is the face that Ben makes when you ask to take his picture. Just FYI.

But he agreed to have his picture taken while sitting atop a rock in Gardner River near Sheepeater Cliff.

"My turn," says Jenn. That water was bitter. Bitter cold.

This is Wraith Falls off of Lava creek. This waterfall was 1/2 mile off the road but, again, worth the hike. It was so peaceful with only a few other tourists passing by.

This is a petrified tree. "It looks scared to me." :)

This picture was taken in the Old Faithful Lodge. Ben and Jenn weren't sure if they would ever see a bear, so they hoped that this picture would suffice.

Also, in the Old Faithful Lodge was this nuts, huge fireplace. It is 3 stories high and a good 12 feet wide at the base. And there is a dead animal head on it. Gross.

Speaking of the Old Faithful Lodge. Ben booked a room for the night in one of the adorable little cabins.

This is the gorgeous view from right outside their cabin door.

Jenn, hamming it up, again, in front of their cabin. Cabin #221. So little, and so cute.

This cabin was so little it didn't even have a toilet or a shower. Just a sink. Weird. They used the sink, of course, but... weird.

(sorry about the blur. forgot the change the camera setting)

Don't tell Ben but Jenn sneaked another shot of him collapsing onto one the beds in the teeny cabin. They were both very tired and very dirty from playing outside during their first day at Yellowstone.

The cabins and lodge wouldn't be called Old Faithful Lodge for no reason, right? Right. You could throw a rock and hit the Old Faithful Geyser from the teeny cabins. Luckily Old Faithful is quiet. It is aptly named because it spouts like clockwork every 90 minutes. Ben and Jenn were lucky enough to catch the show just as the sun was setting.

There was a large crowd gathered to watch the geyser... including a big, fat buffalo. Ben and Jenn didn't even notice him as they found their seats for the performance. It wasn't until he started snorting and rooting around that they saw him. Crazy.

After the display at Old Faithful Geyser, Ben and Jenn took one last picture before heading back to the lodge for ICE CREAM!

As Ben is snapping a second picture (just in case) Jenn says,

"What's that noise?"

What is Jenn looking at?

Remember that huge buffalo by the geyser? Yeah, now he is rolling around in the dirt. The crowd is laughing hysterically. The buffalo, then, gets pissed off. He stands up and starts stamping his hoof and grunting. And, once again, Jenn-the-chicken runs away. "Duh, that beast is 5 feet away. I'm getting out of here."

Back in the car, there is yet another delay on the road. This time there is a bull elk hiding in the fallen trees. Can you see him? It's like playing 'Where's Waldo'.

Let me zoom in for you. There, is that better?

Now can you see him? His antlers, at least.

Ben and Jenn's favorite part of the trip was Blacktail Plauteau Drive. This was a 6 mile dirt road that somewhat paralleled the main road, but it was rarely traveled and very scenic. Best part of the trip. As they are driving along, they noticed a coyote inches from the passenger side of the car. He is just sitting there. Now, Jenn, being a chicken and sitting in the passenger seat, rolls up her window with super high speed. "I don't want him to jump in the window." Right, like he's going to jump in the window. Instead, he trots off down the road. Jenn snaps a picture of his butt as he walks away, then starts yelling, "Ben, back up!" Ben whips the car into reverse and they chase that poor man down the road until they meet another car. Who, by the way, get a better shot of the coyote as he is walking right in front of their car. "I hope they are grateful that we decided to chase him backwards. Otherwise, they never would have seen that coyote."

Jenn didn't know her car could drive in reverse that fast. Thankfully Ben is an expert backward driver. Cute little coyote.

See the guy hanging out his window taking advantage of the free shot? Jerk.

After the coyote adventure they spotted another little man. This time it was a Uinta ground squirrel. He's pretty cute, too.

At this point on Blacktail Plateau Drive, Jenn is all eyes. She is convinced that she is going to see another animal. Preferably a bull moose or a bear. Nope. This time it was a Mule deer. Not a bear or moose but still awesome.

It is getting near the end of day two and Ben and Jenn are on their way out of Yellowstone. They had a good time but are disappointed that they didn't see a wolf, bull moose, or bear. Oh, well. Maybe next time.

What's this? Another traffic jam? Of course. It's probably something stupid, like a mouse. Tons of cars are simply stopped in the road and people are getting out and walking up to where a crowd of people are looking up the hillside. After about 20 minutes of waiting in the car, Jenn hops out and Ben tells her to keep walking and he will pick her up past the road block. Jenn, armed with her camera, looks up the hillside.

Do you see it?

It's a bear!!! A grizzly bear! Finally! Jenn is so excited to tell Ben. She snaps off only about 30 pics and races to the car. This was such an awesome vacation. It is incredible that these animals live here without the fear of hunters. Ben and Jenn can't wait until their next trip to Yellowstone. Next time they hope to see a bull moose and the elusive wolf.

"Happy birthday to ME!"

CUPCAKES!!!

2009-07-14T21:26:00.000-07:00

Jenn met some friends at Diva's on Tuesday to celebrate her 31st birthday and to eat some tasty cupcakes. Thanks, Lisa for splitting the tuna melt with me. Thanks, Brian, for buying us all a round of cupcakes. Heather, you can pay next time... maybe ;)

Heather, Jenn and Lisa... and a cupcake :)
Why, yes, that is frosting on our noses. Brian started it.

Four Year Anniversary

2009-07-09T13:23:00.000-07:00

Ben and Jenn celebrated 4 awesome years together on

July 9th, 2009.

Jenn's variety of hair-dos.

2009-07-07T12:06:00.000-07:00

Over the last several years, Jenn has changed her hair so many times. Now she can't decide what she wants to do with it next. She has decided to let it grow all summer (from the pink faux hawk) then hopefully she will know what she wants to do next. Any ideas or opinions? Please comment.

Please help Jenn with her hair!

Happy Fourth of July!!!

2009-07-05T12:45:00.000-07:00

Jenn's niece, Kami, and nephew, Devan, came to visit Ben and Jenn for the 4th of July weekend. They had lots of fun stuff planned and had a good time together.

Friday morning they met Wes, Katie, Zoe, Eli, and Eva at the Hogle Zoo.

Here are Kami, Devan, Zoe and Katie looking at the gorillas.
Kami and Devan are being checked out by a giraffe.

Here they are being lazy in a stroller after a long day of walking around the zoo.

Now a relaxing swim in Ben's pool. The water was perfect.

Later that night, they all went to Wes and Katie's house to barbeque hotdogs, roast marshmallows, and play with the kids. Devan is on the blanket and Zoe is playing with her new best friend, Kami.

And now, the kids. Wes... um...

Gavin and Austin cuddling on the swing.

Austin, Clayton, and Casey raise a toast to our country.

Devan is playing catch with Casey and Austin.

Saturday morning Jenn, Kami, and Devan woke up bright and early for the parade. They got awesome seats on the grass.

The motorcycle cops started the show.

There was a little kid juggling while riding a unicycle. Very impressive.

Here are Kami and Devan shaking hands with the Millcreek Lions Club lion. They were so excited to see him.

Can you believe that at a children's parade there was only one clown?

Hmmm, how did this picture get in there?

Of course this picture had to be in there.

Here is the pile of crap... oops, candy they collected during the course of the parade.

After the parade, they walked to Evergreen park where they played in the bounce-house obstacle course at the carnival. Here is Devan, about to fall out.

Here comes Kami.

There's Devan!

After the parade and carnival, they packed a lunch and went to Wheeler Farm. After they ate, they fed the ducks.

They saw lots of animals... including sheep.

They even climbed on a tractor.

Later that night, after barbequed hotdogs, they lit fireworks with Ben.

Oh, how cute is that?

Devan and Kami played with 6 dozen sparklers. They had a lot of fun and were disappointed when they were all gone. Apparently, 6 dozen wasn't enough.

Thanks for a fun weekend, Devan and Kami.

Good bye, Ashley.

2009-06-07T14:32:00.000-07:00

Jenn's friend, Ashley, moved to Colorado this Sunday. Jenn and Ashley have known each other for many years and have been through a lot together.

They taught preschool together.

They went to college together.

They played in the fountain at Gateway together.
They got married together. Okay, not really. Jenn just went to Ashley's wedding.
Aaww, don't they look cute together?

Who wouldn't miss this girl? Love you, Ashley! Thanks for all the good times.

Wheeler Farm

2009-05-31T16:13:00.000-07:00

Ben and Jenn love going to Wheeler Farm. It is free and there are tons of fun animals.

Look at the cute baby duckies!
Look at the cute baby horsies! Okay, really they are full-grown, but aren't they cute?

Ben is very brave. He isn't afraid of the animals biting him.

Look at the cute baby boy and the cute baby sheepy.

And a cute baby goat.

Aawh, a piggie. Isn't he cute?

Sometimes you see things you didn't expect. See the little mousie?

Oh, gross. They didn't expect to see this. Groddy ol' -pede.

Babies for the Babies

2009-05-26T15:52:00.000-07:00

Ben and Jenn decided that their old bird feeder, the Christmas tree that hadn't been thrown away yet, needed to be replaced.

Here is the new bird feeder at Jenn's house, complete with a little friend.

Here is the feeder at Ben's house.

While they were at the store they also bought some tomato and cucumber seeds and do-it-yourself seed starters.

Day 3 and the cucumbers are already growing. Look at the little babies!

Only a few days later and it was time to put the cucumbers in bigger cups.

Wookie and Squeaker want to help replant the babies.

Here are the baby cucumbers in their new cups.

They put the baby tomatoes into bigger pots, too.

But, they died :(