Halloween

We started out the night before by carving our pumpkins. Bennett had been so excited about the whole thing, until it came time to pull all the goop out, he plugged his nose saying, "Oh, gross. I can't do that." What a whimp!

On Halloween we went to the ward Trunk-or-Treat. There were a ton of people there. I don't think half of them were even in our ward. Bennett and Jacks made the rounds to the cars. Bennett didn't really seem all that thrilled, I think it was because he wasn't actually knocking on any doors. For a couple of days before "The Big Night" he would dress up in his dragon costume, take his pumpkin bucket with him, and practice knocking on our door saying "trick-or-treat" one time when Matt opened the door, he actually put candy in the bucket. Bennett stared down at it with pure amazement. I don't think he got the whole trick-or-treat thing until that moment. After an hour, we headed home to take the boys around our neighborhood. The first house we went to Bennett and Jacks climbed the stairs, knocked on the door, got the candy, turned around, and Bennett exclaimed, "It worked!" That started the whole frenzy for him. He kept saying "another house, another house" After an hour, with Jacks finally hungry, tired, and crying. And Bennett cold and ready to rip into his candy, we headed home and turned on our own lights.

There were so many people out. Good thing I had been warned before hand that our neighborhood would get hit hard. I was prepared with a ton of candy, however, it almost wasn't enough. Bennett was probably even more excited to hand out candy than he was to get it. The highlight of the night for him was when he raced and answered the door by himself, only to have a bunch of girls jump out at him yelling "Boo!" They felt bad, until they saw he had a big grin and kept exclaiming "You scared me! You scared me!" Laughing the whole time. Of course after that we didn't get him to bed until after 10pm he was hopping around and so excited.

It was a great Halloween for all of us. Matt and I really enjoyed seeing Bennett so excited about the night. Next year is going to be even better once Jacks finally gets it and is just as excited.

Don't Taunt The Buffalos!

Its's been 3 weeks and I know everyone has been wondering if I fell of the face of the planet (At least I hope you've noticed my absence). The 1 and only exciting thing that's happened during those 3 weeks is our trip to Idaho.
We drove all afternoon and night arriving to HB's apartment at 2 am on Saturday. Of course we were so exhausted, but HB and I beening true gabbers stayed up for another hour.
Later on Satuday Heather was so good to Matt and I by letting us ditch our kids on her and go to the BYU football game with Michelle, Rob, Ben, & Ella. The most exciting part of the game for me was the hot chocolate Matt bought me in the souveneir mug and when Michelle, Ella, & I went down to the BYU store to do a little unnecessary shopping. Matt says the most exciting moment for him was when I got in a fight with the man sitting in front of us. It wasn't really a fight...we just had some words...but Matt acted as if I had brawled and thrown punches at him.

Unfortunetly right after we took this mug shot, my camera died so I couldn't get any pics of Ben & Ella who looked adorable all bundled up. By the by, it was really cold.


On Monday we went to Yellowstone with Matt's 2 brothers Tyler & Glen, along with their families. Katie, Tyler, and Braeden rode with us. We had so much fun together. I'm definatly going to miss our annual christmas tree hunt with Katie & Tyler this year.

We saw a lot of elk, and some buffalo. For some unrational reason, toward the end of our trip, Matt & Tyler thought it would be fun to make this big ol' buffalo mad. They yelled, honked, and Tyler even got out of the car and threw a snowball at it. Don't ask me why. I still can't figure their logic of fun out. Good thing the buffalo thought they were as big of idiots as Katie & I did and ignored them. After they had their fun, we all had to try and explain to Braeden and Bennett why we don't go around taunting big animals.

The rest of the week Matt when hunting. He drew out on elk. I don't have any pics of the elk he shot. He's a little embarrassed that he got so trigger happy. Opening morning he shot the first elk he saw, which was a rag horn, and 30 seconds later a massive six point stepped out of the bushes and started at him, almost taunting him to become a poacher.

I on the other hand did some much needed shopping. Made a baby quilt, helped my mom with some receiving blankets, and forced her to make me a diaper bag. That project didn't get done, but I plan on nagging her everyday til it's completed.

We had such a great time and wish we could have stayed longer.

The ride home was long and borning. Matt brought back another car so we drove seperatly. That was the longest 12 hours of my life. The scenery consisted of dirt, sage brush, and more dirt. I have to say, if your looking for a great scenic drive, that's not the way to go. Anyway, that was our trip...now I can't wait for Thanksgiving when everyone comes here.

BOYS

What's with boys and bugs? Are they really that interesting? Hmm, I just don't see it.
This morning I gave the boys each small bowl of goldfish crackers. Jacks dumped both his and Bennetts' on the floor. Bennett started yelling at him "No, no! Jacks. No, no." The he asked me to help him pick them up. As I dropped down beside them to clean up Bennett had the following conversation with himself:
Bennett: "Jacks go away!"
"Bennett, you want to go to your room?"
"No"
"Be nice then"
"Okay"
All was mumbled under his breath...I guess he really is listening to me... just chooses to ignore.

Camping Adventure

We decided it was finally time to take our Wild Things camping.
Bennett has been asking, well actually begging for a fire and "marshpellows". This seemed to be the weekend to do it. Matt spent Thursday night building a platform for the back of his truck to go over the wheel wells. This way all 4 of us can sleep "comfortably". (I refuse to sleep in a tent, especially since there are big signs saying "You are in wolf country now")
We headed out Friday evening, but after 3 hours and 90 miles later and not having found the campground we went home.
Take 2 started Saturday morning. Matt decided to "improve" his platform invention and bought carpet to lay down on top. (Very nice) We loaded everything and everyone up again and headed out to find the turn off to Hawley Lake is only 15 miles from our house! As we pulled into our campsite the rain that had been drizzling stopped for a moment so we could build a fire. Bennett had already found the marshmellows and a HUGE stick to roast with. Jacks planted himself in the camp chair until he discovered the fire and wanted to play in it. We strapped him into the stroller. (Sorry Jacks, it had to be done) That night we all bedded down on our plush carpeted platform. Matt and Bennett started snoring peacefully and Jacks began his wrestling match with me. At 2:30 when he started biting, kicking, poking my eye, and trying to slurp the dew off the windows I hoisted him off onto Matt. Jacks immediately fell asleep and didn't wake up until 7. Talk about the magic touch! In the morning after a few donuts, hot chocolate, and roasted marshmellows for breakfast (we had a super healthy trip) it was time to pack up and head home. To our surpise, Matt and I decided it was actually an enjoyable trip. The boys had fun and so did we. Matt is already planning more trips for the future.
Sorry there are so many pictures. You can skip them if you want. I promise I won't be too offended.

BIG NEWS!!!

This post is for my most devoted blog watchers. Let's see who'll be the first to know!
(Mom, Michelle, & HB, I apologize for not spilling the beans sooner, but isn't it more fun finding out this way?)
However, I do have to say that I am the Master Secret Keeper!!!
Today I had my 20 week ultrasound and besides having a healthy baby, I am also pleased to announce it's a GIRL!!!!

Snakes, Snakes, and more Snakes!!!!

Where has Matt brought me!!! I have finally been awakened from my blissful ignorance that snakes only exist on the tv or in the zoo. The other day the boys and I were walking around the neighborhood and came upon a snake bathing in the sun. Fortunately Bennett didn't see it or, I'm sure, it would have become his new favorite toy. I gave it a wide birth and headed on home trying to put it out of my mind and convince myself it was just a wicked trick played by the neighborhood boys, setting out a plastic one to see who they could get to scream...it almost worked on me.
Last night Matt was in the backyard, only two steps away from our deck and started yelling for Bennett to come quick. I went out to find Matt excitedly showing Bennett a snake that was slithering through the rocks and weeds. EWWW!!! I packed myself up and headed immediately into the house, only to have nightmares all night long.
Today as Matt was mowing the lawn. Jacks was wondering around, he had gone without his shoes, as I bent to pick him up there was a snake that was only a reach away from his feet. Jacks is super lucky I thought to take him with me when I started running for the house.
Who knew snakes were real things that lived in your backyard!! Matt tried to assure me it was probably a different snake than the one I saw last night...Oh, thanks Matt, that really helped to know that we're infested!

Apache Fair

Everyone at work kept telling Matt how fun the fair down on the reservation was. There are booths galore, a rodeo, carnival rides, good food, and just tons to look at. So we packed the kids up, drove through a monsoon, and after about 40 minutes in a traffic jam due to the parade we finally made it to the fair grounds. What a HUGE disappointment! There were like 5 food vendors where they served either slimy greasy hamburgers or greasy oily pizza. The two booths that were selling things included a Bart Simpson plastic blow-up doll and spray painted shirts. We decided to wait around for about 30 minutes until the rides opened up before we headed home. We walked around looking at the different games they had until a carny accosted me. He just wouldn't take no for an answer. He had ahold of my wrist trying to force me to throw the stupid toilet paper into the stupid toilet bowl for a stupid toy. He wasn't too happy when I finally told him that I wasn't going to pay good money for his junky toys. Finally, Matt, who had been inspecting a four wheeler noticed my dilemma and came to my rescue. As we were walking away the carnies were yelling at us and being super rude. Honestly! You'd think we had were the first ones to turn them down. Bennett and Jacks got to ride a couple of rides. The carousel was okay, but they LOVED the airplanes. Good thing Matt was sitting with them though because Jacks kept sliding off the seat to the floor of the plane. We topped the day off by bribing Bennett into his car seat with a bag of cotton candy.

My Favorite Pass-time

Okay, we all know one of the most fun things to do as a mom is to dress our kids up and then make them parade around for our pure entertainment. Bennett is now obsessed with costumes so when I found our past Halloween costumes, I couldn't resist. Jacks wasn't too happy at first until I told him to growl at Bennett and chase him. Then he couldn't get enough of the costume. Every time Bennett would come around he would hold his little tiny hands out to make claws and then growl as ferociously at an 18 month old can.


Matt took this picture the other night. The monsoon season has been a crazy experience for us. It can be sunny and calm one minute then the next we are in a down pour so heavy you can barely see 5 feet in front of you. After the storms there is usually a beautiful sunset or something like unto it. This night there were several rainbows in the sky all at one time. This picture was taken from our front porch and has two in it. It was a really beautiful night.

Happy Birthday Cake!!!

I guess you can guess by the title what Bennett's favorite part of his birthday was. Bennett turned 3 today, but we celebrated this weekend. He kept dancing around asking me all day Saturday "When time happy birthday cake?"

This is Josh and Mia (Matts nephew and niece) they came from Phoenix. As you can see Bennett and Mia started earlier than the rest of us on the frosting.
But Bennett throughly enjoyed his happy birthday cake. When he smirs his food all over his face, I take that as a compliment.
Matt and I got Bennett a bike trailer and a bike helmet. He was so excited to get his very own. He usually wears Ella's pink princess helmet around when we're down in Utah.

We had a great weekend. I did a ton of cooking, yes thats right, I did cook, and it was edible. Well actually, Julie helped me a ton. It was a team effort, but I thought all the good food would be gone once I moved away from my mom's expert cooking and of course our other favorite eating establishments. We were really glad Glen and his family came. It made it a little more special having family around. I can't believe Bennett is 3 already. The time really has flow, and even though I can't really say I miss the "terrible 2" stage, it's a little sad to see him growing up so fast.

Finally Settled

We are finally moved in (sorta). The moving truck finally showed up after over two weeks of holding our stuff hostage. Now I am in a mess of boxes and moving paper, but it's nice to have a chair to sit on and a computer to blog at. Bennett was absolutly thrilled to get his box of clothes. He is a mad man when it comes to clothes. He ripped everything out of the box and tried it all on at the same time. Jacks was just happy to get his stripped blanket that had been accidentally packed. He hugged it and carried it around for hours.
We're really liking the area and the house that we've moved into. Bennett and Jacks love to be able to go outside and play, and I love having them outside playing and not having to worry about them running into the middle of the road. We were out on a walk in the neighborhood the other night and met a family. When we told them where we had moved into they said that it's too bad we moved onto the busiest road in the neighborhood. Matt and I just wanted to laugh. I maybe see a car every 30 minutes or so. It's nothing like Woodruff.
Bennett and Jacks love the playset. Bennett especially loves the fort.
Jacks loves to roam around the yard. He just walks around enjoying the scenery.
They both love having the deck off the back. They will take their snacks out and just sit. I'm really enjoying this. Bennett has seemed to calm down a bit since he has more freedom to come and go. That's one major benefit to this move.