One of my lifelong goals was achieved when Erica and I took Benson Skiing last Saturday. As I said a year ago, this is me projecting my interests onto my family but we really had a great time enjoying each other in the mountains. Thanks to Alta for their Free After Three program, if you're going to ski, Alta is an excellent place to do so and one of my absolute favorite places on Earth.
You may remember me from last year
My Buddy, Daddy!
My Buddy -Mommy!
Getting Ready
On the Chairlift
Daddy Teaching me!
Mom can teach too!
I do it all by myself
I'm tenacious, let's go again!
We always use video to improve our game:
I'm so grateful for Benson's willingness to try new things and be open to our whims. He's a pretty awesome kid. No first day skiing is truly complete without a little crying but Benson is still excited about going next year. Like Warren Miller says, "If you don't go this year, you'll be one year older when you do." See you next year on the slopes folks.
My brother Nate is a whiz at lots of things. One of which is his profession in HVAC at which he is an excellent resource and know it all. After leaving our thermostat in the off position for the past 3 months (thank you insulated condo!) Spring pushed the temps to 82* inside and I had enough. I switched it over to cool and nothing happened except a blinking snowflake. Slightly discouraged but not deterred I went and flipped the breaker. No bueno. Nada. So I sucked up my pride and called my brother. He was around the block at work and offered to come over. Just as he pulled up I noticed that I was currently enjoying cool air blowing into the house! No matter, we fed him for his troubles. It was a fair trade right?
We walked Nate down to his car and as Benson and I were taking out the garbage he stopped all the sudden. I implored him to keep moving to which Benson replied, "I wanna watch Nate's car dad!" Oh... gotcha!
Nate drove by with his window down and Benson yelled out, "COOL CAR NATE!"
Where did I get a kid like that?! So funny and random, and great to see his personality come through. I told myself I'd write that one down.
Nate, you already know this but Benson sure looks up to you and watches you carefully.
Jeffrey and Carlie accepted a job offer in Idaho Falls and will be moving next week! We are very sad, but VERY grateful that they are not too far away and have hopes of still seeing them "often". I think Benson and Andrew will miss them the most. They are always so fun with the kids. They bring them treats and toys, and spoil them with love and time and affection. As soon as they see each other it's "play time!" They really are awesome!
We wanted to have them over at least one last time before the final move. Since it rained all day, I decided to make my mom's famous homemade potato soup and bake bread. I told Benson that was the plan. Sometime around noon, I walked into the kitchen to find that he had taken all of the carrots and celery from the fridge and was cutting it up for me- this isn't the first time we've made it- so he knows the routine. Thank goodness it wasn't with a real knife. I took this first picture while I watched without him knowing. He really is a good helper, not just for the fact that he likes to 'be a helper boy" and be involved, but he is also SO good about playing or finding fun on his own while I get things done that need to be done. He has no problem entertaining himself. For that, I feel very lucky.
He even got the cutting board out :)
Once I approached him and asked about what he was doing, he reassured me that he was using his knife- it was safe.
He actually managed to cut the end of a carrot- it took some persistance on his part, once he had it, he walked off and ate his carrot.
So, we made our soup, salad, and bread, and Carlie and Jeffrey came. We had a great time and even got a half game of "Life" in- due to Kimball :) I tried a new dessert- and it was amazing, lets just say it's now in my top three- Molten lava souffle! I've had it before and liked it a lot, but this recipe rocks. If you'd like to try it- come over for game night!
Of course we did some playing in the boys' room. I grabbed one of the quilts and said, "Benson get inside of it." He did and Carlie grabbed one end, while I had the other and we made a human hammock. He loved it, and before we knew it, Andrew was wanting a turn. After we were done, Andrew would sit on the blanket and pull the sides up over himself and scream for us to do it again. Did anyone else ever do this as a kid?? I did this A LOT with my siblings growing up. Mostly when my parents were not home. We took it a step further by getting up our momentum and then hurling the person into the couch or onto a bed. It was really fun. We even had an afghan that we'd wrap the person in- like a cocoon- so they were not able to see and then do it to them. crazy kids.
Here's the video of the giggling that comes from the human hammock. . . . . .
Andrew's first 'black eye'. It wasn't that bad. In fact you would hardly notice it if his eyes were open, hence the sleeping picture. He fell right into the edge of a door. Ouch! He cried and snuggled. There's nothing more to this story- just documenting.
Little Rew seriously LOVES grapefruit. He eats one at least three times a week, and would like to eat one every day! It all started about two months ago, when I gave him a bite of one that I was eating. He loved it and ate the rest. He's not a picky eater, but it still surprised me. He likes to try and do it on his own, and when it squirts him in the face, he thinks it is so funny. I usually just get the juice that's left over. Delectable!
Benson had to get in on pictures.
This is Benson taking a picture from his view- and a work of art.
Sunday morning, Benson woke up looking so pale- even his lips looked a little blue. This is his 'sick' look. He snuggled for awhile, slept in and out, and eventually ended up on the bathroom floor. Kimball was using terms like, "that breaks my heart" and "I feel so bad for my little guy". I read him stories since he was just laying there, but not really sleeping, but eventually he threw up -luckily in the bucket- and seemed to perk right up. . . . but that was short-lived.
He slept a bit longer and later in the afternoon Kimball fed him a burrito. He told me three days later, "Mom, remember when I threw up in that bucket, and then I just ate a burrito and it made me feeled better". That evening he was totally back to normal! I hate when my kids are sick, it is really sad to see them that way, and knowing that there is not much you can do. I'm so grateful for healthy boys!
Thanks to a work obligation we got to go to Moab again this year. I can't think of a better time to get down there than April. It was 68 & 73 degrees, blue sky and incredibly beautiful surroundings.
Thanks to Ken we had use of a Moab Adventure Center Jeep and we sure put it to good use!
I've had itch to scratch with Jeeps almost my entire life. If you ask Erica -I got my fix this week. If you ask me -I just fanned the flame baby!
It's hard to push these things to their full capacity... especially when you have two munchkins in the back seats and mom and dad following in their stock Jeep. But that didn't prevent me from at least trying. We forged 12 stream crossings, tried "Steel Bender" trail, attempted to get vertical on slickrock, went bananas in deep sand, and satisfied internal desire for wanderlust.
Notice Erica is driving! She enjoyed the Jeep but is NOT ready to trade in the minivan.
Grandparents are suckers... they'll do anything to spend a few days with their grandkids! We're actually very lucky to have them available for a few days. It was a treat to be with them and I satisfied my secret desire for mom to put her Jeep in 4 wheel drive once a year. At a particularly steep drop I got out to watch the carnage and was relieved to see mom smiling and enjoying the ride, dad mutedly excited and the Liberty laughing at the terrain. Everybody's happy!
Benson took this picture at our favorite Moab restaurant -La Hacienda. Great food, great art, crappy wait. Just don't take your kids when you've worn them out and it's close to bedtime.
Moab is so fun because there is such a veriety of stuff to do. You can Raft, Rappel, Rock Climb, Jeep / ATV, Mtn Bike, Swim, Ski, Hike, Camp, BASE jump (not that we would -but we gave a ride to some people that do), Eat, Shop, visit Arches & Canyonlands, and Golf. Which brings us to our next activity...
Look who's excited to be driving the cart?! You may also notice Andrew is carrying a spatula. Yes, a kitchen cooking utensil. He demanded we bring it to Moab and wouldn't relenquish it. He held it for four hours in the car to and from, screaming when it fell into the footwell. He hauled it around the hotel, for dinner and on the trail. He only let go when it became a game to throw it from the moving golf cart!
Look who's excited to drive the fairway!
Darryl kept a very accurate score and boasted we got our money's worth with all those strokes.
Weezer drove it on the green her first hole and made par. I wish I could make par on the first hole when I play once a decade.
Benson discovered the "repair tool" for the sand. So much to discover on the golf course.
Andrew discovered that mom brought snacks!
Everyone wants the front 9 in the deep canyon so go out the back 9 and you'll have plenty of time to chillax and enjoy the scenery. -R.W. Emerson
This is Andrew making sure he goes with us next year! Next time he's bringing the Spoon
We colored our own easter eggs this year and had a blast.
Benson put stickers on the color pellets all by himself. Not really in the correct order but I like the way he thinks outside the box!
The start of the Hunt! Easter morning Erica got the boys dressed and made a cute card for them to read. Benson was excited to follow the trail of rabbit poop while Andrew was content to just eat what he could see.
Whatever candy Andrew saw got put in his mouth. Wrapper or no wrapper.
Benson finding the hard ones.
He should be kissing mom, she put it the hard work here.
Andrew started to balance the eggs on his spatula...
He's got it figured out. Atta-boy.
After Church we went over to Erica's parents for more Easter festivities, including another egg hunt. The prized egg is the one with money in it. A fun tradition they do at Erica's that I've never done before.
After Church we went over to Erica's parents for more Easter festivities, including another egg hunt. The prized egg is the one with money in it. A fun tradition they do at Erica's that I've never done before.
