Utah trip

Home for Christmas this year. I know, 4 kids, we are crazy. Santa did find us, but with a bit of difficulty. We did a lot of visiting and projects and fun things, but we didn't make it even half way through our to do list. We enjoyed the cold and snow. Our most fun thing was tearing through the old barn (ok just Marty did the tearing). We took home barn wood for frames and for Marty to make a table. It is turning into a big project, but an exciting one. We were able to get family photos from both sides of our families. It has been a long time since we have done that. We all went to little beaver to night ski. Celie got to try out skiing for the first time. She did very well. As you can see from the pictures the boys got to try skiing from a high point of view!
It was nice to meet my Dad's fiance'. She is such a nice person and has great daughters. She made Christmas morning very homey. Marty's parents were nice as always, letting us take over their home. We had a nice time. Thanks for having us!!

The wonderful car ride to Utah. I am glad I didn't take pictures on the way home. It was much worse. :)

We stopped first at Marty's brother's house and had a wonderful time with cousins.

We got to share their first time having a meal on their new table.

Celie and Ava both born in 2004

Poor Mirra was in the car seat a lot.

Outside on the farm with Connie's kids

Jack and cousin Blake

Jett for a 4-wheeler ride

Jack just kept posing for me so I kept clicking.

Cute cousins

Mirra and Velva

Christmas morning pics

Marty cleaning up Christmas for the third time and certainly not the last.

My silly Dad and Sheree.

Our Family

Benson Family photo

Good Job Celie!!

Jack doing extreme skiing

Jett doing extreme skiing

Family pictures

Pictures of the barn soon to be torn down.

Finaly some cool weather

Family Photo

cute kids

Mirra in her bumbo.

Celie and Mirra writing in journal.

Helping Dad work outside

Helping dad clean the motorcycle

End of November

Dad and Mirra 3 months old

Mommy and Mirra

Jett's super smile

Mirra in her bumbo. She doesn't like it for longer than 5 min.

Thanksgiving with Derek and Becca. Everything was delicious!

Bright eyed beauty

I caught her smile on camera the other day! I am so excited. She is cooing a lot and has moved to the 3-6 month clothing now. It seems she is thinning out and lengthening now. She is so fun to dress. Her eyes are still greyish blue, but we will see what they turn into with time. Celie loves to take care of her and I like it when she helps too.

Jack and Jett are hot and cold at home right now. Either brawling and bawling or happy and helping. It will be interesting watching them grow up together. Celie has moved to the Competition team 3 now in gymnastics. We are a little concerned about how that will change our family life, but we are excited for Celie to be excelling. She is working on her flexibility, but her strength is her strength! Crazy strong.

Pine wood derby

So, Marty decided to spend a few dollars and make a pine wood derby for the after Halloween trunk or treat gathering. I have no idea how to explain what he did to it, but for those of you who are savy you can tell by looking at the picture. I was pretty proud of him taking second place. It went pretty fast, but unfortunately not as fast as the pop bottle one. I think he will enjoy passing this down to the boys.

October fun

We carved pumpkins while my dad was in town. Unfortunately here in Texas they don't last long before they rot. I think we all did a pretty good job.

Battleship Texas. When Marty's parents and my Dad came for Mirra's blessing we went to visit this battleship. It was very interesting.

Grandpa and Jack on the "big gun".

Mirra's smiling face! Look at those cheeks!

Mommy and Me

I finally have a baby that looks a little like me. It is fun to have a girl with dark hair. She is beautiful and sweet. She is growing fast too. She is already 2 1/2 months old. She giggled the first time at 2 months old and she sleeps through the night fairly regularly. She eats fast and loves to cuddle. She can fall asleep when I wrap her a certain way or when it is chaotically noisy in the house. She takes a binky well, loves the sound of voices and faces to smile at. She has a heart murmur and has had it since birth. It is officially called a VSD; Ventricular septal defect. She is perfectly fine though and is a joy to have in our home. Celie is an excellent babysitter at home and loves having Mirra in her room. "Mom, you don't have to come get the baby when she cries. I'll take care of her for you." What a sweet girl!

Halloween Fun

This year I was lucky enough to come up with an idea that didn't involve purchasing costumes for everyone. All I did was find boots for 3 of the kids at our garage sale, my friend gave us all hats and I made a bag for Mirra. The two red hatted kids are the old-west bank robbers that stole the money bag (Mirra), but got caught by the sheriff in the black hat. I am glad they had fun with a simple costume design. I antiqued the picture to make it look more old western for you. Aren't they cute?