4 Wheeler + Tree Branch =

Carson was riding on the back of a 4wheeler at the family reunion last weekend, when out of no where a branch attacked him.....or something like that! When we first saw him afterwards, he had his hat over his eye and wouldn't let anyone see his face, but then he finally showed us! He was a pretty tough boy....that branch got him good!!! I took him into the Eye Dr. on Tuesday morning just to have his eye checked out and make sure there was no infection or permanent damage. He is just fine and the eye is perfect!! So it will just take a few more days to get the red to go away in his eye. He did so good when we went to the Dr's. He was so good to sit still and follow instructions from the Dr. When the Dr. went to put eye drops in his eye, he told me he will probably S-C-R-E-A-M....but he didn't. He acted like it was nothing!! I love you buddy!! I am sure this will be a great battle wound that we can tell stories about someday!!

Bennett Family Reunion 2009

We had a wonderful time this past weekend. We braved the horrible traffic and headed down to Holden Friday afternoon, in the peak of rush hour. Our normal two hour trip took three...which wouldn't be too bad, but Kaylee screamed the last 1 1/2 hours! So it was a relief to finally get down there! We got there in time for some yummy dinner and then Carson and Kaylee headed up to the cabin where they spent the night. Kaylee and I stayed down at the house (Ted & Karen's) where we had running water and electricity!

The next morning we got up and made a macaroni salad and my famous chocolate chip rice krispie treats for the reunion. I went on a jog earlier that morning around Holden which was very pleasant, except for the few dogs I ran into....I had to remind myself that I wasn't in the city...people in Holden do not tie up their dogs! It started as a very pleasant morning and by the time we got up to the cabin it was only sprinkling. Nick took the kids on a ride on his three wheeler while we waited for the food to cook in the dutch ovens. By the time we were ready to eat, just as we got done saying the prayer, it turned from just sprinkling to rain. So we ate very quickly before our food got too soaked. It was still really yummy food, regardless of it being a bit soggy!

Once it stopped raining, we hung out by the fire and just relaxed and enjoyed our family.
Chase & Taylor had given Papa Bear a belated birthday present, it was an M&M machine. It was a yellow M&M sitting on a recliner with bear slippers on. It was really cute, and Kaylee was quite fascinated with it all weekend.

We headed down to the house for a bit in the afternoon to all take a nap. It was fantastic! Even I took a nap. It felt amazing and I was refreshed. So we headed back up to the cabin to hang out with everyone again for the annual hot dog roast. With Smore's for dessert! It is yummy!!! This year, instead of having it around the fire pit, they lit a bon fire out in the middle of a field. When we pulled up, we saw everyone lined up in front of the fence to watch it burn. It looked like they were watching a movie or something.

Kaylee was mostly by my side all weekend, because if she wasn't she would throw a fit. It drove me a little crazy....but I am hoping it is just a phase!!

She did however warm up to Nick's cousin Greg by Saturday night. He was so nice to play with her and keep her somewhat entertained.
Sunday we went to church, which was the farewell for Frank & Faris Stevens. They are parents of Nick's best friend, and also served as Stake President for many years. After church we had dinner and I stayed with Kaylee while she took a nap, and everyone else headed back up to the cabin to clean up. But while they were gone it started to rain...not rain pour!!!
It was also hailing and the thunder was so loud! I don't think I have ever heard it so loud. It was raining so hard, that they had to stay in the cabin until it let up a bit to get everything loaded up. So finally it stopped and they made it home. But when they got home they discovered that the back yard had flooded and it had flooded the dome in the back yard. (They call it the pleasure dome, since it is basically the garage that they use to work on cars and trucks).

So before we left back to WX, Nick and Carson helped get the water out of the dome. Carson was loving it, until he fell on his bum and got it dirty. His sprinkler boots came in so handy this weekend....and he wore them ALL weekend!

We got home Sunday evening, in the normal two hour time. It was a fun weekend, but it was nice to be home and sleep in my own bed again. Thanks to Karen & Ted and for their hospitality and for giving up their room for us! It was fun to see everyone again this year. Besides the food, that is the best part of family reunions!!!

I did it!!!

I ran the Woods Cross 5k!! I ran...not walked...ran! (okay, it was more like jogging, but it wasn't walking!) My time was 27 minutes, 55 seconds. Yeah!! I haven't ran a 5k since I was like in the 6th grade when my sister Marisa and I ran the Fair 5k in Tremonton. I have been trying to work out and get into shape for the past year, but never thought I would WANT to do a 5k, but when I found out that Woods Cross does one, I thought...."why not?" So I have slowly started to put jogging into my workout routine. It actually has become quite fun. I normally walk/jog with my kids in the jogger stroller, but my favorite thing to do is go for a run all by myself. I put on my ipod, turn it way up, and just go. It is a great stress reliever! Doing this 5k was fun, but I have no desire to run further than that any time soon....so any type of marathon is out! It just feels good to accomplish something that you set as a goal for yourself. Thanks to Marisa and Jana for all the inspiration!! And thanks to my wonderful hubby Nick, for always being supportive and helpful with the kids, so I can exercise. Your the best!!

I hope you all enjoy your Memorial Day!!!

Stylin' in our Sunglasses!

This morning, as we were getting ready to head to the park for lunch, I got out my new sunglasses. I lost my only pair, and so while I was at Ross last week, I picked up two pairs. I thought I would try some more stylish glasses this time around! So Carson wanted to try one of them on, and of course Kaylee had a fit because she wanted to try them on too. I thought they were so cute, so I had to take their picture! Then Carson wanted to take our picture, so Kaylee and I took our turn posing for the camera! Kaylee is such a cheese ball!!

Aren't I stylin'?? I always made fun of my mom growing up for wearing such BIG sunglasses, but now I can't say too much, can I?? But they are fun! Do you like my BLONDE hair?? I thought it would be fun to go a bit lighter for the summer. I think I am really liking being this blonde again!!

So....stupid me....didn't think twice about giving my NEW glasses to my children....Carson has never been a distructive child, but I didn't even think about what Kaylee might do to my NEW glasses.....oh, I was dumb! Within minutes of taking pictures I found my white glasses in two pieces!!! I was a bit upset, but couldn't get mad at her since I was the one who gave them to her! What was I thinking!?!?! Oh, well...I guess that was a waste of money!!! Good thing they were cheap $8 glasses from Ross...but still $8....I could have bought another shirt with that money!

Carson the photographer...

Carson has always loved taking pictures with his Camera. So I downloaded the pictures from the camera and got a good laugh from what I found. He is getting better about looking at the viewfinder before taking the picture, but to help him practice, he took pictures of Nick and I....it was pretty funny! Then the next morning he took pictures of me and Kaylee. The funniest thing is that he has been taking his own picture....upside down! I found several pictures like that. He also took pictures while we were driving in the van on Saturday. Oh, he is such a clever boy!!

Kaylee and her HAT!!

We have two of these plastic Fire Fighter hats, and Kaylee has had tons of fun playing with them....isn't she cute??? She is getting the concept of smiling for the camera, which is making it easier to take her picture since now she will pose and smile on command.
She also likes to play with the camera (like Carson) and I took this picture of the two of us the other night....

Kaylee is still a bit of a handful, but is also becoming very playful and fun. She is starting to really understand what I tell her, like go get your shoes, lets go take a bath, and hand that to me...she is very smart! But she also is TOO smart! She knows when she is doing something she shouldn't, like this morning we were out mowing the lawn, and Kaylee kept walking toward the street and would stop and look at me, and then keep walking. She knows she shouldn't go toward the street and she was seeing if I was going to stop her. She does that with many other things too. Oh, I love her to pieces!!!!

It's official!

Last night I was set apart as an official member of the Bells on Temple Square. I have been practicing with them since January, but they finally got around to setting me apart last night. My mom and dad came down from Tremonton to be there and I was able to have my family come as well. So we all dressed up and headed down to Temple Square. After they set me apart, my family was able to stay for a bit of the rehearsal. I think Carson will now have a better understanding of what "bells" I am talking about when I go to Bell Practice every week. They both got a kick out of watching us play. It was fun for them to all see where I practice and what I do each week. I am so grateful to have such a supportive family! I couldn't do it without you!
On another note, I am sad to say I have lost one of my most favorite kitchen items....a classic batter bowl. I was making gorilla poops (aka no bake cookies) the other night, and as I was trying to get some measuring cups down I knocked the bowl out of the cupboard and it hit the counter (which cracked a bit) and shattered! It made quite a loud noise and BIG mess. Luckily Kaylee was in the front room when it happened and not right next to me like normal. No one got hurt, besides my big toe...it had a little spot where glass must have hit, and it bled just a bit! There was glass everywhere!!! I had two batter bowls, so luckily I still have another one to use, but I use them so much, that they are always dirty, so it is nice having two. So until I can replace it, I will have to make due with one! So if anyone is having a Pampered Chef party in the near future please let me know!!!

Happy Mother's Day!

I want to wish all you moms out there a Wonderful Mother's Day!!! We had a nice day today, and the best part was when Carson sang with the primary in sacrament meeting. I told him he got to sing today with the primary, and that means he will go up on the stand where I lead the music. So when he headed up to the stand to sing, he went toward my box that I use to stand on to lead the music instead of standing in front, but the bishop was helpful and directed him to where he was supposed to be. He stood right in front of us, and smiled the whole time. He tried to sing, but I don't think he knew all the words. But it was such a good feeling to see him up there!!! It made my day!! I think he was pretty proud of himself too!! When we got home from church, I opened up my mother's day gift, it was a small shop vac, which is the perfect size to use to vacuum out my van! (I am a neat freak that way, and I hate crumbs and dirt in my van! So it will come in handy!!!)! I have a few more pictures I wanted to share from the past week or so...Kaylee has really fallen in love with this bike. If Carson even touches it, she throws a fit, because it is HERS!!!

We celebrated Uncle Ryan's Birthday last week, May 5th! He is getting old.... hehe!! We all went to Arctic Circle for lunch and then ate cupcakes!!

Carson loved the sprinkles....
Carson has made a new friend.....and only because of his toy.....this is Royd. Royd has a red tractor. Royd takes Carson on rides on the red tractor.....Carson likes Royd!!! Thanks Royd!!!

(Royd is our neighbor, and is such a wonderful man! I am lucky enough to get to Visit Teach his beautiful wife Jill! We love our neighborhood!)

Okay, I will admit that I multitask quite often. That includes, watching TV and being on the computer at the same time. Kaylee must have picked up on this habit, since this is how I found her the other morning....

But she also has it figured out....you lay down, type, and watch tv....it is more relaxing that way!

And finally....there IS a reason for Kaylee being so grumpy....see those TWO BIG MOLARS??? We didn't see them until today! She was so grumpy Friday night, and was up several times, which is not like her at all. Now it makes sense why. It looks like they still have a little bit more to go before they are in all the way....so let's hope they hurry!!! She has gotten 3 new teeth in the last 2 weeks. I can't wait until they are ALL in!!!

Sorry for the long post, but I had so many pictures to share! I hope everyone had a great mother's day!!!!

The finished product...

I am happy with how these pictures turned out! I may not be a professional photographer, but I think these turned out really cute! My camera and photoshop will definitly pay for themselves with doing pictures on my own. A big thanks to Jana for helping learn photoshop!!! Here are a few of the pictures...

I had mentioned in my previous post that I wanted to put together a mother's day gift for our moms...and this is what I came up with. A bookmark. I am pretty sure either mom won't see my blog before I give this to them, so I wanted to share it. I did them in photoshop, printed them at costco, and then had them laminated. I wanted to do something more thoughtful this year for mothers day, rather than just spending money on more 'stuff' that neither of them need!! I am hoping they will use this in their scriptures or something that they read often so they can remember how much we love them!!!

I'm Going There Someday...

What a beautiful day and evening it was...it was perfect weather tonight as we headed up to the Bountiful Temple for FHE. We told Carson that is what we were doing tonight for FHE, and ALL day long that is what he talked about. So he was pretty excited when as we pulled up to this BIG BEAUTIFUL WHITE building. I think he was impressed!!!! And the flowers were just amazing....

As we were walking around, I asked him...."Who's house is this Carson?" His Reply..."Heavenly Father's!"

What a smart little boy!!!

As you can see, they are all dressed up....I kind of had an alternative motive to going to the temple tonight for FHE...I wanted to take their pictures!! It is for a mothers day gift I am working on, and this FHE presented me with the perfect oppurtunity for a photo shoot!

I have several pictures that turned out fun...so I am working on them, and will post those later!

Carson thought it was really neat that he could see the planes coming in for landing at the SL Airport. It is a gorgeous view from the temple!!(And no, Kaylee does not have a cigarette in her mouth, I believe it is a piece of fruit leather...)

Again...we had a fun time, and I am so excited for the new Oquirrh Temple Open House...we have tickets to go in June. I know Carson will love to be able to see inside the Temple, but until then we will just keep singing his favorite song..."I love to see the Temple..."