Thank Goodness for Blogging

During the month of December I didn't get a chance to do much blogging or checking up on all you guys out there. Finally a couple of days ago I decided to treat myself to some blog surfing. After reading about everyone's holiday fun, finding more old friend's blogs, and being inspired by people's posts, I decided that I am grateful for blogging. I loved reading people's posts and hearing their voice and remembering their personality through their style of blogging. I am not the most creative or most regular blogger but I hope that my voice comes out in our little posts (as well as Ryan's). So I guess this is my blog-imony, keep blogging everyone you do a great job!

On to our latest update...

I was sure once Christmas was over things were going to slow down... Boy, was I wrong! Luke and I got sick the week after and it feels like I am barely starting to catch up on things. I had grand notions of new years resolutions, a sparkling clean home, an organized primary, and new hobbies to be mastered. I actually just started my exercising resolution this week. Better never than late... or is it better late than never?

We have had Ryan's Uncle and Aunt up for a visit... it was great having them here... I don't know if they would say the same...

If you can't tell their truck is stuck with one tire in the ditch in front of our house. Luckily it wasn't too hard to pull out. It made me laugh because I have nightmares of doing the same thing!

Luke is doing well. He got over the cold/flu/earache and came out of it with two teeth! He is army crawling and enjoying being able to move around more. I have had to learn to watch what is in his immediate surroundings. He is now sturdy enough to bathe sitting up which is a lot more fun for him. Lucky for me he loves his baths. He is quickly becoming a professional splasher.


Biscuit and Luke are becoming friends fast. Or should I say that Biscuit is putting up with Luke more and more. He will sit longer and let Luke poke, prod and pull on him. I can't wait for the day when they can chase each other around and wear each other out!

Last but definitely not least, Congrats to Angie (my sister) and Ryan (her husband) on the birth of their daughter Madison this week. We are excited to have more cousins for Luke to play with. We will let Madison get a little bit older before we subject her to Luke!


That is about it for us. We are excited for the new year and all the wonderful things that are sure to happen this year!

Hey Griswold. Where do you think you're gonna put a tree that big?

No we didn't get a Christmas card sent out. If you are saying "Wait, I didn't get one last year either... Tough noogies...
Not really, we have yet to have ever sent any out.

We headed to California for the mandatory visit to my parental units. I kid, I kid Mom and Dad.

Luke was hamming it up while we packed
That thing in his mouth is a Giraffe. not a Melanosaurus. which is a dinosaur that lived during the Triassic Period. It was a large plant eating dinosaur, growing up to 40 feet long. Surprised you didn't know that.

While there we spent a day showing Annalyn and Diedre one of our favorite, non-touristy, local Californian get aways. Balboa Island. Where we rode around on a 12 passenger bicycle. Don't let the name fool you. 12 passenger bike is code for 10 guests pedaled around by Ryan and Lee. This place could get popular so see it before the tourists ruin it.

Christmas day came and Luke was very happy to be surrounded by Christmas gifts as you can see...

That was until he saw mommy kissing Santa, thats when we snapped this gem.

(enlarge for full effect)

And to top it off we got home only to find the weather of Southern California had been replaced by a weeks worth of Idaho snow. Which in itself isnt so horrible, but this is my second friggin winter my mailbox has been BURIED in snow. Can you find the mailbox in this mess?

Hope you all had a great Christmas and are planning to have a Happy New Years. Come visit, and help me shovel.

Holiday Madness

I don't know how the holidays get so crazy so fast. I pretty much had things under control and then Thanksgiving hit and there are now about a million things I need to get done and not enough time to get them done.... at least that is how it feels. One of the things on my list has been updating our blog. It has been so long that we had to get guest bloggers to fill the void! (Thanks Callie and Jessie!)

Let me back up and say we had a fun filled Thanksgiving. We went to the Bensons in Utah this year. We had 10 of the 11 siblings there and their spouses, kids, and some of the dogs. We all stayed with my parents which was a feat to fit that many people in one house. To the Benson kids it took us back to the days of growing up with two bedrooms, one bathroom and ten kids. I am sure it was a long weekend for the in-laws who never had to wait in such a long line to get a shower.

One of the highlights of the weekend was the Turkey Trot. Since all of us have competed in some sport or other through high school (some college) we tend to miss the glory days, which leads to us finding other competitive (I use that term very loosely) outlets. This year it was the Orem Turkey Trot. It was a 4 mile race on Thanksgiving morning. Here is the gang race ready.


I won't post what we looked like at the end... well I shouldn't say that for all of us. Some were more in shape than others... I was one of the others. Tamy, my youngest sister, even ran the mile race for kids. She did good, only stopping once to cry and tell Deb her stomach hurt. We convinced her to keep going and then she sprinted to the finish. Gotta love it! All in all it was fun until the next day when I couldn't walk because I was SO sore. Luke cheered us on from his little cocoon of warmth.


As for Black Friday shopping, we tried to avoid the crowds but got a couple of good deals. Ryan got the shopvac he has always dreamed of.

We are now moving into Christmas. We started a tradition of going to Island Park and cutting our own Christmas tree. Last year Jacob was there to help find the perfect tree. This year we had a different helper.


Ok, so he wasn't much help cutting or loading the tree but he did make things a lot more fun. We searched for the perfect tree which is a lot harder than it sounds. We wandered off the beaten path so Ryan decided to forge his own trail.


After we found a good tree; Luke, Biscuit and I cheered Ryan on as he cut down the tree and loaded it up. We quickly posed as if we had done all the hard work.


Pictures of the decorated tree to follow... some other day. Other than trying to keep up with the holidays, I have been busy trying to teach Luke to eat solids. It is an exhausting venture for all involved. Here is Luke resting after one attempt, and yes, those are carrots in his nose.


After doing the winter wonderland Christmas last year, this year we are heading to sunny southern California. I can't say that I am not looking forward to the warmth and sunshine! If I can just make it there and get everything done it will be my own Christmas miracle!

Insane in the Brain

Who doesn't watch VH1's 100 best hip hop songs? Yeah that's right i watched all 100 songs and LOVED IT!
I realized I had been to the concert of musical genius number 34: Cypress Hill Insane in the Brain (Yes I am that cool) Maybe the concert was a little scary, moshing was big back then and there were a lot of people there, good thing Callie was there to keep people from being up in my grill.
For a full list of the top 100's go to the link below, it really ages you
other Favorites include:83,80,66,47,38,37,29,26,20,17,4,2. Unfortunately Beyonces If you like it then you shoulda puta ring on it, didnt make the cut, I was rooting for that one
and my all time fav 72 : JJ Fad Supersonic, can I just say awesome?

My brother, the Poet...

Please follow the link. I am nothing if not humble.

Weekend Fun

We took a quick trip this weekend to Utah to see Grandma Rhonda, Grandma & Grandpa Benson and Callie. It was a last minute decision but a lot of fun to see everyone. While we were down we went to lunch at the new Harley-Davidson dealership. The food was good, the bikes were cool and the company was great.


We did a lot of shopping (Luke made out like a bandit) and visiting. It is always so good to see family. We took Grandma Rhonda to the airport early Saturday morning and headed home to catch the BYU football game.

When we got home the weather was so nice I got some bulbs planted and am totally excited for next spring to see them. I have decided that spring flowers are one of the best sights in spring. They make the winter melt away and also remind me of my mission where they planted tulips, daffodils, and crocuses in the park lawns. I didn't go quite that far but man was I tempted! I will post pictures in the spring. At half time Ryan decided to get a jump on the whole Christmas lights thing.


We recruited Levi to help us... actually he was the one here when we started. Last year Pete was the lucky one to risk his neck with Ryan trying to get all the lights straight and this year it was Levi. We give our volunteers the easy jobs! (Emily, I made sure he was safe!)


As you can see Luke and I stayed busy supervising the hard work, documenting everything, and making sure the lights were straight. Toughest jobs of all!


All in all it was a great weekend until Luke and Ryan came down with a cold they got from Callie's kids... thanks a lot Callie! We hope they both get better soon!

Peta didn't even ask the pigs opinion!

Georgia High School Pledges to End Kiss-a-Pig Contests

"When PETA received complaints about a "Kiss-a-Pig" contest at Flowery Branch High School's pep rally, we immediately contacted the principal and voiced concerns about how the pig was roughly handled. We informed him that these cruel events do not teach children compassion and kindness--they teach that animals are merely objects for our amusement. He promptly replied that he will not allow this type of event to happen at the school in the future."

Good thing Peta wasn't around as much when I was in High School or I would have never gotten any kisses. I didn't even mind being an object for their amusement.

You can see the original article Here. there is no link to show how sad I (and probably the pig) am that this is now no longer an event.