The Kuhn Family

The Beach!

2012-01-24T20:55:00.000-08:00

Sibling adventures

2012-01-24T20:51:00.000-08:00

These are the days of our lives! I often look back to see the two of them holding hands and it just melts my heart! Yes, they fight and get irritated with each other, but they really love each other and it's just so sweet.

Putting her hands out to say Grace before dinner.

Summer pics (that I forgot to post!)

2012-01-24T20:39:00.000-08:00

Oooooops.....I totally forgot to post some pictures from summer. Better late than never, right?!
My "love"
Ben is a budding photographer - this was his idea!
A day of picking and washing oranges that are, yummy!
Ben giving Grace a lift

Just precious.

Potty Training!

2012-01-24T20:35:00.000-08:00

I. cannot. believe. it. She is 18 months and already we are potty training her! She tells us when she needs to go and is catching on fast. Who knew it could happen this early?! Needless to say, we are so happy. {yay, Emma!}

She's got her reading material, and her bib. What else could she possibly need?!

So Silly!

2012-01-24T20:30:00.000-08:00

Emma is our silly one....as you can tell. She does this one a daily basis and think it's so funny. I have to admit, I laugh every time! For some reason, she doesn't like pants on where they should be, but on her head instead. After every nap and every morning....she is pantless. She rips those things off and throws them out of her crib!

This girl is just like her brother - she can never eat enough apples!

Christmas

2012-01-24T15:09:00.000-08:00

I am SO behind on my blogging! Last time I blogged, it was Thanksgiving! Anyway, this is how we spent our holidays. We went to Disneyland....A LOT! The kids had so much fun though, so it was totally worth it! Disneyland does some really cool and fun things for Christmas, so we couldn't resist! We went to see Grinchmas at Universal Studios and will probably do that every Christmas we're here. It was awesome! We did lots this Christmas season - my head was ready to spin off, but all in all, it was very productive! We made lots of cookies (and of course had to make Santa some!), made reindeer food, cooked a christmas ham with all the trimmings, got all the presents wrapped and stockings stuffed, and ran around doing all these fun things! It was truly exhausting, but all very much worth it! At Disneyland getting ready to see another parade.....
On the tram
One of my favorite pics of Emma - we took the train around

the park, which is something we had never done before kids!

Decorating the tree we got for only $30!!

The first year Emma has helped put the star on top! Checking out the tree.... Ummm, can you say CUTE??!! At Grinchmas
Our annual letter from "Santa"
Me and Gracie at the entrance of Grinchmas
Opening gifts - I think she gets it!
His big gift from Santa
Christmas at my house

She's a little rocker at heart. I'm not kidding! She loves
Pat Benatar, and just music in general and she sings WHENEVER
possible! The apple didn't fall from the tree! Ben with Uncle Jerry and his cousin, Calyn.

Thanksgiving

2011-11-28T21:33:00.001-08:00

Emma and Ben on Thanksgiving

Emma having Lefse (pronounced lefsa) for the first time.
It's a Norwegian bread my family makes every year for
Thanksgiving and Christmas

Being cuddle bugs...

New Tutu

2011-11-08T21:22:00.001-08:00

This has been on my list to do for a long time and I finally got it done! I wanted to make Emma her own little tutu. It was so easy to make and once I put it on her, she was immediately giddy with excitement. She is growing up so fast.

Planting a garden

2011-11-08T21:13:00.001-08:00

We have been wanting to plant a garden for a long time, so we started with a green bean plant. Figured we would start small and work ourselves up to a bigger garden later. The kids loved helping and Emma loved flinging dirt everwhere! We had such a blast.

Girl fun!

2011-11-08T21:06:00.000-08:00

Emma, being her goofy self! We are seeing more and more of her personality these days. She is a spitfire and a sweetheart all wrapped in one! She loves the camera (just like her brother!). You pull a camera out and they're posing before you even turn it on!!

9/11

2011-09-12T14:10:00.001-07:00

I don't have too many pictures from this particular weekend, but we spent 9/11 down in San Diego and went to the tidepools and really enjoyed the day together.

Mo caught a crab - the kids thought it was awesome!

We observed him for a while and then put him back in his home.

Broken Foot {insert sad face here}

2011-09-12T14:03:00.000-07:00

Ben's cast! He's in that thing for a total of 4 weeks!! For those
that don't know, Ben broke his foot August 27th -- 3 metatarsals
in 4 places! I still can't believe he broke it.

He's doing great {already running around
in that thing!} He has barely complained about any pain and the
pediatric orthopedic surgeon says he is healing beautifully. {yay!}

San Diego - Coronado Island

2011-08-31T20:57:00.000-07:00

Hoover Dam

2011-08-31T19:31:00.000-07:00

We decided to go see the Hoover Dam on the way to California. It's something we've attempted to see in the past a few times but never *quite* made it! I was happy we got to do it this time. It was really neat. I used to work for the Bureau of Reclamation so it was interesting to see what they are doing down there! The project itself is absolutely amazing -- some techniques used by civil engineers were unproven, so they were venturing into unchartered territory. Yet they started the project in 1931 and finished in 1936 two years ahead of schedule. The workers worked 24 hours a day and 365 days a year. And it all started because the Colorado River was seen as a source for irrigation water. It was a loooong way down!

Inside on the tour - it was really interesting! Um...not

quite sure what Ben is doing with his arm!

Emma was out! It was 115 F that day!

This bridge was just amazing

Mario booked an awesome place for us to stay in Henderson.

{and I do mean awesome!}

In the garden at the resort

Ben out on the terrace

65th Anniversary Party

2011-08-17T19:00:00.000-07:00

Emma's 1st Birthday!!

2011-08-17T18:37:00.001-07:00

On June 28, 2010 at 3:52 a.m., my daughter was born. I can't believe she's 1 already! The year flew by. A lot happened in that one year - we moved when she was only 5 weeks old (and have since moved again!) She is now walking and is trying to talk. After a lot of indecisiveness about the cake design, I decided to go with the ladybug (with invitations to match - I was feelin' a little crafty!)
I love my Grandma!

A pillow or balloon?!
Ready to dig into the cake!
Mmmm....that cake was good!

California - beaches and gardens!

2011-08-17T18:08:00.001-07:00

Field of Dreams

2011-08-17T17:49:00.000-07:00

We passed by this field of flowers on our way home in Castle Rock every day! We feel very fortunate to have lived in such a wonderful community where Colorado beauty surrounded us each day!

This was the view from our house! Very peaceful and beautiful.

We miss it so much!!

Last Day of Preschool

2011-05-28T13:55:00.000-07:00

Ben's last day of preschool was Thursday, May 26th. It was such a sad day because it was a fun, productive year! He had fantastic teachers and learned so much over the school year. Mrs. Mindy, his teacher, wrote the curriculum and it was awesome! All the students had a "job" in the classroom. Ben explained that his job was to water the green bean plants that they planted. They did a Zoo Phonics lesson that included directed drawing and this is where they practiced writing their letters better. The letter of the week always went with a book they were reading and share (an item they brought from home). And they sang a song to go with the letter as well. The curriculum also incoporated math into it all -- there was a "math sentence" for whatever letter they were learning that week. So they learned both at the same time! The kids all learned days of the week, months of the year, and seasons. I remember one moment in particular and it is a true testiment of how wonderful this program is. One day Ben and I were talking and he started to list all the continents....I couldn't believe it! There were other moments like that, but I couldn't believe that, at 3, he had learned SO much! So in appreciation, I made a cake for the teachers and Ben wrote them both cards, one to Mr. Sam and one to Mrs. Mindy. The one to Mr. Sam made me laugh. We worked on the card together and Ben wrote, "thank you Mr. Sam for opening the snacks" - and "thank you for teaching me" "Love, Ben"

It turned out MUCH better than I thought it would!!

Easter 2011

2011-05-24T09:04:00.001-07:00

Ooooops.....I forgot that Easter comes before Mother's Day. I am a little behind on blogging, so forgive me! See below for Mother's Day!!

Holidays ALWAYS sneak up on me....but I usually manage to pull it together somehow! We made Easter cookies, filled the kids' Easter baskets each with a new cool bath towel and new swim trunks and flip flops for Ben and a new swimsuit and hat for Emma (not that she even knew what it was!) Getting pictures was challenging and some are a bit blurry. It's hard to get a picture of two moving subjects!!

Checking out her basket
Hmmmm, what's this little bauble?
My little man in his suit. He's growing too fast!
Being lovey and doing good so far...
Still going....

And.....GONE!

Mother's Day

2011-05-24T08:36:00.000-07:00

For Mother's Day this year we decided to go to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs. Mario and I used to go there as kids -- so it was fun to be able to take our kids to a place we used to go. It turned out to be an absolutely beautiful day and we had such a great time. We met Mario's mom there so the kids were able to see Grandma too :)

Isn't this a spectacular view?
Emma feeding the birds - she LOVED it!
Ben and Emma both love animals so this was so much fun for them
Beautiful peacock that sort of meandered around My sweet angel
Are they going kayaking?!

Someone was making her giggle!!

Soccer

2011-04-27T16:09:00.001-07:00

This is Ben's first soccer season! He started a few weeks with a few practices and has had 3 games so far! He really enjoys playing with his two friends, Jack and Brandon. They play great....well, until about 1/2 time and then it starts to get a little crazy! All the kids get loopy and lay on the field or wrestle with one another....or just whatever! It's quite entertaining, actually. Emma cheering on her big brother
Doesn't he look like such a serious athlete here?
His first game

Ski Trip!

2011-04-25T09:14:00.000-07:00

This was our first ski trip together in YEARS! I haven't been since having Ben, so it was fun to get back on the mountain again! We took the trip with our friends, the Beemans, who were visiting from Texas. Ben went to ski school and learned how to ski! We are so excited to get our kids involved in a sport that we both love. Emma has a few more years, but we'll get her there! So here are a few pictures from Copper Mountain, Colorado. The two of us had a few hours of ski time by ourselves!!
Picking Ben up from ski school - I think they wore him out!
Me and my good friend, Calneta
At the end of the day - we were exhausted!

Ben Turns 4!!

2011-04-23T19:10:00.000-07:00

Ben's birthday was on a weekday, so we celebrated with a couple presents in the morning when he came downstairs and then Mario got off work early and we took him to Casa Bonita to see the cliff divers and watch the shows. He loved it!

At Casa Bonita (a place that I have been going to since I was a kid!)

The birthday cake on his actual birthday
He wanted a Batman theme so I made him a Batman cake!
At Chuck E. Cheese getting ready to blow out his candles
The big FOUR! I can't believe it!
Ben with Chuck E. - and blue lips!

Blowtorch Birthday!

2011-04-22T14:24:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I am calling this "blowtorch birthday". It's a funny little story. So I made a cake for Mario's birthday, but we couldn't find any matches...or a lighter. Sooooo, we figured a blowtorch would just have to do! It worked fabulously! And we got some good laughs too!
Ok, here we go!
Wow! How many candles can we fit on one cake?!
Ben wanted to help blow them out

Bye bye tonsils!!

2011-04-09T13:52:00.001-07:00

We all know that tonsils can give you trouble. Sometimes it can be A LOT of trouble.

I never realized how much tonsils can affect your whole well-being. Ben got to experience that firsthand. Lucky us! For about a year, his tonsils just kept getting bigger. And bigger. He developed sleep apnea somewhere along the way. Did I mention that he snored like a truck driver? Our pediatrician first thought he just had allergies. But after about 2 months on allergy medication, he referred us to the ENT. That doctor said that Ben's tonsils were extremely large and probably should be taken out. So we scheduled surgery for February 17, 2011. We walked him back to the OR (a very long and scary walk, by the way!) at 11:35 a.m. and they finished the surgery a little after noon. We spent 2 hours in the recover room with him and during that time, he came out of anesthesia and then promptly asked for one slushy after another!

I won't lie. It was a BIG day for us. It was so scary to leave Ben's side in the OR after holding his little hands and watching him fall asleep after they administered the anesthesia....and ultimately leaving him in the hands of others. Walking out of that OR was very hard. However, I was somewhat relieved to know that The Children's Hospital in Denver is one of the Nation's leading hospitals for children and that his surgeon was known to be one of the finest. We got lucky to be able to have it done here in Denver!

The first week was pretty rough. He had a lot of referred ear pain (which is common) and that took about a week to subside. It was a loooong week!! He has made a full recovery and now feels great!

This was a few hours after surgery - when he still had

his appetite.
Flowers the hospital delivered to us :)
Opening a gift from one of his friends
My poor little man!

Grace

2011-02-21T14:24:00.001-08:00

She is getting so big! She now has 4 teeth, is crawling,
sitting up and now she is pulling up onto things! I
am in serious trouble!

Warm day with sunshine.....ok, we're goin' outside!!

2011-01-27T10:05:00.001-08:00

So cool with his shades on!

It was a beautiful day outside so we decided to get outside and enjoy the warmth. So I grabbed my camera and we took some photos! I love the stacked stone outside our front door, so we shot against that.

Fun in the snow!

2011-01-27T10:00:00.000-08:00

Ok, so Ben LOVES his four wheeler! But he especially loves it when he gets to ride it in the snow. He thinks it's so cool to watch snow fly up from the wheels. Oh, typical boy! I got these shots on a sunny-with-blue-skies Colorado day with a little new fallen snow. It was a gorgeous day!

Emma's First Christmas!

2011-01-26T12:32:00.001-08:00

Emma Grace

Ben and Emma

Making an imprint of Emma's little hand for her Christmas
ornament

Grandpa and Ben

Getting ready to go see Santa!

One of the funniest photos for me. Emma is throwing her head
back, crying and Ben is just as smiley as can be!!

Grandma and Ben

Grandpa and Emma playing

Not sure what this is, but it was funny

Happy as can be......

And.....crying his eyes out by the tree!!

Putting Auntie's ornament on the tree

Ben combing Emma's hair, although she doesn't have much of it!

A nice little cuddle!

So....we tackled snowflake making this year!! We had
so much fun making them ;)

Our front door decorated

Putting out cookies for Santa!

The letter Santa wrote Ben

Grandma and Ben playing Jacks

Florida!!

2011-01-08T19:26:00.000-08:00

Yes, this is Florida. And yes, we wore jackets and hats almost the WHOLE time. We

followed Mario on a trip there and made a fun vacation out of it. We met up with some of

my family and then went to Sea World, Disney World, and the Kennedy Space Center. The weather was awful. We had 2 days of sunshine and warmth out of the 7 days we were there!Thank goodness it was for the days we went to Disney and Sea World! Ben got to feed dolphins at Sea World and had a great time at Disney World. As for us, we needed a vacation from our vacation when we got home!!

Looks like we're still in Montana!

Ben being his cool self

Emma meeting her 2nd cousin, Emily.

Posing with Buzz Lightyear while freezing our butts off!

Us and my dad's sister, Tammy, my cousin Amanda and Emily

At Sea World

Happened to be nice enough on the two days we
needed it most! So for Sea World and Disney World, we were able to
wear short sleeves !

This was so fun!

In front of the castle at Disney World

Ben LOVED these cars!

Cinderella's castle lit up for Christmas....simply beautiful!

Meeting an astronaut at Kennedy Space CenterKennedy Space Center

Ben next to a real rocket!

Our little Gracie....

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

2010-12-21T08:42:00.001-08:00

So this is the one sledding experience we've had so far in Colorado. We probably would have done a bunch of sledding in Montana by now! We have only had 2 substantial snows and the snow was gone the next day. We are definitely not used to that! So I got a few shots of Ben sledding and enjoying the snow. He loves it! I, on the other hand, could not wait to get back inside for hot chocolate!!

Apple Picking

2010-11-23T13:10:00.001-08:00

We decided to go apple picking in the

fall, so we made a trip down to 3rd Street Apples in Penrose, CO. Ben had a great time with it all! Later, we made apple crumble (using a new recipe I found). It was so yummy! Ben loves to cook with me so he really enjoyed that part!

Ben had so much fun picking those apples! (And I had fun taking the pix!)

Maybe a bird's eye view?

The orchard and beyond.

Ben and Emma - she's really trying to hang on to that pumpkin!

Ben planting a sweet kiss on Emma.

Oh! Boys and their tractors!! Need I say more?!

This one's for me!

Places in Our Heart

2010-11-01T10:47:00.000-07:00

We had these photos taken about a week before we drove out of Great Falls, Montana. It was our home for 4 years and holds a special place in our heart. And this is why. Both of our children were born there. We had so many great memories in Great Falls. No doubt, it was a tough place to live sometimes. Winters were the hardest. Cold snaps of -30 left you longing to be somewhere warm! I remember daydreaming of Hawaii on those really cold days! But we made snowmen and snowangels and made hot chocolate and kept our fire going inside. We took Ben sledding on the hill across the street. We just made it work. It's funny because we complained a lot, but this place made us stronger people. And it helped make us who we are right now. We really know that we can survive almost anything! We learned so much about ourselves while living there. We made wonderful friends. We ventured out as much as possible to see what Montana was all about. We went to Holter Lake and went boating almost every weekend during the summer, which only lasts about 8 weeks!!! We went camping, fishing, jet skiing, snow boarding, snow skiing, and snowshoeing twice (on one of those trips, I was 7 months pregnant with Ben). This was, by far, one of the hardest moves we've ever made. Ben was wondering where his bed was and where all his things were. We had a newborn. We were tired. No. We were exhausted. We lost our cat. We were leaving a house that we loved and had made a home for 4 years. It was an extremely emotional time for us. Needless to say, we were a hot mess leaving Great Falls and although I thought seeing it in my rearview mirror would be the best sight ever, I cried all the way out....and then some. I think I cried for a few weeks, actually. I still cry when I think about all our memories there. I think it's fair to say we love Montana and it will hold a special place in our hearts....forever.

Yep, both those kiddos were "made in Montana"!

My little Emma Grace, 1 month old here and Ben 3 1/2 years old.

He is so gentle and sweet with her. It's amazing to be the mother of these two children!

Daddy and Emma. This was about the only time she opened her eyes during the shoot!

Mama and Emma - rocking her back to sleep.

In the fields of Montana

Ben was such a ham! He loves having his picture taken!

Just the two of us. This is one of my favorites.

This is one picture we really wanted! It is by the Missouri River....the heart of the city. I don't know how many times we drove across that bridge in the distance!

Giant Springs...one last time

2010-10-15T13:36:00.001-07:00

My mom's sister came up from Wyoming with my cousins for a visit and to help me out about two weeks after I had Emma. They were such a wonderful help with cooking, cleaning, playing with Ben, and making me laugh until I cried! We visited Giant Springs and the Hutterite Colony while they were with me.

Cousin Nick, Ricko, and BenOk, NOT the best picture of me! But this is me and my favorite puppy of all time, little Ricko Aunt Jae and Ben doing something silly, I'm sure!Playing "Poo Stick" at Giant Springs Nick and Ricko Cousins Russell, Ben, Aunt Jae and cousin Nick

Ben, me and little Emma, who was only 2 weeks old!!

The boys

One of my favorites

I wonder what Ben was saying?!

No, this one is my FAVORITE!!! Beautiful picture of Aunt

Jae and her boys!!

Sweet one....I'm glad my family LOVED this park!!

Hutterite Colony

2010-10-14T20:07:00.000-07:00

Let me just preface this by saying that we had always wanted to tour one of the Hutterite Colonies in Montana and it was one of the last things we did before we left....which was kind of nice, actually. We went to the Fairhaven Colony in Ulm. The tour opened our eyes to how different our lives are from the Hutterites. It was pretty apparent that they are extremely hard working and very meticulous. On the tour, we got to see their church, the dairy cows (where we learned all about how they feed the calves), the garden where they grow all the vegetables, the kitchen and food storage areas, the area where they process their eggs from the henhouse, and the pigpen. We were even allowed to see one of their private homes, which showed how simple they live.

My aunt and my cousin in front of their garden
In the dairy area
I thought this was sweet....the girls would hold Ben's hand
on our walks to different areas

The hen house -- Ben petting a little chick

A Hutterite boy and Ben.....they all played so well together

The community laundromat

He totally looks like he belongs!!!!

Mario got this one of me running to the sign for

a picture

My cousin Nick, my Aunt Jae, me, and my cousin Russell

The GORGEOUS wheat field outside the colony

us getting INTO the wheat field!

It was so cool to be in there! It felt like you were in

a field of feathers!!

Ryan's Dam & Emma's birth

2010-08-19T21:12:00.000-07:00

Ryan's Dam and Emma's birth was like one really long day!! I was originally supposed to be induced on Friday, June 25th. But I changed my mind and decided that we would enjoy one last weekend together and would go be induced on June 29th instead. Well, Emma had other plans I guess! But we did enjoy that last weekend.....up until the very last minute! We did our usual and went to Quizno's to pick up our sandwhiches with Mario's mom and then headed out there in the afternoon. When we realized it was already 7 p.m., we decided to head back home. We got home around 7:30 or so and got Ben into bed around 8. I thought giving myself a face mask was a great idea, so I proceeded with that. With the mask still on my face and not 15 minutes after getting Ben into bed, my water broke! So we headed off to the hospital about 9 o'clock that night and Emma Grace was born on June 28th at 3:52 a.m. weighing in at 7 lbs. 4 oz. and 20.5 inches long. Wow! What a day! She's beautiful and we're so blessed to have her in our lives.

Playing airplane
Mama and Ben taking a little rest

Ben took this picture as I was goofing around

The three of us in this little tree nook that I love

I finally got the picture of Ben walking across the bridge

I had been trying to get this but there were always lots of people around.

A room with a view! This is Benefis' new birthing center

She's here!

First bath

Ben taking his first look at his little sister

He wanted to touch her....so sweet

Now it's the 4 of us!

Lyla taking her security bands off before we left the hospital

Lyla and Ben - she was the labor and delivery nurse

when I had Ben! So it was nice to see her again.

She almost was there for the delivery of Emma too

and only missed it by a few hours!

Ready to leave the hospital

Ben and I flying a kite a couple days after we got home

Ryan's Dam

2010-08-19T20:55:00.000-07:00

I'd have to say that we spent a majority of our summer weekends at Ryan's Dam this summer. Our routine was the same every weekend. We would go pick up sandwhiches at Quizno's (because I was too tired to make them!) and we'd head up to the Dam and have a picnic. Such good memories right before Emma was born!

9 babies - whew! Glad I'm only having one!! Ben getting out all that energy!

Still going!!

The three of us....when there were still 3!

Playing Outside

2010-04-21T20:38:00.001-07:00

The weather has been absolutely gorgeous lately so we have been spending lots of time outside. We are really taking advantage of it because we know it will most likely snow a few more times! That's Montana for you {insert sigh here}. Ben is a busy boy....he loves school and makes all kinds of art projects for me.

He talks my ear off most days, but I secretly love it....

The most recent thing he told me (when we were in the car) that melted my heart was "Mama, smile" and so I do and then after seeing the reflection of my smile in the mirror, he simply says, "you have a good smile." Where do they learn these things?!!

Freddy, the frog

2010-04-07T21:20:00.001-07:00

There is a great story behind this frog. My aunt works as a flight attendant for Delta and one morning before takeoff someone spotted this frog clinging to a window! Being the animal lover she is, she decided to take him home. He is now gone, but he had a wonderful life with lots of crickets to eat and a cool habitat to play in! I have absolutely loved this photo for years, so here it is!!

Easter

2010-04-06T09:12:00.000-07:00

Easter - We went and had an Easter brunch and of course made cookies and dyed eggs, which Ben absolutely LOVED!

Long story short, the kids had to wait outside the cones before running out onto the field to find Easter eggs.....as they were waiting for the whistle to blow, what does Ben do? He RUNS full speed ahead onto the field with everyone watching!! Did he stop at the first egg he saw (only a few feet in front of us)? Nooooo. Did he stop 1/2 way down the field to collect any eggs? Noooo. He ran all the way down the field to the VERY end and picked up an egg. And when he looks up, everyone, and I do mean EVERYONE, was laughing hysterically. Even the Easter Bunny was laughing.

Well, I guess that ended up being a long story, didn't it?

He emptied his basket so FAST!
Looking for all the goodies
Checking everything out - and he says to me, "I love it, Ma"
Wha?? Are we from Boston now?!

Ben's 3rd birthday

2010-03-26T19:28:00.001-07:00

Ben turned 3!! We had a party at the bowling alley and all the kids had pizza, ice cream, and drinks. Needless to say, they were all little balls of energy with parents running after them just trying to keep up! Ben really had a great time!

Ben getting ready to blow out his candles
Welcome to age 3!!

Everything Spiderman!

Noah and Ben looking at this awesome game, Matching Middles

Yum! This is so good!

Ben got his very own real bowling pin to keep as a souvenir!

All the kiddos

Noah running with his balloon

Painting toes

2010-03-26T18:54:00.000-07:00

So we decided we should paint our toes and feet on Valentine's Day (I know, I've definitely lapsed in my blogging!) We had so much fun being silly with the paint and it was a great opportunity to be creative.

Ben thought blue would be cool
I decided that a "Converse" high top was what Mario needed!

Mario thought flowers were a good choice for my feet!

The finished product!

Snow!!

2010-01-29T13:08:00.000-08:00

These are some pictures of our day in the snow. We made snow angels, went sledding, and really just had a great time playing in the abundance of SNOW!!!

Glacier National Park

2010-01-16T20:26:00.001-08:00

Soooo....I am retroactively blogging! I haven't blogged in so long that I figure I better get on the ball with it. These pictures were actually taken in September 2009. We went to Glacier National Park and fell in love with it completely!! Needless to say, we will be going back! We stayed in a little tiny cabin in the middle of the woods and all you could smell was pine....ahhhh, nice. Karen and I biked from our cabin to the entrance of the park in the morning. We were going to bike all the way up, but it was too cold and rainy.

Our little pitstop - we had to show Ben the dinosaur!
The three of us at one of the falls along "Going-to-the-Sun-Road"

W.O.W.

Another beautiful waterfall along the way

St. Mary's Falls

Bougainvilla - my favorite!

2010-01-16T19:22:00.000-08:00

This picture was taken in California by my mom's sister....I just L.O.V.E. it!!!

Snow Heart

2010-01-10T14:19:00.000-08:00

Well, I guess you can't do this in Hawaii.....

Thanksgiving

2009-12-02T13:28:00.000-08:00

A few pictures from Thanksgiving week 2009. It was a memorable one! We couldn't travel too far, but did get to go see my aunt (my mom's sister) in Wyoming. We weren't sure we were even going until the very last minute. So here's a recap: 3 states in 5 days, a very spontaneous visit to a National Monument, an encounter with a BEAUTIFUL horse we named "Butterscotch" whom we fed an apple to, lots of talking, a GREAT find in Rapid City, South Dakota (that would be "Sanfords" restaurant - yummy!!!!), lots of laughs over YouTube stuff, passing Crazy Horse (where my Grandpa's final resting place is), Christmas music, the straw hair loss of one of Jae's dolls, all at the hands of Ben, who shoved some in a vase to hide it and then tried to put the rest in his pocket for later (what?), a crazy little show involving little Elmo (put on by my Aunt - you had to be there. She does a great impersonation of Elmo and Ben was extremely entertained), and a very yummy Thanksgiving dinner!! However, THAT started out a little rocky. I forgot to add sugar to the pumpkin pies and had to remake them, Aunt Jae made popcorn out of the "corn" and we weren't completely sure why our gravy wasn't turning out right...soooo, we added a little flour, only to see little "flour balls" in the saucepan (mmm, yummy). We eventually got it all taken care of and enjoyed a VERY good meal together. Good memories! He really thinks he is a rockstar. I'm not kidding.

Me and Aunt Jae talking inside (Mario was outside)
Us with the original driller for Mount Rushmore
He worked on the project from 1937-1940, 70 years before
Ben's birth, 38 years before mine and Mario's - WOW!!!
Entering South Dakota - We had never been before
Crazy Horse, South Dakota

Ben playing on the bench outside the museum

before his meltdown!

The Kuhns at Mount Rushmore!!!!

Our little "Butterscotch"

Ben fed her an apple and we loved on her a while

Ben

2009-10-22T12:26:00.001-07:00

Here are a few pictures of Ben in fall. He is getting so big. I can't believe he's going on 3!! He loves movies, talks and talks....and talks. He's REALLY into motorcyles right now and anything rough and tough.

One of my favorites

In our front yard

At the Corn Maze

He's like a little model!!

Corn Maze

2009-10-20T20:09:00.000-07:00

For the third year in a row, we went to Vaughn to go to the Corn Maze. As always, it was a-Maize-ing! We even did the corn maze this time (it only took us 3 hours!). Not really - we spent about 45 minutes or so lost in there! The kids (Ben, Abby, and Liam) loved it. Ben really appreciated that slide this year. He climbs up all by himself and just goes. He loved the hay jump too. He is all boy, climbing up and then jumping off into the hay.

Ben in the hay jump Jumping into the hay - woo hoo!!

Papa and Ben
Playing in the corn box - it got a little crazy in there!
Ben and Abby -- I think this is his 2nd love. Of course,

Avery was his first!!

Air Force Ball 09

2009-09-26T13:58:00.001-07:00

This is us right before we attended the Air Force Ball, Sep 09. Great food, good times, and as usual, the speech was longer than it should be! It was fun to dress up and go out for the night with everyone.

The girls

Zach Schmidt, Melissa Holtgrave, Karen Schmidt, Jen and Mario Kuhn

Holter Lake, one of our favorite places

2009-09-14T14:01:00.000-07:00

We have spent so much time out at Holter Lake this year. It is one of our favorite places to go during the summer. We had the pleasure of spending time with some great friends out there this year water skiing, cooking out, camping, jetskiing, swimming, fishing, and chasing away the bees (yep, they were back this summer, much to our dismay!!). This last trip, Mario and his friend, Mike went out during the night under the moonlight - how much better can it get?! Good times, sunshine, and summertime!!!!! And alas, it is nearly over. We will miss that lake, but hope to go back during the winter when it is frozen over to go ice fishing! I must be crazy.

Rachel waving to Mike on the jetski with her daughter, Morgan
Mike took Ben on his FIRST jetski ride -he LOVED it.
I was biting my nails for the first couple minutes, but whatever!

Ben making his first s'more. He picked that little stick out!

This is too funny! Mike cast his line from his.....jet ski!!

Ok, here we go!!

Right before we took off

The three of us jet skiing - woo~hoo!!!

Mario pulling out of the water!! Yay!

Grandpa and Meema's visit

2009-08-17T13:38:00.001-07:00

The always beautiful Holter Lake

Hey, I LOVE my new 4-wheeler!

Having fun with Grandpa -- I love this one!

The boys fishing

Wading in the water

This nightcrawler is pretty cool

Three generations, hand in hand

Beautiful sunset over Holter Lake

We caught one! I love Ben's face in this one as he looks on!!

The three boys fishing

Listening to music at the Buffalo Jump

Grandpa and Meema at the Buffalo Jump

Ben, Papa and Mama -- Ben looks like a little prarie boy!

Standing right on the Buffalo Jump where buffalo were run off the cliff - Wow!

Hey, look at me on my new favorite toy!!

Kubee vacation (i.e. Kuhn and Beeman comined)

2009-07-28T14:15:00.001-07:00

More to come... it's a work in progress!

The sunshine (and Calneta pointing the way) on the lake - BEAUTIFUL!!!! Mama, Ben and cousin Taryn on the dock at Holter Lake The kiddos on the bridge at Ryan's Dam...I love this one On the big rock together - I just love how Ben is pointing the opposite direction!! Posing on a big rock at Ryan's Dam The Kuhns up on the rocks at Ryan's Dam Cozy in a cove at Ryan's Dam The Kuhn family at First People's Buffalo Jump (Ulm Pishkun) Ben, Taryn and Trevor in action Slip n' slide fun - good one! Trevor and Ben snuggling and watching a movie together - awwww... Jim pumping his fist for MORE!! Papa and Ben walking down to the dock to go fishing

Uncle Jim and Ben

Holter Lake....again!

2009-07-19T09:45:00.001-07:00

Holter Lake - July 2009. It. Was. A. Blast!!!! We went jetskiing, waterskiing, and boating....all in one day! The lake was beautiful, as usual. We love going there. We cooked out and let the kids play. We stayed into the night and ended up leaving at around 9-ish. Both Mario AND Mike lost their Oakley glasses while jetskiing....oh well...I think it was worth it to them!!! Mario lost his while trying to show off and then the jet ski showed him who really was boss and threw him off!! We had a little scare at the end of the day....ok, well I almost panicked, but that's besides the point. While Mike was getting into the boat from the jetski, he slipped and hooked (yes, hooked) his leg on one of the clips to hold the top on the boat. It went in one side and came out the other. Ouch!! He was such a trouper though and got back on the jet ski and taught Amanda how to ride. I think I would have just DIED had that happened to me.

A great picture of Mike on the jetski
Amanda and Morgan on the tube

Ben and Papa in the water - burrr

I love this one! Mike is playing with Zach while he was on the tube!!

We went out with another boat as well

The boys and their daddys....awww, cute!

Mike waterskiing - great job, Mike!
Jenny pulling out the water
Jenny waterskiing - wow, that was tiring!!

Mario on the jetski - woo hoo!!!

Jenny jetskiing - FUN!!!

Morgan taking a dip at the end of the day
Rachel and Ben playing with the water gun

Ben being a monkey on the boat!! I love this one of him :)

Mario on the jetski....again

Holter Lake

2009-07-11T13:43:00.000-07:00

We went to Holter Lake yesterday and had a blast. The weather was great and there was hardly anyone on the lake - PERFECT! We grilled out for lunch and had hot dogs (again!!) and turkey burgers and then went out on the boat and spent 4 or 5 hours out there getting sun, playing with the tube, jumping in the water. And of course, Peyton and Mario went fishing off the back of the boat. I love this lake - it is BEAUTIFUL! Later, we cooked out for dinner and the boys got to play at the little beach.

Peyton jumping in to cool off - it was hot!
Me trying my hand at fishing....didn't catch anything though.

Ben and Jameson fishing with their little poles

Still fishing! They LOVED it!!

Peyton took the boys on a tube ride

Playing with night crawlers....yuck!

Ben and me in the tube

Ok, Mario and I in the tube....er...sort of. We hardly fit!

Ok, now we're situated!!

Ben playing on the beach

He's very contemplative in this one..I wonder what he was thinking about?

4th of July Festivities

2009-07-05T16:44:00.001-07:00

We had a wonderful 4th of July.....my mom and brother were here and we collectively bought almost an arsenal of fireworks, but they were GREAT!! The guys had a great system down and there was barely any lag time between fireworks. Despite having hail early that evening, all went good.

The flag cake I make every year

Ben, me and my mom with our flag cake!

Ben eating a hot dog (he's had like 15 in the past 4 days!!)

Sparklers for kids!!! He loved them!

Ok, I'm not sure exactly why he had to have that helmet on....The "moms"
Ben decided he wanted to hang with the "big boys" - that is, until things got serious!

Then, he wanted mama :)

Air Show

2009-07-05T16:07:00.000-07:00

We went to the Helena Air Show and it was SPECTACULAR!! Here are a few pics:

The Thunderbirds

Ben, "flying" the Huey (what daddy used to fly in)

Things that made me laugh today

2009-06-28T21:04:00.000-07:00

We had a day FULL of silliness. Ben had me lauging all day with the things he was saying. So I've compiled them for you:

This morning he slipped and fell and then turns around so his backside is facing me and says to me "ouch, my bum. Kiss it?" ummmm, okay?

He hit himself in the forehead with his new F-15 model airplane and then says "kiss it?" (see a theme here?) and so I kissed where I thought he hit himself, only to get it wrong and him say, "no, here" and I kissed it again (but again in the wrong place apparently) and he said again "no, here" and so I kissed it....again. And then he said in such an adult tone "there ya go." Wow.

I was telling him that our neighbor Brandon, who is 8 (and his friend) uses the big potty and that he can too. He looked me straight in the eye and said "I'm Ben." ummmm, I stand corrected!

And....finally...we were going over our letters and we got to "x" - the image under it is of an x-ray, so I tried explaining what that was. I thought, I'll show him one of his ultrasounds and tell him that it's similar to that. So we talked for a while about that and I told him that when he was a baby, he was in mama's belly. Right after this, he proceeds to lift my shirt, stick his head underneath it, and said "go inside the belly?" That. Just. Happened.

2009-06-28T20:18:00.000-07:00

Yes, good old Pancake Pete followed us everywhere!!

(We are entering a contest)

Giving a "thumbs up" after a ride
Ben got to meet Mickey and if you look close enough, you'll see Mickey holding Pancake Pete (because he was tired of us trying to get Ben to hold it for the camera!)
So how cute is THIS??

The Burdettes and us meeting Pluto for breakfast
Ben, flirting with Cinderella!! Uh oh.

Ben got his face painted with a green snake - he LOVED it!

Backstage after the play "Father of the Bride" Uncle Jerry and Ben sharing their love of motorcycles! Nana and Ben

Just something funny....

2009-06-06T17:25:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Ben and I were running some errands and when we got back home, we noticed Mario's truck in the driveway. But we couldn't find him anywhere. So I started to call for "Mario" and as I was doing this, Ben walked over to the garage door, shrugged his shoulders looked at me with this quizzical look and said "who is Mario?" I laughed so hard!!

Working hard, or hardly working?

2009-06-06T14:09:00.000-07:00

He's gotta earn his keep somehow!!!! :) He's such a little helper - I'm sure that will change once he turns 13. He even wanted to wear his little Home Depot apron. "You can do it, we can help"

Slip 'n Slide

2009-06-06T14:01:00.001-07:00

Yipee!!!!!!! We had the neighbor kids over to play on the slip 'n slide. Ben was lovin' it. He's such a big boy now!!! I'm getting sad watching him grow up.

Zoo

2009-05-21T13:17:00.000-07:00

Me and Ben on the trail
The three of us on the trail at the zoo
Papa and Ben

Mario got this pic of the Eagles!

Ben was a little hesitant about petting this very large bunny!

But he loved it!

One of the funniest pictures of the trip....Ben kept saying "cooking"

and "making" and when I asked him what in the world he was doing, this is what I

found in the microwave at the hotel!! A little goldfish cracker!!!

SNOW....again!!

2009-05-21T12:14:00.000-07:00

Do we ever get a break??!! This was one of the biggest snows we've had since we've been here. And it looks like it may have been a record for Great Falls, actually. Amazing...we had about 20 or so inches in only 2 days!!

Motherhood...what CAN'T we do?

2009-05-03T14:32:00.000-07:00

This is for the girls...
Just a little pep talk for myself today...

Flashback Friday

2009-04-30T20:58:00.000-07:00

This was Ben's very first trip out of the state of Montana. We went to Colorado Springs in October 07 when he was just 7 months old. Here he is with his great-grandparents (Mario's grandparents) and meeting them for the first time.

Shrek? Donkey? What?

2009-04-27T09:51:00.001-07:00

Ok, it took me a while to get this one. Ben and I were looking at picture books and on one page, there were a bunch of different animals. When we got to the donkey, I tried my best to imitate what a donkey sounds like - hmmm.... really, what does a donkey sound like??!

Anyway, after this, he kept saying something that took me a minute to decipher. He was saying "Shrek" - and after I figured out what he was trying to tell me, I told him "yes, the movie Shrek has a donkey in it". Well...we don't watch that much TV, so he must have a great memory!!

Honestly, I never imagined in my wildest dreams that I would have to make any attempts at "donkey" sounds!!! Well...you end up having to do lots of weird things after you have kids, I guess!!

Crazy Hair!

2009-04-26T12:31:00.000-07:00

I took this pic of Ben when he was about 1 year old. I laughed so hard because his hair was standing straight up, as you can see in the picture!! I guess he slept hard!!

Flashback Friday

2009-04-24T12:30:00.000-07:00

Mexico, September 2003. My aunt let us use her timeshare there for a week. What a trip that was! We went with our friends, Sylvia and James before any of us had kids!! This was the view from our hotel room in Cabo San Lucas.

Go Doctor?

2009-04-24T11:58:00.000-07:00

Ben experienced his first scrape. Was it his knee? No. Elbow? No. Hand? No.

It was his wrist of all things!! And he's been milking it for all it's worth too. We were driving the other day and he kept saying "I go doctor.....bandaid?" "Let's go!"

Wow. Oooookay.

And then he wanted me (or anyone who would listen) to keep kissing it after he put on a completely fake cry!! He is saying so many cute things these days - he keeps us laughing!!

Easter

2009-04-20T15:06:00.001-07:00

Easter 2009 was a quiet one for us. Mario had to go out on Easter Sunday, so we went to the Easter Fair on Saturday together, which was a lot of fun. There were quite a few actitivites and Ben even won a Kinex set. Then Ben and I went to Kristen's parents house on Sunday for Easter dinner. It was so nice of them to invite us and Ben and I had a great time with them. Ben loved playing with all the "boys". And the food was YUM-O!!

Ben with the Easter bunny - he followed him around and wouldn't let him go!

Ben and I making art!! Ben opening all the goodies in his Easter basket

Ben and I on Easter

Spring is Finally Here!!!

2009-04-12T12:56:00.000-07:00

We spent 1/2 the day outside the other day because it was so warm!!! It got up to 70 degrees!! It was great....I got this "bug's eye view" of Ben enjoying the day.

Hey, this is FUN!! Ben with the sky behind him (while he was up on my feet)

WOW!

2009-04-10T19:58:00.000-07:00

Isn't it just AMAZING??!!! Jen and Brandy right after her baby shower (she has since had her baby boy, Liam). I love that I'm looking at her belly, but she's looking at the camera!

Deodorant, anyone?

2009-04-10T19:42:00.000-07:00

I was feeling a little stinky, soooo....I thought I would put on some deodorant!!! I think maybe I've been watching daddy too much??

Priceless

2009-03-31T13:55:00.000-07:00

You know those things your kids say that are just priceless?

Ok, so Ben was eating dinner last night and happened to have a whole peach too. He had a little juice box that had a straw. So he decides to take the straw and poke it into the peach. Yes, into the peach. Was he thinking that he would actually be able to get juice out of it??

I don't know. But after doing this, he looked at us with this very mischievious smile and said, "peach, woooww", like he had just achieved something monumental! It was hilarious without a doubt. Like Auntie said, it was his first "science experiment" of sorts!! So what if it didn't work out - he did give it a great try!! And the best part? He was thinking.

2nd Birthday

2009-03-29T13:15:00.001-07:00

Here are some pics from Ben's 2nd birthday party. We had it at the Gymnastics Academy downtown - the kids loved it! They played in the gym for an hour and got out all their energy and then we had pizza, cake and ice cream. After that, Ben (and all his friends) opened all the presents. It was great fun!!

Ben and Jameson swinging together

Ben would not take off those glasses!!

Ben blowing out the candles

Abby was "helping" Ben blow out the candles and decided to take a little snack!

Ben running (so excited) to his first trike!!!Ben and daddy adjusting the trike
So happy!!!!

Ben's New Hobby

2009-03-23T14:49:00.000-07:00

Soooo....this is Ben's new hobby. Don't ya just love it??!! He now likes to jump from the coffee table to the couch and thoroughly wears himself out doing so! We had a lot of fun watching him do this and he kept saying, "again". I was tired just watching him.

New Purse?

2009-03-14T19:37:00.000-07:00

Fendi? No. Coach? No. Louis Vuitton? No. Dooney and Bourke? Noooooo. Even better. It's the new Spring edition of Bath and Body Work's new Penguin line. It's exclusive. It's what everyone has been waiting for. And...I have one! Wait, that is my new purse! Ahhhh...you know you're a mom when....you carry around a penguin purse....and it holds your stuff too!! :)

Sledding Fun

2009-03-14T19:25:00.000-07:00

There is an empty lot right across from our house that just happens to have a big hill!! Works perfect for sledding, so before all the snow melted, we got out and had some snow fun! Oh, Ben just jumped on the sled and took off without us pushing him - he can't get enough!

Happy Birthday Ben!!

2009-03-11T13:03:00.000-07:00

I'm SO proud of this cake I made for Ben's 2nd birthday!! It isn't perfect, but I love it!
Ben blowing out his 2 candles....WOW!
The Kuhn family on St. Patrick's Day. Go Green!

SEED!!!

2009-03-09T12:09:00.000-07:00

Ben loves popcorn, so every once and a while, we'll make popcorn and watch a movie together. Last night, as he's eating popcorn, he looks over at me and says "seed" while pointing to what else but his nose! And sure enough....there was a seed up there! I think I was the only one who panicked and then finally, he was able to blow it out. Whew! WOW, what an abrupt awakening to the age 2!!!

Ready for Summer!

2009-03-07T13:58:00.001-08:00

We are soooo ready for summer. So we got these new flip flops and Ben loves them - he's becoming quite particular about what he wears these days!

Ben in his new flip flops

Fuzzies!!!!!!!

2009-03-07T13:50:00.000-08:00

Ben, looking at his "fuzzies"

We went to L.A. for Christmas and Auntie gave Ben some socks that he just LOVES!! He can't get enough of them! He always wants them on and calls them "fuzzies".

Snowshoeing Trip

2009-02-22T13:48:00.001-08:00

A big group of us went snowshoeing by MOONLIGHT the first weekend in February. The guide takes you up, builds a couple fires and brings hot cocoa and food to make over the fire. It is SO much fun! It was great exercise and we laughed nearly the whole way up AND down, much to the dismay of the tour guides!!!!! It reminded me of when I'm with my family - funny and loud! I loved every minute of it. The trip was full of silliness and fun. Kristen and I had the idea of making snow angels....well, we attempted to anyway! Ben nearly gave me and Kristen heart attacks...unbeknownst to us, he ran way ahead of the group, hid in the bushes and just as we were merrily coming along (of course talking), he jumped out at us and made sounds like a mountain lion!! So...we tried to run away in our snowshoes (have you ever tried running in snowshoes??!! Not easy!) and collapsed in fear on the ground and soon after, we were in a fit of giggles! The fires were great, but a little smokey at times. It was a beautiful trip - we walked along a creek and you could hear the water trickling and the moonlight just made everything look so pretty.

The whole group of us

The girls before the "hike" began

I thought this one was funny....Karen and Melissa trying to hide

from the smoke and laughing

Ben....making something good to eat

The whole gang around the fire making good food!

Kristen, proud of her burned grilled cheese!!

Kristen, Jen and Linds, having some sort of serious conversation
Brandy and Jen...I love this picture (do you notice the HUGE snowflakes coming down?)

Lindsay, Karen and Zach Schmidtt making grilled cheese sandwiches and trying to keep from getting smoke inhalation!!!

Kristen and Jen

Swim KUNKS?

2009-02-19T20:34:00.000-08:00

This was so cute - I just had to blog about it! We have been doing swim lessons off and on at the Peak and we went today (not for lessons, but for open swim). So as I'm packing his bag, he keeps saying "swim kunks" - swim trunks! It just sounded so darn cute coming from him!! He is saying so much now - he's saying "come on" "get up" find it"and many more cute things. He is now counting to 10 all by himself and can nearly do the ABCs by himself too. He knows all of his colors and will tell you what color anything is. He has also been singing along to songs we listen to - THAT is cute!! One of his favorite nursery rhymes is "I'm a little teapot" - he even sings it with me!

Bacon-Mushroom Cheeseburgers

2009-02-10T12:18:00.000-08:00

Ingredients:

2 lbs. ground turkey or beef

Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Bacon slices (depends on how many you're feeding)

1/2 lb white button mushrooms, sliced 1/4" thick

6 green onions, white and green portions, cut into 1" pieces

1 Tbs. olive oil

6 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, sliced

6 hamburger buns

*Note that this recipe will serve 6, so you can cut it in 1/2 to serve only 3 or double it to serve 12 and so on and so forth.

1. Prehat griddle or non-stick pan on medium-high heat. Divide meat into equal portions. Season with salt and pepper; set aside. Place bacon on griddle; cook until crisp, about 10 minutes.

2. In bowl, combine mushrooms, green onions, oil, salt and pepper. Spred this mixture on griddle. Cook, stirring until tender, appx 10 minutes. When finished, transfer to bowl.

3. Place burgers on griddle or grill. Cook until done. Top burgers with cheese and cook until melted. I cover mine so it melts a little quicker.

4. Transfer burger to bun and top with 2 bacon slices and some mushroom mixture.

We usually serve with baked beans and salad or something similar. Enjoy!

Pinecone?!

2009-02-07T20:47:00.000-08:00

Ben and Ave looking at a picture book together. There is a huge picture of a tree and at the top it has a little (and I do mean little...we adults might just need a microscope to find it!!) flap and inside is a pinecone. Ok, it's really an acorn, but who's counting? So these two kept opening the flap and saying "pinecone" - it was so cute.

So into the flap book!

So focused!

2009-02-07T20:42:00.001-08:00

Ben was concentrating so hard to get these blocks stacked! He was totally into it. I had to pry himi away just to eat lunch!

1st Dentist Appointment

2009-02-04T15:47:00.001-08:00

We thought it was about time to take Ben in for his very first dental appointment. All went well....in the waiting room.....in the chair playing with the sunglasses.....looking out the window at the beautiful view of the river......but not so well when the dentist came in!!! He did ok until the doctor tried to recline his chair. So.....I had to jump in the chair (I hate the dentist, so I almost had a nervous breakdown myself!) and hold Ben on my lap. Ah...fun times.

Ben thinking his glasses are oh-so-cool

Ben SURFING!

2009-01-27T13:39:00.001-08:00

Let me just paint the picture for you......It was like -20 degrees outside, snowing like crazy, and one starts to get a little, shall we say, creative when that happens! So...we went surfing!!! It's really a sled, but hey, who's looking, right? We had so much fun and it all ended with the giggles! Ben loved it and even had all the sound effects down (just like his daddy does). Ben pretending that he's surfing.

Painting & Basket Fun

2009-01-27T13:26:00.000-08:00

We watched Avery for a few mornings and her and Ben had so much fun together. They really get along so well. Here are a few captured moments of them playing and doing crafts together. They both climbed into this basket at almost the same time - it was funny. Ave and Ben having fun in a simple laundry basket - go figure!!

This is SO cool!!

Hey, pull us around AGAIN!!!

Avery and Ben, painting together

Tractors!

2009-01-22T13:01:00.001-08:00

We went to the tractor show the other day and Ben just LOVED all the different tractors!! He wanted to get inside every one of them!! Wow, this is SO cool!!

Ave and Ben

2009-01-18T12:32:00.000-08:00

We had some friends over the other night for dinner and to let the kids play and this is at the end of the night when Avery and Ben were saying goodbye to each other!

Eoin

2009-01-18T12:29:00.000-08:00

This is my cousin's horse, Eoin - I just love this picture! How spirited is he??!!

Flashback Friday

2009-01-16T17:05:00.001-08:00

In May of 2004, we took a trip all over New Mexico!! We went with our very good friends, Calneta and Jim Beeman and their kids, Trevor and Taryn. Our first stop was the VLA (very large array) where they filmed the movie "Contact" with Jodie Foster, which is south of Albuquerque. Then we hit Roswell, which was interesting! Then we headed south for the border (well, almost) and went to Carlsbad Caverns. On our way back, we decided to play at White Sands -- feels like you're at the beach when you're really not! And that's where we got this picture. The dunes there are awesome and always shifting. It's not really even sand, but gypsom salt. We were burning up, but it was fun!

Parmesan Noodle Skillet

2009-01-16T16:56:00.000-08:00

This recipe of Parmesan Noodle Skillet is so good and so easy to make, I thought I'd share!

Ingredients:

2 cups dried rotini pasta noodles
12 oz. lean ground beef (or ground turkey)
1 cup Alfredo sauce (store bought is faster)
1 can whole green beans, drained
1/4 cup chopped red sweet pepper
1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese (or more if you like)

1. Cook noodles according to package instructions and drain.
2. Cook beef or turkey in large skillet until brown; drain. Stir in noodles, Alfredo sauce and 2 tablespoons water. Heat through.
3. Stir in beans and chopped red pepper; heat through. Sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese. Enjoy!

Cookie Monster did WHAT?!

2009-01-13T16:58:00.000-08:00

After dinner tonight, Ben asked for Elmo and Cookie Monster that happened to be where he couldn't reach. After we got them for him, we asked him what color Elmo was and he said, "whed" (red) and then we asked what color Cookie Monster is and he said "blue". After he thought about that for a while, he then looked at Cookie Monster and said "umm pooped" - he was saying "he pooped" and then he tried to change him!! They never cease to make you laugh, do they?!

Snow....and lots of it!!

2009-01-08T12:05:00.000-08:00

Decided to get some pictures of us in the snow before it melts. It was so cold, but very pretty. I love how quiet it is when it's snowing and all you can hear is the snow crunching beneath your feet. Ben and Jenny - enjoying the snow? Not sure about that, but it was pretty.

Finger Painting

2009-01-08T12:01:00.001-08:00

We thought doing some finger painting would be fun......well...Ben didn't want his fingers to get dirty! He kept saying "hands, hands" because they had paint on them!!! He's going through a "neat" phase right now and hates his hands to be dirty. Well....maybe I shouldn't complain about that! Ben with all the fingerpaint