Preparing for Christmas

Here are a few of the things we have been doing to start off the holiday season:


The saturday after Thanksgiving we went downtown to see the lights at Temple Square


Here are my boys riding Trax back to Gateway. We visited Santa there, and ate at Applebee's. B was really excited to tell Santa what he wanted for Christmas. Christopher, on the other hand, ran away from Santa so he could try to play with the ornaments and decorations instead.

Here is a picture of the tree we put up in the basement this year. It has all of our keepsake and homemade ornaments on it. B calls it the Santa tree!

This is my silver and purple tree in the living room. I started this tree the year Ben and I were married, and decorated it in our wedding colors. I still have some pictures and ribbon on the tree from our wedding. Each year I add a little bit more to it, and I have to admit that this picture just doesn't do it justice!

My favorite part of decorating this year has been to hang our stockings by the fireplace! Next year will look even better with a mantle, but still I think it's not too shabby!

Here is a picture I took of the boys this morning. When I told them it was snowing, they ran to the window to take a look. B asked me if he could go outside and ride in his sled. I told him he had to wait until he couldn't see the grass anymore first. Hopefully we get a few more storms before Christmas, so we won't have to look at the brown grass and dead plants for the holidays.

Tagged: my 4x4

Here's how this tag works:
1. Go to the "My Pictures" folder on your computer

2. Upload the 4th picture from the 4th folder

3. Post the picture

4. Tag 4 others

I know what you might be thinking, but this was seriously the 4th picture in the 4th folder! I have a folder of scanned pictures from JCPenny's. This is one of Christopher's newborn pictures. The stupid lady who took the original picture, didn't zoom in enough, so I had to scan it into my computer and zoom and crop it myself. This is one of my favorites of Christopher's first photo session. I have to admit, that it is definately easier to take their picture when they are a sleeping newborn, and not a wiggling, crying, two-year old!

I tag Alisha, Cansas, Sheena, and....the rest of you who stalk my blog!!

Twilight

So I was a little (okay, a lot) excited to see the Twilight movie. I am one of those people who totally loved the books, and I have been scouting the Internet weekly to get my vampire fix. Well, I got a group of girlfriends together to see the movie last night. I LOVED IT!!! It has been about a year since I read the book, so I had a hard time remembering what got left out, and what events happen in the second book, but I was pleased with how it turned out. There has been a lot of criticism online of the movie, so I will put two complaints to rest. One: some complain that the dialogue is cheesy. Well, the characters are teenagers! They aren't going to be spouting Shakespear. Second: There is criticism that Robert Patterson who plays Edward is not attractive. Well, I don't know what they did to the lighting and camera angles, but he looks pretty darn attractive in the movie! All in all, I left the movie wanting to see it again. Anyone want to go?

Preschool Thanksgiving Feast

Our little preschool had a party to celebrate Thanksgiving. We all got together in the church gym for a little feast. First the kids played hide n seek as turkeys. The one who was it could say, "Turkey call" and the kids who were hiding had to gobble. It was pretty funny to watch all the kids run and hide in the same spot each time.

We then helped (meaning we did all the work) the kids make pilgrim hats. B kept saying his was a pirate hat. That encouraged all the boys to wear their pirate hats. Christopher liked his hat alot too. Both boys wore them around the house for a while when we got home.

We then helped the kids weave placemats. We gave them plates with cheese, apples, carrots, mashed potatoes, and turkey. Christopher was so content to sit and eat for almost 30 minutes straight! After eating, the kids were able to decorate turkey shaped cookies with frosting and sprinkles. Christopher, surprising enough, didn't want to eat his cookie. He kept munching on carrots and picked the candy corn off his cookie. Oh, darn. I couldn't let a good cookie go to waste! Check out the pics of all the kids and their siblings enjoying the meal.

A little gem from B

So Ben and I decided to take the boys to see Madagascar 2 yesterday for our FHE. They have recently been watching the first one at home, and it was pretty funny to see Christopher running around the house singing "I yike to moobit, moobit!" Benjamin added his own twist to the song, and would shake his bum and sing, "I like to poot it poot it." How charming. The best is the conversation we had in the car on our way to the movie:

B: Mom, there is something on my jacket.
Me: I'm sorry B. We'll fix it when we get out of the car.
B: I think it might be a booger.
Me: Well, just leave it alone for now
B: Oh, don't worry mom. It's just a piece of my fingernail
Me: Okay B.
B: Mom, it's good when things aren't boogers.

There is your wisdom for the day. It's good when things aren't boogers.

Bloggin' with pictures

Too tired. Sugar wearing off.... only posting pictures.

B at the Pumpkin walk

CJ squishing his head for a picture


The boys in their costumes

Daddy is a party pooper

Trick or Treating with cousins

My pretty new couch!

Happy Second Birthday Christopher!

The BASEMENT!!

So the reason I haven't posted in three weeks is that we have been working on the basement non-stop. I had the crazy notion to get it all done in time to have a family party for Christopher's second birthday party. We returned home from our trip to a basement in the drywall stage. In the past two weeks, we have put up trim and baseboards, cleaned out dirt and tools, primed, painted, and painted some more. Put in cabinets, light fixtures, moved furniture and cleaned. In order to get some paint in before the carpet came, I had to stay up overnight to get it done. On Wednesday I started painting my bathroom at 8:00 p.m., and didn't finish until 5:00 a.m. Then on Thursday I started painting my family room at 8:30 p.m., with help from my friend Sheena, and didn't finish until 7:00 a.m. the next morning. I lay in my bed for one hour until the carpet installer came at 8:00. I am totally nuts!

I also need to give a HUGE THANK YOU to Cansas, Alisha, and Sheena. My dear friends and neighbors, who have watched my boys all day long so I could work on getting the basement done. You guys are amazing, and generous! I wouldn't have made it through the week without you!! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!

Take a look at how things have turned out so far:

The fireplace

The living room


The Bathroom

The guest room

Bonus/Craft room

Last day of our trip

Friday was the last day of our trip. Ben only had to work until noon, so we decided to take a drive into France. The town of Strausbourg was only about 2 hours away just across the border between Germany and France. The drive was absolutely beautiful! We took the autobahn down the German border. The roads were lined on both sides with thick woods. All the trees were red, yellow, orange and green. Once we got to France, we parked in a parking garage so we could go out and sightsee. The garage was nuts! The ramp in the lot was only big enough for one car at a time, and each level only had 5 or 6 spaces to park. Each space seemed to face a different direction! Crazy!

We headed out into the town center to find the Cathedral. For hundreds of years, it was the tallest cathedral in the world, and is currently the 4th tallest in the world. When we walked through the streets of Strausbourg, we came to an open plaza with a beautiful two level carousel. There were people setting up tents for a wine and cheese tasting. We kept walking and as we came around the corner, the Cathedral immediately appeared, towering above us. I have to say it was an incredible structure. Every square inch was covered with statues, carvings, and ornate stained glass windows. The building was amazing to tour.

After the Cathedral, I spent almost 4 hours going through all the tourist shops in the town square. It was fun for me, and poor Ben just sat in the chairs in front of the Cafe's . It started to get dark, so we chose a place to eat. There were very few places with menus in English, so we decided to play it safe and try an Italian place. The menu was written in French and German, so picking out food was kind of tough. I knew "fromage" meant cheese, so I picked a 3 cheese pasta. When my food came out, it looked great, but smelled kind of weird. I took a bite and almost gagged! The pasta tasted like a chunk of mold! The 3 cheeses in the sauce were definately nothing I had ever tried before. They sure like stinky cheese in Europe! I couldn't take another bite. I just ate the crust from Ben's pizza.

When leaving the city, we passed a gourmet cookie parlour. We walked inside and the sales lady offered us a sample. The cookie was so good, we decided to get some. All the types were out in big barrels that you could hand pick and put in a bag, or decorative tin. I though the tin was pretty, so we picked one and began to fill it to the top with cookies. We took it up to the register to pay, and the clerk told us the total was 24 euros (about 38 dollars) We just died! We couldn't return the cookies, since we had already touched them. So we said, oh well, and got them anyway. Even though they cost a fortune, it was still fun to have a sweet reminder of our time in France.

It was getting dark, so we decided to head back to Germany. As we were driving along, we had a hard time figuring out if we had crossed the border or not. While we were speculating, we suddenly heard a "fhoom, fhoom" sound with two quick bursts of light. We looked at each other for a minute wondering what just happened. I soon realized that we had just gotten a speeding ticket from an automatic speed detector! I thought this was pretty funny, and kept laughing at what our picture must look like on the ticket.

After driving for an hour, we saw that our tank was almost empty. We drove to one stop, only to find out it was already closed. We turned around to find another station, and got really nervous that we wouldn't find any gas. The needle was dropping fast, and soon we were below empty. We pulled into another station just in time. While Ben was pumping gas, I headed into the station to find something to eat, since I didn't really have dinner. I saw a package with a picture of a marble swirl poundcake dipped in chocolate. We got the cake and some treats and I headed to the car. I opened the package, expecting to find slices of cake. I was wrong. It was a solid poundcake as long and my forearm and as thick as a brick. I was so hungry that I just bit into it. I must have looked pretty funny sitting in a car, biting chunks of cake!

We got back to Germany and started packing our bags. The next day we got up early to get to the airport two hours early. We spent 9 hours on the flight from Germany to Cincinatti, then another 4 hours to get to Salt Lake. We then had to drive back home to Logan. With the time difference, and all our travel, we had been awake for 22 hours by the time we walked into our house! We were tired, but happy to be home. I will always treasure my trip to Europe, it was the best!!

Slideshow of France

Back to Heidelburg

So enough already of lounging around! I decided that I loved Heidelburg so much that I had to go and see it again. Ben left for work in the morning and I got ready to leave. I asked the receptionist which tram would take me to Heidelburg. She told me I could take the number 5, but it would take an hour. If I took the train, it would be only 30 minutes. That sounded good, so I got directions and headed off.

First I caught the number 6 tram to the street closest to the main train station. I walked to the station via an underground walkway. When I got closer to the station, I realized just how huge it was! With all the throngs of people, I couldn't see over anyone's head to find some instructions. I was so confused as to what to do. Seconds later I spotted a familiar sight: two young men in black suits with backpacks and little black name tags on. Missionaries!! I quickly walked over to them and asked if they spoke English. They said yes, and I told them I was from Utah. They both had smiles on their faces as they told me they were from West Jordan and Syracuse. We chatted for a while and then I asked them if they could help me find the train to Heidelburg. They walked me over to a part of the building where I could buy a ticket, and then they pointed me down a hallway and told me to get on platform number 9. I thanked them profusely and headed on my way, since the train was due in about 5 minutes. When I got to platform 9, not many people were there, and as I looked at signs, there was no mention of Heidelburg. Platform number 10 behind me was full of people, and as I rounded the corner I saw the word Heidelburg on the sign. I stood in the line hoping that I was making the right choice. I had only been there for about 2 minutes when the same two elders came running up the stairs to find me and tell me they were wrong! How sweet these two boys were to come back and make sure I got on the right train. Their mothers should be so proud of them! We talked again for a while and I wished them good luck as I boarded the train. Hooray for Mormons in Germany!!

It took about 20 minutes to reach the Heidelburg train station. When we got there, I followed the masses off the train and realized that I had no idea where I was. I decided to walk outside to see if I could get my bearings. I looked around and didn't recognize a single building or sign. I walked a little farther and suddenly saw a building that said "Tourist Information." That's english! I walked into the building and asked a woman how to get to the shopping area by the castle. She pulled out a map and I realized I was pretty far away. I took yet another bus to get to the area I wanted. I think the whole trip took about 50 minutes. So much for "faster than the tram." Yeah, maybe if you are German and know what you are doing. I was pretty much a fumbling tourist who would have been utterly lost without help from another American!

When I got to the market, I found a little coffee shop to stop and eat. I looked at all the delicious pastried behind the glass and the only one I could translate was something called buttercake. I pointed to it, and the lady pulled a huge square out from the case. I thought that she was going to cut a piece off for me. Nope, I got the whole thing! I went to sit in the cafe, and she brought me a plate and dessert fork. The cake didn't even fit on the plate! It was like the WHOLE cake! It was delicious though. It was a sweet pastry type bread, with a buttery top covered in drizzled icing and slivered almonds. It was sooo good, but I only got through about half of it.

I started to go through the little shops, and I came to a big Christmas store. Christmas is HUGE in Germany. I started to go through the shop, looking at the hundreds of ornaments and decorations. I headed up a tiny staircase to the upper shop to look at more decorations. When I finished, I headed back down the stairs. I was so involved with looking at all the stuff in the store, that I didn't notice that there was a small landing at the bottom of the stairs with a little lip. I caught my heel on the ledge and WHAM-went flying towards the ground. I landed on my knee and my hands, but not without totally twisting my ankle. I quickly got up and hobbled out of the shop. I limped along until I found a park bench to sit on. I pulled off my shoe and sock. Yup. A big blue puffy spot was forming just below my ankle. I was officialy a bad tourist.

I waited for Ben to arrive, and after he parked the car, we went back down into the square to visit one more shop that had the perfect souvenirs. I might be injured, but that is no reason to stop shopping! After the shop, I hobbled down the street with Ben looking for a restaurant to eat at. We ended up choosing a bavarian place. The food was really good. We both had steaks topped with thin strips of fried onions and fried potato slices. Meat and potatoes; my kind of place.

We left the restaurant and traveled by car back to Mannheim to our hotel. When we got to our room, I couldn't stop laughing at what a joke I was. I was a fumbling American tourist with two injured feet. One with a blister, and one with a sprained ankle. Ben had little sympathy for my shopping injuries. I guess that's the price I must pay to get the exact items I want. Oh, well. I am still totally amazed just to be here.

Heidelburg Revisited

More of Germany

So I have been a little bit of a traveling wuss the last two days. I haven't ventured very far, because I am still so tired. I didn't think the time change would affect me this much, but I can't seem to get adjusted yet.

On Wednesday I went back into downtown Mannheim for the day. I really wanted to do some shopping, but I know that Ben doesn't have that on his agenda, so better to do it without him. A funny story about my adventure...

I asked the hotel receptionist which tram line to take downtown, and how much it would cost. She told me, and I headed to the platform to wait for the tram. When it arrived, I walked on board, and looked for somewhere to put my coins. I looked around for a minute, and couldn't find a sign or anything. I tried to ask a passenger where to pay, but noone near me spoke English. Just then the doors closed and the tram started to move, so I hurried to take a seat. At the next stop, some passengers boarded and inserted tickets into a slot by the door. Apparently you are supposed to pay at a machine at the tram station before you board. OOOPS! I bet the other passengers on board were thinking "Stupid American touris." Oh, well. I got a free ride.

When I got downtown I shopped for quite a while. I found a cute boutique with lots of jewelry and got some cute necklaces. I also went into a large deparment store to look at clothes. I found a couple of things I wanted to try on, but I didn't know where to go. I wandered around and watched the women for a while until I found the dressing room. The clothes were nice, but I decided they were too much like the stuff I could buy back home. After some more wandering, I found an area of the shopping district that had some more discount stores. I went into a shoe store and saw rows and rows of shoes....in european sizes. I didn't know my size, and couldn't find anyone to help me, so I moved on to the next store. I finally found what I really wanted. At the last store I purchased a beautiful Italian wool peacoat. It is black, knee length, and double breasted. It is a gorgeous coat, and it was only 32 euros!

To cap off the night, Ben met me downtown and we went to a traditional Bavarian restaurant. I ordered "roasted pig knuckle with potato dumplings and gravy." Don't worry, it wasn't really a pig knuckle. It was actually a huge hunk of roasted pork. The potato dumplings were kinda weird though. They were potato balls with the texture of gelatin. Not my favorite!

Tonight we went out with Ben's work group. First we headed over to the Mannheim Museam of Technology. We got a guided tour of displays that ranged from medical tools of the 1800's, to a working replica of a textile mill. It was interesting to see how people lived when this city was first established.

We then took a walk for a few blocks to the Fermeldsturn. This is a large communications tower at one end of the Luisenpark. There is a big rotating restaurant at the top. We took an elevator up and were seated at our table. Even though the restaurant moves very slowly, it was really weird to sit and see the walls moving past us! It took about one hour for the restaurant to make one full rotation, so it wasn't fast by any means, but still it's an unusual sensation. The food was really good. I had a soup that consisted of beef broth with onions and sliced german pancakes (crepes) It was really good. For my meal I ate Spatzel, which are thick german noodles with a creamy sauce. My dessert was a chocolate cake with a crunch crust, berry filling, and a hard chocolate top. It was all so yummy, so it was good to have a long walk back to the hotel. Here are some pictures of the Fermeldsturn and the view from the restaurant.

Day three at Luisenpark

So the hotel we are staying in is called the Park Inn because it is just across the street from Luisenpark. I decided that for my first day alone, I would stay close and not get lost, so I headed to the park.

When I got to the entrance, I found a lady in a booth selling tickets. I was surprised to find out it cost 5 Euro (about 6 dollars) just to go in. I paid, and when I entered I could see why. This park is not just a park, it is an oasis from the city. I would compare it to Central Park in New York. The place was massively huge, and absolute pristine. Not a single piece of garbage anywhere!

As I entered, I began to enjoy the beautifully manicured botanical gardens. Soon I came to a large cage, and realized that I was in the Aviary. I walked through and enjoyed all the beautiful birds on display. I kept walking further through cobblestone paths and rolling hills of flowers and trees. Soon I came to an area where I heard soft classical music. In the grounds ahead, I could see rows of loungechairs set beneath the huge trees for visitors to sit and enjoy the music. Further down the road I came to the rosegardens and the irisgardens. They were beautiful! After yet some more walking, I came upon the tranquility garden. This garden is set as a large circle, with each inner ring getting smaller and smaller until you reach the fountain in the middle.

After that I passed more playgrounds and gardens until I had reached one side of the park where the Feldstern is located. This is a large communications tower that has an observation deck and rotating restaurant at the top. Since we are going to eat there on Wednesday, I skipped by and kept walking.

At this point, I reached the port where I could board the gondolas. They have these gondola boats that operate on an underwater pulley system. I paid two Euros for a one way ticket. The gondola ride was smooth and peaceful along the river that runs through the park. I passed many fish and birds, and my gondola almost ran over a pink pelican! I sat back and enjoyed the scenery for the 30 minute ride. It was so peaceful and beautiful that I almost fell asleep.

After I got off the exit, I walked past the aviary to the sculpture garden. Many famous German artists have donated sculptures to Luisenpark. I must have passed at least 20. After that I walked to the manicured herb gardens. Most of the plants had lost their blooms and leaves because of the cold weather, but it was beautiful nonetheless.

After two hours of walking I headed back to the hotel restaurant for lunch, and then went to the room to read until Ben got back from work. All that walking must have worn me out, because I fell asleep reading. I hope to visit the park again this week.

Day at Luisenpark

Day two at Heidelburg

I am absolutely in love with Heidelburg! It is such a gorgeous city! We made the 10 minute drive from Mannheim on the autobahn. It's cool not to have a speed limit, but you should always watch your rear-view mirror. When somebody comes, you move! A porche went flying past us, and we were doing about 160km (85 mph?) When we got to the city, we parked in a public parking garage right next to the Funicular Railway. This is an old railcar system that takes you straight up the mountain. And I mean straight up! The grade on the slope is about 40% (super steep) The first stop on the rail car was the Heidelburg Schloss (Castle)

We got out and started towards the grounds. All the streets in Heidelburg are cobblestone streets. So I am a total idiot for not packing any flat shoes. (Fashion before practicality, right?) I kept getting my heels stuck between the stones. We slowly made our way through the beautiful castle grounds. The Castle is located on top of a hill, so we had a terrific view of the whole city beneath us. Also in the Castle was an Apothecary Museum, dedicated to the ancient medicine used during the time of the Castle. Ben really like the room with all of the old instruments. We made our way through the grounds some more until we got to the "World's Largest Wine Keg." The picture on my slide show is not that keg. We thought is was that one, until we turned the corner and saw one twice it's size! We looked through some shops and got some postcards before returning to the railcar.

The Funicular took us further up the mountain, to it's tallest point. After getting out at the top, we could see the whole valley below, past Heidelburg, as far as the eye could see. It was an amazing sight, but very cold at the top, so we jumped back on the railcar before it began to descend and rode it back to the parking lot.

After exiting the lot, we walked the streets of Heidelburg to the Kornmarkt. This is a big open plaza where merchants set up thier booths. We made it just before closing time to snag some souvenirs for loved ones back home. We also found a booth selling crepes. We couldn't resist getting some hot, fresh crepes wrapped with Nutella spread. Oh yea, it was good! To finish our day in Heidelburg we went to an Italian restaurant in the plaza. I had tortellini aus panna (tortelling in white creme sauce and diced proscutto) and Ben had the veal parmigiana. Good thing we spent all day walking to burn off those calories!

We are planning to come back here on Friday, since Ben will be done with work at noon. It's so beautiful here!!

Day two at Heidelburg

Germany day one

So we actually made it here! The flight was really long, and was overnight, so we tried to sleep as best we could. We bought some of those neck pillows, and they are lifesavers!

After arriving, we got our rental car, a Mercedes! It seemed really cool at the time, until I realized that most of the cars over here are either a BMW or Mercedes, so it's really like having a Ford rental car. It has a navigations system built into the dashboard, but it really sucks. It took us forever to figure out how to enter a location that we wanted to find. We wanted to do some sightseeing in Frankfurt, but we didn't know where to go. I though the GPS system would have tourist info programmed into it, but it mainly just asks us what road we want. So after some aimless wandering, we decided to check into the hotel.

When we entered our room, it seemed so small! That is a recurring theme over here. Small. The cars are tiny, and the roads are very narrow. We found that our room had two twin beds, so Ben went to the front desk to ask for a king size bed. Yup, even the beds here are small because they don't have a room with anything bigger than a full size bed. We kept our room and just pushed the two beds together. They also don't use sheets here. Just a mattress cover and a duvet. It's weird not to sleep between sheets!

After a much needed jet-lag recovery nap, we decided to go and get some dinner. We went to the Marketplatz. It is an area with lots of shops, restaurants and businesses. Mostly it is just for foot traffic only. We found an Argentine steak house that looked and smelled good. It was interesting to try to talk to the waitress, who spoke just a little english. I am getting really good at the phrase: "Sprechen zie English." Most people do speak enought to be helpful. Everyone we have encountered was very helpful. Hopefully day two turns out just as well.

First Day in Germany

An early celebration

So I had been pondering for quite a while what to get Christopher for his second birthday. The kid has tons of toys, and when he gets tired of them, he just goes into B's room to play with his stuff.

I had been thinking about how the boys don't really like to play outside much. We spent tons of money on a fence, and it wasn't getting much use. I thought that if the boys had something fun to play with outside, then they would want to go out. After some serious shopping, I found a cute little play slide that was perfect! I realized that soon most stores would not be selling outdoor toys as they made more room for Christmas products, and that waiting another month to get the slide meant even less time to use it before the snow came, so Happy Early Birthday Christopher!

Here is Christopher playing on his birthday present (one month early)

He is so excited to play on the slide, that he can't even wait until daddy is done putting it together!

The boys played together on the slide for two hours, with no fighting!

Gifts from Ben

So with Ben's new position at work, he has to travel quite a bit. He is gone about one week of every month. This month his trip is to England. He left on Saturday morning, and won't be home until this coming Saturday. To make it even worse, the 7 hour time difference makes it hard for us to call and keep in touch. Since our cell phones don't call internationally, I have to wait for him to call once a day from his hotel. I think he knew that this trip would be hard on all of us, so today he sent me a great surprise-flowers! Take a look at the sweet gift he sent me:



I was on the phone with Alisha when the delivery man brought them, and when I answered the door, I said "Oh look what my cute husband sent me!" This is the conversation I had with B immediately after I hung up the phone:

B - "Mommy, why did that man give you flowers?"
Me - "Because Daddy sent them to me."
B- "But I thought you said your husband gave them to you."
Me - "Yes B, Daddy is my husband."
B - "And that guy is Daddy's friend?"
Me - "Uh, yeah, sure."
B - "Mommy, why did Daddy's friend give you flowers?"
Me - "Let's try this again...."


Ben also didn't want the boys to be left out, so he sent them cute cards in the mail. They are talking cards, so the boys love to open and close them all the time to hear the funny message inside. B's card has a reference to "kung-fu" So he makes sure to do his karate moves when the card is talking. Christopher's card sings a funny song, which he has memorized and runs around the house singing!

Thanks for the presents Daddy-we miss you!

And so it begins....

We have started working on our basement! We have been up to a lot in just the past two weeks. First we moved all our crap, I mean valuable belonings, to a storage unit. It only took us three trips with a truck! With the basement all clear, we started framing. Here are some shots of the work in progress.

B has been so excited about the basement. We told him that when it was all done, he could have a bedroom down there. He is adamant that he will have a bunkbed, with B on the top and Christopher on the bottom. When Ben started framing, he said to me, "Mommy, is daddy making my bunkbeds?" I am having a hard time explaining to him that it is going to take a while before things will be done. Every time a new sub-contractor shows up, he asks me if that man is making his bunk bed. When the plumber came, I told B, "That man is making you a potty in the basement." B's eyes got really big and he said, "I can have my very own potty downstairs?" Wow. Is that what it takes to get him excited about keeping his pants dry? A different toilet?

Here is B with his BOB the builder toolbelt on; flexing his muscles.

He was so excited to go and help Daddy. He even got to hold the tape measure and hammer a nail. His official job was to gather up the odd pieces of wood and put them into piles. He was so proud of his wood towers! Things are moving along well and we should be able to sheetrock by the end of next week!

feelin' HOT HOT HOT

So Ben has been in New Hampshire since Sunday, and our AC went out on Thursday. I don't want to call a repair man until Ben has a chance to look at it, in case it is a simple fix we can do ourselves. I have been trying to troubleshoot it with my limited knowledge, but to no avail. Luckily it rained hard last night, and the temp has stayed down today. I have all the windows open and lots of fans running. Thank goodness for small blessings! It could be sunny and 100! Guess the boys and I will have to eat out tonight just for the AC in the restaurant.

Halleluja!!

They finally did it! The park behind our house finally got hydroseed today! We have waited for 3 years for the park to get finished!! They planted tons of trees yesterday, and when the grass gets more established, the park benches should go in! It will be so nice to not see 2 foot tall weeds, or get dirt blown all over our back yard every time there is a storm! Hooray!

By the way....I know that Breaking Dawn just came out, but I am not going to read it until my trip in October, so please don't spoil it for me!! And if you click on the counter at the top of my blog, you can see 2 new trailers for the Twilight movie on the website!

For Ben

Happy 30th Birthday!! We love you!!

Camping Adventures

So we planned to go camping for two nights for Ben's birthday. It turned out to be just one night for Christopher and I....

It all started Wednesday night. We went shopping for food and treat for the trip and ended up getting WAY more food than we needed. (isn't that always the case for camping?) So many treats and munchies sounded good to us while we were in the store. After the kids went to bed, Ben and I loaded up the two cars (yes, it took two cars) with all our camp gear.

Thursday, as soon a Ben got home, we headed up Logan canyon to our favorite site, Spring Hollow, only to find it completely full :( So we went a little further up the road to Guinivah-Malibu, and found a nice little secluded spot to set up. We started a fire to cook our tin-foil dinners while Ben set up our awesomely huge tent. Here's a few pics from the first night.

That night the wild monkey emerged. Christopher got soooo hyper when it was time for bed. B had his own sleeping bag and mattress, and we brought the playpen for CJ. However, before we could coax him into it, he ran around the tent, jumping on all the beds while singing and laughing. Even after we turned out the lantern and tried to sleep, he was still singing and talking to himself for a good hour or more. Finally, he crashed, and slept for about an hour before waking up and crying. We got him out of the playpen and put him between us, but that wasn't enough to console him. We finally gave him a flashlight, and he stopped crying. However, the wild monkey emerged again and he ran around the tent with the flashlight. He found the camera, and brought it to me and said "Pic-toor" So here's what we took in the middle of the night:

The next morning wasn't bad, but I should mention that there were TONS of mosquitos! They were everywhere. We were constantly spraying ourselves with bug spray. After breakfast we went for a walk to the river by our campsite. The boys threw rocks and put their feet in the water.

After a nap (for mommy, more than Christopher) we had lunch and went exploring again. We got things ready for Ben's brother and some friends to join us for dinner that evening. The mosquitos were out in full force, and I could tell CJ was not having the best time. When everyone showed up, we roasted hot-dogs and tried to enjoy our food. CJ kept running to the car and saying "Go, Go." Ben suggested that Christopher and I go home to sleep, while he and B stayed the rest of the night. I was hesitant about bailing on our family trip, until I got bit by a mosquito right above my left eye. It started to swell up so huge! I looked like Quazimodo. It was ridiculous. After that, CJ and I packed up our stuff and headed home. The poor little kid was asleep before we left the campground. When we got home, I cleaned him up for bed, and he opened his eyes, saw his room, smiled and went back to sleep. Christopher is not a happy camper like his brother.

The next morning B and Daddy showed up around noon to tell us about all the fun they had. B loved camping, and asked when we can go again. It's hard to answer that question while looking at him. The poor kid has so many mosquito bites on his head, that he looks like he has chicken pox. But all in all, the trip was good and I do think we will have to go camping again.