Dave's Birthday Party

James' brother Dave has a birthday this upcoming weekend. As a tradition, the Saturday before his birthday the whole family heads up to James' Grandma's cabin and we go sledding and hang out. This was Claire's first time. We put her in her huge snow suit and took her up to the cabin on a snow mobile because in the winter you can't drive to the cabin. We had tons of fun. The best is sledding because it is a snow covered road that no cars can go up with twists and turns and bumps and the whole ride lasts ten minutes give or take. James and I raced to the bottom of the long long trail. He won, but I think he cheated because he kept grabbing on to my sled and stopping me. We watched Dave open presents and we all had cake. When it was time to go, I packed Claire up in our front pack and she and I sled down the hill. At first she didn't know what was going on, but she actually seemed to enjoy watching the trees and snow as we sled past.

Claire, Bob, and Me on the snow mobile getting ready to head up to the cabin.

Claire and I hanging out in the cabin.

Dave blowing out his candles. Happy Birthday Dave!!! We love you!!

Christmas Eve

Since both sets of parents live five minutes from each other, we find holidays very busy and we end up going back and forth a lot. This year it was James' family that we were to be with for the majority of Christmas. After spending time with my family shopping, and getting ready for their Christmas Eve dinner, we headed over to James' parent's house to spend the evening with them. We first ate, then had a talent show, acted out the nativity, gave new year wishes to each other and then the grandkids opened their pajamas. The talent show is always my favorite. EVERYONE participates, and it doesn't have to be serious. A few years ago James' talent was banging spoons together. So it is tons of fun. This year James and I sang in Korean and Claire showed everyone how she flies. It was an enjoyable evening.

Claire began as an angel for the Nativity, and at the end she acted out baby Jesus because cousin Jake wasn't enjoying it to much.

This is Mary (Sara) and Joseph (Ben) riding on the donkey (Jake).

This is what Claire did for her talent that night. We didn't get a picture of it that evening, so we just tried to hurry and take one. She was a little tired and wasn't enjoying it as she usually does. But usually she flies through the air straight as a board while James just holds her thighs. She has some strong back and tummy muscles. We aren't sure who she gets that from.

This is Claire and Evie in their new Christmas Eve pajamas.

Inherited?

It's true and here is proof. Claire takes after her Daddy, she LOVES the computer!!

Snow Fight!

It snowed!!! Tonight there was a huge snow storm and the snow hasn't stopped coming. At around 11:00pm I was bored and wasn't ready to "hit the hay" yet, so I suggested to James that we play in the snow. He wasn't too interested, but he humored me. So while Claire was sound asleep in bed, we went outside, had a snow fight, caught snowflakes in our mouths, and then we made snow cones with the snow. I saw a few people looking out their windows wondering, I am sure, who the crazy people were playing in the snow at 11:00pm. So if you are ever where there is snow and you have nothing to do, go out and play....it isn't just for kids.

This is just a random picture of Claire in her huge winter coat, as she sleeps in her car seat. I thought it was a cute picture.

CHRISTMAS FUN!!

So much has been going on this Christmas season, so I will try
and catch up.

The first snow!!

The picture of Claire in her snow suit makes me laugh!! She looked like the little boy on The Christmas Story. She couldn't move. James and I couldn't stop laughing. Anyway, that was her first time playing out in the snow, well laying in the snow!

Christmas tree hunting, I mean....shopping.

The first picture is of James, Claire and Vincent picking out our Christmas tree. James volunteers for Big Brothers, Big Sisters and Vincent is his "little brother". James does something with him every other Saturday. He had fun helping us.

Ward Christmas Party

James, Claire and I went to Jeff and Becky's (James' brother and sis-in-law) ward Christmas party because I played the piano while their family sang for the talent show. That was Claire's first time sitting on Santa's lap and she didn't cry. The other picture is Claire with her cousins Robbie and Sara with their reindeer antlers on.

Christmas Decorations

I am so happy with how Claire's stocking turned out. It was a lot of hard work but it was worth it. I loved my stocking growing up that my mom made, and I hope Claire will love hers.

I've Been Tagged!!

I've been tagged!!! Here it goes!!

1. What is his name? James Benjamin

2. How long have you been married? 2 years and 2 months

3. How long did you date? That is to your interpretation. We had our first date our Junior year of high school, couldn't date our senior year, dated on and off our first year of college, he went on a mission while I dated others, and when he returned we dated again. So, your guess is as good as mine. But, after his mission we dated for two months, got engaged, and two months later we were married. CRAZY!!
4. Who eats more? James definitely eats more, but I am not far behind him.

5. Who said I love you first? I did. Our first year of college.

6. Who sings better? Well, we were both in madrigals together, so I would say we both sing fairly well. However, in church anyone who sits in front of us, or even five rows in front of us can hear James' booming voice and he gets many compliments.....so him?

7. Who is taller? He is and that is one of the many reasons why I love him. I am a tall girl!!
8. Whose temper is worse? I would say his is, but I believe that I can egg it on.

9. Who does the laundry? Well, now that I am home, I do....unless I am behind and James runs out of underwear. oops!!

10. Who does the dishes? Lately, I do! James is a busy man!!

11. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? He does. Hahahaha. That actually depends on where we are living. I am the same way as Amy, James always has to be closest to the door. It is weird I know!!
12. Who does the cooking? I have to say James is a better cook than I am because he grew up making things. But I am getting a lot better. I usually make dinner unless it is a night when he is working.

13. Who is more stubborn? I think I am, but after I have had time to think and ponder I will usually give in.

14.Who proposed? He did. We went for a hike, a hard hike! When we got to the top, we were looking at the view and he "accidentally" dropped his jacket. hehehe When he went down to pick it up he grabbed the ring out of his pocket. When I turned around he was on his knee. On our way down there was a surprise candlelight dinner on the trail. His friends had set it up after we had started up the trail. It was romantic!!

15. Who is more likely to admit when they are wrong? I think James is. I am pretty good at it, but he is a lot better.

16. Whose parents do you see the most? Together or apart?? I usually see my parents the most because sometimes when James works I go to my parents house. But together we try and keep them equal.....but we probably see my parents a little more. What can I say? I am a girl!!

17. Who pays the bills? James does, but we are supposed to be switching. We'll see.

18. Who wears the pants in the family? He does. Although we heard someone say once, "the man is the head of the family but the woman is the neck, and the neck tells the head which way to turn." yup thats right! :)

19. Why do you love your husband? There are so many reasons! I will give just a few because the list goes on and on. Reasons I love James: he is patient with me, he is an example to me, he is a great father, he loves me for who I am, I am a better person when I am with him, he is smart, he is handsome, he works hard to support our family, he makes me laugh, and so much more!! I have loved him since highschool!!! I love you James!

Money Saver!

While James was out of town, I decided I wanted to make a craft. I didn't want to spend money and I wanted it to be semi-easy. I went to my parents and found some scraps of wood in my dad's shed, painted them, painted the letters on, and then sanded down the sides. I am so happy how they turned out. I just recently saw a decoration similar to the one I made and it was selling in a store for $15.00!!! Crazy!!

Christmas Fun

Last night James and I began our Christmas season by attending the Michael McLean Forgotten Carols play. I loved it!!! There couldn't have been a better way to feel the Christmas spirit. If you have never heard the Forgotten Carols music, I suggest you do! James enjoyed it, until the end when it got really cheesy. We were asked to link arms together while we sang over and over and over again, "we can be together forever someday". hahahahahahhaha I guess we need a little cheese every now and again. I personally think James was just jealous because my arm was linked with a 16 year old boy. :) Anyhow, if you ever have a chance to see it, it is a wonderful way to celebrate Christmas.

Growing Up!!

CRAZY!! Claire just had her half birthday on Saturday, she turned six months old. James and I can't believe how fast it is going. We love every stage! It seems like every week she can do something more. However, it seems just like yesterday that we brought her home from the hospital. She is getting so big. Things Claire can do now are: laugh, smile, eat her toes, put her binkie in her mouth, scream happily (she has a great set of lungs), knows her mommy and daddy, sleeps in her own crib, eats food, sits on her own, grabs her toys and plays with them, rolls, and so much more. She even has her own little personality. Let me tell you, if you have children or soon will have children cherish every moment!!! Don't let one pass you by because they grow up fast. Claire has been a blessing in our life and we love her more than words can describe. Happy Half Birthday Claire.

This is Claire in my dress that I was blessed in when I was a baby.

So I had a picture of her smiling in the bath, but this one I had to do instead. This is the face she makes just before she gets really excited and starts kicking her arms and legs. It is hilarious.

Claire and her mommy.

James in Pittsburgh

This is James's first post. Hi, everyone. I just got back from Pittsburgh. It was really fun. I love the East because of its rich history. Pittsburgh is no exception. As you probably know, Pittsburgh was built as a major industrial center for coal and steel. Now, the main industries are healthcare, education, and other services. The city now is beautiful, as was the University of Pittsburgh campus, where I visited for a medical school interview. Take a look at the pictures. The building that looks like a cathedral with people studying inside is just that - the cathedral of learning. It is a beautiful building. I loved the idea that learning is sacred. Sound familiar to anyone? D+C 93:36?


Anyway, the city was beautiful (the downtown area sits right at the convergence of three huge rivers) and there are a ton of fun cultural things to do:

• The Carnegie Museums (Art, Natural History, Science, and Andy Warhol)
• Carnegie Library
• Lots of small shops and restaurants (not chains)
• Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens

Just to name a few.
I really liked the school, too. It has extremely strong research programs (7th in NIH funding), which I think I might be interested in going in to, and I liked the general learning atmosphere.
It's also (relatively) close to Philadelphia, NYC, and Washington D.C. as well as a lot of church history sites. (of these places, Bethany has only been to Boston, so it would be fun)

Pitt Pictures

Out on the Town

Today James had the afternoon off, which is really unusual, so we hit the town!! Living here in Salt Lake I think we have taken for granted great sites there are to see. After eating lunch James and I decided to explore downtown, a place we have been hundreds of times. Well, we didn't really explore ALL of downtown, but we did go to two places. We first went to the Salt Lake City Library downtown. WOW!!! It was beautiful and so much fun. There are a few little shops inside and you can go out on the roof. Also the childrens part of the library was so much fun. There were little nooks and crannies where kids could read. If you have never been there we highly recommend it. The next place we went to was the Conference Center where we went on a tour. It was a long tour but full of information. Even though we have been to the Conference Center many times we learned even more. The last part of the tour was the roof of the Conference Center, which was amazing. It was surprising to us how much landscaping is on top. It is kind of sad though because it was President Hinckley's dream to have a place where people could go and think, but since a boy fell off when it was first opened and because of 9-11 you can only go on top if you go on a tour. But you can tell it was made for people to sit and ponder. There are benches everywhere. It is another place that if you haven't been, you should think of going. You never know what is in your own backyard.

On top of the Conference Center

On top of the City Library

Claire is sticking out her tongue again.....she loves it.

Yum Yum

Just recently we started Claire on solids, starting with rice cereal. She loved it!! You should have seen the way she was coming at that spoon. Jeesh!!! We would have a spoonful ready, and right when she saw it she would lunge forward. It was the funniest thing to watch. After every bite she would make a whining sound until she got another bite. We couldn't get the spoonfuls in fast enough. A few weeks later we tried peaches. Hahahahahaha. Boy, was that a sight. I don't think she liked those as much. We weren't able to get the camera in time to capture her first few hilarious faces when she tried the peaches, but we did get a picture of about the fifth bite, which is still pretty funny.

Look at her go!!!

Mmmmmm........good

Baalk...ba....ba...ba....baalk

This was Claire's first Halloween and it was a lot of fun. She dressed like a chicken and I was a farmer. James would have dressed up as well, but he was on an airplane on his way home from Ohio. So Claire and I had fun visiting parents and watching a scary movie. She makes a cute chicken!!!

This was actually taken at my parents' ward Halloween party. It is a great picture of Claire.

Pumpkins

Sarah had a few days off of school and one of those days we hung out. After our sleepover at my house we went to lunch and then decided to carve pumpkins. It took us both a long time but we were pleased with the results. It was tons of fun!!


Carving our designs on the pumpkins was hard work....as you can see on Sarah's face.

Claire helped carve her pumpkin. She was more interested in trying to get the carving knife into her mouth though. She loved staring at the pumpkins and enjoyed hugging them.


This is my pumpkin. Cool huh!!


This is Sarah's pumpkin. Pretty sweet!

Tiff Was Here!!!!!

It was so much fun to have Tiffany and Caleb in town. Since I am staying at home I was able to spend a lot of time with them. I miss them already!! On Monday Tiff and I drove down and visited her sister in Springville. After the boys had their naps we went to a pumpkin patch/corn maze in Orem. It was tons of fun. We had to keep a close eye on Caleb because he kept running down different directions in the corn maze and he would run under the orange string to places we couldn't reach him, but he was having so much fun!! Caleb says, "I wuv you" after someone says it to him and it is so cute. He finally knows my name, but instead of Bep it is "Bet". Tiff says that at times it sounds like "butt"(hopefully mom doesn't read this) but I don't care what he calls me, as long as he has some name for me. I hope they can come again soon. I love you guys and miss you so much!!

***I will have to add a really cute picture of Tiff and Caleb with all of the pumpkins later...it is on my mom's computer.***

Caleb holding on to the orange string that he loved to duck under and hide in the corn.

Tiff and Caleb

Caleb and his cousin Jack....they are two handsome boys!!

Claire sitting on a pumpkin.

Getaway

Ok.....so I am behind so I am going to try and catch up. Last weekend was a fun weekend. Busy, but so much fun. Tiffany (my sis in law) and her son Caleb (my nephew) came in town Friday morning. They went to the cabin with my parents. That afternoon, once I got Claire up, fed, and ready to go we went and met them there. We enjoyed playing games, talking, eating, and watching Caleb give Claire hugs and kisses. At 5:00 I had to leave because I had a Girl Getaway with James' family in Park City. This is an annual get together. Those who have children leave them with their husbands (except for babies) while we get to have some fun and time away. This year Melanie, Dave's fiance' was able to join us, which was a plus. Angie wasn't able to make it though, and we missed her! This year was a lot more slow because we had THREE babies that accompanied us. We had to feed, burp, change diapers, and sometimes deal with crying, but other than that it was tons of fun. Friday night we went to dinner and walked around main street. We were a sight to see with three babies. The downside was that Claire was called a boy... two times!! She was wearing brown though so maybe that is why. And she is a little tomboy-ish. That night we watched a movie in the hotel room while the babies tried to sleep. The next morning we went to breakfast and then went shopping at the outlets. It was fun to be able to spend time with my inlaws.

Everyone eating at dinner....yum....yum...

Evie and Claire in their strollers. Ok, so I do have to admit that next to Evie, Claire looks a little like a boy...and she has a blue blanket. But, the blanket has butterflies...she is a girl!!!

Becky and Evie

Heidi and Jake

Claire and Me

Melanie (soon to be sis-in-law), Deanne, and Claire