Update on our Busy LIttle Benson

Sorry there isn't any music, when i transfered it from youtube to here it didn't keep the music. But enjoy it with my blog music!

Benson is turning ONE!

I'll let the pictures do the talking!

Maybe you noticed that he is usually playing with the little black camera case... that's usually the only way i can get him to sit still for a photo! hee hee

We're Jammin!

Last Thursday and Friday, Mom, Nicole and I got together to restore the old fashioned tradition of making homemade jam. Not just any jam though.. Our famous Apricot Freezer Jam. Everybody who tastes this jam, loves it, so we were determined to make enough to last until next season. Last year, the jam was made from the apricots that grew on my tree in the backyard. Unfortunately no apricots grew this year, so we had to venture elsewhere. 10 hrs of hard labor (and i mean, HARD LABOR), 6 trips to the store for forgotten supplies, lots of dollar bills spent and we had finally accomplished our goal. A year supply of Apricot Freezer Jam. Wahoo!

We even had to get an extra freezer to fit it all!

GOT CHICKENS?? We Do!

A few months ago we were sitting around with Jim's family chatting about preparing ourselves for the end of the world... Among many other tactics of self sufficiency and survival that were discussed, "chickens" caught Jimmy's interest and led to what we have now. After much contemplation of whether to get baby chicks, or just go for the chickens, we decided to pay a little more and have the work done for us...

Here is our chicken coop that we built using Max and Chloe's dog house.. sorry guys!

Now meet our chickens:

This is Granny, she was given to us just a few days ago by our neighbors.. she's getting pretty old and they had too many chickens i guess.. she is the only one old enough to lay eggs right now...

The Next two are named Frita and Frango (translated in Portuguese that means "Fried" and "Chicken") hee hee

We just refer to the others as the Jackson four.. I think you can guess why...

We were told this one might be a rooster.. don't tell anyone cause rooster's aren't allowed in Orem. Woops!

This afternoon i went out to take care of the Little flock and found a Little surprise..

Our first official egg

It's a bit smaller than a store bought egg, but we'll take what we can get!

Happy Birthday Julie!

Your only request was for us to post more pictures of Benson for you, so here you go!

Happy Sweet Sixteen!

Gardening 101

We decided to start a garden...

a little late in the season I know,

but better late than never!

Benson joined us between naps

Planting our seedlings!

Watching them grow

Knife to the finger!

There are 7 stitches on my knuckle underneath the purple stuff.

So, let me explain... Actually, typing the last sentence took me 2 minutes, so i'll just let you use your imagination. :)

Remembering Our Max

After a wonderful life of 11 years, we had to make the difficult decision of letting our Max go. The last two weeks have been very hard to watch our beloved boxer get so old and sick so fast.

After realizing we had done everything we could to keep him with us, we decided to let him be free! We now imagine him running and jumping all over the grassy hills in doggy heaven! :)

Benson's First Crawl!

Benson must have been inspired by all the wonderful conference talks... he went from not being able to move from one spot, to crawling all over the room in minutes! Sooooo fun!

Quick update!

First time eating peas:

Is it raining Milk?

Benson's Big Boy look... Cool kicks and a New Dew:

Relaxing in the swing after a long hard game of B-ball:

Bath time as Alfalfa:

We sure love our Little boy.. Can't believe we are coming up on 7 months!

Omen or Common Mistake!

During my pregnancy with Benson, my sister-in-law Kim gave me a book called, Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child.  If you have read it, you know that it's AMAZING... I think i turned to it more than the scriptures during those first few months, which is very sad!  I do have to say that Benson sleeps the way he does (Great) because of that book.  

Anyway, I finally gave the book back to Kim after I had ordered my own on Amazon.  I waited and waited and finally the book arrived on my doorstep.  Anxiously, I ripped open the packaging and to my surprise, this is what I held...

I guess I had clicked on the wrong book, which was easy to do because they look exactly the same besides the "TWINS" word and a picture of two babies instead of just one.  

My heart sank, and was sure it was an omen... that my next pregnancy was going to be with twins.  I have always wanted twins because I know how much fun it is to be a twin, but after having one, I realize that it was insane for me to wish for twins.  I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason, which is why I still shutter when I look at this book sitting on the counter..

I don't know whether to send it back or to keep it just in case it really is an omen... What do you think I should do? :)

Camy's half of the fam!