Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Pretty close to a perfect day...

The morning started with a little trip...
However on our way we ran into a herd of sheep...actually they ran into us, we held still :)
And enjoyed the ambiance.

And this is why...
...we love living in the country.

The friendly sheep herder even took a picture of us in the van, how nice was that!

Then we reached our original destination and picked up this little beauty.

And we played "pass the kitty" in the van.

Aubrey named our kitty Misty...Welcome Misty.

Then Jason and I went on a date while Mom and Dad Benedict watched the kids and we picked up this little beauty to surprise the kids.

We asked Caitlyn to come out to the truck by herself and this was her reaction when she opened the door and saw our little puppy...Priceless!

Caitlyn loves dogs and she truly was in heaven at this moment.

One happy girl!

And suddenly we are a family with a kitten and a puppy. By the way, the 1st day with a pet is always perfect...I'm sure we'll have some not so perfect days along the way, but I'll look back on this perfect day and always smile.

A Happy Halloween

Brandt as a pumpkin checking out his loot. He wasn't as excited about Halloween as I had hoped, but then again I was dealing with a 2 year old...what did I expect?
The daddy's and their munchkins.

Jase, our boy wonder.

Aloha!

Way to be in character honey :)

The Ladies and our babies.

Adorable Ellie.

Trunk or Treating

Us

Troy was a good sport as I "aloha-ed" my way to him while picking him up at school (he,he).BBQ in the backyard, it was the perfect night!

Me and My Momma, Love YOU Mom!

We took a quick trip to Utah for Halloween this year. Although it was short we had a wonderful time! Thanks Utah family we had a wonderful time, maybe we could do it again next year?!

Family Reunion '09

We recently had the Stan and Brenda Benedict family reunion. Here are a few highlights from our time together. Enjoy!

All of us...this photo turned out surpisingly well considering the "weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth" the children weren't too bad either :)

Laura Lou

Caity-lynny-lou

Hailey K

Jonathan

Grandpa Jay "watching"

the kids ;)

Nathaniel

The girly cousins trying to pick up a toy out of the claw vending machine. "Ohhh, so close I'm sure if we put in ANOTHER quarter we'll definitely get it next time!"

Aubrey-Girl

Bowling

Audrey K...even adorable with pizza on her face!

Jase and Asher...bowling buddies.

We have two Ashley's in our family...Young Ashley and Younger Ashley, this is Younger Ashley :)

One of my favorite moments of the reunion...Mallory and Heidi told me they were going to San Diego to catch wild animals and eat them! Yikes! Watch out, behind those precious little faces these two are fierce!

Auntie Brooke

My honey bunches of loven' oats :)

Uncle Jason helping Ethan

"Pool anyone?"

Lovely Amy and two of the three Stanger menfolk.

Nice form Bruce

Uncle Jason and his amazing baby balancing trick. Mommy Lindsey and Baby Max...aahhh.

Grandma K, Brandt, and Buster

Greg, have you ever considered the NBA...seriously check out that arm span!

Part 1: Josh preparing to bowl with baby Zachary in arms.

Part 2: Josh bowling with baby Zachary in arms...and thats what you call "multi-tasking."

Elisa and I had a fun time on our grocery store trip...Elisa, we ARE classy gals even if we have a few faux pas along the way!

Ethan letting everyone know he had been hanging out in his car for a while...by the way Amy and Jason how was your car after that?

A bunch of red necks :)

Go Jordan, go!

"That's right son, throw that tire with all ya got!"

Brrrrrr!

Young Ashley/Run Ashley

Josh and Sam in the wheelbarrow race...how was your ankle after that Josh?!

Natalie, how do you like the pile 'o weeds in the background of this photo? Nice touch huh.

Jase, Grandpa Jay, and Jonathan

chillin

The awards ceremony for our little red necks...such a proud moment for children and parents alike.

Travis, overachiever in our red neck olympics.

The girl cousin sleepover, with two boys who just so happen to enjoy the feature film of the evening "Barbie and the Diamond Castle"...we'll keep that in the family though ok.

Max and LuLu entertainment

Blow up toys entertainment

Caitlyn teaching the family how to draw a dog...well done sweetheart!

McKenzie chatting with Grandma and Grandpa Craner.

Alexa and her harvest gourd friend Auntie Lindsey taught us how to make.

The Chinese Buffet Brooke whipped up...Delicioso! (said like Dora)

Max Kingstan Benedict and Zachary Atle Benedict in their matching sweaters and facial expressions :)


Thanks everyone for the good times...for those of you who we sent home with the swine flu we send our deepest apologies! Hope you are all doing better! Can't wait till next reunion, we'll be sure to have the latest pandemic again! Let the good times roll!

Here we go again...

I'm not sure where the time has gone, but summer has officially come to an end now that the girls are back in school. Back to school time is such a bitter-sweet time for me. I ache that the days are flying by so quickly and that my baby girls are in the 4th and 1st grade. But I also love who they are becoming and I am excited for the new opportunities they will have. Go, Fight, Win!

31 and proud of it!

Yep, I'm 31 and I am happy to be here. Who wouldn't be with a pan of brownies and candles strategically placed to read 31? Life is good, and keeps getting better...happy birthday to me.

Summer Time

This is a cave at the Craters of the Moon National Park in Idaho. Jason has named this photo "Tiffany O'gill and the Little People"...look closely over my shoulder and you can see little Atle :) No photo shop or anything, pretty tricky huh! Well done Jason!

This is my youngest cousin Oyvind who came to visit us with my Uncle Bjornar and Tante Gyrid from Norway. My kids loved having Oyvind around and they didn't want him to leave. Now they all want to go to Norway so they can see Oyvind. :)

A visit to the Splash Park...free fun, you gotta love that!

Watching 4th of July fireworks.

Grandpa and Grandma Patterson at the Benedict Family Reunion.

Here are just a few random photos of different things we did during the summer.