Ready for summer!

The very first day it warmed up, the boys begged to play in the sprinklers. Here they are lined up in their swimsuits.

JR Turns 9!

JR had a simple birthday this year. Here are some pictures of gift opening, birthday crown and cake! I'm getting better at the cake making thing. Maybe someday, I'll try and make something more intricate...we'll see. He had a good birthday. Grandma and Grandpa Benson came over with their gifts for him.
Do you think he is excited for his gifts?
Unwrapping the presents.

Tyler excited for his brothers' birthday also.
Bryce trying on JR's new underwear.
Blowing out the candles.
I can't believe my oldest is 9 already. It is amazing how fast the time flies.

Easter 2009

Well, we celebrated the usual ways. Things were a little crazy for a couple weeks there, late March and early April, so I think we dyed eggs the Saturday before Easter.
Easter morning, the boys found their baskets and eggs throughout the living room. Inside some of the eggs was a picture of Christ that was cut into a puzzle. They had to piece together the pieces to remember the true meaning of Easter. It was fun and like always the boys loved getting candy!








Easter morning!




Some happy boys!

Did you wash your hands?

I thought some of you might get a kick out of this...
Bryce went pottie and came out of the bathroom when he was done. I asked him "Did you wash your hands?" He looks at me and says, "Let me check mom. I'll be right back." Well, I decide to follow him to see what he is checking for.
He went to the toilet to make sure the water in the toilet bowl was clean and started scrubbing his hands in the toilet water! So that is why he has come out with wet sleeves after his trips to the bathroom lately!:) Needless to say, we had a little teaching moment after pottie time today!!!

Pinewood Derby

JR had his second pinewood derby for Cub Scouts in April. Although his car wasn't the fastest, Dad and son had a great time putting the car together and seeing what it could do. I believe it placed 2nd, 3rd and 4th in each of its' races. They called it Bumblebee (after the Transformer, also yellow and black) of course. He received the award for the coolest bucket seats.
JR receiving his award from Uncle Vance.
Bumblebee, the yellow and black one with #10 on the side
Holding his prized pinewood derby car! He displayed it in my curio cabinet after we came home that night.

Nastia is back!

We're guessing that Masha and Nastia had the chicken pox and that was why Nastia was with her grandma so long. Here is a picture of her the day that she got back to school. Wendy took it on Monday I believe. Wow, that is some short hair! Shorter than when she was here in October, but you can still see that cute, mischievous face. I wanted to share the photo with my family and friends.

April 3-6, 2009: San Rafeal Swell (Spring Break)

We love to play and as a final trip with our ToyShare membership we took on of their trailers and two ATV's and went four-wheeling in San Rafeal Swell. We left on Friday afternoon and when we got to the camping area, the snow flakes were an inch and a half in diameter. It was so cold. Drew set up the trailer while the kids and I stayed warm in the car. Hee-hee! We woke up the next morning to everything being covered in snow and way too cold to take the kids out for very long. We took a short ride that Saturday and went back to the trailer to get warm.
Saturday night we ran out of propane. We had to go to town on Sunday and get another tank and on our way listened to General Conference over the radio. For the most part we played games and just hung out together.
Monday, finally, we are able to take a ride through some of the longer trails. This was beautiful and that is where most of the pictures have come from. It really was a gorgeous area to ride in. I think we will return again!
As mentioned earlier, this was our last trip with ToyShare. In fact, Drew just signed the cancellation documents this week. So sad for Drew! :( He really loves playing with ToyShare equipment. But, hopefully, someday again we can afford to do this stuff as a family. Until then...







Notice Bryce's red nose...very cold! Good thing we had a fire to huddle around.





There were some petroglyphs along the main trail at a visitor's site.