Lately...

We've been trying to stay cool and also have fun this summer. It's hard to want to be outdoors with 90 degree heat plus humidity that doesn't sink lower than 60%. However, I do NOT have dry skin... it's awesome. As soon as Ben cleans out the garage, our car will be back in a cool environment, and going somewhere in a car won't be so hard to do either :)

Here are some random pictures since I last posted.

This is Grant at our awesome pool. I am not posted any of the other pictures for personal reasons :)
There are these 3 "Ol Faithful" type fountain things (lol) that he is obsessed with. Watching him at the pool takes a lot of effort. Notice the other moms in the picture just lounging around? Yeah- we can't do that... he runs and runs and wants to touch EVERYTHING there is to touch in the pool. It's a full time hands on job watching this kid. PLUS- he has poor balance in the pool, and though he loves the water, he is still a little freaked out when his face goes under.

Ah- Grant. What do I even say about this picture? Well, he has this new fascination with "helping with the laundry." This actually consists of him "trying on" my shirts. I'll help him put them on (cause, ya know- what's a mom for?), and then he worms his way into THIS position. So- here is our little "Greek Grant" and his TOGA, and that KILLER smile of his- AWESOME.

I thought I would try my hand at being a HOME MAKER. My first attempt at making bread, it ended up like this:


So- I didn't think I would be doing any sort of "hard baking" any time soon. Well, we got neighbors for the first time since we've lived here (we live in a duplex... all alone!), and I thought I would be nice and bake them some of Louise's yummy Braided Bread (notice the cook book in the background?) I guess these pictures speak for themselves.
I though it would be a good idea to add apples to one of them. And indeed, it was a GOOD IDEA! haha I cooked the apples in a tiny bit of water and brown sugar, then added them to the mix right before I braided it.
Alright, and here is the final products. Can you tell which one I did first? And which one I did last? Good thing Ben was here to help tell me what not to do. Thanks Louise!

Here's a day-in-the-life video we made recently.
Just a little window int0 Grant's growing personality. Enjoy!

Nice Air...

I don't know why I haven't posted this before, but when Ben and I were first married, we moved into this tiny basement apartment. The people before us must have put some food in the sink before they left for Christmas Break, because our place smelled SOOOO bad for a while. We finally took the pipes off and cleaned them REAL GOOD and the smell faded. However, I searched and searched for home-made recipes of air fresheners. I ended up coming up with my own creation. It has no name. But here's how to make it... so simple, and SOOO good. Add what you want, but here's the basic recipe.

2-3 cups water (or however much it takes to fill your smallest sauce pan)
1 Tbs whole cloves
1 Cinnamon stick (broken in half)
1 Tbs Vanilla

That's it. Let it get warm and then turn it down to the lowest setting. I can not even begin to tell you how great it smells (even just these 3-4 ingredients). I do this all the time. Sometimes I put other spices in just to "spice it up," like pumpkin spice, or nutmeg... usually anything you put in pumpkin pie or apple pie! Sometimes it smells really good with apple juice or some cider, heavily diluted. ALSO- this helps with some nausea- for those who are pregnant! When the water level gets low, just refill it with warm water, and it stays for a few days. Just don't leave it on ALL day, your husband might not like your electric or gas bill :) ENJOY!!

In Case You Haven't Heard.......

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Grant got a new shirt.

Oh, and he's going to be a BIG BROTHER! Yeah! haha

As of today, June 17th, or maybe I'll just go with tomorrow, June 18th, I am 17 weeks along. As Grant's shirt says, the baby is due Nov. 26th. So, if the baby is "on time," it and Grant will be 4 days less than 2 years a part. Kind-a perfect, don't you think? But Grant was 3 weeks early, so we'll see what this child wants to do and when it wants to come :) I have been doing "ok," for what that's worth!!

But guess what?! I GET TO HAVE ANOTHER BABY! Isn't that so exciting? We get to expand our wonderful little family. We are so grateful for the second opportunity it will be to have a child sent from our Father in Heaven. Knowing that I have been chosen to be this next child's "vessel" is such a blessing. Being a mother is more fulfilling than anything I think I could ever imagine doing. I know it's probably going to be hard, but how could anyone complain about the beautiful opportunity to raise a child! I am just so thrilled, and I am so thankful for a mother who been a stalwart example of how to be an amazing mother. If I am half of what she was/IS, then I know I'll be just fine. Plus, I have the most AMAZING husband anyone could ever ask for. Ben not only treats me like I am worth more than anything on earth, but he's the best father EVER!!! I am SO spoiled. This child should be jumping for joy knowing that Ben will be it's father. So- I guess now I'll be giving random updates on how things are going.

Oh- and for those who are wondering if we are going to find out the sex, you can stop wondering. We don't like to do that. So- this will be just as much a surprise to us as it will be to you when the baby comes. With Grant, Ben NEVER had ANY idea what it would be. I think I wanted a girl so much, I convinced myself he would be. Now, I have a sinking (or uplifting?) feeling that the baby is a boy. Same with the majority of people I ask! But when I asked Ben what he thought, he said "not a clue." Then, when we started discussing baby names for both, he could only come up with GIRL names! So- maybe that's him feeling it'll be a girl? So, I'm sorry Leah and Louise, you will have to wait, and you can't call our doctor to find out, cause they won't know either :)

Summer Funner

Hi all, Ben here.  We've been having a great time so far this summer, with the road trip to Dallas, a sidestep to Birmingham, and good times home in Bloomington.  We really love this town, by the way.  It grows on us more and more every day.  So to all our friends out west... come check it out!  We'll make room if you want to come and stay for a while!

Anyway, we uploaded photos from our own camera today so I thought it would be fun to share some of them.

First a quick glimpse of our quick trip to Nauvoo last month.

Here's a sleepy Grant on our wagon ride around town.  It was the only time we actually remembered to get the camera out.

And the temple in passing...

And that does it for Nauvoo!  It was short, but really fun.

Now on to Dallas - You've already seen Riley and Alison's wedding from Rick's camera, so here are a few from ours:

For some weird reason Grant enjoyed wedging himself between the bed and the night stand in our hotel room...  The first time he did it he scared himself silly, but then he kept getting back in there.  He's a curious little kid I guess...

We enjoyed seeing so many of Rocko's siblings.  Here's Reid.  I don't know what was going on, but it was funny.

Grant loved playing with his aunts and uncles!

Now on to Birmingham...  Here's the Vulcan statue, which we couldn't get up close to, but it was still cool.

At least it was a nice walk and a cool view!  Birmingham is absolutely beautiful.

In Birmingham we stayed at the Bitner house.  They are such a great family and so incredibly gracious to invite us into their home for a few days!  Dr. Bitner even diagnosed Grant's ear infection, which probably explains why he looks so tired in all these photos!  Poor guy.  Thanks, John & Lily for everything!  

Grant and Rochelle went to the zoo with Lily and the kids while I got some work done. They got to feed exotic birds.  Grant didn't care for them much, but I was pretty jealous!

They saw gators too!  I got to see one, but it was roadkill.  In Mississippi somewhere I think.

Grant loves push toys, and found a buddy in William.

Back in Bloomington we checked out one of our local pools, which has some really cool waterslides and a splash park!  Grant loves it.

We went on another bike ride today, then once Grant was asleep we made smores on the back porch with the cool mini fire pit that Rick gaves us a while back. Hooray for propane and ceramic logs!