sonora, cali

the proud grandparents




we ventured out around town on monday and ended up in the small mountain town of sonora. it's an old mining town from the gold rush days. we did a little shopping and walking around the old towns. the boys stuck together during all the shopping :)

snugli time with grandad


the family minus kelli & matt

meeting the family

we're out in california visiting and getting a chance for my family to meet the little man. it worked out that both of my sisters could be here...even if it was only for a day. ben has been the life of the party for sure. saturday we had a family picnic by the river. my aunt judy and cousins jill & karen came up from santa cruz and aunt neva and uncle john and poppo came with us too. we had a great time! it was a long day but well worth the time.

sitting with aunt kelli


kisses from aunt kaiti


playing with grammie kay


hanging out with grandad


getting some love from poppo

it's been a while...

cousin owen & ben 7/07


out for my birthday dinner 5/07


i know i know i got bad about updating with pictures and stories. life has been full! it's been great. we're getting settled into our new house and loving it. but that takes up a lot of time...the normal house upkeep on top of the unpacking and finding places for things. and i have no idea where the card reader for the camera is...still looking.

we still have a lot on our plate for the rest of the summer...matt is going to NYC next week with the youth on a mission trip and i'm going to visit my family. august 12 is going to be ben's dedication and matt's ordination day. we're doing construction on the youth room because we need the extra space (we've almost tripled in size in the past 2 years!) so all this to say just be patient...i'll get pictures up eventually!

ben talks up a storm these days. i think he likes the sound of his voice. it's pretty funny. he also loves to stand up and play in his johnny jumper and now, we have the perfect doorway for him to do that. he is also really exploring things and reaching and grabbing and putting straight in his mouth!




the sweetest smile on the planet 7/07

some pics to tide you over

dontcha just love this face. :)



this is my regular expression of interest



momma/ baby VIP club :)


thanks tess for the great pictures.
it might be awhile before i can update again...we close and start moving tomorrow. so look forward to multiple updates with all the craziness that is our lives.

love to all!!

vacation this week...

we're in florida this week. i'll try to post pictures, but i don't think i remembered to pack the cord so i can download pictures. plus, the little camera is broken again :)

love to all! ...from florida! don't you wish you were here (to those who obviously aren't)

Party Animals

ben sleeping at the church picnic

we were incredibly busy this weekend, but loved every minute of it. we had friends in from out of town, birthdays to celebrate, and 4 picnics...including one at church. it was a little rough on the little guy, but we all survived. he's just kicking and playing and talking so much today. he may be an introvert...just needed some down time to recover from all the socializing. :)

and this weekend is another busy one. bethany is coming in town to visit and it's also the start of graduation season around here. so more parties to go to and people to see. he also has his 2 month doctor visit this week. this means his first round of shots. :( i'm not looking forward to it. and then on sunday evening we leave for florida for the week. phew! yes i know that we're crazy but we're just living life to its fullest.

the home inspection is set for tomorrow and we're still on schedule for a closing on the 15th...yes of june!



ben & mercy at wayne & jada's picnic

an adventure outside

ben's gotten big enough to hold his head up on his own pretty good, so we turned him around in the snugli. he loves to see the world. this is how we walk the dog and he loves to be outside. he's wearing the hat nana roo got him in mexico to keep that bright sun out of his eyes.

we've been busy!

sorry for the lack of updating last week...it was a full one! we had mother's day, got in a fender-bender, found and looked at a house we like, wrote a contract on it, my birthday and a couple of high school baseball state playoff games...on top of our weekly routine.

other than all that, everything is good and well in our house. we wrote a contract on a house last week and they accepted our offer and we're going through inspections this week. we'll let you know how it works out. and in the mean time we are also looking for renters for our condo, so that's been a whirlwind as well. ben's been a champ through it all.

ben has discovered his fists this week. he loves to shove them as far into his mouth as possible. sometimes he would rather his fists than the pacifier. maybe he'll turn out a thumb sucker after all. he's also become quite the vocal child. he'll lay on his back and kick and fail and squeal til his heart's content; then he usually cries and wants to be held. he's becoming more and more lively and we're so enjoying it.

sorry no pictures right now, i'll get some up later this week.

love to all

all about growing me

i've definitely noticed a few things this week:
1. i love him more every time i hold him. it's absolutely amazing!
2. he has huge hands & feet! i pray that this means he's gonna grow into them and be a big boy. i mean his feet are so big that he can't wear 0-3 month sleepers anymore because his feet are too dang big. i find it quite adorable.
3. he has a little forehead and dark thick hair like his papa steve & daddy. it's more noticeable now that his hair is starting to grow back in.
4. he's a big little guy. we have a friend who had a little boy 2 weeks before ben and he weighs a pound less than ben still. matt is praying we have a chubby baby so he can squeeze him more.

and last but not least, he's smiling at us!! he's finally found his smiling muscles. it started this week. at first i thought i was just a fluke and he was still just smiling cause he had just pooped or something. but nope, he knows his mom & dad already. it's the greatest feeling in the world. i love the little half smile he gives with his big lips and toothless mouth.

what a great time for my first mother's day...i'm truly basking in motherhood at the moment. im sure it will fade about 4 am, but i'm enjoying for now :)

love to all

a big week

this week has been busy & full. it started out with ben getting pink eye. how a month old baby gets pink eye when no one has had it is strange. but we got some ointment and it healed up almost overnight. since we took him to the doc, they weighed him and sure enough, he's reached the 10lbs mark. 10lbs. 4oz to be exact. he's now been loving dubbed "meatball" by his dad! :)

ben has been working on the grumpy old man look as well. he is losing the hair on the top of his head but still has all of it along the sides. it's quite hilarious. the new hair has started to come back in but just isn't thick enough to really see quite yet. see picture of the matching sleepy boys above.

and to finish off the week we went to a baby shower yesterday and ben got to hang out with some of his friends. hannah on the left is 2 days younger than ben and sherilan on the right is almost 3 months. we can't wait for the other little ones on the way get here!!