Benson Gets A Hair Cut :(

Last Saturday, Jut decided it was time to cut Benson hair. We have been going back and forth over cutting his hair for the past two months. Either way, when it came down to it, it was not an easy thing to do. It was very sad to watch all the beautiful curls fall to the floor and Benson was not at all excited about the razor. I am very glad I did not try to cut it on my own because it was definitely a two person job. Jut had to hold his head still while I tried to cut it. He did a lot better with the scissors than he did with the razor. After we finished he no longer looked like my adorable baby boy, his hair cut aged him and he looks much older. He is now my adorable little toddler. :( Time passes too fast.

BEFORE



AFTER

Ava"s Birthday and Tutu Party

Ava turned 4yrs old on December 1st. I can hardly believe that my little girls is getting SO BIG. She loves to help me cook, and clean (but only when I am helping) and she is turning into quite the little girlie girl. Lately she has been doing her own hair. She will brush her hair and get it wet so that it is curly and then she will come find me and tell me "Mom aren't I so beautiful". Then she will cock her head to the side, bat her absurdly long eye lashes, and smile. She is such a blessing and we are so grateful to have her in our home.

Like I said, she loves to "help" me cook.


This was my attempt at a castle and I must admit it wasn't much of an attempt but she loved it and that is what counts. Ava loves anything princess, pony, pink, etc.... and she loved getting a Mulan princess doll and pink princess cell phone.


Ava is best buds with our neighbor Ed, he is like a second grandpa and he spoils her. This is one of the toys he gave her for her birthday.


A few days after her birthday, my friend Jen and I got together and did a joint "Tutu" party for Ava and Elise. Elise turned 2 on Nov. 28th and since both of them love to dress up we figured a "tutu" party would be perfect. We invited all the little girls in the ward and gave each of them a tutu made of ribbon. We colored princess pictures, decorated cupcakes (with pink frosting), danced to music and played Ring Around the Rosie. We had a great time.

Funny kid question

So last night on my way home Natalie sitting in the back of the car asked me if Jesus controlled our farts?.... Needless to say an interesting conversation followed. Gotta love her.

Family Pictures

We have been really bad at getting our family pictures taken. The last set was taken in 2003 when Ava was a baby. We have had several candid's but nothing turned out well enough to blow up and put on the wall. So while we were in Fruitland for my brothers wedding I begged my cousin Sandee into taking them for us. She is quite the photographer and I just love her. Anyway this is what we ended up with.

Our Trip to the Home Land

At the end of the first week of November we headed to Fruitland for my brother Roberts wedding on Friday. The wedding was beautiful, the reception went off without a hitch and the happy couple headed off to Florida for their week long honey moon happy as ever. On Saturday morning we had family pictures and then that afternoon all of my family got together for a Thanksgiving style meal. It was so fun getting to spend time together without a deadline starring us in the face.

The girls and I decided to stay for the week because they had all but Monday off of school the next week, but Jut had to get back to work so he flew into Portland on Monday. Marie, Debbie, Rachel and Lerin all stuck around the next week to spend time together. We had a great time shopping, chatting and an awesome night when Jasie came over and we all crafted until way too early in the morning. We got to see Grandma Wettstein, see Kat play basketball and go horse back ridding with Heather. We had a wonderful time and we cant wait to see everyone again.


The happy couple, Robert and Whittney.

This is a picture of several of my sibblings and their spouses, we took this picture after lunch on Saturday. From the left; Anthony and Jasmine, Brian and Lerin, Debbie (Jesse couldn't come to the wedding), Rachel and Travis, Dad and Mom, and Jut and I. I wish we would have thought to take it before Marie and Tyler had to leave.


The girls had a great time ridding Gib. Heather was so great to lead them around the house over and over. Ava was so excited until she saw the horse up close. She told me "Mom the horsey is too big" but she did find a horse she could handle. She came and got me and said "Mom I have a horsey and it doesn't move!".

Halloween 2009

So I do realized that I am a little behind but as they say, "better late than never". We had an interesting Halloween this year. The flu made a nice two week visit to our home. I say two weeks because Natalie brought it home and by the time it had made it through our entire family (each of us suffering varying degrees of discomfort) it had been about a two week period. Our ward had a harvest trunk or treat party on Friday, October 30th, which only Jut and Natalie were well enough to go to. Halloween night was about 10 days into the two week flu visit and Lexie, Benson, Ava, and I were still suffering at varying degrees. Ava only had the cough, Benson was over most of it but had a bit of a runny nose, Lexie had been fever free for about 24 hours but had a cough and I was coughing like crazy and felt like crap. After the river of tears that accompanied the decision that only Natalie would be aloud to go to the trunk or treat, we decided to let them all (except Benson) go trick or treating for a little while. They had a great time and they made out like bandits in the candy department.

The weekend before Halloween, Jut and I went to a Halloween party at the Walkers. The party was a blast but I don't know if our attempt at pimp and prostitute was very successful. Jut told me I looked like a flight attendant and his mustache looked like it belonged on a 10 gallon hat cowboy.


The kids had a great time designing their pumpkins and Jut had a great time cutting them out with the jig saw. He has decided that a kitchen knife is way to slow and that pumpkin carving with power tools is the only way to go.


If you can't tell from the picture Natalie was Violet from "The Incredibles", Alexis was Hermione Granger from "Harry Potter", Ava was a fairy princess witch (she wanted to be a fairy princess and then found the witch hat and insisted on wearing it) and Benson was a bumble bee.


This was the post trick or treating picture. The Gardner family came over and trick or treated with Jut and the girls. And as is typical for Western Oregon, it rained. Not too much, but enough to smear makeup and flatten hair.

Happy Birthday Benson!!

We had a party for Benson on the 18th. Maurnee, Maureen, Jon, Jen, Elise, Even and our neighbor Ed joined us to celebrate.

Just like most one year old children, he didn't care much for the boxes covered in paper but once he got into them he started to figure it out.


One of the toys he got came with a tiny cell phone and he sat and talked on it with Maurnee for about 10min. It was adorable.


His cake was covered in chocolate mousse instead of frosting. He had a great time making a huge mess. Its a good thing that babies are washable. :) We love you Benson, happy birthday.

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Its Your Birthday, You Can Do What Ever You Want!

Today our little man turned one and while I was outside working on the garden and the lawn I figured I would let him do what he wants. (to a certain extent, no running into the road) He began by finding and eating a piece of one of the water melons I chucked out into the field. Benson LOVES water melon and when I discovered what he was doing I just shook my head and went to get my camera.


Because he was enjoying himself so much, I decided to give him a cleaner melon to eat. I found the one melon I had not yet thrown into the field and broke it open for him on the lawn. He began to stuff the melon in his mouth by the hand full. It was hilarious. (look at those cheeks)


He spent the rest of the time we were outside eating dirt, tomatoes and more dirt. He played and climbed and colored with sidewalk chalk. He was SOOOO dirty. Every piece of clothing he had on, including his shoes ended up in the washing machine and he finished his birthday with green beans, chicken nuggets and chocolate ice cream. He went to bed a very happy little boy.


Oh, and yes we will be having a party for him on Sunday, so more pics to come.