pics for following post

I am grateful!

Having the Benhams leave was harder than I expected it to be. I have tried to put on a happy face for the girls but it is hard. Especially when I know how sad they are and that I can't do anything about it. Well, I read Lisa Bearnson's blog today and she had a quote on there from a talk given at conference about gratitude. I remember enjoying the talk at the time, but it seems even more meaningful now. I really don't have to look too far for things that I am grateful for. And today, I am grateful for an awesome 2 weeks that we got to spend with the Benhams. We are still sad that they are gone. But for today, I am grateful they were here at all!

So here is a little slide show from their visit with a few other pictures thrown in of our times together over the past 2 years. I don't know how to add music to the slide show itself , so my first song on my playlist for the blog goes along with the slide show. So turn up your speakers.

A taste of her own medicine?!?

Where do they come up with this stuff?

So I am sitting here surfing the internet. (Passing time until it is time to pick up the Benhams at the airport.) Anyway, I overhear an interesting exchange between Payton and Hayden. They are playing with the dollhouse. Payton is the mom and the daughter. Hayden is the dad and the son. Here it is:

Son: She punched me. (refering to daughter)

Dad: Go to the corner. (to the daughter)

Son: I am kicking you out of this family!!

Payton: Um, Hayden, kids can't kick each other out of the family. Only parents can do that.

Hayden: OK

Dad: Go see your mother. (to the daughter)

Payton: Hayden, the dad can't tell the daughter to go see the mom. The mom has to call her.

Hayden: OK

Mom: Come here. (to daughter)
Mom: Don't hit your brother.

Mom: (to dad) You have to give her a taste of her own medicine.

Dad: OK (Hayden makes dad pretend to give daughter some medicine.)

Payton: No Hayden. A taste of her own medicine means that you have to punch her so that she knows how it feels.

I don't know where they hear this stuff or why they interpret it the way they do. My best guess is the cultural refinement classes they take via TV from Cartoon Network and Nick Jr. Hey, if nothing else, it increases their vocabulary.
Now, its been five minutes since this little exchange. So now they are arguing over whether or not to play Thundercats.

As a side note-Hayden spends a great deal of her day making observations about the world around her. Her recent musings include:
*Gabriella sings better than Sharpay.
*She really likes a missionary at church. Not the one that plays the ukelele. Not the one with the glasses. And not the one with the light peach skin. The other one. He is handsome and she really likes him but I am not allowed to tell him.
*Hayden does not think she is beautiful unless she is wearing her dress-up Ariel wedding dress.
*We shouldn't go in any boys bathrooms because they are GROSS!

That's all for today. I am sure she will have many more enlightening things to say tomorrow.

October recap

October was a busy month for us. Here is quick rundown of our month:


Taylor had her 8th birthday which included getting a package from the Benhams that had her scriptures in it.


Taylor found her birthday presents throughout the house from a scavenger hunt that Payton and Hayden made for her. The only place they could find large enough to hide the chair, was the bathtub.On October 2nd, Taylor was baptized. It was better than we ever expected it to be. So many family members and ward members were there. Taylor, Payton, and Hayden sang. And the Benhams even sang via video. We put the house back on the market with a different realtor. This meant that we had to purchase a few things to replace what was taken when the other realtor took back the things she had put in our home for the "staging." Our best purchase was the daybed on the back porch. We have already gotten alot of enjoyment out of it. Payton and I went on a field trip with the first grade to the corn field maze. It was entirely too hot but the kids had a good time.

We had our ward trunk or treat party where Taylor won for best girl costume and Dylan Parkes won for best boy costume. We were glad that Aiti, Grandpa, the Nowell cousins, and the Courtneys (friends from school) could come with us.

Taylor was the All-star for the month of October from her class. Her wearing that non-uniform shirt means that she (and Payton) had perfect attendance for the month. This was the second month in a row. This doesn't mean just being at school everyday. This means being ONTIME everyday. High fivc to me! We were able to go to the fair with the whole Emmertson family (including the Nowells) thanks to Grandpa.

And of course, we did the required trip to the pumpkin patch. As usual, we had to squeeze it in between everything else in our busy schedule. We went on Saturday evening after being at the fiar all day. We rushed home, threw on the cute little halloween shirts, and raced to the pumpkin patch to take a few quick pictures right as the sun was setting. I think this is the first year that we bought a full size pumpkin there. Normally we just get the tiny ones. Mostly out of obligation for using their pumpkins for pictures.

Bryan and the girls had fun getting the pumpkin carved. That is not my idea of fun so they had some fun daddy-daughter time doing that. Bryan sketched out several designs and the girls picked out which one they wanted him to carve. The pumpkin looked great when it was done. But it started to droop over the next couple of days. I think we learned that you need to leave more pumpkin attached than you cut away.

The caramel apple making was fun. But I am glad it is only a once a year deal. We ended this eventful month with trick or treating with the Nowell cousins in Spanish Fort/Daphne. We vowed for the second time not to trick-or-treat in Aitis neighborhood anymore. The houses are too far apart and too far from the road. Once we made it to the church for the party they were more excited. And we ended this long night with a little more door-to-door action in a neighborhood close to the Daphne ward building.

I was actually a little sad for Halloween to end. The kids all were so cute in their costumes and have really enjoyed all the festivities of the past couple of weeks. I eased my sadness by going to Target on November 1st and buying Halloween stuff on sale for next year.

As you can tell from some of the pictures. We were lucky to see a lot of Daylyn, Jill, and Adylynn and Nakeysha and her kids over that past month. We were sad to say goodbye to the Nowells on Halloween. That was the last time for us to see them before they went off to Hawaii for 3 years.

We are excited, though, to be counting down the days to see our Benham cousins. ONE WEEK!!!!!!!! We can't wait!

I have an announcement...

After reading this, you will probably say that we need a hobby. And you are right. We do. However, we put a lot of thought and effort into this. So without further ado.... (drumroll)...

We named our van. We love her and she is part of the family. She has passed all rites of initiation to be in our family: 1) She has been thrown up on. 2) She has been yelled at. 3)She endures carpool. 4) She has been on a family vacation to Utah. 5)She knows the way to Wal-mart. 6) And, she is usually concealing some sort of chocolate.

So, in keeping with family tradition, our van is a girl and she has a "Y" in her name. Her name is Monty Ray. But we call her Monty. (In case you don't get it---it is a Mercury Monterrey.) Bryan and I figured that since we love her so much and she will probably be around for a while she deserves a name. Of course, the girls love the idea. But I am now worried that we have jinxed ourselves and I will get in a wreck. Then the girls will cry because they will think we have lost a member of our family. Good times.

Our Halloween festivities

Halloween doesn't just involve trick-or-treating at our house. It usually starts with trunk-or-treating at church, a trip to the pumpkin patch, and several other candy filled activities. This year we added pumpkin carving and dipping apples to our week-long extravaganza. The girls decided weeks in advance what they wanted to be for Halloween and these costumes were exactly like they wanted them. Taylor's rock star costume won her a prize for best girl costume at our ward party. (I think it was the fake eyelashes.) And Payton's vampire costume won her the prize for scariest girl costume at the Daphne ward party. Hayden was a witch for a second year in a row. She used the same custome but had a new hat and we added purple tights and a purple sash. She is still sporting a light green face and black eyebrows today. We weren't able to get all of her make-up off. It might have something to do with it being eyeliner instead of regular Halloween makeup. I think I have learned by lesson for next year.