My 26 year old

Ben has always had a relationship with his birthday cake.

Can't you tell he's fascinated?


Well I attempted to keep the tradition going that Debbi placed in action on his 1st birthday - minus the homemade cake with actual numbers of candles as the birthday and decorations! Oops.


Ben has also loved digging into his presents.

Shorts from Nate, Lori and Reese (he loves them!)

By the does this face look familiar?

Happy Birthday Ben!

cute chubby cheeks

No I'm not talking about myself, thank you very much!! Our new niece Reese is looking very "pinchable" in these pictures. I've had to quarantine myself for like a whole week because I've been sick so I get to take pictures of Ben holding her. I'm dying over here!




She looks so little here but she's grown even!

We visited Katie and Kevin in North Carolina and got to pinch some cheeks over there. This was my first time meeting baby Ethan! He is such a happy baby. He loved sitting in the baby bjorn.


Here are some more cute chubby cheeks - Big B and little B got to reconnect again. We hope to see them again for Thanksgiving!

I got kidnapped!

One Saturday morning Ben woke me up early and said to pack some clothes, he was kidnapping me!! We drove for a couple of hours, I slept, and we ended up in Fort Story, Virginia! Ben was stationed here during the Army and has told me many stories of his time here. It was great to see his old stomping grounds and to be a part of the history.

this was the scenery during the drive and Ben kept saying, "don't look!"... I couldn't see anything if I tried!


this was a treat for us because we haven't had Little Caesars since AZ!!



this was Ben's lifeguard shack where he would sport his buffness and look for damsels in distress

a Kalmar he drove that would pick up crates off other trucks and trains

his favorite gas station that is similar to QT called WaWa

this was the new military housing they have built since Ben's been gone. I told him if we get in one of these, where do I sign??!!

NYC in one day

We went with our friends Cari, Brandon and Kayla to NYC a couple of months ago. We all woke up at the crack, rode a bus jammed full of people and were dropped off at China Town and picked up there that night. It was the most interesting bus experience I've ever had! What topped it was to see Ben's face when he first saw Times Square early in the morning.

(I did a day trip once a couple of years ago but this was Ben's first time)

We were walking around Rockefeller Center and heard some commotion to find this...

Rob Thomas on the Today Show.

You can see him behind his greasy guitarist.

Us girls got in based on these.....

...our good looks. Yes I stopped a cop and weaseled our way passed the gate.

Ben was willing to pose with me at some popular spots. The LOVE sign...(which I really don't know the history of)

Central Park...

The Statue of Liberty...(as close as we were going to get)

Now to leave you with a great idea for parking.

8 legged creatures?

Ok so I've been lazy. I haven't updated in forever - and not because there is nothing going on, its just plain laziness. We have been to NY, picked fresh cherries and strawberries, celebrated 4th of July with family (and on the National Mall! - the food court is great there), been in summer school and this past weekend - went to a Crab Feast. Yes I ate my first blue crab people! By the way, do they have 8 legs or 6? Are their claws considered legs? Just wondering...

So, my work has an annual Crab Feast which I found out that I plan, and planned I did. All the 'Bawlmer' people at work were excited to see me eat/pick at my first crab. Here is the evidence.

Notice my pursed lips, trying to figure out what to do next. I pretty much ripped the legs off, knawed on the end of those, and dug around on the inside to find some meat. Ben had crabs while he was in the army so he showed me the way. I really liked it! The Ol' Bay seasoning was nummy. I was caught just licking the outside of the crab for the taste of it.

Anyhoo - I promise I'll put some pictures up. My friend Cari and sister-in-law Lori have the fancy cameras with all the pictures on them so I need to got those.

Meanwhile - Ben is done with summer school this week. This summer he took two Math classes and an Anatomy & Physiology class to get started sooner in the Radiology program. You have to apply by December and they only take like 29 people or something like that? Good thing Ben has the best grades in his classes and is totally the favorite of all his teachers.

Bittersweet Arizona Trip

As everyone knows I'm a big cry baby when it comes to family. Especially nieces and nephews. I often ask myself if I will love my own children as much as I love them. It sounds terrible I know.

Anyhoo, I went to Arizona back in May for my first nephew's (on my side) blessing. His name is

Heber Jared Wright. It was great meeting him for the first time. Ben couldn't come because of school and of course the first thing Chloe said when she saw me in the airport after "Kay Kay!" was "Where Bin?" (she sounds like she's saying Bin instead of Ben, so cute)

This was the mood in the car on the way back from the airport. Chloe - still not sure what's going on. Shouldn't I have that tall cute guy with me? Emma - wanted to talk to Ben so she's talking to him on the phone. Sadee - posing and keeping it chill. She is into saying "dude".

This is Heber. I feel like he was so big when I first met him, thanks to Sarah for waiting till I could come for the blessing. He is such a little handsome boy. His nickname is Bear.

This little blonde girl got quite attached to me as I did to her. The first morning I woke up was so fun because we were all giggling and remembering all the fun we have together.

We had to make a trip the Chandler Mall for some shopping so of course we stopped at the play area. Emma was in school that day so we had Sadee, Chloe and Heber. I still can't believe how big and grown up they are.

Chloe soon found out that its really fun to go down the slide on your stomach. There was a little boy that had already pushed this other girl off a climby thing and made her cry. I already am a protective aunt but I immediately went into survival-mode waiting for this kid to touch Chloe. Sadee I'm not too worried about.

Cute sisters.

Another highlight of trip was my cousin's wedding. She was one of my play-mates when I would visit AZ as a child from TX. She looked beautiful but I guess I was too busy taking pictures of my nieces to get one of her!

Once again I can't believe how much they have all grown up from January to May. Having little personalities, drinking out of big-girl cups and losing baby teeth.

This little one, Jillian, was just warming up to Ben and I before we moved. She was still unsure about how to feel when she hugged me but soon became my buddy all over again.

Camille the monkey still was not sure who I was. She has been walking and saying cute little things since the last time I saw her.

And to put the cherry on top, I got to see my best friend Jayme. What a trip! Of course I loved seeing you adults too. Hopefully next time Chloe won't have to ask "Where Bin?"

The Delaware Water Gap in 35 pictures

Here are the much requested pictures from Ben's canoeing/camping/fishing trip. I had him show me which pictures he wanted me to blog about. Hence why there are 35! I also had to ask him the details of the trip and the names of the fish they caught...

- many small and large mouth bass

- they used fake smelly worms flavored like pumpkin

- they caught one of the large mouth bass with a frog that Nate captured

- Joe caught his first fish ever!

- an eel surprised Nate on the end of Ben's pole the first morning

- torrential down-pour accompanied them their first night

- they went through some rapids on the river

- they drove through Pennsylvania and New Jersey

- the closest Sonic to us is in Pennsylvania so of course they had to stop

- Ben brought some lemon pepper seasoning to add some nice flavor to the bass

All in all it was a fun trip for the boys (well I can't speak for Nate and Joe but I'm pretty sure that's correct). Ben says thanks to Ross Rigby for the canoes. Hey, maybe I'll get to go next time!