mom and dad visit maryland

my mom and dad were able to visit us over my dad's spring break. it was so nice to see them enjoy taking a vacation on their own with no kids. we went from gettysburg, pa to virginia beach, va to washington dc (twice) to arlington, va and back to baltimore. just a week prior my niece emma sent me part of a class project to help with. they were reading the book "flat stanley" where the boy is flattened on accident so his parents send him in the mail to all these cool places. emma drew a flat version of herself to send to us. well flat emma arrived just before my parents did so it was perfect timing. she went everywhere with us and we were determined for that little 7 year old to have the best class project ever! none of this "oh we went to walmart and then to the park". no, flat emma went across the country! take THAT other 7 year olds in her class!



the boys tried to play football on as many building steps as possible. it was a beautiful day with perfect weather. what a nice break from the rain a few days before.


we happened to stumble upon a huge rally on the lawn of the capitol building. we didn't realize it was the day before they would vote on the health care bill.

my favorite part of the weekend had to be the Arlington cemetery. it was quiet and humbling. we saw John F. Kennedy's burial site along with the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. this tomb holds an unknown American soldier from every war who are "Know But to God." we were just in time for the changing of The Old Guard. there is one soldier at a time and they guard it 24 hours a day 7 days a year. it was special to watch because Ben was able to explain the meaning of certain things as the Guard went on.


it was a tiring but fulfilling weekend and i was sad to see my parents go. this just means we have to plan another trip because NY was untouched. i smell a girls trip!

how YOU doin'??

well it was time for Ben's bi-annual hair buzz.


i can't cut evenly with scissors (plus it takes longer) so we used clippers instead. this is ben's mad face when i wanted to take a half-way picture. pahahahaha!


this is hopefully not a foreshadowing of what he'll look like when he's older...


...but based on dave's hair history i think he'll be just fine!


i took too long and he had the skills from the army so he took over. i don't why i got involved in the first place.


aww so cute.


so we moved into a new apartment! we are only a couple of miles away from nate and lori but still in the ward. we are really happy with the location and so far we've been happy with the complex.

ben's first house project.


here is our family room with all our stuff the day we moved.


and here is what it looks like after ben cleaned and put stuff away. my parents are visiting next week so hopefully we'll have something to sit on by then!


here is our den/dining room.
hey now don't be getting any ideas...that huggies box was gifted by lori for the move.


and here it is after. ben's a good cleaner. we'll hopefully find something soft for my parents to sleep on.

the many faces of chloe

this little girl is my daughter, i swear. my sister sends me these pictures whenever there is need to document these moments. be sure to find the ring pop, smeared-on concealer and look-alike picture of one of the John&Kate plus 8 kids. i am currently accepting all pictures of nieces and nephews to brighten my day.











we miss you chloe, please stop growing or you're going to break some hearts!

The grass is always greener....in the Spring

Remember this? I barely do. I feel like I haven't seen anything green in a while (including money.) The winter has been fun but I can now understand how snow can handicap a whole state.


The boys played while the girls crafted. They built a snowboard ramp...


and jumped off the second story deck into the pile they had shoveled off. Hard work huh!


The not so fun part was digging out the car. Oh wait, I wouldn't know because I didn't shovel one snowflake.


We appreciated the plows but they just kept pushing more and more snow into our cars. There was no more room!


The big piles made for a sweet man ice cave. Here Ben is modeling the comfort and expansive living area. These storms were fun and epic but I'm ready for some sunlight!

humbling experience

*a very long entry with no pictures

i had an interesting experience today at work. around 930am our receptionist asked if i could come down to our lobby - there was someone who said they knew my boss, the owner. i immediately thought it was some irate customer or someone who felt entitled to some special price because they “knew” the owner. this usually means they saw his picture on our wall and remembered his name. after asking who it was, the receptionist couldn’t quite describe them to me, which made me even more annoyed to have to go down there. as i prepared myself, took a deep breath and grabbed my spiral and pen - i was ready to handle the situation. i saw the person standing at the receptionist desk and introduced myself and shook their hand. they met me with a smile, half-crooked and kind of shy. this women proceeded to tell me how she knew my boss and how they went way back. i could tell by her dress she had been through some rough times. i could tell by her speech that may be a little slow. she said my boss told her if she ever needed anything she could come by. i was still quite unsure what it was she wanted. I asked - and she said “just a couple of dollars, i’m hungry.” i didn’t know how to handle this. i wanted to give her what i had in my wallet and send her on her way - as if to not get too involved. i asked my boss’ son (my boss when the big boss is gone), what we should do. we came to a conclusion that we were going to start with buying her breakfast at the diner next door. he told me to find a place for her either for the night or a shelter that could take her to permanently and then we would give her money for food.. throughout this whole time we were asking her questions about herself, trying to figure out if there was anyone we could contact. she said her mom had passed away, her dad kicked her out and her brother had tried to rape her. she also said she was a drug baby, and that was why she talked the way she did. she had a social worker but couldn’t remember their number. she showed me her birth certificate, which she kept in her back-pocket. she was the same age as my mom. it was such a surreal moment for me knowing that this person in front of me had absolutely no one to turn to. i finally found a place to take her. as i was running around the pharmacy, trying to find an address, a work vehicle to take her in and someone to go with me, she just kind of wandered around the place. she asked me for some candy as one point, it reminded me of a child. ben was able to drive me and her to the place where she would stay. she fell asleep in the back of the car and the orange that i had given to her earlier had fallen under my seat. she woke up and was worried that she wouldn’t get it back. i assured her we would get it after we stopped the car. she was asleep again when we arrived to her place of rest (this was barely a 15 minute drive). i told her we would check her in and be right back to get her. i walked her to her room while ben carried her cart and belongings in behind us. i gave her a phone book and some money. i had her practice unlocking the door to make sure she could get in and out. she said thank you and we left.

i don’t know if we did the right thing. my boss asked me later what i would have done if this was a family member that i loved. i said i would do anything and everything for them, no matter the cost. i went on my run tonight and thought about it some more. i became emotional as i thought about myself running freely, for recreation, with a warm home for me to return. i thought about this women being someone’s mother. this experience rang clear its purpose when i got home and read the words to this hymn...

A poor wayfaring Man of grief
Hath often crossed me on my way,
Who sued so humbly for relief
That I could never answer nay.

I had not power to ask his name,
Whereto he went, or whence he came.
Yet there was something in his eye
That won my love; I knew not why.

my dad said that every lesson about the gospel and how to treat people is contained in these verses. i don’t know if what we did will change anything about this woman’s life, but I’ll never forget it.

Visitors from the West

Ben and I got a special visit from AZ loved ones. Our Aunt Judy came for the New Years weekend. As we picked her up at the airport (and celebrated her birthday at midnight (01.01.10) our Uncle Zack popped out of the shadows! He flew in and we had no idea. It was super exciting because this was his first time to Baltimore/D.C.

As rookies to Balmer, Ben and I tried our best to play host and tour guide. Of course we had to introduce them to Five Guys. It is soooo good and soooo bad! Especially if you eat it twice in one weekend. ummm and i'm writing this as i watch biggest loser.


We went the Baltimore Aquarium and got to see the dolphin show! This was our first time for that actually.


The aquarium must have been inspiring because we ate some great seafood at the Rusty Scupper.


On Saturday we planned a full day in D.C., starting with the moving and memorable tour of the Holocaust Museum.


We ventured off into the windy cold to see our other stops. I found out later that with the wind chill it was down to the teens!! No wonder I wanted to cry like 8 times. This picture was funny to me because we were all moving around trying to get warm. At least I was, maybe the rest of them were dancing.


We made a stop at the White House. Ben packed my snowboarding jacket and I'm so glad he did because I was miserable. My goal in the rest of the pictures was to smile with my eyes because I wasn't sure if you could see the rest of my face! I learned that from Tyra.




We spent a lot of time at the Holocaust Museum, made a stop at the Air and Space Museum, and ended at Lincoln. With the sun going down, we would park the car as close/legal as possible to each monument/museum, run over and get some pictures, and jump back in the car. Did I mention it was cold?



On the subject of cold, this was Ben after our blizzard a couple of weeks ago. Yes we got that much snow in some parts. Lori and the boys played in the snow while Reese and I snuggled. I love this picture!