I've ruined it!

I am currently trying to fix my blog. I've lost my loverly header and I feel so sad. I finally figured out (kind of) how to make headers but unfortunately the blogger exclamation mark goes endlessly, madly round and round, never finishing the upload. It's like a bad dream.

was anyone else sick and tired of the blue background?

Because I sure was. Oh man I just realized I didn't set the timer on my cookies! D'oh! (hahahah no pun intended there... I actually just laughed out loud when I wrote that. These things should come with video clips of the person writing. Oh, right. The cookies.)

back to business

It's hard to see but in the center of the photo is Benson on Frampa's shoulders. They were following Mike around during his marching band show... an annual tradition on Band Family Night.

Well it's been a while since I've posted. Sorry all, we went to the funeral (for Brad) and then stayed a week at my parents' house. The funeral was really nice and we had a really fun time at my parents. The only bad part of the trip was the fact that poor Ben was at home doing homework and other equally horrible tasks. Other than that it was amazing. I feel sad now that we are home and Benson still asks for his Nana and "Frampa" and won't see them nearly as often as he should. It is nice to be back with Ben, though. I don't have too much news from the trip, other than to say that it was wonderful to spend time with everyone and watch them interact so much with the children. I wish we could all be closer.

Ben said I needed to post something a little lighter so here goes. I went to the cannery on saturday and after I came home we wondered why we even bother buying Benson toys. He is really just as happy with some cans and a few boxes. Happier even. Anyway these are pictures of Benson on the gold portion of the olympic stand saying he is # 1. Not pictured are: Benson in the box fort, Benson in the box spaceship, Benson in the box airplane, Benson driving the box train. Christmas is going to be cheap this year.

This is Brad flying "Dino Juice" and doing what he loved.


My last post has become a little too pertinent to today's sad post. My uncle Brad crashed his plane at the Reno air races yesterday and didn't survive. He was a really great person... full of fun, excitement, and love for his family. He will be missed by so many people. I can't help but feel so awful for my favorite aunt Leslie (as we have always called her) who has lost her best friend. It is so unfortunate that it takes something tragic like this to realize how fragile a life is. I hope everyone who reads this will take a minute to think about the things in their life that they would not want left unfinished... apologies not given, broken relationships, I love yous not said, dreams never realized, bad habits never fixed, or whatever it is and really think about putting your life together so there are no regrets. I hate that this sounds corny, but I really believe that these things are important and worth thinking about. I love you and miss you Brad, and my thoughts and sincere prayers are with those you left behind. We can't wait to see you again. Save a place for the rest of us.

remembering

I just realized that September 11th came and went yesterday without my noticing. I never ever thought the day would come that I would forget one of the scariest days in my life. I guess it just goes to show that time goes on and even unforgettable tragedies fade into the past and are forgotten. Still today my heart goes out to those who lost on that day and will never be able to forget the day as I have. I really yearn for peace in this world, although it's mostly for selfish reasons... to bring Brian back and keep Ben from going. Here's to not forgetting, but also to not having to vividly remember anymore.

reading time

I swear this is the sweetest thing I've ever seen. These two are already developing a little friendship. Banks really lights up when he sees Benson and the latter always wants to smother Banks with kisses. (well and with pillows but that's another entry) I'm in such a hurry for these two to get two years older. I just can't wait for them to really be friends and play cars and airplanes together. Oh i love my boys.

there's more

We braved the great outdoors again this weekend with much more success than our previous excursion. No good stories this time though, just a great time had by all. We also went to the Salman Raspberry Ranch to pick raspberries. (Thank you Ben) I have wanted to do this for quite some time now so it was pretty exciting for me. Benson really enjoyed himself too. It really made me want raspberry bushes.

the smithsonian might say no

Can I have this for my birthday?

missing you

I'm bored. Does anyone want to come to my house to play?

duck was a neutral party

This just might be my favorite picture book. We borrowed it from the library recently and Ben and I both had a good laugh as we read it to Benson. I highly recommend it.

we are real campers now

Yesterday we decided to go camping. So we went to Walmart (where I got into a fight with the check out clerk, funny but just another reason to forever VETO walmart p.s. I won), bought a tent and some hot dogs and marshmallows and took off to the Jemez (pronounced HAY- mess) waterfall. Here are some things you should do before you leave to go camping. 1. Check the weather. People, it is not a good idea to set out for a great adventure in the mountains without checking the weather. Did it rain you might ask? Yes, yes it did. Did your $40 tent hold up you might ask? No, no it did not. Thankfully we had an air mattress so it was just a little pool on the floor and we stayed dry. Going back to the list now, 2. Take more things to keep yourself warm than you would ever think you would need. I froze all night and ended up "sleeping" with Banks because he was cold too. Sleeping is a relative term here, because although I was surely not fully awake and walking around, I was definitely not sleeping either. Although Ben and Benson seemed to have faired much better than I. Anyway it was cold and rainy and we ran out of fire wood but this leads me to... 3. Always camp near a whole bunch of nice elderly people. We met the nicest people up there! They gave us fire wood and graham crackers (for s'mores) and even offered to let us sleep in their RV the next night if we wanted. It was a hilarious trip and although many things went wrong we all had a really great time and might even go again soon..ish. The final photo is of us the next morning. Benson sure looks cheery. :)