gather round

I'm just very excited about this table so I had to post a photo for the family. We found this table on craigslist for a song and it's actually exactly what I would have chosen so I'm pretty stoked. If anyone has been to our house you know that the last table was the same one I ate from as a baby and it was pretty ugly (sorry parents!). It's always fun to upgrade.

camping!

It was so beautiful there and going out in the canoe was so relaxing. Sigh.

Mesa Verde was pretty cool

We just got back from our camping trip in Colorado. We had so much fun! It was snowing when we got there and snowed off and on for the first 2 days which was less than fun (and a surprise!) but it was so hilarious that it was kind of fun. At first we were scared it was going to be miserable but the kids were surprisingly ok and the rest of us just sat around the fire and laughed that it was snowing. We are sad that the other family members couldn't come but we had so much fun with Drew and Amber! You guys are such good sports. Drew took us all fly fishing on the lake and caught a whole bunch of fish pretty much every time we went out. It was so exciting! We ate good food and more toasted marshmallows than one should eat in a year, hiked and fished and canoed and just had a great time. The only sad part is that we missed my aunt's wedding. Sorry I missed your day, my favorite Aunt Les! Hopefully we'll see you soon. Anyway this was the most fun we've ever had camping and I'm so glad we decided to brave the weather. We certainly made memories.

Waiting out the snow storm in the car

Is it not June in a week?

We couldn't get enough of the snow

Benson has a new best friend; "Uncle Frew"

Benson was SO excited to go in the canoe

barber of seville

Before

After!

So yesterday I decided I needed to get my hair trimmed. I haven't had it cut in about 3 years so it really was about time. I called around to see if anyone could get me in and I finally found an 8:00 appointment at a "the best salon in Albuquerque," so appointed by many different local magazines. Normally this place charges $70 for a haircut but they take late Saturday appointments and only charge $27. I was really excited about this because I figured I'd get the most awesome haircut ever. Anyway so I went in and told my stylist that I wanted a little off the bottom, an inch maybe, and some crazy layers so I could wear it wavy. She said, "How about two inches?" and I said that would be fine. So 10 inches later I have the above new 'do. It's not bad looking but not at all what I had wanted or asked for. I'm a little sad, but it is just hair and it will grow back. And now I'm back to square one: finding a stylist I like. boo.

doing the body rock

Here is a taste of the "body rock." I'll see if I can get the longer one to load too.

tumbling class

On Fridays Benson goes to tumbling class taught by a friend from church. I realize that most of these photos are of Banks but we felt bad interrupting his class to be paparazzi parents. Anyway Benson and Banks (and I!) have so much fun because it's really relaxed and just a fun time to run around with other kids. I appreciate that Benson is having some exposure to a structured hour while I get to socialize with other women from church. It is $10 a month well spent.

they're going to pull through

I realize this is fuzzy but my camera isn't the greatest. These are some of her leg wounds.

Benson is so happy to see his chickens clucking and happy this morning.

The chickens are still alive this morning which means they probably won't die from shock (or so my dad, the chicken expert, tells me). We are quite relieved. Now we have to enemy-proof the chicken run better and all will be well at the tracy farm. In other news, Banks can now stand up by himself (without the aid of furniture) and Ben took his last final today and therefore got straight A's this term. He is so smart and I'm bursting with pride. Good job chickens, Banksy, and Ben!

chicken tragedy

We had a lot of fun today playing at our friends' house but came home to an almost horrible sight. There were feathers all over the yard and I only found Posy after looking for a few minutes. She was hiding really well, the smart little girl. It appears that our cute little chickens were attacked while we were gone. I almost cried because I thought they had been eaten. Luckily they are apparently really manly girls because they fought their assailant and only suffered from a few nicks on their legs and combs. They'll probably die from shock anyway but we'll be taking further measures to ensure they don't get attacked again. Not that anyone cares about my chickens but I was so sad that I had to post about it, after I called my mummy and daddy for comfort. I swear someday I'll be a big girl. Anyway I'll try to take some photos tomorrow so you can see their wounds.

last 5 years in review

Married February 2003

Benson born March 2005

Banks was so skinny! My family says he looked like an alien.

He was so cute to me. Holding him was like holding a doll.

Living in Albuquerque has it's perks; we have sunshine 330 days out of the year.

Now that some old friends are finding their way to my blog I should probably fill them in on what's been going on since I last saw them. I got married in 2003 to Ben who is seriously the most amazing husband ever. Seriously. Anyway we had little Benson in 2005 (so he's 3 and a few months now) and then cute husband of mine decided that BYU was not for him. So after a pretty long run around of trying to find himself he ended up joining the Air Force and that's why we moved to New Mexico (after having lived in Texas for a year). Banks was born here in 2007. Cute husband has now decided that school is for him (and lot's of it apparently) so he transfered from active duty air force to the National Guard in order to go to school full time. He is looking at graduating in December 2009 but what exactly he's majoring in is still up in the air (by no fault of his own at this point... UNM isn't exactly the biggest school and they might be canceling his major next semester). Anyway he'll be applying to medical school in the summer of 2009 to start fall 2010. I have pretty much just been along for the ride since Benson was born since I don't work and my life doesn't change a whole lot, just the location. I guess that's pretty much all you've missed (not a whole lot!) but if you have any questions feel free to leave a comment (and that also goes for anyone who might be a little nervous about leaving a comment here. Chances are if we've ever met and you are reading my blog then I am reading yours too. :) ).

high fashion

It's all for you, cousin Maddie. Benson will be a little sad to see his "run around skirt" go. My favorite part about this is that he accessorized the ensemble with a tie. That's high fashion.

photo shoot

My mom requested some close up photos of the children for mother's day so I took them to the park in hopes of shooting some magic. Well, it was less than magical but we got a few that might work. Truth be told, my camera only had enough batteries for 24 shots and if anyone else has kids like mine, they know that it takes a lot more than that to get a good picture out of the bunch. Banks was very uncooperative but surprisingly I had more trouble with Benson. He was happy to sit there and pose for me but could not remember to look at the camera for more than 1 second, and when he did he gave be the most fabulous cheeser he could pull out. Ha. Good thing they will look the same in the days to come. We will get a good photo out of them if it's the last thing I do.

someone is having a baby...

Or thinks he is anyway. Benson is crazy about putting things in his shirt and pretending like he's having a baby. Last night Benson fell asleep in our bed and when we went to put him in his own bed we found him like this:
with his silkies stuffed up his shirt for sleeping. He is so weird but extremely adorable.

visitors

Sorry I've been kinda MIA from blogging lately. My grandparents and mom came to visit me and we were too busy having fun to blog. Benson fell in love with my grandpa and I think the feeling was mutual. They even shared a banana split, which is not something even I would do with Benson. My mom came with them too, but I don't have any photos of her. I need to work on taking more pictures. I'm so glad they were all able to come and see us... it is so nice to be around family. We miss you all already!