family photos

While resting from his attempts to coax a natural smile out of Ben for his medical school head shots,Ben's brother Kaleb was super nice and took a few family photos for us. He seriously took maybe 12 shots of us total and I love all of them! He's really got an eye for composition, and is really aware of what the light is doing in a photo. You should see the head shot of Ben he is sending with his secondaries. It's amazing (and it's got us in it--- sorta)!

Oh the ones at the beginning that are totally overexposed--- those would be me. I'm still working on remembering to change the settings rather than just snapping a photo.

michigan

When I think of Michigan, these are the images that come to my mind. Sigh. That Lake Michigan beach is like no other I've ever visited.

props to my sis

First of all, is this not the cutest baby ever? Look at that red hair!

And second of all... Look at that tie! My crazy sister makes them by hand. BY HAND! And she sells them, and they are really cheap but beautifully done. I'm so impressed by her. And she made a website all by herself. That alone deserves a standing ovation. Anyway, to get your own adorable ties go here:

Shop Baby Windsor

Just for future reference, when you find an extreme lack of blogging around these parts it may be because we are in the homeland playing highland games with Ben's crazy brothers.

Or not.

But that's what we are doing now.

Flood of Michigan pictures scheduled to appear in about a week. Mark your calenders. It's gonna be great.

we are independent

Ben making albuquerque proud


Doesn't our mayor dress like a retired tourist in Florida?


Watching Daddy on stage


Is this not the cutest face you've ever seen?

Ben received an award for his brave service in Iraq or Afghanistan on the fourth.

What?

Oh, he didn't go to the desert?

That's ok, they still gave him "the highest honor bestowed upon an Albuquerque citizen."

Oops! He felt really badly about the whole thing, and you should have seen his face when they announced what the award was for! He looked at me (on the front row of thousands of people) and wanted to melt into the floor. Nonetheless, he bravely accepted his award and will donate it to his Guard unit, where people have actually served over there. And I'm glad we went because Benson was in complete awe for the first fireworks show of his life saying, "Wow. Woooow. WOW!" as each firework lit up the sky. Holidays are so much more fun with kids.

peas please

Nothing cures whiny kids quite like some good old-fashioned pea shelling. We have had a few days full of whiny children but yesterday we learned that if you put them to work, they don't have so much time to whine. Thanks to our friends, who are able to defy nature and grow a plentiful garden here in the desert, we all enjoyed the therapeutic affects of shelling those peas. And I definitely felt a pull to get rid of everything we own and move to a farm in the country. But I guess shelling peas would get old pretty quick if you had to do it.