Jarom - Stripling Warrior

Isn't he cute?! I mean strong and scary! Mr. Me Too had to have his own Stripling Warrior picture!

Jarom gave a fantastic talk on Helaman's 200o Warriors for Primary in July and he was so cute all dressed up for it!

Lompoc Flowers July 2009

The flowers were breathtaking and just everywhere! They were so beautiful and it was almost the end of the season. Wow! What a beautiful place.

River Park, Lompoc, CA

Poison Oak.

That's all.

No warning about what it may do. Just the facts.

Dallin is playing with fishing line of course:)Josh is showing Ben the little fish he caught.

Ben was so cute! He is usually afraid of slides but this time insisted, "I'm 3. I do it myself."

Jarom in the trees.

Brookly hanging in the breeze.

Josh lovin the pond and playing with the fish.

Oh, my precious children!

You don't get cuter!

What a handsome Brennen!

Sweet Jarom!

Up pretty high if I'd hit the right angle.

Ben and Jarom

Some of the crew

The whole darling bunch!

We went to this beautiful park a couple of times and I had the kids pose and play and took tons of pictures. I loved the poison oak signs surrounding the park. Not WATCH OUT - POISON OAK mind you, just simply labeling it. We learned what it looks like:)

The kids loved the pond and the swings. It was just so peaceful and pretty!

Solvang in CA

We love to find funny signs on our trips and this was a huge joke to look for the Rob-a-bank Banks:)

Ben at the knife shop!

The kids LOVED the poses I made them do!

One of the days in CA, I took the kids to Solvang to check it out since we have Danish ancestors. 91 degrees and I forgot water bottles and no lunch made for a very short, very miserable sightseeing trip. We did drop by the Hans Christian Andersen museum and grabbed huge cookies and water at the deli there. We loved the Farmer's Market and the fresh red grapes. The seller gave the kids a big bag of loose ones for free. Then came the story of the honey. With no prices posted I should have known better... my kids all tasted the chocolate and white spun honey and loved it so I said we wanted one of each of the small tubs. They were the size of the smallest margarine tubs. She asked for $12 and I know my jaw dropped. That was the end of our cash and the end of our trip to Solvang.

Big Boy Ben!

Watch out world, Ben is 3!!!

Finally got his own scooter!


While we were in California Ben had a special birthday! Ben is obsessed with anything Spiderman and we got anything we could find! I'm not sure where he got this from except he's seen a few Spiderman cartoons. We had to give him the Spiderman scooter early before we left AZ though. He was so cute opening his presents and loved his unique cake! I can't believe my baby is already 3! He was supposed to stay little. I guess it's a telling sign when he even got Spiderman underwear. I don't know where the time has gone but it has flown by!

Ben, you are an amazing joy to me! You have filled my life with love and energy that keeps me sane with Daddy traveling so much. Thank you for your sweet hugs and kisses, yes, even the messy ones on the lips. You love to explore and climb into and on everything. The pantry shelves were once safe, no more! The stovetop and thus the microwave have to constantly be guarded. You almost started a fire by putting in your own oatmeal with no water in the microwave. Your smile lights my day and I feel incredibly blessed to be your Mom. I feel the weight of responsibility to teach you to harness your energy and use it for GOOD! You often make me laugh out loud! You love to play Duck, Duck, Goose and make the funniest faces. You love to follow the big boys and do whatever they are doing. We are working on undoing a few words you've learned from them. Holy crap is not a nice phrase or one that I like to hear from you. Neither is dumb. You think it's hilarious to use the proper work for private parts now that you are potty training and have learned those words. You get a lot of attention for them and I'm sure that's why. You love to build things with your brother's little, tiny Legos! More than with your own big set. You find ways into Brennen and Josh's rooms and you play with the Legos -while locking us all out. You do play for hours if I leave you in there. If it's quiet too long around here I know I better check on you quick. You are fascinated with outlets and you will write on anything you can. You love sharing a room with Jarom and try to help him clean up when you dump every toy in the room. You love bedtime stories, Goodnight Moon being a favorite. You have me sing Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star - Itsy Bitsy Spider - Little Angel and I Am A Child of God every night before you'll calm down to go to sleep. You love your big boy bed and we find you very late at night reading in your bed with the light on with Jarom fast asleep! I wonder where you got that idea? (All your big brothers maybe?)
Early in August you came out very late at night and you said, "My pillow doesn't work! It's not working!" We were laughing so hard! You say and do the cutest things! That's why it's hard to see you getting so big and losing those baby ways. Ben, I love you so much! Remember you are a special son of our Heavenly Father and He loves you and is always there for you! Go to Him! I love hearing your prayers as you repeat them from us still. You are so close to Him and remind me daily what's really important. I hope I always tell you how much you mean to me and to our family. It was only after you were here that we felt truly fulfilled as a family. It was a long, dificult pregnancy and you wouldn't come until 41 weeks, but I think you wanted a little more heaven before all the noise! It was amazing you went so long because from 24 weeks I had contractions and was sure you'd be early. The changes to my body have helped us decide that you are definitely our caboose and we are thrilled it's YOU! I want to grow old and see you grow! I love you! I am truly blessed!
Love, Mom

California Dreamin'

July 13-18, 2009Gaviota State Beach
Josh and Ben

Brennen loved the waves

Friday night with Wes - Wes and Ben

Brennen riding the waves

Run faster Ben!

Brookly loved the cold water

To the pier, Josh

Dallin and Ben are buddies

Wes and Nicole on Monday night upon arrival in CA

Jarom ponders

After a long drive we finally arrived in CA and in time to see the sunset over the ocean.

July 13-18

We drove with Wes to Lompoc, CA while he worked there a week and we played. With Wes's everchanging travel dates we didn't think we were able to go for a while and then it was straight from UT and then it was a week later. Oh, fun! More time in the car with our crew! DVD player was blessed! We got there late Monday night and our hotel had not booked us adjoining rooms and the pool was under construction. Mind you, we only paid more to stay here for the pool because the beach is a little drive away, and I checked twice to make sure we had the adjoining rooms. We stayed one night and went to the closer, cheaper hotel with no pool the next day. Closer to Wes's ride to Vandenberg Airforce Base for work that is. Lompoc was beautiful! 72 degrees was our average temperature there! I took the kids to the beach which they loved even thought it was pretty cold water! Ben was so cute when he'd run to the waves and as soon as they touched his feet he'd run away! The kids all jumped in and loved the pier and all the fish. They saw a ray and one fisherman caught a baby shark. It was just a lot of watching and worrying about the 6 alone for me so I enjoyed the Friday night beach trip with Wes much better. On the way down I told them to stay together and watch out for each other and when we got there they all jumped in except Ben. I put down our stuff and turned around and no Josh! Well, just as I was thinking I was going to dive into the kelp filled water to try to find him, Dallin spotted him over by the pier about 200 yards away! So we regrouped and reemphasized staying together and telling Mom when we want to explore. Brennen found a cool shell and the kids loved just being there.

The kids loved having 2 TVs with cable - a luxury we do not have or want right now!

Computer Crash!

July 4th Weekend, 2009

OK, so in July right after our Sheppard Family Reunion I lost everything on my computer! Yes, the new computer that all my pictures were on! I had already deleted the pictures from my camera in anticipation of our CA trip. I lost from March 09-July 09 which is hundreds of irreplaceable photos and memories. That is really all I

cared about losing! Here are some pics I grabbed from facebook from Becca of us at the reunion but I'm so sad and hope to get more from my family better quality to actually print. This is our car all decorated for the family parade on the 4th of July. The kids were so cute and patriotic! They loved the gross water in the spa with all their cousins - no adults braved it! Dallin, Josh and Brennen loved the pyrotechnics with Uncle Jeff and Uncle Jared and anyone they could get to supervise their own fireworks show. We stayed in a huge house all together and it was a blast! Another highlight for me was the Oquirhh Mountain Temple open house. It was so beautiful! I enjoyed getting to talk about sacred things with my children and knowing what I could tell them from the cards in each room. I hope someone has a picture of all of us there or of the temple I could get.

Funny Ben story though: While at the open house of the temple Ben was not quite the quiet, reverent child he should be. He was so loud that Wes took him out into the hall by the time we got to the sealing room. He ended up in a different sealing room with Greg with one of his kids as well. Anyway, you know how mild and quiet Wes is and he is very respectful to women. While sitting in the hall Ben began telling every woman that passed by, "Hey Baby, You're Hot!" Yes, Wes was moritfied and how do you explain that really? Dallin had thought it was fun to teach Ben this phrase so he will someday get all the girls. Well, you can imagine the little talk we had on the way back to the house about proper respect for women and girls and Priesthood duties. While funny, it's just not appropriate. Ben's antics need to be documented and a few more are coming as I catch up with my blog. Oh that sweet boy!

EFY Week June 15-20

Dallin's Team

Oh what fun travelling with our children is! Wes was in CA again for work so we made the trip to take Dallin to Flagstaff for EFY without him. Our dear friends Crystal and Trevor Smithson let us stay at their house and the kids had a blast riding in the wagon of the lawnmower. Josh even got to drive! What a great week for Dallin and his stories and spiritual growth were well worth the money and trip! He is an amazing young man! What a great example for his younger siblings!