All By Our Lonesome

A couple of hours ago we said goodbye to Dave and Gillian. They are actually gone. For the first time in our lives Ben and I are living on our own, without any family around. We are feeling a bit lost right now. Two and a half years ago we made a bold and sudden decision to move here to Midland, and it was the best decision we've ever made. We knew no one, except for Dave & Gillian, and they essentially adopted us into their family and made us feel at home. They have done so much for each one of us individually and as a family, and we cannot thank them enough for their kindness & generosity. They will be missed.

Ben's Feet

Last year, Ben had surgery on his left foot due to what's called an Accessory Navicular bone (Kidner Procedure). Unfortunately, it's a congenital defect and he had the same surgery on his right foot yesterday. Although the doctor said this surgery went a lot more smoothly than the last one, the recovery so far has been much worse. Due to minor complications, he ended up spending 32 hours in the hospital, as opposed to the 5 hours he spent last time. He says it's the first time he's spent the night in a hospital (although he's spent more days in the E.R. than anybody I know). Thank goodness Dave and Gillian have not moved yet or else we could not have gotten through the last two days without them and Lauren.

Can you notice a difference?

What a wuss:)


Finally home and sleeping like a baby

Miracle Toy!

Last week I broke out Katelyn's old walker to see how Samuel would like it. Katelyn never got much use out of it because we lived in a carpeted apartment. But now the majority of our house is tiled and Samuel has always been extremely active, so I thought it might be a nice change from the bouncer. He had been fussy for about 20 minutes and as soon as I put him in it for the first time, he stopped. He immediately took off and was happy for about the next half hour. Now he'll cruise around the house in that thing forever. It's his, and my, favorite new toy. I love tile floors!


It's a good teether too!

Happiest Place On Earth!

Every summer for the past 11 years, my family has vacationed at what the Castleton's consider to be the happiest place on earth, Lake Shasta(except for Linda). It's a gorgeous lake in Northern California with tons of trees, clean water, and almost always perfect weather(except for this year with all the fires and super low water). We go with 4 other families from our home Stake and live on houseboats for a week having the time of our lives wakeboarding, floating, cliff jumping, playing games, watching movies, eating good food, not sleeping, and on and on... We even have our own testimony meeting on the one Sunday we are there, which is my favorite Sacrament meeting of the year. This year Ben couldn't come and this was my first time traveling with two kids, so my sister Debbie met me in Vegas to help with the rest of the trip(can you say 'lifesaver'). The whole week was really hard without Ben and even though I'll never do it again, it was still totally worth it. Thanks Grammy & Poppy. Can't wait until next year!

Katelyn has always LOVED the boat rides...

but Samuel couldn't quite decide how he felt about it

Katelyn's new best Shasta buddy, Caitlin Redford

Grammy & Katelyn floating

Samuel & Aunt Stacey

My little flag girl

Katelyn driving the boat, in circles

'till next year...

Samuel had a major milestone while we were at Shasta. For the 10 minutes I was outside for, Poppy and his Uncle Gavin witnessed him roll over for the first time. I know it's not very exciting to most of you, but we are your typical annoyingly proud parents who want to share every little moment of our child's life. Enjoy!

Dallas

Last night we got back from our trip to Dallas where we visited Ben's sister Julie & family. Dave and Gillian were also there and invited us to come hang out with them at their hotel. We were able to go swimming a lot, play at the rec center, watch movies, eat GOOD food, and just have fun with family. This was Samuel's first time swimming and he seems to love the water just like his daddy. We also had the opportunity to tour Dave and Gil's beautiful new home. Unfortunately, as you can see, the only time I took out the camera was down at the pool.


Just Chillin'

Aunt Julie got him to float flat on his back


Poor Uncle Dave!

Aunt Mary

This past week my baby sister Mary came to visit Midland and meet Samuel for the first time. She was a huge help with the kids and even organized my pantry, but we did have some fun!

Me and Mary about 20 years ago


I took her to Susie's South Forty where we sampled some yummy chocolates and she found a section of Dr. Pepper flavored jerky, cake mix, syrup, etc. Mary bought some to take home to my mom who is the Dr. Pepper Queen.

Then she toured President George W.'s childhood home. That's right folks, the one and only right here in Midland. I know you all are jealous!

Then we went to the Petroleum Museum where we could have learned about the process of creating, trapping, and finding oil (exciting, I know!) but with two cranky kids we just took pictures out front instead. That night I took Mary to our Drive-In because she had NEVER been to a drive-in in her life, isn't that sad!

She played with the kids all week. We even made cookies and had a movie night with my niece's Lauren and Aubrey who were staying the weekend with us.

She says that overall Midland isn't as bad as my dad made it seem, and she would love to explore Texas more. We had a great week, I ended up seeing more of Midland than I ever have, and I did not want her to leave. We love you Aunt Mary!

Not My Baby!

Last week we decided it was time for Samuel's first haircut. Ben really wanted to give him a mohawk for Shasta, but since he can't go he did it for the 4th of July instead. The second Ben put those clippers to Samuel's head I changed my mind, but it was too late. And now my little Chubster is bald. The coolest thing about him is now gone. While I still think he's absolutely adorable, as any parent would, I am having a hard time getting used to this new baby I have in my house. He looks like a completely different baby, but I guess after a week it's finally starting to grow on me.

Before

After


In Between

Like Father, Like Son

Lot of hair for a 3-month old!

Cousins Claire & Aubrey