November

Alden has really been into building things especially during this month.  Every morning I would hear him going down stairs and would wonder what I would find when I went down, some things were quite elaborate using almost every toy, cushion, blanket, etc he could find while others were more simple. Most often he would say he built a house of some kind and would show me where all of the different rooms to the house.  Some of the other things included bridges, roads, tunnels, doors, jungle gyms, exercise things, beds, kitchens, buildings, homes for animals, boats, and just about anything he could think of.  (And more things then I could think of.) This is one of the days and part of his creation of a little town.  As you can see he was using the trains, blocks, and just got out the car things to add to it all.  The cushions had been used earlier and later became part of the town.

One of the weekends in November it rained for 2 straight days.  We hardly ever get rain let-a-lone for two days in a row.  Alden loved it! Even though it was fairly cold outside he stayed out basically all day.  Behind him you can see the chocolate ice cream he was working on.  He let all of our visitors that were coming later in the month that he had made them some ice cream for when they came. Calvin was the only one who actually ate the ice cream, or mud mush, and had a hard time understanding why we would not let him eat it after we caught him.  With how badly Calvin wanted to eat it, maybe it has some flavor after all. :)

This month also included lots of soccer games.  It was fun to see Alden get so involved and really start getting into the game.  Before he was more of a follower of the ball but would keep his distance, but in the last couple games he really got in there and hit the ball.  The picture above was right after one of his games we went to a Mormon Heritage Festival.  It was a lot of fun and educational for the boys to learn more about our heritage.

Visitors!!- 

For Thanksgiving we were greatly blessed to have some wonderful visitors.  We were all excited for weeks to have so much family in town.  The boys were especially excited to have not only their uncles Austen and Andrew whom they have become close to after our stay in Utah, but their Nevada cousins as well! It was a real treat to have everyone in our home. 

Playing duck duck goose with Austen and Andrew!

 Benson's baby blessing.  Everyone was able to stay through Sunday so they were here for Benson's blessing.  It was nice to have all of them here.

Singing some of our favorite songs with the cousins

Playing Sneaky Snacky Squirrel game

Playing outside on the swing set

While everyone was here we also took a trip to San Xaviors church.  There was a beautiful sunset that night.

Daddy reading stories at night.  Since I am often feeding or helping Benson, most nights the boys get Daddy as the person of pick to read them stories.

Baby Benson at one month

All of our boys in their shirts made by their Aunt Tara

Calvin is always asking to "hold baby".  

One of the nights in November Michael did a camp out in the back yard with the boys.  Alden absolutely loved it! Calvin didn't last long outside and ended up staying inside with Mommy and Benson.

Benson's first time swinging.  The boys love it when Benson comes outside with them and love it even more when they get to swing with him in the saucer swing.

October

Snapping some family pictures

Blowing bubbles with Grandma!  It was nice that we had so much help after Benson's arrival.  My mom came out for a few days and then Michael's parents came back out after that.  We all loved having them.  The boys especially loved all of the attention and all of the fun things they were able to do together.

 

Us at our ward Halloween night.  Michael was cowboy, I was an Indian, Alden the train engineer, and Calvin the conductor.

Below is the boys with all of their candy...I think we have enough candy to last us until next Halloween.

 Halloween:  Alden had been counting down the days and was ready to go trick or treating first thing in the morning.  He was excited about the whole experience he especially loved being able to give out some candy when he got home.  This is the first time we have gotten trick or treaters. ...Calvin enjoyed it but was ready for bed by the end.

Soccer-  Alden started Soccer in the end of September.  The games started in October and go through the end of November.  He has loved every minute of it and could play forever if you let him.  He is always asking for someone to play either soccer or baseball with him.

Benson has been a wonderful baby, here are a couple of pictures of him from this month! We all love having him in our home. Both Alden and Calvin have been so good with Benson and have been great helpers, which has been nice.

 

Baby Benson!!

Baby Benson

7lbs 5oz  19 1/2 in long

We are all super excited to have our little baby Benson with us!

Birth Story-
At 3:00 we all headed to the Desert Museum, on the drive there I felt contractions the whole way but they were not painful at all, so we went to the museum but there I had us go to just two quick things.  Alden was really excited about the museum and I felt bad leaving but I thought it would be best. (this was about 4:00) I took the Mom, Dad and the boys home then went to get Michael.  I was thinking we would walk around for awhile first..still wasn't in any pain but we went to the hospital so we would be close, this was about 4:45. There was a line to get admitted so we waited, then went back to triage around 5:30.  By this time I was in some pain. She checked me and said I was a 4.  A 4 I had been at a 4 for 2 weeks!! I was disappointed, she went back to check my records, and I guess decide if I was actually in labor, but my water broke shortly thereafter at 6:00, she came back at 6:10 and had me taken to a labor room, there I asked her to check me again.  She did not respond but got on the phone yelling, Help I need Help now and started running around opening the door, anyways I was in extreme pain and was ready to push and started pushing, the doctor got there just in time to catch sweet little Benson at 6:21 P.M.  All in all it was a great delivery!

When Calvin came in and saw Benson for the first time, he said, "Baby, Cute"  He is now a big brother of a cute little baby!

 Alden was super excited to meet his baby brother.  He has been a big helper getting everything ready for Baby Benson's arrival and knew he was coming soon.

Grandma and Grandpa came in just the right time to be here for Benson's big day!  They have been a huge help and we are grateful for all they have done for us and that they can be here!

Birthday's

Calvin's Birthday

 Both Boys in their Birthday Shirts!

They both love their shirts, thanks to Aunt Tara for making them and sending them our way!

 Calvin opening his first present on his birthday.  It was some cereal, something we rarely eat so they both enjoyed that. 

 In keeping with tradition Calvin received a bike for his 2 yr old birthday just like Alden did when he turned 2.  (This really won't be a tradition though for obvious reasons.)  Alden's bike was much to big for him at 2 and took him until about 2 1/2  or 3 when he could really ride it.  He fits it well now but it will continue to work for him for a few more years.  Calvin's bike is much smaller and is a balance bike so he will use it until he is ready for Alden's bike. 

 Alden's Birthday

Alden's birthday was a fun filled day.  It started off with presents and then at breakfast he got to look outside and see the swing set that Michael and I had put together that evening.  Michael had to work all day until late at night so we had fun at home.  Playing outside, went swimming, played in the rain, and had cake and ice cream.

The next day Michael had off so we went to the movies and to a slide that Alden has been wanting to go to.
Below is a picture of the boys on the flying saucer part of the swing set.  This is Calvin's favorite place to lye down and look at the sky while he swings.

July (part 2) and 1st part of August

Making Cupcakes- I had made cupcakes with the Young Women so Alden and I decided to decorate some cupcakes as well that we could take to some people.  We had fun making lots of different types.

Zoo Trip- Well sortof.  Alden and Calvin had free passes to the zoo through the reading program there but as it turned out all of Tucson had gotten free passes to the zoo that day as well.  I decided that we would play at the park and feed the ducks instead of visiting the zoo and just pay the extra $8 and go another day when we didn't have to wait in a couple hour line to get in.

Picnic Day at Mount Lemon- One of the days that Michael had off we went up to Mount Lemon, had a picnic and walked around.  It was wonderful! It was nice and cool, lots of green, and places for the boys to through rocks in the rivers.

Making Pizza- We have pizza day usually every Saturday.  The boys love to help me roll out the dough.

Temple Trip- This was our first temple trip where the whole family went. (While we have been living here we have mostly just driven up separately.) Michael went to the temple while I played with the boys and then we switched, it must have worn them out because they both slept a number of hours when we returned home.

Story Time- This was a story time on hats, but since it was the first story time of the month they sang to all of the August birthdays.  The only birthdays were Alden and Calvin so they both got sung to.

Bilingual Fair- We went to a bilingual fair the other day for Spanish/ English. It wasn't exactly what I had thought it would be but the boys had a great time and came home with some fun things!  Alden fell asleep in the car on the way home, I took a picture because since he doesn't nap anymore him falling asleep in the car is a rare occasion. 

The Real Zoo Trip-  We did finally make it back to the zoo, just in time before Calvin turned 2! The boys had a great time seeing the animals and we were glad there were not too many people.  We were able to see everything and even do a number of crafts in the couple hours we were there!