Gma. Marge & Papa Ed

After our visits with Gma. Fern and Kristen and the Chuck E. Cheese adventure with Jaime and Craig, we headed up north a little further to visit my parents. As you can see, there is still A LOT of snow up there. My parents have a beautiful scenic view all 360 degrees around their home. It was so peaceful and quiet up there. I loved it! Especially with all the glistening snow!
Yep, I had to take my coat off because I was getting TOO hot running around in the snow with the kids and sledding down hills. Although this picture doesn't show it, the day was absolutely sunny and warm. The flash on our camera was messed up from the sheen of the sun bouncing off the snow.

We even got Grandma Marge on the snowmobile after 35+ years! She did a great job and really enjoyed herself...so did her little dog. I really love this picture because just one year ago she fell and had multiple fractures in her pelvis. At one point I worried that we would never see a photo like this again!!! Her self determination and the prayers of friends and family granted us this wonderful blessing! My Aunt Barbie and Will also took great care of my mom during her healing process. Thanks so much!

Luke found a nice little hideout while waiting for his turn on the snowmobile. The hole he is sitting in is the place where Ben stepped in and sunk up to his waist!

Luke loved sledding! This kid is almost fearless.

Ben LOVED snowmobiling! Let's face it, Tennessee boys don't get to do this everyday!

Here we are with my Dad.

Ashlynn took one look at this machine and tried to run away as fast as she could. We made her go on it anyway and from that point on, no one could get her off of it!!! Crazy Girl! She thought she owned the thing! She even had to have her little hands on the steering wheel.

Wait...what's this?...

It's a Big Foot sighting!

Actually, it's just Ben sinking 3 feet into the snow each and every step. It was so comical that we had to take a picture. It took him 20 minutes to take 5 steps.

We also celebrated my birthday. My Mom had her house decorated with ballons, streamers and a banner. She made a wonderful lasagna dinner and a yummy family favorite: Mayonnaise Cake (don't say YUCK until you try it) with chocolate frosting. Moms make things so wonderful! What would we do without them.

Chuck E. Cheese

After visiting Aunt Kristen and "Great" Grandma Fern, we met Jaime and Craig at Chuck E. Cheese. It was lots of fun! All of the kids...especially Ben (he thinks he's 9 when he walks through the doors) have so much fun here. Here is a picture of Luke hugging Chuck.

Yes, I know, I think the earth stopped spinning for a moment when this photo was taken. It is actually a real, authenic photo of myself! I have noticed that so many moms never get their photos taken. They are always the one taking the photos. Even before I had kids, Ben was the only one in all of our photos. I tease Ben that he actually went on a honeymoon by himself because all the photos were of him. Even if I do have a photo taken, I always think I look too fat or disgusting to show anyone.

Here's sweet little Avery baby! I loved holding her and I think she liked me holding her too.

A rare picture of all the kids together! It is so fun to see them sitting next to each other. Someday it will be fun to look back at this photo to see how everyone has changed.

The Sisters. Sorry Jaime, I didn't mean to copy you on the hair-but I must say we do look like 'twinners' here.

Uncle Craig (looking VERY serious) and Ryan.

Ashlynn and Avery thought the Skee Ball area was a runway. I don't know how many times we took these two girls off this thing.

Ben asked that I put all 3 of these shots of him on the blog. He wanted everyone to see him in action. I must say he looks extra tough with that beard!

Scare me!!

Luke looking so proud of the snake he won.

Luke and Ryan had a lot of fun together.

Handsome Josh!

Here's our little Ashlynn berry looking so grown up.
This is the second time our families have done the Chuck E. Cheese thing together. It has been a fun little tradition and it allows the kids to get their energy out.

Gma. Fern & Kristen

Last week we visited Ben's Grandma Fern and his sister Kristen. We also visited my sister, Jaime and my parents, but I will post those photos later. We took so many photos that I decided to break up all the visits with their own post.
Great Grandma Fern and Luke.

Luke loved visting her! At the dinner table he spooned a few tablespoons full of her homemade jam on his crackers, soup, cheese, bread, well...everything he could think of and then said, "Can we stay here forever and just eat?!!" He got a few chuckles out of Gma. Fern with that comment.

One more cute story...Later on that evening, I was trying to explain to Luke that Gma Fern is a "Great" Grandma. This was his reply... "Yeah, I already knew that!"

Luke also loves his Aunt Kristen as you can tell in this photo.

Aunt Kristen has quite the stash of toys to play with. I wish I would have taken a photo of her collection. Luke said, "Why do we have to have stupid toys at home?" I wish I had known he felt that way around Christmas time. He would have received coal in his stocking instead of toys.
Another fun adventure at Gma. Fern's house! She had this crazy thing you hook up to a vacuum cleaner and it produced an insane amount of bubbles.

These pictures show how different these two kids can be. With the growing amount of bubbles, Ashlynn thought for sure her life was coming to an end. It is written all over her face. Meanwhile, in the background, Luke is laughing uncontrollably.

Best Cuzins!

This is one of Luke's most favorite people...his cousin, Abe.

Luke refers to him as "My Abe". They are over 7 years apart, but that doesn't matter to Luke. Abe doesn't seem to mind it either. He is such a sweet boy and is always watching out for Luke.

I tried to get a photo of just the two of them, but Ashlynn's biggest pet peeve is thinking she is being left out. She happily squeezed her way into this photo

(wearing the infamous jammies, of course!).

Valentine's Day

Yeh, I already know that Valentine's Day was almost a month ago, but like I said before, I am a little behind on posting pictures. We made some really yummy sugar cookies and had Luke's best friend, James come over with his mommy.

As you can tell from Ashlynn's mouth, she only licks the frosting off and then throws away the cookie.
These 2 cute little guys were having so much fun.
I have no idea what was going on in this picture. I am sure I will soon find some frosting on the ceiling or curtains that will explain it later.
Our Valentine's Day Family Picnic in the front room.
Ben and I are going to Hawaii (Yep!! I am just a little excited!!!!) in the next few months-so we thought we would try to save money and keep our v-day spending low. We had so much fun having an indoor picnic that we decided to make it a tradition and do it again next year.

Ben's Favorite Things

Well, I finally have taken the time to list some of my favorite things. Here goes...

My favorite pen: The Retro 51
Believe it or not, I am a pen guy. I love a pen with a good heavy weight. This pen glides as you write and doesn't smear after you finish a long letter. What else is a pen good for?

My favorite Shoe: New Balance
I was at a BYU football game with my friend Travis Lyon and his parents. I looked down and saw all of us wearing New Balance shoes. They really are comfortable for walking and running. I guess it's not a well kept secret.

My favorite dessert: Magelby's Chocolate Cake
For those of you who have ever been to the restaurant Magelby's you know what I mean. This dessert will enslave you for the rest of your life. The rich and creamy frosting is the perfect compliment to this dense and moist chocolate cake. MMM...if you're ever in Provo, give it a try and you too will know what we know.

My favorite ice cream: Mayfield's Moose Tracks
Basically every thing I said about the Magelby's chocolate cake in ice cream form. You can only get this in the south so stock up when you're in town. (Ya I know it's another dessert.)

My favorite electronic accessory: The DVR
How did I ever live without it?

My favorite video game: (LOR) Battle for Middle Earth
I am Gandalf!

My favorite drink: V8 Berry Blend
Extremely refreshing, though I am starting to taste the NutraSweet.

Just B Cause

I am a little behind on posting some pictures-about a month or so to be exact. A few weeks before Valentine's day, Ben had these beautiful flowers sent to me at my work. Everyone in our family, except for me had been sick. It was a rough week taking care of all the 'sickees' and Ben wanted to say THANKS! Isn't that nice? It made me so happy. Our children were so delighted to see the flowers and they tried to smell them everytime they entered the room. We caught Ashlynn a few times sitting on the table sniffing the flowers with her sicky, snotty nose. Every day for a week, Luke would say, "Those flowers mean that Daddy loves you Mommy". I think it was good for our children to see their Daddy give Mommy flowers. They knew it was a kind gesture of appreciation. Ben is very good to me. I know that he loves me not just because he gave me flowers, but because he always speaks kindly to me, helps me with household chores, gives me compliments and he is always trying to make me happy. I really couldn't ask for anything else... well... except for his shoes to be picked up from time to time:) Good job Ben!

Sugar & Spice

This post is dedicated to my sugar muffin, babe-a-licious, fiesty bear, baby doll & etc...otherwise known as our little Ashlynn Berry. Some of those nicknames may make you sick, but I can't help but gush a little when I talk about Ashlynn.

I haven't posted a picture of her for a while because I hadn't downloaded our pics from the last month or so. Here are some of her lastest adventures:

She loves taking care of her baby dolls. Here she is trying to feed one of them her sippy cup. OH! So cute. I love how tender she is with them.

Here she is looking so grown-up! She is also sporting her VERY first...

...Pony Tail! She looked so cute.
Ashlynn is also wearing her MOST favorite outfit in the world. They are hand-me-down jammies from her cousins in Tennessee! She wants to wear these everyday and protests when we have to remove them for bathtime. One time a nurse asked me to have Ashlynn remove these jammies for a 'weigh in' on the scale. Well... let's just say Ashlynn won.

Look at that (guilty) smile!

Ashlynn got caught sitting on top of our counter height table. She is quite the climber. Notice the outfit? She loves to dress herself and will usually only wear pink or purple or the jammies stated above. This girl is not even 2 yet! In this picture she is wearing a dress with a brown skirt under the dress. Thank goodness we didn't leave the house this day.

And finally, here is Ashlynn keeping up with big brother. And yes, Luke still wears the Lion suit on occasion. Is it any wonder that one of his favorite books is 'Where the Wild Things Are'? Ashlynn recently received an inkpen stab in the eye and a visit to the doctor. Her corneal abrasion is healing just fine. The first thing the doctor asked us was, "Let me guess...was it big brother?" Just another thing I missed out on by having only sisters!!!