Mason is 6!

We celebrated Mason's birthday a day early so Jared could be there for the opening of presents. Mason was very excited about his new bike. We celebrated the next day with breakfast crepes and candles. We took his new bike to the park and tried it out (it's a little big, but he did great). We then celebrated with his friends a few days later at a mini gold course. It was awesome. We were the only ones there and the kids just ran around and played and golfed as much as they wanted. Mason was very happy.

Vegas Baby!/ 10th Anniversary

Jared and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary a few weeks ago in Las Vegas. Jared's boss bought all of his employees and plane ticket to Vegas and a FABULOUS room in the Venetian hotel....can you say great timing or what....a great trip to vegas for the price of my plane ticket alone. So, we arrived Friday evening and got fancied up for Jared's work dinner. We conveniently missed the two hours of drinking before hand. We walked out to a balcony at the Belaggio that was right out on the water where they have the water fountains set to music every 15 minutes. How cool is that to eat dinner and watch that....unfortunately we got rained out and had to move to an indoor restaurant, but it was VERY cool while it lasted. Oh, and Jared won $125 in a door prize (yes it was casino chips, but don't worry we quickly cashed them in for cold hard cash!) The dinner was beyond good and I actually really enjoyed the people we shared a table with which doesn't usually ever happen with Jared's work stuff.

The next day we wandered around vegas and just relaxed. We went to a cirque de Sole(spelling????) show that night that was AMAZING!!! If you get a chance to see "O" in vegas, it was definitely worth the price.

We missed the kids but they were in good hands with my parents and didn't think twice about us being gone. My only regret is that I didn't get to spend more time with my parents while they were in Colorado. But it was worth having a weekend with my guy without the kids for the first time EVER since we've had kids. Maybe we'll do it again before the big 20.

Mia is 9!

Has anyone noticed that all the big days in my kids life start with crepes? They always request crepes with REAL whipped cream....I have to agree this is a fabulous choice. So, crepes with candles, presents, party in the backyard again and lot of friends cake and icecream. Fun stuff. Once again I have to say that having Jared do all the work is a great plan. He set up the zip line in the back yard (higher and faster this year), the rope bridge, rock wall and a new addition....the monster swing! very very fun.

Mia and Mason's first day of school

Mia started school a few days before Mason. She was very excited to see all of her friends and start 4th grade......wow, do I have a 4th grader???? Crazy! She likes her teacher but says her class is very naughty.....more so than usual. I feel bad for her poor pregnant teacher. Quick side note: In Kindergarten Mia met 5 girls in her class who all just clicked and were all SO sweet. They were all inseparable. Two of them have moved away but the remaining four have been best friends since Kindergarten. They have never all been in the same class again till this year....much happiness on Mia's part.

Mason went in for his kindergarten pre-testing the next morning. I was worried that he would be nervous with me leaving him because he refused to go with the other kids at the kindergarten night last spring....ah the tears of a kindie. But he was so brave and went all by himself with the other kids to get tested with only a slight look of abandonment.....sigh of relief. Then the first day of school comes and I was praying that he would not cry or have a melt down and refuse to go in (I have been worrying about this day for a long time). I can not believe how great this kid did. He got there and was so excited to play on the monkey bars that everything was right with the world. The bell rang and he lined up and without a care in the world walked into class and has not looked back since. I on the other hand started crying which I really don't EVER do in public so I quickly walked back to the car and finished crying there. I am so proud of him. Every morning he RUNS from the car to the playground; plus he has made some great friends who jump up and down and scream his name when they see him walking up the hill to school every morning. 2 kindergarteners down.....one to go.

The Benedict Family Reunion

Our backpacking trip was just the beginning of our Benedict family reunion. Jared's parents rented a huge beautiful cabin in Island Park and we spent the week relaxing. We spent one day seeing Yellowstone. (Can I tell you that the animals there have a sense of humor because they like to go into hiding whenever I am there. I have been to Yellowstone at least 10 times in my life. I have NEVER seen a bear or wolf or moose. Yes the buffalo are cool, but this time we didn't even see a buffalo....NOT ONE. The only thing we saw was elk.) Even though there was a big lack of animal life, we had fun seeing the sights. We spent the other days canoeing, zip-lining, hot tubing, 4-wheeling, and playing. The kids got along SO well (except I think Brant may have punched James in the face once) ooops. Mia was so sad to say goodbye to her cousin Emma. We can't wait to see everyone again next year.