K-NUTTY NOOTSONS

Seattle

2012-02-08T22:44:00.007-07:00

In December, McLain was sent to Seattle for a training for work. He ended up having to drive, so I got to go with him! ROAD TRIP!!! So we sent the kids to my mom's for a few days and headed north...west.

We left early Wednesday morning and drove pretty much all day long! It takes a good 13 hours or so to get there from Richmond.

We learned a few things about Oregon. It's against the law to fill your own gas tank. Who knew? Thankfully, the guy came over and started filling ours before we did anything bad. We also came in contact there with a nice old man that tried to change lanes right where we were, saw us at the last second, swerved back into his lane, and decided to show us how wrinkly his middle finger was. It was so funny. He was totally yelling at us and cussing us out. Grumpy old man, we were in that lane first!

We got to Seattle that evening at 6:00 or so, right at rush hour...awesome timing! There was another ornery driver in Seattle. As we were driving slowly in the slow traffic, the guy behind us apparently wanted to go faster. He totally kept flashing his brights at us. Over and over. Didn't he realize that we were going just as fast as the rest of the cars? Honestly. He finally was able to pass us and he got back into our lane just in front of us. Just as he pulled into our lane in front of us, he tapped his brakes. So we had to slam on our brakes real fast. Then he sped away. What a turd. He was obviously very mad at us. He wouldn't have thought it was so funny had we hit his beautiful shiny car.

Seattle roads are somewhat confusing. The hotel was next door to the airport and as we were trying to find our way to the hotel, we ended up in the one way lane for airport parking. We did not want to go to the airport! Luckily the nice lady didn't even question us. She just told us the right way to go. About 2 minutes later, we were in the airport parking lot again! We were so confused. But we finally made it to the hotel. (Just for the record, it wasn't really a great hotel. The free internet was so so so slow, there were hardly any channels on TV, and there wasn't even a pool or hot tub. Really??! What hotel doesn't have a pool?)

Thursday and Friday, McLain had training for 8 hours. So I tried to entertain myself in the hotel all day. I played games, watched TV, worked out in the fitness room (they have a fitness room, but no pool?), and slept in. By the end of the second day, I was pretty bored.

By the time the trainings were over in the evening, many of the things were closed in Seattle, like the museums, Pike Place market, and so forth. So one evening we went to the HUGE mall and walked around. It was so so big! I'm used to the dinky one in Logan that has like 10 stores in it. The one in Seattle was ginormous!!! And the other evening we went to the Seattle Center.

Here are the pictures capturing our fun at the Seattle Center.

Space Needle (so cool)

us in front of the Space Needle (which you can barely see)

view of the city from the Space Needle

view of the bay from the Space Needle

looking in the cool mirrors, which made us
tall and skinny

short and fat

and somewhere in between

posing in front of a fountain, in front of the Space Needle

and making a heart in front of a fountain, in front of the Space Needle

because we heart each other.

Then we drove home on Saturday. Thanks Mom and Dad for taking the kids for us.
I really enjoyed Seattle and loved seeing it from up high in the Space Needle. I hated the traffic and the weird roads, but it was beautiful to look at. And it was so good to get away and be with McLain for so long.

Yay for road trips!

Kid 1, Kid 2, Kid 3, and Dad

2012-01-24T21:19:00.009-07:00

I thought I'd do another quick update on the kids and how stinkin' cute they are!!! (And there's a little something about Dad at the end).

KID 1

Ben is so smart. He loves preschool and is starting to sound out words a little bit. He loves writing his letters and it just blows my mind how smart he is!

This little boy loves his sisters so much!! He is so sweet! I love watching him help Brooklyn put together puzzles. He is so patient and helpful, always reminding her to match the colors. He understands what Brooklyn is saying more often than I do and always says "No, Mom, that's not what she said. She said..." And Brooklyn loves him too, and just follows him around and can't do anything without him.

I love watching him with Adilyn. She is his pride and joy. He is so gentle with her and always has to give her a hug and kiss before he goes to sleep. Just today I overheard him explaining to Brooklyn why it's so important not to give Adilyn an owie.

"And Brooklyn, Heavenly Father gave her to us. And Brooklyn, Heavenly Father made her so special. And that's why we have to be so gentle and not give her owie's"

And my favorite thing that he does is when Adilyn smiles at him, he always says "I love you too, Adilyn!"

KID 2

Our little Brooklyn is just too funny. She is super accident prone. She'll just be walking in an empty room with nothing around her at all, and somehow she'll end up falling very dramatically. It's like someone pushed her or something, but there was no one there!!! And because she is always falling, she got her first stitches last month. She fell and hit her chin on a bed, which resulted in three stitches. She was a trooper! And she still tells us about it all the time!

And she is so funny. She calls everyone "her boys." When talking to any one of us, or all of us, it's "Come on boys!"

A few weeks ago in church, I was trying to get her to be quiet, which by the way, is impossible!! I whispered to her that she needed to be quiet. She said (in a very loud voice, of course) "No, Mom, I'm talking to my boys." So I watched her to see what in the world she was talking about. It was so funny to watch her look up at "her boys," (known as the bishopric to most) and continue her conversation with them (still in a very loud voice). "Hi boys! What are you doing?" What a crack-up.

She loves Ben and Adilyn too. As mentioned earlier, she pretty much doesn't leave Ben alone, and I'm not even sure she knows how to function without him. And she will not leave Adilyn alone for anything. We're still trying to get her to understand how to be gentle, but it's a slow process. But she is so cute. She can be crying her little eyes out, but if she sees Adilyn, an instant smile shows up on her face!

KID 3

Adilyn is five months and growing like a weed. It's so fun to watch her. The kids can get her to smile and laugh more than McLain and I can. She adores them, and is only afraid of Brooklyn on occasion. :)

Her blessing day was back on November 6th. She was beautiful and I'm so thankful for the Priesthood and that McLain is worthy to bless our children.

This is our most recent family picture. It was taken on Adilyn's blessing day. It's the only one where one of the kids didn't have a hand over their face. So instead of having their hands over their faces, they just look funny. Oh well!

DAD

And now I have to brag about my dad. He made this cradle...

...for me when I was a baby. Isn't it beautiful? And it even rocks. He gave it to us so that we could use is for Adilyn. I love it.

Good job Dad!!

Scriptures according to Brooklyn

2012-01-18T11:37:00.006-07:00

Oh Brooklyn. She's so funny.

Every night we read scriptures before bed. We each read one verse, with me or McLain helping the kids with their verse. At the rate we're going, four verses a night, we'll probably finish the Book of Mormon in about 10 years or so. Hey, that's okay.

Anyway, Brooklyn never just reads a verse all the way through without variation. She usually comes up with some way to make us laugh. She definitely has a mind of her own and wants to be different.

Here are some of the REAL experiences we've had reading with her.

First, there's the "I just don't want to read tonight."

Me: And it came to pass,
Brooklyn: (silence)
Me: that after
Brooklyn: (silence)
Me: I, Nephi
Brooklyn: (silence)
...and so on

Next, there's the "I'll read a little, just to humor you."

Me: And it came to pass
Brooklyn: (silence)
Me: that after
Brooklyn: (silence)
Me: I, Nephi
Brooklyn: Nephi
Me: had made an end
Brooklyn: (silence)
...and so on

We've got the "Oops, I forgot to say it, so I'll make it up later."

Me: And it came to pass
Brooklyn: (silence)
Me: that after
Brooklyn: (silence)
Me: I, Nephi
Brooklyn: Nephi came to pass after
Me: had made an end
Brooklyn: made end
...and so on

There's the "Oops, I forgot to say it, so I'll make it up later, and for the rest of the verse!"

Me: And it came to pass
Brooklyn: (silence)
Me: that after
Brooklyn: (silence)
Me: I, Nephi
Brooklyn: Nephi came to pass after
Me: had made an end
Brooklyn: made end came pass after
Me: of teaching
Brooklyn: teaching came pass after
Me: my brethren
Brooklyn: brethren came pass after
...and so on

We've got the same as the two previous ones, except she uses her own words.

Me: And it came to pass
Brooklyn: (silence)
Me: that after
Brooklyn: (silence)
Me: I, Nephi
Brooklyn: Nephi fruit snack
Me: had made an end
Brooklyn: made end
...and so on

and

Me: And it came to pass
Brooklyn: (silence)
Me: that after
Brooklyn: after apple
Me: I, Nephi
Brooklyn: Nephi apple
Me: had made an end
Brooklyn: made end apple
Me: of teaching
Brooklyn: teaching apple
Me: my brethren
Brooklyn: brethren apple
...and so on

There's the "I'm gonna add my own words again randomly."

Me: ...and the Lord
Brooklyn: Lord
Me: did curse
Brooklyn: curse Daddy Mommy
(~~~WHAT??? She really said that!! She must have been mad at us that day!~~~)

And the most recent one, the "I'm gonna use my own characters tonight."

Me: ...he called
Brooklyn: he called
Me: their names
Brooklyn: their names
Me: Mosiah,
Brooklyn: Ziah
Me: and Helorum,
Brooklyn: and He-um
Me: and Helaman
Brooklyn: and Cinderelly and Santa!

What a goof!!!

Creeper

2012-01-03T15:01:00.007-07:00

So finally here is my Halloween post. I know it's like 2 months late...sorry.

Ben was so excited to be a creeper. And pretty much everyone had to ask what in the world a creeper is.

This is a creeper...

It's off of Minecraft, which is one of the computer games that McLain plays that Ben loves to watch.

~~~~~

And Brooklyn was just a cute little kitty this year. That's what she was last year, so we did it again because we had the ears and she isn't really old enough to care yet. Next year she will be more excited to choose. Besides, we lost the ears trick-or-treating, so she can't be a kitty again anyway.

~~~~~

This is pretty much what Adilyn thought of the bumblebee costume the whole time!

~~~~~

And the kids in their cute Halloween shirts from Gramma Merrie.

Happy Super Late Halloween!!!

Ben's Preschool Christmas Concert

2011-12-20T21:08:00.005-07:00

Tonight was Ben's preschool Christmas Concert. So cute!!! They learned a bunch of Christmas songs at preschool and then performed them tonight. I love watching little kids sing.

We were afraid Ben wouldn't sing, since we have had experiences in the past (namely, Primary Sacrament Meeting Program) where he wouldn't sing and it was pretty traumatic, but he did awesome tonight!

Here is a video of one of their songs. Ben is sitting in the front in the white shirt. And for those interested, Mikaela (the girl he wants for Christmas) is two people to his left, with the dark hair.
The funniest part is at the end when they are supposed to take a bow. Watch Ben. Funny!

Sorry for the awful picture quality, hopefully you can see it. We totally need a new camera!

It was so fun and I'm glad he loves preschool so much! Don't you love how everyone else bowed, but Ben hugged himself!! We thought it was hilarious!

And we had to get a picture with him and Mikaela! They're so cute and such good friends!

Good times!! And it was even worth giving up the free tickets to the Aggie basketball game tonight that we were offered!

"With One Accord" is awesome!!!

2011-11-15T12:46:00.006-07:00

I just have to brag. McLain is in this band called "With One Accord." He plays the accordion while his friend BJ plays the guitar. Usually they just play about once a year at their work party.

But this last Saturday, they played a few songs at Open Mike Night in Brigham City. This happens once a month at the Fine Arts Center in Brigham. They usually feature a local band or singer for an hour and then start into the open mic part where anyone can sign up and perform. So "With One Accord" signed up! They were AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know that this picture isn't amazing...I had to capture it from the video, but our camera is not very good. Bad video = bad picture!

I would put a video of the performance up, but our camera really is so bad that it sounds no good. It messes it all up. Plus, it goes in and out of focus so often, it would give you a headache to watch. But trust me, they did good!

And here are the highlights of the night...

~Out of all of the performances that night, they were the only ones that got encored!!!

~They were asked to come back and be the feature performers for that hour before the open mic part of the night starts in a few months! Totally awesome!!

~And my proudest moment was when one of the audience members came up to McLain and told him he would pay money to see McLain perform!!!!! That's my McLain!

It was such a fun night and they did such a good job! And McLain looked so good up there performing. Be waiting for news on when they perform again and you can come hear them!

Kids

2011-10-14T19:53:00.009-06:00

Well things here have been pretty good considering there are three kids now. Adilyn is such a good baby that most of the time it doesn't even seem like there is another kid here! Thank you Adilyn!!

But I thought I would just post some cute pics of the kids and what they've been up to lately.

BENJAMIN

Ben started preschool this fall and LOVES it! He loves doing his homework and especially loves that he doesn't always have to have a nap on his preschool days!

He had his 4th birthday! He wanted a green and red triangle cake. Happy Birthday Ben!

He pretty much wants to do anything and everything that Dad does...

...mow the lawn...

...play the harmonica (so cute!!!)...

...even dress like him at church...

I love these pics. McLain of course has had this 3 piece suit for years and wears it to church on occasion. Then when Gramma Merrie found this little one, we just knew Ben had to wear it to church too. They were so stylin' and I love how cute they both are!

And of course Brooklyn wouldn't let us go without her being in the picture too!

He loves his sisters and is a great big brother!

~~~~~

BROOKLYN

I don't even know what to say about Brooklyn. She is quite the character. One second she'll have you laughing your guts out and the next second she'll have you wanting to pull your hair out!

She's beautiful,

hilarious, and sometimes quite grumpy and dramatic,

a great big sister,

super disgusting, as she licks everything and leaves drool everywhere,

and so helpful, as she reads to Adilyn.

She is just plain "Bwookwyn" as she would say!

~~~~~
ADILYN

Adilyn is so sweet and getting so big. She sleeps great during the night most of the time and has slept completely through the night a few times. If only she were more consistent with that!

1 month...

ready for church...

a great little sister...

who puts up with so much from her older siblings...

and so happy! I finally got a smile on camera for you all to enjoy!

And there you have it. I love my kids!

Baby Adilyn is here!

2011-09-06T10:43:00.006-06:00

Here it is, the moment you've all been waiting for!!!

INTRODUCING...

Adilyn Knutson

Born August 25, 2011 at 3:19 pm

6 lbs 14 oz (same as Ben was)

19.5 inches long (same as Brooklyn was)

The labor and delivery and recovery were all super awesome! No pain, nothing. It was amazing. I don't think I could have asked for an easier birth. Yay Adilyn!

Ben and Brooklyn love her to pieces. I have to constantly remind them to "Get out of her face." and "Leave her alone while she's sleeping!" They are always saying "Baby Adilyn's so cute!" and "Baby Adilyn loves you!"

Here she is a little more dressed up. Cute as a button!

And here she is a week old.

I'm pretty sure this next picture is a picture of the face she was making in the ultrasound picture from the last post.

She is a great baby! Very happy and content all the time. We love her and are so blessed to have her in our family!

A Little Bit of Everything

2011-07-28T12:22:00.011-06:00

I thought I'd start with the new baby. So far, things look good. I just got this ultrasound last week, and thought it was so funny. You can see the baby's little fist up against her face. Her nose is cute, and her little lips are pursed. Either she's giving us a little attitude, or she's pouting. I'm hoping it's not a sign of things to come! It's cute, either way!

And now, here are a few things that we've been up to this summer.

******

We planted a garden. Ben loved helping put the seeds in the holes.

Now his most frequent request is to "work in the garden." (Which, as you can tell by the pictures, and the weeds, needs to be done!!) He always wants to weed the garden. It's so cute. He'll pick one weed...

...and then walk over to the wheelbarrow to put it in.

We tried to tell him it would be easier to make a pile and bring them all over at once, but he would have nothing to do with it. What a good helper! Brooklyn usually helps by just walking all over the plants and getting dirty. And she sure loves getting dirty!!!

******

Brooklyn had her 2nd birthday in Moab this year! She had a blast!

******

These are just some cute pics of the kids hanging out outside with their swimming suits on. Brooklyn loves wearing hats backwards...this one is Ben's, which explains why it's so big.

She is trying to make the same silly face as Ben.

******

We went camping last weekend as part of our family reunion. The kids had so much fun! They loved hanging out with their cousins and doing all the activities that were available for them.

Ben, Brooklyn, and Bridger ate every meal up on this stage area.

Brooklyn didn't let go of my dad pretty much the whole time we were there. Here she is just after she fell, with "Grandpa Merrie," as she calls him!

This is during a game of "goofball." I know Ben looks like he's about to pee, but he's really just excited that he made it to the base!

They were so excited to sleep in the tent. Don't they look so comfortable?!

Ben ended up on our bed. Isn't this such a cute picture?

McLain and our brother-in-law Brian competed at the 2 man saw. They did really well, even though they didn't end up with the fastest time.

My sister Kailynn was pretty disappointed that I couldn't do it with her. I didn't think it would be the best idea, considering my current condition.

And the favorite part of the whole trip for the kids were the pony rides!!!! They were so happy the whole time!

And then, this nice man came down to our campsite and let the kids ride a real horse! Ben wasn't there at the time, and doesn't really know what he missed...that's okay.

Bridger was a good helper holding Avery on.

And I literally don't think Brooklyn stopped smiling the whole time! She absolutely loved it!!!!!!!

And that's that. We have had a fun summer and are looking forward to this new baby. Wish us luck...I hear 3 kids is pretty tough!!

Easter Cookie Party 2011

2011-04-25T14:53:00.008-06:00

The second annual Stephens Family Easter Cookie party was a success! The kids had so much fun.

~~We started by rolling out and cutting Easter cookies~~

~~Then we all made our way outside for the Easter Egg Hunt~~

The kids are waiting anxiously to start!

Ben and Brooklyn had a blast!

And look at how full those baskets are.

~~Dyeing Easter eggs was next~~

Ben was so excited, he was the first one ready, and was not extremely excited about waiting for the rest of us to get in there.

~~And then we frosted the cookies that we made earlier~~

This is Ben's little chick that he was frosting, but I think it looks more like a dinosaur.

And here's the finished dino-chick...with another layer of frosting. You can't even see all of the sprinkles that he put on there...there is so much frosting on this thing.

Ben's finished cookies. (Brooklyn wasn't really into the decorating the cookies part of the party, so I don't have any pics of her at this point.)

And I just had to put this picture of Zach. It's pretty much identical to the one I have of him on last year's post...eating a frosting-less cookie. So funny!

~~And last but not least, a picture of all the grandkids, loving the fun times at Grandma's house!~~

Thanks Grandma, it was loads of fun!!!

The Results

2011-04-21T13:27:00.002-06:00

Well, we found out what we're having. Here are a few names that Ben has suggested for the baby. Let's see if they help you determine what it's going to be...

Brother Sister Bones

Jewia

Trombolia-hum

I don't know...I thought they were pretty creative, and there would likely be no one else with the same name.

But just in case those awesome names didn't help you, we'll tell you...

McLain and Ben will soon be outnumbered...

The big day...

2011-04-13T13:25:00.004-06:00

...is tomorrow!

We want to know what you all think.

BOY or GIRL???

The poll is on the right side of the screen.

We'll let you know soon!

What's wrong with this picture?

2011-03-14T17:15:00.003-06:00

You're absolutely right!!!!

The three and a half year old is wearing a diaper and the one and a half year old is sitting on the potty. Talk about SO frustrating.

I need help. I cannot figure out how to get Ben to pee in the potty. He's peed in it a few times in the past, but doesn't really want to have anything to do with it.

This is the problem. He can hold his pee in if he's in underwear, and he will all day long. But when it comes to actually going, he can't figure out how to make his pee comes out. "It's too tricky, Mom." "It's stuck." He really doesn't know how to get it out.

What in the world do I do???

Help.

Please.

P.S. Brooklyn doesn't know how to go potty yet either, but she sure was excited to just sit on it for a while.

Funny Ben

2011-01-10T12:02:00.006-07:00

Benjamin is hilarious!! Here are just a few of his funny and super random things that he says.
And this doesn't include his quoting movies, which he does all the time!

"Emily, I was in the bathroom and I heard an airplane in my bum!"

"Mom, what's that guy's name?"
"I don't know."
"I know, it's Ruby-a-gus."

"Mom, what are you eating?"
"I'm eating Wheaties."
"Wheaties?"
"Yep."
"That's not Wheaties."
"Yes it is."
"No, it's kitty poop!"
"Kitty poop??!?"
"Yeah, it's kitty poop. And you're eating it...that's disgusting!!!"

pointing to his nipple
"Mom, look, I have a big big goosebump!"

Benjamin loves to bend over backwards off the chair, put his head on the floor and flip his feet over onto the floor. He was doing this with Brooklyn standing right next to him and he managed to rope her neck with his legs and whip her around. She whacked her head into the wall pretty good.
McLain was talking to Ben about this and how it's not okay and he needs to be careful so he doesn't hurt his sister.
McLain: "What happened Ben?"
Ben: "I was going upside down."
McLain: "And then what?"
Ben: "And then Brooklyn almost broke the house!!"
(talk about placing the blame somewhere else)

"I love you Ben."
"Mom, I'm called BENJAMIN!!"
"Oh, okay."
"Mom, say I love you Benjamin!"

"Oh, crumbbuckets!"

Here he is showing off for the girls already!

And no post is complete without a cute picture of Brooklyn.

Cute pics

2010-12-01T15:19:00.005-07:00

Here are some random, but super cute pics of the kids. We sure have good times around here!

At the park...

...climbing up the slide...

..climbing up the climbing wall...

With Dad... (love these pictures!)

...raking leaves...

...watching Mythbusters...

Hanging out...

Posing by the Christmas tree...

Talking on the cell phone...already...

Sleeping...(not 5 minutes after Ben asked me over and over if he could "play something fun", we found him dead asleep on our camping pads...cute!...)

And I think this one's funny just because Brooklyn's whacking Ben on the head!!...

...my kids are cute, what can I say?...

Ben and Brooklyn's Thanksgiving Feast

2010-11-26T15:05:00.004-07:00

BENJAMIN

Roll
Corn
Jello
One bite of mashed potatoes
Chocolate cream pie

BROOKLYN

Turkey (no gravy)
Ham
Cool whip from the top of her jello
Banana cream pie
Pumpkin cheesecake

YUM!

Dressing Up

2010-11-01T15:45:00.005-06:00

Well, Halloween this year was loads of fun. Ben loved trick or treating. He said "Trick or Treat ... Thank you!!" perfectly every time.

Ben was convinced he wanted to be a tree, until he had to actually BE a tree. But he was a good sport. And so cute.

We knew that dressing Brooklyn up was not going to be easy, so we opted for a simple kitty, with simple face paint. Bad idea. Who knew this girl could get so mad?

She wouldn't even let us take a picture of her and Ben together.

But she ended up looking so cute anyway, even with pretty much no nose left, and smeared whiskers.

Halloween is getting more and more fun each year!!

Cheesy Kids

2010-09-16T12:30:00.009-06:00

Our kids are so funny. Ben has had this cheeser smile since he was 14-15 months old...

Every time he smiles for the camera, we get his cheeser, no matter the occasion.

And now Brooklyn (who is 15 months) has the same cheesy smile!

What goofballs!!!!

So, this will probably be the smile you see in most of the following pictures (for years to come).

Here are just some cute pictures of the kids. They are such good friends and love playing together. Brooklyn is always following Ben around and copying everything he is doing. If he goes and stands by a wall, so does she...

If he decides to go sit on a chair while brushing his teeth, so does she...

If he decides to go get Dad in in the middle of Bear Lake, so does she...

For now he doesn't mind...we'll see how much he likes his little sister following him around in ten years or so.

And I just had to post this awesome video of Ben singing his latest song. Things like this just make a parent proud!

The tricky-ness continues...

2010-09-03T18:53:00.007-06:00

Some of you may remember a time when I posted about how tricky Ben was...if you don't, go here to watch the video of his tricky-ness.

Now that you remember what he did almost a year ago, let me tell you what he did tonight at dinner.

We were eating hamburgers. He actually tried his, thank goodness. He told me, "Mom, if I eat all of my hamburger, then I can have some ice cream!!!" I was fine with that, as long as he ate his food. We continued eating and talking, and a couple of minutes later, Ben came up to me, so excited, with his empty plate in hand. "Mom, look!!! I ate all my food!!"

I couldn't believe it...had Ben really just eaten all of his burger that quickly? Amazing!

Not.

His burger was sitting on the table, hiding behind McLain where I couldn't see it.

Nice try Ben. But I'm on to your tricks!

And by the way, he never did finish his burger.

Look what I did...

2010-08-11T19:46:00.003-06:00

I made this dress for Brooklyn!

I think it's pretty good considering I've never made a dress before. It's not perfect, but you can't tell unless you look really close.

And Brooklyn looks so cute in it!!!

And I made the bow to match too. I really am pretty excited about it, and can't wait for her to wear it to church!

Yogurt!!!

2010-07-08T22:16:00.009-06:00

A couple of weeks ago, our friends and almost relatives, Steve and Emily, posted about their little boy Sam eating yogurt. We had the same experience tonight with Brooklyn (who is just a couple of months younger than Sam) and thought we'd share and let Steve and Emily know that they're not alone when it comes to kids eating yogurt and making major messes!

Even though she's a mess, she's still cute!

~~~

Brooklyn's birthday was fun! I still can't believe she's 1...CRAZY!!
She loved her cake!

And I got this cute picture...

...which reminded me of this picture of Ben from his first birthday...

Cute, huh? They are definitely related...look at those noses!

~~~

And last week, there was this crazy big windstorm that went straight down Main Street in Richmond. And yes, we live on Main Street. It was blowing so hard! Some people saw a little funnel cloud...yikes! We watched from the kitchen as Jaicee (my sister-in-law) barely made it into the shed before she was blown away with Daphne (her baby). There was debris and branches everywhere...

up the street...

next door...

our tree... (I know, not as impressive, but we really are grateful that it wasn't worse.)

and here's a picture of a huge pine tree that snapped in half down the street...sad...

And then, not two hours later, almost every branch was cleaned up. That's how the amazing people of Richmond are. We live in a great place!

~~~

And of course, I can't have a blog post without some cute pics of the kids...

wrestling...

They're so funny.

And Ben said to me one day, "Look Mom, I got all of my stickers on me!!!!" He was so proud!

What a funny kid.

Accomplishments!!!!

2010-06-16T12:15:00.006-06:00

Well, it's been quite a while since I last posted, and there have been many accomplishments in our house!!! Here we go...

MCLAIN...

He GRADUATED!!!!!!! (I am so proud of him!) He is now the proud owner of a Computer Science degree from Utah State University!!! Yea McLain! This is when he got home from his very last day of school...look how happy (and cute) he is!

SHERI...

I don't actually remember what I was going to put as my accomplishment.... so.... uh.... well.... I, with MUCH help from McLain, have gotten most of the house organized. That's pretty good.

BENJAMIN...

Ben has a few accomplishments.

We went to Black and White Days this year. They had some of those sweet big blow up toys. Ben kept saying that he wanted to go on the big slide...we totally didn't believe him, thinking he would be too scared. But he was the first one up and wanted to go and go and go some more. We were pretty amazed and so proud.

He sure loved the blow up toys!

He also, with help from his cute cousins, Naivie and Norah, has actually tried new foods!!! Now, unless you know how picky he is and how hard it is to get him to eat something new, this may not mean as much. But to us, it's incredible! Thanks girls!

Some of the foods he has tried and liked are:

Ranch chicken
Nachos
Quesadillas
Hot dogs
Honeydew melon
Corn
Rice with different sauces on it, not just cheesy chicken sauce
Meatballs
Ketchup
Honey on his peanut butter sandwich
Muffins

And that's just the stuff I can remember!

He's such a stud.

BROOKLYN...

She's WALKING!!! So cute, and just in time for her first birthday, which is tomorrow!!!!

Isn't she beautiful? Look at those big gorgeous eyes.

We've also gotten a big garden in (and everything we have planted, except the potatoes, have sprouted, even though you can't tell from the picture!! It's a miracle.) And we have done a bunch of work around the house.

Life is good!!!

How much longer?

2010-04-16T20:33:00.003-06:00

Yeah for McLain, who is going to graduate in

3 weeks!!!!!!!!

We can't wait.

"Peace Dude"

2010-04-12T18:03:00.003-06:00

Easter Cookie Party!

2010-04-06T14:54:00.013-06:00

For as long as I can remember, we have gone to my Grandma Stephens's (I've grown up all my life with the last name Stephens, and I still don't know if it's Stephens' or Stephens's or what. So if it's wrong, sorry.) house and had a cookie party at Christmas time. Now we are all grown and that tradition has sadly ended.
But this year my mom decided to follow in Grandma's footsteps and start another cookie party tradition. An Easter cookie party!!! And boy was it fun! The parents of the little ones, (aka my brother and sisters and I) were more excited about it than the little kids. But the kids had a blast too!

We started out by rolling out dough and cutting out cookie shapes.
Ben did a really good job!

Brooklyn wanted to help too!

Next we colored Easter eggs. Ben and Bridger sure had fun doing this!

And amazingly, there wasn't any stained clothes or big spills, just colored fingers!!!

After that was the Easter Egg Hunt!!!

Victorious!!

Brooklyn was content to stay in Grandpa's arms the whole time...and why not? She still got her Easter basket full of goodness!

And Jayanne wasn't afraid to see what she got in her basket.

Of course you can't have an Easter cookie party without frosting the cookies.

Ben somehow got it in his head that those plastic things to put around the eggs were arm warmers. Funny.

Zach just wanted to eat the cookies...who can blame him?

Yum...

We had such a good time and hope that this is a tradition that continues.

Richmond Life

2010-03-25T18:55:00.013-06:00

My goodness, time sure has gone by fast. We have just been so busy with everything. McLain is so stressed and busy with school. Thank goodness he'll be done FOR GOOD in about 5 weeks!!!! Yeah for graduating!!!

Life in Richmond is good. We miss our old neighbors and friends, but I guess half hour isn't that far to drive to see them. And we like it here a lot. Good neighbors, good ward, good weather (the snow is almost gone!!). We don't have new callings yet, but we have already spoken in church. That's 3 times this year for me (yes, once a month...). I think I deserve a break from speaking in church, don't you?

Anyway, here are some pictures of the move and some of the things we have been up to.

This is the big trailer that was filled up pretty good with our stuff. It looks like we're going to pull our trailer along behind us, but don't worry, we left it there.

Lots of stuff in our new house. (Thanks Stephens family for help with moving, packing, and cleaning.)

Lots more stuff in our new house. This is pretty much what some rooms still look like!

Painting the basement!! (Thanks Jordan and Emily for help with painting. Thanks Jaicee for help with child control!)

More painting! In just this room below, the one with the awesome pink paint job, there were over 200 nail holes that I had to fill in before we could get rid of the pink paint. And I'm totally NOT exaggerating. Crazy. Not to mention the other hundreds of nail holes in the rest of the house.

A few stats on the house...
(Sorry, I don't actually have a picture of the house from the front...I know...I live here...I should just go out and take one.)

Location: Richmond, UT
Size: about 2100 square feet, on 2/3 of an acre (but we are probably going to sell a little bit of that soon)
Rooms: 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom, 2 living room, 1 kitchen with dining area, 1 coat closet, 1 utility/storage/laundry room, 1 sweet fruit cellar
Why we're here: This house is about 5 minutes from McLain's work...awesome!

And there you have it. We love living here!

And now for a few more pics of what we've been up to.

Here are the kids reading in the midst of many boxes. They're reading about President Monson...how cute!

This is a common sight in the mornings. Ben will just fill Brooklyn's crib with anything in sight. She can't even move in this. So funny!

Last week, we went to McLain's work to visit. This is what the kids did.

Ben ate ice cream and watched the video of the ice cream going onto the belt. (McLain works at Casper's Ice Cream for any who may not know.)

Brooklyn slept.

We tried to get Ben to put on a hair net so he could go in and see what McLain was doing, but he totally refused. So he just looked through the door and watched.

We also built a cool house for the kids out of one of the boxes that we finally emptied. They love it!

And we let Ben color the walls of the house. Note the look of concentration on his face!

Cute Brooklyn.

And that's what we've been up to. Fun times at the Knutson house!

Goodbye

2010-02-22T15:20:00.008-07:00

Goodbye to our trailer...it has treated us well.
We had fun while it lasted.

And now, as we pack up and get ready to move, the memories come flooding back...

Beautiful summer storm...

Barbeque with family...

Our first garden...

Building of the fortress...

Building of the snow fort...

Building of the snowman...

Building of the snow scene...

Us...

Snow on the car...

Redneck sledding...

More redneck sledding...

Jammin'...

...

You know, the last 3 1/2 years of our lives have been here.

And so now, as we leave this place, there are only two words which we can say....

GOOD RIDDANCE!!!!!!

Now on to real life in a real house!!!! WOO HOO!!!!!!!!!
(New house pics coming soon to a blog post near you.)

(If any of you noticed, almost ALL of those pics had snow!!! Ick!)

P.S. On a completely different note, thanks to all of you that gave thoughts and suggestions for my talk yesterday! They were much appreciated!!

I need more ideas

2010-02-02T22:27:00.004-07:00

So, lucky me, I get to speak in Stake Conference in a couple of weeks.
My topic is Successful Family Home Evening with Little Children.
Yeah, so I'm asking you (any of you, whether you have kids or not) for ideas.
Ideas of things you have done, things you want to do, things your friends have done.
Or, it doesn't even have to be an idea of something to do, just your thoughts on the matter.
What is your definition of Successful?
Maybe you heard a really good quote at Conference sometime.
Or something.

Anyway, I would really appreciate anything that anybody has to say about Successful FHE with Little Kids.
Thanks everyone!!! I'm looking forward to reading all of your great thoughts!!!

P.S. By posting a comment, you are giving me permission to use anything you say in my talk if I decide to. I hope that is okay! (If you really don't want me to, just let me know.) Thanks again. :)

I need ideas

2010-01-27T20:50:00.004-07:00

You know you watch too much TV when...

Your 2 year old says "Mom, I NEED to watch Jeopardy!"

Your 2 year old dances around the house chanting "Don't get mad. Get Glad!"

I obviously need ideas of things to do with a 2 year old.

Temple Song

2010-01-17T19:07:00.004-07:00

Ben loves to sing the "Temple Song."

ROAR!!!!!!

2010-01-08T15:27:00.013-07:00

Here are some of our favorite Ben quotes for your enjoyment.
Some we hear everyday, and some were just one-timers, but still pretty funny!

"Hi pretty Brooklyn! Hi baby girl! Hi pretty girl! Hi pretty Brooklyn! Hi baby Brooklyn, glad to see you!"

"That's a great idea!"

"Sink is so beautiful!"
(Other beautiful things include bubbles, toys, puzzle, Christmas lights, crayons, bed, blankets....pretty much everything.)

(In the middle of Sacrament meeting)
"Go to sleep right now, Brooklyn."

Me: "Ben, are you ready to be happy now?"
Ben: "No, I'm still sadding."

"Thank you really much!"

(The second the closing prayer in sacrament meeting is over, as loud as he can)
"Go home!!!!!!!"

Some random lady on the train to Salt Lake: "What's your favorite TV show?"
Ben: "Price is Right!"

Me: "Ben, you're doing great!"
Ben: "Yeah, I'm doing great!!!!!!!"

Me: "Ben, would you like some macaroni and cheese?"
or "Ben, would you like to get in the bathtub?"
or "Ben, do you want some ice cream?"
or "Ben, are you ready for lunch?"
or "Ben, do you want to go outside?"
Ben: "No thanks, I'm too little!"

And his favorite one, the one we hear at least 20-30 times a day...

"ROAR!!!!!!!!!!!"

Christmas Fun!

2009-12-27T18:49:00.005-07:00

Well, now that Christmas is over, here is our Christmas post. We had a fun Christmas season this year. Ben is finally big enough to be excited about Santa, snow, presents, Christmas lights, and more Christmas lights...

...so we took him to see the Christmas lights at Temple Square.

He loved it!!!!

He loved the lights so much, he even came up with his own "Christmas Lights Dance", which was pretty awesome!!!

We had fun too, even though it was FREEZING!!!

We caught the end of the nativity program they had by the Tabernacle, and McLain got this awesome picture with the Christus in the background.

Christmas morning was fun too. Brooklyn is just cute as ever.

And Ben was super excited to get out of bed and open presents.

At least we thought he would be!

Getting Festive!!

2009-12-09T18:19:00.006-07:00

Well, we don't seem to take many pictures around here, but now that finals are finally over for McLain, we can fully invest ourselves in the Christmas season.

Decorations are in the process of going up...

Lights are being untangled...

Lights are burning out...

And Sheri learned how to make these yummy treats which McLain has since dubbed:
"Moose Poo Delights"

We are super excited for the 4 week long Christmas break (compared with the usual 3 weeks). Aside from McLain being able to work and save us from an untimely financial death, we don't know what to do with ourselves. With the cold, we might just stay inside and, well . . .

ya know . . .

SLEEP!

Happy Late Halloween!!

2009-11-03T22:48:00.007-07:00

We had a fun Halloween season this year! Here are some of the fun things that we did...

One of the ladies in my ward taught us how to make these super cool bug cupcakes. So, when my sister Emily came to hang out with us one weekend, we attempted making them.

We had centipedes and ticks, and many other things.

But my favorite had to be Emily's creature. Can you guess what it is supposed to be?

If this is what you guessed, you were right...a scorpion!

We sure had fun!!!

We also went to the pumpkin walk with my sister, Julie and her husband, Doug, and their cute little boy Zach. Good times!

Like father, like son...

And now for the cute costumes.

At the ward party, we went as Peanut Butter and Jelly.
Ben was a Pea
Sheri was a Nut
Brooklyn was Butter
McLain was Jelly
We were Pea, Nut, Butter, and Jelly.
Sorry, no pics of that one.

But here are the cute kids on Halloween night.

Ben was a rugby player, and he loved going Trick or Treating.

And Brooklyn was a cute little bumblebee!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

Ben's newest trick

2009-10-30T13:21:00.007-06:00

Every day, Ben does something new that just makes me laugh.

For example, when I looked over and saw him eating his "raisin patty", I couldn't help but laugh ... and almost gag.

But I think this newest trick of his tops them all.

And of course, here are a couple pictures of Brooklyn, just because she's so dang cute!!!

Burning Cakes, Hikes, and Parmesan Cheese

2009-10-01T15:24:00.009-06:00

So Ben turned 2 last week!!! CRAZY!
Here are the before and after pictures of the airplane cake that I made for him.

BEFORE we ate it

AFTER we ate it and McLain got to it

He sure had lots of fun with the fire!

So, this last weekend, we went to Moab to see our beautiful niece be blessed. It was so fun!!!
We took Ben on a little hike while we were there.

Good times!

And yesterday, Ben was eating his breakfast. We kept hearing him say "Parmesan cheese." What??? Did he want parmesan cheese on his Tootie Fruities? That's gross!!!

So I went in to see what in the world he was talking about. There he was looking out the window and repeating "Parmesan cheese on car!" Huh? So, I took a peek out the window and this is what I saw.

That's right, it was snow. You've gotta give it to him though...it does look like parmesan cheese.

I just want to let everyone know

2009-09-16T14:07:00.004-06:00

that...

MCLAIN IS THE BEST!!!!

and I love him so much!

Good times!!

2009-09-09T11:19:00.017-06:00

Here are some pics of some of the things that we've been up to lately.

Here we are.

Here's McLain's beautiful car at the Preston car show.

Ben loves airplanes, and he was so excited to ride on one at the park!

Brooklyn is so so cute!!

So, in hopes of getting Ben more excited about sitting on his potty, we put his hand prints on it with paint so it was not just any potty, but Ben's potty. He loved painting it.

But the question is...did it work? Absolutely not. Now the only thing he gets excited about is giving his potty high five!!!

And of course, last but not least, here is a video of Ben's sweet dance while listening to music through the headphones.

With One Accord

2009-08-18T19:15:00.000-06:00

Here is a video of the hottest new band in town...

With One Accord

The star accordionist is the one and only, my hot husband, McLain!!!!
The guitarist is his coworker BJ, and the drummer is our good friend Jeremy.
They are playing "The Final Countdown" by Europe.
This is at a work party.

Pretty good, eh?

Brooklyn's Blessing

2009-08-12T18:21:00.000-06:00

Brooklyn's blessing day was this last Sunday. It was really nice. Thanks to everyone who came and who helped us out with everything! It was good to see everyone. Here are some pics from the day.

Here are some of Brooklyn in her dress, which happens to be the dress I was blessed in many years ago. Isn't she so beautiful? And she's so smiley!!!

1 month old

2009-07-21T15:38:00.001-06:00

Well, we made it through our first month with two kids! Brooklyn is a really good baby and Ben just loves her!!! Here are a couple pics of the kids on Brooklyn's one month birthday.

Pretty cute, eh?

Afraid of Fireworks

2009-07-07T15:18:00.000-06:00

So this Fourth of July, we were excited that Benjamin is finally big enough to be excited about fireworks. The last fourth of July, he watched the first minute or so of the fireworks and then was more excited about the cars driving past. And on the 24th of July, he lied on the blanket and pretty much slept the whole time. We were hoping that this year he would be super excited about them and love them.

Well, that's not exactly how it happened...

The fireworks in Logan are shot off about half a mile away from where we live, so we sit by the road just outside the trailer court that we live in. It's very convenient. Ben was so excited about fireworks. He couldn't stop saying it. He saw some of our neighbors doing little fireworks and was enthralled. Then the real fireworks show began.

He wasn't sure about the loud bangs at the beginning, but he was watching and pointing, so that was a good sign. After a few minutes of this, he started to fuss a little and kept saying "Hug" over and over. He was trying to turn around to give me a hug and cuddle. That is what he does when he's not happy. We thought it was because of the bangs, so I just covered his ears in hopes that he would still want to watch them if it wasn't so loud. It didn't work.

He still wanted a hug. I turned him sideways on my lap with one ear against me and I covered the other ear with my hand. I thought that this way, he would be getting his hug, and he would still be watching the fireworks without really hearing the fireworks.

He stayed this way for a little while, until McLain looked over at him and started chuckling. Ben's little eyes were shut just as tightly as he could possibly shut them.

He wasn't afraid of the loud bangs, he was afraid of the big, beautiful, amazing fireworks!!!

Poor kid! So he ended up giving me a hug, repeating "Fireworks!" many times (although he wasn't even watching them), and then just falling asleep on my shoulder. Oh well.

We tried...

We failed...

Maybe next year...

Benjamin and Brooklyn

2009-06-26T11:38:00.000-06:00

So, Brooklyn is home and still cute as can be. Benjamin loves to give her kisses and hugs. Sometimes he just won't stop. We have to remind him that she is sleeping and not to wake her up. When she is in her crib and I lift him up to see her, he just wants her awake and loves to say "Brook'n, wake up, Brook'n!!!"
So, I thought I would put some pictures up of our two little ones.

These two pictures are Ben and Brooklyn when they were born in the hospital.
Can you tell who is who?

Here are some more pictures of big brother and little sister. Don't we have the cutest kids!?

And there they are. We love our little family!
Oh, and by the way, if you guessed that Brooklyn was the first picture and Ben was the second, you were absolutely right!!!

And enter Brooklyn...

2009-06-18T08:15:00.000-06:00

Well, our new baby girl has arrived!!! We were planning on going in today (the 18th) sometime to get Sheri induced, but around 5:00 pm last night, Sheri started having contractions and our little girl decided it was time to head out. So, after about 4 hours of timing contractions, we went into the hospital, pushed 3 times, and out came our new little daughter, Brooklyn. HOORAH!!! We're still going to be in the hospital until Friday night, but since we are only 5 minutes from the hospital, I came home to get some food and get Ben ready to come see his new sister.

So, here are some pictures. We'll try and update with a new post a little later. Oh, I guess some specs... She was 6 lb 13 oz and 19 1/2 inches long. Happy are we!!!

Bedtime Routine

2009-04-08T11:39:00.000-06:00

Here is our latest video of Ben and his bedtime routine. He's done this for months, but only since he got his "big boy bed" has he started including the wall in this. What a silly boy!!

"I Wub U Maw Ma"

2009-03-21T14:05:00.000-06:00

Benjamin made a video for Grandma Merrie the weekend we went to help Trevor and Sarah move into their new basement apartment. Benjamin stayed with Grandma Stephens, so he didn't get to see Grandma Merrie when they came up from Moab. So, here it is...

Save the Fat Boys

2009-03-04T18:12:00.001-07:00

Greetings to all friends and family (and to those perhaps visiting by accident)!!

I apologize up front, but this post is somewhat more of a solicitation than anything else. Allow me to explain: today at work (at good ol' Casper's Ice Cream) we had an event that hasn't happened since the company first started - a product recall. Wait a sec!! Before you freak out too much, this recall was of no fault of our own. Does anyone remember the major peanut issue during this last month and its connection with salmonella (Sam and Ella?) Well, the whole hullabaloo finally found its way into Utah and up to our little factory in Richmond. However, it should hereby be decreed among all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people that any and all product that enters and leaves the factory is thoroughly tested and documented for any kind of contamination whatsoever. So rest assured, good citizens, that any product you see in the stores is perfectly safe.

Well, the FDA (Food and Dumb Administration) decided they don't care about our quality assurance (ironically enough) and would rather just make things easier on themselves by making us recall all of our Nut Sundaes within the peanut contamination time frame. The most ridiculous part of this whole recall comes from the fact that the FDA initiated it behind our backs!! We told the FDA we were not going to make a decision about a recall until all testing and documentation of the product were reviewed thoroughly. They agreed to this (so we thought). In the meantime, they took our list of clients and started to call all of them (without our knowing) telling them that if they had any Fatboys that they were to be destroyed on site. This started the recall and, as a result, we were forced into the recall procedure before any reviewing could even take place. Then, the FDA sent one of their gremlins out to our factory to make sure we tossed every last box of this product into a convoy of dump trucks (note the plural) to be disposed of. It about makes one cry to see so much wonderful ice-cream being hauled away to meet its demise at the local garbage dump. What the heck is the government trying to do here?!?!?!

Well, the company that supplied our peanuts is out of business now and the FDA will in no way pay for any of the mess they created, so we have to cover our own losses, which is fairly substantial to our small business. My boss made an excellent point in that a lot more loss comes from the FDA souring our company's reputation than actual lost product. What do our clients think when the FDA calls up saying that they got bad product from us before we even have a chance to communicate with them ourselves!! However, it should be remembered that all our product is good and contaminant free. We had proof of this, and the FDA had nothing!!! But I guess that didn't really matter in the end...

Thus, I now come to all of you to personally ask one little favor in behalf of our family and our friends out at work: if you are able and willing, please buy just one box of your favorite Fatboy ice-cream product as a gesture of goodwill and compassion towards us. If you would do this, we would be very very truly very truly grateful!

But that's not all, I will also provide you with three excellent reasons why you should buy a box of your favorite Fatboy ice-cream product:

1. I, McLain Ward Knutson, and my faithful brother in the mix, Bj Sutherland, personally make all the ice-cream that you see sitting on the shelves at your local supermarket.

2. THEY TASTE ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL!!!

3. You would be supporting our happy hair-netted family!

We thank you in advance for helping us out, if you can. We love you all!!

Thanks,

McLain
Sheri &
Benjamin

Benjamin's First Haircut

2009-03-02T21:40:00.000-07:00

We finally decided to give Ben a haircut, but we didn't quite know how to proceed. Benjamin has been growing all of his hair on the top of his head and hardly anything on the sides and back. You could probably think of it like McLain's Dad's hair style but completely inverted and blond. So, we gave it our best shot, and the results follow:

Amateur Sound Recording

2009-02-28T12:03:00.000-07:00

Just for kicks and giggles, I made a sorry attempt at voice recording over myself in 4-part harmony. I realize there are many sour notes, but try and look past the imperfections and simply listen with your heart...

That's what I always do...