Counting Down

You better believe we are counting down the days till we see Daddy! It's nice to have something concrete to point to when they ask how long till Daddy gets home!

We've already knocked down 8 of those chains since I took this pic!
You can't see it but the chain ends on our family picture where Benj is. They "kiss him goodnight" (the picture) every night!

Princess Gabby's 2nd

My sweet Gabrielle turned 2 on the 7th! I can't believe how fast the time goes! We had her grandparent's over to celebrate and we definitely felt a void without Benj there! Gabby got to choose the cake I made and she wanted to be a "Pincess". So here's my amatuer attempt. (With the help of a cake pan of course!)

Grandma and Grandpa Russell gave her clothes,


clothes,

reading and coloring books,

and if you can get past the "cheese" you can see a Princess tea set!

From Grandma and Grandpa Zabriskie, she got a pretty necklace (which Will managed to break within a minute of opening) with a bunch of cute pendants,

a homemade purse, and a stuffed turtle. (So now she sleeps with the turtle in one arm and her soldier bear in the other, so cute!)

Cheesy smile before we sing.

Chowing down!

Gabby is my sunshine! She is so energetic and when she's happy, you certainly know it! I love to see her "deep shoulder action" when she dances and she sings like no one's listening! She is my little cuddle bug and has such a tender heart! I love her to pieces!

Hey, hey hey, Goodbye : (

Well, the day finally arrived for Benj to leave for Basic Training at Ft. Benning.

Here's sweet Benj with Gabby. Gabby wants to be like dad and wear his boots!

He had to report to the hotel on the 4th at 6pm. He checked in and I left with the kiddies. They let us take Benj to hang out from about 3pm-8pm the next day. His flight wasn't scheduled to leave until the 6th. We went to Gateway Mall and wandered into Build-a-Bear. Gabby's b-day was coming up and we hadn't gotten a gift for her so we decided to make a bear for her. We each got to put a heart in the bear. Gabby got an extra one and gave it to Benj. He slipped it in his pocket and said he will carry it always.


Will even got to help replenish the stuffing supply in the machine!

They "washed" the bear

And dressed "soldier bear" in his Army National Guard uniform.

Gabby sleeps with "Daddy Soldier Bear" every night now!

Then we got outside just in time to see the fountain show with a song. It was awesome!

We went to Denny's to get some grub and headed over to the Church History Museum so the kids could enjoy the Book of Mormon Exhibit they have there. They had a blast! You could put quilts together and "sew".

Will really enjoyed fishing off of Nephi's boat!

They had some traditional Mexican dancing complete with skirts for the girls, vests for the boys, and video screens displaying the dance to music! The skirt didn't quite fit around her waist!

Benj couldn't resist getting in on the dancing

It was a nice family day to end with before Benj left. We sure have missed him but are so proud of his willingness to serve his family and this beautiful country! If you want info on how to follow what he's doing day to day, you can check out my facebook wall!

Lydia's Sitting Up!

On June 8, our little Lydia started sitting up! It sure is a relief to mom! She plays to her little heart's content! Isn't she cute?

My happy girl!

Give her some toys and she's a happy camper!


Love those big smiles!

This was the picture of her actual first time sitting up. I love the squinty face!

Now, hopefully she'll just stay sitting up while her Daddy's doing Basic Training at Ft. Benning!