For Monica

I'm glad you liked the soup. Here is the recipe. I made quite a few modifications from the original recipe... so hopefully it all makes sence.

Creamy Potato Cheese Soup

12 medium potatoes
1 small or medium onion, chopped
2-4 stalks celery chopped
1/4 Cup butter or margarine
2 cups cream
3 cups milk (more if you want thinner soup)
1 tablespoon salt
2+ cups grated cheddar cheese
1 pound bacon, fried crisp, drained and crumbled
Salt and pepper to taste

Peel & Quarter potatoes. Boil until tender. Drain.
Meanwhile, sautee celery and onion in butter until tender.
Cook bacon.
Remove about 2 cups of the potatoes, set aside. Whip remaining potatoes with cream.
Add milk, salt, onion & celery and reserved potatoes.
Return pot to stove and simmer over low heat for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Watch carefully to avoid scorching.
Mix in cheese (I always use more than 2 cups) and bacon (I usually mix in a little bacon grease too - healthy, I know!).

If you don't care about the CHUNKS of potato, you don't have to separate out 2 cups. Jeremy just loves the chunks, so I take the extra step.

Happy Birthday Aiden!

Aiden turned 2 yesterday. I can't believe how fast it has gone by. He is an amazing kid. He is totally trying me with his 2 year old fiesty-ness and when he trys to be so independent. But I laugh SOOOO much more than I get frustrated. Its a great balance. Jeremy, Aiden and I are so blessed to have each other. I love the thought of having our little family grow over the next few years as we gather these little spirits together in our home.

Here are some of my favorite pics of the last 2 years.

At birth... Precious 6 months... cutie
One year... sweet
18 months... energetic
Last week... FIESTY

Peanuts Sittin' Pretty

My mom is here visiting for a few days and this is what we did this morning. These are one of my holiday favorites. I grew up always knowing what they were, but apparently I am one of the few. None of my friends seem to have ever heard of them! But they are wonderful so I am sharing the recipe with you all.

1/2 cup butter

1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 egg (separated - whites reserved)

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 cup flour

1/4 tsp salt

Finely chopped nuts (either walnuts or pecans)

1 can vanilla frosting (I like the cream cheese vanilla frosting)

M&M Peanuts

Cream butter & sugar.

Blend in egg yolk & vanilla

Mix flour & salt then blend all ingredients.

Chill dough for 1 hour

Roll into 1 inch balls

Dip balls in egg white (slightly beaten)

Roll in nuts

Bake @ 350 for 5 minutes

Take out & press thumb print in center

Cook 5 minutes more

When cool, add a dab of frosting & a Peanut M&M

Note: The recipe is VERY small. I tripled it today and still wish I'd done more!

Christmas Centerpieces

I know I have posted like a dozen times in the last 2 days... but bear with me.

These are pics of the centerpieces I am in charge of making for the Ward Christmas Party. Jeremy and I just got called to the Activities Committee. Its a great time of year to get in and get to work! I thought these turned out so cute and wanted to share the idea with anyone in need of some inspiration for your own holiday festivities.

Maternity Nightmare!

I am going crazy with my dang maternity pants! I have a bunch of capris but I am very much in the mood to wear pants. My problem is that even "long" pants fit me like capris. I'm not abnormally tall so what gives??? Does anyone out there know where to find LONG maternity pants? I'd like to get them at a resonable price, but at this point I might break down and splurge on just one pair of fabulous denim. Please let me know if you have a secret shopping destination when nothing seems to work!

Tagged by Two

Both Kennedy and Nicole tagged me to do this "6 things about me tag." I hope that doesn't mean I have to do 12... cause I'm not.

When I asked Jeremy what I should write for this he didn't say anything. I asked him if he didn't think I was special and he said "Oh, no - I think your special!" in a look here comes the short bus kind of way. Haha! So here goes nothing...

1. I love my sleep. I'm not a morning person or a night owl. I'm lucky that Aiden is such a good sleeper & hope all my kids let me have my sleep. Its my way of taking care of myself. Some people get pedicures - I sleep. 2. I CAN'T walk in heels. I tried this weekend only to be reminded that I probably never will be able to! I blame that on my Mom and my Grandma Bleazard. My mom because I was never allowed to wear heels until I was 12 or 13 and then only a wedge. (I don't fault her for the rule - just the outcome). My Grandma Bleazard because I inherited my lousy coordination straight from her. Maybe that is why my mom didn't want me in heels in the first place... she didn't want me falling on my face every Sunday! 3. I love to read cookbooks (with pictures) - also something I get from Grandma Bleazard. I get such great, easy ideas and then I run out to the store, buy a ton of stuff, put it in the fridge and lose all motivation. I know I can make the stuff. I have all the ingredients. Just no motivation to do it. Its actually quite frustrating, and something I need to work on. At least I enjoy reading the recipes... that is a start. Someday I will be a good wife & mom and make good meals for my family. 4. I can't stand a messy house. I know this doesn't make me all that unique, but its still true. I like my bed made but it is low on the priority list. I am getting better at spending my precious small amounts of energy on Aiden though. I am learning to only clean the kitchen once a day and not worry so much about toys on the floor. And since I suck at making 'real' dinners, the kitchen shouldn't get that dirty, right??!? 5. I am very competitive and I'm a poor loser. Jeremy is the same way. We learned early in our marriage that a 'fun game of cards' or even Sorry was not the way to spend our evenings. We both know that it is immature but we can't play a competitive game unless other people are around or else we go to bed mad at each other. Stupid, huh!

6. I am SO thankful for my health and the health of my family. I don't know if this fits the criteria of this TAG but oh well. Aiden has had pneumonia this week and I thought I was getting it too. We are both on antibiotics and are doing well. (This was taken when he fell asleep with a 103 degree temp. So sad!)But I am grateful for our overall health. We are so blessed that Aiden very rarely gets sick. He was born healthy and didn't even get the sniffles until he was at least 6 months old. Jeremy goes and goes constantly but fights illness better than I could ever dream to at his pace. And as long as I get my sleep, I am great. My heart goes out to a couple of my friends who just had babies. Amanda had twin girls 8 weeks early and Katie's little guy has had a rough go of the first days of his life. They are great examples of faith to me. And their experiences help me to appreciate the normal life we usually lead.

Thanksgiving Pics

Pics of our Thanksgiving. Jennie's family was here for the endowment & sealing and we all spent the day together. Her sister has twin boys that are Aiden's age. It was fun to watch them run around together. Hope you enjoy the pics.

Our Thanksgiving

We had a very eventful Thanksgiving weekend. The Benson family started arriving late Wednesday night. The cooking began at 6:30am. YIKES! We ate at 12 noon. Here is a pic of Candy, Jennie Raye, Me & Amy (Jennie's younger sister) after we had lunch.The reason we ate so early is so that we could get to the real fun of our Thanksgiving which was off roading in the VW bajas. The latest and greatest in the way of our off roading toys is the Mini Buggy that Robert just got. Aiden still needs to grow a couple of inches before he can reach the pedals, but it is super small & great for the littlest grandkids. Aiden had a blast riding around with Kendell. And I think Kendell enjoyed it just as much!

This Thanksgiving was super special because on Friday Jeremy's whole family (Mom, Dad, Brother, Sister and all the spouses) were able to go to the Temple together for the first time. Jennie & Candy both received their own endowments. It was a great feeling to have all of us there together. Then on Saturday Logan & Jennie Raye were sealed. Following their sealing, Jeremy's dad & aunt served as proxy for the sealing of Jeremy's Great Grandma & Grandpa Benson. Then Grandpa Benson was sealed to his parents.

I was so blessed to be in the Temple for all of these wonderful ordinances. It reminded me of how thankful I am for those blessings in my life. To have parents who blessed my life by being sealed before I was born. To have Jeremy by my side for all eternity and to be able to share that blessing with Aiden and our future children. I am grateful I have had the chance to count my MANY blessings over the last week. Especially those that are the most lasting and important.

My Little Climber

Ka-Chow

A little background for a second and then the real story....

Aiden LOVES CARS, the movie. He asks all the time to watch "Light-a-queen" (lightning mcqueen). He has a Lightning McQueen toy that says "Ka-chow", which he repeats all the time with great energy, and come Christmas he will have plenty more of "light-a-queen" to play with.

Jeremy decided the other night to change the crib into a toddler bed for Aiden. He's been doing really well. He even sleeps great at naptime without a fight. I'm enjoying that while it lasts! He usually wakes up between 7:30 and 8:00 in the morning. And he is my alarm clock! Another thing I completely enjoy - especially since I know that #2 will have his own way of ruining my beautiful sleep habits.

Today I woke up on my own at 8:30. I ate breakfast, checked my blog, balanced the checkbook and THEN started to really wonder what he was still doing asleep! So I quietly opened his bedroom door thinking maybe he was playing quitely with his teddy bear. Nope. He was still out cold. He didn't even hardly stir when I went in there. So I left his door cracked and started picking up around the house. I thought I heard him talking a minute later. I went in again and he was STILL asleep. I leaned over him to see if his eyes were open (they weren't) and right then - IN HIS SLEEP - he said "KA-CHOW!" It was the cutest thing. I practically ran out of the room to go call Jeremy. He didn't answer, so I called my mom. We have all gotten a good laugh out of that today. This is the pic I HAD to take right after the phone call to my mom. He woke up shortly after this... about 9:15!

It's a BOY!

I don't think I'll ever trust my prenatal gender instincts again!!! I was sure this one was a girl. We will put aside the fact that I REALLY wanted a girl and my 'instincts' were totally biased! We are so happy that the little guy is healthy and growing well. They said he is in the 59th percentile for his size. I didn't know they could tell that already! I am still wrapping my head around the fact that we'll have another boy, but I am getting excited already. We had a really hard time agreeing on Aiden's name, so chances are this one won't be any easier! We probably won't decide until he makes his appearance in March.

Here are a couple of the ultrasound pics. We get a 3D ultrasound in about 8 weeks & hopefully there will be more to post then.

Cute Little Profile

Yep! Its a boy!!!

Halloween Pics

Ultrasound Day

We get to have an ultrasound done today at 4pm! I'm sooooo excited to find out what we are having! I wasn't sure I wanted to know this time around, but now that the day is here, I can't wait! We are taking Aiden with us. I don't know if he will get it at all, but Jeremy and I both want him there with us. I will post the "results" this evening!

Halloween Fun

Sorry it has taken the better part of a week to post all of our Halloween pics! We got to go to Vegas for Halloween, so I haven't bothered with my blog since then. Enjoy!

On the Saturday before Halloween we went to a little pumpkin patch. Aiden wouldn't look at the camera so this is the best pic I could get. He was going nuts with all the pumpkins everywhere. And he says "pu-kin" so cute. We got a tiny little pumkin for him and a normal sized one for the whole family.
Here are some pics of our Halloween parties. Saturday night there was a neighborhood carnival at the park. Aiden was Bob the Builder. This was the best picture I could get of him all decked out. Mommy & AidenOn Monday we had a party at our house. We did a potluck and carved pumpkins. The food was wonderful and we had a TON! The older kids (5 & 6 yr-olds) had fun climbing in the tree. We were so happy to have so many of our friends around us for FHE.



My Boys with the pumkin that Jeremy carved for Aiden. How cute!

The McDowell Family

The Young Family

The Cotter Family

Some Recent Pics

Aiden loves to "help" me do laundry. I have to make sure that the dryer is running every once in a while because he randomly opens it during the day. I had just taken towels out of the dryer this morning and had gone to gather up all the laundry. When I came back this is what I found. Jeremy came running in because I was laughing so hard. I know every kid does this, but it was still such a crack up. And what is up with this CHEESY grin!!! I'm lovin' it! And check out those squinty BLEAZARD eyes!!! Yikes!

What a stud he is in Daddy's hat. Even funnier is that the hat fits him almost as well as it fits Jeremy.

If You Don't Clean Your Room, We Are Going to the Park

This was on one of my friends blogs and I thought it was hilarious. OUCH!

For the Grandparents...

I was taking some video of Aiden and thought this was cute. It is meant for ALL the grandparents! We love you.

One of my favorites...

This is one of my all time favorite pics of Aiden. I was looking thru all of the gazillion pics we have of him and thought I would post this one cause he is just so dang cute. This was taken a year ago.

Fudgesickle

Aiden and I shared a Fudgesickle a few days ago. He definately got more on his face than he got in it. But he loved it!

Day at the Zoo

Some of my friends and all of our kids braved the Phoenix Zoo last week. The kids had a blast. I'm pretty sure every one of them fell asleep on the way home. Here are some of the pics from the day.

Teddy

This is Teddy. Grandma Robyn bought Teddy before Aiden was born and because I thought it was SOOO adorable I didn't let Aiden touch it for months. When he was about 9 months old, I got Teddy down from the shelf to see what Aiden thought. He LOVED Teddy and has slept with him every night since. As you might be able to tell from his unraveling mouth and floppy body. (I can relate to the floppy body feeling! :) Teddy is a member of the family if you ask Aiden. So you can imagine the heartache and dismay he felt when I left Teddy at home during our last trip to the cabin! At first I thought it wouldn't be too big of a deal. Once Aiden was asleep, he wouldn't know the difference. Boy was I wrong! Aiden's pack n play is in the same room as our bed at the cabin so I hear his every move during the night. About 2:00 in the morning (maybe earlier- who knows) I heard Aiden stirring. Then I heard his hand swiping against the sides of the pack n play. Then he mumbled "Teddy" in the most pathetic little whiny voice and started to cry. Hard! I felt SOOOO bad. I had no idea how attached he is to that dang bear! But at the same time... it was SOOOO cute. I ended up trying a dozen different things to get him back to sleep, including putting him in our bed which I never resort to. I think we were awake for about an hour. He did go back to sleep finally and slept fine the next night, thank goodness. But I will be much more careful next time we leave town to have Teddy with us. I'm sure Aiden will too. :)

Feeling Blessed

My camera is working again!!! Yeah!!! I thought I had fully charged batteries in it, but apparently they didn't take the charge. Its such a relief that I don't have to get a new one... or wait till Christmas to open it!

On another exciting note, I had a doctors appointment today and was able to hear the baby's heartbeat. 12 weeks & 4 days now. We've been counting the days for so long. After the two miscarriages, I finally feel like I can allow myself to be excited again! We are all breathing much easier now. One of my friends here in Mesa is about 10 or 11 weeks along. We are so excited to have these little ones so close together. Our boys play great together so it will be fun to have another set of playmates. I feel so blessed. Mostly because I will get to enjoy having a tiny little one in my arms sooner than I realize, but also because of the great friends I have here. The Lord has allowed me to be in a ward with girls that I absolutely adore. They are quickly becoming my family away from home. They are my babysitters, my "I need a cup of sugar" neighbors, my support, and my sisters. I have always had those type of friends and I love all of you who fall into that category, but I find myself appreciating it more here because they are all I have.

Really... you don't have to read this!

I totally have things I should be doing right now but doing nothing is much more appealing. We had a bunch (11 to be exact - ranging in age from 11 months to 5 years) of Aiden's friends over today. Lucky for me, their mom's came too. It is a hectic couple of hours when they are all here but we all really enjoy it. We fed them lunch and some played outside in the unbearable heat. Aiden is pooped out in his bed now and I'm sure all the rest of the kids are too. They play hard and all of us mom's have a good time yackin'. Jeremy & Aiden & I are headed to the cabin this weekend to see Grandma & Grandpa Benson. I should be packing right now since we are leaving in like an hour or 2 but I don't have the motivation. I'm excited to go, just not excited to pack. Especially since I was in Vegas for a week and a half and JUST finished UN-packing yesterday! YAWN!!!!! I guess the exhaustion of pregnancy is getting to me. And now I am realizing how pathetic I am and now I have motivated myself to get off my butt and get packed. All in a matter of 5 minutes and one really "run-on" paragraph.

By the way... the reason my blog is looking so blah is because my camera is busted and I don't know what is wrong with it. Sorry.

I caught the baby bug!!!

Yes, I am PREGO! We have known for a couple of months now (I'm 10 weeks along) but have kept it to ourselves. That was TOUGH! We are thrilled and I feel great. We will welcome the newest member of the Benson family sometime at the end of March 2008.

Aiden's First Refridgerator Worthy Artwork!

I'm really not sure if you can tell what this is... but if you look close at the boy on the far right you will notice some crayon specks. When we picked Aiden up from Nursery on Sunday those specks and the smeared ink around the boy's collar were all wet. The best we can guess is that Aiden was more interested in eating the crayon than in coloring the picture! Apparently it didn't take long before he realized that CRAYONS are not FOOD. And he spit it back out on the page. Aaaahhh..... such proud parents we are!

Water Park

Here are some pics of Aiden & his friends at the water park. We all had a great time.

New Babies

Aiden has three new 2nd cousins. Zane Schaub & Odin Welker (Jeremy's cousin's sons) and Gracie Bleazard (my cousin's daughter). Jeremy and I would love for our siblings to start popping out 1st cousins for him, but for now we are thrilled that our cousins are having little ones! Zane (in the white blessing outfit) was born June 8th, Odin (in the blue) was born July 24th and Gracie was born July 26th. Aren't they ADORABLE!!!