brighton

 nothing quite like shepard's dinners up at the cannon cabin and a stroll around silver lake. so beautiful and just the right temperature. i couldn't believe how much water there was. the run-off this year is out of control and there is still snow blocking sections of the trail!

 Mr. Smiley Coley.

  Benjamin exploring with Uncle Andrew.

 Grandpa Wayne keeping Cole happy. Cole always looks so little when Grandpa Wayne holds him. I love it!

  Beautiful Aunt Becky with her daddy.

 Look that's me!! Can you believe it? I am appearing on my own blog. Don't get too used to it.

family pictures!

 My Mother's Day gift to myself was a trip to Vegas to see my dear friend Megan and to have her take our family pictures!! Hooray! I think it was an amazing present to myself because I adore the pictures! She is amazing! Check her out at megruth.com. Now the only problem is figuring out which ones to put up in my house and where?

danger zone

today was no exception. i ran upstairs to change my slimed shirt before a relief society picnic. i was upstairs for less than two minutes before i hear cole screming, which was quickly followed by ben yelling,"i not doing anything mommy!" which is an instant tip that ben has in fact just done something very naughty and he knows it. i ran down the stairs to find cole tipped over in his stand-up play thing and ben hiding behind the couch. nice. cole is so incredibly lucky to be alive. i pray every night that cole makes it to see one. when i read scripture stories with ben and he comes to the page where jesus is praying in gethsemane, he asks me,"why jesus praying for us?" i tell him, "he is praying for us to make the right choices so we will be happy. "oh," he says, "he praying i not fight coley anymore?" "yes ben, he is praying that you don't fight coley anymore." oh boy.

pirate day

today ben was obsessed with "jake and the neverland pirates." he demanded we make a "team treasure chest" just like jakes. unfortunately my first two attempts at a pirate chest were unacceptable. the first one which was exactly like jakes via disney.com was vetoed because it was too small. the second one made from a shoebox, which i thought was awesome apparently wasn't his cup of tea either. also he needed a pirate hat. lucky me, my first attempt was acceptable. the day was almost ruined when we didn't have any gold doubloons on hand. so a trip to the dollar store was the next order of business. but sadly the dollar store let us down. no gold doubloons. only giant pennies. fortunately, there was another mom there also in search of pirate paraphenalia. she tipped us off that walmart had some in the party section. so off we went again in search of gold doubloons. i found some gold coins that weren't officially pirate currency, but luckily they passed with ben. so we came home and loaded up the treasure chest (also found in the party section. apparently better than what i could do) with our booty and set out on many a pirate hunt. the treasure somehow winds up in the same spot every time. hhmmmm . . . i smell funny business.

zoo day!

 aaaahh the zoo! such a beautiful day. it was even more beautiful because my sister was there with us! ben loves it when aunt chic comes to town.

 ben thought the elephants eating their lunch was hilarious and mostly confusing.

 the zoo is currently under massive renovation. ben thought they might need some help to get the project finished. but he didn't quite have the muscle to do it alone.

 good thing aunt chic was there to back him up.

 i love giraffes. why? because they are awkwardly beautiful.

 it totally looked like the giraffe in the back is leaning up against the wall. not the case. he is standing in the weirdest position with most of his weight on one of his back legs.

 grandma had a great time snuggling coley.

i made chic play dress up. ha ha!

oh my little melty coley. he so has my heart wrapped around his chunky finger.

 last time we were at the zoo, ben was terrified of the the carousel. but this time he was begging to go on it. so what super awesome animal did he choose to ride?

 the stationary peacock boat. oh brother.

 what on earth would you need an emergency ladder at the zoo for?

in case you fall in the gorilla enclosure. i don't think that makes me feel safe.

favorite game

peek a boo from Britta Bruderer on Vimeo.

last soccer game of the season!

 i can't believe that soccer season is already over!! how sad! granted ben didn't really spend much time on the field, but i had fun!

 his last game was actually his best game. he actually played all by himself. that was a huge step for him. he had to hold coach brad's hand a little bit in the beginning, but by the end he was running and actually going after the ball! he even got an assist! next year will be awesome!

 grandpa dave and cindy came to the game today. i attribute ben's sudden surge of bravery to the fact that he had a fresh audience to impress. not to mention grandpa was super excited to give him some special one on one training!

 coach brad totally deserves the "coach of the year" award. he is awesome. he never ever gave up on ben. thanks coach! ben loves you!

 what soccer game is complete without an otter pop?

and what season is complete without a shiny medal?! this is ben's very first sports "trophy." he was so proud of his "menal." congrats on an adventurous first season big guy! (yes that is red gatorade all over his face and shirt. what crazy mom gives a three year old red gatorade to drink by himself? oh right that was me. oops.)

4th of July

today was idyllic. everything was beautiful for almost the whole day. everybody was up together. ben and i made a really really cool firecracker cake in the morning. everybody pitched in and we cleaned up the house. then we went over to scott's aunts house for a bbq and swimming. it was a little overcast, which made for a more pleasant fourth, but we weren't dying to get in the pool. but of course all the little cousins wanted to get in, so ben did too. so we all got in the pool. ben was a rockstar!! he had a life jacket and a noodle and he got brave enough to swim around all by himself! it was so awesome. cole of course didn't even flinch. he loves the water. he floated around in a baby float playing with a plastic grasshopper. we swam and swam until we were cold and tired. i got cole out and was getting him dressed when scott and ben got out of the pool. of course ben started having a major tantrum because he thought he was freezing to death. i didn't even look up when he started screaming because it is just so ben, but what made me look was that everybody at the party, all 40+ of them, had gone silent when ben started screaming. they all wore looks of deep worry on their faces. clearly these people had not seen benjamin or any other child like him before. i laughed because it is just every day life with ben, but i think we may have scarred some relatives! after the party we all came home and wiped out! everybody took a nap! hooray! best treat ever! after everybody woke up we drove into salt lake and went to the SL Bees game. the game itself seemed to drag on forever, until the 8th inning when the other team caught up. but we were all so done and ready for fireworks, the reason we were cheering for a strike was so the game would be over, not so the Bees would win! ben has been talking about the fireworks for days, and he was so excited when they started, but about five minutes in he got scared and started screaming. scott calmed him down and covered his ears and then he did better. cole on the other hand thought the fireworks were hilarious! seriously! he just kept giggling and talking. so funny. what a day.

coley - o news

here are some of the hilarious new things cole is doing:

he tries really hard to repeat animal sounds. he really just clears his throat and grunts, but he always looks to me for approval.

he has started doing this little fake cough lately to get attention. it is hilarious because it really is so forced.

he loves to play with books, but he gets really really mad when they close and he can't get them back open.

whenever he hears music or i sing him a song he throws his hands in the air and waves them like he is conducting an orchestra.

he has learned how to give kisses. although i am the only one he will give them too.

at night he loves having his blanket, binky, and his penguin. when we walk into his room and i start to grab his blanket out of the crib, he knows that i always put his binky in my mouth, so as soon as i turn my head he grabs it out of my mouth and puts it back in his. when i put him in his crib he grabs for his stuffed penguin that aunt chicken gave him. he likes to hold onto its beak the best.