Back to School

Colton 5th Grade - Big man on campus!
Caleb 4th Grade
Jared 1st Grade

Lindsay Preschool & Dance Class

Back to school means the summer fun is over. We have enjoyed swimming, biking, free summer movies, fun field trips, and lots of play time. Mom is hopeful that back to school means getting caught up on several home projects. After I drop the kids off at school the house is just too quite with just mom and Lindsay. Luckily, we have a "Happiest Day of the Year" lunch date with friends from church. I have to say I'm always sad to see the relaxing and fun summer come to and end. I'm truly just a big kid at heart and love having my kids around to play with. For me it is not the happiest day of the year.

Captain Black BOOT

Caleb hurt his ankle on July 4th and has been sporting this BLACK BOOT around. Today we get to take it off. Yippee!!! We are so excited because, even though we can wash the boot and wash his leg, it is a very stinky boot. It must be the Las Vegas heat of 110 degrees making the stink. The boot was suppose to help him slow down and isolate the ankle so it could heal. But within a day of having the big black boot on Caleb was running, jumping, begging to bike ride, swim, etc. in the boot. Next time we will try a body cast to slow Caleb down.

1st Dance Class

The day has finally arrived for Lindsay's 1st dance class. I don't know who was more excited -- Lindsay or mom? She was up and dress for dance by 8 a.m. She loved her class and was so excited that one of her best friends Kaitlyn is in the class.
Lindsay & Kaitlyn

FUN from age 3 to 39

For family night we enjoyed the perfermance, "Sound of Music" at the Tuacahn Amphitheatre in St. George, Utah. The Tuacahn Amphitheatre is set in the most beautiful red rock canyon with 1,500 cliffs echoing the music back to the audience. Our entire family loved the performance and felt like we were seeing a Broadway show. It was wonderful to find something everyone in the family loved. We took off for St. George after Kyle got off work and made it back to Las Vegas around 12:30 a.m. after the performance. Next time we will stay the evening in St. George.

San Diego Family Reunion

We found this amazing spot to take pictures in La Jolla. The entire Benson Family, current total 30, was able to take pictures before the tide came in. While the kids weren't posing for pictures, they enjoyed collecting crabs and discovering the tidal pools around these rocks.

Soccer Spring 08

Caleb had a great season playing soccer with the Hawks. It was fun to see Caleb really improve his soccer skills. Caleb loved playing with his friends - Jared, Carter, Issac, Ethan, and Hanna. He hated to miss a practice or game and declares that soccer is his favorite sport! Mom and Dad loved seeing lots of friends on the sidelines.

Last Day of School

It is the last day of school and we are so excited for summer break! YEAH! I'm a mom that loves to play and summer break is all about playing with my kids. The boys have all had awesome teachers and a great school year! It is amazing how fast the school year went by and as I look at the boys I can't believe how much they have grown up this year.

Caleb and Mr. Carley - 3rd Grade. Caleb has done so well this year in school. He received the presidents silver award.
Jared and Ms. Combado - Kindergarten. Today they had a kindergarten graduation program, it was amazing. Not a dry eye in the audience. They sang a cute song to the Broadway tune - New York, New York about how they were all heading to first grade. It was so precious. Watch out 1st Grade, here comes Jared!
Colton and Mr. Cayer- 4th Grade. Colton has had so much fun with Mr. Cayer. He is going to miss playing 4 square with him at recess. Colton received the presidents gold award!

Piano Recital

Today we enjoyed our first piano recital. Kelli Nielson is a great teacher and we love that the boys can walk down the street for lessons. Colton has been playing for a year and is really improving his playing skills. Caleb started playing the beginning of 2008. It was great to hear the songs the boys have been perfecting for today. The boys loved the fun piano medals Kelli presented after the recital.
Lindsay loved the refreshments and going to Red Robin or as she calls it Red Ribbon for dinner to celebrate. It was a great family evening!

Batter-UP!

Jared played his first t-ball season this spring. Our team name - The Rattlers. It was a fantastic season!! Kyle was an assistant coach and I was the team mom. Jared had lots of his friends on the team. Which means lots of fun in the dug out and the reason for the big smile. Jared really improved over the season but is still trying to decide if he likes soccer better than baseball. We are glad t-ball ended just in time for the heat. Today it was 103. This hit was great, all the way to the center field!

Wicked Trip

We took a quick trip to southern California to see WICKED for our 16th Anniversary. The performance was amazing! We also spent a few days with Dad and Mom Carter. We had fun taking them to get hair cuts, shopping, eating out, watch the Lakers, and a trip to the beach. Mom is such a delight to be around and the trip to the beach was a big hit. It was fun to take Mom to the salon and have her hair done and make her feel beautiful. Happy Mother's Day! I'm so lucky to have such wonderful mothers!

Dad, Mom and Kyle

The "Love Birds"

We left our 4 kids with Kaycee and Stuart Fillmore. The kids had a blast while we were gone and Kyle and I enjoyed the break. It was so nice to be back home with my family for Mother's Day. The kids had made cards and special gifts for me. Kyle and the kids cooked a yummy dinner. It was a wonderful day. Thanks!

Take Your Child To Work Day

Colton working with dad!


Last Thursday was National "Take Your Child To Work Day." All three of our boys came home from school begging to go to work with Kyle. Kyle couldn't take all three boys and still work. So we let Colton wake up at 5:45 a.m. to go to work with Kyle. After Lindsay's preschool field trip, I took the rest of the kids down to Kyle's hospital. Jared was so excited. And Caleb thought it was completely unfair that Colton got to go in the morning and he had to wait until the afternoon. As we walked into the hallway from the recovery room, Jared saw a women coming out of surgery and said VERY LOUD "Is that lady dead?" The kids had a blast playing with balloons made from rubber gloves and seeing where dad works. I went home with the rest of the kids and let Caleb spend the afternoon alone with Kyle. It was a wonderful day and next year Caleb has called dibs on going in early with Kyle for the morning shift. Colton presented a slide show for his class of his day with Kyle at work, complete with a laser pointer and passed out rubber balloon gloves to all the kids. It was a big hit!

Down & Derby

TEAM CARTER CARS!
WINNING CAR
Most Futuristic

Here are pictures of the Colton and Caleb with their Pinewood Derby cars. Kyle had so much fun building these cars with the boys. Or should I say he got really stressed putting in the axles? They called their cars "Team Carter". (Note the similar silver paint with black stripes) But all the hard work paid off. Colton won first place with his car!!! I couldn't tell who was more excited, Colton or Kyle! This was very exciting because this was Colton's last Pinewood Derby. Caleb's car also did great winning the most "futuristic" award. Way to go "Team Carter"!

Creating A Blog

Just want to say a BIG THANK YOU to Melanie for motivating and making me sit down and create a blog. It was so easy and something I've wanted to do for months, but thought it would be so hard. THANK YOU!

Birthday Month

We have half of our families birthdays in February. It is our official Birthday Month. So this year we just decided to have Birthday Weekend! We started with Lindsay Party at 11 A.M. on Friday. Lindsay turned 3 and was so excited to have a princess party with her best friend Ellie Reese. We had their party at "Krafty Kreations". All the kids enjoyed making crowns, necklaces, and wands. Then the princesses ate lunch.

Lindsay and Ellie with the Princess Birthday Cake.
Ellie and Lindsay with all their friends.


I just love this photo of Lindsay with new sunglasses, earrings, and lipstick. I have a similar photo of me on my 3rd birthday with new sunglasses and jewelry. Every three year olds dream!

Next, to Jared's Birthday Party at 4:30 P.M.

Jared celebrated his 6th birthday at Peter Piper Pizza. It was the first time we have had a birthday party at a place like this. It was so easy and the kids had a blast.

The Birthday Boy!

On Saturday night Caleb had a unbirthday party(no gifts) with four of his friends. It was a sports night. Basketball, Four Square, Wii and lots of pizza, root beer and ice cream sundays. We were tired of cake.

We also got together with the Stokers and celebrated birthdays with cousins. Caleb's favorite gift was the traditional gift from Grandpa and Grandma. Nine candy bars with money hidden inside. Caleb had so much fun search for the money. Grandpa did a extra great job hiding the bills. What a great month!