Celebrating our 10th Anniversary

 We celebrated our 10 years of marriage by taking off on a cruise with our friends, Christian and Jackie. It was the perfect getaway and as much as we loved spending time just us, having our friends there made the card games more competitive, dinner conversations more interesting, hot tub hang outs and all our excursions even more fun. 

Those handstands on the beach are in Grand Cayman, that stop was a bit dissapointing, i'm sure Ben would rather forget it... due to the rainy weather conditions we weren't able to port where we were supposed to which confused things and made it so we didn't get off the boat until it was way later than planned, leaving us not enough time to swim with the sting rays. Ben has talked about the time he swam with the sting rays here so many time and how he wants to take me, making this stop the. most important and anticipated stop.  When we found out we couldn't swim with the sting rays, we went to the beach instead and the sun came out just enough to really enjoy it.  Later, on our way back to the ship Ben left our brand new go pro in the taxi. AHH! What a day.

 

Our stop in Puerta Maya, Cozumel: we rented a jeep and took off to the beach where we drank virgin lime mojitos and sun bathed.

 Our stop in Honduras: zip lining through the jungle and laying out on the beach eating nachos.

 

 Ben and I were contestants on the Love and Marriage show and won!? That was a fun evening but definitely too much about our love life got out.

Happiest Place on Earth

Ben's parents took their 5 kids to Disney Land for a few days. Lucky him! But me and the boys weren't too jealous. We knew some quality time with his parents and siblings is rare and would be memorable and meaningful. 

 

 

  

 

Let's get our bowl on!

Ben was completely surprised when we arrived at the bowling alley to see about 20 of our friends there to join us.  And a good bowling game is not complete without matching vintage bowling shirts. I ordered the his and hers shirts on etsy, they may be purple and have strangers names embroidered on them but that makes them all the better!

Our friends enjoyed a tower of donuts with some cute and embarrassing pictures of Ben. 

Some friendly competition was definitely encouraged: each member of the three teams had to pick a paper from a hat telling them how they would bowl that particular turn. So, we bowled under another's legs, wearing a cape or a boa, backwards, danced while the ball rolled down the alley among other embarrassing and tricky stunts.  It made for some really good laughs!

All in all i'm happy we pulled off the surprise successfully and that Ben enjoyed celebrating with some of his closest friends.

One Tough Mudder!

In the beginning of May Ben participated in this obstacle course (slash suicide mission) and proved to be ONE TOUGH MUDDER for sure.

(Our friend, Dave Roderick in the red shirt goes first, then Ben in the red bandana takes his turn--Proving his mad skills of walking on water.)

Tough Mudder events are hardcore 10-12 mile obstacle courses designed by British Special Forces to test your all around strength, stamina, mental grit, and camaraderie.

Ben and his buddies from church participated in this together.  They had to get through mud, fire, ice-water, 10,000 volts of electricity and climb over 12 foot walls and through underground mud tunnels.  (Not sure why someone would ever CHOOSE to put themselves through any of it. CRAZY.) 

I was a bit worried sending him off to be electrocuted, frozen and possibly burned.  Thankfully he came home with just a few scrapes and bruises... 

and with one less pair of shoes.  

Happy Fathers Day

For Fathers Day Finn left his handprint on a baseball for his daddy.  It's sits above his desk in a shadow box for him to admire daily.  

Ben always says, "I love you more than baseball" which means a lot coming from him! He will definitely teach Finn all he knows about the sport and maybe one day Finn will love it just as much as he does. 

(I couldn't decide which cute face of daddy's to show so I chose them all... LOL)

Ma & Pa

It has been quite a while since I've posted our happenings...  As usual, we have both been very busy with our jobs--Ben continues to build his alarm company and I couldn't be prouder of him for all of his hard work and dedication to it. We've been very patient this year as we put so much time, money, and effort into this business and now it sweet to finally begin seeing the fruits of our labors.  I continue to work from home and travel to DFW a couple times a month for meetings and events.  When we aren't working we've been completing baby room projects, planning Sunday lessons, Tuesday youth activities and prepping/attending the San Antonio North Stake Youth Pioneer Trek.  We were asked to be a Ma and Pa and both Ben and I, despite our busy schedules and my baby bump, jumped at the opportunity. I had never been on a trek as a youth so this was finally my opportunity to experience one.  Ben loves the youth and the outdoors and doesn't mind roughing it one bit so of course he was excited as well.

In the beginning of March we had our 12 children ...trek children... come to our home for a family gathering.  We had a pizza party and created a flag, cheer and skit for the trek.  We named ourselves the "Super Snarr's" and of course Ben, the arTist drew our awesome Superman. As a Ma and Pa we received 8 hour Trek training sessions--Wow...is all I can say to the amounts of work and preparation that goes into having such an event.  We definitely love our youth! After all the prep,came the real thing--a 3 day trek on March 11-13, at the YO Ranch in Keller, TX.  Everyone thought I was crazy for participating while 30 weeks pregnant and they tried to baby me the whole time but honestly being pregnant didn't hinder me. I was just fine walking 13 miles the first day and about 4 miles each of the next two days, it was the sleeping on the hard ground under the stars with frost on our sleeping bags that was the uncomfortable part! I was lucky to have the "cat's meow" sleeping bag which kept me toasty warm but how I wish I had an air mattress or a pillow! There were times I had such a hard time sleeping that i'd sit up and stare at the stars and wonder when on earth the sun would come up.  But other than the sleeping arrangements Trek was such a great experience for Ben and I and our 12 children. Our children were wonderful- and thought we had the best family (I would definitely agree.)  The Stake made an effort to place children in families who weren't already friends, so although many of our children didn't know each other this experience bonded and united them. It was eye opening for us all to have a subtle taste of what the pioneers went through for their love of and dedication to the gospel. Amazing. Like the pioneers, we cooked all of our food on the fire, ate the toughest beef jerky, the blandest johnny cakes (cornmeal and water cooked in a dutch oven and drizzled with honey), walked for miles in the hot sun- pulling a 500 lb. handcart, sang hymns along the way,  froze our booties off at night, and went without modern technology and amenities (no phones, cameras, showers, deodorant etc.).  Each family encountered challenges along the path.  Our family's challenge was that a herd of buffalo stampeded through our path and we lost two of our oxen and had to search for them.  We then learned how the pioneers made jerky and each had a taste of it. During a portion of the trek the men were taken away to help the Mormon Battalion and the women had to pull for 5 miles on their own.  I think the girls discovered they are strong, courageous and capable to do hard things. I was proud of my girls--they didn't complain but sang songs and were cheerful along the way. A lesson, I learned from this is that the Atonement of Jesus Christ does not always take away your trials but helps you to bear them.  The Pioneers experienced hardship but somehow had the courage to keep going--that courage came from powers beyond their own. And most pioneers felt that the price they paid to become acquainted with God was well worth it.  I think that the youth who participated learned that valuable lesson as well.  The Testimony Meeting at the end of trek went on for hours and it was sweet to hear how their faith had grown through this experience.

For me, this experience was also eye opening to see how irritated I could became having 12 teenagers- yeesh! They ask so many questions! But my love for each of them grew and I learned to be more patient and realized a bit of how much a parent serves and sacrifices for their children. I guess this was great prep for being a real Ma! I'm sure Ben would agree that it was great prep for being a real Pa too!

Pottery Classes

I've been meaning to post these pictures from the Pottery classes Ben and I took back in February 2012! Has it really been 6 months since then?

I don't have pictures of the actually pottery that we made--they are in a box, too high to reach. Or maybe i'm just too lazy to reach them?  We are proud of our work but I guess not proud enough to display the pots throughout our home.  Or maybe they aren't on display because we just moved and we haven't unpacked all of our boxes yet? Or maybe i'm jealous Ben's turned out better than mine? Whichever.  The point of the class was not necessarily to have great pieces of art but rather to spend time together learning something new.  Mission accomplished! We had a blast...

My baby's got sauce

... in case you are wondering it is a favorite line of a song by G Love from back in the day and it still sticks with me.

I'm not quite sure of the meaning of "sauce," it is open to interpretation, but all I know is that my baby has it. The song continues... "you're baby ain't sweet like mine."

Benjamin has been working hard and deserves a BIG thank you from me. Working in the sales industry he recieves many incentives and he continually reaches above and beyond his goals and the company goals. Recently he has earned... a big screen TV., a watch (which he gave to me), a bonus for the most sales in a week, a cruise (which I can't go on because of my job), a Motorcyle (which we owned for a whole hour... we don't ride motorcylces and so we sold it), and more. I am so proud of him and couldn't be more grateful to have a hardworking hubby who still makes time for his wifey.

Benjamin works extremely hard at his job with ADT, and when he isn't knocking doors he is knocking down trees, pruning shrubs, installing new door frames etc. on our house! He is also 2nd counselor in the Elders Quorum Presidency, and Scout Master. I am the Practice Manager of the ER at JPS Hospital, and still work a few nights at Pappadeaux seafood kitchen, while fulfilling a calling as cub master at church. I love my job at the hospital, am not sure how much longer I will stay at the restaurant, and have so many little cub scout buddies at church who make me proud.

Life is busy. Life is good. Life is worth it.


Nice shades Ben... he totally fits the part of the "tough," "cool" motorcyclist. Only thing that is missing is the leather jacket, spikey boots, and few tattoos on his arms. ha! It is a beautiful motorcycle and the owner of it now is a lucky man who will enjoy it more than we would.

Triumph over your fears and doubts, and exceed your expectations.

Ben's 'lil red car

We missed our 'lil Austin Healey Sprite! So when we arrived in Utah we took it for many drives. It is so cute and small...we get lots of stares, honks, and comments!

We drove it to the SLC Temple where we did a session. It was my first time going into that Temple. It was absolutely gorgeus and a sweet experieince. The picture on the steps of the Temple reminds me of a picture we took there when we were dating. Aw...the memories!