A Christmas Story

It seems like we've gotten a million inches of snow this winter. Yesterday, after another storm, I dressed Benson in his snowsuit and stuck him in the backpack and I went out to shovel the walks and the driveway. I thought it was so cute that I couldn't resist posting this picture. He was just like the little kid on the movie, "A Christmas Story". He couldn't move at all!!!

Jumperoo

Thanks to Casey's sister, Crystal, Benson has been enjoying his Jumperoo for the last couple days. I think it is so cute because everytime I look over at him, he's got the biggest smile on his face! I sure love this boy!

He's asleep!!!

Some of you may know how extremely blessed I have been with a baby whose been sleeping through the night since he was about 6 weeks old. Benson has always taken good naps and slept really well at night. But for the last week or so, he's been waking up 4 or 5 times a night and has only been taking 1/2 hour naps instead of his regular 2 hour naps (except for on Tuesday when he took that amazing 4 hour nap).....

Anyway, yesterday I noticed that he had little red bumps on his legs. Upon further examination, I discovered that these bumps were all over his tummy, back, arms, and even starting on his face. So I made an appointment with the doctor and went in to see what in the world was going on.

Just as my mom predicted, he has eczema and the doctor also noticed that he has an ear infection, which is why his sleeping has been a little off lately.

So I came home with lotions and creams and drops and antibiotics and pain medicine... so hopefully these little problems will be fixed in no time. But as for right now, Benson is taking a nap!!!! Modern medicine is miraculous!

Bliss!

Yesterday Casey may or may not have taken a sick day at work so he could stay home with Benson and me....
We spent the whole day cleaning our house. Benson took a 4 hour nap, which helped the process, and we were done cleaning just in time for Casey's friends to come over and play xbox while I scrapbooked until almost 2:00 a.m.
Besides the soda cans and the pizza boxes, our house is still clean and hopefully it can stay that way for a while.

Having a clean house makes me feel so good! Thanks for the help, Case.

Solid foods, here we come!

Benson had his 4 month doctors appointment on Thursday and she gave the OK for solid foods (even though I wouldn't call baby cereal SOLID)...

Here are a few pictures of Benson partaking of the rice cereal goodness.

Just before the action started

After his first bite. He seems a little unsure about what was going on.

mmmmmm!

All in all, it was a pretty good experience.

10 things I love about Casey

Happy Birthday, Casey....

Wanna know what I love about you?

1. You are so patient. You never get mad at me. In fact, a lot of the time I TRY to pick fights with you, but it never works. I can bug you for hours and hours, but you never get angry.

2. You are so handy. Whenever I break something, you can usually fix it. And you actually do things like chop wood and build fires and things. Most of the time, you are a very handy person to have around.

3. You are such a good dad. Benson really likes you. You are always so concerned about him, especially when we go outside and I never want to cover up his head, but you tell me that it's cold outside and so we cover his head and it probably makes him mad, but it keeps him from getting sick and being cold. That's such a good dad thing to do.

4. You take good care of me. I always spend all of your money and you don't even get mad at me or anything. Whenever I need you, I know you will always be there to take care of me.

5. You make me laugh. Most of the time is not like "ha, ha, funny", but it's just a little smirkle here or there. I really enjoy it! You are an amusing person to me.

6. We have so much fun together. Sometimes people want me to go do things with them and I don't want to go because you won't be there. I hate to be apart from you. It's like that time when Tyler threw Cory a batchelor party and I went because we didn't want to be apart.... I just always want to be with you. You've even talked me in to going hunting with you in the desolate land of Randolf... I hate Randolf and I don't like hunting, but I love being with you.

7. You are so smart. If there's ever a problem (especially with computers) you know just what to do to fix it. I'm always amazed at how smart you are.

8. You are very athletic. I'm always impressed when we play games or a sport or anything, you are always so good at whatever we do. I never feel embarassed by you. Some wives feel bad for their husbands cause they're no good at things, but you're usually pretty good at everything, and I always feel so proud of you.

9. You help me reach my goals and you let me dream. I love talking about our future... There is nothing better to me than an eternity with you. You help me be better at everything and you really make me try harder. I love that I'm better, not worse, when I'm with you. I love that you let me dream. Sometimes I say that I want to do dumb things, like make colorful waffles, but you just let me do it and don't tell me that I'm silly or anything.

10. You are very spiritual. You always want to do what's right. You know so much about the gospel. I love that!

I could go on and on, but we are late for a date, so I better get going.

I love you, Casey, happy 23rd birthday.

Natalie

Dalpias Digital

Our photography and video business is up and running! If you know someone who needs photography or a video done, please refer them to us, we would really appreciate it.

Our website is DalpiasDigital.com we are still working on getting it all ready to go, but there are some examples of photography and videos on there and our prices are also on there.

Really, if you know someone who might be interested in family pictures, wedding photography and video or anniversary videos or anything, we would really appreciate a referal!

my number is 801-710-4204
Casey's is 801-645-1811

Thanks,
Natalie

Oh, and thanks to those of you who have let us take your pictures and use them on our website.

New Year!!!

The kids went sledding on New Year's Eve.

Here's Addyson all bundled up!

Grandpa Mike got a massage chair thing. The kids really like to be vibrated.

Trapper, Addyson, and Gunner
We had a CRAZY new year's eve.
Gunner and Addyson fell asleep just before midnight.

Christmas Day

Benson and I couldn't sleep (I was really the only one who couldn't sleep), so we got up at 6:45 and opened gifts.

We had a very good Christmas!
Also, notice the pajama pants. I made all 3 of us matching ones. I forgot to take a picture of all of us wearing them.

Christmas Eve 2007

All of the kids acted out the Nativity.

Benson was Baby Jesus

Then we opened gifts.

Benson seems concerned that Trapper is opening his gifts.

LAN party

A couple of days before Christmas, Casey and some of his friends and brothers-in-law got together at my parents' house for a good old fashion L.A.N. party. (That's when they hook up all of their computers together and enjoy a frenzy of games.)

The view of cords under the table

This is about half of the Strawberry Lemonades Danny enjoyed that night.

St. George

For Christmas, Casey gave me a weekend away to St. George...

I'm not sure if it was supposed to be "away" from Benson, but I couldn't stand to leave him home, so he came with us. We had such a fun time!!!!

Casey and Benson really liked watching the TV... They had like 700 channels!

Like Father, Like Son

Just a sappy ole post...

I hesitate posting without adding at least a picture or two, but I'm going to try it out anyway.

Yesterday we went to the temple with Danny before he goes on his mission. We had such a wonderful time. I can't believe my little Danny is going on a mission. I try not to think about it a lot because I know that I will miss him so much, but I'm so glad that he has made this decision in his life. He will have a wonderful experience!

While we were sitting in the session, I leaned over to my mom and told her that I missed my baby, Benson. She said, "Just wait, pretty soon he'll be 19 and you'll be going through the temple with him." My heart about broke. It's so true, I can't even believe how fast the time is going. Benson will be 4 months old next week. He's getting so big. He learned how to roll over a few days ago and now he's rolling over (or tipping over) like a pro... but only if he wants to, there is no forcing him. He's getting his own little personality and I just love it! He is such an alert baby. He always has the widest, brightest eyes and he's always looking around like he's so eager to learn about everything around him. It makes me sad that my baby is growing up, but I am so excited for the life he has ahead of him. I'm excited (and scared) to teach him and play with him and love him.

After the temple, we went over to my parents' house and had dinner with my family. I loved that! My brothers and sisters really have become my best friends and I love spending time with them. Everyday when Casey and I are bored, we can't think of anything we'd rather do than go over to my parents' house and hang out with my brothers and Tami & Nick. And I really enjoy my parents. I've always thought how cool it was that I could be friend with my parents. My dad and I can sit all day and talk about anything and my mom has taught me so much, I really depend on her.

My life right now is amazing! I feel so in love with Casey. We have so much fun together and while I think the saying is way overused, he really is my best friend. I love spending time with him. Sometimes I feel like a hermit because I never want to do anything with anyone else unless Casey is there. He is so good to Benson and me. I am so grateful that he takes care of us. I love that I get to be home with our baby and I am so glad that Casey is willing to sacrifice to make that possible for us.

Even though the laundry will never end and my floors could use a good scrubbin', I am content with my little house and my little family. I love that life has been designed this way, to be shared with a family. What a blessing it is to have people who love us so much.

Sorry for the sappy post. But I just wanted to write down how I'm feeling today....
Natalie

Uncle Cory's Skull Candy

Cory took this picture with his i-phone. Benson enjoyed listening to Cory's headphones.