Airplanes

Last weekend we went with Dave's sisters and (most of) their kids to the museum at Hill Air Force Base. The museum is free and full of real airplanes, I don't know why we haven't been there several times already! Here is a shot of some of the cousins by (what I think is) a guided missile.
Benjamin is one of the happiest people I have ever known. About 3 minutes before this picture was taken he fell flat on his face on the concrete floor, then he sat in the chair and gave a big, cute, face-contorting smile.

My men hanging out in the pilot's seat.

The highlight of the trip were the model airplanes that the kids could ride in. The older ones pedaled, Harrison scooted around...

and Benja got a ride from a big cousin.

The museum worker assured Dave that he could make one of these on his own...I'll keep you posted:)

I'm famous...

Check out this super-fantastic recipe blog...yes, I'm the Betsy she's talking about:)

The Crofts Family Band

The 24 Hour Date

Decemeber 28th was our 5 year anniversary! It's hard to celebrate because we're usually away from home. We thought that this year we should do something special because five years is a long time:) After several of our plans fell through and we discovered that flights were severely overbooked, we decided to head to the ultimate vacation destination--Wendover! Dave's sister so kindly watched our boys for the night and we made the 2 hour drive...with no carseats. It was wonderful! I mean, what's not to love with a neon smoking cowboy welcoming you to the city?

We had all kinds of fun, got a nice break from life and started looking forward to the next five years!

Our Birthday Boy

Benja celebrated his 1st birthday on Christmas. I realize I just did a Christmas post, but birthdays are special, it deserves its own. We switched into birthday mode after our afternoon naps. After dinner, Benj opened a few birthday gifts from some friends and family, and then we dug into his snowman cake. Dave gets credit for the idea, but I took care of the actual production:)

Benja didn't quite get the candle, he tried to grab it rather than blowing it out, but he was all over the cake eating!

After he was done, he even snuck the rest of Harrison's piece.
We talked a lot throughout the day about how different things were last Christmas. It has been a crazy and fun year getting to know this little guy. Benjamin is such a happy, loving boy. He loves to blow kisses to our friends who sit behind us at church. He loves to run with our doggy neighbors and buries his head in your shoulder when he gets shy. He loves sweets almost as much as his mom and is a budding musician. We are so happy that he is a part of our family!

Happy Birthday Benjamin!

Day 12: Christmas!

Day 11: Christmas Eve

While the little boys were napping on Christmas Eve, I felt a surge of inspiration and made them these crowns. The blue one for Benjamin's birthday and the red one for Harrison, because I didn't want to deal with having one crown and two toddlers.

At the end of the day we got in our jammies and snacked on Clementines.

This was our first Christmas on our own, so we had to decide which family traditions to keep from each side. This was the compromise: For dinner we had the Sherman Family array of appetizers. And we let the boys do the Crofts Family exchange of the gifts that they got for eachother. The race car wallet was a hit...
...as was the little pig!