Picnic Season

It is picnic season once again.  The weather is nice - warm temperatures and very little to no wind; it's really quite nice here.  I don't worry about catching the weather anymore.  Anyway, this past Thursday was absolutely wonderful and the last full day we had to spend with my brother Brian.  I decided that the dinner I had planned would be perfectly acceptable for a picnic so I got everything packed, we picked Dustin up and off to the park we went.

We decided to go to the park right next to the zoo.  We found the perfect picnic area set up above the rest of the park and right next to one of the zoo exhibit (although we couldn't quite figure out what the animal was).  There were lots of rocks to climb on, cool rock formations and trails.  There were also lots of trees but since our trees don't have leaves yet it didn't make much of a difference for us.

This first picture is an area of the rock that Dustin says cooled at a different temperature than the rest of it.  The second picture is the look up at our picnic area.  Dustin is getting the grill ready for our chicken and grilled cheese sandwiches.

This tree is growing out of the rock!

Not really, but it certainly looks that way, the rock just cuts into the trunk and this is what you see from the picnic table.

We had a great time until David cut his finger and on the way to the car started to have a bloody nose.  The bloody nose REALLY freaked him out and we had to spend some time calming him down.  We didn't stay much longer than cleaning up and calming David but we did stop at the grocery store to get some popsicles.  It's all fun and games until someone gets a bloody nose!

Napping

There is nothing better than napping with a baby.  

Everyone looks so peaceful and content.

Matthew really enjoyed his nap with Aunt Cassie.

Cassie enjoyed her nap with Matthew until her two older sisters started picking on her.

This is just before she figured out what we were doing.

I was laughing to hard to get any other pictures after this one.

Matthew never knew we were messing with his aunt.

Swaddled

"All Swaddled Up"

"Baby in Burrito Form"

"Burrito Baby"

There is nothing as cute as seeing a baby all swaddled up nice and tight in a blanket.  They look so peaceful, comfortable and happy.
I must admit that I don't think I was very good at swaddling David when he was a baby - not that it mattered, he was Houdini and never stayed in anything.  Matthew seems to have some of the same tendencies as David, however, if I get him tight enough he will stay swaddled through a nap.  I just love looking at my little burrito baby and wondering how comfortable and warm he is.  I wish I had those moments of peacefulness for myself.  I guess I will just have to observe and enjoy the peaceful, warmth of a swaddled baby.  Before I know it Matthew will be a toddler and then a little boy then a man.

Here are some little facts about Matthew:
*  His eyelids get red when he's tired
*  He doesn't like to have his feet touched, although he is getting better about it
*  He will smile freely for everyone but me, I really have to work for those smiles
*  He is a really awesome eater
*  He does not like being on his stomach
*  He really likes to watch his big brother
*  His toes wiggle while he's eating and the speed depends on how hungry he is
*  He will fall asleep if swaddled - so for naps I must swaddle him

Just a little cute story about the brothers:
One night when I was up to feed Matthew, David woke up and asked me to feed Matthew in their room instead of leaving.  As I fed Matthew, David would spread his blanket on the floor and roll around in it.  Finally after a while of watching him I asked what he was doing and he told me he was trying to get wrapped up like BoJo.  When I was finished feeding and before heading back to my bed I asked David if there was anything he wanted me to do for him.  His response was, "I want to be all swaddled up like BoJo."  I swaddled him up - he didn't stay that way for more than 30 seconds before his arms were out (just like when he was a baby) and back to sleep he went.  Let me tell you it is much easier to swaddle a baby than a little boy!

Blessing Day

What a special day Sunday was.  We were able to bless Matthew at church.  It was wonderful to have so many family members with us, we did miss those that couldn't make it.  This is a picture of all of us.  David is in this picture you just can't see him because he is behind us crying into the couch because he didn't want to go to primary.  Anyway, Dustin gave Matthew a wonderful blessing and Matthew did a great job during the blessing, wanted to eat right after and promptly fell asleep for the rest of church.
After church we had a nice lunch with all of our family and friends.  Everyone enjoyed themselves and had a great time visiting, eating and playing games.
I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful family.  I am so grateful for the priesthood that Dustin holds and the blessings he is able to give our children - they are always wonderful and special.

Here are some fun things from the weekend with family:

• Upon handing a to-do list to Cassie her quick response was "What are wormies?"  Really the list said brownies but wormies was what we called it the rest of the weekend.  David got to help make the wormies and when he was told what he was making he said, "I don't want to eat worms!"  He soon found out that it was really brownies.
• All of us siblings agreed to run a marathon together next year (I'm the one holding us up - I need to get in shape).  When talking to my mom about is we were told the ones to finish would be Brian and Ashley.  We'll just have to see about that!  (Keep in mind that we were all laughing about this and thought it was funny - none of us were offended)
• Also while talking about the marathon my dad was trying to explain to us the mental exhaustion that would be put on us and we couldn't even focus on the conversation so we'll see how that goes too.  (We were still laughing and really enjoyed this conversation)
• Randomness ensued in all conversations that involved the Benson siblings - we really had a great time together.
• We learned more about how my grandpa met my step-grandma and how my mom and dad met.

All in all a wonderful weekend that ended all too quickly.