Visit to Bells for Baby Logan

Ben went to Guatemala Friday and I got to fly into Az. Yeah!! Julie picked me up from the airport and then we drove straight to Michelle's house in Henderson Nevada. Baby Logan was born the week before so we got to go see the new baby. It is Michelle's third- but first boy, and how happy John is. He was 8 lbs 14 oz, and I think 20 inches... pretty good!

Hung out with the girls for a couple days, held the perfect baby who just eats and sleep all day... What an Angel. Who wouldn't like a kid that just sits there and lets you hold him?? Played with Kylee and Alyssa and went to the strip one day to walk around. It just isn't the same when you are carrying an extra 20 pounds and it is 115 degrees outside. But gave me something to do right? We drove home Monday night and now get to hang out until next Monday in AZ... what to do?? Ben will be in Guatemala until Saturday so hopefully he'll have some fun stories to tell. His first day there was spent in Antigua before meeting up with the Dental Group- where him and brother Matt took a tour to an Active Volcano and got to roast marshmallows over molten lava. Delicioso! That is what I've heard so far. Hopefully he'll update me soon on life so I can feel apart of his fun. Here are the girls just being their silly selves, Got to love them!

Happy 4th...

There are just too many pictures to add to this post. We had such an excellent 4th- being able to go to Rocky Mountain National Park and go camping for a couple days and hike through the mountains. Ben's Dad flew up Wednesday night- so we left Thursday after Ben got done with school and stayed until Sunday afternoon. Friday we cooked our pancakes for breakfast and headed out. We planned a couple different routes to take- Ben being the courteous Husband and making sure the pregnant wife wouldn't overwork herself- but still made a 12 mile hike out of it. There were just too many lakes to see. It was Beautiful and well worth it- but I was wasted by mile 9, but what other choice is there but to keep walking.. Ben and Dad at Apache Falls
(Marianne O- this picture is for you... I bet I am the size you were when you had Sage..)

Dad at Loch Lake, where we stopped for lunch

Ben up at Sky Pond- we got to hike straight up a waterfall to see this lake and Glass Lake, and below was the snow Ben slid down after heading back down the waterfall. It was an AWESOME view....
We spent Friday night in Estes Park watching the fireworks- so here is one pic of the finale. It was entertaining, but we I think we just SO TIRED that it went on TOO LONG. Then a pic of our 5 mile hike Saturday afternoon to Cub Lake. The Caffalls whole fam. even came along. Those two girls sure are some troopers. I think the only "complaint" was Nat wanted a nap when we reached the lake- but the ducks in the pond kept her entertained and lively. Made for a fun hike.

Ben and his Dad hiked Flat Top Mountain Sunday morning, which was 12,324 feet. Didn't plan for Long's Peak, one of the fourteeners, so that made up for it. (vertical climb of 2,849 ft in 4 miles) This is a nice peak from the Sun- almost as good as a Sunrise, but got some pretty good views being above the tree line and hiking through the Tundra....


My hike for Sunday, 1/2 mile around Bear Lake- vertical climb of 7 feet! Yeah!!

Big News

This is the CHEESIEST picture and not That great of a belly shot, but that is all Ben would do for me to take the picture. So hopefully it does something for someone, answers your questions to what I could possibly look like at only 17 weeks.


So on to the bigger stuff- I have slacked a little bit downloading pictures- I can't scan the US pictures so I have to take a picture of them and hope they work out. I got one of each baby and their different poses. All the babies are growing at about the same rate- A is the biggest at 6 oz, and measurements were a couple days above schedule and C was 5 oz a day behind, B was somewhere in the middle. So all and all they are doing GREAT and right on schedule. We had a very thorough US and the tech is very confident with the outcome of the genders.... the identical twins will be boys and the single is a girl. So YEAH!! That is the perfect combination we were looking for and hope they continue to stay on course!
Here is The single baby which is A since she is lowest to the cervix... I just learned that is how they'll label them at every ultrasound. She liked to wave a lot and always stick her head in the way..
And the next Mr. B- it probably doesn't look like much unless you have examined US before- but the top left is the head, then the body- and the middle to the right of the picture is of his legs totally stretched out with a little show-off part in the middle. Pretty sure they'll be Boys!
And last and highest in the stomach and top of the bunk bed is C- I think he is a little more confined since he is up top and next to my stomach that always has to have food in it and probably not giving him much room to move.. but still hanging in there. Supposedly we should be able to feel them move in the next couple weeks so something else to look forward to I guess. Thanks for reading!!!

Good Times!

We just celebrated our 5 year anniversary.. I don't think we look any different...... But we are still loving the married life and I am glad Ben finally proposed and now here we are with plenty to look back and and plenty more to look forward to.


And here's more fun pics from California. I liked my Dad's cheesy face as he rode the beach cruiser, so everyone else needs to enjoy too! Then me and Annie ready for the beach- and Graycee smelling the flowers. She is a professional at that and looks very cute- until she grabs the flower and it is not longer there to smell. Luckily she never did that to Porter's flowers- just to some at the outlets. It is a bummer to be home and no longer looking at the beach- but I guess that is how life goes right?? I don't know when the next time I'll get the chance to go to the beach- but I 'll need something to look forward to.

Some from Cali....

Here are some pics from the trip to California. Porter's were nice enough to lend their beach house to my mom for the week, so of course the family had to come too! Mark, Annie, Gracyee, Brent, Dad and I made it Wednesday and have had a blast. Ben was gone on the Smilemakers Bus all week for school and has left me for a couple weeks, so I decided to take a break of my own. As much as I wish he would be here, I am still loving it!  Graycee is our main entertainment since she LOVES the water, but sitting on the beach works for me too! I am just dreading having to come home tomorrow and back to work!  Umm. other than Cali we have an Ultrasound on Tuesday and are hoping we will be able to find out the genders. We can post some of those pics, more of Cali- and you may even get one of me starting to show... My stomach is exploding by the weeks so I can't imagine what I'll look like in a couple months.

Vacation in AZ

Here are a few pictures from us hiking to Reavis Ranch.. the long Wednesday hike- but it was still pretty fun. See- even Jimmy made it with us!

Here is Matt's graduation..... what a mess! Out of all the graduations I have gone to AZ, none have ever been like this. It was raining on and off all day, Gilbert thought about moving the ceremony inside but kept it outside for some reason. Here is Dan, Tyler, Kelli, Scott and Ben before everything started. Jim and Monica came with the kids but left once they found out no audio was feeding into the auditorium. Dan, Kelli and Scott lasted about 45 minutes. It just got too rainy and cold and was pretty miserable. Grandma and Uncle Tim did stay with Ben, Dad and me through out the whole thing. The crazy part was through all the rain, the Principal still had everyone speak- all 8 or so people. Parents were walking all over the field getting their kids some water gear, once some kids got their diploma's they took off for the car.. amusing I guess. We did find Matt to get a couple pictures and then were out of there.
Friday after graduation we headed up to Payson for a week getaway. I left Monday (Memorial Day) to get back to work but Ben stayed until the end of the week- giving him almost 2 1/2 weeks in AZ. And me alone in CO. But here is a picture of the boys Bolfing. It was A LOT of fun. I played a couple times- and the boys were very patient with letting a pregnant, wimpy girl play their game. I got to cheat and start a little closer and got more encouragement than I felt deserved. Those boys sure are fun to play with !! And Ben got a little crazy playing paintball with the terrain not being oh so flat- so he got a little sprain and took a cool picture! Very pretty...
Of course we had to take one with both of us, won't be too long before there won't be just both of us. Plus- my parents flew up for the day so they could take me home, so had to take a picture of them on our little hike/walk. I'm glad they got to come up and spend some time with them. I was down in AZ for longer than usual, but had a lot of McDowell time- but it is always good to have the Skousen's come around.
A lot happened on that trip, and it was great to be able to go home- But also great to get back to the house. Even if I was alone and going back to work. A little baby note- it is amazing how one day you don't look or feel pregnant and then the next morning that little bump doesn't go away and gets bigger. I was bummed Ben couldn't come home with me. I had another check-up... and everytime I go in I get an US to check the heartbeats. It was so fun to see the little babies squirm around. But then the next day I started looking pregnant. And then a week went by, and this week I really look pregnant. I don't feel far enough along to be showing- but the three little dudes are growing so that is a really good sign. Maybe next week I'll get to keep some pictures and update those that are interested!!

Too Much going on

I was thinking we'd update this a little more often with more news to share, but things have gotten a little busy and haven't had too much free time. So a re-cap... we went to an arena football game with the Caffall's one friday night the beginning of May- decided we should probably get out a little more while we have the opportunity.Then we made it home for Mother's Day as a last minute trip. We spent most of our time Hanging out at the McDowell's to spend time with the family since it was a short quick trip. Sunday morning mom got a Bath and I had the chance to poof up her hair a little bit, so here is the Mother's Day pic of the year. We had dinner at Jim and Monica's- and then we flew out to CO around 10:30p. Tuesday night Ben flew back home since his mom wasn't doing too well- and I made it home Thursday after a partial day of work. Mom McDowell passed away Wednesday night so it wasn't a planned thing to come home so soon, but it was great that we were able to make it home on short notice. Ben was about done with school for the semester and I am able to get a week off of work, so we are still here spending time with the family. The viewing was Friday night and the Funeral Saturday morning. Ben gave an excellent spiritual talk and all the boys did a great job giving the life sketch. They had plenty to work with since she's such an amazing lady. We did a little searching through pictures and got stories from the aunts and uncles of how things were growing up.... it was fun to learn a little more about her and the past. We will definitely miss her, but hope she is taking care of our little babies in the mean time. So that was our filled weekend and now have a chance to relax a little bit. Yesterday we went hiking to Reavis Ranch- a total of 14 miles and I am completely wiped out. It was great to get outdoors and was beautiful- as AZ gets anyway. So today I had a chance to stay chilled all morning and pretty much slept. My body just doesn't work the same anymore. I did get another Ultrasound sometime in the past week or two, so I'll see what we can do about that. I'm sure everyone else knows what they look like- but I was pretty proud that they look like babies now. We'll see.....