The Many Faces of Benjamin

All these shots were taken this month...

The REAL Engagement Ring

In case you have not had a chance to hear the story of Carrie's engagement ring, I will now enlighten you. We originally set out to all of the jewelers in the Roseville area and found a rock and ring we liked from Shane Co. I put down 30% on them before we left the store because it was 100% refundable if we changed our minds. Carrie's brother said he knew a guy who knew a guy who is a diamond wholesaler and gave us his number. I tried to call him, but he didn't pick up. I left a message. However, we decided that we didn't want to wait so we went back to Shane Co. and paid off the rest of the ring so the diamond could be set. They told us it would be a little over a week.
Right after that we got in touch with the diamond wholesaler and decided to see what he had to offer. We met with him and despite his crappy office and his love of Carrie's hands ("You have the most beautiful hands I have ever seen.), we found a really nice diamond for substantially less than a diamond retailer would charge. We decided that we wanted that diamond and also picked out my wedding band.
Problem was, we still had a completely paid for diamond and ring at Shane Co. They had been the nicest place we had been to and had not been at all deceptive to us. They had no gimmicks, which is partially why we liked them. I was sure that would change when I informed them I didn't want the ring anymore. We drove back to Shane Co. and I went in. Carrie was too scared and stayed in the car. We decided that if they started to hassle me that I would say that we had broken the wedding off and that was why I didn't need the ring anymore.
Luckily, when I returned the ring, they were still really nice. They asked why I wanted to return the ring and I told them that I had found a better deal (so much for our big lie.) The lady had me fill out an evaluation form as she processed the return. Then, as she handed me all the reciepts, she gave me a card and said it was a gift card. I thought, "That's nice, they gave me five bucks to get me back in here." When I walked out of the store though, I opened it up and saw it was for $100! Now that is the type of business I like. They gave me money for returning their merchandise. (We went back a week later and I got Carrie a pearl necklace, earrings and a bracelet for about forty bucks cost to me after taxes.)
Well as you can see, on the left is Carrie's engagement ring and on the right is my wedding band. Her ring is a .60 carat round cut with a white gold band. Mine of course is a white gold band. The main thing I learned about myself in this process is that jewelers really are a different type - they take pot shots at the different stores all the time and give you money when you return their merchandise. Also, wholesalers carry handguns and retailers don't. Finally, I learned I have tiny elf hands and should probably be making wooden toys. My ring size is an 8. Seriously. The pictures don't really do Carrie's ring justice - that thing is really nice looking.


Also, now that we are a month into the wedding planning, I just have this to say...

That's Gonna Leave A Mark

This GirlPLUS this

Equals THIS!

We had our first ever ER visit last night when Paige took a header, well really an "Ear-er" into the fireplace hearth. Yes, it was horrible. I was about 2 feet away from her when it happened, holding Ben, so Jeremiah sprang from the kitchen and grabbed her. I didn't know how bad it was until he looked at me and said, "We need to go to the hospital NOW." using his authoritative but non-freaking out voice. I jumped up and grabbed the car keys, put Ben in the car seat, grabbed some blankies and got in the car. Jeremiah was holding Paige with a wet rag to her ear. There was some blood, but not much. We booked on down to Mercy Folsom. Time check: 8:25 pm.

Paige got a gauze with numbing stuff on her ear while we waited to be seen for stitches. She was just fine and kind of enjoyed playing in the waiting room. Doesn't seem like a girl who just lacerated her ear completely through! Gramma Shanna and Grampa Kerry came down and took Ben for us, which was a huge help! Dad and Jeremiah were also able to give Paige a blessing in the bathroom of the waiting room ER.

This next picture is NOT for the squemish, but if you want to see what it looked like, click on this to make it bigger. May not be suitable for children under 12. Time check: 11:03 pm. We are in GI Lab room because the hosptial was BUSY last night. There were lots of machines for Paige to look at and LOTS of questions about everything going on around her.

Time check: 11:23 pm. The doctor came in and stitched away. I think Paige got about 10 stitches, we forgot to ask. He did a great job, as far as we can tell, and Paige was a trooper. She didn't even let a single tear out!

We came home to a clean kitchen and house, as well as a sleeping Ben (Thanks Mom and Dad!) and were in our own beds by 1:00 am. Not that bad of an experience, but I'm not hoping to experience it any time soon!

Here is how the ear is looking tonight. Paige is such a trooper!

We just have to go to our doctor in 5 days to get the stitches removed! Not too bad.

"It doesn't hurt so much here or here, but right about here...." - Tommy Boy

Oh the Humanity!

Note to self: Do not let Dad and Jeremiah anywhere near trees and a chainsaw or they will go CRAZY!!! Actually, they did a lot of cleaning up that needed to be done on all of the trees and branches overhanging Mom and Dad's house, as well as many limbs and dead branches on other trees. I took A LOT of pictures to document the occasion.

DAY ONE: Dad and Jeremiah climb up to the roof to remove the tree that used to lean completely over the living room.

All limbed and ready to chunk away.


The finished product - on the ground and ready to burn!

Then they moved on to that nasty digger pine in thr front yard ("dup dup dup, dat dere digger...")

Hey, there was a house under all those trees and branches?! I doubt the roof has seen this much sunlight in 34 years.

The backyard, debris and all.

The day one work crew - ready for a nap!

DAY TWO: This guy showed up to help drag brush into piles and throw firewood into piles.

Dad and Kirk hard at work! (I had a flashback to "Kevin! Start working!" - if you need a refresher check the Steed Family Video to hear Kirk uttering that infamous line)

A pieced together view of the back yard. All the limb removals made the yard already feel larger. Mom was very brave to allow Dad and Jeremiah to cut down soooo many limbs. You know Mom is a hippie tree-hugger at heart! Just kidding Mom! It is hard to see so many trees and tree parts cut down!

A Sunbeam and A Toofer!

Jesus wants...PAIGE... for a sunbeam! My girl is in real Primary now and to mark the occasion her teacher gave her a CTR ring! Her very own! She was SOOOOO excited! I just can't believe that she isn't in nursery anymore, although she was very ready to move on. Last week after about 15 minutes of nursery she asked Jeremiah if they could leave now.

Hold the phone - Ben cut his first tooth today! I decided to mark the occasion by feeding him as much baby food as he wanted to spit all over himself. This would be sweet potatoes all over his face. And later on he had some squash.
All I know is that I've been giving the kid 2 baths a day when he eats like this. Here he is about to grab my hand to try and suck every last morsel off the spoon.

He was one dirty kid, but he is so darn CUTE!

Christmas Fun

We had a very nice Christmas - much less driving than former years! We got to spend Christmas Eve at the Bailey's in Kelsey. Santa got there just before we arrived and left Paige a cradle (which I didn't get a picture of) and a baby! Just for reference - the new "purple baby" and Ben are about the same size.

Paige got some cold weather gear which we have already tested out on a few walks around Cameron Park Lake.

Paige was busy with her painting, drawing, coloring, and sticker pad. She is loving her art supplies. She even got her own glue stick - no more borrowing Mom's!

Jeremiah slaved over the stove on Christmas morning. We had the missionaries over and he was showing off his domestic skills.

The cash register from Gramma Shanna and Grampa Kerry is a big hit! It came with over 160 pieces - oh boy! There is a credit card reader in addition to coins and cash.

and Ben chewed away...

Paige is also very excited that Aunt Janie gave her a Barbie laptop for Christmas. As Paige opened it she exclaimed, "I wanted this for Christmas! Thank you Janie!" Here excitement was very evident.

Although this was a very different Christmas with everyone being so far away, it was - still - a wonderful time of year. It all went too fast!

Christmas With the Bradfords

Our first Christmas at home in North Hills! It was different, but very nice. We tried, unsuccessfully to take a family picture for a Christmas card. This was our best attempt. I had just finished being mad at everyone for being uncooperative. The bottom portion of the tree was redecorated daily thanks to Grayson's excellent design sense, aka- destruction abilities.
Partway through opening gifts, Carissa informed that, "What I really want more than anything is clothes!" Of course, that didn't hold true when she saw that High School musical 2 CD! Thanks Grandma!

Derek was loving his $1.50 Halloween clearance outfit. There are several more poses available. This outfit stayed on ALL DAY. He even peed in it but did not care.
The big fun gifts were the bikes. We love Carissa's cool beach cruiser and, thankfully, so does she. For some reason Derek is throwing gang signs. Or maybe he's throwing webs on his Spiderman bike.

What Christmas would be complete without a couple of tracks for the boys??

It was Christmas all over again when Gramma and Grampa came to town. Derek and Carissa especially enjoyed sleeping out in the trailer, and Lee and I especially enjoyed taking an overnighter to Santa Barabara sans the kids, courtesy of Gammy and Gampy!

Isn't Susie's tree pretty? There were homemade dough ornaments and sprigs of berries on it. We enjoyed a lovely Sunday dinner before Mom and Dad left for P-Ville. Hey- didn't Tyler do that same pose on Family Feud??

The Last Day of The Year

Yesterday morning, mom, dad and I went to Manhattan Beach and had a New Years Eve breakfast with Uncle Eric at The Kettle. It was an absolutely beautiful day. On our drive we were awed by clear views of the entire Santa Monica Bay, golden morning sunshine, and sparkling blue waves rolling onto the shore - water spraying off of the crests from the offshore breezes.

Later in the afternoon, Tyler and I returned (for an all too obvious reason) and enjoyed the remainder of the beautiful day. What a nice end to a great year. So long, 2007.

The teeny tiny little guy on the wave is Tyler.



Somebody is very happy...



A short little video of Tyler (apparently I missed all of his really good waves while I was jogging).