3 Month Snapshot

Our Benny Boy is growing up. He's such a chill little kid--just like his Dad!

Notice the guitar is missing a string--yet it doesn't seem to bother Dan!

Weekend in Dallas

We took Jared and Michelle to the the Addison WorldFest. There was music and dancing from all over the world. The highlight was the Chinese Acrobats--although Dan took a lot of the fun out of it by explaining the safety precautions used for all their stunts. :(

Michelle's favorite--the Mariachi band--is playing in the background.

I think Jared was having the time of his life--he just wouldn't admit it! ;)

Aahhh Choo!

I volunteered to be behind the camera for this one.

Halloween Parties!

Benny was a monkey and I tried to get Dan to be The Man in the Yellow Hat, but he said he'd only do that if I was a banana--so we ended up being Benny's Zoo Keepers.

The Colby's made this fun photo op!

BYU vs. OU Game! Dan decided last minute to go to the game in Dallas because it would be fun to go with friends to see the stadium even if BYU didn't make a good showing. But, to everyone's surprise--they did!

Dan said he was distracted by the big screens--I can't imagine why? :)

Happy Birthday Daniel and Khara!

Oh, Happy Day!--July 28th...the day Daniel and Khara entered this world (Khara will remind everyone that she came 9 minutes earlier). :) Khara came from Idaho to Dallas to visit, so we went to see her and the rest of the family over the weekend. We went swimming, played games, ate yummy food--(Khara's pizza was the biggest thing I've ever seen!), and had a birthday party. It was great to spend some time with you guys! We love you!

Texas Rainstorms

We've been in a horrible drought since we moved down here in the beginning of June, so rain is welcomed whenever it makes an appearance. Here was our first Texas rainstorm:

Thank goodness for smart drainage design--otherwise we'd be swimming in our house.

These are a few of my favorite things...

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens,
bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens...

Dad's yummy fingers...

Swimming at the pool...

(This picture makes me smile--like father, like son!)

jumping...
(thank goodness for a jumperoo--
Mom's arms couldn't have handled the jumping much longer :)


...and flirting with grandmas in the store! :)
(Too bad we can't catch a photo of this one--
it's one of my favorites too.)

Colorado Fun!

Dan's work sent him to Colorado for a week, so I took a jaunt up there with Benson to see the Jensens. We had a wonderful time! We went to the children's museum, a couple story times, a playgroup at the park, the Denver Zoo--it was Benson's first time at the zoo, then Dan came and played with us for the weekend and we played games, went to Red Rocks Amphitheater--an amazing place, watched a movie, and had fun with the Jensens. We sure love them! Thanks for letting us come play with you! Now it's your turn to come see Houston! :)

Happy 4th of July

Dan's parents, Jared, and Michelle came down to our place for the 4th of July weekend! We played games, went swimming, geocaching (we weren't very successful treasure hunters this time), blueberry picking, watched movies, ate yummy cake, and just enjoyed each other. Michelle was Benny's best buddy--I'm sure he misses her.


Everything is bigger in Texas and fireworks are no exception. Our neighborhood was lit up with what looked like professional shows all night. And we got to know our neighbors better at a block party that most definitely contributed to the neighborhood shows.

The Newest Texans

What a wonderful couple of months--lots of new adventures and loads of blessings!

1. I went back to work the beginning of April while Dan played Mr. Mom. We both have a greater appreciation for one another. :)

2. A few days later we had spring break so we flew to Houston to find a place to live. There was so much to learn in such a short period of time, but we found some really nice areas.

3. The next weekend my amazing hubby graduated Cum Laude from BYU in Chemical Engineering. My wonderful mother walked Benny around the track for two hours so I could watch Dan graduate. I was so proud of him. He has excelled in his studies and in his role as a husband and father. (I'll post pictures on the next post)

4. The Westergards and Demaris' came down that weekend. It was so good to spend some time with them and see Cierra for the first time. We sure miss them. Khara decorated this impressive cake for Daniel.
5. That same weekend Tanner went through the temple and we were able to have all of my brothers and sisters with their spouses, my parents, all my grandparents, and many aunts, uncles, and cousins together in the temple for the first time. What a joyous occasion. We snapped a family picture--the last one with everyone in it for at least 2 years. :(
Here is Benny with his Great Grandma and Grandpa Watkins.

And our own little family picture. 6. The following weekend Dan took one more trip to Houston to secure our home. Then it was a busy month of preparing to move and finishing up my last school year of teaching.

7. Dan's parents, Jared, and Michelle came up from Dallas to visit on Mother's Day weekend, so we of course played some basketball and boardgames. Toby and Camille blessed Orry that Sunday so we were able to get together with Dan's extended family, that we're going to miss so much. We even were able to talk to Tricia on her mission in Mesa, Arizona. Here are Carter, Benson, and Orry on Mother's Day.
8. On Memorial Day, we had one last get together with some old roommates and celebrated Amanda's birthday. Joy snuck out before we snapped the picture. :(
9. The next weekend we packed up my classroom and I locked the doors to Rees Elementary School for the very last time. :( I'm going to miss that place. I made some wonderful friends and learned so much teaching there. 10. While our apartment was being boxed up, Grandma Foster came down to say goodbye. (We think you all should just move to Texas with us.) We took a picture of her with Benson.
11. We stayed with Holly and Hal those last couple days while cleaning the apartment. They were so helpful--taking care of Benny and being our chefs and chauffers.

12. And then we flew to Dallas where Benny played with his Grandma Foster, Aunt Michelle, and Uncle Jared for a couple days.

13. We then drove down to Houston, closed on our beautiful house, and have been settling in since then.
14. Dan started work last Thursday at Exxon Mobil. He is excited about his new job. Here he is playing with Benny after his first day on the job. Do I not have the two most handsome men in my life?
I love recording our lives--whether it be in a journal or a brief record on our blog. I end up feeling overwhelmed with gratitude for all I've been given and eager to pay it forward. Thank you all!

Tummy Time Improvements!

We have great reason to celebrate this week! Benny was on his tummy and didn't scream--I never thought the day would come. We had to get a video of our accomplishment!

Benson Live

Benny's Blessing

Today was Benson's baby blessing! He was great throughout the whole thing (he stayed asleep the whole time). It was very nice to have so much family there to support him. Below are the few pictures we were able to catch of Benson with Grandpa Watkins, Daniel, and Grandma Watkins. We wish we would have taken more when the whole family was here. We want to thank all those who came to support Benson and all those who we know wanted to be there but couldn't.

Random Sampler

Benny's Tummy Time Nose Dive. When he tries to flip onto his back, he looks like he's doing a nose dive. We caught an action shot of it!

My boys! Arent' they cute?!

Wide-eyed Benny. I'd like to get inside his head and know what he's seeing and thinking. Just look at those cheeks!

Congrats Tan!

On Wednesday, Tan got his mission call! He's going to Rostov-na-Donu, Russia. Congrats Tan! We're excited for you and proud to have you as our little brother. You'll be an outstanding missionary--out sharing the gospel with the good people of Russia.


Tan's buddy recorded Tanner opening the call on our video camera--I just don't know how to upload the video yet. But, when I do...I'll post it. He sure is excited to get out into the field!

Basketball Boys

Dan has played intramural basketball every year--but this year is especially fun for me because he's playing with Hal (my sister's husband) and Tanner (my little brother). It's so fun to go to the games and see them playing together. Holls, Benson, and I are their fans, but in all actuality we do a lot more catching up with each other than we do cheering. Sorry guys! We're sure going to miss Tanner and the Boyds when we move.

Great-Grandparents!

Our families have had 2 weddings, 1 homecoming, and a baby blessing in the past 5 weeks. So, Benson has been able to meet all of his great-grandparents! I was bad and only took pictures of Benny with Grandma Long and Grandpa Erickson, but we'll just have to visit them all again soon and I'll be better at playing photographer. Now, we just need Benny to meet his Grandma and Grandpa Foster in Texas...he'll see them soon!

Tummy Time

Benson is a pretty pleasant fellow--except when it comes to tummy time! He goes berserk as soon as his belly hits the blanket. He tightens every muscle in his body and goes into superman mode with both his arms and legs in the air. I don't know how he does it. But, Dan is a persistent Dad and lays by him for the whole thing. For the first few weeks Dan would give him a little start by tilting him on his side and Benson would finish up turning onto his back. But, the day before he turned 6 weeks Dan laid him flat on his tummy and within 20 seconds he had turned himself over onto his back all by himself. Since then, tummy time hasn't been as miserable. He still isn't pleasant, but he's relaxed a little bit. Here he is at his tummy time best.

Going Private

Hi friends! Well, now that we have a little boy, we've decided to make our blog private. But, we want to keep sharing with the people we know. So, just leave your email address in comments and I'll send you an invitation. I won't publish comments on this post so you're email address will be kept private.

Here is Baby Ben hanging out with Dad. He often has this worried look on his face--I'm sure he got that from his mother!

Benson Michael Foster

Our little guy is growing up! He is already 2 1/2 weeks old, 21 3/4 inches long, 10 lbs. 5 oz., and growing out of his newborn look. He's been a pleasant little boy most of the time...but late in the evening he gets all of his grumpiness out--poor neighbors.

Choosing his name was a traumatic experience for me and never again will I wait until our child is born to choose a name. I'm too emotional, sleep-deprived, and dramatic to choose a name after birth. But, after a week with our poor little guy having a different name each day--we decided on Benson Michael Foster!

We need to take new pictures because he has already changed so much, but here are a few from when he was just a week old.

Look at his cute little smile--he does this all the time in his sleep!

Playing with Dad

Hanging out with Grandpa Erickson in Idaho--they'd snooze together on the sofa
One of Benson's (and Dan's) favorite positions

Junior is here!

This is my first post on our blog since Carrie is a little occupied at the moment, but we kept getting requests for pictures, so here they are. Our little boy was born Tuesday morning and weighed 9lbs 3oz and was 21 inches long. He's a big baby but doesn't fuss much. We're excited to have him with us.