Thanksgiving Photoshoots- Boo and Lindsay

I spent a few hours on Thanksgiving doing a few family photoshoots.

Brandon (aka Boo- Ben's youngest brother), his wife, Lindsay, and their adorable baby, Grant: 

They are seriously some of the most photogenic people in the world.

Thanksgiving 2011

We spent Thanksgiving with Ben's family this year. 

My father-in-law- carving the turkey (or about to):

Lolly and her best friend/baby Lucy:

The table:

My mother-in-law has a neat tradition.  Every year for many years, she has used the same white tablecloth for Thanksgiving.  Each person writes on the tablecloth what they are thankful for that year.  It's fun to look back over the years and see what everyone wrote.  We trace the hands of the babies and write about new additions to the family- and it's a little glimpse at our family history over the years.  I love it.

After dinner, we {almost} always play football.  My big boys (Ty and Trey) LOVE this tradition now, and were so glad to get to play.  

Tyler (in green) and cousin Kyle, and Uncle John (with the ball):

Cousin Kyle, Uncle Brandon and Tyler:

Tyler:

Camps on the left, losers on the right (John, I think, was all-time QB, which means he was both a winner and a loser):

Oh my- this 9-year-old is growing up:

Walking back up to the house:

Ben and his Grandma Roberts (his mom's mom):

Throughout the day, we have the Thanksgiving Classic, a ping-pong tournament in the garage, with brackets and everything.  Ben has won it every year but one the past dozen or so.  I have never won more than a game or two.

Ben and Lolly, watching ping-pong:

The winner, once again:

It was a great thanksgiving, and we had SO much to be thankful for this year.  I'm certain that since Trey was born, 8 years earlier, 2011 was our healthiest year EVER!  The only person we had in the hospital with Sammi- who took a trip to the ER one night when we were out-of-town.  She had terrible croup, and could not breathe.  I would call a year with only one visit to the ER VERY SUCCESSFUL, and a big blessing!!!

On being a dairymanswife...

After I graduated from high school (class of 99), I went to Ricks College in Rexburg, Idaho.  I majored in horticulture, and learned that I'd be required to take soil science and tractor driving classes as part of the curriculum.  My dad "warned" me that with classes like that, I would likely meet, and marry a farmer...which I did- one year later. 

I didn't meet Ben at class.  I met him when he and some roomates were visiting my apartment complex, and within 10 days, I wrote in my journal that I wanted to marry him...a very wise choice for an 18-year-old, if I do say so myself.  I thought he was amazing in every way- he came from a big (8 kids!) family, and had grown up working on his family's dairy farm.  He was a very hard worker (he did janitorial work every morning on campus before going to class- waking at 4 or 4:30 every morning).  He was honest and hard working.  Very quiet and reserved with people he didn't know very well, but hilarious and fun when he was comfortable.  He drove an old, long cadillac around campus, until it broke down, then drove a farm truck until he bought a car.  I liked pretty much everything about him, and thought I was possibly the luckiest girl in the world that he wanted to be a dairy farmer.

We were engaged in the spring, and after the school year ended, I stayed at Ricks for the spring term, and Ben returned home to work on his family's dairy farm in American Falls, Idaho.  Ben left me his car so I could drive the 2 1/2 hours to visit him every weekend.  At that time, Ben occasionally did the night milking at the dairy, and one night, I drove down to surprise him.  I showed up, unexpectedly, and helped him milk all night.  The next morning, I drove back up to school, but missed a class or two to catch up on sleep.

We were married on August 18, 2000, honeymooned in San Diego for a week, then packed up the few things we owned, moved into our tiny apartment in Provo, Utah, and started classes at BYU two days later.  Ben majored in Animal Science with a minor in Business;  I majored in Landscape Design with a minor in Business.  I finished all my classes in December 2001, had Tyler in February 2002, then walked with Ben in graduation in April 2002.  The day of graduation, we packed up and moved to American Falls, Idaho, so Ben could work on his family's farm with his older brother, John.

We were there from April 2002 until June 2003, and moved to a condo in Tremonton, Utah.  We had been looking to expand our business, and found a dairy to rent in Bear River City, Utah (about 15 minutes from our apartment).  Starting up the dairy in Tremonton was a very, very difficult experience (to put it mildly).  Putting together a herd and a workforce were just a small part of the battle.  Ben and his dad, and at times, one of his brothers, came and worked 16-20 hour days- day after day for weeks.  It was a really tough, stressful time (for all of us).  After a few months, things were a little more under control at the dairy, and our second son, Trey was born on September 26, 2003.  When he was five days old, we found out that he had HLHS, a very serious heart problem, and our life was elevated to a whole new level of chaos. 

In April 2005, we moved everything- ourselves and the cows- to our new home in Idaho.  The family business had purchased a dairy- a place where we could expand- with a home right on the property.  We have LOVED our home here- we have a house that is perfect for our little family, a huge yard, and the dairy in our backyard (literally), which means that we get to see Ben a lot.  Our kids love it here.  We love having Ben close.  And although I wasn't thrilled at first with the idea of cows in my backyard, I love having Ben so close. 

If being a good dairyman's wife means helping on the farm, driving tractors, and milking cows, then I have got to be one of the worst.  I do almost nothing to help on the farm.  I do know how to drive a tractor (actually, I've driven several kinds of tractors- I got an A in my college tractor driving class), and I do know how to milk a cow (but- and this is very embarrassing to admit- I have never milked a cow by hand).  When we moved here, a woman in our ward, a widowed dairyman's wife, warned me to NEVER show my usefulness on the farm, or they would ALWAYS need me.  I've taken her advice to heart, and although I am willing to help out when needed, that help usually comes in the form of being a free tool rental service, occasional errand girl, computer tech support, or dairy photographer (because we actually do take pictures of some cows).

Although I am not much help AT ALL on the farm, I do think I'm a great dairymanswife in the sense that I support my husband in doing the job that he loves.  I love my life here.  It's open and quiet and a very happy place to be.  I love it.  I love having Ben close by.  I love having so much space for our kids to wander.  I love having a place where we can teach our kids to work. 

Being a dairy farm family is not an easy life style.  Ben works 7 days a week- most days he "only" works about 11 hours- with a 10-15 minute lunch break.  Other days, he puts in many more hours.  He works every weekend, sometimes during the night, and many more hours when the weather is wet or snowy.  He gets very stressed out by any moisture (keeping the cows comfortable and healthy is one of his main concerns).  I am a person who LOVES any type of rain, sleet, hail, or snow- any bad weather because I LOVE to be cozy and warm inside.  Ben, however, has to be outside- all day, every day, despite the weather, so I try not to show my excitement when the weather report is bad.

All in all, I feel very blessed to be a dairymanswife!  Really though, who wouldn't love life if they had these ladies starting at them every time they went outside?

New Year/New Blog!

(the dairyman himself and me)

I have spent A LOT of time (over a year) debating (with myself), trying to decide if blogging was actually worth my time.  I spent several years as a fairly good blogger- recording all the important events, my thoughts and feelings and life in general.  Blogging has been a way to keep in touch with family in friends, both near and far, and has given me a great way to document our lives.  When my kids have been in the hospital, it has been the best way to communicate with other and fill everyone in.  In many ways, blogging has been a HUGE blessing in my life.  But, blogging comes with a pretty big price tag- time.  Time is not something I never seem to have an abundance of.  Taking care of my five young kids and being a good wife to my dairy farmer husband are my biggest priorities, and they seem to consume most of the minutes in my day.

Although this is the busiest time of my life, it's also the happiest, and I want to remember it.  My children are my greatest joy, and although I know that we have an eternal family, there are no guarantees that I will have them for all of my earthly life.  Our family has faced some very serious health problems and our oldest daughter was stillborn.  We know that life is precious, and have been reminded of that fact many, many times thoughout our marriage.  And that is why I'm serious about blogging again.

Eight months ago, our friends, Layne and Krissy, lost her 16-month-old baby girl, Jayci, in a tragic accidental drowning.  They asked me to offer the "celebration of life" (life sketch) at the funeral, and I was able to read every detail of Jayci's life on Krissy's blog.  Krissy had taken the time to document and remember the good and the bad.

I've felt for a long time that I needed to blog again, but I've been overwhelmed at the thought.  Our old family blog is hopelessly behind- probably because I always felt the need that I needed to keep it in "order.'  I could never find time to catch up, so I just let it go.  I was able to keep up with Lolly's blog while she was in the hospital, and I'm so grateful to have all the amazing things that happened recorded.  But once she was released from the hospital in October 2010, and I found myself the mother of 5 kids once again.  Life was SO OVERWHELMING.  Having been gone for a month, I was SO BEHIND in every aspect of my life, and emotionally and physically exhausted, and could not find the time to blog.  Since then, I've been a terrible, pathetic blogger.  Several friends have been very encouraging- "I checked your blog the other day...just to see if you'd finally posted after 8 months!"  But I never did. 

So I've decided to wipe the slate clean.  I'm starting a brand new, shiny blog!  Gone are the reminders that I haven't blogged for months.  And I have new ideas for this blog.  I am no longer going to hold myself to the standard of blogging EVERYTHING in chronological order.  It's just not possible.  I'm going to blog about whatever I want, whenever I want, and even allow my very type-A personality to let things be out-of-order.

I'm also making this blog public.  Our last family blog had too much information- I had to keep it private.  But private blogs drive me crazy.  I always forget to check them because they're never updated in google reader, and they are just kind of a pain.  So, for now, this blog is public.  We'll see how it goes.

So here's to a fresh start!  This is me and Ben (the dairy man) and most (5/6) of our kids:

Back row: Trey, Tyler, Ben, me, Samantha

Front row: Lauren and Luke

My kids mean everything to me.

TYLER (9)- smart, hilarious, has a great laugh, smart, musical, loves all sports, tall, cheerful, very kind-hearted, helpful, learning to play piano and ukulele, loves Harry Potter, a great helper and great with little kids (in the above picture, he told me he wanted to learn how to do Sammi's hair)

TREY (8)- 19 months younger than Tyler and a lot shorter, serious, overachiever, intelligent, very witty, athletic, hard-working, driven, focused, a "numbers guy," always wants to do what's right, gets along with everyone, peacemaker, learning to play the guitar, OBSESSED with golf

SASHA SIRI  (stillborn July 21, 2005)- our first baby girl would be 6 now

LUKE (5)- Also very short (people often ask him if he's 3), the sweetest person you will ever meet, kind, tender, gentle, grateful, soft-spoken, funny, happy, but he's also into sports and loves Star Wars

LAUREN (Lolly) (3)- Feisty, strong-willed, independent, tough, sweet, volatile, sassy, adorable, funny, impatient, pink-loving, very girly, beautiful, "fancy," loves dance, babies, and all things pink

SAMANTHA GRACE (Sammi) (21 months)- The nicest baby you will ever meet, easy-going, sweet, calm, even-tempered, obsessed with her dad but still a mama's girl, also obsessed with shoes, snuggly, gentle, beautiful baby girl

And that's us!