Can you say cheese???

It's always nice to go home

I love love love going home. It's so nice to be surrounded by family for a change. Being so far away really makes you appreciate the time you can spend with them. We just got back from Utah, which was full of family events, and we loved every minute of it!

We started off the trip by welcoming home Elder Bench from his mission in Texas!

Welcome home Nate!

We spent the next week in Fairview where Connor got to know his cousin Addy a little better

yee haa!





where's the dog?

there he is!

We had lots of time to relax and play

he loved riding the horse

he's a huge fan of the guitar

you can call me Mr. Bench

he can be a little silly

a relaxing afternoon in not humid weather

And last but not least, Aaron and Annie got married! Yahoo!!!

Then Jared flew home and Connor and I stayed to play in Salt Lake for a while. We did lots of catching up with friends, played golf at Jeremy (yes I beat Wade one day in case you were interested), went swimming lots, went to the zoo, and played a lot with cousins. What really put the icing on the cake was that Bryce and Karen were able to come up from Las Vegas with their kids. It was so fun!

Connor's first experience watching a Yankee game with Grandpa Wisan

Fun at the zoo






Time to swim

New York, New York!

We had a great Memorial Day weekend. Jared's never been to New York before so we headed into town with the Walker's. It's so nice to go to new places with people who know where they're going. Davies was a fantastic tour guide!

Times Square

Connor's goofy grin in Central Park

Fun on the subway

Staten Island Ferry and the Statue of Liberty

Rockefeller Center

New York Temple

And I thought this picture was too cute not to share

The many faces of Connor

Camping with Connor

Connor went camping for the first time last weekend. I'm always a little nervous for new things like this. So many new factors thrown in all at once and so many things that could make it a not very fun weekend. You would think after 13 months I would stop being surprised that Connor is such a good baby, no matter what situation he's in. But once again, I came home surprised at how good he was. My biggest worry was sleeping. We only have a small two person backpacking tent that fits two sleeping pads and bags down and that's it. It was a little cramped but Connor slept as well as if he was home in his crib, despite the fact that it rained all night long. All in all, it was a great trip. We went for a hike the next morning and then drove home through the blue ridge mountains, so pretty.

(I have to point out the cute hat Grandma Jean made him)

Oatlands Plantation

We went to the Oatlands Plantations this weekend. It's this beautiful house and garden just 40 minutes away. Who knew? I can say that Connor definitely likes to wiggle. We took a tour of the house, and although Connor was very good, I think it drove him crazy to be held that long and not be able to get down and crawl around and explore. It was an interesting, but very long, 45 minute tour.

The Oatlands Mansion

happy boy

exploring the gardens

squirrel watching

our little family

i love trees...

so handsome