School is in!!

Actually, school has been in for almost a month but I finally decided to sit down and do a post. It's been awhile. Rachel is loving second grade and has the nicest teacher. Tomorrow she gets to eat a special lunch with her teacher and get a special doughnut for reading 100 words in less than a minute. She's doing great in school but still comes home saying recess was her favorite part of the day.

Rachel's 2nd day of second grade

Elena is doing great in first grade. Yep, you heard right, first grade! We got her tested and the teachers encouraged us to push her up a grade. After a lot of prayers, fasting, we felt that this was the best route for her. She loves it!! It's so fun to see her thrive in her classroom. She's very shy and I've had to remind her to speak up when she's talking to the teacher but I know she'll get over that soon enough. I get to volunteer in both of their classes which has been nice.

Elena's 1st day of 1st grade

Creed had to hop in!

Creed has recently met his "new best friend" Gavin. Gavin and his family just moved into the cul-de-sac bringing friends for all of us. The first thing Creed says when he wakes up in the morning is, "can I have some milk?". The second thing is, "I want to go to Gavin's house." We have to remind him that he needs to eat breakfast, get dressed, make his bed, wait for Gavin to wake up, etc. before he can go over. They have their fair share of fighting but are so excited when they see each other. On Sunday, Creed asked if he cold go play at Gavin's. I reminded him that we don't play on Sunday but he'll see him in nursery. He begged to go to nursery the rest of the morning! We don't go to church until 12:30.

I don't think Creed could have gotten any dirtier

Cadence is getting so big. She has decided she doesn't want to walk as early as our other kids did, but I'm not complaining. She is a mover though. She can crawl up our staircase fast! We have to watch her pretty closely. She's still quite the mama's girl although she is better at going to her daddy now. She's developing such a cute and fun personality and is starting to mimic all we do.

Cadence found a new love---Pizza!

Ben is SOOOOOOO busy with work, church calling, etc. He did get to go down south for a few days for the elk hunt. His sister had a tag so he was there to help find and pack out. They found plenty of elk but didn't get one until he left.

I ran a half-marathon last month! I did it in 2:03 which was about 8 minutes faster than my practice time. Ben and the kids were all at the finish line with a dozen long-stemmed roses! It was a great feeling to be able to accomplish my goal. My next goal is to do a sprint triathlon probably in March.

Hopefully I'll be able to sit down more often to blog. Life is busy.

Portland Quick Trip

Ben here... Just got back from a quick trip to Portland, OR. We haven't been back since we moved in October. While the whole family wasn't able to go, I flew back for a whirlwind two days to attend a friend's wedding and visit as many people as possible.
I spent Friday night with our friends the Rileys. Nicole had their baby almost 4 weeks early on Wednesday, but they still let me stay in the baby's room... there was even a big bed already set up for me! Somewhat crazy, but Jeremy and I were up at 5:15 the next morning to go golfing in Woodland, WA with Jason (a good friend from OHSU). Don't worry all you moms, Nicole was very gracious to let me steal her husband and Jeremy was heading home to let Nicole take a nap.
I was then off to the first Catholic wedding that I've ever attended. Teresa Christianson is also a good friend from my job at OHSU and it was her big day. The church and bride were beautiful, the groom was ecstatic and the ceremony rather special. So much symbolism involved! Luckily, I had another friend from work to help explain all the rituals, rites and symbols. The dinner (chicken, asparagus, and prawns) was amazing, as was the after-party. --Quick note to anyone getting married: they had a photo booth at the reception that was quite a hit. You know, the booths where everyone crowds in and you get a strip of photos. The bride and groom then get a cd with copies and a slideshow of all the pics. Very cool.--
I ran up to OHSU Hospital this morning and found a few friends and acquaintances; somewhat nostalgic, but cool to see the unit where I worked for 5 1/2 years. Finally, I cruised over to Aloha to join our beloved Aloha 1st ward for Sacrament Meeting. It just happened to be Justin Ashby's mission farewell. I taught Justin a few times in Sunday School; it was neat to hear him give such a powerful testimony. There are now 9 missionaries from the A1 ward and will be 10 in 3 weeks when another recent grad heads out. Awesome!
I made it home to Logan and our empty house at 6 this evening. As Heidi and the kids are in Las Vegas (kind of a long story), I took off to go visit a bunch of people in the ward. There's good people everywhere! More stories to come... This weekend is the start of many summer activities for us. Good times!

A fine day indeed…

Today was a rather pleasant day. We had both a mix of sunshine and rain today in Logan, although the rain only made the air smell wonderful and helped us enjoy the sun even more!

Daddy got breakfast in bed, we all slept in and then it was outside to play! We went to Willow Park with our friends, the Bishops. Nice playground for the kids, plenty of space to play catch or run around, and the girls even found a few puppies to play with. Other than Cadence and Creed getting a bit pink from the sun, it was a good time.

Ben then went to help a friend from the ward clean his new house before moving in this weekend, while Heidi and the kids had quiet time. It just feels good to help someone else, even if it means stretching one’s self to clean a ceiling!

The evening was filled with BBQ, good conversation and a serious game of Ticket-to-Ride. The kids were tuckered out, but that’s how it should be.

Ben was on-call for work all day, but had just a few calls and only ended up going in to the clinic once.

Of course, what fun day wouldn’t be complete without a little Wii action! Mario Galaxy and Twilight Princess are calling…

Entered from Live Writer

We just got a new laptop computer and there’s this cool new feature that allows you to one-click into the posting area of our blogs… This is Ben’s first attempt!

Rachel's Last Soccer Game

Today was Rachel's final soccer game of her first season. She had a really great time playing this year and is excited to play again next year. Today she made 2 goals for her team and defended well. It's fun to see her enjoy something so much! Now Rachel's ready to start softball season. Great Job Rachel!!

Heading down the field


Drinking her water during her "rest"


Elena the cheerleader. She was so excited to cheer for Rachel's games.


Creed wanted to play soccer too...when he wasn't running for the playground.


Some of Rachel's team after their final game. They didn't do pictures for the team which I was sad about.


Sisters...So different...and look how much they love each other!

Cadence at 6 months

Where does the time go!? Cadence is already 1/2 year old! She's growing too fast and changing every day. I forgot that once they start hitting those milestones, it doesn't stop! We tried her on rice at about 5 months.
She tried it but doesn't like it.

"Woah, you surprised me"

She'd rather eat the table

She likes to watch Rachel's soccer games...

...or do anything outside.

Since Cadence wouldn't eat rice, we decided to give her a cracker. She loved it!


Cadence is sitting up and rolling around. She moves so much. I'm not looking forward to the day when she starts crawling. She's still a good baby, although she's becoming a mama's girl. She's not sleeping as well at night but as long as Ben gets up in the morning with Creed, (who likes to get up anytime between 4:30 and 6:00) I'll get up during the night with her. She sure is a fun girl and is loved by her whole family.

Our Ballerina

Elena has been doing weekly ballet classes since the first of the year. She loves dancing and loves to perform. Her recital, while short, was so fun to see. It was held in the Ellen Eccles Theater here in Logan. Very, very cute...

Grocery Shopping--addiction

So, I have become addicted to grocery shopping! At least couponing. I get 5 newspapers and print out my grocery list by which stores are offering sales and including coupons on the sale prices.

This is why it's so much fun though. The other day I went to Albertsons and spent a little over $85.00. I ended up saving over $215.00. Over 70% savings!



Yesterday I went again and spent $14 with a savings of $50. About 78% savings! So you can see why I get excited to go shopping. I'm building a food storage and not spending anything more than I was before.

I know...kind of cheesy but I have fun!

Soccer, Ballet, Potty, Sitting-up and "Wicked"!

That, in a nutshell, is what we've been up to for the past few weeks. Ben here. I haven't posted in quite some time, but finally had a quiet evening at home... so here you go.
Rachel is doing great in school, but also happy that there's only a month to go till summer break. Heidi and Elena and myself have all gone to school to have lunch with her over the last couple of weeks. It's been fun to see her "in her element". Rachel's also playing soccer with two games a week, although it seems to rain during every game. That's a Utah spring for you, I guess.
Elena has one more ballet practice before the big year end performance. She's very excited for both her performance and the chance to spend a couple days at Grandma's house this week. It'll be her first couple days without any of the rest of us. I'm sure she'll have a blast.
Maybe it's premature, but we're potty-training Creed. He's 2 1/2 and doing quite well with it. We haven't trained a boy before and it's been interesting. Creed's done great though, with two dry days out of the last four... that's definitely progress. Directional flow is an ongoing issue... He keeps us hopping!
Cadence is sitting up on her own now. It's so fun to watch her explore this world. We'll sit her on the floor and watch her play with a couple toys for quite some time. She's a sweet little thing.
Heidi and I joined 5 other members of her family and my mom to see "Wicked" at Capitol Theater in SLC on Friday. It was AMAZING! As mom put it, "Broadway shows are done right." I didn't know much about the story before going, but we all loved it. Entertaining, funny, emotional and, of course, musically fabulous... just a few ways to describe it. Thanks, Sunnie! (Christmas present)
Heidi is doing "boot camp"! No, she didn't join the armed forces. Boot camp is a fitness program designed by the trainer that works at my office. Three times a week, she's up at 5:45 to go exercise for an hour... very inspiring. Keep it up, Heid!
I'm plugging away, enjoying life as much as possible. I even got out golfing a couple times over the last week or so. Work is going well... I maxed out at 36 patients in one day last Monday. Quite a day's work! Bishopric duty is going well. I was bumped up to 1st counselor today after the previous 1st counselor bought a house outside the ward. We average about 8-10 hours of meetings every Sunday. Busy, but lots of blessings that come with it.
Hope all that take the time to read this are doing well. Be happy! As Pres Monson said,"The future is as bright as your faith."

Boy Does Time Fly!!

Well, at the rate we're going, we ought to just call this blog the Cadence blog. Today is her 5 month b-day. I can't believe how fast she's growing. She's really close to sitting on her own and does a lot of scooting around in a circle. The girls can really get her laughing, especially at night when they're supposed to be going to bed. She's the best baby a mom of 4 could ask for.


We all got to go to the Draper Temple open house. The kids were pretty good.


The kids all loved Disney on Ice. Even Cadence couldn't take her eyes off of all the lights.



Cadence Spent her 4 month b-day with her daddy and siblings in Fayette while I went to a scrapbook workshop.


I'm so messy, I had to take 2 spots at the workshop.


The biggest event this month, though, was Travis and Diana's wedding! We had a great time being with family, eating, and dancing.

3 1/2 months already

I can't believe how time flies! Cadence is growing like a weed. She is such a good baby. She's content with two good naps a day, watching her siblings play, listening to the vacuum, and of course eating... which she does a lot. It gives Heidi plenty of time to catch up with her "Scrapbook Memories" show, which Creed and Daddy do not really enjoy.

Here's a few pics of our cute little 3 month old:

Happy Birthday Elena!!

I can't believe you're 5!! It seems just yesterday that we were in the hospital with you. You are such a good big sister to Creed and Cadence and a great friend to Rachel. Right now you love Kim Possible and watch it anytime I let you. You also love ballet and anything to do with dance. I love having you home with me every day and I'll miss you when you go off to Kindergarten in the fall.








Elena turned 5 on February 6th. For about a month she has been planning her "Tea Party". It was really fun! Rachel, Elena, and two of her friends enjoyed time at the "spa" where they got to have their hair and makeup done by Aunt Katie and I. During that time, they also got to do their own nails. After being pampered we took some "glamor shots" of each of them. Then on to the tea party. Elena was convinced that they were not going to talk with silly English accents, but having all of them sitting down in front of a nice tea set with "servants" (Katie and I) at their beck and call, the proper English came out, as did excellent manners and quiet voices. It was just as much fun for Katie and I to listen to them talk as it was for them to be there. They would raise their hands each time they needed something. If we forgot our towels on our arms, they would graciously remind us. Aspen also asked us if we could do a talent show after we served them. That sure threw us for a loop but Between the two of us, Katie and I were able to pull off "Be Our Guest", singing almost all the words, and doing some dancing too. It made us feel young again, but I'm glad the video camera wasn't out while we were doing our thing. What a fun birthday it was!

Cadence's Blessing

As promised, here are a few pictures of Cadence's blessing day. It was a great day with family here to support us. One of the blessings of living closer to family is being able to participate in each others special moments. Cadence was really good all day and we were even able to capture her smile on camera finally. She'd been smiling for a week or so but by the time we'd get the camera out, she was done.

Holiday Recap... the abbreviated version

Yes, we took a couple of weeks off from the blogging world. Mostly from the computer world in general. Minimal email checking, ESPN score checks, and, of course, blogging. It's not that we didn't want you all to know how much fun we were having during the holidays, we were just too preoccupied for anything else! Here's a recap of the holidays.

Dec 20th- King Family Party (The gift of wheels from Grandpa King. Rachel- Scooter, Elena- Bike, Creed- Tricycle)
Dec 22nd- Cache Valley Community Health Center Party- Ben's white elephant was a snowman full of treats.
Dec 23-24- Games and presents at the Hideout.
Christmas eve and day- Nativity with the kids. Completely done opening presents by 8 am. Favorite gifts received: Ben- Paintball gun (Fully automatic!), Heidi- Willow Tree Nativity, Rachel- Loud and Proud Cheerleader doll, Elena- Barbie Alexa doll, Creed- Cars Tent, Cadence- Clothes.
Dec 31st-Jan 2- Back to Cokeville. We played games until way late (2-3am) each night, ate way too much food, dipped in the hot tub, paintballed, shot some clay pigeons and generally had a fantastic time.
Here are a few pics, although we forgot the camera for the New Year's party. Enjoy!
Check back in a couple days for pics of Cadence's blessing day (Today, Jan 4th).