I guess if I had to get old, I might as well have done it at Disneyland. My mom also made this aMaZiNg cake! Needless to say, it honestly was one of THE most moist and most wonderful cakes I've ever tasted. We had fun celebrating!






On the day that we went to the beach, I remembered to bring my camera!!! AWESOME. We went to a beach that was in my mission! It was so fun to go back to a place that is very near and dear to my heart. We were at the Carlsbad beach!

A fun shot my mom took of us!



This is the last picture our camera ever took...and ever will take again - may it rest in peace. Here I was snapping some photos of sweet Benjamin and, as you can see, the tide started to come in. Well, it was A LOT more powerful and a lot bigger than I had expected it to be. It knocked Benjamin over and almost completely covered him had I not reached down to pick him up. In the process of saving my son from drinking a gallon of saltwater and sand...my camera was immersed into the lovely ocean tide. I still had it around my wrist, but when I looked at it again, it had passed away. We tried to revive it by letting it dry out for 2 days and then trying it again...but she was gone.

Anyway, it was a good camera, but now we've moved on to bigger and better things. Well, at least we've been looking. You can't have a child, a blog, or facebook and not have a camera. :-)

The rest of the trip was a blast. We went to SeaWorld - for FREE. We got soaking wet from the shamu show. Thank you, Melanie, and I quote, "They usually don't splash that much when it's cooler outside." Yes...yes, they do. Damen was not very happy about it. Benjamin, on the other hand, almost fell asleep after that. Note to self - don't EVER sit anywhere near the splash zone if you don't want to get wet. Even if it's November!

Oh California, you will ever have a spot in my heart. We hope to go back often...next time with Josh. We sure did miss him. We were very glad to get back to him and to be sleeping in our own beds.

I'm pretty much a slacker mom when it comes to the Halloween costume. It's not my favorite holiday, so I guess that's why I don't push it as much. Anyway, to show how cheap I am, a couple of days before Halloween I borrowed our awesome neighbors costume. Really, Benjamin doesn't need a costume to show that he's superman...he really is. :-) I dressed up as a mom - because I just pretend to be a mom. And Josh dressed up to be Superman's father. Doesn't he look great? And cute cousin Addison is a vampire cheerleader - a very cute one! Benjamin had fun going trick-or-treating, but he only lasted about a half an hour before it was just too cold. Then he went to bed and we sifted through all of his candy. Ahhhh...the joys of parenthood.

More Partying

Another party and more cake.

Benjamin's 1st Birthday parties

Benjamin's first present came on an airplane! It was Grandma Huff!







That night Benjamin got his first real taste of sugar. He couldn't have been happier about it either. Emily Hendricks made his awesome safari cake.



He certainly loved his cake! What a cute little boy. We love you Benjamin!

Walks with Mom

Hat - $7.00

Coat - $18.00

Crackers - $1.00-ish

Spending every day with this guy - PRICELESS

One year older and wiser too...

So I don't have birthday pictures up yet...but I will soon. I just wanted to let you know the stats on Benjamin as of his most recent doctor's appointment.

Height - 29 inches - 25th percentile - doctor says he thinks that's wrong, he says Benjamin is taller than that.
Weight - 21 lbs 3 oz - 35th percentile
Head - big - 80th percentile
Shots - 5 -he didn't get his one at 9 months because he was sick so he had to get an extra one!
Smiles - too many to count!

Some updates...pictures to follow.

Do you think that time gets faster the older you get? I mean, seriously, when you were younger didn't things just seem to creep by? Anyway, I can't believe that it's already the 12th. I did make a mistake, though. I didn't call my brother, Trevor, on his birthday. I thought about it about 5 times that day, but every time I thought about it was a time when I wasn't able to call. I'm a bad sister.

Well, I'm weaning Benjamin. Is that a weird thing to put on a blog? Probably, but there you have it. This week is his last week nursing. Babies have to have breast milk or formula for their first year of life, so I've done it and I'm ready to move forward...I think. So far Benjamin is dealing really well with it. He's such a sweet baby. I will post pictures of his first birthday party, which was also his first real taste of sugar. It's a good thing I waited till he was a year....he's already addicted.

Yesterday Josh was released from the Bishopric. He served for 22 months in our student ward, which is really long in a student ward. It was a great experience for our family. It will be fun to have Josh sitting with us on Sunday - Benjamin has never had his dad sit next to him in our home ward. But we will miss it. We are so grateful for the memories we have and for the wonderful friendships that we now have. We truly are members of the church of Jesus Christ and it is perfect. In every calling we both have been blessed and also refined to be better people. Thanks to all for your love and support...always. We are surrounded by great people!