"The art of being wise is knowing what to overlook." - William James

Where do I begin. My baby is 2 years old! He is the most wonderful, funny , breathtaking, and life-affirming thing to ever happen to us. After four years waiting for him,(and the extra 10 months he was growing inside of me) I can't believe he's 2! As I made this blog post, I stumbled upon a few of the songs I used to sing to him when he was in my tummy and I of course cried. They were so special and meaningful to be able to sing them to him when he was in my stomach but the most amazing part was when he came out, he still remembered those songs and they were an instant comfort to him. I knew he didn't understand the gravity and depth of the words I was singing but they were only for him and he knew it. That maybe only lasted a year or more but for the time that it did last, he was still my little baby, remembering that time that was just for the two of us. I love him so much and thank Heavenly Father for him everyday. But it feels like so much more than that. Bennett will always give me a reason to live as happy as I can without even knowing it. He literally makes me happy. So Bennett, never, ever forget how much Mommy and Daddy love you with all their hearts, minds and open arms. You will always be our baby.

Happy Holidays to everyone from the Clarks! It's been super crazy with the snow here and so that's kept Ben and I from going anywhere...but outside! We go out and play in the snow for at least an hour everyday. Richard and Mom are still working hard and Richard has to take Mom into work everyday because her car refuses when the snow is this bad. And with a hundred other worries in our lives these days, somehow we seem to keep moving ahead and have as many fun times as we can while doing it. We had a humble little Christmas but are so thankful for our friends, family and the gospel that always keeps our lives enriched. So again, happy holidays and we love you all!

So this was our "Girls Night Out"! I'm in a girls group where we get together and spaz out and eat together, well maybe that's just me doing that with some wonderful sophisticated women, but none the less...it's fun! This week Sharee was sweet enough to teach us an amazing pilates class that she teaches at the gym, just for us and it was so fun that I requested it as my Christmas present! P.S. by fun, I mean hard as "all get out". I felt so bad for Sharee. She kept saying,"no you guys are doing so great!" And I thought, "is that translation for, you look like a bunch of drunk, stumbling idiots and you make me puke in my mouth a little." But it was great. Rachel and Coco and I got there early to rehearse our 80's dance moves, just in case they would be incorporated into the routine, but sadly...they weren't. So after much wobbling and pretzling, I knew it was the class for me when 2 days later I could barely move. I love strength training with a twist. Next up-Coco's yoga classes! YAY! P.S. the pics of me on the floor were genuine. I almost needed a stretcher to get me out of there. Rachel even had to check on me for a second because I had the classic dead person's, "eyes squeezed shut with head turned to the side and tongue hanging out", just like our many death scenes through childhood.

So this was Thanksgiving and as you can see, it would be really easy to add sweet captions to each of these pics but I'm going to let YOU do that. It was so fun and probably won't happen for quite some time. And the "noise" or "joy" level as I like to call it, caused partial deafness in my ears for about a week after:) Happy Holidays!

K, so I lost my camera and all of my pictures that WERE actually uploaded to the computer are now on their own hard drive upstairs in another room. So all I have is some old pics I got off of Rachel's computer. I'll get some off of my phone soon and update somehow that way.These are just a couple of pics from last year at Green Bluff. First I want to say good job to the kids for a pic without any freakouts and Kenzie for holding up Ben's ample fluffy babyness. Then, there's Kylie trying to drown herself in peas in the background of Ben's pic. Kylie, hang on. things will get better. You have your whole life ahead of you! Put the bucket down! Now, let's all clasp hands in a circle and pray for my camera to grow tiny legs and suddenly walk into the room. Actually , let's pray that it grows fat, hairy, full-grown man legs-only scale to it's size...that would be even sweeter. And then I'll take pictures with it's gnarly legs just hanging there or kicking around and totally trip out the people I'm photographing. Whoa-what just happened? Did I just black out again? Please excuse anything I said that was weird or offensive. Phew...anyyyywayyyyy...

So here are a few priceless ones of our little man. We were trying to catch some of the few last nice days to take a walk on his worm car and while he enjoyed it, he did a somersault at one point right over the face of the worm and landed safely, but was a little miffed about it. He loves wearing Daddy's shoes and hats around the house and hopefully he is going to start teaching me a jazzercise routine to really stay in shape for winter. Cross your fingers!

So this was Halloween. I wish I had gotten more pictures, but this is it. Bennett was a handy man but ended up looking more like Magnum P.I. so I wish I had dressed him in tiny shorts and a hawaiian shirt to complete the look but whatev. And by the end of the night, he just looked like he had poo on his face anyway! Richard was of course a mechanic for the millioneth year in a row and to my delight, Rachel suggested I be gothic. It was so fun. I wish I had been one in high school because I got to have a horrible attitude all night (while trying not to laugh. A few goth kids came to the door and I was just like, "what's up" in a really monotone voice. I was like, "Ugh, anarchy, and down with parents and such...Rachel was an 80's hottie and Coco was her beautiful self. It really was all such a fun blur.

These are some old ones that I couldn't upload. Summertime strolling down Sherman ave. The two men looking like studs, especially the cool dude with the sunglasses in the stroller. People kept stopping and looking at him and laughing and it kept taking me a secomd to remember that he had mommy's sunglasses on and was keeping it that way. Then there was one of our trips to Costco and the cute pic we got of the cousins and of course his, "I see weird people..." moment with the shades. He also let me know how he prefers to eat my homemade wheat bread, and that's about the last 6 inches all for himself...silly boy.

Hi all. These updates are going to come in short, weird spurts now until we get our new computer that should be done shortly. So "hang on to ya butts"! Richard and I celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary in September and went to the Oval Office to eat. (My fave.) Bennett enjoyed the delicious strawberries the only way he'll eat them, which is kind of how Cookie Monster eats his cookies. And "Nano" and "Senna" helped around the house. I swear when the other computer is up and running, these won't seem so random. And I can also update you on the many goings on and Ben's new vocabulary which is huge! I hope everyone is doing well. Love ya!

"The face of a child can say it all. Especially the mouth part of the face."
Jack Handey

Here's a little of our trip to Manito park. It was so beautiful and the kids had a lot of fun. The season's winding down and while I love fall, I'll miss the flowers. But then again...it just means we're closer to apple picking, pumpkin doughnuts and Green bluff!!! Yay!

K, so here is a quick update of our happenings. Richard's lil sis Rachel a.k.a. Raquello, has moved in with us, which has been awesome! I think especially for Richard though because he's been getting to use his pro wrestling moves and play video games more often. We all went camping over the labor day weekend with the McReynold's clan and had a blast. "Spuh-duh-min" was also there to watch over us and Rachel actually caught a fish with some crap she found and threw together at the bank of hayden lake! She and I DID have to kill a butterfly to use for bait though and once the fish was caught, she screamed,"ASHLEY!!"and then I screamed and she screamed and WE screamed. It was sweet and the fish lived to see another day, gently floating atop the waters of the lake. Just kidding, it actually did swim away. Oh, also, my kid eats dirt. PEACE!!!

Rules:
Each player answers the question themselves.At the end of the post the player then tages 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blog and leaves them a comment letting them know that they've been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person that tagged you know when you've answered the questions on your blog.

THE FIVE

10 years ago I:
1. was 18
2. Had moved from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho to St. George, UT
3. Going through total shock at being broke and away from everything I knew
4. Working at Down East Outfitters
5. Gaining a richer testimony while living with my awesome cousins

5 things on today's "to do" list:
1.Dr.s appt.,
2.call Angela Back,
3.Call Courtney Kimbal back,
4.make lunch & take care of Ben,
clean house,& call Rachel and see if she needs help

5 snacks I enjoy:
1. Almost anyting mediterranian
2. Maui onion and garlic roasted almonds
3. HOT Krispie Kreme Donuts
4. Bell Peppers
5. a HUGE glass of ice water

5 things I would do if I were a millionaire:
1. Buy a home and start an awesome garden
2. Buy a sweet car
3. Invest in either something smart or something crazy like my MANY inventions
4. Get guitar lessons, piano lessons and make an album
5. Obviously I'd pay tithing but I would also buy a part timeshare in some horses (does that even exist?)

5 places I have lived:
1. Great Falls,MT
2. Coeur d'Alene, ID
3. St. George, UT
4. Phoenix, AZ
5. Post Falls, ID

I tag... Rachel, Natalie, Megan, Christina, Matt&Heather, Dave&Lindsay

Can you tell how much baby Ben enjoyed his first haircut? We took him to this place for kids because with this mound of thick hair, even the best at home haircut looks pretty bad. So Grammy treated him to a cut that we thought he might enjoy. There were a ton of toys, we got to pick out his favorite movie and he was riding a zebra! But in the end, he was put in a gentle headlock by the stylist and he went ape the rest of the time...seriously, these pictures aren't even the worst! Those pics are just blurrs of tiny fists and frowns. So I think we'll be going back to the Flo-Bee.

If anyone can tell me how to post a video from my camcorder-I need. I have a video of Jonny stealing the little neighbor's kids bike at Christmas and riding it down the street as the kid screamed behind him. It's truly precious!