Munchkin Man

Since Cedric got the spotlight yesterday, it's only fair for Ben to have his turn today. This little boy is growing and learning so fast it's almost hard to believe and is at the stage where he repeats nearly everything he hears. He's learning the letters of the alphabet and is also learning his numbers; he can count to 11 all by himself as you will see in the video clip! His manners are coming along quite nicely also as he is always sure to say "bless you" after you sneeze, he rarely misses an opportunity to say "thank you", and "excuse me" is becoming a more frequent expression... all without reminders from us I might add! It's so much fun watching him change and develop and we are very proud parents. Here are some recent clips of our growing boy:

Watching the rain.

"Papa, what big shoes you have!"

Ben's new haircut.

I was to lazy to cut it with the scissors so we decided to use the buzzers - he HATED it!

Sunshine Boy

This post is dedicated to Cedric, our Sunshine Boy. We've nicknamed him this because he is exactly that, a little ray of Sunshine. He's so smiley, happy, easy going, and an absolute joy to be around. We are so thankful for him and thought we'd share a few recent clips of our sweet boy with you.

After a bath the other night.

"Hey look, Mom! I found my feet!"

Tummy Time!

He hasn't figured out how to completely roll over yet.

He rolls onto his side and that's about as far as he makes it.

This One May Be a Little Ridiculous

As the title implies, this post may be a bit ridiculous in regards to the amount of pictures I've included to share with you. However, in my defense, we went on a week long vacation and you can imagine how many photos need to be taken in order to capture all the fun and special moments that occurred. It's also much easier showing you what happened than trying to write it all out! With that said, this last week our vacation was spent at Brian's parent's house and at some cabins at Hebgen Lake near West Yellowstone. It was a grand 'ol time as we got to see family we haven't seen in quite a while and Brian didn't have to work for a whole week (we were all quite excited about that). So without further ado... here are the pictures that tell our story (most of it anyway):

Ben learned to blow bubbles all by himself (thanks to Grandma) and he loves it!

Cedric was a happy camper all week. He told lots of stories to everyone!

Handsome Boy

"Ha, ha, ha! Grandpa, you look so silly in your face paint!"

Grandpa and His Boys

(Brian and Dad went hunting several mornings. They didn't get anything but they had a good time.)

Cedric and Great Grandma having a nice conversation.

We were able to do lots of resting on this trip!

Ben got sick the day we were supposed to leave for the cabins. He woke up with a fever, didn't have an appetite, and threw up all over Papa and the couch, but thankfully it was very short lived and he was feeling better and acting himself before the morning was over. Praise the Lord!

Here is the main lodge of the cabins we stayed at.

This place had eight cabins total and two different bath houses. We stayed in the one on the far right. They were very nice and made things as comfortable as you could ask for when you've got two little ones in tow.

Ben got the pack 'n play to sleep in so this was Cedric's make-shift bed. It worked great and he seemed to be quite comfortable. I never knew a suite case could be so versatile!

Unfortunately, the weather wasn't ideal for a stay by a lake - it rained nearly every day we were there and was quite cool. I took this photo of fresh snow on the mountains one morning near the cabin. However, even though it was cool, it was still a lot of fun!

Because the weather was so cold and rainy, we spent a lot of time playing games and eating good food in the lodge! Here is everyone playing Yahtzee.

The boys had a good time playing poker.

Aunt Terry brought a memory game for Ben which he enjoyed very much - it was a great distraction for him at times!

Ben even rested with Papa for a few minutes. This doesn't happen very often with this little ball of energy so I had to catch the moment on camera - Papa thoroughly enjoyed it while it lasted!

Telling stories to Grandma.

Dad and Jeff went fishing one afternoon and got caught in a downpour... here they are making their way back to the cabin through the rain.

Ben and I were out walking when it started raining cats and dogs so I swept him up and quickly hiked up a couple serious hills to get back to the warm dry cabin. Here we are upon arrival... drenched and laughing.

Here's Ben looking like a drowned rat after that same excursion!

Here's the little explorer on one of our other walks.

We found a big night-crawler that Ben had to stop and examine.

"This is cool, and slimy, and I'm not quite sure what to think of it."

Beautiful Boy

Ben also went on walks with Uncle Darryl, Grandma, Grandpa, Papa, Uncle Jeff, and Aunt Terry. He was a busy boy! Here he is exploring with Uncle Darryl on his first walk about the cabins.

Ben brought me these pretty flowers after coming back from a walk with Grandma... so sweet!

One day we drove into West Yellowstone and went to the Grizzly Bear and Wolf Discovery Center. Here Ben, Uncle Jeff, and Papa are all watching a BIG Grizzly.

Although the animals were neat, Ben was much more interested in stomping around in all the water puddles!

Here's Great Grandma enjoying the sights.

Uncle Jeff crawled into a make-shift wolf den and tried to get Ben to go in with him... he wanted nothing to do with it but I got a good shot of Jeff anyway!

Thanks Mom and Dad Schultz for a wonderful vacation!!!

Ham Bone

Here's a video of Ben "dancing"... it's a little long but really captures some of his personality. We can't forget Cedric either - there's a little shot of him at the end. Hope this puts a smile on your face.