Anniversary Dinner!

We had spent our limit on the concert tickets, so we just had a relaxing day inside re-cooperating from our evening with Keith.  We had a good day though just hung out at the house together, went to dinner and got some gifts.  Mark let me buy a giant cold stone ice cream cake that is about a bazillion calories, but so worth it, so after dinner we came home and dug into that bad boy.  Chocolate and Mark, I couldn't ask for anything more!  I am so in love with this man, he makes each day so exciting and constantly keeps me laughing.  I guess we will keep laughing to eternity!

On our way to dinner!

My wonderful present.  Mark is tricky I told him I loved 

this 2 months ago.  He went back and got it for me the

very next day.  He hid it for the past 2 months.  Love him!

Keith Urban concert!

After hinting to Mark that I really wanted to go to the Keith Urban concert he bought tickets, but it took a lot of hinting;)  He was so glad he got the tickets, it was such a good concert, one of the best we have been to.  Some of the best seats I've had too.  This is why it was a good concert,  Keith can actually sing live, he is awesome on the guitar and other instruments which he displayed nicely.  He really involved the crowd and moved around the arena, he didn't just stay on his main stage, he actually came one section over from where we were.  And I was never nervous about the things that were gonna come out of his mouth, some concerts I'm a little nervous about what might be said.  Mr.  Urban will be having us attend his next concert.  Oh yeah, this was our anniversary present too, which was a good way to spend the night.  Great music and great company!

Getting our cowboy on!  Mark is more

realistic than me, he is one good looking cowboy!

Dustin Lynch (Cowboys and Angels).

Little Big Town.

There is that beautiful Autralian!

This is when he came one section away from us,

loved it!

Vala's

It's Autumn which means time for our yearly visit to Vala's Pumpkin Patch.  We went on the 11th, because I didn't have school that day.  It was a super warm day and we really enjoyed ourselves.  I think this may be our last time going.  It's fun, but if you don't have any children and you've seen and done everything that you can do then it get's a little boring after a bit.  If someone came out to visit during the fall, then we may rethink going next year.  We really do like Vala's and it was a great way to spend the afternoon off, where else can you watch pig races!

I always wished to be whisked away in a pumpkin! 

Best hour of the day!

Little bit of our pig racing!

Those pigs were too much for us to handle.

Sarsaparilla! This is my Dads' ultimate, favorite drink.

Just cruising around, with no particular place to go.

Man, he is good looking!

Chiefs VS 49ers

Mark and I and our friends went down to Kansas City for some football.  We have never been to a NFL game, mostly because Utah doesn't have a team and most games are on Sundays.  We were excited that it was a Friday game, due to preseason.   We didn't see a lot of the starters play, but the atmosphere and our row 15 seats were awesome. People go nuts at NFL games.  We even got to see an Aggie Alum, Chuck Jacobs catch the game winning touchdown for the 49ers.  It was so much fun and now we'll be looking for some season tickets for the future!

There was this huge field of wildflowers in front 

of the stadium, random but really pretty.

If she's gonna take pictures of herself, 

I'm gonna post them!

Arrowhead Camping

Mark and I finally got some camping in this summer, it was only one night, but still it was fun and peaceful.  We both got new sleeping bags and we needed to test them out.  It is so different camping without mountains, but at least there were lot's of trees.  The thing that really makes up for the lack of mountains are the fireflies, it's like stars are everywhere not just in the sky, so pretty!  It was short but we both thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. 

Goodbye good Nauvoo

Our ward took a youth trip to Nauvoo.  I feel like it was a success, even though I had people backing out and not giving me notice.  There will be no trip next year, too much work.  It was very frustrating at first, but I'm grateful to those that came and those that helped.  The last time I was in Nauvoo, I was 6. Mark went about 10 years ago, so we were both pretty excited to go and with the church financially funding the trip, we were even more excited;)  I had to drive by myself with three of the YW and it was scary, luckily the way we went had minimal traffic and I got the GPS.  On the first day we went to Carthage and then to the Nauvoo Temple.  The second day was packed we went to many of the houses in historic Nauvoo and to all the Joseph Smith houses owned by the Community of Christ.  We ended our night with a missionary variety show and then they put on this thing called the Trail of Hope.  They had lanterns and Tiki torches and missionaries that read small passages from pioneer journals and we walked along a path that led to a spot in front of the Mississippi River, where the saints crossed that cold, February morning.  It was a really amazing day.  The last day we got up and checked out.  I have a cousin who manages some condos out there and they were great.  I highly recommend you stay at the Nauvoo Villas and Condos.  After we checked out we left for the Iowa State Fair.  It wasn't as good as I hoped.  Just too many people, much too stinky and pretty hot, but they did have some pretty cool animals and good food!  We didn't stay there that long.  Everything, except for maybe the fair was a huge success, I know I felt the spirit being in the place where my Mormon ancestors gave up civilization, a temple and great living, so they could follow the Lord and their Prophet Brigham Young into the unknown.  I love this gospel and was gratified by this experience!

 Carthage.

The YW and YM on the trip.

 Us outside of the Nauvoo Temple.  There was another

couple that also came, they just weren't in any of the pictures.

 The statue of Joseph and Hyrum taking one last look, 

before voluntarily heading off to Carthage.

 Joseph, Hyrum and Emma Smiths' Gravestone.

The house that Joseph and Emma first lived in, in Nauvoo.

The Mansion House, where Emma and Joseph lived next.  

It was so big, so they could allow many guests to stay with them.

The Red Brick Store, this is where the RS was formed.

Back to Utah (for 27 days)

So we finally got around to driving back to Utah to see our family!  Man oh man do I hate that trip, it's great when we get there, but the whole 13 hours of straight driving kills us a little.  The first 5 days we were there, we had a family reunion in Sun Valley Idaho so we weren't exactly in Utah.  Every year the Utah Bankers Association has a convention and growing up we went about every year, because my dad was always on the committee.  It was the closest thing I had to a vacation spot growing up. We had a blast, there was skeet shooting, ice skating/ice shows, fire works, concerts, swimming, biking, bowling, bingo and just hanging out in the cabins.  It would have been a lot more fun if it didn't rain the last two days we were there. On the bright side, it gave me lot's of time to play with the two new babies.

After we got back from the reunion we went down to SLC, where Les was having surgery.  Things were a little scary, but Les is now doing great.  I'm glad we were able to be there, and Mark was super glad he could be around for his family.

The whole reason we came home, was so Mark could do a two week internship at Logan regional.  So while he worked all day, I played all day.  It was a full house at my parents.  My sister is building a house, so her family is staying with my parents.  There was never a dull minute, always one kid or another to play with. I got to see some friends, and drove down to Salt Lake to see that beautiful, Carissa girl, oh how I love her. I loved being with my family and having a few cool, Utah evenings, those are my favorites.

We were planning on hanging out in Roosevelt between the reunion and Marks' internship but with the sudden surgery that wasn't possible.  We stayed a few days with them after the internship.  In true Bennett fashion we played lots of games and just talked and hung out.  It was a good break, but I think we were both a ready to go home by the end of things.  Be back in December!

These 3 pictures are literally the only ones I took of the trip,

I need to be a lot better.

 At the Sun Valley Lanes.  This place was so old, that we had 

to take score by hand.  Good thing I took bowling at USU!

Love this little man! 

Finally got to City Creek and spent the day 

with this lovely, little gem.

Happy Father's Day!

Mark and I have gained a better appreciation of our father's as we've grown.  We have especially gained a greater respect and love for the the selfless men that they are and it's become a lot more evident since we moved so far away from them.  Thank you for keeping our families strong and setting good examples of what a husband and father should be.  We love you both very much and we can't wait to see you all in a few days!

Sand In The City

Omaha has a tradition where they bring in loads of sand and dump it on a parking lot.  Then, different organizations around the area make different sand formations.  I find this a little ironic because I feel like sand castles are a beachy thing to do and Omaha is literally middle America, which is very far from a beach.  However ironic I find it, I still love it.  Mark and I had a good time looking at how artistic other people are.  Afterwards, on our way back to the car, we got stuck in a huge rainstorm and we got soaked.  Oh how I love the mid-west downpours.

 Mark really likes The Hobbit, but he's

 blocking a little of it.

 I think this was my favorite, can't wait for the 2nd

movie this summer.

 The "sole mates" one was pretty cute. Just trying to 

get his perfect catch, good thing I already caught mine!

 These artists were so amazing, it was

 fun to watch them work.

 The rains came down!