October 2022

 

What a busy month! I always get excited when October rolls around cause it's the start of all the holidays, but that's also the problem! It's the start of all the chaos and hustle that the holidays tend to bring with them. Fun, but oh so busy days.

I really wanted to take the kids to Disneyland because all the Halloween decorations were up, but Kyle is still recovering from when we took the kids to Disneyworld back in January of 2021 and Layla was a nightmare. So he said he wouldn't go back to an amusement park till Layla was at least 6 years old. So, I decided to go anyways and thankfully grandma Kaye came as well as Nate and Brooke and their kids. We had a super fun time and Layla was big enough to go on almost every ride. There is no way I could have done it without grandma Kaye and am so grateful for all her help (plus she always makes it way more fun of the kids).

I love this picture. Me and all my babies. I just wish Kyle would have come with us, but hopefully we can convince him to tag along next time we go.

One of the nights Brooke and I decided to take Connor and Abby back out to Disneyland till it closed while grandma Kaye and Nate stayed back at the AirBnB with the little kids so they could sleep. We had so much fun going on all the big rides, and got soaked on splash mountain. I am trying to enjoy this stage with my little kids, but doing these fun things with my older kids makes me excited for the day when all my kids are old enough to do these fun things. I know it will be here sooner than I think.

A bucket list of mine has always been to see the seven magic mountains. They are art structures of stacked painted rocks between Vegas and California. It was pretty cool and fun to see, but if I'm being honest now that I've seen it once I don't need to see it again. The kids had fun taking lots of pictures and of course stretching out their legs from the long car ride.

Benham family reunion happened this month as well. We all gathered in Las Vegas and rented a big AirBnB for us all to stay in. Grandma Kaye of course had lots of activities planned like treasure hunts for the kids, crafts, presents, minute to win it games, and lots of swimming. We even branched out and went to the Vegas children's museum for a little outing. 

It's so fun to see all the grandkids together and to see the family growing. Even though Kyle and I are done having kids, we can still get our baby fix by being aunt and uncle. 

The adults had a get away to watch the BYU vs. Notre Dame game in the new Raiders stadium. It was a super nice stadium, enclosed, and air conditioned, but sadly our BYU cougars lost the game. Even still, we all had a blast together. 

Of course we had to take family pictures since we were all together. The only way I could convince my kids to smile and behave for pictures is if we could check out the bunny sanctuary nearby and get slushies afterwards. It's amazing how a little bribery will change the mood of the kids! They were so good in the pictures and these are some of my favorites we have ever taken. I love the cute ages of my kids right now, and want to bottle up all the memories.

The ladies decided when in Vegas we needed to go see the Katy Perry show. It was perhaps the wildest, yet most entertaining show I have seen. She knows how to keep an audience captivated and entertained for the evening, that's for sure.

Kyle also ran in the St. George marathon. He did great and got one of his best times. He works so hard and trains every day. I know he is really hoping to run in all the big major marathon races: London, Berlin, Tokyo, Boston, New York, and Chicago. Here's to hoping he can reach that goal!

I convinced Celeste to go to her first ballet with me. I took her to see ballet Arizona's Sleeping Beauty production. It was beautiful, and I think a complete cultural experience for her, especially with the step sisters being drag hahaha. I don't know if I can convince her to come to anymore shows with me, so next time I'll take Abby.

Halloween time means dress up time at dance. I never dress up, but this year Amanda convinced me to do so. Together we were woodland animals. I can say I did it, I dressed up... now don't expect that from me next year ;)

We are deep in baseball season and the boys are loving their club team, Sugar Skulls. I love watching them do what they enjoy and get better from game to game. 

Halloween! The kids love this holiday...I endure it. I never understood why we need to dress up and ask for candy, but I play along for the kids sake. This year I let them all choose what they wanted to be. Abby was a panda, Connor was a baseball player, Brayden was Spiderman, and Layla was a light unicorn (she was very specific about this). I think the best part about Halloween is how the costumes truly bring out each kid's personality.