Rachel Spearrin

Ben has been getting practice being a big brother! Every MWF I babysit a little girl, Rachel Spearrin who's 5 mo. Ben gets so excited when she comes and plays with her and talks about "bebe" all day. 

The moment she arrives he's right there close!

Today he noticed she kicked her sock off so he tried for a while to put it back on...Her feet were kicking all over the place and he doesn't really know how to put socks on yet. It was a good effort!

And when Rachel leaves...he tries to fill her spot!

Happy Halloween!

Summer 2012

The summer is over and school's begun! Here is a little of what summer 2012 brought us....

We tried to enjoy another windy picnic on the beach :) We thought Monterrey Bay would be warmer than Half Moon Bay...but we quickly ate our lunch, took a few pics, and packed up to go to the Monterrey Bay Aquarium as fast as we could!

On our way down to San Diego for Jack Gerrard's wedding we stopped to visit Mark's mission President, who fed us a delightful meal.

We met up with a few of the Brinton clan in San Diego/Oceanside and enjoyed every minute! 

Like dinner on the beach... 

A walk through Old Town San Diego, reminiscing...

(behind us was a great Mexican restaurant we went to on our honeymoon that apparently is now OOB)

And finally got to enjoy a warm sunny day on a California shore!

Not to mention a beautiful day at the temple where we were blessed to be apart of a special wedding ceremony for Mark's cousin...Maddy watched Ben for us outside!

Following San Deigo, and a move to another apartment, we spent some time back in Utah!!

...and Ben loves Koda

And playing with his aunts, uncles, and grandparents...

And getting rides in kayaks!

The summer fun didn't stop there! Back home we got lost going to the San Francisco Zoo and instead had a great time visiting the Golden Gate Bridge

We went on a hike in "the Foothills", which Ben is a great hiker...downhill 

\

Uphill is Dad's turn ;)

We had fun in the Kitchen sweeping...

preparing our food storage...

Making homemade bread! (Yes...Ben nibbled it) 

And enjoying lots of Berries!

We've also enjoyed a few bike rides. Ben loves putting on his helmet and gets so excited when we pull the bike trailer out!

On one bike ride we went to play in a fountain on campus.

Ben's hat definitely got more wet than he did! 

And as if we hadn't had excursions enough this summer...we made a surprise trip to Utah!!!

We love family!!

Thanks to his uncles...Ben touched his first fish :)

Doesn't he look like Mark here?

We are so grateful for opportunities we had this summer to spend such great time with so many loved ones!

And for the wonderful experiences we are having here at Stanford! 

Let the school year begin!

Haircut #2!

The other day the lady at the check stand said to me, "Oh she's a beautiful baby!" And the lady bagging agreed, "She is!"

You know what that meant?....

Haircut!!!

Ben seemed kind of scared by the buzzer at first.

But isn't that a handsome little boy?!

In Daddy's shoes...

The other day Ben came around the corner carrying both of Mark's shoes and then tried to put them on.

So Mark helped him put his feet into the shoes.

Which ended up being a little difficult (of course)...

So we put them on backwards!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!

We "hid" Ben's basket and he found it...with a little help! We told him to find the duck and he kept pointing to a box with a yellow circle on it and saying, "duh". He was a little frustrated when we took away the box and told him to find the duck, but he eventually got it.

Ben immediately went for the eggs. He was fascinated in trying to open them...and then to find raisins and cheerios!

Photoshoot

Megan is such a great photographer. She dressed Ben up and took him out for a photo shoot on Stanford Campus. Here's some of my favorites!