Here's some statistics ... although some of the numbers had to be assumed. Benjamin wears an average of 8 diapers a day (not counting the times he had the runs). Which means we have changed approximately 5840 dirty diapers. and at an average of 30 cents a piece, we have spent over $1,800 just in diapers ... that's not counting the wipes. ...... Baby's are VERY expensive .... but we love him and he's worth every diaper.

Seven Peaks

Well ... It's really sad that summer is coming to an end. Our season passes to Seven Peaks Water Park will soon be worthless. But we did make good use of them though. We went to Seven Peaks many times this summer and we all loved it. Here are a few pictures of us having fun at 7 Peaks. You will have to ignore Benjamins pink swim diapers. We accidentely bought him girly ones .. and we weren't going to return them ... and he doesn't know that he's wearing girly swim diapers.

I really wanted to get a picture of him on the red tyre because I like the colours .... but the water was freezing cold and Benjamin wasn't very happy. Nevertheless, I had to post this picture of the red tyre because its the only picture that I got ... sorry that he doesn't look happy.

Here's Benjamin getting a kiss from his Mommy !

I like this picture .. its one of my favourites.

He likes to count ... 1 2 3 ... and JUMP. He will do this over and over again. He really loves the water.

A quick note. I finally learned how to get Benjamin to play with his toys ... it is so easy now. All you have to do is start putting them away ... and suddenly he starts screaming and decides that he wants to play with them. I calculated that 1 hour of play time for Ben takes us 2 hours to clean it all up.

That is a poor return-on-investment .... so why bother ?? !!

I was in the mood to put some more pictures up. So I found some pictures of Ben doing some gardening. The following 2 pictures is of him wanting to cut the grass. Of course the push-type lawnmower wasn't manly enough for him, so he wanted to use the high powered ride-on tractor.

And now he's watering the tomato plants. He knows he has to fill the watering can first.

And if you're really strong .... you might be able to get the water into the tomato plant .... otherwise you take the short cut and water the concrete walk path.

Gardening is too hard for Benjamin. He'd would rather now use his hammer and try some handyman work ... perhaps the dinning room table needs a beating ?? .... and everything else around it ??

I can't believe its been like 4 months since my last blog entry ... sorry family and friends! Anyway, I've slapped some pictures on here that we have taken over the last 4 months of Benjamin. He is growing so fast that we can't keep up with him. Most of you have probably already heard that we are returning to Vegas to take the next step in our lives. We feel that the opportunities are limited in Utah County, and we don't really desire to move any further North. Vegas is the most sturdiest stone to jump to.

Anyway, here are the pictures. The following one was taken on a hike that we went on, and Benjamin was sitting in the toddler carrier. It's really hard carrying him in the toddler carrier because he jumps around so much that it gets very uncomfortable. All he wants to do is be on the ground, running around, and pick up rocks. But this particular day the ground was very muddy and we didn't want him to get muddy ... he didn't like that he had to stay in his carrier. The smile you see in the picture is probably the only smile he made on the whole trip.

Oh ... here's Jen carrying Benjamin in the carrier. Jen gave me a break by taking him. When we made the deal, she strategically failed to mention that the backpack that I now had to carry was significantely heavier than Benjamin !

Here he is playing at the park. He won't go anywhere without is purple phone. He calls it his "hello". He likes to pretend that he is talking to someone. This has been his favourite toy since Christmas 2008.

We were outside blowing bubbles. Here he is running around trying to catch them. He loves bubbles and he will play with them for hours.

This following picture proves that Benjamin DOES have some Ashford Genes !! Just 10 more minutes and 3 more chapters, Benjamin will have broken Jerom's record.

Here's Benjamin practicing to be a big brother by feeding Jude. He loves taking care of Jude, and making sure that Jude always has a blanket. Whenever Jude spits up, Benjamin will say ... "Ewww Sick"



This following picture was taken at the 4th July party. He loves hats !





Oh .. haha .. this is him being an explorer. His name is Explorer Benjamin. He is scouting the Provo Valley before sending forth his troops.

Catch Up Time !

Hi Everyone! It's been a very long time since I have updated the blog. We have all been very busy, especially with school ending in about 2 weeks. I have a few projects that are due and I've been working very hard. Firstly, I must mention that Jen is the one who decorates the blog to make it pretty ... I got nothing to do with the girly ribbons and stuff !!

Our family is doing very well, and we are all very happy. Benjamin is growing so fast and he's learning knew things everyday. We love him so much. Here is a picture of him eating his breakfast.

Jen is doing very well at work, and she loves what she does. She has also been going to the gym a lot to work out. Her personal trainer has been working close with her to help her build muscle. She can now bench-press 90 lbs. When I saw her do that, I decided it was time that I started to work out too because she's going to over take me ! I been lifting iron since !

I finally graduate with a degree in Technology Management and Facilities Management. I am very excited to start working again, and begin providing for my family. I have applied for multiple jobs and haven't had much feedback ... I hope I can find a good job in these bad economic times.

Benjamin has a thing about shoes ... he has always loved shoes. We bought him a pair of green Crocs the other day and he loves them so much that he wants to sleep with them on. He also likes my snowboarding boots. Here is a picture of him getting ready for bed.

He likes to open the coat closet and pull all the shoes out. He then tries them on and walks around the house with them.

We went to the park last week to get some pictures of Ben. Here are a few of them.

He's good at walking .... but he's still learning how to walk up and down stairs. Here are a few slip-ups !

Sorry, I know its mean .... but I laughed when I saw these pictures. It never hurts him. He only gets upset when his hands get dirty, and he comes running to us so we can brush his hands off. However, when he fell this time, he got wood chips in his mouth ... and I don't think he liked the taste!

He loves to pretend he's talking on the phone. He would pick up random objects and put them to his ear and say .. "Hello?" and he will say "hello" over and over again. I don't know what object he is talking to in this picture. But obviously the other hand is an oven glove that he pulled out the drawer and put it on his hand.

You can't tell in this picture, but we have a baby gate that seperates the living room from the kitchen. He got smart enough to learn how to open the baby gate by jumping on it. It got very annoying, so we put the rocking chair in front of the gate to make it more difficult for him to open it. We later discovered that the rocking chair was a safety hazard because he climbed up on the chair and tried to go head first over the baby gate.

We wanted to drive up the canyon to play in the park. We have a special park we like to go. Its up in The Provo Canyon near the South Fork park. When we got there, there was still snow on the ground, and we weren't equipped with winter clothing. So we had to find another park. We randomly found this park that has nice walking trails along the Provo River and it was very pleasant. We went there to have a turkey wrap picnic, but we ended up eating in the car because it was windy and cold. Benjamin had fun playing with his soccer ball, and he has learned to throw it, and to kick it. The other day when we were in the cultural hall at Church, some other kids his age were trying to throw the basketball into the hoop and bouncing the ball like they should. Benjamin comes along and starts kicking it. Here are some pictures of our trip to the park.

This bridge is very old, and the planks of wood are poorly maintained. Benjamin kicked a plank and it knocked him off balance and he fell. He got splinters in his hand that we could never get out. It hurt him for a couple of days; I felt bad.

I think that catches you up on the last 2 months! The next 2 months will be adventurous too. We are going to New Jersey to attend my Sister-in-law's wedding, and a week after that we are going to Colorado for a family vacation. We are looking forward to it. When we get back, thats when I am hoping to have a job lined up, or continue to actively seek. Wish me Luck !! I promise I will update on here more often.

Benjamin doesn't like snow.

Today I took Benjamin to the park to play in the snow. I'm sure you can tell by the pictures ... but he hates the snow! He can't walk on it, and he just stands in 1 spot crying because he can't move. I know the family wants to see happy pictures of Ben, but thought I'd put these ones up so you can see his funny sad face.