Date night

So Stewart has been really good about making sure we have a weekly date night. Since lately there really hasn't been much to do, we've gone to dinner (or he's surprised me with tickets to the Eclipse movie... {I know right?!} ,but it's gotten rather expensive lately. So I took a turn to be in charge of date night. It was a total surprise for Stewart (Even though he guessed every part of it... turkey) and (It wasn't planned terribly well)... (Like we went to the dead horse caves and I couldn't find our flashlight, so we took Jon's mag light that the battery was dead on) and we got quite a ways in before our light started dying and I got super creeped out. So we ditched that and had dinner on the dock of Dog Creek. I packed a chicken and potato salad picnic, complete with kool aid and CChip cookies! :) It was fun just to hang out the two of us and do something we would probably do if we were still only dating. Can I just say how much I love this man!?! (Cause I do!)

Poopin face... he he he

(Some day Addison is really going to kill me for this)... SO I'm going to get my kicks while I can :) Addison has a super cute poopin face! You might think she's just randomly smiling, but as soon as she starts grunting you'll know to expect a little present! :)

Poor Pickup :(

Last week for date night we went out to the crater in Dietrich to shoot some skeet (and I shot my little target with my 22). Anwyays, it was TON of fun to hang out with Hank and Mekala! They are such fun and we love to be silly with them! Unfortunately for us, on the way out we went over this little hill and hit a rock. It knocked off some thingy mabobby and our pickup was pretty much no longer leveled (as you can see in the pictures). Luckily it wasn't the axel, the oil pan, or the transmission. (It was a sway bar, or a stabalizer bar??? Something to that effect). We managed to limp it to Nancy's house, but we decided to have it towed to Shoshone. $450 later it's fixed, but we're still waiting for the $450 to appear first :) I guess that's what you get when you think you've just got out of the "vehicle crapper" you just go right back in!I don't know what's more sad in this picture... the truck being on the tow truck, or Rudy limping around trying to be an active dog. Poor Rudy!

We really did have a lot of fun! Had some hotdogs, smores, and LOTS of Dew!!!

Poor Pickup :(

Addison's Blog

So, one of my friends has a blog for each of her kids. She posts big and little things about them, which is neat, because later in life she can print it and make it a journal book for them to read. SOOO, I've decided that I'm going to start doing this for Addison (and eventually all the others to come). So if you want to you can keep up with her on her blog! :) the address is addisonkaybingham.blogspot.com Love you all! Hope your summer is going great!

New Hair

I got my hair cut and colored yesterday. I haven't had time to fix my hair like I should be, and I had such bad split ends I decided it was time to part with it. Above is how long my hair was, and below is my new "mom do". It's not terribly short, but compared to what I'm used to it's pretty short. I love it though. What do you think?

And isn't Addison just the cutest little girl? She went to the salon with dad and mom yesterday (Stew got a haircut too). Addison however, didn't get her haircut.... she's working on growing it out :)

VOTE FOR ME!

I know I may sound pathetic to all you out there, but the competitive spirit has really come out of me!! I enter this contest called "name that bling" every time a new watch band is introduced from this site "Chunkybling.com". FINALLY I am a finalist for one of the latest ones! SO here's what I'm asking you to do, Go to chunkybling.com. Find the tab "freebies and giveaways" (on the right side of the page) and under it click on "NAME THAT BLING". On the left side of the new page click the "vote for names". Go into that and vote for my name "CALIFORNIA DREAMIN". If I win I'll get a free watch band (and Stewart has already informed me on how lame this is) but like I said before... it's the competitor in me! You can only vote once from your home computer, but if you have a work computer you should vote from there too ;) SO COME ON! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!??!! GET OVER THERE AND VOTE.... HELP ME KICK OLD CLEMENTINES BUTT!!! :) Thanks guys. Love you all! (and actual Bingham news will be on the way sometime soon. For now we're just kicking and screaming all the way!)

2nd Annual Shooting for Hank's Birthday (for lack of a better name...)

For Hank's Birthday we went out to my parent's house and went shooting, just like we did last year. This year was quite different for just a few reasons.

1. Hank & Mekala are now married. Last year when we did this they were just "flirting" around the whole dating idea :) Now they feel free to do this...

2. There was the whole situation with the bullets. First Hank forgot them at our house, so we had my mom bring them home with her. When she got home Hank realized he didn't grab the right shells. (yup, true story). Thanks to my little brother, we still had a good time using some of his shells and guns. (Thanks Jonny boy :)
3. I was able to shoot something!!! :) I had to use a 22 and set up the clay pigeon in the sage brush, but by the endish of the night I wasn't doing too bad! I've decided that I really like shooting a 22. No kick, lightweight, and super easy to load! :)
4. And the last difference is this year Mekala had to go pee pretty bad so I told her just to go around the old swather. She didn't think twice about it, but was pretty surprised when I popped out from behind the swather and yelled "say cheese!" (Don't worry, it's all G rated), but nonetheless it was pretty hilarious!

It's funny cause these next two pictures are almost identical to last year's shoot! These will have to be annual pictures!

And of course we have the lighting the candles on the twinkie picture! It's a classic!

We have so much fun with these guys- and you can bet this will definitely be an annual party! (We'll just start putting Stewart in charge of getting the ammunition) ;)

More Stuff

Addison LOVES her aunt JoAnna! But on this particular day she'd just woken up and was getting quite hungry... and it made for a pretty darn cute little pouty girl! :)

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this picture! What a cutie pie!

And recently, we found that we could trick mom by making a "fake" Addison. After a diaper change nobody put her pants or socks back on Addison! And the funny thing was the socks stayed in her little pants just like this! Uncle Jon picked them up and wrapped them up in a blanket and went over to my mom with a "here, you want to hold Addison?" It didn't take her long to figure it out that it wasn't really Addison, but it got her! (And for whatever reason, we just thought we were SO hilarious! I think we were in one of those giddy moods ;)

And last but not least, we finally have some naked pictures of Addison :) She really didn't like the "stink bug" position, but she was a good sport about this little photo shoot. Isn't she just so cute?!!

Yes- We've been up to stuff!

Our little cutie pie!

Addison loves our doggie Rambo! and I think he likes her just as much!

Addison meeting our new kitty Puss. Our other cat Boots ran away... but we're glad we still have Puss! :)

Stewart got a new work car recently! Above is his new (brand new) car! When he got it, it only had nine miles on it! (and that's after his boss took it for a test drive!!! It's a cute little thing, and so much nicer than his old work car! It's a jeep version of the dodge caliber. It's much roomier and SO much quieter! We're glad that his boss Marty takes care of us!

Stew's old work car. It was bout time for a new transmission, so they decided to upgrade! Notice how much taller the new car is compared to this one. I know that Stewart really likes not bonking his head everytime he gets in the car!

And yes- we've been up to more stuff... you'll just have to stay tuned for more details!

Let's just give it away

You guys should totally go check this out!
http://www.letsjustgiveitaway.com/

How True is this?!?

I LOVE IT!

Testimony

First off, pause the music on the right side of the page so you can watch this video. If you click on the video, it will take you to YOU TUBE and you'll be able to see the whole screen.
The spirit I felt as I watched this was so great, words can not describe.

I have never been able to imagine the pain and trials the prophet Joseph Smith and his family went through to organize Christ's church. However, since I have started my family, I have come to realize just how much a wife loves her husband. I love Stewart more than anything and I worry about him everyday. I often worry about silly things; is he getting good grades? is he doing well at work? I also worry about the everyday things; why isn't he answering his phone? is he safe driving on the roads? As I watched this video clip, my heart went out to Emma Smith. I can not imagine wondering if my husband will come home each night. I can not imagine loosing sleep, wondering when the mob will return. I can not imagine watching my husband being handcuffed and taken prisoner. I can't imagine wondering if this would be the last time I would hold my husband, or kiss him, or even hear his voice. I can not imagine being left a young widow with a family to care for alone. Can you imagine? Emma had to have had such a special relationship with our Heavenly Father. She had to have had the Holy Ghost as her faithful, unceasing companion. She must have had so much faith to endure through the trials of everyday life. I hope that I can be a little more like Emma Smith. I hope I can be strong and faithful in times of despair and hardship. I would like to add my testimony to Elder Holland's, that I know the Book of Mormon is True. I know that it is the word of God. I know that Joseph Smith is a true prophet of God. I'm so thankful for the sacrifices that were made by he and his family. I know that Christ atoned for my sins and for the sins of the world because he loves us. I know I am a Child of God, and he also loves us. I'm thankful for a true modern day prophet. I know that if we do what is right, and have faith, we need not fear. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

A few of her Favorite things...

Raindrops on Roses and whiskers on kittens, bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens... aren't really what Addison is in to lately... BUT she really does enjoy spending her time doing a variety of activities! Here are a few of her favorites...

...watching TV in her boppy (and her boppy in general)...

...Playing or working outside. She really loves to watch Rambo and the kitties run around... and she LOVES her little yellow hat!....

...She loves diaper changes and squirming around on her changing table...

...She loves being Naked!....

...she loves her car seat and riding in the car!....

....she loves to take naps....

....she loves her swing...

....and she even loves naps IN her swing! :) ....

...She loves bath time! She loves her bath toys and even loves her little swimming suit!....

....She loves to toot, and she does it A LOT!.....

...she loves to chill on the couch with mom (not always being held), to just let loose!....

....She loves Story time!....she also loves....

Falling asleep to a good bedtime story!

California Trip Day #3- SEA WORLD!

On our second day IN California we decided to go to Sea World. All the times we've been to California we've never gone, so we decided to "experience" it. And I say "experience" because it sure was one- One that we will only do once :) It's not that it wasn't fun, it was just kind of a let-down compared to what it's hyped up to be. The Shows were phenomenal! We saw the shamoo show and the sea lion show- and it was good we made it to those. They were great! But the rest of the park was the type of thing that we could have just seen at a zoo or aquarium.

Shamoo. (And he didn't eat anyone... this time ;) I was a little disappointed that the trainers didn't swim with them. But it was good.

The sea lion show. I can't believe people can train these animals! They were awesome! After we went to the sea lion "cove" where you could feed them fish. Me and Stew were so entertained! The sea lions would come up and bark at you if you acted like you were going to feed them! And the birds would attack the people with fish! It was kinda scary! But really funny.

"Petting" the stingrays. They were HUGE!

This is how Addison spent most of the day. And it was St. Patty's day- that's why she's wearing green :) And yes- that's the smallest hat we could find... and no- she didn't really like it much the whole trip :)

California Trip Day #2 - THE BEACH!!

Back to recapping the good times from our spring break trip to California! On day two we went to Huntington Beach. The weather was SO perfect! It was Stewart and Addison's first time ever at the ocean and while Addison chilled under the umbrella or in her snugglie, Stewart tried his hand at surfing!

Here's the trio. In California we stayed with our friends the Odells. Their son Matt and his wife live in Huntington and Matt was kind enough to take Jon and Stew out on the waves. It looked like it was A LOT of work! Stewart got out pretty far, but tossed his cookies and came back in. (I think that it's hard to swim in the ocean anyway- getting used to the salt and the waves-so I think it was awesome that he was brave enough to try surfing much less swimming!)

My dad's brother Niel and his family drove down from Lancaster and spent the day at the beach with us too! It was fun to play with their kids and see them in their element! They sure are California kids! They were playing in the water in just their swimming suits! It wasn't too cold, but I didn't think it was that warm! They sure are cute kids!

Addison just chillin on the beach! She was such a good baby the whole trip! I think she really liked the sound of the crashing waves- they seemed to soothe her.

Grandma and Grandpa doing their grand-parenting duties :) They were such big helps with Addison- and she loves them so much!
Stew playing in the waves on a body board.

Jon and JoAnna on the beach. (Yes- we're from Idaho and it's been a long winter ;)

After we were done playing in the water, we drove down the Laguna beach. Matt and Melody know this private little beach where the tide pools are really good. By the time we got there the tide was coming in so we didn't get to explore the pools. But the beach here was gorgeous! The sun was setting and it looked like a picture from a travel pamphlet.

So anytime we traveled in California it seemed like it took forever (even though we often used the fast pass lane -(which we didn't realize we'd be ticketed for... and Garmin said so...) so we just went the fastest way right? Anywho- going to Huntington from Yucipa usually takes about an hour and a half. On the way home there was a bad wreck on the freeway and it took us FOUR HOURS to get back to Yucipa! We were all exhausted from being in the sun all day-but thankfully we have good parents who stayed awake to inch forward every few minutes. This was the craziest thing I've EVER seen! People were running out of gas all over the place!

I was very thankful for my parent's nice travel van at this time in particular! JoAnna is watching TV, Jon is sleeping, Stewart is laying on the floor in front of the seat that I'm laying on, and Addison was in the car seat at my head. At least through the traffic jam we were comfortable :)