Bennions in Print

Nathan and Katie are famous! Our neighbor, Carol Xanthos, is an illustrator and recently published a book titled, "How Does the Holy Ghost Make Me Feel?" It is a children's book written to help children understand the role of the Holy Ghost and recognize his spirit. Carol used friends and family for the models and Nathan and Katie were two of them. There is a beautiful full-page illustration of them in the book. (Our house is also in the background of another page, so it's famous, too.) :) If you're interested, you can see the book at http://www.deseretbook.com/.

Painfully cute

"I'm Raccoon Man!"

first day

and loved some more

and loved.

loved...

A well-loved baby

Gregory's 1st day of kindergarten

The Boys

Handsome crew.

Katherina Ballerina

What a beauty!

OK... Just a couple more.

Compare with previous shot. William Donald is my favorite here.

David and Jocelyn Open House

David and Jocelyn got married, and this is the photo of them with their niece and nephews.

Blizzard in Portland?

We are in the middle of snowstorm in Portland. Because it doesn't happen very often, the city folds with just an inch or two of snow. There aren't enough snow plows to get around, people don't know how to drive in it, lots of accidents, etc. Church was even cancelled. It's been snowing pretty steadily since 8:00 a.m. and doesn't seem to be letting up anytime soon. In fact, it's coming down harder than ever. In most of the places we've lived (except Tucson) it wouldn't even be worth mentioning, but this much snow is pretty unusual here. It's been fun playing in it!

Love to all!

Wendy

William just in from the snow. He's saying, "Cheese!"

Photo from Olympic Mountains in Washington

One of our favorites. All the expressions are fun for us to stare at.

When William sees this photo, he yells, "Blue!" That is his word for his pacifiers (which he no longer uses).

Boy!

We just had our ultrasound and will be adding another boy to the ranks! Katie remains the princess. The baby looks perfectly healthy and we are thrilled!

Taylor Family Reunion Photos

Some fun pics from this summer. Great memories!

Expecting

So, as you probably all know, we are expecting baby number 5 soon. I went to the doctor a few days ago and everything is looking great. Our official due date is March 22. I am feeling yucky, but it won't last forever. Here's to a new adventure!

(Thank you Melanie for the funny comic.)

California

At the end of June we had a Bennion family reunion in Southern California. Here are a few of the 299 pictures we took.

This is at one of the beaches on the Balboa Peninsula.

Katie on the tea cups at Disneyland. I love the look of pure joy on her face.

Post- Disneyland. We arrived at 8:30 am and stayed until midnight when the park closed. Wow.

Gregory walking back from the beach. What a gorgeous face!

William, the Sand Man. At the beginning of the week he really disliked the sand. Obviously he got over his aversion. This is him playing dead. Notice the tongue sticking out.

Nathan looking awfully grown-up. He was pretty fearless in the waves.

The whole trip was a blast.

Love,

Wendy

Torture 2000

Yesterday Rob, Vaughn Hughes, Trevor Fisher, and I went for a 33 mi ride that we named Torture 2000 (2,000 for the total number of feet of climbing in the route). We came up with the name "Torture" midway through the route. We started at the Albertsons near our house and went over the hills north of our place to Rte 30 via Logie Trail, and then back over the hills via McNamee, Skyline, and Springville. The craziest parts of the ride were the first major descent, which had to be made with both brakes on, because of the wet and windy road. The other crazy part was the ascent back over the hills on the way home. It was so steep (I think over 20% gradient in some places), that I wound up riding switchbacks up some parts because I was so beat down. However, the final descent was spectacular (long straight stretches) and I was able to get up to 40 mph. The day was perfect for riding (cool and overcast). Below is the our route (with elevation) and above is a photo of the group (L-R, Vaughn, Trevor, me, Rob).

Haircuts!

So Katie and I got our hair cut today. Kate loves hers and I'm still getting used to mine. I think I'll love it when I stop having to do a double take every time I look in the mirror. :)


Before:


After: After a little taming: