Weekend Highlights

We had a lovely weekend. It started off with Friday night. We went to dinner at The Gateway with Michael and Abbie and then went and saw Couples Retreat. What a treat it was, we all really enjoyed the movie.

Saturday morning we went to breakfast with my dad, Chels, Caroline, and Ava. Chelsea brought pictures of her baby growing inside her. It was cute to see the girls reaction to the pictures, "Where is the baby?" I can't begin to imagine what what going through their heads. Anyways, we had wonderful conversation and a delicious meal. Afterwards Rodger and I had a Couples Massage. It was a Couples Weekend! Ha, anyways it was delightful. It was both of our 2nd professional massage and our first time doing it together. We loved it. I wish we could do this once a month. We will probably have to do it every so often though. It was much needed, especially for Rodger. The lady said he has soooooooo many knots it his back, poor thing stresses too much. He is working on that. I, on the other hand, hardly ever stress, I consider it a gift. Rodger definitely makes up for the 2 of us in that area. We then went to my twin cousins baptisms. It was fun to see family and participate in that. They are silly boys with quite the personalities! We then went home for some "Me time" and Rodger played nintendo while I took a nap. Afterwards we had the lovely opportunity to GET to watch the twins. When I asked my dad if we were still on to watch them, I believe I said do we HAVE to watch them? He didn't like the way I put that question. I don't think he realizes how much we LOVE to watch these two little sweethearts. Lindsey and Landon joined us and we went to my favorite, don't make fun, Pepperbelly's Resturant. Afterwards, when we dropped the girls back off to their parents, we went to "Scary Hill" I believe this is now our 3rd time going this season. We have become avid about minature golfing and let me just say, Rodger and I win everytime! Linds and Landon have to buy us treats at Chevron because of our major skills (or should I say Rodger's).

Sunday was a relaxing day as usual. Nursery was great at church. We only have 1 more time left before we are out of the ward, it will be sad. We will miss many but we are excited for our new adventure!

Oh.....may I not forget:) The news about the sex of Baby Covington is:
It's A Girl!
Buttons doesn't like the normal PINK for girls. Her room will consist of mostly PURPLE, her favorite color.

What's Up With Us

• Landon got his LDS Mission call to Campinas, Brazil. He leaves January 6th. We are very excited for him and his new adventure. We will miss him lots, seriously!
• Our house is under contract to a lovely couple. Things are running smoothly so far. We close the end of this month.
• We had a week to find a house to close the same time as our current home. We found a few favorites and settled on one that stuck out more than the others. It is located in "Klayton" It is on the border of Kaysville and Layton. In our original search, we didn't even look in Layton, but we decided to last minute and we are so glad we did. We love the home! It is about a minute North of where we currently live, not far at all. We couldn't be more excited!
• We are so happy The Utah Jazz are up and running. We are excited for the season.
• Rodger's bike got stolen from our garage. I was mowing the lawn the other day and when I was putting the lawn mower back I had to take about 3 double takes to make sure it really wasn't there. I was so upset! Nothing else was stolen, not even my bike. Now no one will ever go on bike rides with me.
• We have started going to the Gym. We love the feeling and we love to go together.
• I can't wait for this Friday. Chels and Joe find out what they are having. I vote Girl. Hello, The Bennett's are full of girls, we are a girl family.
• Rodger is extra busy with work and is loving almost every minute of it.
• We love Fall. "Welcome Fall" (inside joke of ours)
• At my work we are doing a Fruit and Veggie Challenge. I am doing quite well. It is recommended to have 7 servings a day. I get at least that each day.
• We are going to St. George next weekend to visit our good friends Cole and Gabrielle. It is Gabs birthday and we can't wait to go on a small vacation. It is getting us even more excited for our Cruise with them this December!
• We wanted to have a Halloween Party this year (even last year) but with the move we won't be able too. Hopefully one year it'll happen.
• We love Biggest Loser
• Tonight is our last Fall Softball Season Game. We have not won once. We rock.
• At my work I (along with 2 others) got Employee of the Month. It made me laugh about what they said about me. "Consistently going above and beyond. Quietly goes about being efficient and always willing to help." I like the "Quietly" part.
• We realized last night we will have the lovely opportunity of giving talks in our new ward. Rodger asked if in this ward, "Can we be inactive?" It didn't deserve an answer.
• We can't wait to see Couples Retreat this weekend. Bring on Vince Vaughn, my favorite.

LOTOJA-She really makes us look bad...

This was written by Chels and I helped her post it on our family blog. I wanted to show how awesome my mom is too.

Mid summer my Mom decided to do this: http://www.lotojaclassic.com/

The Thursday before the race I went with her to register (I was the widowed wife to an avid hunter, didn’t have much else to do). The line had died down quite a bit, only an hour wait. J The buzz of “bikers” (who I usually swear at when they try to take over the road) was actually quite interesting to hear. Their enthusiastic adrenaline had clearly already clicked in. Everyone was asking things like:

“How many times have you done this?”

“Are you on a team or individual?”

“What leg do you have?”

At the registration table they filled out forms, wrote down emergency contacts, and last but not least…got their leg stamped (a requirement, rather than a wristband). She was ready to go!

On Saturday, September 12th my Mom loaded up her bike with her team and headed to Logan, Utah for the race. Logan (LO) to (JA) Jackson Hole. Some crazies do this individually, 206 miles! My Mom did this on a team of 5 women.

She took the second leg, which was rumored to be the most difficult portion of all. 46 miles uphill, sounds like a blast right? “I like hills” she kept saying all through her training. CRAZY! As usual, she ended up doing a better than fantastic job. Her total time was 3:06 and she was the 8th woman to finish in her segment. The first place girl was only 8 minutes ahead of her. It was such a great accomplishment, with only a few months of training. I think it motivated her quite a bit for next year. Great job Mom, we love you!!!

PS – I know this is late, but better now then never!

Her team mates. She is the oldest by 11 or so years.

Way to go Mom! I hope I look half as good as you do at your age!

Happy Happy Birthday Ashley Dear

Ashley turned the big 20 on September 19th.  She is no longer a teenager.  Isn't she beautiful?  I've always been jealous of her looks, but then again all my sisters are pretty.  

Ashley you see, is a very special child.  Daffy Duck is what I use to refer her to.  She had a speech problem growing up and well, she sounded like Daffy Duck.  Don't worry, she would get right back at me and call me Pirate.  This is because I wore a patch because of my eye problems.  As you can see, we don't get a long too much.  Never have.  We aren't as bad as we used to be, that's because we're growing up.  Anyways, now to the good stuff.

Our family wouldn't be the same without Miss Ashley.  She is a great sister, person, and friend.  Although things have to be all about her, she really does care for others.  She is hilarious and can say the most funniest things.  She has great style and I've always been a fan, even if I didn't act like it.  I love her very much and am glad she is my sister.

We had dinner last night at my moms.  My mom has decided instead of going out to eat, like we use to, we get to choose our favorite home cooked meal and celebrate at home.  Ashley decided on Stuffed Porkchops, salad, fruit, stuffing, and chocolate creme pie!  We then played "Memory" and every match was about her.  It was fun.

As you can see, she got a bike!  It's adorable and so much fun to ride.  It fits Ashley perfect.

Happy Birthday Ash!  I hope you had a great one.  I love you.

Oh, and I love Annie as well.  Can't you tell?

P.S. Cole (who is her boyfriend and on a mission in Thailand, sent her flowers on her birthday-so sweet!)  I joked and said, "Wow, those are all the way from Thailand?"

Our Parents Test

Rodger and I got a taste of parenthood a few weeks ago. From Wednesday-Saturday we watched the 3 year old sweethearts. It was a mix of emotions, not going to lie. But all in all, they were a treat and we love spending time with them.

Ava and I got some one on one time while Caroline was still napping. She's a doll. She started to get a stuffy nose, this is why she woke up early. "Cortney, I can't breathe." And then she would close her mouth and show me she couldn't. Poor thing.

While waiting for Rodger to get home we entertained ourselves with a number of things. We splashed around outside, played in the playroom, went on long walks, and read some books.

A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E

Caroline and I

They are silly and cute

We had a great time. Some of my favorites of the week:

-"Cortney, but I'll miss you when you go to work. Don't go." -says Caroline.

-"Where's Wwwrodger"-says Ava every 2 seconds when I got home. You can tell who she adores.

-"Cortnee, Cortnee, I've got a booger for you."-says Caroline about 3 different times when laying in bed. I would much rather get up 100 times to get these precious gifts then have her wipe them on her cute bedding.

"Ewww Bigs."-says Ava the 2 different times Bigs (the dog) goes potty on her blanket. I wonder what Ava does to deserve such a thing?

-"I'm really not ready for kids."-says Rodger. "I need my ME time." (Especially when he comes home. Before we can do anything, even me asking what he wants for dinner, he needs to sit on the couch and relax for at least 10 minutes)

September 14th

Below is what my mom posted on our Family Blog. Thanks Mom, I love you.
Can you believe it, Cortney is 22 years old! We had everyone over for her pre-birthday dinner. We had dinner then played pictionary. She is big on games so we had all of the words be about her and what she likes to do. Some of them were: yard work, cooking, yoga, Rodger, teacher, yellow corner (this was a store that she was going to own when she grew up), Winnie the Pooh, cash register, (she bought a real one when she was like 12), socks, stretchy pants. The list could go on and on. Cort, I hope you have a great birthday. I've told this story a million times but when I got pregnant with you, I was nervous about having my second child. I thought, how could I love another child as much as I loved Chelsea! Well as we all know, it is very possible. Cortney, I would have to say, was my most unique child. She was very particular with things when she was little and wanted things HER way. She is still this way today, but instead of demanding it (like she use to) she just works hard to make it happen. She is a very hard worker and loves being a wife and homemaker. (Sorry for saying homemaker Cort, but there was no other word to describe it!) She loves to plan and cook meals. She also loves to entertain. She is very thoughtful about everyone. She and Rodger will help or do anything for anyone. I hear that she does a fantastic job for not only her Dad at his office but other agents. She is a great sister and the most wonderful daughter anyone could ever have. A cute story about her, that happend lately, she was driving to work the other day and some guy kept driving up beside her and smiling at her and kept bugging her on her way into work. She said she finally just held up her left hand to show that she was all ready taken! We are all so lucky and blessed that we have her in our family! Love you Cort!

I had a great birthday. A lovely one indeed. I woke up happy and off to go get ready. Like always, Rodger stays in bed and sleeps some more or watches TV. This morning he stayed alseep. He got a phone call and answered it with his sleepy, raspy voice. He yelled at me to turn off my blow dryer, I did. He then came in the bathroom to go to the bathroom. He did his business and then took off to our room. Didn't say anything. I start to finish getting ready and then hear him get out of bed again. He walks into the bathroom with a big smile on his face, "Babes Bear, Happy Birthday!" And gives me a big hug. I said, "Well it's about time!" It was cute. I went to work like any other day. I took 4th South exit and I kid you not, this has happen once before, NO RED LIGHTS! It's a beautiful feeling. My cubicle was decorated. I had lovely flowers from a co-worker, Jen thanking me for all I do to make her job easier. How sweet of her. I got a gift card from my work to Target, love that store! Jeff, the other agent I work for other than my dad was very thoughtful and got me lovely flowers and a gift card for a massage! Ah...I can't wait to use that!
Rodger picked me up for lunch and we went to Faustina's. It was special. After work I went home to tidy up the house because we were having a showing. My mom came over to see me and to give me one more gift, the new Nicholas Sparks book, yay! Thanks mom. Rodger got home from work and we went to Osaka Sushi with my dad. My dad got me a fantastic gift. A pair of flip flops with interchangable colors. Awesome, I wish I invented it:)
We then went to my moms because our house was still being shown. Rodger brought all my gifts and I opened them there. He spoiled me. Clothes, make-up, perfume, lotion, and last but not least.........Lazor Hair Removal. He deserved a big hug and that's just what he got. We then went home and he joined with me to watch, "One Tree Hill" It was the season premier.
It was a splendid birthday. Thanks for all the birthday wishes.

My flowers I got and the new book

The flip flops my dad gave me! So excited for these.

My handsome husband. I love him.

Our Family Dinner

I got to pick my favorite meal. It was swedish meatballs and vegetable casserole, rolls and fruit and of course yellow cake with chocolate frosting and SPRINKLES! (I love sprinkles) and Rocky Road Ice Cream.

Blowing out my candles. This year was probably the best "Happy Birthday" song that has ever been sung to me. Honestly.....Rodger, Landon, & Joe singing really low. Ash, Chels, and Mom pitch in high. Linds and the boys....singing silly. It was loud and powerful. When they were all done, they wanted to sing it again. I highly recommend singing "Happy Birthday" the best you can. Seriously, it normally is so boring and bland. You know what I mean:)

Thanks for all the gifts. I loved all of them!

Guess What?!?!

No, I'm not pregnant. But I know a few that are! My sister, Chelsea and Joey are expecting their little one in March. Not only are they but Rodger's brother, Jeff and Amber are expecting a little one in March as well. Can you believe it? Two adorable little ones in 1 month. We can't wait.

I wanted to kill my mother when she called on a Thursday night, "Can you come over to my house at 7, both you and Rodger?" And that's all she would say. I'm like, "Mother, come on what's up?" We were busy that night, Rodger didn't get home from work until about seven. Anywho. We get to my moms and we have to go somewhere. So we get in the car and started heading South, thankfully. I said, "Why are we going to Chelsea and Joey's, why couldn't they come to your house if you had news to share with all of us, this is stupid." So on and so on. I was just being a pill, as was Ashley. A few minutes later we get a text from Chels saying, "Why are you guys the idiots. At least I refused to not leave my house. What is going on?" This sets us off even more!!! So we get to their house and go downstairs. They are happily enjoying watching the Utes Game, just what Rodger wanted to be doing:) So we talk for a while and Joe says, "So Joan, what news do you have for us?" Rodger thought she had cancer, silly Rodger, I hope that doesn't come EVER! So my mom grabs a little gift bag and starts walking over to me and says, "Since your birthday is the closest you can open it." I was confused but enjoyed the attention:) So I pull the tissue paper off and just start smiling. Ah.....I was so excited! It was a piece of paper with a binky saying:

Baby Covington Arriving March 8, 2009

Rodger and I are so excited for our older siblings! We are glad they are first, show us how it's done! We love you all.