Parents of an 11-year-old...

Our 11-year-old, Stephanie

Ben being excited about the 34 he got on his MCAT

While Melinda's parents were touring Europe with Natalie and Brad, Ben and Winda got to tend Stephanie for 2 weeks. (It reminds me of my fun little trips to Europe...sigh...) It was crazy being parents of an 11-year-old! We did all kinds of things with Steph. We took her fishing, camping, to a Demolition Derby, and to the Willow Park Zoo. She was a lot of fun and it was hard to see her go! We've adjusted back to normal life pretty quickly, though. :)

Uncle Ben and Aunt Winda

Uncle Ben

Sunburned Alli and Aunt Melinda after a long day

While we were in Virginia, we got to see our one and only niece! We had to secure our positions as the favorite aunt and uncle. Remember Alli? We're your favorites...your favorites!

Virginia Trip - Washington D.C.

Melinda in front of the White House, freezing.

Here is Ben getting better acquainted with Mr. Lincoln

Did I mention it was cold? Here we are in front of the Capitol Building.

A great view of Ben's nostrils as well as the Washington Monument.

Melinda in front of the beautiful cherry blossoms

We only had a few hours to spend in Washington D.C., but we saw quite a lot while we were there! We rode the Metro in and literally ran to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. It's no joke that you could spend months in the Smithsonian. There was a neat exhibit there with items from the American History museum such as Dorothy's ruby slippers from the Wizard of Oz, R2D2, Babe Ruth's baseball, George Washington's coat, Marilyn Monroe's gloves, the Mormon sandstone from Nauvoo, and many other rare and historic items. It was a good sampling since we had such a short time there.

After the Smithsonian, we walked down the Mall to see the Washington Monument, White House, World War II Memorial, Korean War Memorial, Vietnam War Memorial, and the Lincoln Memorial. It was awesome. Before we headed back to Brooke and Tim's house we dropped by the George Washington University Medical School just to take a look. Who knows? We might be living there in a year or so.

Virginia Trip - Williamsburg and Jamestown

Melinda looking colonial in front of a carriage in Williamsburg

Our fearless chaperones, John and Davi. Thanks for letting us stay with you and for driving us around so much!

Ben, Chris, Melinda, and Bill posing picture-perfect in front of John Smith

Chris and Winda all ready for battle atop their trusty cannon.

Ben and Melinda frolicking on the beach.

Williamsburg and Jamestown were really fun and interesting to visit. There is a lot of history to be learned there. We especially liked the new archearium at Jamestown. (And Melinda especially liked the speed-walking contests with Christine!)

Virginia Trip - Busch Gardens

Here is Melinda waiting in line at Busch Gardens with Joe and Elise in the background. She looks a little nervous!

Don't you just love Michael?

Again, don't you just love Michael? Poor Jenny, having to ride on the couples swing with him...

Yay for Wind and Lise!

Here is Josh's cute little face riding on some Ladybug-looking ride. Isn't he cute?

While on our awesome trip to Virginia, we decided to support the beer industry by going to Busch Gardens. (Ok, not really) But we did go to Busch Gardens. It was cold, but it was a lot of fun! They had some killer rides there. Melinda was a wimp and refused to go on the water rides though--so she was the designated Alli and jacket holder.

Almost Done Spring Breaking...

These were pictures from our hike to Double O Arch. It was a long and hard hike as well. It had an awesome view though. Pretty much every view in Arches is awesome. :) There was one really scary part of the hike where we had to walk across the fin of an eroding rock and it dropped pretty far on both sides. There were no protective guard rails or anything, and there was one part where you had to jump over a crack between the rocks--so I almost didn't make it. I'm not as coordinated as one might think. (ha ha, my family can stop laughing at my clumsiness now...) All in all, we survived our trip in one piece and had a great time doing it.

And Still Spring Breaking...

Here are pictures of us at Dead Horse Point. It's pretty much where the world ends and then drops thousands of feet down. I am sooooo afraid of heights, so this little stop made me a little nervous. There is also a picture of us with our friends, Kevin and Natalie, sampling the water of the Colorado River. (It was freezing cold!) Our rugged vehicle, as mentioned before, was good to us. And last of all, a picture of Ben in front of Landscape Arch. This was a pretty wicked hike too.

Still Spring Breaking...

We had a great time hiking to Delicate Arch. It was kind of a long hike, but it was so worth it! Our favorite part was "scrambling" up the slickrock. It actually said "scrambling" in the trail guide! Cool, huh? It didn't sound very safe, though.
The weather was absolutely perfect for hiking. I think the hottest temperature was 80 degrees. But there was a pleasant breeze blowing to keep us just cool enough.

Spring Break in Arches

Spring break is a wonderful institution. I think that even when we graduate and get real jobs that we should get spring break. Since that probably won't happen, we decided to live it up this year and take a quick trip to Arches. I have never been there before, and Ben was way excited and got the whole thing planned. We have some great friends in our ward, Kevin and Natalie Humpherys, that we do lots of stuff with, and we invited them to come along. My lovely dad (pappola) let us borrow his SUV for our trip and it was great! Ben and I decided that we want to trade in both of our vehicles for a Honda Pilot. It was such a sweet ride. Ben loved driving it because it made him feel so rugged.

Frosty, Our Snowy Friend

Ben and I had so much fun building a snowman when we were off of school for a day. It was way more work than I remember as a little kid. That snow gets heavy! Let me just say that the weather in Logan is crazy. Not long after we built our snowman, it felt just like summertime! I just wish the summertime weather would stick around long enough for us to fully enjoy it.

Happy Valentine's Day!

For Valentine's Day Ben and I got to go to a really fancy restaurant. It was called Beniamino's. The food was AMAZING, and the service was most impressive. Ben spent all day preparing for our special Valentine's Day dinner. I had class that night from 4:30-7:20, and he had everything timed to be done at exactly 7:20, when he thought I would return home. Lucky for him I got out of class an hour early. (oops!) Since I suspected he might be planning something special, I tried calling him 3 times on my way home. He didn't hear the phone though since he was listening to his new iPod. (Stupid iPod, grrr) So I got home and averted my eyes while calling through the open door that I was home. I had to sit isolated in the bedroom until 7:20 when my date came to pick me up. :) (Yes, he rang the doorbell, and I had to avert my eyes so I couldn't see dinner on the table as I went to answer the door.) It was well worth the wait. We started off dinner with a shrimp cocktail appetizer. A scrumptious spinach salad followed thereafter. Our main course was steak, baked potatoes, and asparagus. We topped it all off with Key Lime pie for dessert. Then we exchanged gifts. Ben gave me a huge card and some chocolates, and I gave him a card, season two of "The Office", heart-shaped Junior Mints, and his favorite book, "Where the Wild Things Are." It was a great night.

It's only the 5th week of the semester!

It feels like we've been in school forever already. It's only the 5th week! Ah! Other than that school is going well. Maybe it's just dragging because I'll never have to go to school in the spring again. Yay!