Rubber Ducky your the One...

Van's favorite toy is a huge, inflatable, plastic duck. This duck is supposed to be a bathtub. It has never seen the water. But don't fret it is getting plenty of play time. It is hilarious to watch him carry a huge plastic duck around and snuggle with it...yes I said snuggle. One of his favorite things to do with his duck is dive head first into it's center. He thinks this is the funniest thing ever (so do the rest of us for that matter). On more than one occasion I have found Van sitting in his duck with his blanket and a smile ear to ear. He isn't playing he is just sitting there enjoying his duck. Thank goodness for rubber ducky's, what would we do without them.

Van in his duck after a dive.


Snuggle time with the duck.


I believe the look on his face is pure joy.

Thanks uncle Sam and Aunt Haley for "The Duck."
The poor thing doesn't have a real name yet.

Our newest addition

We are all so excited to welcome the newest member of our family. Morgan was born just over two weeks ago and we went to Evanston Wyo to see her Saturday. She is so adorable. We have all been anxiously awaiting her arrival. This means I am no longer the only baby maker for the Neiswenders! Which is good considering there is no more baby making in my future. (Famous last words, I know) Anyway, we have one nephew that is actually more like a brother so this is very exciting for all of us. The kids finally have a cousin that is closer to their age and we get to be the fun aunt and uncle for a change (we always have to play the role of mean parents)...oh the payback! The kids haven't stopped talking about how cute she is and how much they love her and want to go see her again since we left on Saturday.

10 years...where has the time gone?

We just got back from Mexico and awesome does not even begin to describe it. This was our 10 year anniversary trip (yes one more reason for me to feel old). We had a very simple honeymoon and until our spontaneous trip to Disney land have a very simple vacations. Needless to say we were so excited to go on a real vacation...even better a real vacation without kids. We stayed at an all inclusive resort in Cancun. This vacation was all about the relaxing, we didn't do any excursions or trips into town. We sat by the pool, we walked on the beach, we napped, we slept in, we ate, we read and we talked a lot. And this is exactly how we wanted it to be. It was 4 days of nothing to do but be together. It was amazing. We had such a great time being together and reminiscing about our life. When people found out that we had been married for ten years the first thing we heard was you look way to young, the second was something to the effect of it is nice to see people staying together. This is so foreign to me. Of course we have stayed together. I suppose it is all a matter of perspective. Sadly not enough people have an eternal perspective and marriages that last are the exception rather than the rule. I am so grateful for my marriage and for Ben. How I ever got so lucky I will never know, but I do know that I am very blessed.

Here are some of my favorite pictures:

Palm trees on the beach.

Some bug skin...sounds weird but what an awesome picture.

This is the view from one of the 4 buffets to one of the many pools.

This is the bridge down to the beach from the resort.

More palm trees.
We took a lot of pictures, these are just a few of my favorites.

I have to say thank you to my awesome mom and sister who came all the way from Oregon to watch the kids while we were in Mexico. Knowing that my kids were safe and well taken care of made the trip that much more enjoyable. Thanks mom and Beth you guys are the best!!!