Priceless

Vegas Trip

Gas: $100
Lunch at the Cabana Club: $13
Tickets for NY, NY roller coaster: $28
White chocolate French toast breakfast: $8
Finding out there are actually three of us in this picture...
PRICELESS!

Baby Carson is in the slow cooker! Junior will be joining us around Feb. 22nd!
We are very excited that our family is growing!

The Beginning of a New School Year

Kyle and I began a new year at BYU this August. We were definitely not ready for the summer fun to end and the studying and hard work to begin. Kyle started the Accounting Jr. Core and I am taking all major classes this semester. Needless to say, both of us have an extremely challenging and busy semester ahead of us.

The first week was the worst. I was not used to not spending plenty of time with my husband everyday, so that first week when he was on campus from 8 am to 5 pm, came home to eat, then headed into the bedroom to do more homework before work at 8 pm, I was very lonely and not too happy. I had several breakdowns that week.

Since then, my classes have been picking up and I am finding myself almost as busy as Kyle. Our apartment is a testament to how busy we have been. Stacks of mail on the floor, dishes on the counter because they won't fit in the sink, clothes all over the floor... Needless to say, I am always grateful for the weekend so I have time to clean my house. Kyle and I both have our first midterm exams of the semester this coming week- wish us luck!!

One Year Anniversary

For our first anniversary, Kyle and I headed up to Salt Lake for the day. The weather was very hot that day, so we didn't spend too much time walking around Temple Square before the session began. Not as much as we normally would. I had never done a live session before so I was very excited for this new experience. The interior of the Salt Lake temple is absolutely breathtaking! Even though much of it has been restored, I was completely blown away by what beautiful work the pioneers created. It looked the same as a lot of work done today by architects with expensive tools. I loved the paintings on the walls too. You could actually see the brush strokes on the walls. Amazing!! And attending a live session was fun, too. It was much easier to pay attention, and I was able to learn a lot of new things. It seemed to go a lot faster than a regular session...

After the temple, we drove to Murray for dinner at....

THE CHEESECAKE FACTORY!! One of my favorite restaurants. Kyle got the Bang Bang Chicken and Shrimp and I got the Thai Chicken Pasta. Both were super delicious. The serving sizes were huge, too. We both took home leftovers. We even splurged and shared a piece of raspberry white chocolate mousse cheesecake. Delish!

On Sunday, our actual anniversary, Kyle and I made dinner together. Garlic mashed potatoes, salad, and bacon wrapped scallops. Yum! We had chocolate covered strawberries for dessert. We spent the rest of the day looking at our wedding pictures, reminiscing over our first year, taking walks, and playing cards together.

This year has been the best year of my life. The best part of being married in the temple is knowing that even though we have a year under our belts, eternity minus one year is still an eternity of years to come! I love you, Kyle. Happy anniversary!

My Baby Brother

Today my baby brother as ordained as a deacon in the Aaronic Priesthood. He is such a good looking boy isn't he? This picture of taken at my wedding last year,m and I just think he is adorable. Although I was not able to go home for the ordination because of work this week, I am really proud of Michael and the good example he is to me and to our family. Being the youngest of five kids (4 older sisters) has got to be challenging sometimes, but he is such a sweet kid and we just love him to death! Again, I am just so proud of my baby brother and the good person that he chooses to be. I love you, buddy!

Where did summer go?

So I was looking at the calendar today and I realized that school starts up in three weeks. THREE WEEKS FROM TODAY!! What the heck? Where did summer go? I am amazed at how fast time has flown... and I am deeply concerned that classes are starting up so soon. I thought that summer was a time to relax and recover from the previous school year. Well forgive me, but I do not feel ready for classes at all. First of all, Kyle is starting the Junior Core and I will never see him anymore. I told him that I feel like I am being demoted from dearest wifey to housekeeper. Second, one look at my schedule is enough to send me into therapy. Physics, microbiology, exercise physiology... WHA???? To say the least I am very intimidated by the schedule I will soon be facing. I wish that it could be summer all year round!

How Great Thou Art

Oh Lord my God
When I in awesome wonder,
Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made;
I see the stars,
I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

Then sings my soul,
My Savior God, to thee,
How great thou art,
How great thou art.
Then sings my soul,
My Savior God, to thee,
How great thou art,

How great thou art!

And when I think
That God, His son, not sparing;
Sent Him to die,
I scarce can take it in,
That on the cross,
my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin.

Then sings my soul,
My Savior God, to thee,
How great thou art,
How great thou art.
Then sings my soul,
My Savior God, to thee,
How great thou art,
How great thou art!

When Christ shall come,
With shout of acclamation,
And take me home,
What joy shall fill my heart.
Then I shall bow,
In humble adoration,
And then proclaim: "My God, how great Thou art!"

Then sings my soul,
My Savior God, to thee,
How great thou art,
How great thou art.
Then sings my soul,
My Savior God, to thee,
How great thou art,
How great thou art!

Bentley Family Annual Lake Powell Trip

Kyle cliff jumping. This cliff is about 30 feet high, although it looks much higher in the pictures.
Macho girls showing off their huge guns! Woo!
All of the little kids loved playing with Kyle. Here they are buried in the sand. They were giggling and laughing the whole time. He just left them their and they had to dig themselves out. From left to right: Michael, Zach, Hadley, and Bentley.
Mama Duck and her babies... When we saw them there were five babies, but by the end of the week there were only four... Mother Nature can be so cruel.
Kyle and I went for a wave runner ride up the canyon and found this little cove. We stopped and played for a little bit. The water was so warm!
Tubing is a major Bentley family reunion. I love Kelsey's crazy ponytail in this one. Megan (left) actually did two back flips off of the tube and into the water... from about 15 ft in the air!
My sister Janessa wake boarding. She couldn't decide which foot felt better forward, it was really funny. I guess she is just twice as talented as the rest of us... Go Nessa!
Megan and Kelsey resting on the back of the boat... Pretty girls! It runs in the family. :)
Everyone's favorite cousin, Kira. Although she is only a year and a half, she is quite the talker. We taught her a song by P!nk that she sings all the time now. Her version goes like this: "na na na na Ima sart a sight." Some of our favorite phrases from the week include "Alright, alright, alright" (when she really wants something), and "You're welcome, baby." On our last day, she found a bug and yelled out "Mommy, it's the eensy weensy spider!" Ha ha, we sure loved spending time with her.
Extreme knee boarding... try to stand up on the knee board. Trust me, it's hard.
Kyle doing 360s on the knee board.
Kyle and the boys caught a lot of fish this week. They sure loved spending time with him and had quite a few laughs. This is his catfish.
Aunt Kristin started up a new game for the family to play for FHE. You start with a dab of whipped cream on the back of your hand, then use your other arm to launch it into the air and catch it in your mouth. Sometimes you miss and it gets everywhere! Of course, it was not surprising that a simple game turned into a messy whipped cream fight.
All of the air mattresses lined up on top of the houseboat. We squish 40 people on a 75 foot boat. Yes, it is squished, but we wouldn't have it any other way.
Overall, some of my favorite things about the trip were spending time on the lake, nightly devotionals and family prayer, and seeing my family. This is a favorite family tradition and we had an amazing time together!