Adventures in Bennionland

Open and Closed

Shelly! — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 05:41:26 +0000

In two countries at once!

“Westerners arriving in Africa for the first time are always struck by its beauty and size – even the sky seems higher. And they often find themselves suddenly cracked open. They lose inhibitions, feel more alive, more themselves, and they begin to understand why, until then, they have only half lived.” (Richard Dowden, Africa)

I have cracked open.

There is no better way to say it. No better way to succinctly describe my trip.

In Kenya, I was the best pieces of myself. Everything I wish I could be all the time. Everything I wish everyone could know about me surfaced and shined.

I was me.

I cannot wait to tell you all about it.

But I find myself short on time.

I returned home to find sixteen days of life waiting for me to catch up. And jet lag. And two boys (well, three really) who couldn’t wait to fill me in on their own adventures. My best guy left two days after I returned for his own adventure (and it paid off!). And school starts on Thursday. I got off the plane and started running again after sixteen days of walking through life.

No time to sort my pictures – no time to blog.

If you’re dying to know, call me.

I will post though. I promise I will tell you everything – or at least try to capture it. Because I want to share it with you – quite frankly I want to bundle up everyone I know and love and take you there.

In the meantime I am savoring my days with the boys before their days are no longer mine.

“In Africa the essentials of existence – light, earth, water, food, birth, family, love, sickness, death – are more immediate, more intense. Visitors suddenly realize what life is for. To risk a huge generalization: amind our wasteful wealth and time-pressed lives we have lost human values that still abound in Africa.” (again, Richard Dowden, Africa)

Brothers

Shelly! — Tue, 25 May 2010 04:40:42 +0000

Yes, they fell asleep this way.

I love them. My little yin and yang.

Six! Seis! Liu! Rokku!

Shelly! — Tue, 25 May 2010 04:31:28 +0000

(Original post date April 26th, 2010)

It’s official. Our five year-old is now six. Crazy how time is moving!

Will was in MAJOR countdown this year until his birthday. I think we’ve hit a new chapter in understanding what birthdays are about. He had a theme picked out, had defined party expectations, and for the first time had a birthday wish list! Wowza!

Fortunately all – or most – of his request were easy ones to grant.

We had the traditional birthday chocolate-chip pancakes for breakfast – his fave!

He got to open one present before going to school.

At school he got to wear the special birthday hat. Check out his face – this was a BIG deal. Mrs. M, his teacher, said that he wore the hat the entire class.

Plus he was *Star of the Week* so I got to bring in picture (boy was that a sob fest trying to pick ones out).

We had shooting star cupcakes (gluten-free of course!) with his class. Eric came over from work and so our whole family got to celebrate too. It was so cute to see him react to being the birthday star with his friends at school.

After school we had his – space themed – birthday party. He got to invite his closest friends over. We made planet pizzas, did astronaut training, opened presents, and had solar system cake (complete with six candlelit stars).

He was in his glory- and still is as he likes to remind everyone he is now SIX!

Six fun facts about Will:

* He is still fascinated by propellers. He can spot them anywhere.
* The kid is a dancing machine. Any music anywhere and he’s busting a groove. His style is a mix between the 80’s punk rock scene, break dancing and hip-hop. It’s hilarious to watch!
* When he is thinking about something he folds his hands into his lap or holds them close to his chest.
* He loves his veggies – especially edamame, green beans, broccoli, and artichokes. I’ll never forget the woman asking me if he was serious in the grocery store after he started spouting off all the veggies we had to buy because he “loves them so much!”.
* His current hobby is reading. He’s discovered how much he can find out from books and is so proud of himself for reading chapter books. Most nights he’s asleep with one on his face or chest.
* Will never shies away from some TLC. Each morning he finds one of us to pick him up and hug him. He’d stay like that for a hour if he could.

Happy birthday Will!

Mother’s Day

Shelly! — Mon, 10 May 2010 04:57:54 +0000

I have to be honest, I’m not a big fan of Mother’s Day. Nope.

This year I was looking forward to one thing – Walker’s preschool Mother’s Day Tea. I was worried because Walker had been sick and I was sick – but we managed to make it!

Walker was THRILLED to entertain. He presented the hat he’d made*.

They sang a song and read a story.

We had “dirt and mud from their garden” for a treat (aka Jell-o pudding with Oreo crumbles). Walks thought it was hilarious and kept reminding me that I was eating dirt. It was funny to see him in his element with his friends from preschool.

After all was done we got a gift – a hug poem that I must confess was darling with their hand prints at each end. It’s the sappy stuff* like that that makes Mother’s Day work out.

Truth is that I love being a mother, especially Walker’s. I’m glad he was so thrilled to treat me to a nice Mother’s Day Tea.

*I’m sorry. I’m trying to keep all of my glib comments about Mother’s Day out but…well I didn’t. And oh the hat. It was horrid. Made from a giant tea bag then tie-dyed. And we had to wear it the entire time!

Kenya!

Shelly! — Wed, 05 May 2010 00:22:25 +0000

You have to read the title with your best Oprah impression “Shelly’s headed to KEN-YAAAAA!”

Time is growing near to my departure date for Kenya. Many of you know I’m headed there in late June – but for those who don’t here’s the scoop:

My Mom’s friend Ben grew up in Yimbo, a small village in Kenya. One of (I believe) six children his parents prioritized education – his father oversaw the building of the village’s primary school. All of his siblings are highly educated, successful people who live all over the world. From a young age Ben understood the power that education brings. One of his goals was to provide the same kind of tools that his parents sought for him to the others in his home village. He, along with his brother started a non-profit called Friends of Yimbo. You can read all about them on their site here.

Last year, after two years of hard work, dedication and fundraising a library was built in the village school. Ben and his brother Charles, along with a group of volunteers (including my parents) went to Yimbo to dedicate the library and fill it with books. I worked as a volunteer for those two years off and on, helping to get the non-profit set up, drafting documents, and cheerleading. The students, and the rest of the village, could not contain their excitement and pride for the new library. Ben and team met with the village elders to assess plans for future help and support.

This year I’ve been invited to go on the humanitarian trip. I’m excited and just a tad nervous. Mostly nervous because I’m a picky eater and don’t want to offend – and because I am fundraising for it and that’s not always comfy for me.

Many of you are hitting my site after receiving an email from me about the trip. Some of you won’t get an email since I don’t have an address. I’ve set a goal of $1500 – all of it going to the all-volunteer Friends of Yimbo. I have no doubt I can hit it!

So, if you are inclined to donate I’d greatly appreciate it. You can find more information about donating HERE.

Of course I’ll be blogging about my trip – and all the adventures I have gearing up for it!

An Open Letter

Shelly! — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 03:50:09 +0000

Dear Father Time,

I do hope you’re a blog reader. If not, I have the slightest impression that somehow you’ll get this.

Right now my timer is ticking – counting down the minutes until I have to change the laundry. Listening to it, accompanied by the sounds of night falling outside, reminds me of how funny you are. How easily you manipulate time.

My SIL just had a baby – a gorgeous red-headed boy who’s pending arrival announcement still sits on my fridge even though he arrived two months ago. Another SIL is due in a few months. As we countdown to her baby’s arrival we count up the days that the boy has been on this earth. And time moves at such different speeds for each of those women. One counting the days until she meets her little girl – the other counting the days and milestones as her little boy grows. Some days, the same days, fast for one and slow for the other.

It’s strange how you do that. How you manage to allow my time at work to move so slowly, but fast-forward the time with my boys so quickly. The difference between how a morning moves depending on how you move the world Father Time.

It’s Friday. It’s nighttime. Both of my children are in bed. One couldn’t wait to let sleep take him. The other curled up with a book. When did that happen Father Time? When did he learn to read so many words – so much so that he now has a huge world opened to him. One that is currently taking him to Stuart Little’s house but will soon take him to Narnia, Oz, and more…

Quite frankly I want to be mad at you. I want to hate you for moving time so quickly that I’m missing things. But then I remember (and am grateful for) the times you move slowly. College nights with friends I loved. Days by the lake that lasted an eternity. The nights when my fatigue didn’t get me and I rocked my babies into the early morning. The times when I look at Eric and see forever. And the times when you move quickly so as to comfort – so that pain or grief or trial does not last long.

I guess in the end I’m not mad. Just a little sad. Sad that time doesn’t get controlled by me. That I can’t start and stop bits and pieces of my life. Perhaps if I could I’d update my blog more…or perhaps not.

And as if to mark the end of my post my timer has sounded it’s alarm. A new task, a new adventure, a new something must begin. Thank you for doing your job and for letting me have moments like this to value the gifts you give.

Love,
Shelly

PS: For those who do read this, I am sorry I’ve been gone. Eric has done some posting which is great. Life is just moving. Those of you who know me know what life’s details are – and those of you who don’t will probably find out on here over time. For a glimpse you can read what Tasha wrote here and here. What a blessing she has been for me and my kids…

San Simeon & The Elephant Seals

DiaryDad — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 07:04:11 +0000

We are always looking for that next adventure around here. So after Shell and I ran our first race of the year. We loaded up our car and made our way to catch with Papa Paul and KK who had the boys and were on their way up to San Simeon. We arrived at the Elephant Seal Beach just before sunset and caught them particularily active. The boys had fun running up and down the viewing area to see the seals in action.

We spent the evening at a little lodge in San Simeon. The boys enjoyed hopping from our room to Papa and KK’s. They really enjoyed watching the Olympics cuddled up with Mom and Dad. Before they went to bed.

Next morning we walked down to the pebble beach to relax, explore, and watch the waves. We had a great time, the trip was exactly what all our little souls needed. I wonder where the next adventure will take us.

Pictures after the break:

Now off to edit the video from the trip…

Snow Day

DiaryDad — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 02:27:00 +0000

We have had a wet winter here in SoCal.
I had been thinking about winter here in California and I realized that my boys have lived here for more of their life in CA than UT. That this is more of how they envision winter than the snowy landscapes that I remember. So, since I had President’s day off I decided that the boys and I needed a Snow Day. We packed some lunches and made the 1 hour trip to “The Village” at Big Bear Lake. We speant about 2 hours exploring in the snow. As we were leaving the boys aggresively requested skiing lessons… I think next winter we will learn to snowboard. Here are the images:

Chinese New Year 2010 – Year of The Tiger

DiaryDad — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 20:04:46 +0000

This one sorta snuck up on us. We realized at the last minute that Valentine’s Day and Chinese New Year were the same weekend. So in true Bennionz fashion we crammed in a quick trip to Chinatown on Chinese New Year’s Eve day! This year is the year of the Tiger, and we are hoping for good things. The boys had a Blast on the Train ride down. as well as running through Chinatown… which they think they own. Shell and I enjoyed it as well. As is our custom we took pictures, and here they are, Gung Hay Fa Choy:

Gung Hay Fa Choy – Happy Year of the Dragon!

Jesus Who?

DiaryDad — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 06:59:15 +0000

So we got a new Home Entertainment System. The old one was one I bought with my brother almost 12 years ago… and was really showing its age. As part of the process of setting this up, I took the old one to Goodwill.

William has a rough time with getting rid of anything he grows attached to his/our stuff… Even Capri Sun packets… I took the boys with me to drop it off because we were going to get a treat on the way home.

To distract the boys from what I was doing I had them look for shapes in the clouds out the front window, while I dropped off the stereo out the back of the car.

When I got back in and we started to drive Will and I had this conversation:

Will: “Do you know what I see in the clouds?”

Me: “What?”

Will: “Jesus.”

Me: “huh?”

Will: “yeah Jesus, Jesus Christ.”

Me: “oh”

Will: “Yeah he has a beard.”

Me: “What color is his beard?”

Will: “Daaaad, He’s a cloud…!”

yup…