Portugal here Elder Cotter comes!

Benson left today 02/18/2009 to the MTC in Provo, Utah. He will be there until the middle of April and then leave to the Porto Portugal Mission. I'm really really really gonna miss him; however, I know he is where he needs to be and I'm exctied for this experience he is going to have! These are some pictures from activites the week before he left. Elder Cotter will be a great missionary!

New Years Get Away!

Well New Years weekend was a must for my family to go out of town because Casey was headed back to Boston a couple days after, Benson leaves on his mission in about a month, the Jude and I all started full time teaching this last Monday, Court was starting school again and my dad can always use a break from work. So my family went out of town to spend time with each other. We of course did the Disneyland trip..why not? There was still Christmas up, the firework show is amazing, and we got a nice time share over there that was way relaxing. We left Disneyland the second day, went home, and watched The Office for like 5 hours...we stopped to go swimming...then back to the office. I love going out of town; especially with my family! They are so fun. Yes the horse named Brownie or Bronson came along to. My dad thinks he is hilarious (which he is) and he brought the horse along for the trip. Brownie/Bronson had his own seat at the Aladdin show. Here are some pictures from the trip!

Biggest Loser starts January 6th! Here is a little profile preview of Blaine Cotter (cousin) and Dane Patterson (Brother in Law)! http://www.nbc.com/The_Biggest_Loser/video/clips/dane-and-blaine/904105/

Christmas 2008!

Christmas 2008! Christmas came upon us so fast this year! Our family has so many traditions and the family and traditions keep growing each year. We have our Christmas Eve dinner and program with all the extended family at my grandma's house each year. The Christmas Eve extends to my parents house where we do sibling gifts, garage sale gifts (my dad does funny garage sale gifts; we love this tradition), and get our matching pajamas (this year the grrr cheetah Pj's were so funny and so comfortable!) The pictures below show some of the pajamas..I could not show the guys matching PJ's cause my brother in law Dane cannot be in any of the pictures because of his involvment in the TV show Biggest Loser that starts on January 6. I was bummed because I think the boys pj's this year were classic. Christmas morning we do presents and our big brunch which includes some breakfast items that we only eat on Christmas Morning. After brunch we relax and then do Christmas with my grandma and aunt jan and eat left overs from Christmas Eve at their house in the evening. I wrote in brief some of our traditions; however, you can see the fun that we have as you look at the pictures below. I love my family. Christmas time is about the birth of Jesus Christ and his life and love for all of us, service, family, and joy. I love my neices and nephews and how much energy and love they bring into my family. This year was even more special because the next two years we all won't be together because Benson will be on his mission in Portugal. I love this time of year! Merry Christmas!

I Pledge Alligance!

I love this video. A true American!

Disneyland!!

Benson Text: Lets do something fun
Kenzie Text: Play ticket to ride?
Benson Text: No try again
Kenzie Text: Go to red box and get a movie?
Benson Text: Getting closer, try again.
Kenzie Text: You wanna drive to disneyland?
Benson Text: Bingo
So we got in the car and went. We went in the cold rain Wednesday which was okay because there was nobody there. We walked on every ride. Thursday was really cold but sunny so it was a good winter day to be at Disneyland. I'm glad we went; we laughed a lot! If you lay the seats down in my Scion and scoot the front seats all the way forward you can make a queen size bed in the back of my car. Don't worry...we were bums and lived in the car. We parked in the Ihop parking lot slept there and then ate at Ihop Thursday morning. We actually slept pretty well. I was tucked in so tight in my blankets I couldn't budge. Before we went to sleep we went to a hotel where my dad owns a time share and went swimming and sat in the hot tub. We wanted to go real cheap and we did. With our Disneyland passes, sleeping in the car, gas only cost me $59 round trip we did really good. I love random trips like this. It just happened that both of us could go these days, so we did. Now it's back to work so I can get some appraisal jobs out by Christmas! We will be going back to Disneyland in a couple weeks with my family; however, this trip was probably the last Benson/Kenzie random trip hooray before his mission. It was well needed; we had a really fun time!

In Boston we were at the park and this man Robert approached us and wanted to catch a pigeon for us. This is what Robert did to catch the poor bird. He crumbled cookies real slow all the way to the ground than snatched the bird. When I said to him "man that's a talent" he looked back at me and said "it's not a talent, it's love". I love this video.