Ben's Latest

This is Ben's latest video. It's for the new store opening at the company where he works.



When people ask what Ben does for work I like to say, "He makes videos for an online knife store". But Ben simply says, "I make YouTube knife videos". We're both right, but he's more right.

Often we get such a laugh out of the fact that videos like these made it possible for me to be a stay-at-home mom. It's ridiculous, but it pays the bills, and we can't complain about that.

Piano Prodigy

Sometimes Ben likes to put together little shorts about Nayeli- today he shot this while I did the dishes. She is 10 months and so cute. Although she's not yet walking, she pulls herself up onto everything now, including my legs when I'm cooking or cleaning and she wants my attention. It melts my heart.

And so does this video. It's nothing extraordinary, I know, but I love to see her little fingers in action. I love how they barely reach the keys. I love her babbling. She sent me for such a loop when she was born, but now I can't imagine life without her.

Without further adieu, here is our little piano prodigy.

Three trips in one

On July 20th Ben, Nayeli and I all embarked on three trips in one. It was a good adventure and though I didn't take very many pictures, I wanted to record what a wild ride it turned out to be.

CASSIDY AND MATT'S WEDDING

 Cassidy and Matt with her parents

Our first stop was at one of my best friend's (Cassidy's) wedding in the Bountiful temple. Even though she planned the wedding in only a month, it turned out great! It was especially special because since she's a convert to the church and the only member in her family, I was her escort. It was such an honor and I was so happy to be there. My awesome sister Christina even came up to watch Nayeli so Ben got to attend the sealing as well. I love attending sealings with Ben and this one was good for Ben to be at since Cassidy was instrumental in setting us up. She was the one who gave Ben my phone number.

With Nayeli at the wedding. Ben objected to me putting this bow in her hair because "It's way to big". I'm sad to admit he was right. It was a little over the top.

Bridesmaids and Groomsmen

Yep, one of those pictures

MONTANA

After the wedding festivities, we slept the night at Ben's mom's house and then drove to Montana the next day. We had so much fun relaxing in the cabin, eating until our stomachs were going to burst, and getting out. We hiked, had a target-shooting competition with our new gun (yeah, we bought a gun- future post to come) and explored the big-sky country. And I only took two pictures. Lame.

We hiked with Emily and Laura's families to a beautiful lake. It was seven miles but all the grandkids did it, even my four year-old niece Bridie. 

So Montana was a blast (like always), and we loved it (like always). And Ben, thinking that it would be fun to film his friend on the Snake River, decided he would take a day of work while we were on vacation. And that's how we ended up in...


JACKSON HOLE

We arrived in the afternoon, and Ben filmed all day while I shopped. Let's just say shopping in Jackson Hole has gone to pot. When I was a kid they had a Benetton and J-Crew outlet, as well as a Gap. Now it's full of designer boutiques and souvenir shops that all carry the same things. What was foreseen as a fun day of shopping ended up being a day of walking from souvenir shop to souvenir shop, trying to entertain a three month-old and myself. And just when I thought I'd found a safe haven in a designer pearl boutique that was very interesting (I struck up a conversation with the owner who was wearing a $10,000+ pearl necklace), Nayeli had a blowout onto my shirt. Yeah, it was one of those moments.

By the time Ben was done filming at 8 pm I had hit my limit. We had agreed to go camping (to save money on hotels and because Ben LOVES camping) so we rushed to get to the campsite before dark. As soon as we got there, we began unpacking and realized... Ben had forgotten his sleeping bag. 

I had a severe moment of "we are getting a hotel room and don't think you're going to talk me out of it", but Ben calmed me down and told me that he had the perfect solution. He said he would sleep in his clothes, wrap himself in a blanket, and stuff his feet in my partially unzipped sleeping bag. So the two of us shared the sleeping bag until about 3 am when Nayeli got cold and I put her next to me. By the morning, all three of us were sharing one sleeping bag. Yeah, it was one of those camping trips :) 
 
 

 In actuality, it didn't turn out awful. At least we look like we're mildly enjoying ourselves here :)

Our little monkey

And in the end, it was probably worth it. Most adventures are, right? At least we got a great YouTube video to show for it.

A Story About the Garifuna: Trailer

Some of you already know this, but Ben is making a documentary. It was going to be a senior project but then after receiving funding he was told he couldn't get school credit for it. Despite that, we decided he should do it. Why that was our decision is beyond both of us at this point.  On one side, it's been a nightmare. Who knew making a documentary could take up so much time? And money? And be so much work?

But the upside is it's helped Ben hone in on what he wants to do as a career. When I married Ben he had the dream of becoming a documentary film maker. Surprisingly, making a documentary has made Ben... not want to make documentaries for a living. So it's a blessing he made the discovery now, instead of ten years down the road.

So without further adieu, here is the trailer of the movie we wish we'd never started, but that we're happy we're going to finish.

Ben's Job

Ben doesn't know I'm doing this, but many of you have wondered what he does at his job so I thought I'd show you. He works for an online outdoor knife company called Blade HQ and does all their videos for their website. He also does YouTube videos and giveaways since they have a large You Tube audience. Here's just two samples of the videos he's made. Enjoy!

Ben and Chels Go Hiking

This post is more for family than anything else, but I had to share this video Ben recently made for his little sister Chelsea. She's 9 years old and came to stay with us for a night during Christmas break. One morning I was asleep (having worked the night before) so Ben and Chelsea embarked on a hike to get out of the house.

This video melts my heart. Not only is Chelsea hilarious... but when I see what a good big brother Ben is, it makes me so excited to see what a good dad he'll be.

Enjoy it (cheesy music and all)!

This is a Monument

Ben made a video for his film class over the break that I really liked. We had a great Thanksgiving. Enjoy!



P.S. I promise there really was music playing in the background in the scene where I'm ridiculously conducting with a spoon :)

Inspiring

Every once in awhile you meet someone who really inspires you and recently one such person that came into our lives was Beth. Ben made a video about her for the Center for Service and Learning at BYU and I love how it turned out.



She and her family were a joy to work with. The best part was going to their home to watch the "premiere" of the video with their family. Beth was so excited- grabbing Ben's leg and hollering the whole time. I'm so proud of Ben and how he tries to incorporate service into his life, and I think this was one of his best projects yet.

Fun note: Beth later told me she wanted to marry someone as handsome as Ben one day :) It just melted my heart.

A Fall Outing

Yesterday Ben and I had a lot to get done, but ended up going up the canyon to look at the leaves instead. We filmed a little footage while there, then realized that the audio wasn't on when we filmed. However that didn't deter Ben from making a fun little film of our excursion. Enjoy our outing!

Washington, D.C.

Back by popular demand! This is Ben again. I have no desire to write a post today, or in the next fiscal year, but I wanted to share this little video with our blessed blog audience. This is just a quick compilation of some of the video I shot while we were in D.C. One of these days I'll put it all into a documentary, but for now, this is all you're gettin'. Enjoy!