Mattie & Ben's Brood

SPRING BREAK

2010-04-08T14:34:00.000-06:00

We got to go to Idaho Falls and Utah for Spring Break last week. We had such a good time seeing family and friends. We didn't plan very well and then Ryan got sick so unfortunately we didn't get to do as much visiting and touring around as we would have liked but we are grateful to have had a break from the USH.

In Idaho Falls we stayed at the Ameritel and the kids swam about eight hours in less than two days. They slept very little.

One evening we got to visit with Oliver and Liz and the kids had a blast playing with Teagan and Talmage.

The next evening we got to see Cody and Louise Marshall and their family and Kevin Beck (his family was gone on spring break too and we are sad we missed them). We swam and then went out to Cody and Louise's house and the kids were so excited that they got to see baby chicks!

Maddie Marshall informed me that we had the same name but mine was spelled wrong...it was possibly the most hilarious conversation I've ever had about my name. She was so cute about it that I was happy to allow her to win that argument!

The kids actually slep at night (for the most part). It helped that they had swam and played harder than they have in a long time and we weren't getting them to bed until 10:30 or later.

There was a lot of driving but luckily the roads were pretty clear for most of the time despite all the fun Spring Break storms!

In Utah we got to stay with Ben's brother Enoch and his wife Alayne. It was fun to get to hang out with them a little more than we normally do when we go down there. Although I don't know if they realized how many things there were to get into until we unleashed our crazies on them.

Thursday night we got to go see Troy and Carrie and the kids hung out together with a babysitter and we got to go to dinner. I played my only April Fools joke this year and told them I was pregnant. It was working really well. Bless their kind hearts, they were ACTUALLY excited for us until Ben started to freak out because the joke was a little TOO scary for him and he informed them that it was April Fool's Day. The joke just reminded me that we are DEFINITELY done having kids.

Friday was Ben's neice Cat's wedding. She got married in the SLC temple and then had the reception that night at Cactus and Tropicals. It was a blast and the food and decorations were beautiful. I introduced myself to her new husband, Michael.

I said, "I'm Mattie..."

"And is that Ben?" Michael asked pointing at Ben.

I paused before answering wondering if I had met him before and not remembered.

"Yes, how did you know that?"

"Oh you're famous!"

Famous for what? I didn't really wanna know so I didn't ask.

There was dancing at the reception and little Joshy cried everytime we tried to leave the dance floor. I had so much fun dancing and it was a good way to burn some of those wedding cake calories! It was fun to get to visit Ben's side of the family that were there. It's always hard to see everyone in a three day period but we take what we can get.

Syd got to go to her Aunt Alayne's Senior Dance at UVU. She apparently got up during one of the dancers performances and started shaking her bum and slapping it. She claims her Dad said to do it but Ben denies these accusations. We may never know who taught her that but hopefully she forgets that dance move before she becomes a teenager.

We had a lot of fun and late nights hanging out with the everyone and can't wait to see you all again soon!

TEMPLE!

2010-01-22T17:50:00.000-07:00

We were finally sealed as a family this last weekend. We've been married a mere 8 years and thought now was as good a time as any:).

It was such an awesome experience. We were both worried about it being a hard week before hand and guess what....it was one of the best weeks of our whole marriage. We actually laughed at eachother's jokes and the kids were well behaved and loved. Then Saturday morning I woke up early and had showered. I was in the bathroom when I heard Ben's alarm in the other room go off. It was a hymn I've heard a hundred times but don't know the name of...however, they were singing "Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Oh Praise Him!"(sounded kind of like the tabernacle choir but I'm not so sure it wasn't the armies in heaven that it took to get us to the temple sighing in relief!). That's all I heard before I went into the room and shook the bed and told Ben it wasn't ministering angels it was the alarm clock and he needed to get up.

When the kids were sealed to us the sealer asked if the kids recognized any of the people in the room. Sydney piped up and said, "That's Pa (and pointed at my dad) and that's Uncle Peen (and pointed to Enoch)" and I saw some confused looks from people that don't know Enoch wondering if they had heard that name right. It was pretty funny.

My children have never appeared more cherubic and docile as they did that day in the temple. It will be a memory that I cherish forever!

My sis-in-law Marilyn posted the following pictures on her blog and I stole them so I don't have any of our own yet. (Thanks Mar!)

Thanks to everyone who was here. It was so wonderful to have family and friends be there with us! Thanks to all of those around us who kept us in their prayers and thoughts as well! It definitely made a difference!

Best of 2009

2010-01-06T16:41:00.000-07:00

So I just wanted to post a few of my favorite pics from last year. We love all our family and friends and hope 2010 is a wonderful year for everyone...it can't get any worse than 2009 right :)!
My New Years Resolution (well one of them) is to be more consistent at posting on our family blog...my goal is ONCE a MONTH. They say not to set your goals at an unattainable level so I'm keeping mine withing reach :)
Okay here are the pics:

Ryan aka Sleeping Beauty

My awesome trip to the OR coast with my

parents for my writing conference this summer.

Dog Pile

Allie-gator, Nanny, Syd (telling Nanny 'how it is'), and Joshy

Cooking is sooo exhausting :)

Once in a very blue moon

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse!

Potty Training can be such a headache!

Syd's Dance Performance

2009-12-25T21:48:00.000-07:00

Sydney has been going to ballet/tap classes for the last three months at Stephanie Andrews'. She loves her teacher and going to dance. She had a hard time focusing but I think part of that was Ben was in the background chasing Josh who was extra special grumpy that night :). In fact if you watch closely, Josh makes a cameo appearance. Ryan is coaching on the sidelines as well. I'm just trying to hold the camera straight and keep a hold of Ryan when Ben has to whisk Josh outside to get some fresh air. (Three minutes is a long time to be good for.) Syd had to wear her blue ballet top because her pink ones were "boring". Hope you all enjoy the clip. Merry Christmas!

2009-10-21T10:19:00.001-06:00

This is what we do for fun...bubble fights, watch BSU games, and when I have a great friend that brings over a whole bag of Halloween costumes, WE DRESS UP ALL NIGHT LONG! (thanks Cynthia!)

Brother Appreciation Day 2009

2009-10-13T16:01:00.000-06:00

Bet y'all didn't know that it is Brother Appreciation Day on October 13th did ya? That's because it is not nationally recognized but feel free to participate anyway if you, like me, have a brother(s) that you would like to take a moment to recognize.

Doug & Marc

DOUG

I was driving in my car listening to one of my old mix CD's. An old Blink-182 song started playing and brought back a ton of memories. Growing up my brothers and I fought like cats and dogs. Oddly enough, I was feircely protective of them when it came to anyone else.

I was dating my first real boyfriend and as all first boyfriends usually go, HE WAS (& IS) A TOTAL LOSER. He, however, introduced me to Blink-182 before they got really popular. We were listening to them one night while driving and I said, "I bet Doug could play this on the drums."

"No way," Dorkus (name barely changed) said, "The best drummer I know is Zach Latham and he can't even play this!"

"I bet Doug could! He's really really good."

"No way, this is such a fast complicated drum beat! He's definitely not THAT good."

"Why don't you ask Doug to play it and we'll see." I'm sure I maintained a complete calm as I was talking, NOT!

Doug was a freshman at the time and Zach Latham was a senior in Doug's band class. Dorkus decided to give me Blink-182's Cheshire Cat CD to give to Doug. I did and the next time Dorkus came over (maybe two whole days later) I made Doug put on a show for us. Doug NAILED the drumbeat while Dorkus fidgeted and looked at the floor. I was so proud of him but looking back I'm filled with warm fuzzies.

My little brother showed up a senior drummer, his freshman year with hardly any preparation. Not only that but he showed up Dorkus for me. That memory made me want to drive all the way to Spokane and hug him!

MARC

My youngest brother and I had a rockier relationship growing up because we are SO MUCH ALIKE! Now-a-days though, just thinking of him makes me smile.

When I first graduated I moved to Utah for awhile. (Back before everyone had cell phones or cheap long distance plans.) Marc would call me and ask if I'd called.

"Hello?" I'd answer.

"Hey Mattie! What's up?"

"Nothin'. What's up with you?"

"Did you call?" Marc would ask.

"No."

"Oh. It looked like you'd called on the Caller ID."

"Nope I didn't."

"Oh."

"Do you miss me?"

Of course Marc's answer was, "NO!"

Doug went on a mission and then Marc missed both of us. He started calling me more and more often. (I may have called him a lot too.) I would talk to Marc for about an hour two or three times a week. We got to be such good friends and I began to be worried that when Doug got home I'd be replaced. That didn't happen until my 3 kids and his 2 came along. I will always be grateful for every phone conversation we had anf for him dancing with me at my wedding even though I could tell it really weirded him out!

Thank you Doug and Marc for being such great brothers and being a better example to me than I was to you!

Love,

Your ONLY Sister :)

Double Birthdays!

2009-10-04T21:02:00.005-06:00

Today was mine and Joshie's birthday! Ben let me sleep in. Josh chose to wake up at 7:30 AM. (It was his birthday so we let him get up late!) Then we hung out and relaxed most of the day. That's what rainy days are good for!

Joshie had fun playing with balloons most of the morning. He will bring as many balloons as he can find to you and have you blow up every single one of them and it will still not be enough!

I made the BEST cake ever for our birthday. It is kind of fun getting to make Josh's birthday cake and mine at the same time. I can pretend that I'm putting all this effort into a cool cake for him but really it is just as much for me if not more for me. Here is my Better Than Anything Else You Will Ever Eat Cake:

We went to my parents house tonight for dinner and they made us a great dinner. My brother Doug and his wife were there with their little angel, Allie and we got to all share the above mentioned AWESOME cake. Little Allie loved it too!

One other awesome birthday surprise was that my friend Sandy took me out to lunch on Saturday at Costa Vida! I thought that was great in and of itself but she showed up bearing gifts too! An awesome little gift for Joshie and then a cupcake for me!

Thank you to all the friends and family who called, texted or otherwise wished Josh and I a Happy Birthday this year!

2009-09-23T14:18:00.001-06:00

Ode To Jello

We are sad to report that at 9:52 last night, Jello, the beloved blue beta fish, was found dead in his bowl. Boise has experienced some unusually low nighttime temperatures and as such Jello's bowl had been experiencing some fluctuating temperatures. The fishes caretakers went to add some warm water to his bowl to keep him comfortable. Sadly though, it was already too late.

"I poured the glass of water in and caught something blue out of the corner of my eye. Jello liked it when fresh water was poured on top of him," explains Mattie Wadsworth, one of Jello's caretakers. Her husband finishes their account of the last tragic moments as Mrs. Wadsworth is unable to.

"The water must have flushed Jello out of his little cave that he slept in. His body was lifeless and just swirling in the water. I fished him out with a net and flushed him off to greater waters."

Some reports also say that the Wadsworth's had been told to place a mirror next to his bowl a week prior to Jello's passing. They had been told that Beta Breeders do this because it helps the fish flex and it increases their color and size as they show off for the mirror. According to eye witness accounts though, Jello was not amused by the mirror and had gone into hiding in his little cave. After the mirror was removed Jello still never returned to his old self and had not been eating well for the past week.

Investigators are still looking into the actual cause of death. At this time no arrests have been made for neglect but the key suspects have been asked to not leave the area until the investigation is final.

There will be no memorial service but we ask that you have a moment of silence in honor of Jello who was a wonderful, kind, beautiful fish. It has also been requested that the you don't mention this to the Wadsworth children as a replacement fish (Jello 2) has not yet been purchased.

Normalcy!

2008-09-14T21:26:00.000-06:00

Ben's Back to Work

These are some of my favorite pictures this week.

Ben started working again this last week and it is nice to have a routine again. I never thought I'd say that...but I like getting up in the morning and knowing that eight to twelve hours of the day I'll be in charge and I don't have to consult anyone else's schedule. (Oddly that is the part of being single I never enjoyed until it was too late too!) It definitely has it's down sides as well, like having to take 3 kids to Walmart and only being able to keep one in the cart at a time and having to chase kids in between every one item that gets into my cart. Then getting home and unpacking the bags and wondering where half of the stuff came from and asking myself whether it is worth a return trip to return them.

The kids have been a bit crazier this week too because they realize the odds are really back in their favor with three of them and only one parent instead of two all the time.

I got to go to Camille K...I mean Camille Cooper's wedding last weekend and it was beautiful and the food was good. I will have to post pictures later when I get them but it was a fun time. Laura Buhler and I drove over and got to see Jill Rice and her boyfriend Travis while we were there. Camille was beautiful and it was fun to see all of her family!

Chillin'

2008-09-07T20:45:00.000-06:00

Our kids are definitely high strung but when they decide to relax they are masters at it. Here are some pictures to prove that they sometimes unwind! Exhibit A-Rub a dub dub 3 kids with bubbles in a tub Exhibit B-A Josh Potato Exhibit C-Crashed at their own party! Exhibit D-Taking advantage of the IceCream Truck's "magic" Exhibit E-Stopping to smell the wildflowers Exhibit F-Kickin' back with a movie while dad fetches his brewsky...I mean popcorn

Sunsets

2008-09-07T20:35:00.000-06:00

Out Our Front Door

We have had some beautiful sunsets this summer. Since there are basically no houses across from us yet we still get a pretty good view of the sunsets. We have been able to get some pics of the last couple since we have no life in the evening :).

Sydney's Birthday

2008-09-07T19:59:00.000-06:00

Sydney Turned 4

Sydney turned 4 on August 30th. We had a small Pirates & Princesses Party. She got lots of cute clothes and princess stuff and My Little Ponies. The food was great, the conversation was usually interrupted, and the balloons were all popped by the end of the night.

Syd just started Pre-School and will be getting another birthday celebration on Monday with her new class. She is very excited!

Here are some pics from the par-tay!

The Birthday Pirate Princess--Sydney

Kyler, Tehya, Sydney, and Collette

Bag of Balloons $1, ER bill if he starts choking on them $4000,

Silence because they make him happy...PRICELESS!

Joshie enjoying the party.

Family

2008-07-31T21:47:00.000-06:00

"Sharing" Ry, Syd, Allie, & Mar

"Wild Goose Chase"

Grandpa Green and Syd and Ry

"Bean's Burrito"

Marc, Grant, and Syd Bean

"Three's a Crowd"

It took all three(Grant, Syd, & Ry) to finally

bring the Marc Monster down :)

"Asleep behind the wheel"

Joshie & Alli-gator We have gotten to see so much of our family this summer it has been a real treat. Our kids love their cousins and have had a lot of fun seeing them. Recently we got to see Doug and Marilyn and little Alliegator twice. Once before they left to go back home after the Fourth of July and the next time while they were heading up to their new home in Spokane. They came and spent the whole day with us and we played games and watched movies and had a great time! The kids couldn't leave Allie alone for more than a second or two. We really loved having them come by. It was such a good time. Marc turned a whopping 25 this year and we got to go to Hailey and spend his birthday with him and my dad's parents whom I haven't seen since before Sydney was born. It was really fun to be up there and Syd and Ry love playing with Little G and Logan is just a sweetheart. Again we played games and ate lots of fattening food like Breyers Ice Cream and Chocolate Trifle. Good times! We went to the Twin Falls Temple open house just last Saturday with our friends Sid & Laura & Sy & Lily Anderson and their family. It was really fun to see them. Their son Sy and Sydney held hands most of the way through the temple. They are really cute together. My parents met us over in Twin Falls and took Ryan and Josh outside when they couldn't handle touring the temple anymore. We got surprised when Marc and Kelly came with their two cute boys and had lunch with the whole group of us. Summer keeps flying by!

Tennessee

2008-07-21T00:55:00.000-06:00

Tennessee

We went to TN for Mimi's(Ben's Grandma) 95th birthday. She doesn't look like she could be over 80. The kids really love Mimi. It was good to see the rest of the family as well. We miss them so much when we aren't out there, that a week doesn't seem nearly long enough when we go.

We got to go to Gatlinburg while we were up there and stayed at the Park Vista hotel. Enoch and Alayne were lucky enough :) to get to have an adjoining room to ours. The kids spent more time in their room than ours. They had a great pool area that we got to spend some time in. Ben was obsessed with the heighth of the 15 story hotel. He asked multiple times "How many people do you think have tried to commit suicide by jumping here?" It probably didn't help that we were on the thirteenth floor.

We went to a mirror maze and ate a lot of really fattening breakfasts. Ben, Enoch, and Alayne took the kids and went on a multi-level go cart course. We got to go to Ripley's aquarium which was probably one of the favorites. Ryan is still carrying the pamphlet around the house and saying "Fishies!". They got to pet stingrays and see sharks and eels and crabs and octopus. They had a really good time.

Ryan turned 2 while we were there. We had a little party for him with cupcakes at Mimi's and a couple days later we had a wonderful time for Mimi's birthday. We had a water balloon fight and got to see lots of the family. The kids played with Hannah and Erica (second cousins?) a ton. They also got to play with Ben's cousin Kevin's kids quite a bit. They all loved having so many new kids and family to play with.

We went up to Bald River Falls and hiked around a little and then Ben, Enoch, Alayne and Sydney swam in the falls for awhile while Ryan and Josh slept.

We went to Rock City with the kids and Hannah and Erica. Erica packed Josh in the Baby Bjourn the whole way through the park.

We were there for the fourth of July. It was a blast. We got to see Candy & Scott and their families. Got to see Scott and Angela's house and visit with them for quite a bit. Then we saw most of Ben's Uncle Alan's family later that day. We went swimming at David and Shannon's house. Ben's Uncle Larry saved us a spot to watch the Etowah fireworks and then we enjoyed a private show out behind Alan and Pam's house. It's amazing how pretty money looks when you blow it up :).

(I apologize for not mentioning all the family we visited with. I've got limited space per post. We LOVE YOU ALL THOUGH!)

It was great to see everyone and we look forward to being able to make it out again soon. Hopefully we'll make it for Mimi's 100th birthday!

2008-07-21T00:18:00.000-06:00

Coeur d'Alene

We've had a busy few months. We went to Coeur d'Alene the first part of June with Ben's neice and nephew, Oliver and Liz Lewis. The trip up was interesting since it was just me with 3 kids. Ben was in Vegas for a friend's birthday. He flew into Spokane Sunday morning (missed the first flight conveniently). It rained almost the whole time but we had a great time despite that. It did get nice the afternoon before we left :)!

We stayed with my grandparents on my mom's side for the first part of the week and then went to a condo at Arrow Point for the last part of the week. It was really fun to get to see my grandparents and the kids got really attached to Grandma and Papa Dunn. They are so fun and the kids really enjoyed them. We wore Papa out by the second day we were there.

We found an indoor water park that was a lot of fun and we made it to Silverwood the last day. We went to Roaring Springs here in Meridian the day after we got back home.

The kids were sufficiently worn out by the time the week was over.

We had fun tormenting Oliver and Liz. We hope they'll still claim us as family now that it is all over with.

2008-03-13T15:33:00.000-06:00

Life has been so busy lately I apologize for not updating my blog more recently. Here's the latest: Ben: Has lost 5 lbs because Mattie is cooking healthier foods but still would rather play XBOX and watch Lara Croft workout than actually do it himself :). He is still working really hard doing mortgage for Bank of America. He is in charge of assigning all of the service jobs (cannery, temple, etc.) for our ward. He actually got the whole year assigned out and about 5 minutes later found out the ward was being split so back to square one poor guy. Mattie: Still mostly insane but getting used to it. Josh started sleeping through the night so most nights I am too now. I just started doing ACN...a telecommunication program....and that's going well. I've lost 14lbs by eating healthier and working out. I did have a stressful week last week and then someone gave us a bunch of Hershey's Treasures candies so I think I've actually only lost 11lbs after that little set back :). I just started teaching the CTR 8 class at church and it is really fun and there are some great kids in there. Sydney: Princess of her own kingdom. She is a great little second Mom and can reach decibels with her scream that shouldn't be heard by the human ear. If she keeps it up I may not be hearing for too long. She loves Barbie and Disney Princess anything. She won't leave the clothes on that I put her in. It is either PJ's or Dresses (and not just one dress but 3 or 4 different ones a day depending on her mood). I told Sydney if she was really good she could probably ask the Easter Bunny for this Tinkerbell swim suit she wanted. The cashier at Costco started to ring our stuff up and she looked at him and said "Easter Bunny can I please have the tink swimming suit?" I had to explain while he was laughing that he wasn't the Easter Bunny. Ryan: Has learned the art of the high pitched squealing from Syd. I think he is a little Ben in disguise. He acts so sweet and innocent but you turn your back for two seconds and there is permanent BLACK marker all over your furniture, hard wood floors, walls, and other random miscellaneous objects. He can be hugging Syd one second and biting her the next. He is learning how to use sign language which has made communicating with him a LOT easier thank goodness. Ryan is going in for a little surgery the day after Easter so he'll have to live it up real big this Easter :). Joshua: I like to call him chunky monkey. He is already 16lbs and Ryan only weighs 27lbs so I think he'll be as big as his older siblings before long. He recently started sleeping through the night. He is such a happy boy. He smiles all the time and laughs even when I'm being a dork. Bless his heart he knew he had to be an easy baby right now.

Christmas at the Crazy's

2007-12-26T14:38:00.000-07:00

Christmas was really fun this year. Both Ryan and Sydney were old enough to have fun opening presents.

Nanny & Pa Green celebrated an early Christmas with us and we had a lot of fun. Sydney got a Treasure Chest (as she calls it) of Princess dress up clothes that she wears constantly and Ryan got a Bob the Builder Tool Bench. Ryan runs all over the house with the drill going...good thing it is only plastic :). They got a big Radio Flyer Wagon that they got to go in a ride in when we were having a snow storm the other day. They loved it. Sydney also likes wearing her princess clothes and having Dad pull her around the living room in it like it is her personal chariot. Josh was pretty happy no matter what he got...he's just a good little kid thank goodness.

Sydney dressed Ryan up in her Tinkerbell dress up outfit on Christmas. She came running down the stairs yelling for us to look at Ryan. He came down the stairs wearing a Tinkerbell outfit and a huge smile. Poor Ry may never live the Christmas Fairy picture down.

We actually got snow on Christmas Eve and had a very white Christmas for a change. It was a fun time and we hope all our family and friends had a wonderful Christmas as well!!

Thanksgiving

2007-12-10T11:13:00.000-07:00

We got to have my family here for Thanksgiving this year. It was a lot of fun. Both of my sister-in-laws are pregnant and will be having new babies in the Spring and we are so excited. We can't wait for Doug and Mar to join the Insane Assylum we all call parenthood.

We played with the kids at the park in the FREEZING cold and had fun playing games while the kids were down for naps. We enjoyed physical fitness contests after we had a huge dinner. (I won the sit up contest and that's the most important thing :)).

Syd and Ry love playing with their cousin Grant or "Little G" as Syd calls him even though he is as big as she is.

We also got to celebrate Mar and Ben's birthdays since they are on the 22nd and 20th of November.

Our Home Sweet Home

2007-12-10T10:52:00.000-07:00

2660 S Tristram Way

We moved at the end of July into a new home. Ben caved and let me have the one I wanted. We love our new neighborhood. Our new neighbors are wonderful but we still miss our old neighborhood and neighbors.

Our favorite part is the Bonus Room(Disaster Room) where the kids have all their toys and their WWF tournaments :). It has been a very worthwhile investment.

I love the big soaker tub where one day I plan on spending my spare time (if you are also a parent of young children you may have to look this term up in the dictionary).

Baby Joshua

2007-12-10T10:46:00.000-07:00

We just added a new member to our family in October.

His name is Joshua Paul Wadsworth. His middle name is after my grandpa and Great Uncle's name. He is a sweet heart and is the easiest baby so far. Syd and Ry are so fascinated with him they can't hardly keep their hands and kisses off of him. Ry calls him "Baby" or "Dosy" and Syd calls him "Dosoo-a" or "Doshy".