Odds & Ends Before the New Year

Christmas seemed to fly by this year. Before the New Year rings in, I wanted to post a few pictures of our Christmas festivities. These first two pictures are from our Welcome Home Party for Rob(from Iraq) and Sam (from the hospital). Jae and Amanda drove up from Texas on their way to Utah, Mike and Christina from Norman and Randy from Lawton. Ben tried on all 48 pounds of Rob's body armor and the Behrmann men posed together for a quick family shot.


These next pictures are of Ben and Kate on Santa's lap. Ben enjoyed himself and was very thrilled that Santa "just knew his name without him even having to tell him." As for Kate, I will let the picture speak for itself.


We spent Christmas Eve with just our little family. Ben and Kate had fun making cookies with Daddy for Santa, reading the Christmas story from the Bible, watching the Nativity Movie and reading Polar Express, all in their new pajamas.


On Christmas Day, Rob and Di and family and Mike and Christina and family came to our home for the day. We enjoyed a great meal together and had fun visiting and playing Natalee and Katherine's new Wi and Rockband games. Ben was especially good at the boxing game and gave David a run for his money. While playing the guitar, Ben said, "I don't need help, I can rock it!" And he certainly did! Much better than both of his parents ever could.



We had a wonderful Christmas and wish all of you a Wonderful New Year!

And here is our "Life According to Ben" Section: 2007-2008!

Karen: "Do you love mommy?" Ben: "My love daddy better."

My OB is Dr. Goff. Ben calls the Dr.'s office the "Dr.'s Goffice."

Nurse Practioner: "Looks like Kate's cord will fall off any day now." Ben: "That's not her cord, that's her penis."

Karen: "Do you like my hair today?" Ben: "It's beautiful, just like the sun."

Karen: "What color are your eyes?" Ben: "White and brown, just like Daddy's underwear."

Karen: "I won't let it touch your chest." (speaking of a cold washrag while wiping his face). Ben: "I don't have a chest. You have a big one, with lots of milk for Kate. Daddy doesn't have one either."

Ben: (after several minutes of attempting to go to the bathroom on the toilet): Yelling to me in the kitchen: "Mom, it's not working! My penis must be sleeping."

Ben has an Aunt Di from Thailand. Speaking of her today he asked: "Where is my Thai Di?"

While upside down doing a headstand at his YMCA tumbling class. Instructor: "I can see your belly button Ben." Ben: "I have a penis too." One of the other mothers told me this yesterday. She said it took awhile for the teacher and all of the moms to control their laughter. I missed it, but can picture it perfectly.

Preface: We don't have cable. We are STILL poor college students. Ben: "Mom, how come Diego doesn't like to come to our TV? He comes to Aunt Dis and Madeleines." I took him to the library to check out some Diego movies. Problem solved.

While playing with toy animals Ben asked them: "Are you done hyper mating?" I believe he was trying to ask if they were done hibernating.

After saying a phrase we never say, Karen: "Where did you learn that from?" Ben: "PBS kids, where a kid can be a kid."

While watching TV, Ben: "Mom you are blocking my interview!" Can you tell its interview season for David?

Asking to eat another gobstopper, Ben: "Can I have a go stop?"

Ben had some friends over to play tonight. Karen: "Ben, tell them what you did in your soccer game today." Ben: "I scored a girl."

Ben took off his clothes and is running around the front room naked. David walks in the room. Karen: "Put your clothes back on." Ben: "It's okay mom, daddy is one of our people. He can see my bum. He is one of us."

While working on going #2, Ben yelling to me: I'm going to need some raisins in here!"

After finishing his YMCA swim lesson, while walking out of the pool, Ben YELLS to me: "Mom, I didn't even pee in the pool." Apparently he has in the past and now everyone knows it!

Preface: I recently bought Ben the go fish card game. We have been playing it alot. Today David was looking for the garage door opener when we were in the driveway. We always let Ben open and shut it. He likes to push the botton. David: "Ben do you have the opener?" Ben: "Nope, go fish."

Kate has learned how to open the DVD player. She scratched Ben's diego movie. In order to prepare him that it might not work anymore I explained to him the situation as he was beginning to watch it. He stopped me mid sentence and said, "If it works, it works. If it doesn't, it doesn't." Now if I can just get him to transfer that attitude to all aspects of his life.

While on the phone cancelling a family picture appointment. Karen: "I won't be able to reschedule at this point. My kids have pink eye." A Yelling Ben: "I don't have pink eye. I have red eye and Kate has blue eye." He was correct. His eyes were pretty red and Kate did not yet have it, I just knew she would eventually. Just like David, he doesn't miss a thing.

Sitting at a stoplight Ben spotted the lady next to us smoking. Ben: "Smoke isn't bad for her body, just mine." Karen: "Yes it is Ben. Its bad for everyone's body." Ben: "How come she is smoking then?" Karen: "Some people don't know that Jesus and Heavenly Father don't want us to smoke." Ben: "Mom (pause).....is she a stranger?" Karen: "Yes. We don't know her." Ben: "Does she have candy?"

The other morning as David was headed out the door he told Ben to give him a hug. He explained that he wouldn't see him until the next day because he was on call at the hospital that night. Ben looked at David with big, wide eyes and said, "Daddy, you get to have a sleepover?" David smiled and said, "Yep." The next day when David returned Ben ran to the door and said, "Daddy did you have a great time at your sleep-over?" We no longer refer to David as being on call in our home. He just gets to go to lots of sleepovers. A much more positive outlook.

Karen: "Can I have one of your reese's pieces?" Ben: "Um, no. They are very special to me...(Pause)...my daddy gave them to me."

Ben:(While running to the muted TV and pointing to Obama speaking) "That's a rock Obama, mom." Karen: (In shock because we seldom talk politics in our home and never include first names). "Who is he?" Ben: "He tells people what to do and what not to do." Karen: "Oh yeah, like what?" Ben: "Um stuff like, don't play in the mud." Karen: "Did you learn about him at school?" Ben: "Nope, just TV." Ben is a sponge! A good reminder for me to regulate what he absorbs!

After watching the video clip of Rob and Sam on the news 2 times: Ben: "Mom, Uncle Rob is a super hero!"

While opening the attic to get down the Christmas tree....Ben: "Mom, is uncle Rob in there? I haven't seen him in a loooong time!" For those of you who don't know Uncle Rob is serving a 15 month deployment in Iraq.

Sammy's Miracle Makes the News!

On Christmas Day the channel 9 news crew came to Rob and Di's home to cover Sammy's Christmas Miracle story. They said they had received a few calls from people in the area telling them about Sam and Rob. Click on this link and it should take you to the news website. Click on the video above the picture of Nat and Kat holding the sign they made for Rob at the airport and after watching the Mathis Brothers commercial you should be able to see their "Answered Prayers" segment. Hope you all had a Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas

I just wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas this week. If you did not receive my Christmas card, I will post it here for you to read. Hopefully you can make out the words. Doubel click on the card and it will be magnified.

I also wanted to thank all of you who have helped in anyway this past week while my nephew Samuel was in the hospital with pneumonia. I will forever remember the many acts of kindness and service on his and his families behalf. We are surrounded by good people who have become our family. Samuel is home now, with not only his mother and big sisters, but his father who was granted an emergency return from his deployment in Iraq. Christmas of 2008 for me will be the year Sammy brought his family together for Christmas. Something only he could do....an answer to many prayers and nothing short of a true Christmas miracle. Treasure your families and friends this Christmas season. May you find Christ in your Christmas.

My baby is 4!

Friday was Ben's 4th birthday. How time has flown by. It seems just like yesterday that I was trying to wake David up at 3 am and convince him that my water really had broken 5 weeks ahead of schedule. Ben was 3# 15 oz when we brought him home from the hospital just 3 days later. And now he is 4! We had a great weekend celebrating Ben's special day. David had friday and saturday off. On friday morning we made pancakes together, his favorite breakfast. Then we headed over to Pump It Up to play. On the way home we drove to 3 different Redboxes trying to find Kung Fu Panda. I finally convinced frugal David to go to blockbuster and rent it there before we burned all our gas money. Of course seconds after renting it there our friend called from the ONE redbox we hadn't gone to, to report they DID have it. I long for the day when money won't have to be such an issue in the little choices of our life. But knowing us, we will still hunt for the deals. Ben loved the movie and watched it twice in a row. Then off to Toys R Us where Ben played for 2 hours, telling us everything Santa should bring him. We went to Red Robin for dinner before heading home. On saturday Ben had a great birthday party. We took his soccer team and his cousin Elijah to the local fire station and had a great tour. The firemen were great with the kids and they loved it. David and I stayed up until 1 am the night before making Ben a unique firetruck cake. It was far from perfect, but we had fun making it and Ben loved it. We had a great weekend and enjoyed every minute together.

99 Balloons

I love this video on youtube. I saw it on the Oprah show on tuesday and wanted to share it with anyone interested. It is a father talking to his son Eliot, a baby born with trisomy 18. My little sister, Sarah, was born with trisomy 18. It was so positive and gave me a little glimpse into what life may have been like for her...a miracle and an angel. Grab a kleenex and enjoy.

Oklahoma!

Oklahoma, where the gas prices come sweeping DOWN the plains! I never thought I would see gas prices under $2.00 again! One of the MANY reasons I am not looking forward to leaving Oklahoma this June. As the time gets closer to move to Baltimore I seem to get more and more attached to Oklahoma. I am really going to miss it here. Honestly, I don't like to even think about it. I was the queen of Oklahoma jokes when we first moved here and now I am one of its greatest defenders. Maryland will have big shoes to fill.


We took Ben and Kate to get a pumpkin last night. It took a VERY long time to pick out the perfect pumpkin. It had to satisfy both David and Ben. David found one early on and spent the entire time trying to convince Ben it was "the one." In the end, Ben's determination won out and David gave in. Kate just had a good time climbing on the pumpkins and trying to pick them up.

Kate's hair has really started growing in and I managed to hold her still just long enough to attempt her first set of pigtails. Notice the large bruise on her right cheek. If you knew how active she is, you would understand! David is finishing up a tough rotation this week. We are excited to see more of him in November. We hope all of you have a happy and safe Halloween.

I've been tagged....

This is my first official tag. My instructions are to post the 6th picture in my sixth album and the fourth in my fourth album.



Ben's 1st Thanksgiving and 1st Halloween. How fitting for this time of year!

A Good Laugh

David's brother Mike introduced us to this website. We plugged in our pictures and discovered some great yearbook photos!

Just Because

I just wanted to share some pictures....just because they are too cute not too. Thanks again to Stephanie for capturing them. We have had an eventful couple of days. Friday morning we went to the zoo with some friends. Ben, Dyson and Haley found a sprinkler and got SOAKING wet. They were having too much fun to stop them. Kate loved the swings and carousel. Later that day we went to Ben's soccer practice and then met up with Mike, Christina and Boo for dinner. David was having a sleep over at the hospital so we dropped off some food to him on our way home. Boo slept over last night and went with us today to 2 of Ben's soccer games as well as one for Katherine. Katherine is awesome. She did this little move with the ball and faked out a girl. I was so proud of her. I wanted everyone to know she was my neice. Rob, you would have been proud! I think I remember seeing you teach her that move in your backyard. Enjoy the pictures! They are growing up too fast.

Our Tiger Soccer Star

Ben started his second season of YMCA soccer this past week. My friend Stephanie took some great pictures of him and the rest of the team. Something really clicked in Ben's soccer brain between last season and this season. All of the kids were awesome. They figured out the object of the game and ran with it. Ben said he scored 5 goals, but it was probably more like 3 or 4. He only cried one time when he bumped heads with another player. We do need to work on his little temper though. He wanted the ball at one point and struggled to get it out of a pack of kids so he started throwing elbows and fists around. The coach had to restrain him. If any of you have seen David play soccer you will understand where this temper comes from. I will admit it probably doesn't help to have my competitive genes in the mix either. He just might end up being a soccer star though. He is quick on his feet and has the needed aggression soccer requires. A big thanks to Boo (Paternal Grandpa in Thai) for making the drive from Lawton just to watch Ben play for the day. It was Boo's first day off after being on call for 10 straight days. I am sure it would have been nice to just stay at home. It meant a lot to have him there. And thanks also to Aunt Di and Katherine, the rest of Ben's cheering squad. Go Tigers!

Seven Years

Its hard to believe that its been 7 years ago today that David and I were married in the Salt Lake City Temple. It feels just like yesterday. I still remember the first time I ever saw David. You could say it's the classic BYU story. It was August of 1997. We met on the field in front of M Smith Hall. It was a get to know you ward party, the weekend before school started. We were playing Duck, Duck, Goose! David was it. He started around the circle and said "Goose" when he came to me. I bolted up, he started running, tripped and fell. I got him. He had no idea just how competitive I would be. On the way to our dorms that night my new roommate from Puerto Rico said, "You like that boy." Claiming to be clueless, I said, "What boy?" She said, "the one who goosed you." I smiled as I thought of the slang meaning of what she had unknowingly said and realized I wasn't as good at keeping my cover as I thought. I had a crush on David from day one! My sister Ruth can tell you that we also devised a great plan the following monday. Ruth and I were in line together to get our ID cards when I spotted David in another line and pointed him out to Ruth. She told me to leave the room and she would switch to his line while I was gone. When I came back I pretended I didn't know where she had gone. She waved me over and we ended up right behind David. He was studying from a calculus book and I remember thinking he must be really smart. No one said a word the entire time until the very end of the line when David said his grand BYU pick-up line, "Are you going to family home evening tonight?" I said a quick, "Yes" and that was that. Young love and the games you play! How wonderful it is to be married. Now 7 years later here we are in Oklahoma...David and I graduated from BYU, David from medical school, and we have 2 beautiful children. What will the next 7 years bring? Another move or two?....another kid or two? Either way, we are in it together. Me and "that boy who goosed me." I love you David.

Happy 29th Birthday David!

Happy Birthday, David! Just thought I would post a quick message and some pictures of David today. I am sure he is going to love the 3rd one especially! It is one of my favorites! We are so proud of you David. We love you. We love how hard you work for us. We love how willing you are to serve others. We love how you make time to play with us. We love that you are willing to keep driving that non air-conditioned truck. We love all the little particular things about you that make you David. As Ben would say, we are so lucky to have you as one of our people. We hope you had a great day!
David at 1 year!

David at 7 years!

David at 12 years! WOW, Do I even need to mention those glasses?

Picture Day

David and I woke up at 6:30 am today to get ready for family pictures at Portrait Innovations. I scheduled it early so they wouldn't be running behind and Kate would not yet be sleepy or hungry. I think we got some good ones. Ben did great, besides his fake smile in the majority of the pictures. It was difficult to get Kate to stay where we put her. She kept crawling away. I know I am biased, but I sure think we have 2 cute kids. It was so hard to choose. Here are some of our favorites, as well as the new ones I posted on the top and side of the blog. Enjoy!