Merry Christmas and thanks for stopping by to catch up! So, what have the Binghams been up to? Well, we'll tell ya!
Dan continues to work as the General Manager at Hill Threaded Products where they have been enjoying a record year despite an economy in the dumps. Praise God! He also has guitar students coming to our house on Tuesday nights and Saturday mornings. He is also playing regularly with our church’s worship team.
Brittney is still a stay-at-home mom. She stays busy being a homemaker, cook, crafter, and hard-core couponer. You can follow her projects at her personal blog www.dahoneydesigns.blogspot.com . It gets updated much more frequently than this one does.
Ben is now 37 inches tall, 31lbs, and about as talkative as can be....literally...he doesn’t stop talking...even in his sleep. He runs to comfort crying babies, says his own prayers in his own words, and sings “Jesus Loves Me” to his stuffed animals while lying in bed at night. He has lots of buddies, but his bestie is still little Zoe who is 1 month older and lives a few blocks away.
That’s the broad strokes, here’s what we’ve been doing month-by-month. We tend to take a lot of pictures of our little man, so we hope you’re up for seeing them and hearing a little about our 2012. You can actually watch Ben’s ringlets grow as time passes!
January-
We started the year hopeful, and enjoyed some much needed down time after the holidays. We started eating healthier and working out. We canceled cable and TiVo, and discovered some wonderful British television like Doctor Who and Downton Abbey that we could watch online. Sadly, only the TV shows have stuck around. ;)
February-
Brittney and her sister, Heather, trained for and participated in the 1st Annual Rock and Roll 1/2 Marathon in Pasadena to benefit Cure Mito. We made it through the 13.1 miles in just over 3 hours, which is pretty good for moms who rarely get time to train without strollers. What a feeling of accomplishment! Thank you to all our friends and family who donated. Together, our team brought in over $11,000!!!! If you aren’t familiar with my nephews (well, where have you been? I talk about them constantly), you can go here to watch a short video about their lives dealing with Mitochondrial Disease
Ben (or Benny as he is more frequently called) enjoyed playing with his best buddy, Zoe, 2-3 days a week while her mom was at work. These 2 really love each other!!
March-
Brittney began working as a secondary care provider for Jaxen and Maddox (the above-mentioned nephews). This means traveling to Valencia once a week or so to help facilitate therapies, and pitch in around the house. Despite their difficulties, the boys are such a blessing to be around!
April-
We got to have our niece and nephew, Haley and Anthony, for a couple of days during their Spring Break. We had a blast! We did an indoor luau (it was raining). We played Minute to Win It games in the backyard when it was nice. And, we went to Murray Farms and picked peaches and berries. Ben just followed his cousins around, fascinated and completely enamored. He actually did a great job picking berries too!
May-
Dan’s mom gave a great gift of tickets to see Greg Laswell! And babysitting!! If you don’t know who Greg Laswell is, check him out here and thank us later: Greg Laswell
June-
We celebrated Father’s Day at Outback with Britt’s dad, eating our weight in steak. And, as soon as it was warm enough, we started enjoying our pool.
We celebrated Father’s Day at Outback with Britt’s dad, eating our weight in steak. And, as soon as it was warm enough, we started enjoying our pool.
July-
We cringed and huffed around the house as the 4th of July fireworks in our neighborhood woke the boy again...and again.... Grrr!! Someday, we’ll look forward to it all again, but for now, we take bedtimes very seriously around here!!!
August-
We headed over to Morro Bay for a week! We stayed in Dan’s Grandpa’s gorgeous house overlooking Morro Rock. Brittney’s sis, Heather, along with her hubby Jeff and the boys, came up for a few days. Great cousin bonding time. We even got to see Britt’s brother, Travis, and his kids, Haley and Anthony. We celebrated Jaxen’s 5th birthday with a Math/flash-card themed cake. A little difficult without the proper tools, but it tasted awesome. Strawberry cake with watermelon frosting at the birthday boy’s request.
We visited all the parks around us, played in the water, and Benny chowed down on some fish and chips....ok, mostly chips. Look at this baby. Isn’t he just a precious gift?
Britt started attending Women’s Bible Study at church onThursdays. And Ben loves getting all the time with his friends and teachers. Apparently, he directs a lot of the playtime in his classroom. So bossy!
September-
We went to see John Mark McMillan in concert here in Bakersfield. Again, thanks to Gogo (grandma) babysitting. So great even though he was sick and there was a poor turnout. If you don’t know who John Mark McMillan is, go here and thank us later: John Mark McMillan
We also celebrated Ben’s 2nd birthday!! We had a
Gentleman’s Soiree sort of Downton Abbey themed. The kids got stick horses and trophy cups as favors. Not a lot of great pictures, but it was overcast, and hey! we were busy having fun!! We can’t believe how fast he’s growing. His catch-phrases now are, “Oh yeah,” “Hi, whatchu doing?”, and “Please, want more...” Oh! And he likes to sing, “Who can it be now?” and “Oh, oh, it’s magic, you know...never believe it’s not so...” Ha! What are we teaching him?
October-
Britt celebrated her 32nd birthday....wait, can I just make that 30? I think that’s fair. We went to dinner with our friends the Smiths at the hoighty-toighty Belvedere Room at the Padre Hotel. So schmancy!
We hit up the pumpkin patch scene all over southern California. Once with Dan’s family, and once with Britt’s. It was weeks before Ben stopped asking to go to the pumpkin patch. I’m talking Christmas trees in those lots before he stopped asking. Now, he keeps asking to go to the tree lot, but that’s a different problem.
We cringed and huffed around the house as the 4th of July fireworks in our neighborhood woke the boy again...and again.... Grrr!! Someday, we’ll look forward to it all again, but for now, we take bedtimes very seriously around here!!!
August-
We headed over to Morro Bay for a week! We stayed in Dan’s Grandpa’s gorgeous house overlooking Morro Rock. Brittney’s sis, Heather, along with her hubby Jeff and the boys, came up for a few days. Great cousin bonding time. We even got to see Britt’s brother, Travis, and his kids, Haley and Anthony. We celebrated Jaxen’s 5th birthday with a Math/flash-card themed cake. A little difficult without the proper tools, but it tasted awesome. Strawberry cake with watermelon frosting at the birthday boy’s request.
We visited all the parks around us, played in the water, and Benny chowed down on some fish and chips....ok, mostly chips. Look at this baby. Isn’t he just a precious gift?
Britt started attending Women’s Bible Study at church onThursdays. And Ben loves getting all the time with his friends and teachers. Apparently, he directs a lot of the playtime in his classroom. So bossy!September-
We went to see John Mark McMillan in concert here in Bakersfield. Again, thanks to Gogo (grandma) babysitting. So great even though he was sick and there was a poor turnout. If you don’t know who John Mark McMillan is, go here and thank us later: John Mark McMillan
We also celebrated Ben’s 2nd birthday!! We had a Gentleman’s Soiree sort of Downton Abbey themed. The kids got stick horses and trophy cups as favors. Not a lot of great pictures, but it was overcast, and hey! we were busy having fun!! We can’t believe how fast he’s growing. His catch-phrases now are, “Oh yeah,” “Hi, whatchu doing?”, and “Please, want more...” Oh! And he likes to sing, “Who can it be now?” and “Oh, oh, it’s magic, you know...never believe it’s not so...” Ha! What are we teaching him?
Britt celebrated her 32nd birthday....wait, can I just make that 30? I think that’s fair. We went to dinner with our friends the Smiths at the hoighty-toighty Belvedere Room at the Padre Hotel. So schmancy!
We hit up the pumpkin patch scene all over southern California. Once with Dan’s family, and once with Britt’s. It was weeks before Ben stopped asking to go to the pumpkin patch. I’m talking Christmas trees in those lots before he stopped asking. Now, he keeps asking to go to the tree lot, but that’s a different problem.
Ben dressed up as the 11th Doctor from Doctor Who for Halloween. He had his first Trick or Treating experience. He was far more interested in pushing the “ring bell” than getting candy. Though at the first house, the neighbor bent down to hold the bowl out and let him chose his own and he tried to take the whole bowl from her! Ha!
November-
We hosted a blend of our 2 families at our house for Thanksgiving. We even had a few friends for a total of 17! Busting at the seams, but lots of food to go around. Thankfully, Dan was able to set up our new big-ol’ TV so the guys could watch the games. Wouldn’t want to miss that, now would we? ;)
Our church hosted an awesome Christmas concert featuring Lincoln Brewster. It melted our faces off. We took a couple of Dan’s students with us. They thought it was a bit churchy. Hello! That’s the point, guys. So, we’re looking forward to growing those relationships in 2013.
December-
We’ve got our house decked out for the season, and are preparing to celebrate our 8th wedding anniversary this month. Wow! Time flies. We are looking forward to spending some time with family and friends throughout the rest of the year. We hope that you will do the same. May God bless you richly in 2013!
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” Luke 2:14
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