Halloween Photos

The pumpkin Ben and I carved for Halloween this year. If you can't tell who it is, you must not watch Disney movies.

This Halloween my friend Caterine and I threw a Halloween Couples Party. We had such a blast throwing it together, and it could not have turned out more perfectly. We had 9 couples total, which made 18 people at the party. Everyone dressed up in their costumes and got really into it. We carved pumpkins, had a costume contest, ate really awesome food, and played Halloween bingo. For more pictures from the party, go to my facebook page, I've added them all there.

On actual Halloween night, Ben and I went to my parent's house in Buda and all dressed up to walk around the neighborhood. The theme this year was "Clue" characters. Grant dressed up as Professor Plum, but didn't walk around with us. Some people had a hard time telling who we were. Umm...are we the only family that played Clue growing up? I thought it was pretty obvious who we were. Anyway, Halloween night was fun, and now the countdown is on for Thanksgiving!

Anna Marries Handsome Rob

This past weekend, Ben and I went to Queen Creek, Arizona for his cousin Anna's wedding. It was so much fun, and such a nice escape from everyday school and work. It was hot, hot, hot, in Arizona, and for once I was wishing the Texas weather had traveled with us. Despite the hot weather, the wedding was absolutely beautiful.

Waiting for Anna and Rob to come out.
Ben and Jeff hanging out on the temple grounds.

Anna and Rob coming out of the temple!

Ben posing for me at the reception.
Me and Grace taking a picture before the reception started.

It was so wonderful to see all of the Gordons and getting to spend time with Ben's extended family. Ben and I are so thankful to Jeff and Grace for letting us stay at their place during the wedding. As with almost all vacations, it didn't feel long enough!

Alli's Birthday Party

Guess who's turning 12 this month? This girl:

Her birthday's not until August 25th, but we had a little family party this weekend to celebrate before school starts up again. It was Disney-themed, so we all got to dress up! Naturally Alli's costume was awesome:

Us with the birthday girl.

Can you guess who everybody is? My dad was Gaston, but it's kinda hard to tell from the photo. We had a lot of fun and I'm always happy to have an excuse to get in costume!

Dallas Trip Last Weekend

Cynthia took Ben and I to the Genghis Khan Exhibit at the Irving Arts Center. We couldn't take any photos inside the exhibit, so this is all we got. With my IPhone too, so not as good. The exhibit was really beautiful, and I learned so much about the great warlord. There was a video that tested the DNA of men in Asia, and I think something like 3/4 of them are related to Genghis Khan in some way.
After the exhibit, we went to "Genghis Grill." They were giving out coupons at the exhibit, plus it's delicious. They just built one in Austin, so we will get to go more often!

In the evening we went to Chili's for dinner with Daniel and then to the dollar movie to see Thor. It was awesome, and I'm not just saying that. Really, it was probably my favorite superhero movie that came out this year.

Every time I take a picture of Ben and Daniel, I am always blown away by how alike they look. On Sunday we went to hang out with Millie and Dean, Ben's grandparents, and it was fun to visit with them as well. Only a few more weeks of freedom before Ben's second year of law school starts!

Party Boat!

This weekend we went on a party boat with a bunch of people from my family's ward. We had an awesome time.

Best picture of my Dad. EVER.

Zilker Botanical Gardens

It's been a long time since I've been to the Zilker Botanical Gardens, and Ben has never gone, so when Daniel came to Austin to visit us for the weekend, we thought it would be fun. It was fun, but one thing I always forget about Texas is it's always hot, hot, hot.

The Oriental Garden is by far the coolest part of the garden area.

Ben and Daniel chillin' on a bench.

Our cat. Sometimes I just can't help myself. I think she looks majestic in this one.

Camping Trip!

I'm not a big camper. In fact, pretty much every camping trip I've been on hasn't been fun. Granted, a lot of those camping trips were when I was a teenager going to Girls' Camp, but when I was growing up my family tried camping time and time again. It never really worked out. But, despite all my past experiences, Ben convinced me that we needed to get supplies for camping and start going. We went this past weekend to Pace Bend Park, which overlooks Lake Travis, and we had a wonderful time. This was the view from our campsite:

At night, Ben and I took our camping chairs and went and sat on a hill looking up at the stars and looking at the city lights of Austin. Yes, we were camping, but we weren't that far from civilization.
In the morning, Ben cooked breakfast and we went swimming in the lake.

I told Ben we can definitely go camping again, as long as every time is as fun as this time was.

Girls' Day Out

Take Mexican food at Piscis...
Mini Blizzards at Dairy Queen...

Matching aprons and making cookies...and you get...two super fun days! So glad Adrienne is home and we've gotten to spend so much time together! I love you, chica!

Summertime

Summer is already going by way too fast. Here's a few things we've been up to:

In May, Andrea and Daniel came to Austin to visit. We took them to our favorite spot at Zilker Park, overlooking the downtown area. It was a perfect day for it.

Andrea just took the LSAT, and should find out her score soon! UT is one of the schools she's applied to, so we are hoping that's where she chooses. We'd love to see her more often.
My brother Grant starred in his high school play, where he got to kiss two girls! He was hilarious, and definitely stole the show. We went to support and snapped this photo of some of the kids.

I drove up to Round Rock to see my friend Allisa and meet her new baby Molly! She's 3 months old, and such a doll. Allisa and I had a great time chatting and catching up since it's been a while since I'd seen her.

Me with Molly.

And finally, Grant got his Eagle Scout! He is now officially an Eagle, and he's only 16! His project was to plant a historical marker. About 45 people from the church and community came out to help him. He finished the project in December, and he had his Eagle Scout ceremony just a few weeks ago:Yay for Grant! Some other fun things we plan to do this summer: go camping, go to Schlitterbahn, spend time with Adrienne (she comes home to visit this week!), swim as much as possible, go to Dallas, and relax. Ben also has scout camp and high adventure for young men's that he will be going to. We're doing well, and enjoying life in Austin as usual. :)

Two Year Anniversary

Three years ago, a boy named Ben and a girl named Elena fell in love.

Two years ago, they made the best decision of their lives and got married for time and all eternity in the San Antonio Texas LDS temple.

Today, Ben and Elena are living happily married in Austin and loving life.

Happy Anniversary, babe! You make my life complete. I love you.

Alice in Weinerland

No, this is not a duplicate post. If you are a steady Ben and Elena blog follower, these pictures might look a little familiar. It was the annual Buda Weiner Dog festival again this year, and Ben and I couldn't miss it! Adrienne wasn't there this time around, and Grant didn't want to go because he was too tired, but Ben and I still went with my mom and dad. The theme this year was "Alice in Weinerland". Lol. Some of the dogs' names were hilarious. My favorite was "Red Log".