The Behrend Family

Another Saturday spent with just Cohen and I.

2012-02-11T20:21:00.000-08:00

Matt had to spend the whole day at school doing homework. So, I didn't want to just sit at home with Cohen and waste time, so instead I kept us out and about. We started our day at the Tracy Aviary, we had a really fun time. After that we went and dropped lunch off to Matt at school. We then went home for a little down time. After spending some time trying to get Cohen to take a nap it was time to get ready to head to a birthday party Cohen got invited to for a little girl in our ward. At this point I felt bad for leaving Lincoln home by himself all day that I ran in the house grabbed him and we went to the dog park for Cohen and Link to run around. Finally we went home and had dinner then Cohen got to watch his new Mickey Mouse Clubhouse movie. It was a fun day and we enjoyed ourselves, I do wish Matt could of been apart of it though. At least I get to spend the few hours before I go to bed with him.

Healthy Cooking...

2012-01-30T22:21:00.000-08:00

One of my New Year's resolutions was to start eating healthier. I am pretty happy because I have kept it up so far. Almost every night I have tried a new recipe. I thought it was going to be more difficult to eat healthier or take longer to prepare, but its not. It has been so worth it. So here are some of my favorite recipes if you would like to try them let me know.

This is turkey meatballs with linguine. Really, it was so good! This plate is just under 600 calories.

This is tilapia with a white wine and lemon sauce, with jasmine rice and vegetable. This plate is just under 300 calories.

This is an apricot crusted pork chop with seasoned sweet potatoes, and wilted spinach on the side. Everything was so tasty! This plate is right around 400 calories.

Vegas...Hmm

2012-01-23T19:57:00.000-08:00

Well I got back from Las Vegas yesterday evening. It was an interesting trip. I spent most of the time with my mom, sister, and cousin. I would say the trip was about a 75% success. The reason I say this is is because I had a lot of fun with family, yet I realized how much I dislike the Strip in Las Vegas.

Reasons I really enjoyed my trip: I loved the shopping. I enjoyed the few sites there was too see. I loved spending time with my family and all my cousins that live there. We all enjoyed a restaurants called the Claim Jumper. My mom, sister, cousin and I had lunch at Mesa Grill which is one of Bobby Flays restaurants; that was an awesome experience. Finally hanging out with Jessie and Eddie my cousins the last night.

Reasons I very disliked my trip: The Vegas strip itself and everything it stands for (didn't realize this until this weekend). The terrible smell of smoke in the air, everywhere. How expensive everything is. Finally the feeling I left with.

I will share the pictures I took of the good memories.

Key Rack

2012-01-11T20:17:00.000-08:00

Since we moved to our apartment we have been loosing our keys. Matt and I just place them wherever and end up loosing them for days/weeks at a time. Yesterday I finally found one set of keys that we had lost. I decided it was time to fix this problem. So I made a key rack. I love it and am so happy to have a designated place for our keys!

Of course I love taking pictures so I took some to show the process of me making the key rack.

Cohen the artist...

2012-01-11T19:59:00.000-08:00

Last week Cohen climbed out of his crib one morning and didn't wake up Matt or I. Instead he found a marker and decided to draw on both bedroom doors and closest door. He was so proud of his work. Lucky for me it was a washable marker and was easy to clean.

Octobers festivities...

2011-11-10T16:11:00.000-08:00

This was probably one of the funnest Octobers I have had in my entire life. Sharing it with Cohen and Matt was the best part. We did lots of stuff, so I will tell you in a caption after each picture.

We went to the pumpkin patch in South Jordan. This is the first pumpkin Matt picked out. This ended up being mine.

Cohen wanted so bad to push the wheelbarrow, all the little kid ones were being used.

He did it for a sec. with the big one.

He loved trying to help put the pumpkins in the wheelbarrow.

I picked out Cohen's pumpkin because he was happy just walking around the pumpkins. It was fun though.

Our pumpkins!

This pumpkin patch is awesome, if you have never been there. It has tractors to play on and a corn maze, also cute settings for pictures.This is the one tractor Matt played on!

Into the corn maze he went.

He loves doing everything with his dad.

Two very handsome boys!

We spent some time in the maze together as well, I needed to take some time away from my camera.

Cohen...He had fun even though he will never smile for a picture.

Matt made me do it.....Cohen was laughing....at first.

Good times.

There is my happy boy..

I love the lighting in thus pic. Cohen loved playing in this tractor.

There he is...

Matt, Cohen, and I at the Witch Festival in Gardner Village. We spent the evening with Rob and Maria. It was fun.

I felt cool sitting by that witch, Cohen not so much.

Collin as Captain America, Cohen as the tiger, my mom as my mom and Broc as Bumble Bee the transformer.This was the Saturday before Halloween at my mom's house for her Halloween party for the boys.

Halloween Day I picked Cohen up from preschool and brought him home to a pumpkin shaped pizza for lunch.

Cohen enjoying lunch and the snacks he got from school.

Halloween evening, on our way to Charlene's house for trick-or-treating.

Me in my high school cheer uniform, Cohen, Sterling as a car racer, Cameron as Steve Ercle, and Tavia as a rocker cat.

Lorne as Nepolian Dinomite, if you couldn't guess.

Trying to get one good picture together, this is the best we could do.

Hannah and Tavia out trick-or-treating.

Cohen just went to his first house and pick out his first piece of candy...a tootsie pop.

His costume was so cute. Oh and this house handed out glow in the dark bracelets.

Eating his candy already. He couldn't even wait 5 min after he got it.

Mine is on the left, Matt's in the middle, and the one Matt carved for Cohen on the right.This is sad but we carved these a week before Halloween but never got to leave them outside our door because we weren't home for Halloween so I put candles in them the day after.

Close up of mine.

One fall day. It was nice outside. Cohen wearing his new hat.

He is such a fun little boy. He loved playing in the leaves, he would randomly go lay down in the grass and start kicking the leaves around.

California.....Disneyland.....The Beach

2011-10-24T08:29:00.000-07:00

This past week Matt, Cohen, and I drove to California. Matt had a school conference thing for a few days in Anaheim. So, we took advantage of being so close the Disneyland and the beach. We had some really fun times and other times that weren't so much. I am really glad we went though because Cohen loved Disneyland and even more the beach.

Cohen's 2 year pictures at the International Peace Gardens

2011-09-09T14:39:00.000-07:00

Today I took Cohen to the International Peace Gardens. It is a beautiful walk. It is free to get in, but the area it is located in is a little run down. It is definitely worth the trip though, because I got some great shots. I was so lucky that my mom was able to join us, without her help there is no way I would have been able to get a single good shot of Cohen. He is active and adventurous, not bad things unless you are trying to take a posed photo of him. Its okay though we had a good time and I was able to get a few really good shots that I am going to print!

This last picture is when we met up with my sister and her kids for lunch, after Cohen's photo shoot :)

If you would like to see more of the scenery and some flower shots I took, take a look at my Photo's by Ashley Behrend Blog @ ashleybehrendsphotos.blogspot.com

Swiss Days...

2011-09-03T21:57:00.000-07:00

Its Saturday, Matt has homework all day. I didn't want to spend my weekend doing the same thing I do every single day, so I invited my parents to join Cohen and I to Swiss Days. Swiss Days is in Midway, UT. It is an annual event in September. Basically you go eat then shop. There are hundreds of vendors selling stuff from girls bows and jewelry to frames and artwork. Everything there is super crafty and unique. So, the first thing we did was eat there amazing Swiss tacos, basically a navajo taco. Then we walked around and looked at all the booths. It was a good time. Cohen loved spending time with his grandparents, especially when grandpa Don bought him and banana creamie. After we spent time at Swiss Days we went to Cascade Springs. It's in Midway as well and not too far from where we were. I really wanted to go because it is a beautiful place and I wanted to take pictures with my new camera. I got some pretty good shots. Overall it was a nice way to spend my Saturday.

Happy Birthday to ME!!!

2011-09-02T19:48:00.000-07:00

My birthday is in two weeks, and for my big birthday present I wanted a Nikon DSLR camera. I have been wanting one for a very long time but only till a month ago I started researching them. I got to know quite a bit about the camera's and the brands and decided that a Nikon was the best fit for me. So for the past 4 weeks I have spent every day, several times a day looking on KSL and Amazon to find a used camera. Finally, yesterday morning I found one on KSL. Some high school student took a photography class and his parents bought him the newest and nicest. Well six months later he was selling it for an incredible price and wanted cash, for who knows what. So, I bought my dream camera, the Nikon D3100 (the newer and nicer version then the one I was intentionally going to get) for a great price! I have spent every free second I have had reading, and learning how to use it. I love it and hope to become a great picture taker some day. I don't think I will ever call myself a photographer because I didn't go to school for that. So here are some of the pictures I have taken so far, well the few good ones at least...

Ute Pride

2011-08-30T20:59:00.000-07:00

Matt and I have been discussing our commitment to the University of Utah athletic teams. We have officially decided to have some pride/spirit in the school that is giving him such amazing opportunities. So we are jumping all in and becoming Ute fans.

Yesterday we went to the U of U bookstore. That place is huge, and had anything you could think of that a fan would want. Shirts, pants, swimsuits, hats, blankets, picture frames, kid clothes, mugs, and it goes on and on. So we did some shopping, we bought Cohen a really cute shirt and myself one as well. We also went big and bought a sticker to place on our rear windshield, so we are legit now. It is kinda fun becoming a part of something so big.

Discovery Gateway

2011-08-23T13:26:00.000-07:00

Today Cohen and I went to Discovery Gateway with my mom, sister and her kids. The three boys had so much fun. There were so many things for them to do. As usual Cohen was a little hesitant to jump right in and start having a great time but it only took a minute before he was having fun. Don't be fooled by any of the pictures, he never smiles for me when I am taking a picture. Here are the pictures of his adventures.

My University of Utah students...

2011-08-22T10:38:00.000-07:00

Today Matt and I dropped Cohen off to his first day at Preschool. His school is located on the U campus. It is a program for children who's parents attend the University of Utah. It is an amazing program where they do many activities to help our children learn and grow to become incredible kids. Okay so this all sounds too great, maybe it is, maybe I am just a proud parent. I am just so excited for Cohen to be around other children and leaning things I do not know how to teach him. He is only going twice a week for a couple hours, so we are not pushing him too hard. Someday I would like to think he is going to do some really great things when he gets older. I am sure every parent feels the same way...

Utah State Capitol

2011-08-15T20:27:00.000-07:00

Have you ever been to the Utah State Capitol? Well its funny because neither have Matt or I. So since we have moved into our apartment, a few weeks ago, we have not gotten a dish for our t.v. So instead of watching t.v we have come up with different ways to entertain ourselves. The funny thing is, is that I know he have had a far better time without sitting around watching t.v. Anyway so we decided to go visit the Capitol. Surprisingly enough there is a lot of history there in painting and monuments. It is a very beautiful building and the 3 of us, Cohen, Matt, and I had a great time. So I recommend if you have a good hour with nothing to do and you are Downtown Salt Lake, go visit the State Capitol.