Benny Boo Boo Boobooboo.

This weekend Ben turned 22. Wow, how can that be when I feel 20?? Ben has been such a great brother to not only Sarah, Sami, Nay and me but to every person who ever came into Benny's life. All his friends are lifetime friends. Ben is that same loving, caring guy that he was when he was a kid and has only increased that strength as he has gotten older. The only thing that I can think that has changed about him is his character. Let me explain.

Ben has been batman since he was a little guy as you can see. And I mean has been. Every hear for halloween he was, without a doubt, Batman. There was no changing his mind about it.

He even said that he really was Batman and wore his costumes almost year round! Mama would buy him costumes in the middle of the year because he wore out all of them! This his him at age 19 playing around with some friends. No biggie.

This is Hollywood Hulk Hogan. Ben was such a fan of wrestling when he was in middle school. He would run into the living room wearing an old T-Shirt and rip it off yelling "What'cha gonna do Brother when Hulkamania runs wild on you!" He even made a corner of his room a workout station to get those 24" pythons! 

This is Rock 'n Roll Ben. He never stops singing. When he was in high school Mama wrote him a song for his band to play! He sang everywhere he went. In the car, school, walking around. When he moved to Florida the neighbors said it hadn't been that quiet since we moved in in '88! He recorded a few songs on my Garageband computer program. Every once in a while he comes up on my shuffle!

Ben and his friends would make funny videos and commercials. He loves to be the star of the show so he was the Stuntman.

Although, I think most of the time he ended up being the dummy. 

As Ben got older, he started to enjoy the typical boy hobbies. This is his 44 Magnum. That's right, just like Dirty Harry. He took me out one time to shoot it and that's what I did. I shot it one time. That was enough for me! My ears rang and arms were sore for about a week!

Meet Mad Max. Ben made this costume from scratch! I wouldn't call him a seamstress by any means but great job! You can bet he took this costume with him to Florida!

This is Conan. No, not Conan O'Brien, even though this is pretty hilarious. This is is Conan the Barbarian. He learned a few things on Photoshop because this is definitely not his body!

This isn't Photoshopped. ;) Ben and his best friend, Kiko went loincloth camping. They didn't make too great of Indians, though. It was cold and slept in the pickup. Who would have thought?!

Just as I said before, Ben loved being in the movies. This is a picture of him when he was supposed to be some raging killer. Well, if I didn't know Ben, I would be pretty terrified!

This is Mechanic Ben. He has worked with Daddy and Uncle Jimmy since he was about 5 years old. Every weekend and sometimes missing school, Ben was right there to help out. He learned a lot and in high school his Mustang was put into the restoration shop to get fixed up. The man that owned it was over his head in work so Ben would go over after school and work on it to finish it faster. He showed me how to drive it once, and just like the gun, once was enough. ;)

This is Missionary Ben. Elder Swapp was called to serve in the Santa Rosa, California Mission. He became great friends with Elder Harrison. But this was no new gig for Ben. He has been a great missionary all his life. Always searching the gospel and teaching is family and friends the good word. Living the commandments and strengthening his testimony as well as touching everyone else's lives.

While Ben has been different characters of the the years he has never lost his character. Ben is a great guy to look up to. A solid rock when it comes to being who he is and not changing for anyone that comes along his path. A great little brother that shows me that we can be the best if we make the effort and determination to live up to our potential. I love you Benny Baby!

I Believe in Love at First Sight...

Because I have been loving my mother ever since I opened my eyes!

Today was great and most of you reading this would wonder how could Mother's Day be so great when most of us are hundred's of miles away?! The Swapp's are problem solvers but this wasn't even a problem!

Nathan was able to Skype (video chat) from California, Ben from Florida, Sarah and I from Utah and Sami, Rock, Grandma and Papa went over to Mamy's house for a group chat. Well in real life it's hard to get a word in, online it was no different! We all had things to say and Ben and Rock had tons of things they wanted to show off!

Nathan didn't tell us too much. He has about 7 investigators, he's still in his same area- Palo Cedro, has a good companion and he is loving what he's doing. Oh and did I mention he is as handsome as ever?! He certainly reminded us ;) He is feed a lot of "rabbit food" by the members in his area so he spends his extra cash on mystery lego packs at Wal-Mart. He happened to get 2 hippies on one trip and burned them in the backyard. Some things never change.

Ben is marvy. He was hired to make a commercial for an apartment complex in Florida and it was a hit! He picked up a few more jobs because of it! He graduates in January and is excited about everything he is doing. He showed us his make-shift "double shoulder camera rig" among many items he "stole" from Nay's room the last time he visited.

Rocky was cute as ever. A little shy to sing some songs but we got "Tractor, Tractor" out of him by the end of the conversation. And without fail he showed us his eye.

Papa and Grandma made some appearances and updated us on our orders. Quilts, cars, and trucks. We love them so much! It's hard to believe they don't live next door to us anymore because we still see and talk to them just about as much as we used to!

Mama is such a great mom. She taught us that love doesn't have a limit. We really don't miss each other because when we do, we call, text, Skype, email or visit. Usually Mom's get gifts on Mother's Day but I think we all were thankful for the gift of our family that day.