FIRE!

Bennett loves the fall evenings and sitting around the bonfire! Not the greatest picture of the little guy... but you get the idea!

This was the only picture that I got... before the fire got going!

Football

Now that fall has arrived, football season has as well! Bennett loves it :) And he is pretty good as well!

Videos

By the mezmerized look in his eyes I am glad that we decided to get the DVD player in the car!

Sprechen zie Deutsch?

Well, not really but we sure had a blast celebrating Oktoberfest at the Gasthaus!

A day at the orchard

A great day at the Fischer's Orchard in Hastings...

Riding out to the pumpkin patch.

Picking out the perfect pumpkins!

And the corn maze :) This year we actually found our way out!

Elleny... wondering what the heck we are doing! She is not crazy about the orchard!

Homecoming

Friday night at the EP Rock football field! Just a little older... but still tons of fun!

Don't quite understand these boys?!?

Tio

Tio Troy is one of Bennett's favorites! He loves talking about him and looking at pictures - current and ones of him as a little boy! Tia Sue brought over a picture of Troy with the lawn mower that if we did not know any better we could mistake Troy for Bennett! The hair, the size and the curiosity of the lawn mower! This picture is now proudly displayed on Bennett's dresser so that he can tell Tio Troy good night each and every night before bed. Bennett is so lucky to have such a great Tio & Tia... who are also his godparents!

4 years...

4 years ago today it all began! And how lucky we are with all of the blessings that we have in our life! It just makes life that much more special when we share it together!

The first dance...

Reciting our vows with Pastor Steve...

The whole group before our grand entrance...

All the little ones... who aren't so little anymore!

Picture perfect...

So great to be surrounded by all of the special people in our lives for our wedding day!

Sleep

Last night I was over at Matt & Ember's house and we were talking about Elleny and her sleep. I was telling them how Bennett would NEVER sleep in our bed. He loves to lay in bed with us before he goes to bed or when he wakes up in the morning. So no more then three hours after having this conversation Bennett was tucked away in his bed and the storms rolled in. And these were some strong storms... I went in to check on him and he was awake and started crying. So into our bed he came while we talked about what we should do. Travis was thinking we needed to head into the basement. Travis ALWAYS thinks we need to go to the basement. After talking it through, we stayed upstairs, watched the TV and waited out the storm. Once things calmed down, we were ready for Bennett to go back to his bed. So was he. Into his room he walked and everyone in our house was back to sleep - or so I thought. About 2 minutes after I was asleep, Bennett came into our room crying that he had to go potty. Into the bathroom he went and after he was done he wanted to climb into our bed. Where he slept for the rest of the night. When I woke up in the morning - this is what I found :) Bennett makes a king bed feel like a TWIN!

Hello!

Twins

The Twins are in the middle of trying to win the division and advance on to the playoffs. This means that most nights the TV is on the Twins or White Sox baseball game. Everything in our house relates to baseball right now. These pants are his BASEBALL pants. We started with a pair of navy ones. Those were ending up in the wash every night as he wanted to wear them 24/7. So this weekend we headed over to Carter's and bought every color they had! He now has 4 pair of baseball pants... hopefully those make it to the World Series... right along with the Twins!

Bagpipes & Kilts

Nana & Papa spent a couple of weeks traveling in Europe this summer. They brought back the cutest outfit from Scotland for Bennett. You can tell that he just loves the outfit!

Go HiGh!

I think that most kids have something for getting into their laundry baskets. Bennett loves to empty his and get in it. One night, Travis picked him up and zoomed him around the room. From them on Bennett asks to go high which means he wants to go flying around in the laundry basket squealing with delight! As you can see from the picture, it is a favorite!

Healing

The adhesive still remains, but the steri strips and stitches are a thing of the past. Hopefully the scar will fade with time!

We've been busy...

But we don't have many pictures since most of the time has been spent swimming and they don't allow cameras in the pool. So I decided to have Bennett reenact some of his moves!

Plugging his nose:

Kicking:

More kicks:

Windmills:

Swim Lessons

Bennett started in his sea lion class on Monday night at the YMCA. He and I have been working on swimming skills over the past couple of months, but I knew that it was time to get him into lessons, just so that he would be ready to start lessons on his own in the next few months. He already has so many of the skills down and knows what he needs to be working on. He is in class with three other boys - all 2 year olds. He is the only little one that is already potty trained, which makes swimming so much easier! Class started with plenty of songs and games. Then we moved on to bubbles and kicking. Bennett did great with all of the skills. Then came the fun with swimming under water and jumping off the edge. He does great with both and wants to keep doing it, even when we wait to watch the other boys. Overall the first night was a success.

Boat

Sunday night we headed out on the river for an impromtu boat ride. Bennett enjoyed himself fishing and driving. It was a beautiful fall evening.

Carson

Bennett made a friend in Jen's cousin when we were over at Jen's house this weekend. Carson is 9 years old and loves sports. Bennett worshipped him and luckily Carson obliged.

Even Tim got in on the action at the end!