Week and a Half

Here is an update on our lives for the last week and a half...

Last week started off normal. Then, on Wednesday we helped the 4-H plant some trees. A group that I organize will be doing the same project coming up in June so we helped the 4-H to get an idea of what we needed to do. Both girls really loved it. Bria had her little shovel and was "helping" dig the holes, and Bentley just sat quietly on her towel pulling and tasting the grass. The whole process took about two hours, and Bentley was happy the whole time, even though we skipped a nap and a meal. What a girl!

Thursday, D helped a friend brand and work cattle for 75% of the day, then we traveled to his parents so Bria could have her surgery the next morning.

Friday started about 4:30am because we had to be in to SF by 6am for Bria's surgery. We sat in the pre-op area for quite a while visiting with doctors and nurses. At a little after 7am I walked Bria up to the surgery area and the nurses took her into the operating room. She was very brave. When she woke up after her surgery she was afraid because we weren't in the room, and she was in a different room than when she went under. When D and I were taken up to see her, the nurses said she was crying and yelling, "I want my Mommy." Who can blame her. It made me feel bad. I held her on my lap the rest of the time we were in the hospital. The surgery itself took about 10 minutes. We were able to leave once she had enough fluids, which ended up being about 10am. We went back to D's parents because the doctor didn't want Bria to travel all the way back home in case her stomach got upset. The rest of the day Bria spent taking a nap, and the adults working to keep her playing calmly (running and jumping weren't allowed) when she wasn't sleeping .

Saturday was spent traveling home, and taking care of the usual things around the house.

Sunday we had our local graduation. One of the young men from our church was graduating. D attended the graduation ceremony (during the girls' nap times), and the girls and I joined him for the graduation party. Later that evening D headed out to the graduate's family's house for a bonfire. It was after the girls bedtime, and after the previous few days I really needed some time just to myself. I must admit, I was very tired and somewhat crabby.

It is branding season, so on Monday, D helped another family brand and work their cattle.
The last two days have been life as usual again. I find a lot of comfort in our routine. Today, however, we are headed out for another adventure.

After all of the bandages were removed, this is what Bria's face looks like.
There is still a stitch through the incision that we will remove tomorrow. The doctor said we need to apply lots of sunscreen all summer, otherwise the scar will burn and won't fade as well. We also have to massage the scar and put Vitamin E on it every day.

This is a picture of the cyst before it was removed.

The incision isn't as red as I was expecting, so it should heal up nicely.

Two Different Babies

We have pictures of both girls with their Daddy in the same PJ's in the same place in D's parents house when they were pretty much the same age. Sometimes it is fun to see how different or similar the girls are. Even though some of their looks resemble each other, their personalities are completely the opposite.

Bria with Daddy.

Bentley with Daddy. Bentley's hair is much longer than Bria's was at this age so I was able to put her hair in pigtails for the first time. I think they are adorable.

Can you tell which one is the good eater?

I think that Bentley is starting to get her first teeth. She wasn't her normal self and from what I could see her gums looked whiter than normal on the bottom. She isn't the best at letting me look or feel in her mouth (again, the opposite of Bria).

Busy, Busy

What have we been up to? We have to start at the beginning of last week. Sunday we drove to D's parents and then to a near by town to meet some friends for supper.

Monday we were in SF having Bria's bump on her face checked (yet again) in order to set up a surgery date, which will be this coming Friday. We spent some time shopping for things we can't find in the area that we live in, and we also met a friend for supper. That made for a very late night getting home on Monday night.

Tuesday and Wednesday were normal.

Thursday is our regular bible study night, but we are between studies so we had a game night instead. We didn't get home that night until very late, again.

Friday morning, D's parents came and we immediately headed to P to do some furniture shopping (for the new house) and some grocery shopping. That night when we got home, D arranged for the two of us to have a date night. D's parents watched the girls and he and I went to the community center/theater and played Wii games on their very large screen. It was lots of fun. I thought it was a very creative date night, especially in our small town.

Saturday we went to the car museum that we have in town, then spent the rest of the day relaxing.

Now it is Sunday and the day went pretty much like any other Sunday, except that we finally had some sunshine. That meant that we could go to the park. Yeah!

Here are some pictures from today.

Bentley loves swinging. This is her second time in the swing at the park (the first time I brought the camera).

After swinging for a while she pulled her feet out of their spots and put them up on the top. She was just hanging out. Eventually, swinging makes her sleepy and she almost falls asleep. It is very precious.

Bria and Grandpa and Grandma playing by the slide.

Grandma pushing Bentley on the swing.

This coming week will be another interesting one. Stay tuned for another update.

Name Change

You may have noticed that we changed the title on our blog. We never really liked the title we had, but couldn't decide on anything that we liked better. Today I decided to try out a new title. We will see if it sticks. Hopefully, this name will be more representative of us.

Eight Months Old

Bentley is eight months old today. We love our little cutie. She is the smiliest, happiest little girl. You can't tell that from her pictures, however, as she doesn't seem to smile at all once we get the camera out. We can't believe how fast the time has gone.

She smiled briefly with the toy in her hands.

One more quick smile.

We thought that maybe something new would make her smile. It didn't. The grass just kept her from looking at the camera. Unlike her older sister, it didn't bother her bare feet. Bria didn't like touching the grass when she was this age. Bria always cooperated when I tried to take her picture (until she turned three). Our girls definitely have two very different personalities.

Our New House

I recently posted about us having to find a new house. Last week we found our new house. It wasn't even on the market. We knew that it had been in the past, and we liked it better than any of the houses that we knew were actually for sale. One day D just went up to his house and asked him if he was still willing to sell. Fortunately, the owner was willing to sell and could be out be the our July 1st deadline. We made an offer and signed a purchase agreement, and the house will be ours by June 1. That gives us enough time to do any work on the house that we might need to and not be rushed to move our stuff. We are excited to get into the house.

Our neighbors to the South (right side of the picture) is the church we attend. Some of the other neighbors are motels/hotels, one of which isn't operational anymore. We are now much closer to the park, but we do have room for swings in the back yard.

We hope that you will stop by on your way through town and see our new place (after July 1st).