The Girls

Here are pictures of the girls that are more recent.

Bentley loves to pretend to talk on the phone. Here she has two toy cell phones that she is using at the same time. She likes to hold the phone up to her ear (more like neck and shoulder) and say "hi".

Coming to get the camera after I took a couple of pictures.

Bentley has really become quite the Mommy's girl. If I am visible or she knows I am in another room, she only wants me. She does just fine with other people if I am not available.

We have to snap a couple of quick pictures of Bria before church. She lets us pick the clothes and she hasn't had enough time to play to make her hair a mess. As a four year old she wants to pick out her own clothes every day; she ends up with some very interesting outfits.
This outfit is from her birthday. She also loves her cowboy boots.

Highlights

We have been busy, but there should have been time for me to update the blog. I'm just not sure where that time went. I guess it just wasn't a priority. This post will just be highlights from the last month.

The beginning of October started with opening weekend for antelope hunting. Our friends from Wtown were not able to make it, so D went with a friend from here. They both shot their antelope within about 30 minutes of being out. The rest of the day, D spent butchering the meat. Since our company couldn't make it out, we invited some other friends over for supper and to enjoy the fire pit one evening.

The next weekend, we had five other friends from Wtown come out to go antelope hunting. They spent all of Saturday and some of Sunday hunting. They were amazed by the wide-open space we have here. You can see for many, many miles. Their hunting was successful, and they took home seven antelope.

That Sunday, while D was still hunting with all the guys, the girls and I went to my parents' for a quick trip. We stayed over night and headed back home Monday after lunch (the trip was about 24 hours). The girls had a great time with Grandpa, Grandma, and Uncle N.

Bria helping Grandma water and "pick" the flowers.

Bria and Bentley playing with the Mr./Mrs. Potato Head parts. Instead of putting them on the potato, they put them on themselves.

Bedtime Bible reading with Grandpa and Uncle N.

The following weekend (one week ago) D's oldest sister and her family came to visit. Before they came, we had to run get groceries and do a couple of other errands. D's family arrived late Saturday morning. The men and some of the boys were able to do some hunting. It was the opening day of pheasant season, and antelope season was still open. D shot one more antelope and two pheasants. After all the hunting, playing, walking through town for a bit of a tour, we went to a wild game feed. We ate some interesting, but tasty, food. After the kids were all in bed, D skinned and butchered the antelope meat. Sunday afternoon was spent driving through the country side, enjoying some football, and the kids playing in the yard.

Bentley on Cousin J's lap during some of the football game. J was sitting on the floor, and Bentley just decided to go sit on his lap. She would get up sometimes, but she would continue to go back to his lap.

Bria and Cousin T were playing in the dirt in the backyard.

Cousin I taking a break from the playing and sitting on his Dad's lap.

This weekend will be a little slower paced. We enjoyed a nice meal at some friends' house last night, and they will come join us for the Vikings vs. Packers game tomorrow night.

This has to be one of the busiest months we have ever had, and we haven't even gotten to the end of it. The last weekend will be the most eventful as J's sister is getting married. We are excited for them, and look forward to celebrating with them.

Bentley

This is our adorable one year old. I think this time we actually got some pretty good pictures. Hopefully, Bentley is learning to cooperate a little more with the camera.

A Week of Activity - Parties, Parade, Etc.

This last week started off with lots of excitement and ended with a little bit of fun.

Last Sunday we celebrated both the girls' birthdays with all the grandparents and uncle N. We were excited to have them here, even though a few of us weren't feeling the best. Both the girls had a great time playing, opening their gifts, and getting all of that attention. While the grandparents were here to help entertain the girls D and I were also able to get some projects done: yard work, canning tomatoes, making birthday cakes.

Grandpa S played bears with Bria for a while.

Bentley eating her cake for her first birthday. She enjoyed this better than the cupcake she tried the week before. It was only because the frosting didn't make such a mess of her fingers. Bentley really doesn't like having messy fingers.

Bria couldn't quiet blow out all her candles in one try. I think I put them too far apart. She didn't mind having to do it twice.

Grandpa helped Bentley open her gifts. She lost interest pretty quick, but came back to it after a while. Of course, she enjoyed playing with the boxes and the paper after the gifts had been opened.

The tradition for the grandkids to get a John Deere tractor on their first birthday as continued through all 7 grandchildren. Bentley really loves her tractor. We keep it in the garage and every time we go out there she points to it and gets all excited. She know it moves, so even if we just set her on it that isn't enough. She wants to actually take a ride.

After the parties were all done and everyone had gone home, we had to finish up some work on the yard. While D was working, the girls rode their tractors. Bria has finally gotten the pedaling down along with the steering. Bentley's is electric and she can't reach the pedal, but I was able to make it go for her. She loved it! Bria also took a turn riding Bentley's tractor, but kept running me over. The electric tractor has a lot of power and goes faster than Bria could control in the short space she was trying to drive it.

After a couple of nights of yard work, another evening was spent building D's office's float for the homecoming parade. The parade was on Friday as well as the homecoming football game.

The float from D's office. They did a great job.

The girls were waiting for the parade to start. It was a little chilly, but it has been a lot colder since then. The parade was fun, and Bentley absolutely loved the horses.

After the parade we quickly ran some errands in Pierre, then got back into town in time for D to go to the game. The girls were tired out and it was cold and windy, so we stayed home. All the activity on Friday caused Bentley's cold to worsen yet again. We have just taken it easy the rest of the weekend to help her get this cleared up.

It's Offiicial

Our little baby is now a walking 1-year old.

Happy Birthday Bentley!

Today she took 4-5 steps in a row and just kept doing it over and over. Even though we could tell she was tired she continued to practice walking. All that tiring work did result in an early bedtime; she could hardly keep her eyes open. As if she wasn't into everything before, I'm sure she will be into even more in the weeks to come.

Bentley has also discovered that she can hold on to the spindles on the staircase to walk both up and down instead of crawling. This is bound to lead to something DANGEROUS.

Wherever Bentley is, there is Bria. These two are pretty good pals, even if Bria doesn't understand that Bentley doesn't always want her help.

All Sick

When we got home we all ended up with a cold. D, Bria, and I all had symptoms before we made it home, but Bentley ended up with the same thing yesterday. When Bria is sick you can't even tell because she is running around doing all of her usual things, and at the same pace. This is the first time Bentley has really had anything, and she is the opposite of Bria. As we have come to learn is pretty normal. Bentley is either sleeping, laying on the floor trying to sleep, or cuddling in D's or my arms. Also, she has to snuggle with the puppy she got for her birthday. It is hard to see my children sick, but especially when they are acting sick.

Bentley fell asleep on D's lap shortly after she got up from a nap. This cold completely wiped her out.

Vikings, Labor Day, Birthdays, and More

This last holiday weekend we went to the TC to visit D's family. On the way there we stopped to see some friends. One of our friend's dads recently bought a helicopter, so we had to stop and take a look.

It is a pretty fun little helicopter. Bria and Kuper sat in it, but they didn't have time to go for a ride. D and his Dad needed to get to the TC to make it to the Vikings game with the rest of the men in the family. We made it in time and the men headed to the game while the women took care of the kids.

All of the older kids had a great time sleeping in the tent with grandpa and grandma every night. They were well behaved and slept great the whole time.

Friday morning J's sister and fiance came by to help us celebrate some birthdays.

Here is Bentley's first birthday cupcake. She really didn't like the feel of the frosting, so she wouldn't even pick up the cupcake. She did take a few bites when I fed it to her, but otherwise she only wanted to smear the frosting all over the tray of the highchair.

Bria opening one of the gifts she got for her birthday.

Bentley opening one of her gifts.

We also celebrated grandma's and cousin J's birthdays. There was a lot to celebrate.

Later that evening all the women had a chance to go do something together. The men took the kids and we all went to an improv comedy show. It was a great time and plenty of laughter.

We took it easy on Saturday and just spent the day doing different activities around the house or in the neighborhood and some quick shopping. Of course, we ate plenty the whole weekend. The food and hospitality where great. Sunday we went to church and traveled home after lunch.

Bentley with cousin L.

All of the cousins had a good time playing together, and as they all get older they play together better. Bria calls all of her cousins her best friends, and is always sad to leave them.