Cherish Grandparents

Today, Grandma and Grandpa Benge began their long trek back home to Utah. They had arrived almost two weeks ago to help out and meet the new little addition. They spent their time serving us. Grandpa did an assortment of construction and landscaping projects, as well as teasing the boys. It made Grandpa laugh when Jeffrey knew when he was pulling his leg. Grandma did cleaning, cooking, and nurtured her grandkids and daughter. Not to mention reading "the little mouse and the red ripe strawberry" to Dallin at least 150 times. It was a wonderful visit and they were a great help to us.

But as we all stood on the lawn waving goodbye, wondering when and where we will see them again, it really struck us just how much we love them. We realized in that moment, or were reminded again, what a blessing a Grandparent really is. Their's is unique role that really can't be filled by anyone else. And Grandma and Grandpa Benge take great Joy in that role. Why else travel to North Dakota? And when we miss our Grandparents and wish they were closer, we really cherish them most. We just pray for them in their special mission to all their grandchildren, that they will have strength and many more wonderful years ahead.

Safety of CNG cylinders

Here is a video for all of us in the family who are currently driving CNG vehicles. Just in case you or you spouse is worried about safety. This is also a good video to show that guy at work, you know, the guy who thinks you are driving a "death bomb" because your car is CNG.

cute scared KC

Haha that is so cute! Big ol tough KC! Toby said something funny last night and it made me laugh, and also think of Kirk!!! You'll see why :) So we made sandwiches for dinner and Toby said "Wow I love this sandwich!!!!! It tastes like mayonaise" hahaha

KC and a scary moment

So, yesterday KC was playing in the garage while I was working, and I left him alone to go get something behind the house. While I was back there I heard him start screaming; like really screaming. I thought he must have gotten hurt or something so I ran around to the front of the house and into the garage. At just about this same time, Kianna came out of the house into the garage to see what was wrong too. KC was just screaming and crying, so i asked him what was wrong.
He pointed at a robin (the bird) in the yard quite close to the garage, and I said, "What? Did the robin come in here and scare you?"
"No!" he sobbed.
"What happened then?", I asked.
He just kept gesturing toward the bird.
Then Kianna asked rather sarcastically, "Did the robin come in here and peck your face?"
Still sobbing almost uncontrollably he replied, "NO, it's LOOKING AT ME!"

I guess he was terrified of the robin's evil eyes.


Remember, given half a chance, a robin would kill you and everyone you love.

Grace

By some amazing grace we now have a Grace to grace our home. Grace Eva Schlenske was born April 22 @ 8:22 am. She weighed 7 lbs. 12 oz. and was 19 in. We are very excited about her being here.

Blast From the Past

Check out Tara! And Courtney and Dixie, too.

Another JibJab

We are kinda liking these Jibjabs as well!

Book Recommendation

I recommend this book. The author's oldest sister is a babe.

I looked for the book this afternoon in downtown SLC and couldn't find it. So, I had a sales clerk look it up on the computer and there it was (I felt proud). They had put the book in the wrong section. Well! We got that fixed.

For those of you who don't know Steve and Christy Hardman, it has taken Christy a long time to get this published. She is one of Susan's sisters. She wrote the entire story of David as historical fiction, and this is the first book.

gopher catcher

thank you all for your advice on gophers. we didn't even know they existed out here....only ever seen tiny prairie dogs. but my research indicated the holes in our yard were made by a gopher. we had bought those bomb/poison gas thingys but hadn't used them yet. then yesterday afternoon, porter and i went out to play in the sprinklers (because is was 95 degrees!) and not only were there 2 new holes...but there was this tiny cute little gopher hiding behind one of our bushes! i didn't realize that from a distance it would look so much like a mouse. so, i couldn't just leave it....maybe i could do something! it ran into a small hole under the bush. i got the hose. it had one of those nozzles on it that shoots water hard. i couldn't get the nozzle off, so i just shot the water into the hole. the guy came back out. i think not only was he waterlogged, but i think the water had beat him up pretty badly. he could hardly walk. i just got a bucket and scooped him up. i couldn't bear to actually do away with him. so he sat in a bucket in the heat all afternoon. when daryl got home, he drowned him and disposed of him for me. i learned online that unless it's mating season, gophers usually are solitary in their tunnel systems. so, hopefully we have taken care of the problem. daryl went ahead and put one of the gas bombs into one of the holes last night just in case. so we will see. but i am feeling mighty proud that i caught a gopher!

porter LOVES jib jabs!!!!

It's a Boy

So, found out today we are having a boy. So far my pregnancy is going fine. It was just about this time that I started getting sick with Porter, so we'll see if this one goes better. I did get a really really bad cold that lasted almost 2 weeks, then Porter got a 24-hour flu...which he passed on to me. But we seem to be over those now and are pretty much healthy. Right now the Dr. plans to do a c-section about a week before my due date....so around Sept. 4-ish. We'll see what really plays out. Daryl is well and working hard as always.....2 evenings of school at ASU, homework, regular work, and lots of home-improvement projects.....the latest being trying to figure out how to get rid of the gopher we seem to have just acquired in the back yard. Porter gets smarter and cuter every day. He knows most of the letters of the alphabet....not written, but signed. It's cute. And he now counts to 10 on his own when he wants to play hide and seek.....it reminds me so much of Toby when I first moved here! He's a handful, but fun. And I'm so excited that we are having another boy so he'll have a buddy to play with! Guess that's about it. come visit!!!----okay maybe wait awhile...we'll already be hitting the 90's next week....but if you wanted to come swim in an outdoor pool somewhere, you could visit!

Gmail Custom Time!

This new Google feature was offered today. Or was it offered yesterday? I sure could use it sometimes. But as cool as it might be, it isn't really as cool as the free internet TiSP they offered last April.

porter sings happy birthday

We are well. Thought you might want to see the changes in Porterman...since they grow up so fast. I'm a bit sick this week. So, I'll write more another time.

air force test

Here's a little test for you. They say fighter pilots can do it for 2 minutes, but that you are brilliant if you can do it for 18 seconds. Have a try at it! The link is http://members.iinet.net.au/~pontipak/redsquare.html

Bret and I camping near Lake Mead

CLICK HERE to see the pictures from kirkandcherrie.blogspot.com

8

Susan is pregnant. Which means we will soon have . . . um . . . a lot of children. Best guestimate: 10/10/2008, which is Taiwan's "Double 10 Day", similar to our 4th of July--but Jeffrey probably already knew that. (Go, Benny! I still cannot do puzzles.)

Gush

I keep thinking I ought to blog, but can't think of much interesting to say. Our most exciting news always seems to be the cold extreme weather of North Dakota, or Ben being so overworked we pray the end of this assignment will end soon. What else can we tell you without being too boring?
The boys are doing great. They are so full of energy but are learning so much. Jeffrey makes breakfast by himself nearly every morning and does a great job. William is in charge of the dogs and does so well. Abel wanted something to be in charge of too, so he is now in charge of snack time. They all help cut and gather wood for our stove and even take out the garbage! It is fun to watch them grow up and learn responsibility. Jeffrey is obssessed with China lately. He has a chinese art kit and is learning the ways of their art, and he reads books and learns everything he can about China. We keep meaning to call David Benge on a weekend to see if he can teach Jeffrey a few words. Dallin is in his 3-year-old possessive state, but is sweet and says the sweetest prayers. Benny Walker is as adorable as anything you can imagine. He already does puzzles, which amazes me and he jabbers all the time, with a smile that is contagious.
Anyway, I really just wrote to say how much we miss all of you. We love you all.

We are finally part of the blog WOOHOO!