Wendy

About 3 weeks ago Bryn and I found a caterpillar crawling around on the carrot leaves in the garden. I had recently watched an episode of “John and Kate plus Eight” where they caught caterpillars and watched them change into butterflies, and I did the same thing as a little girl. So, we caught this caterpillar and Bryn lovingly name it Wendy. We have had a great time watching it grow and grow and grow. Watching Wendy eat it is no wonder how a plant can be devoured in such a short time.

After about a week Wendy climbed up to the top of the jar and attached herself to a stick (I really don’t know if it is a Wendy or a Wendell, but we refer to it as a ‘her’ because Bryn would be devastated otherwise.) It seemed to take a couple days for this part of the process to complete, but we woke up one morning and Wendy was completely in a cocoon. For the next couple days we watched Wendy and noticed that it wasn’t a quiet process that was going on inside that cocoon. There was definite movement and ‘twitching’ going on. I was completely enthralled. The ‘twitching’ only happened for a day or so, then all was still.

Now it is about 2 weeks after Wendy went into a cocoon and this morning we woke up to a wonderful surprise. Wendy had come out of her cocoon and we had a beautiful butterfly. The kids and I were a little excited and maybe a little anxious because we weren’t sure what to do with her next. We took her out back and opened up the jar so she would be able to ‘be free’. Only I think we were a little premature in our actions. Wendy wasn’t quite ready to fly away. We watched her walk around on the patio for a few minutes, and we were able to get a few great shots of her spreading and drying her wings. She was quite beautiful. But it was obvious the patio was not where she wanted to be. So we got her popsicle stick and helped her into a bowl and carried her to the flowers out front. It didn’t take long to see that this was where she wanted to be. The kids and I just sat and watched. It was simply amazing.

Our tummies finally reminded us that we hadn’t eaten breakfast so we went inside and gave Wendy some privacy. A few hours later Tanner and I went out front to check on her. She had climbed to the top of the flowers and had her wings completely spread out. I had a chance to take one more picture then she was off. It caught us a bit by surprise, but it didn’t take her long to disappear.

Bryn was disappointed that she wasn’t able to see Wendy fly away, but came to peace with it when she remembered that Wendy was flying off to find her family. See the dark spot in the top right hand corner? That's our Wendy! Fly Wendy Fly!

And He's Off...

Well, kind of.

Can you believe it? This one is growing up a little too quickly for me.

p.s. an new obsession: Mario Kart Wii- anyone want to challenge?

Summer is Officially Over

Yesterday while I was getting my hair done I got a little teary eyed thinking about Tanner starting school again. So much so that I thought I'd go find him and just give him a big hug. I found him watching some cartoons, then I noticed that he had pudding all over his face...typical Tanner. Then I noticed he had pudding smeared all over his church pants! Huh, maybe it is a time for a little time apart. We love our Tan and we are sad to see him go back to school, but I think we will survive. He is a big 1st grader now and when we (tried) to walk him in to his class this morning, we were hardly able to keep up. He has grown up so much since beginning Kindergarten- it is exciting to see what this next year holds for him.

First day of Kindergarten

First day of 1st grade

And one more side note. A miracle happened at the Bench house this morning. All kids (and mom) were up, dressed, fed and out the door by 7:30. I never thought this would happen.

Utah Trip 2008

So we have returned from the land of dry, hot mountains to the land of humid, hot…well flatness. We had a wonderful trip to Utah. The kids and I flew out on the 1st of July. It was hard to leave Greg behind, but we were grateful that we had the chance to spend some time with family. Before we left on the flight I was so completely nervous about flying with 3 kids by myself. But I have to tell you we had angels flying with us. Somehow, everything worked perfectly. There were empty seats around us so Tanner could spread out and have some space; Kade took a couple of short naps; Bryn was entertained with her new Polly’s and most importantly- I didn’t loose anyone. But it was still a welcomed sight to step off the plane and see my dad waiting for us in the tunnel. Thank you Dad, I was ready for that.

My mom and sister, Casi were waiting for us at baggage claim and Tanner just about knocked my mom to the ground. Bryn tried to run as fast as she could but tripped and face planted it into the floor. (Visions of her knocking her other front tooth out flashed through my head, thank goodness she was fine.)

Riverton has their 4th of July parade on the 3rd, so the kids were able to enjoy that. Although I think it was the hottest parade I think I’ve ever sat through, and I came completely unprepared without any water. Thanks Jared for saving us on that one. I think our innards would have fried otherwise.

Right after the parade we headed up to my parents cabin, I was grateful for the cool air! I realized how much I have missed the cool crisp mountain air. We just don’t experience anything that could be categorized as cool or crisp. Arkansas air would fall some where along the damp and thick and stale categories.

We wanted to try to see some fireworks on the 4th so we headed back in to Evanston Wy. And man did we get a show! It was something like fireworks tripped out on crack. I think every resident in Evanston met up in a parking lot (of a high school, I think) and they all decided to let all their fireworks off at once. Now just imagine this, hundreds of people in one parking lot letting fireworks off at the same time, kids running through it all, fireworks being set off of bumpers, fireworks tipping over as they are igniting and shooting through the parking lot. Complete chaos. (For any of you who have read Kristy and Patrick’s blog, it is something I would have loved to have her write about.) Needless to say we parked on a side street because there was no way I was going to let my kids get hit by a firework shooting through the crowd. So we opened up the back of my parents Tahoe and watched.

While at the cabin Bryn was able to do all the things we talk about in her bed time stories: pick flowers, catch butterflies, go camping, ride four wheelers. Tanner found a new friend. My cousin Drew was there and Tanner quickly became his shadow. They had fun shooting BB guns and building forts…perfect things for boys. Kade was still getting used to new people at this point, but had fun getting to know his cousin, Logan, who is only 3 months older than him.

The next few days were spent playing with cousins in the water. It’s amazing how kids can stay occupied with water for so long.

While I was there I was able to meet up with 2 of my college room mates. Between the 3 of us we have 7 kids and I think next time we get together we will bring pictures of the kids and head to Mimi’s for dessert! J It was a lot of fun to get together with them and see them in their “mom” roles, but it was hard to relax and enjoy it all. I think they would agree too. I love you guys, it was great to see you again and I think we should make it a yearly deal.





On the 11th Bryn turned 3! She loves to have her birthday while we are in Utah because she gets to have parties with her cousins. This year she wanted a Princess/Swim party. For the longest time she just wanted a Swim Party, but as soon as we walked in Party City to get a few party supplies and she saw all the princess stuff, her mind was swayed. We had a lot of fun. Great Grandma Denney was even able to make it and spend some time with the kids. I think she threw Tanner off for a minute when she joined in on the water balloon fight! Thanks Grandma for being such a great sport. We were also able to celebrate Bryn’s birthday in Fairview with some of her cousins from the Bench side. I was so surprised at how much all of Andrea’s girls had grown this past year. They all had such long, long hair! It made me want to grow Bryn’s out. We’ll see if I can resist the urge to cut it when it comes. While down in Fairview the kids were able to have Grandpa Ralph take them on some horse rides. I am so proud of them and how fearless they are around the horses. It made me laugh when Bryn would scream and scream at any sight of Toby the dog, but would beg and beg to be put on the huge horse. The kids are born to ride. Tanner and Bryn even learned how to climb on the horse, with just the help of a crate to boost them up a bit. I have a short video clip of Tanner climbing on a horse, but I messed up when I turned the camera side-ways to film it, so you may have to tilt your head to watch this one.

The next Monday I was able to meet up with another great friend that I had in Saratoga Springs. Thanks Heidi for welcoming us to your home. You are always so sweet to us. You have beautiful kids and I miss being able to walk across the street to visit with you.

Tuesday was filled with a trip to the Living Planet Aquarium. Can I just say…well it wasn’t quite what I expected. But we did get to see some fish, a few jelly fish, an octopus, some small sharks and there was a sting ray petting area. No, none of us were brave enough to touch the sting ray. I was trying to talk Tanner into it, but he turned the tables and asked me to do it and I realized I was too chicken to do it too, so I quit pestering him.

Wednesday we were able to go visit Grandmas. It was so good to see them. I love my Grams’. They have always been a good example to me and I love visiting with them.

And Thursday I was able to meet with a good friend from Arkansas that actually moved into my old neighborhood in Harvest Hills. Jen it was so good to see you! I know it was a little crazy with the kids at the splash park, but I am grateful you hung in there with us… and I hope you were able to get a good nap in afterward.

To sum up the first 3 weeks, we kept ourselves busy and had a lot of fun. Mom, thanks for all the late night (after-the-kids-go-to-bed) shopping trips. I know they were short and mostly to Target or Wal-Mart, but I had a lot of fun and I know that you can still out-shop me. I love you! Dad, thanks for all the hanging out at the house after the kids go to bed so that mom and I could take our shopping trips. I love you too!

By the end of the 3 weeks we were all missing Greg pretty badly. The day before he flew in the kids spent a lot of it crying for him… it made me all the more grateful he was coming in the next day. I’m not sure we will voluntarily do the 3 weeks without Dad thing again. It was good to see him come off the plane.

The next morning we were able to meet up with some other great friends from Harvest Hills. Tony and Janis, thanks so much for meeting up with us. (Will you e-mail me the pictures you took of the kids and us?) We did have a great time and it was fun to see Tanner and Dallin pick up as if no time had passed at all. Janis, you look incredible! Tony, you… well, you’re ok, I guess. J You have a great family and we miss you guys. We’ll keep a check on ticket prices and you keep saving up your air miles. We’ll get you out here sooner than later. Although, I wouldn’t suggest August-time. Man, it was miserable hot/humid today.

Our week in Fairview went really quickly. As always the 24th was a blast. During the day we kept busy with the parade (my favorite part was when the fire trucks came down and sprayed us all to keep us cool), a great lunch, pool, slip-n-slide and washer-tossing game. Greg and I started slow on the washer-tossing game, but slowly built up momentum… good thing there aren’t any competitive spirits in the Bench Clan! That night we were able to go to the Demolition Derby. I know Tanner loves to go, but it is funny to watch him during the heats. He’ll just sit there and stare- he won’t say a thing, just take it all in. The rest of the week was full of trips to the mountains, horse rides and cousins. Kade was able to have his first horse ride too. He completely loved it! He got on without any complaints and they were off. When they came back Kade had the cutest little smile on his face, that said “I just did something fun!” and he was bouncing up and down. He is so stinkin’ cute!

Sunday we were able to go up to Carl’s house (Greg’s brother) and be there when he blessed their new baby. It was great to be able to participate in this because it is always hard when we know something like this is going on back home and we aren’t able to be there. We also tried to get a picture of all the cousins. There are 15 of them now, with four being born in the last 9 months. Kade is 9 months, Paige is 6 months, Carson is 3 months and Marley is 3 weeks. That spells trouble in about 3 years.

Monday we were able to celebrate Tanner’s birthday. Although his birthday isn’t until August, he feels a bit jipped when Bryn gets a party in Utah and he doesn’t. Tan had to celebrate it in “Speed Racer” style. Before the party on Monday one of my favorite things from the whole week happened. Greg and I were able to go on a 4 wheeler ride…without kids! I don’t think we’ve done that in about 6 years! Ralph took us along with Greg’s brother, Scott, for a tour of some mountain property they had purchased and I’ll tell you there is some beautiful land, full of fresh crisp air!

We always have so many pictures that I'll just put the rest in a slide show. Sorry for the long post, but it was a fun busy month!

We had a great-wonderful vacation and feel very blessed to have so many incredible people in our lives. Thank you to everyone!