Benson at 8 months and our September

 Our little ginger is 8 months old! Actually, he's not so little anymore. He weighs 19 1/2 pounds and is wearing 12 month size clothing. His latest accomplishments are pulling himself up to stand, crawling without using his elbows, and saying Mama and Dada all of the time. I can tell he is trying hard to communicate with us with his lines of consonants and vowels and grunts and squeals. His top front teeth are finally making an appearance after a month of teething. Benson loves balls, standing, swinging, and chasing Brig around the house. I will put Benson down and he will crawl as fast as he can to Brig's room if he is in there playing. Benson has a double ear infection at the beginning of the month. He thankfully escaped the pneumonia and bronchitis that the rest of caught later in the month. We are finally all feeling better.

The boys in their matching suits and bow ties.

We stopped in Choteau to see the dinosaurs and eat ice cream at the Old Trail Museum. Brig thought the dinos were "awesome" but he wouldn't go near the triceratops because it was too scary.

Labor Day weekend we had a fun day with Papa Moo Moo and Nana riding bikes and 4 wheelers down to the Gibson Dam. It was mostly downhill and a peaceful ride with the wind in our ears and the aroma of pine trees in the air. We ate a picnic lunch at Sawmill Flats and Brig decided to go skinny-dipping in the creek. Brrrr. We hiked to the top of the dam and had a look around.

He's practicing up!

We had a fun day picking pumpkins, playing games and seeing the farm animals at the fall festival.

This was our last nice day at Canyon Ferry. Brig and Jared played in the water while Bens and I relaxed in the sand. We are sad to see summer go.

Brig started going to preschool once a week with six of his friends. The moms and I take turns hosting it at our houses. We focus on one letter a week. Brigham just loves it!

The boys and I took a trip to Missoula to play with the cousins. We went for an evening ride along the river trail. We ate some Mcdonalds at a park along the way. We didn't go too far due to the fact that Benson hated the bike trailer and cried the whole time.

It's been raining the last couple of days. We like to go outside and pick up the worms!

Benson's Sealing and Blessing

How do I describe these special events in a way that you will understand how happy they make us? One year ago, we were unsure of our future of being parents to more than one child. We decided to finish up the adoption application papers and wait to see what would happen. Little did we know that we would soon be blessed with a little bright-eyed, red haired boy. We anxiously awaited the day that we could go to the temple together. On Saturday, August 23rd, Benson was sealed to our family in the Billings, MT temple. It was a very rainy day but we had lots of family and friends travel there to see us. There was nothing better than kneeling across the alter from Jared and watching our sons be brought into the sealing room. Benson was wearing his white suit and was given to Grandma W. so she could hold him at the alter. Brig walked reverently into the room and smiled at us and sat next to Grandma H. Brother Carpenter from our ward performed the sealing. And of course I cried a lot. Benson gave me the biggest smile and loved looking up at the beautiful chandelier. Then we stood up and looked into the mirrors together.

The second verse of "I Love to see the Temple" has special meaning to us:

I love to see the temple

I'll go inside someday

I'll covenant with my Father

I'll promise to obey

for the temple is a holy place

where we are sealed together

as a child of God 

I've learned this truth

a family is forever!

Afterwards, our large group went out to eat at the Golden Corral. Here is Grandpa Ray Weishaar and Jared's Aunt Val.

I tried doing a 4 generation picture but it was nearly impossible trying to get all of them to look at the camera at once!

The following day Benson was blessed in church by Jared. Those in the circle were Grandpa H, Grandpa W, Jake, Dylan, great grandpa Heagy, Mark Schoenfeld, Nate Winward, and Chad Guymon. It was a short but sweet blessing because Benson was so squirmy and sat up and tried to escape! Benson, you have a bright future ahead of you with lots of people here to love and support you!