House is SOLD!!

5138 Kingston Pl NW

Rochester, MN 55901

We absolutely LOVE our home in Rochester, Minnesota.  I feel like we had some divine intervention in getting us here. Our neighbors are such great people and friends, it's a safe and friendly neighborhood, close to everything we need, and just has a fun atmosphere to it.  Our house has fit us perfectly-- some of my favorite things about this house is the amount of storage, the big backyard, big kitchen, the basement, and more than anything all the wonderful memories we have with our family and friends.  We will miss living here--- you have been so good to us.

It's going to be rough leaving this place--- it's a little piece of paradise with our wonderful home, friendly neighbors, and our dear friends who have become family. Sad that this chapter has to close.

Benson's 7th Birthday PARTY!

Chuck-E-Cheese Birthday Party!

Benson decided he wanted to have his birthday party at Chuck-E-Cheese's this year. I was all for it. We had an awesome party-- with a enderman head cake (from his favorite game minecraft).  We were lucky and had the store to ourselves for the first hour. The kids had a ton of fun and played their hearts out.

During the party the birthday kid gets to go into the "ticket blaster".  They turn the machine on and you have 35 seconds to try and get as many tickets as you can while they are flying all over you. There is one ticket that is worth 1,000 tickets! Benson was super smart and figured out if he put his arms on the glass right above the fan then all the tickets would gather and then he could sweep them up when the machine turned off.  He ended up with 1,550 tickets-- the most our party helper said he had ever seen anyone get.  He was impressed with Benson's technique and said he was the first to come up with that technique.  Of course Benson was thrilled to hear he had the highest number of tickets! His friends who attended the party were: Max Allen, Carson Wilcox, Ryan May, & Avery Esplin.

Benson's 7th Birthday

Benson's 7th Birthday!

5 Things we LOVE about Benson:

1. Benson loves the gospel. He pays a lot of attention in primary and at home because when you ask him hard questions he can almost always come up with a tender response. He loves Jesus and wants to do what is right.  His testimony is pure and his intentions are to do good and please our Heavenly Father.  He's a good kid!

2. He is really good at zoning in and getting tasks done. He can sit at the piano and go through his lesson without stopping and getting distracted. He puts his best foot forward and gets the job done (so he can go play--he LOVES to play!).

3. He LOVES his Mom and Sister! If I show up to his class without Kate they will always say, "where's Kate?"! His teacher said Kate is a celebrity in their classroom because Benson talks about her often.  He also takes great pride in making sure his Mamma is happy. He holds the door for me, gives me extra hugs, will think of me before he thinks of himself…example: he asked for a chocolate cake because it's my favorite.  He's such a sweet boy!

4. He truly LOVES life. He is a simple kid and doesn't need a lot to be entertained or happy. He finds ways to laugh and loves to make jokes. He has a darling imagination and a great sense of humor. LIVE, LAUGH, LOVE is a great definition of Benson.

5. His love for Math. Benson has an amazing math mind.  I would credit some of that to him having diabetes and listening to us talk about numbers his whole life.  His teacher was able to get 4 computers in their classroom because she didn't have a way to push him.  He understands concepts that kids twice his age are struggling with. One of our favorite dinner time talks is giving him hard math problems and having him figure them out.  He gets so excited when he comes up with "tricks" for multiplying double digit numbers.  One of my favorite looks is when he gets a hard math problem and his eyes and cheeks light up-- it's pure joy.

We love you Benson. We are so proud of you and are blessed to have you in our family.

Love,

Mom

Family Birthday party-- March 26th

For his actual birthday Tanner and I went to his school to bring treats.  Tanner was excited all morning to go to "Ben Ben's party".  Benson was sweet and "invited" Tanner to come. It made Tanner feel good.  We took ice cream bowls to celebrate with his classmates.  After his class ate we went to the office and gave come ice cream to his buddies-- Elaine (school nurse), Denise (secretary) and the other office ladies.  They all take such great care of Benson. We are blessed to have him attending Gibbs school.

After school he played with the Frei girls while I taught piano lessons and then we went out to dinner at Culver's.  It was delicious and fun. The people next to us found out it was his birthday and gave him $2.00! It was such a thoughtful act-- Benson was surprised and felt pretty special.  We went to Walmart after so he could spend his $2.00 and so Reece could buy him a present.  I thought it was kind of cute because this year I bought the family gifts on my own and so Reece didn't get to pick out a present for Benson. He whispered in my ear during dinner, "Mom, can I go to the store and get Benson a present?" It was thoughtful and sweet of Reece.  They are lucky to have each other as brothers.

We came home and had cake and ice cream. The boys get excited to light their own candles for their cake.  Benson did a great job and lite them all-- and then blew them all out! We ended the night watching March Madness as a family. It felt like a magical day-- we are so blessed to have our little family and to be able to share these moments with each other. 

 Our wonderful nurse and good friend-- Elaine

Pictures by Sarah

One of my best friends from High School came over to my parents house to take pictures of our family for Christmas.  For the most part they turned out great-- Tanner looks absolutely hilarious-- but he's still dang cute! My favorite might have to be the one with Kate on the Steinway Piano!! Oh, could you ask for two more beautiful things? I think not.  Love Love Love!

Tanner--church suit

Tanner is so funny on Sunday's.  He wants to be just like his Daddy.  He helps Spencer get dressed and then wants to wear his suit and tie like Daddy.  He thinks he is the king when he has his suit on.  He is the youngest kid in primary because his birthday is late in the year.  I was worried that he wouldn't be able to sit for that long-- but he has LOVED primary and has done really well.  He sits, listens, and participates.  Then he comes home and tells us all about it (talking so fast you can't understand what he's saying).  He tells us that he "sang songs in big class, sat on sunbeam in little class, and learned about Jesus". Our precious and handsome Sunbeam!