BIAU Race '09 and Lagoon

I feel really close to the other families with disabled children we've come to know over the years. I don't know if those other parents share in this sentiment but, for me, I truly feel an immediate kinship and love for them. It takes one to know one. And while I have wonderful friends and family who are immensely supportive and just plain wonderful, I tend to feel a bit apart from them because they can't understand what my day to day life is like with Hunter. It is so comforting to be with other people who just get it. The gut-wrenching, amazing, exhausting, rollar coaster-ness of the whole experience. We met Charlie via the blog while he was at Primary Children's fighting for his life two winters ago. We met him, his big brother and his awesome parents in real life at the BIAU race last year. It was great to see them at the race again this year. We only spent a couple of minutes together, but it was worth the effort we made to get our butts out of bed that early on a Saturday. Charlie is an angel, just like Hunter.
How do you like those matching expressions? I think both of them are mad the sun is right in their eyeballs.
This is how Eleyna spent most of the "race".
Jocey, Jon, Janeen and Sarah (Jon's fiance) all came out to support too. Thanks guys!
After we got the "hard" work of racing out of the way, it was off to Lagoon!!!
This was Bryson's Mother's Day gift to me. I've been after him to take me to Lagoon since we got married. Come to find out, my husband is scared of amusement park rides! He giggled like a little girl on the Spider ride. It was hilarious and adorable. Kind of like Jocey's face in this picture. :)
Awwww, daddy daughter! I have such a great husband.
Hunter and Eleyna did great considering the longness of the day. They were absolutely exhausted by the end.

Go Utes!

I have such a great dad. For the past two years he has been studying up at the U of U to get his Executive MBA. He graduated on May 8th! We all went up to see him get his diploma. It was fun to be able to celebrate this with him. He's always there, quietly supporting his kids in all their activities, and it was nice to reverse things for a moment and focus on him. I feel really lucky to have such a wonderful father.

3rd birthday celebrations - Part 2

Who doesn't love a party at Classic Skating??? We thought Classic would be a sweet spot to have the little man's birthday party because we could push him around in the rink. Coming up with a party activity that allows Hunter to participate is tough. Hunter's cousin Kyser was kind enough to co-host this shindig, since her birthday is only five days after Hunter's.

Annie, Amy and Will, our long lost friends from Orem, came to celebrate with us.Poor Janeen fell and smacked her head right after we arrived and was out of commission for the rest of the night. She was a trooper to try and rollar skate in the first place. Dad and Hunter cruising around the rink.

Not really sure why I'm throwing out the peace sign here. It felt appropriate in the moment.

Grandma and Uncle Jon, who happens to be sporting a flannel. Nice.

What a cute little family! :)
Cousin Kyser and Hunter
A smiley birthday boy.
Cupcakes-yummy!

3rd birthday celebrations - Part 1

I've crossed back over the river Styx from the blogging Underworld, and I have to say, it is nice to be back among the virtual living! There are so many posts to catch up on! I left ya'll (Laura has been rubbing off on me) hangin' with promises of an account of Hunter's 3rd birthday parties-I say parties, for there were several. First up, we enjoyed a delicious dinner at Olive Garden with the Durrants.

Hunter got a very special present from Big "D" which included a letter and "the best basketball money can buy".

Hunter was spoiled with a heap of clothes from Grandma and his aunts and uncles. Who took this picture anyway?

Dede, Grandma, Grandpa, Daddy-o and the birthday boy

The whole gang

Busy Bennetts

April has been a very busy month. To kick it off there was General Conference. Bryson's grandparents came down from Idaho to spend the weekend. On Saturday night the boys went to Priesthood while us girls went out to dinner at Los Hermanos. Then, on Sunday we had lunch at Tyler and Leigh's home with everyone. It was nice to be able to visit and listen to the inspired talks. Leigh put these cute flowers in Eleyna's hair while we were there on Sunday. She is finally getting enough hair to have fun with.The following weekend we got to celebrate Easter. Grandma Janeen had Easter egg baskets for everyone (even the married couples) hidden around the house and a yummy Sunday dinner prepared. She hid some eggs in the backyard for the grandkids to "hunt" for too. Eleyna wasn't that interested, but she really liked grandma's swing.Easter is such a special time for us. Our family will always be eternally grateful for the Atonement and Resurrection of the Savior.During Spring break we got to spend a day with the Durrants in Park City at their Marriot timeshare. We went snowboarding at the Park City resort in the afternoon and it was dumping snow-in April! It was a brutal day for a beginner like me, to say the least, but we had a good time. Thanks to Mom and Dede for being my bestest babysitters.Big D (also known as my dad) stops by in the evenings sometimes on his way to/from the church and bishop duty. Eleyna loves reading books with her grandpa before bed.Lastly, we got to pick up my sister Laura from her mission this past Monday. She served in McCallen, Texas. It was so wonderful to be reunited with her. She was a great missionary and we're so proud of her!This is Hunter and I waiting anxiously at the airport for the plane to arrive.Laura and Eleyna finally meet!Hunter loves his Auntie Lala.

We also celebrated Hunter's 3rd birthday in April but I've got so many pictures that I'm going to dedicate a separate post to all the festivities. To be continued... :)

Birthday on the way

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Hunter turns 3 on Tuesday. I'm so grateful we've been able to spend another year with him.

I'm glad I took the time to put this video together for his birthday again. It is so easy to get caught up in the day-to-day blah of life. But when I take the time to step back and absorb everything in perspective, singular days come together to form a very special whole. It is gratifying to see what I've been "doing" with my life and know that it is good. Of course, I can't claim all of the credit on this front. Bryson is in the trenches with me day after day and I couldn't ask for a better companion.

I can't really explain my feelings about the song I used in this video. All I know is it is quintessentially Hunter.

Our little vampire baby

I love Eleyna's smile right now. Her two bottom teethies came in first and I just assumed that the next ones to arrive would be her front two. This was not the case. She got her upper lateral incisors-the two teeth on either side of where her front teeth will eventually be-instead. She looks kind of like a little vampire. It is pretty cute and funny.
Our other big news is, she's walking! Granted she only manages a couple of very wobbly steps at a time, but it is still totally thrilling. She is only 10 months old too. Yea yea yea for 'Leyna!

Eleyna and Bry playing/taking pictures. I love her smile in the last one. Such a happy girl!