Tuesday, October 21, 2014

A Whirlwind of a Post: August 2014

We made it to August. I was once again a wonderful month spent outdoors a lot of the time and keeping this cute kid entertained and busy!
Our neighbors have some dirt and a potting area where you can plant and Bennett loves digging in it and taking rocks and filling their watering pail.
One of the coolest things ever is that BYU opened up the football field to everyone one night and did a showing of Remember the Titans! How appropriate, right? We got there and laid our blankets out right towards the front of the field so we had a good view of the screen. We dressed Bennett up in his PJ's and hoped he would fall asleep so we could enjoy it.
 Bennett loved running around the stadium before the movie started!
 Just minutes before the movie started. We gave Bennett his glass of milk and he was excited to see the movie on the screen for a little bit but he didn't last too long sitting there. Aaron ended up pushing him around in the stroller around the stadium and he eventually fell asleep in his stroller. We then parked him by our blanket and enjoyed the movie the rest of the night!
 Carlie had a couple days between when Summer Term ended and when Fall Semester started and so her and Hudson joined us one day as we ventured out to Thanksgiving Point to attend one of their $2 Tuesday deals. It was SO busy and so we ended up deciding to go the least busy exhibit, the Farm, and Bennett didn't mind.
 We explored inside first and Bennett loved running around, seeing all the cool real and not real animals...
 We then went outside and Bennett got up close and personal with the animals and even tried to crawl underneath the bars to get in their cages. We had to quickly catch him.
 We took a tractor ride around the farm. Don't let the boys faces fool you...they loved it! Everything is so much better and much more fun with your sister and cousin around!
 Bennett loved playing in the little houses they had and seeing more animals. Unfortunately not too long after we got there it started to rain and then completely downpour! We were soaked from head to toe and had to run our boys to the car! Hopefully next time Bennett can ride one of the horses! 
Another fun Summer activity was going to the Splash Pad. I didn't brave getting dressed up and so I sent Bennett in by himself and he did pretty good. He loves water, being outside and other kids and so it was a great activity for him.
We have also had rec center passes this summer which we have LOVED! Bennett and I went swimming at least every other day there and then we would occasionally go to the play place, the indoor basketball courts and the other fun activities they have.
 My parents came back into town the 2nd week of August for my cousin Lindsey's wedding. We loved having them here for just a short 24 hours!
 All my pics of the family and wedding are on my nice camera so I will save that for another post but it was fun for Carlie and I to drive into Salt Lake with my parents and attend the wedding and then the boys brought the other boys in for the luncheon and rest of the festivities. We grabbed some fries and rootbeer before the reception which Bennett LOVED! Bennett LOVES rootbeer and so it's a good thing that we rarely ever have it, ever! He gulped that drink down so fast!
This summer Bennett was tested and qualified for the Provo Early Intervention Program for his speech. At 12 months we discovered he had fluid in his ears and so we kept an eye on it and it eventually went away but it has slowed down his speech development and understanding of speech. Through the program we get a wonderful speech therapist who comes to our home every 2 weeks to work with and really just play with Bennett and help him with his speech. She gives me great tips and things to work on to help him and we have been so impressed with how well he has done and how much he has improved! They also do monthly activities at the park with the others participating in the program and here is one in which we attended...I love it because all the activities are so age appropriate for the kids.
 More fun at the rec center with dad...
Bennett has discovered marshmallows in certain cereals and decided they are way more delicious than the other parts and so he will ask me to pull out just the marshmallows for him to snack on. One day I discovered that he decided to take matters into his own hands and he dumped out almost the whole bag and started picking out the marshmallows one by one and eating them. Haha.
 We went to take Aaron lunch one day at work and Bennett loved his little office. He jumped on the computer and went right to work!
Aaron was also "featured" on BYU's homepage in August. Him and some others from his office were asked to dress up in running gear and run up and down a field while they got some good shots of them running and pretending to use an app for an article. Nice hair Aaron! ;)
 Towards the end of August we went up the Hansa Haus in Huntsville, Utah to spend the night with Grandpa and Grandma Hansen. Unfortunately...but it actually may have been a blessing...it poured rain the whole time we were there so we didn't get to spend much time outside (so Bennett didn't have the chance to jump into the river or run down the road). We always love visiting though and more family came and we enjoyed a nice dinner with everyone and of course some card games!
 Cousins in matching PJ's.
 The last week of August Aaron and I attended FOL (Foundations of Leadership) which is for some incoming Freshman at BYU at Aspen Grove. They are put into groups with leaders where they have lessons, games, devotionals and other fun activities for about 3 days. Aaron and I got to attend as the "Special Ops" team and help oversee the activities and get things going and people where they needed to be. It was such a fun getaway for us (especially because our 3 year anniversary was just a couple days before!)
 We got our own room in one of the lodges and we loved spending time in the beautiful mountains!
 It was also fun for me to visit my old "stomping grounds". I worked at Aspen Grove in the dining hall in between my freshman and sophomore year at BYU. 
 We had so much fun participating in all the activities planned and then enjoying some free time as well to use the facilities at Aspen Grove. We discovered a cool underground wally-ball court and tested it out. 
 It was fun to see Aaron in action promoting the Student Alumni association as they had a fair to inform the students about the ways to get involved on campus and the different organizations they can volunteer with.
 More fun during free time.
 Bennett was lucky enough to be watched by Grandma Hansen and they did all sorts of fun activities, including going to the Zoo.
They also got ice cream, accidentally played in the splash pad, ate out and played so much. He is one lucky boy to be loved so much and we are so lucky for the chance to get away for a couple days while he was in such good hands.
 While my mom was here she also bought us a bug box of delicious Utah peaches and her and Grandma Wray peeled them for us. Between the Bush's and us we each got 8 bags of frozen delicious peaches that we were thrilled to have. Thanks for all your hard work!
Bloggin' With The Butlers