All about Owen

There are so many things that Owen cannot do, he will never walk, talk, throw a football, ride in a tractor and the list could go on and on.  With that list comes the very short list of what Owen can do and he does it so well and that is

SMILE!

He can make any bad day go away with just one little smile and we LOVE it!

This is the first time he smiled for the camera on purpose as a thank you for his birthday gift.  So cute!  Obiviously this was a long time ago...look at that double chin!



He was so happy with his primary lesson on prayer.



More smiles from Owen.  It doesn't take much to get one most days either, he is pretty generous with them.
As for his health, he continues to lose weight.  As I looked back at this picture I can see that the weight loss is noticeable now.  He is still as happy as ever and we will continue on as long as he is happy and comfortable. 
He had his annual doctors appointment, they are still amazed at how well he is doing.
He is one amazing little guy and I am so glad I am part of his life.



All about Bentley

Bentley likes to be the life of the party or anything that is going on for that matter, even if it is just dinner!  He is silly most of the time and I need to laugh more rather than try to get him to act proper.  In this picture we were trying to get some pictures of the tractor and feeder for a friend and this is how he wanted to be in the picture.

Then there is this side of Bentley, sweet and tender.

Most of all Bentley LOVES sports.  Football is his favorite and then wrestling, basketball and softball.

This was his last year in pee-wees and they handed out old singlets for the boys.  They were so excited.

Bentley and two of his buddies after the tournament in Randolph.

This year was a little crazy, wrestling and basketball happened to be at the same time.  He was on a team with some other classmates.  They went to a few tournaments and did pretty well.

This was one of Bentley 3 or 4 losses in peewee wrestling since kindergarten.  I think he did pretty well.  This kid was older and had wrestled jr. high and beat most of the kids there.

180 vs. 110
Oh my goodness, poor Bentley was the closest weight to this kid at the Cokeville tournament and he was huge.  Bentley did great and beat him but it was a work out.  He slept well that night!

I mentioned Bentley being silly but he is also a major teaser!  As we were taking pictures of our show lambs Bentley caught the runt and was doing a mock show with him.  He is always being funny or teasing someone, usually Abby or me.

Right now Bentley loves, sports, video games, his lambs and helping on the ranch. He has been counting down to jr. high football for at least a month.

All about Abby

I was going to do better this year at keeping up on the blog.  Well that is not happening so here is a catch up on Abby. 
Abby has been into baking, sewing and anything crafty the last year or so.  She wanted to make an apron, so we did.  Then about six months later she wanted to make a full apron, so we did.  Her and Lenn are showing them off as they made something in the kitchen.  Abby insisted that Lenn wear the other apron so it wasn't wasted.  She is so funny!

Abby had her daddy/daughter party for achievement days in February.  They chose an Indian theme.  We made a dress out of a gunny sack and then she painted it.

Modeling her Indian dress.

Then of course Lenn had to be funny!  Since it was an Indian theme and they were invited to dress up Lenn figured he would go as a cowboy.  Abby was NOT happy with this, in fact she was so unhappy with it she would not get her picture taken with him.  Lenn was just teasing her, what he does best, and left the gun and hat at home. She was much happier.

Abby and friends cheering on their brothers at a basketball game.

The 3rd graders had to do an oral presentation with a power point.  They all did very well,  I was impressed.  Abby did hers on horses, no surprise there.

Abby turns 9!  She was funny (again), her birthday party was after conference on Sunday and she insisted that her hair be all done and that she was 'fancy'.  This is what she wore all day, but it wasn't her party dress.

Her tangled cake.

Here is the party dress!  She was a princess.

The sign she made herself.  I saw her doing it and I told her I was going to and she said "Oh I didn't think anyone would make one for me."  She is the poster maker in the family.

She wrote me a note telling me she wanted an American Girl doll for her birthday and she wanted to buy it.  She said we wouldn't have to use one penny of ours.  She is quite the girl, I am not sure where she came from but she keeps us on our toes all the time.  She picked out 'Mckenna' and she loves her.  It was still a surprise because I kept telling her how expensive they are and I just wasn't sure.

Right now Abby is still into reading, clogging, animals, friends, crafts and pretty much anything. 

You would think it was Christmas around here!

I know it's March and not December but....Owen got an ipad and he loves it and so does everyone else! We hold his hand to use his fingers to do the work and loving it doesn't describe the joy we see on his face. We have really been blessed since Owen and this ipad is just another blessing. Owen qualified for the waiver program in Wyoming and that has made this possible.

Brother time! Owen loves his big brother especially when he spends time with him.

This is something new to us. I think it has been out for awhile but I just heard of it. It is Eagle Eyes. The electrodes on Owen's face make his eyes the mouse to the computer. Yesterday a guy came up to do an evaluation because I wanted to make sure it would be good for Owen before ordering it. He did really well but did not like the "monkey's jumping on the bed video". It is so funny to see him make up his mind and find a way to tell us. He loved the annoying banana song and the alien singing "I will survive" and then getting smashed by a disco ball at the end. He is all boy! He played that video over and over and it didn't take him long to restart it each time.

He work so hard for almost two hours! He was exhausted! He looked like he had just run a marathon when the guy left. Who knew it could be so much work? He did great and really enjoyed it, now we are going to see if there enough programs for Owen and then we will see about getting this program.

It is amazing what there is in technology.

The video is of Owen turning on the two videos all by himself. His eyes are the cursor and he has to control his eye movement enough to hit the target (picture) for the video to start. This was at the first so he was a little slower but he got really fast when he liked it.

Happy Birthday

You had a birthday, we shouted hooray

We got to sing to you all day.

One year older and wiser too

Happy birthday to Lenn!

Lenn's birthday was this week and I wanted to post something on or before but I didn't get to it so here is a late happy birthday. I wanted to try something new so I made him an ice cream cake and it turned out pretty tasty.

Lenn got to play with his animals all day to celebrate his birthday and then dinner and his cake that night.

Now for the pictures I have been wanting to post! Here is Lenn's winter growth and slowly it starts to go away.



Here is the new man of the house. We always gladly welcome him back in the spring. Although Bentley and Abby love it when he shaves it goofy and want him to keep it that way.
We always have plenty of silliness around here. We never have to worry about a dull moment!

But to be serious Lenn is quite the guy, I probably take him for granted more than I should but I try not too. He has learned to do a lot especially since Owen was born. He has had to step up and do more than his share and he has done great at it. He is a great Dad that loves his kids and wants to be involved. He takes Bentley and Abby whenever he can and they love to spend time with him too. The part I take most for granted is that he wants to be involved with Owen. I thought that was normal but so many people at Primary's were surprised when Lenn wanted to learn all about Owen and take part in caring for him. I am grateful that he has always been involved with all of our children and that he is such a great Dad to them.