Dudes Lunch

Our church meets in missional clusters.  We belong to the Greek Cluster which means we are pursing the Greek Students on the OU Campus.  We get to meet with students weekly and encourage them to live a life modeled after Jesus.  It is so encouraging to see God move through them and be a part of their lives.  One of the other great things is how much our kids LOVE the students!  The boys in our cluster have been named the "Dudes" by Port.  If they come over, our boys are completely confident that they came to see them and play the Three Musketeers.  (Thanks guys!)

This week some of they "dudes" called to see if they could hang out with Port.  They came and picked him up to take him to the park and have lunch.  I didn't tell him until Wednesday, but we talked about it ALL week.  Port had so much fun, before he took his nap he was telling me his plans for the next time.  He asked if Haynes could come next time!!!

Thanks Mark, Collin, Emery, and Scott for spending the afternoon with Port.  You are planting  seeds of what a man of God looks like to him.  We really appreciate your genuine love for our kids!  We are blessed beyond words by you guys!  Love you!

Ella tries Cereal

Tell us how you really feel...

Haynes just had to try some!

We can't hardly believe it, but Ella is four months old!  

We are slowly introducing her to food starting with rice cereal.  Her reaction was completely genuine...she thought/thinks it is AWEFUL!  Haynes was really excited to try it, until he actually tasted rice cereal and water.  We laughed at her dramatic facial expressions.  It is amazing how fast time flies when you are having fun! 

Baby Buttons Is Here!

Mommy and Asher Hugh Benton

Grandma's with Asher

Greek Family waiting to meet Asher

Our close friends Brooke and Alex Benton had their baby on Wednesday night at 8:04 p.m.  We were so excited to meet the Asher, Brooke's water broke on Tuesday night.  She did a great job!  They didn't tell his name until he was born and we LOVE it!  

Port named the baby Buttons since they wouldn't tell his name.  I think Baby Asher will go by Buttons for a while in our house!

Asher Hugh Benton

February 18th, 2009

8:04 p.m.

7 lbs. 7 oz.

21 inches

Thank you Jesus for a healthy baby!  What a blessing!

McKenna and Port

Smile...first bloody nose!

Buddies...no matter what!

Port and I go to BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) every Wednesday.  We go on a Breakfast Date to Panera, it is sooo fun!  After our class is over we head to JuJu's to pick up Haynes and Ella.  Usually McKenna, Kai, and Marce are spending the morning with JuJu too!  Port is always really excited to get to play when we get there.  

This week McKenna accidentally hit Port in the face with a bucket.  We couldn't figure out what had happened because both of them were crying SO hard!  I actually had to climb in the tree house and carry McKenna down because she was so sad.  We finally explained that Brian would be so proud that Port had his first bloody nose and it was really funny that it came from his "girl friend."  Fun memories!

Redding Trip

Mustang Memories

In-And-Out Burgers...Brian's Favorite

Ella's First Plane Ride

Brian and I took a weekend trip to Redding, California to visit Bethel church.  We took Ella with us, so this was her first plane ride...she was amazing as you would expect.  We were blessed to spend a few days loving on just her.  We have discovered that she LOVES to talk!  We don't remember the boys doing that, so this is the first of many realized differences between boys and girls.

We rented a Mustang (in memory of my first car) and drove from Sacramento to Redding.  We had a really refreshing weekend.  It was super exciting to see what God is doing in Redding!  The downfall of our weekend was that it rained the ENTIRE time!  We plan to go again, but we will probably go spring/summer time!!

I am super blessed to love traveling with my sweet husband.  Through out our trip we commented on how much we love our family.  Each of our children are amazing and I love my more husband all the time!  Thank you Jesus!

The Noles in Norman!

Play Date at the Mall

Dinner after Celebration

The Noles family has moved to Norman and we are SOO excited!  The boys love playing together.  It can go from calm to crazy in about 10 seconds!  We ate dinner at Rudy's after Celebration on Sunday night.  The boys decided to play hide-and-seek while the adults talked.  Thank goodness we were the only people in the restaurant!

It is super encouraging to see the Noles family responding to what God is speaking to them.  A move to Norman from Edmond has to be difficult, but we are so blessed by their presence in Norman.  We start soccer next week...Dax, Braxton, Sutton, and Port all on one team!! Uh-oh!  Good luck coach Daddy!

Valentines Day

Valentine's PJ's

Ella's First Valentine's Day

This year for Valentine's Day Brian and I will be in Redding, California.  We decided to celebrate Valentine's on Wednesday night before we left.  We started with a candlelight dinner in the living room.  The boys favorite dinner is a "Pizza Picnic" so we tried to make it a little more special.  Over dinner we went through each member of our family and gave different reasons why we love them.  

After dinner I planned a treasure hunt through the house.  We had a few gifts hidden...a game, paint set, and some blocks.  After the boys found the gifts we played with each one of them.  The last gift was new PJ's...so it was bath time!  

Brian and I are constantly commenting on how good God is!  We feel like our family is so blessed and we love having a fun family night.  Although I hate being gone from the boys on Valentine's day, I know they are feeling loved well by their family at home.