Catching Up!

It's been a little while since I've blogged, and I have lots to catch up on! Some big, fun events have occurred including Benjamin's amazing second birthday, Halloween, and Thanksgiving! The time has been flying by and our family is doing so great! Let's start out by talking about Benjamin's 2nd "on the farm" birthday!

I had so much fun planning this party! I started collecting ideas about a month in advance, and we quickly decided that the perfect location for this farm party would be at his favorite place - the family farm in Ethan! He already loves going out there with his Papa to drive the tractor, 4-wheeler, and lawn mower. It turned out to be a perfect party, with all his family members invited. Nani, Papa, Pops, Roy, Grandpa, Rara, Auntie Amy, Auntie Becky, Brandon and Grandma Garton all came to celebrate. We had a huge feast of delicious fried chicken and sides, a chocolate birthday cake, cupcakes, fruit and milk served in cute glass bottles with striped green straws. We had the place decorated with toy farm equipment, decorations, and giant tractor balloons. We ate dinner, opened gifts, and enjoyed watching Benjamin have the time of his life! He got some great gifts, including a giant construction set from Grandpa and Rara, a big tool bench from Nani and Papa, an awesome green tractor from Pops and Fay, an assortment of toy vehicles, books and games from Becky and Brandon, a remote control car and clothes from Amy and Dax, books from Katie and Brian, books from Grandma and Grandpa Tjarks, a stuffed horse from Grandma Garton, wooden blocks and a table/chairs from Mom, and a train set from Dad. HOWEVER... Let it be recorded that this gift-opening process was not what you'd expect! Benjamin was so funny... He started out opening some smaller things - the little vehicles from Becky and Brandon... And inside that box was a little toy garbage truck. And let me tell you, after that was discovered, he had absolutely NO idea he received any other gifts that day! Haha! The only way we could get his attention or a picture was if we asked him to show us his garbage truck! We all got a good laugh, and he eventually realized that he received other big, elaborate gifts, which he now loves! It was a red letter day for that birthday boy! He was so cute and so excited that it was his birthday!!! He totally got that concept and kept talking about it for days and days.

Grandma and Grandpa Tjarks

Birthday balloons!

With Papa on the tractor

Birthday dessert table

Cute, huh?!

Birthday cake, made my me

Dressed for the part!

My Mom and sisters

Grandpa and RaRa

Party guests!

Becky and Brandon congratulating themselves for giving a great present!

Grandma Garton

Nani and Papa (Notice what's in Benjamin's hand...)

Again, with the garbage truck

Auntie Amy... and the garbage truck

Soon after his birthday came Halloween, my favorite holiday, and it quickly became Benjamin's new favorite. We stayed busy decorating the house, buying lots of Halloween stickers, purchasing a costume (Superman!), watching kid-friendly Halloween movies, hosting a Halloween lunch with our friends, and making plans for the big night! We started out baking Halloween sugar cookies, which ended up being much more enjoyable for me than the two boys... Oh well! We then started our evening by doing some early trick-or-treating around our neighborhood with my friend Heather and her two kids, Tavin and Matilda, aka Benjamin's besties. :) We both had other plans  that night so we took the kids out early, maybe a little too early, because pretty much nobody was home from work yet! We maybe had ONE door open for us in each building, and half of those people didn't have candy! (WHAT?) So to keep everyone's spirits high, we would go back to our front door after every unsatisfactory building, knowing that daddy would be there in his costume with a big bowl of candy! The kids did a GREAT job ringing doorbells and yelling "trick-or-treat!" It was too cute. Benjamin also told everyone he saw, "happy Halloween!" 

After trick-or-treating, we headed over to Becky and Brandon's house for our Halloween party! We had a big party spread and even had some surprise guests: Grandpa and Rara! Benjamin's job was to answer the door for trick-or-treaters, which he did with incredible excitement, as he held out the big bowl of candy and told everyone both "trick-or-treat" and "happy Halloween!" We even took him for a walk around the neighborhood, and he quickly realized how much fun it is to knock on doors, take other people's candy and listen to them go on about what a cute Superman you make! We had SO 
much fun, and are planning to make that a tradition again next year!

Halloween cookies!

BOO!

May or may not be wearing a dog Halloween costume... It was an emergency trick-or-treating session in Mitchell and the store was out of his size!!! Haha

SUPERMAN!

Doctor Mom, Nurse Dad, and Super Benjamin!

Crashed after a very exciting Halloween night

Trick-or-treating around the neighborhood

With Tavin and Matilda on Halloween

Bottom picture - Tavin photo-bombing our family picture :)

November came and flew by, and soon enough Thanksgiving was right around the corner. We went to Mitchell and had a total of three Thanksgiving dinners - one with the Garton clan, one with the Tjarks clan, and the last at my parents' house with the Haiar-Garton clan. Oh, we feasted. It was glorious. The Garton Thanksgiving was very traditional, with the turkey,  mashed potato casserole, and broccoli cheese. The Tjarks Thanksgiving was over the top, with a succulent prime rib in lieu of turkey (GOOD choice!) The Haiar-Garton Thanksgiving was also delectable, and slightly different since we vegetarian-ized most all the dishes. (We must remember to repeat Amy's spicy stuffing and my stuffed mushrooms next year!) The best part of the holiday, however, was having all of our family home. We got to spend time with Pops, Fay and Daniel. Best of all, Amy AND the illusive Dax came, and it was so fun to have everyone together. We have the best families. :)

The Thanksgiving turkey veggie tray

Benjamin has done some growing up since I last posted! We have made HUGE strides with his separation anxiety! He now LOVES school and can't wait to go and see his two friends, Jazzy and Cohen, and his teachers, Miss Katie and Miss Darlene. It is so fun to see him get really excited about being somewhere "new." He's also doing really great with Primary at church! Whew! (Never thought that was going to happen!!!) His personality is just growing and flourishing. He's become so friendly and polite with everyone, including strangers. He says hello and goodbye to every store clerk we see, and my favorite memory is when he was running past two ladies in Target when he stopped, turned to face them, said "excuse me", and then kept on his way. Those ladies about died of his cuteness. He has a great sense of humor! He's talking quite perfectly these days, in long sentences that are for the most part, grammatically correct! He asks lots of questions, gives TONS of commands, and comments on absolutely EVERYTHING. (I've had my first highly embarrassing public bathroom experience, thank you Benjamin, Mr. Commentator...) He's eating really well and is good about trying new foods, although he's still a teeny little thing, weighing 22 lbs last we checked. He LOVES to help me cook in the kitchen. He gets on his "up-stool" and pours, stirs, sprinkles and taste-tests everything for me. His specialty is scrambled eggs with cheese. (He cracks, stirs, and sprinkles cheese. PROFESSIONAL chef, I say.) Tractors, trains and cars are still his favorite things in the world. He's finally gotten some new teeth! His top two eye teeth are about halfway in, and the bottom two are on their way! He helps me do lots of chores now, singing the clean-up song the whole time, and also helps do the laundry and throw away trash. He has every single lullaby I sing memorized, which is my FAVORITE thing in the world. His little voice is strong and sure, even though he doesn't quite realize where the pitches are supposed to be! :) Besides verses and verses of lullabies, he sings almost every other nursery rhyme, and we've now started on Christmas carols.  He loves to read, and his favorite book is Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle.  He has the whole stinkin thing memorized. He counts past 20, knows the whole alphabet, reads analog clocks when it's on the hour, loves to stack blocks, runs and jumps, screams and has a crazy old man laugh,  loves and kisses, talks your ear off, and still thinks Mickey Mouse is his hero. Benjamin Joel Tjarks is the most amazing boy in the world.

Our family has been so blessed with an amazing year so far. With one month left to go, I'd say 2012 has been a huge success. Joel is enjoying medical school now that he's out of the classroom and in the hospitals! I am cherishing every moment at home with my boy, and Benjamin is growing up and becoming a wonderful, sweet and happy little man. We couldn't be prouder of him. We're all looking forward to the Christmas season and the chance we have to celebrate the birth of our Savior and spend more time with our loved ones. Until then...!

Nani and Papa

Kisses

Laughing with Nani on his birthday

Thumbs up!

Twins

Sweet face

Driving the antique tractors

Cooking with Mama

Riding the train at the pumpkin patch

Mom, RaRa, and Benjamin

Meow

Pumpkin patch with Nani

With RaRa and Grandpa

Model

Sweet pumpkin face

Just talking about life with Tavin

Pretending to sleep

With Miss Katie, his teacher

In front of school!

Reading his favorite book

Edging on TWO YEARS OLD!!!

Since my last post, the weather has turned a little chillier and school is in session... It's officially Fall in my book, and I'm really excited about it! This is my favorite time of the year! It also means that Benjamin boy will soon celebrate his 2nd birthday! WOW!!! Where did the time go? He's been the most fun little man in our house, and he's really acting like such a big boy. I suppose it's time for the birthday to come so we can officially call him a 2-year old. We've had a great month around here. August ended pretty uneventfully, but we enjoyed the last of the warm weather outside at the playgrounds in our apartment complex. We've gotten to be friends with some neighbors and their kids, so that's been nice!

September brought some exciting news: Benjamin was accepted to attend Early Head Start school, a classroom-based pre-preschool for ages 18 months - 3 years. He goes every Wednesday and Thursday from 8 - 11:30 AM. He's one of three kids (Cohen and Jazlyn are his classmates), and his teachers are Miss Katie and Miss Darlene. So far, he LOVES it! I've had to stay with him the whole time every day, but he's getting more and more comfortable with the classroom, the schedule, and his teachers and friends. I'm hoping that soon enough I can drop him off for that period of time and have 3.5 hours ALL TO MYSELF!!! I could get seriously caught up on some chores with that kind of free time! :) Anyway, they really are great with the kids. Here's the daily schedule:

 8 AM - Welcome to school! Free play with the many, many toys and games in the classroom. Benjamin especially loves the slide, building blocks, and toy cars.

 8:15 AM - Time for breakfast! The kids line up to wash their own hands (with assistance), dry them, and sit down at a little table that's been set with real plates, cups, napkins, and silverware. Miss Darlene brings in a cart of breakfast food, with everything on its own serving plate. The kids practice serving themselves and passing the dishes, using tongs to pick up foods like English muffins or waffles and miniature serving spoons to scoop fruit and vegetables. Each child also has his own tiny pitcher filled with milk. They pour their own milk into little cups to drink from. (That's Benjamin's favorite part - he loves using a big boy cup!) They are taught to eat nicely and quietly while staying in their chair until everyone is done. :) We're still working on that!!! After breakfast, the kids take their plates and cups to a clean-up station where they scrape their own plates clean, throw away garbage, dump any extra milk, and put their dishes away in the correct bins. Then they wipe their own table clean and get ready to brush their teeth! Tiny cups of water and pea-sized squirts of toothpaste are ready to go while the kids grab their own toothbrush. Then they practice brushing their teeth and tongue, sip, spit, and wipe their mouths clean. Then... it's time to play!

 8:45 - 11:00 AM - After a scheduled diaper check/change, the rest of their morning is full of activities, games, and toys. They spend time outside (weather permitting), and play soccer, hula hoop, and use the the playground equipment. Inside, there's always a fun art project, lots of books, and organized play. The teachers do a great job with the kids; the small class size is really ideal for this age! Benjamin is fitting right in! They really work hard to make assessments of each individual and cater a program specifically for that child. They focus on skills like social-emotional, fine motor, sensory, etc... Benjamin's still really new so they're still learning about him, but I'm quite sure they're realizing what a little smarty pants he is! :)

 11:00 AM - The kids wash hands again and sit down for lunch! The routine is the same, and when they're done dumping plates they have free play for the remaining time until the parents come to pick the kids up! What a day! So far, school has been a hit. It's a year-round program, and once he turns 3 he'll be eligible to graduate right on up to the regular Head Start program. Since he's never been to daycare, I feel like this type of program is a great way for him to catch up on his social skills and get comfortable with the idea of being around other kids and adults for short periods of time. We feel very lucky to have this in our community!

 Besides school, Benjamin is flourishing at home. He's super active and incredible talkative! He sings all the time now, and knows tons of songs! He loves nursery rhymes the best, including Itsy Bitsy Spider, Twinkle Twinkle, Pussy Cat, Baa Baa Black Sheep, 3 Blind Mice, and Ring Around the Rosie. I've also realized he knows almost every word to all the lullabies I sing to him nightly... he's started singing along, and I CAN'T STAND IT, it's SO CUTE!!! It takes everything out of me not to bust up giggling with delight at how cute, sweet, and sort of scraggly his little voice sounds. Benjamin can count to 20 and he also knows all the letters of the alphabet. He loves to draw, sing, dance, play with trucks and cars, watch Mickey Mouse, and visit the playground. He's just beginning to communicate with me about his bowels... he's even gone poopy in the potty a few times!

We had our first experience with surgery yesterday, when Benjamin had a plugged tear duct opened. It was a very simple procedure, but they had to put him under anesthesia, which made me a nervous wreck! Everything went very smoothly and quickly, and soon enough we made it home and he was back to his normal self after a long nap. We're very grateful for everyone who kept Benjamin in their prayers!

 Well, Joel has moved on from his Peds rotation to OB. He's enjoying that so far, and he starts Labor and Delivery tomorrow for the next 2 weeks. It boggles my mind that he's over there delivering babies every day! Can he really do that?!?!? :) I've been enjoying my time decorating for Halloween, playing with Benjamin, spending time with friends and family, and driving my new VAN! YAY! After a huge ordeal with Joel's car accident, we ended up getting to keep the insurance check and handing it right over to my parents, who sold us their van for a great price. It's SO nice to have something roomier! Benjamin loves being able to look out the window, too! We're the whole package now, with the mom van. Now all we need is another kid!!! Hah. Well, until next month... (Which should be exciting! BENJAMIN'S BIRTHDAY!!!!) Bye!

Twenty-Two Months!

Hello! Oh man, this month flew by and I'm WAY late on my monthly post! So, what's been going on the past month? A whole lot of fun, that's what! :)

Benjamin turned 22 months old. Seriously, the kid just needs to turn 2 already. I've been thinking he's two years old forever now, but we've still got a couple months to go. He just acts like such a big boy! He walks around the place, jumping up and down, leaping off of heights, talking my ear off, recognizing all his letters, numbers and shapes (did I mention we can add diamond, rectangle, oval, pentagon, and octagon to the list? He's amazing.) He's been doing some silly things this month. He knows that my name is Lindsay and daddy's name is Joel. And he LOVES to call us by our names. Throughout the day, I will routinely hear "Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!........ Lindsay! Lindsay!" And then I have to remind him that he is supposed to call me Mommy, thank you very much. He's also started singing a lot more this month! He loves to put his open mouth to my open mouth and sing a pitch, which I will match. He thinks that's hilarious. Then he changes the pitch and I change with him. There's also some sliding that happens, too. So cute. I've also realized that Benjamin knows every last word to one of the lullabies I sing to him every night, Golden Slumbers. So he sings along in his funny little voice and I try hard not to giggle with delight as we make our way through the song. He also loves and sings all of Twinkle Twinkle, ABCs, Itsy Bitsy Spider, and The Wise Man and the Foolish Man.

Benjamin's really been perfecting his jumping this past month. He's gotten pretty good and can land on his feet pretty well most of the time. He especially loves to get up on something high and leap off into my arms (scary!!!) Sometimes he doesn't wait until I'm ready........ He's also gotten really good at saying his prayers. I usually always let him pray at meal times. He's got most of it down, and it's not unusual for him to walk around the house anytime of the day saying, "name of Jesus Christ, Amen." He still has a love for anything trucks, cars, trains, and planes. The boy is a boy. Our apartment complex also just opened one of two playgrounds, so we walk over there everyday with trucks in hand to dig in the sand and climb on the equipment. Benjamin also enjoys watching a little tv every morning with a big cup of chocolate milk. Mickey Mouse is still the option of choice, but he also loves Word World, Super Why, and Sid the Science Kid on PBS. I took him to the doctor this month to check on a plugged tear duct (which is getting opened at the end of this month), and we found out he weighs a whopping 21 pounds! Woot! He's just barely on the scale with that number, so we're pretty proud now! :) Ha.

We had a really fun month! Some special visitors came to spend some good quality South Dakota time! Joel's Aunt Bev brought her daughter-in-law Amy and granddaughter Daphne for their first trip to the midwest! We stayed in Mitchell for a week with them and had the most South Dakota-ey time of our lives! We spent Joel's birthday (he turned 27 on the 6th!) in Sioux Falls having fun at the Pavilion and eating a delish dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings. (Joel also learned he's getting a new iPhone 5 from his parents for his bday!!! He's so pumped, to say the least!) We introduced Amy to Culver's frozen custard, which I hope was as life changing for her as she made it out to be. The next day we hung around Mitchell and let the kids play at the amusement park in the Tjarks' basement. They could've jumped in the bounce house all day! We also took everyone to see the World's Only Corn Palace!!! I have exactly one lousy picture from that entire week, and it's the one you see below: both kids enjoying corn suckers. Let it be known that after they finished eating these suckers, Daphne was still nice and clean and Benjamin....he was a sticky, yellow, dirty mess from head to toe. WHY!?

The third day we spent the morning at the farm in Ethan, where Brian had all these great stations set up for Amy and me. We strapped on our gear and shot semi-automatic rifles, shot clay pigeons with shot guns, and very expertly nailed the targets with our bow and arrows, Katniss-style. Amy really excelled with the semi-automatic. Basically she should look into a career as a sniper. I, however, rocked the shot gun. I didn't miss a single clay pigeon, with the exception of the very first one. (Doesn't count.) Basically you'll be seeing me in Rio during the 2016 Olympics. :) We had a BLAST. The kids sat on the tractor, ran through the garden, and drove the 4-wheeler. But best of all... Bev wore crisp white pants (to the farm) and didn't get a single speck of dirt on them. How?????????? That afternoon we drove to Huron to go shopping. Needless to say, that was not the highlight of my day.

The next day was FARM DAY! After little Daphne woke up in the night screaming bloody murder, (she had a nightmare about a fly), we packed up the kids and drove to a family farm where there are lots and lots of flies!!! While our little city girl experienced her worst nightmare come true, our Benjamin boy had the time of his life! He loved the goats, ducks, pigs, cows, sheep, chickens, dogs, kittens, and most importantly, driving the BIG tractor! He is such a farmer at heart. Later on that day we also went to a family friend's farm to help feed the baby cows. Benjamin loved it so much he stuck his whole hand in one baby's mouth to feel it suck. Daphne turned her nose and gagged. :) And the last moments of the day were spent on Glen's Tractor, which is still a topic of conversation at our house.

The last day we drove our city slickers to the airport and watched them fly home, hoping their South Dakota expectations were met. I know mine were! I've never felt like such a South Dakota country girl in my life! Benjamin LOVED Daphne so much. He pretty much made out with her as we said our goodbyes in the airport. (Speaking of kissing, Benjamin gives the most amazing, sweet kisses in the world these days. No more open-mouth kisses, (sadly!) He gives us these great MUAH kisses all over our faces. They melt my heart and soul.

Anyway, the rest of the month as been pretty low key. Some traveling to and from Mitchell... meeting some new friends... churching it up... running errands. Also, Joel got into a car accident, but that just recently happened so technically that's something I'll have to write about NEXT month after the situation is resolved. AND... we may or may not have news about Benjamin starting school next month! They have a great Early Head Start program here. We just applied today and our chances of getting in sounded promising... I'll write about it next month. Don't judge me for considering sending my 1-year old to school. :)

Until next month... Sayonara, friends.
P.S. Sorry I don't have any great photos of this awesome month. I'll try to round them up from other people and update at a later time.

love this one.... twinners.

Twenty-One Months - and Welcome To Our New Home!!!

Well, we've made the move and are now finally settled in our own home again at 818 E. Brian Street! It's safe to say that everyone in our family is thrilled to be here! It's been a pretty jam-packed month, with the packing, moving, and lots of visitors!!! Before we left Mitchell, Kate and the kids flew in and spent three weeks in town. We had a total blast with them, and it was wonderful for the cousins to get to know each other a little better and play together! I loved watching those little people! I'm racking my brain trying to decide what eventful things happened during that time, but I think we honestly just spent our days chasing those kids around and trying to keep the house in some sense of order. We did celebrate little Zach's 2nd birthday at the pool, dressed in our pirate gear and all! I also celebrated my 26th birthday at the end of June. Joel took me out to dinner and then we went to see the movie Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. We're so fancy. We also threw a party for Joel's Grandma Tjarks' 80th birthday! The whole Tjarks clan was in town for the annual fly-in, so it was extra special! The 4th of July was spent in Mitchell at the Aslesen's, where we had great food and shot off fireworks. I was shocked that Benjamin enjoyed them! He was completely mesmerized by the lights and sounds. Last week, Kate's husband Brian came to Mitchell as well as my sister Amy, so we had all sorts of family around. We tried our best to document our adventures with plenty of pictures, so I'm happy to finally have some to share on the blog.

We moved into our new place on June 30th, and have been unpacking and settling ever since! We've been doing a lot of traveling to and from Mitchell since then, so we've been joking that we've been there about the same amount of time as we've been in Tea! Life has settled now for awhile though, so I can do a little more exploring around town and get to know some people! I'm so happy we decided to move here instead of Sioux Falls. Tea truly has a small-town atmosphere, and I'm especially grateful for that sense of security. We live right off the interstate, so it takes just a couple minutes to get into the "city", which is very handy. Even Joel can get to the hospital in no more than 15 minutes. The real kicker, though, was the other night when we were watching the local news. They were showing a story about a casino robbery in Sioux Falls. As we watched, that casino started to look more and more familiar... We saw the financial advisor and Mexican grocery store next door and finally realized that we looked at an apartment above that very casino when we were hunting for a place to live!!! Ahhh!!! We probably would've been witnesses. Or murdered. Oh geez! Anyway, we had a good laugh about that and were never so glad to live in sleepy Tea, SD.

Well, Joel took about a five second break and then jumped right into his rotations at the beginning of this month. He's starting off in pediatrics, and so far totally loves it. It keeps him very busy, though, and he's unable to come home for lunch, so we sure miss him during the day! It sounds like he sees a ton of kids coming in for well-child checkups, so nothing too interesting quite yet. I don't know if many of you remember the story I wrote about his first clinical experience during his first year, when he went to "shadow" a doctor and got thrown in the lion's den? Well, he's baaaack! Joel was randomly assigned to this same physician once a week for something they call PCAP.  We had to chuckle about that. At least this time around Joel know how to use an otoscope. :)

Our little Benjamin boy sure is having the time of his life these days. He had SO MUCH FUN this summer with his Grandma, Grandpa, Amy, Becky, Brandon, Nana, Papa, Katie, Brian, Maddie and Zach! In fact, since we've made the move all he's done is talk about those people that he loves and misses. He's also found time to play with his trucks and cars, color in his coloring book, sleep in his BIG BOY BED!!!, draw on the driveway with chalk, jump, dance, and sing songs! He's such a little man. I think spending all that time with his cousins really encouraged his vocabulary, because he's been talking and singing up a storm. He loves to sing Itsy Bitsy Spider, The Wiseman and the Foolish Man, Twinkle Twinkle, and the ABCs. It's so cute! He knows everything - all his colors, numbers, shapes, and knows how to say practically every word imaginable. I don't even know how he knows some of the words he says. Recently he's also been speaking in 2-word sentences. One of my favorite things he does when he wants something is say "Ben....something." He calls himself Ben. It's so cute. He's still a skinny little squirt. But he's got tons of personality and a great smile that makes you melt! Well, hopefully by next month we'll be all settled in our place and living the life! Here are some pictures that I've been meaning to post!!!

Our new home! 

 Enjoying a summer popsicle

 Cousins!

 The boys out at the farm!

 Riding in the 4-wheeler

 Serious conversations

 Happy 80th birthday, Grandma Tjarks!

Feeding the goats at the zoo 

 With Mom at the zoo

 With Dad at the zoo

With Zachy!

 With Maddie!

Just a man driving his Dora-mobile 

 With Grandpa!

 Playing a game with Amy and Grandpa!

Vampire Benjamin? Nope. Just popsicle juice!

Benjamin showing off his big-boy bed that Daddy built just for him!!! Oh, and Mommy painted it red to match is trucks and trains blanket!

Twenty Months Old

Since yesterday was my birthday, and since Benjamin has been twenty months old for ten days now, Joel told me that he would go ahead and write this month's blog post as a little gift to me! (This blogging stuff is SUCH hard work, you know!!!) :) Anyway... Take it away, Joel! And don't leave anything out!!! :)

Well..... This month has been exhausting! Here is an outline of how I spent the last month: Wake up at 7, start studying around 7:45 or 8. and then finish around 10 o'clock at night and go to bed. I rarely saw Lindsay or Benjamin, but hopefully the amount of time that I dedicated to studying paid off. Lindsay and I went up to Sioux Falls the night before the test and went out to dinner and celebrated our fifth(!) anniversary. It was nice to be able to relax the night before the biggest test of my life. The test was.... long. I feel like the time just flew by and dragged on all at the same time, but now it is over and I have to wait 4-6 weeks before I get my scores back. I am so lucky and blessed to have the most amazing and understanding wife in the world who was willing to support me and listen to me whine about having to study for 14 hours a day.

So enough about my boring old life, let's get to the fun part of the family! Benjamin and Lindsay are doing really well. Benjamin is growing up so fast! He is so smart! He knows all of his colors and shapes and he is such a good little talker! He has started to say, "YAY!!!" when he agrees with something. So if we say, "Benjamin, do you want to go see Grandpa and Rara (That's what he calls Lindsay's mom... so cute)?" He says, "YAY!!!!" and throws his arms in the air. It is so sweet. Linds has taken him to the pool and he loves doing that. He is just a little fish and he loves to swim and dip his face in the water.  He also LOVES to go out to the farm with his Papa. He likes to go out on the four wheeler and "drive." He helped my dad install the sprinkler system on his flying field and came inside completely soaked... he absolutely loved it! Lindsay has been keeping busy as well. She has given a few voice lessons while we have been here and has been wrangling Benjamin and keeping him happy. Last week I built Benjamin a new toddler bed. We are excited to move in to our new apartment on the first of the month and hopefully we won't have to get out the crib at all and he can just move right into his new bed.


The Tjarks family is doing well. I start school on the 2nd of July and I'm really excited to start this next chapter in our lives.


I also have to give Lindsay credit for being so diligent in keeping our blog updated. It's hard work to try and remember everything that has happened in a month! I'll leave it up to her to keep things updated from now on :).