Farmer's Market 2011

It's officially Spring which means it's time for the Benson Farmer's Market again! A proud Parsons family tradition, the Farmer's Market is where Grandpa and Uncle Jay get to sell their delicious tomatoes and peppers. Check out their vast variety of veggie goodness on their website along with upcoming market dates and prices. Our kids love sharing in the fun too as the photo obviously shows.

Happy Easter 2011!

Wow, it feels like I just posted last year's Easter post. Of course, I haven't posted much since then. Whoopsie. Anyway, we had another wonderful Easter this year celebrating the resurrection of our savior with family. We had Easter egg hunts, played down in Bellevue, and Jay and Leah came to visit. We are so thankful for our risen Lord and all he has done for this family! Here are a few photos from Kim and Ben dying the Easter eggs. It's their favorite Easter tradition, bar none!

Ben gives the approval to start the process.

Proudly displaying the first egg before starting.

These two love their egg dying!

Patiently waiting.

The first pastel products.

Katy had to get in on the fun, too!

"Look what I did!"

Like mother, like son.

Ben's new bike

Ben got an early Easter present this year in the form of his first real bike! He had been pedaling away on his trike for the last several years, which I should say he absolutely loved doing. Unfortunately, his little legs are getting longer and he had been having trouble with his knees hitting the handle bars. We thought Easter would be a perfect time to get him a new bike so he would have all summer to break it in. While it's a little intimidating because it sits so much higher than his tricycle and it wobbles a bit back and forth on the training wheels, Ben still loves getting up on it by himself and doing a little cruising. If there is one thing this boy loves, it's feeling like a big boy. We're both looking forward to long bike rides with our kids in the future, so this was a happy day for all of us.

Up on his new bike for the first time!

Kim showing her new bicyclist some love and support.

One proud papa!

Just dance!

This is what happens when you turn my wife and daughter loose with Dance Central for the Kinect. These two love to dance! Look out world, they ain't stoppin' for nothing!

Katelyn is 6 months old today!

Our little girl is growing up so fast! It seems like just yesterday we were taking her home from the hospital. Now she's halfway to one! It's gonna be tough letting this one go. She has definitely brought something so special to our family. Her infectious smile, adorable laugh, and longing stares have melted our hearts from the beginning. God definitely knew what he was doing adding her to our family. She's a perfect fit. We love you, Katie and are looking forward to the next 6 months!

(Thanks for taking these photos, Leah!)

Here are a few more pictures from Kate's first meal of solid foods. We waited for her 6 month birthday to roll around before giving her something other than Momma's milk. You can tell from the photo, she was a little apprehensive. Eventually, she took to it quite well and was loving the experience. I think she loved playing with and sucking on the spoon the most though.


Ben, the consummate big brother, was there to help Kim and provide assurances to Katelyn. Future supervisor?



Kim's doing a great job helping her transition from her milk only diet. Kate doesn't know how good she's got it with this mom.

Easter - Jesus is Risen!

So I realize it's been quite a while since I posted something on this blog. In fact, it's been well over a year. In that time frame our family has grown by one, a beautiful baby girl named Katelyn and I didn't even post anything on that. Yeah, I know, I'm pathetic. Anyway, I thought I'd throw some more up here to share on what's going on in our family for those who don't regularly use facebook.

We love Easter in this family, primarily because of what it means to us and our faith. Thank you Lord for giving us your one and only son! And boy oh boy am I glad he defeated the grave and came back to give us eternal life. We also love Easter in our house because it means fun family time. Ben, now on his 4th Easter, has grown to love this day mostly because of the candy and Easter eggs. But, he's a typical kid, right?

Here's Ben walking home from the Easter egg hunt in our neighborhood. Each year, a local realtor hosts an Easter egg hunt for all the neighbor kids the day before Easter. Ben went two years ago and loved it. We missed it last year, but remembered this year and Kim him took to join the festivities. Of course, he had a blast.


One of Kim's favorite Easter traditions has quickly become one of Ben's favorite traditions too and that's dying Easter eggs. These two make me laugh. How cute.





These are just some really cute shots taken by my dad of Katelyn celebrating her first Easter. She is just a beautiful little thing, isn't she? Kim and I could not be any prouder. The flowers were cut from our garden. It's nice to have some Spring weather again to pop these things out of the ground.


Here's Katie and her Grandma. These two adore each other and love hanging out.



This was a cake shaped like a lamb that my mom (MaMaw) brought over. My dad thought it looked like a pig. Anyway, Ben is obviously ready to dig into this sucker judging by the protruding tongue.


Proud parents sharing in the celebration of Easter with their daughter for the very first time.


These two beautiful women are inseparable. Good thing I get to have them both! Definitely looking forward to another wonderful Easter next year. Hopefully Ben won't have taught Katie about candy by then! Thanks again, Jesus!

I'll try to make an attempt to put more up here in the future. I may need your help to keep me accountable though.

Fall Fun

Fall is Kim's favorite season because of the beautiful colors and fun outdoor activities. Here are just a few photos from some of the fun family things we've been doing this fall.

Our church had their annual bonfire and chili cook off late last month. I had to work but Kim and Ben went and had a lot of fun with friends.

Kim and Ben hanging out with Ben's friend, Emily.

As president of the Omaha Dental Hygiene Association, Kim and some of the ODHA members participate in their annual Vala's Pumpkin Patch outreach.

Kim and Ben go pumpkin hunting in the patch near our house.

Kim found her perfect pumpkin.

Our little helper was manning the wheel barrow.

Here I am cutting my bad boy pumpkin.

So many to choose from!

Of course, Ben wanted to help wash our pumpkins.


In fact, he wanted to do it himself.




Enjoying the Autumn evening.



Ben and Lucy help Kim make our Harvest Man.

This was the final product. OOoooh, scary!!!

Grand Island

Kim needed to attend a board meeting for the NE Dental Hygiene Association last Friday so we all went with her to Grand Island for a few days. It was a great drive out there as Ben pretty much slept the whole way. Once there, Kim went off to do her duty while Ben and I got to hang out and have Daddy-Son time. That pretty much involved eating, swimming, and playing in our hotel room. The next day we did a little more swimming then drove down to Hastings and went to the children's museum there. It sure makes you appreciate all we have here in Omaha. After lunch we drove back home while listening to the Husker game on the radio. Here are some photos from our little trip.

Ben and I playing with gears at the children's museum.

His favorite was the tiny fire truck, though.

Of course, he always loves swimming.

And the best reason for staying at hotels is having fun playing in the rooms.

Jay's birthday party a real shocker

Jay and Leah came up from Kansas City to see family and to celebrate his (and Kim's) birthday this weekend. Leah happened to bring with her the game "Reaction". If you're not familiar with it, players hold a handle with a button they are supposed to push as soon as the light turns green. If you push the button first, you don't get shocked. If you get shocked, it hurts. The video above was when it was turned up to extreme and was so funny that I had to load it up to YouTube. Happy birthday, Jay.

Kim's 29th Birthday

Kim's birthday was actually on September 9th, but I'm just now getting around to posting some pictures from it. I'm thinking that Ben actually enjoyed the cake more than anyone else. Anyway, happy birthday to the most wonderful wife and mother in the world!