We took him to his first rodeo. He really liked the bull riders. It was very touching when the rodeo started off with a somewhat long prayer directed to our heavenly Father, God the almighty, praying for the safety and protection of the rodeo participants and the animals, asking in the name of Jesus, our Lord and Savior. Wow, you don't hear that much in public anymore. And then time to honor the military as well. Those moments just send goose bumps throughout.
Another night we took him to the carnival, which he said was his first carnival, and let him do a few rides. The carnival was packed with people which was a little surprising I thought. It's nice to see people turn out and support a small town carnival once again.
Ben and I also went to the fair parade in Mitchell. We have lived here for 26 years, and I think this was the first fair parade I went too! It was refreshing to see people turn out for a small hometown parade. The candy that was thrown out was way more than I've seen at bigger parades. Ben filled both big pant pockets and my purse with candy and shared with two little girls who were not big enough to quickly gather up hands full of candy. The moms of the two little girls commented on what a nice boy he was and how nice of him to share his candy. The first thing he did when we got home was divide it up into 7 little bags to share with his brothers and sisters!
We enjoyed time playing frisbee, which he was really good at. Ben was excited to mow the lawn with the riding mower. He got to do that twice and did a really nice job. I just let him go round and round till he got it all, in slow gear of course.
BEn also helped me can cherries and peaches. He took the stems off of 40 pounds of cherries, and he helped slip the peelings off the peaches.
He spent his days with Grandpa mostly, went swimming with a friend, and spent some time at Great Grandpa's house too. His chores were to give the steers hay every morning and every night, which he did diligently.
Ben likes to help out, But, Ben is a real storyteller, a bs-er to be exact! He doesn't stop to think about what he says. Much of what he says is not true. I don't want to call him a "liar", but he has a habit of exagerating and "knowing all the answers". He is just a kid who wants to know so much and be able to do it all, that he thinks he can do it all and he thinks he does know everything, and he doesn't think twice about saying so! Ben even admits he knows more than most people, and knows more than his Dad and Grandpa. He loves to be helpful and gets a grin from ear to ear when given praise and recognition. His words of appreciation, with a smile from ear to ear, were repeated over and over again when we took him to the different events. In the eyes of a young boy, he was thrilled and thankful to be taken to the carnival and the rodeo and the fair, and allowed to mow the lawn, etc.
He hurts when Grandpa teases him or makes fun of the way he talks. Ben has an "r" speech impediment which drives Grandpa nuts. But he probably got that from me, as I still have trouble with my "r" words.
We worked on him not saying "cheater" everytime he didn't win at some silly little game we were playing, like who is first to buckle their seatbelt, but rather saying "good job. . . ". He did a good job at that too!
Ben discovered he LOVES liver. I fixed it one nite as "beef steak", and he thought it was awesome and begged to have it again the next nite. So the second week I fixed it again. He really wants me to take his Mom some of that meat and show her how to fix it!! Ha-ha - that's funny!
Ben is a charming young man to be around. We loved having him, as we do each of the kids. Ben, we enjoyed having you and we love you and will miss you. Someday when you are much older you will read this and get that big smile on your face! Now I just have to get a picture of Ben and me together!
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