Halloween 2008!

We've had 4 Halloween events this year and Benjamin refused to wear a costume for the first 3. He and I went to the party at the local library last Friday. Ryan wasn't able to go because he got a phone call 10 minutes before we were leaving that he had arrange help for someone moving in the morning. We were warned when he became EQP (a big job at church) this would happen, but I didn't realize it would start so soon (within the first week). There aren't any photos because I couldn't chase Benjamin and take photos at the same time (He was quite manic that evening) and he refused to put on the Skeleton costume I bought for him the day after Halloween last year. We think he's scared of it, but aren't quite sure if that's the only problem.


As you can see, Benjamin was the only Bradley kid who wouldn't put his/her costume on for the photo at the get-together we had on Monday.

This was the church Halloween party on Wednesday. Still no costume. I did get a bit of green face paint on him, but "bit" is the operative word.

Benjamin and I went to the "Big Red Barn" in Bennington today with a few of the Bradley girls. He wouldn't sit down for the picture.

One of Benjamin's favorite parts was the "Corn Pool" more like "Corn Box"... only in Nebraska?!?!He also really enjoyed the "Hay Rack Ride" (more like "Wagon Ride") because we were pulled by a tractor.

This was the pumpkin we picked out. It was 21 lbs. We didn't have time to carve it tonight so we might tomorrow before I cook it and the one my parents bought.

Benjamin enjoyed the deer swing, but that was the closest thing to an animal he liked. He was scared of the llamas and only spent a couple minutes in the petting zoo (mostly chasing the chickens). Ryan thinks Benjamin is scared of animals because of the time he took him to a pet shop and set Benjamin in the pen with all the little yapping jumping puppies. Poor kid.

Benjamin with Lily on the teeter-totter. He seemed enjoyed it more than the girls.

We finally gave up on the skeleton costume and asked Benjamin if he wanted to be an LDS missionary tonight (because it would be an easy costume to throw together) when Ryan took him out trick-or-treating. Benjamin loved the idea and left his "costume" in-tact while they were out. He's a trooper because Ryan made him carry his treat bucket the whole time (including up two big hills) and they were out for quite a while. His bucket was full when they got home. It makes me just a little guilty to eat Benjamin's candy considering how hard he worked for it. The Elders (real missionaries) called tonight and I told them Benjamin didn't get any doors slammed in his face this evening. They said they need to bring him with them next time they go door to door.

It's a BOY!

We had the "big" ultrasound today and it was very obvious that we are having a baby boy. Everything looked good and the baby appears to be active and healthy.

Benjamin was asking for a baby sister, so hopefully over the next three months he'll change his mind and decide that having a brother is okay too. We're excited and now don't have to figure out a girl name because we had already decided on a boy name.

I can't believe I'll be in my 3rd trimester next week, but I am quite uncomfortable... 3 more months of this! I thought it was funny the ultrasound tech made me empty my bladder because it was squishing the baby into one spot.

Spontaneous Road Trip

Last night we drove to St. Joseph, Missouri and stayed the night in my parents' new RV. My mom had forgotten her garment bag when they were here last week and when we figured out they'd be stopping for the night about 2 hours away we decided to make the trip. We were supposed to have the missionaries over for dinner, but one of them was sick so they canceled. It took us 1.5 hours to pack up and we didn't leave here until after 7 p.m. and took a detour through Plattsmouth because we didn't know the bridge was out still (even though Benjamin said it was!) We arrived at the RV after 9 p.m. and Benjamin woke up when Ryan tried to get him out of the car. He didn't go back to sleep until after 11 p.m. (M&Ms and cookies probably didn't help the situation). We started a game of "Ticket to Ride" while Grandpa tried to get him to bed... but Benjamin's a Mama's boy when it comes to lights-out, so I had to give my hand over to my dad. I put him in a position to win, but I'm not sure what happened. It was after midnight that we went to bed with the sound of drums in the background (it was quite an interesting RV park my parents had stopped at). We woke up at 6 a.m. to Benjamin's bright-eyed and busy self; he was so excited to be in the RV. We headed for home around 9 because Ryan had an 11:30 meeting for church. It was a short, unexpected trip, but it was nice to see my parents again and Benjamin enjoyed another RV adventure. We took pictures with my mom's camera and I'll upload them as soon as she e-mails them.

Here's the photos: