blossoms

There were so many trees in blossom, oranges, pinks, reds, purples and yellows, it is quite wonderful. I mentioned last week that the rains had begun, but in truth it only lasted two days and we are back to the high dry temperatures (today predicted at108 tomorrow 110). I sent you an e-mail with more details about what is happening. Is it easier to go to those or read the Blog? At least here it is fun to see the pictures. Thanks for your mothers day messages on the phone and your loving e-mails.

To The Greatest Mom in the World

You are always a Queen to us!
We love and admire our Angel Mother.
HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!

Hello from the second fruit of toney's mighty loins

Hello,

I have finally gotten fancy and started to write in the blog. The only new news that I can think of is that I may deploy in September for 6 months. If anyone wants to move their family in with Marisa it might be nice for support. -We have fairly large basement, and a nice menu selection in the kitchen if you like rice based food.

Linc is doing great and has made some nice progress the last couple of months. It seems like the diet could be working a little. He still does cute little Link things, like running into the backyard with goggle and a swim suit to swim face down in a big puddle that we had.

We are sickly. It seems like we have been sick all winter and spring. Not runny nose sick, more like pukey sick. We bought a new matress a few months ago..... Retrospectively a mistake. Between the 4 kids I'm pretty sure we have voided the warranty.

We love you guys and are getting excited for July!

love,
R,M,C,L,B,L
p.s.- Clyde sends his reguards.

R&M Clan

I'm going to have Rick do most of the writing ... but I'll be in charge of the pictures.

We painted our entry and living room. Let's just say I'm grateful Rick is still alive.

This is our Brigham/lion/dog. I took him on a walk around the neighborhood looking like this.

Nothing makes me happier than all of our kids sitting around the desk coloring together.

I was telling Maddie that she and Josh could get a reward of watching a movie at the end of the day if they could be good (i.e. getting along, showing respect, etc.). "Can you guys do that?" I asked. "No day is perfect, Mom. Just keep that in mind."

She has a good point. :)

Kar

From Grandmamma to the best 21 grandchildren in the world

Dear Children,

Today Grandpa and I walked along the beach of the Gulf of Mexico (we have to drive about 20 minutes to get to it). The waves were splashing high and one caught me by surprise and drenched my tennis shoes and Bermuda shorts. I kept walking in wet shoes for awhile, but finally decided to just take them off and enjoy the sand between my toes. I kept thinking how much fun it would be to have you walking with us.
Every few feet or so we’d discover a pretty sea shell. We have quite a collection now to bring home in July for you to create “shell sculptures” with at the reunion. Grandpa found a small, hollow crab shell that is very interesting, and we’ve added it to our “sand dollars” and unusual shells in a basket in the bathroom.
It is fun to watch the fishermen wade waste deep into the water, and throw large round nets out. They slowly pull them into shore and if they are lucky they’ve a net full of fresh fish to sell at the market or to take home for breakfast.
Speaking of food, a week ago we walked along the Laguna which is about a 10 minute drive from our house. A friendly, medium size crocodile swam along beside us as we walked. If we’d stop, he’d stop and turn so that he could look at us head on.
Grandpa thought he was sizing us up for his breakfast. I wasn’t concerned as there was a nice big fence between us. He must have decided we were not worth his trouble because after awhile he turned and swam away. There are also lots of snapping turtles in the Laguna, and some huge fish which are the main diet of the crocodiles.
There is a nice dirt path all the way around the big Laguna where many people go to walk or jog. Spanning the water is a bridge that is about a block long. I like to walk across it and remember when I was a little girl and would walk across the Franklin Avenue bridge that spanned the Mississippi River right in front of our house in Minneapolis. My big brothers and I had grand times playing on the banks of that mighty river, but I never even dipped my big toe into that rushing water. There were no crocodiles, but my mother warned me about the terrible deep drop offs and whirlpools that could suck even a grownup under and drown them within seconds.
What a blessing it is to have parents who love us and protect us. I want you to know that Your Heavenly Father also loves you and will protect you. Always turn to Him in prayer, and listen to the whisperings of the Holy Ghost in your life.
With all my love, You’re Grandmamma Bentley

VIRTUAL SUGGESTION BOX

I WOULD LIKE TO UTILIZE THE COMMENTARY OPTION IN OUR BLOG SO WE CAN SAY FUNNY THINGS TO EACH OTHER. AT THE BOTTOM OF EACH POST ARE THE WORDS "0 COMMENTS" ALL YOU DO IS CLICK ON IT AND LEAVE A COMMENT ABOUT EACH POST IF YOU LIKE. I'M DOING IT! SO WHEN YOU POST, DON'T FORGET TO CHECK THE COMMENTS IN A COUPLE DAYS. LOVE, MARY!

birds and the bees --what to do with a curious 8-year-old

This is a conversation I just had today with Will:
Will: Mom, do dogs get married?
Mom: No, not really.
Will: Then how do they have babies?
Mom: That is a good question. Why don't we talk about that later when Dad and I can sit down with you and explain it better.
Will: That's ok. I think I already know.
Mom: What do you think happens?
Will: Let me think...how can I explain it so a 34-year-old can understand it? That cracked me up...like it's so simple but I'd never get it.
Will then proceeded to give me a half-right explanation and I told him we will talk about it again later when I can really explain it to him. HELP! Those of you who have already had this conversation with your kids give me some ideas! Thanks in advance for the advice! Love, Kathy
p.s. You don't necessarily need to answer this question on the blog...no explicit diagrams etc. for our G-rated bulletin. Yes, Dad, I am talking to you.

Masonry and Mormonism

Dear kids - Everything you ever wanted to know about Masons and more:

Last month during a phone call to an employee of the Temple Department in Salt Lake I mentioned that one of the candidates I was considering for counselor and registrar of the temple was a Mason. The Church employee immediately expressed concern and said he would have to run it by the Temple Committee. I had to wait three weeks and call back three times before I received their answer: The Committee was reluctant to recommend a Mason to the First Presidency but they wanted more information about the candidate's involvement with the Masons before they gave me a final answer. I knew the Church has not encouraged Church members to join the Masons in the past, but I was a little surprised by their reaction because the newly elected Grand Master of the Masonic lodge in Salt Lake City is an active Mormon. You would have thought the candidate I was considering was a member of the Klu Klux Klan or maybe even a left wing Democrat(Just kidding Charlie). They asked me to check out the facts for them and report back.

What I found out was very interesting: The Masons are a benevolent fraternal society that was established 500 years ago in England and Scotland to provide protection and assistance to victims of religious and political persecution. The society is not a religion but its members must believe in God and try to live in accordance with the ethical tenets of the society. They use rituals, signs and other symbols, some of which are similar to those used in Mormon temples, although they have very different meanings and purposes. This is not too surprising because, according to the Masons, their rites and symbols were derived from Solomon's temple. Some prominent Masons include George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Winston churchill, Benito Juarez (Mexico's most revered president) and many other prominent Mexicans. Most Mexican Masons fear the power and influence of the Catholic Church in Mexico but they have a high regard for the LDS Church. Many of them have been instrumental in helping the Church since it first came to Mexico.

Many early Mormons became Masons in Nauvoo, including the first five presidents of the Church, probably because they hoped it would help them avoid the persecution that had plagued them in New York, Ohio and Missouri. But some Masons were jealous and suspicious of the Nauvoo lodge, which was then the largest in the United States with several thousand Mormon members. It is likely that some members of the mob that assassinated Joseph and Hyrum were Masons. A Masonic lodge was organized in Salt Lake by non-Mormons after Utah was settled, but active members of the Church were not welcomed in Utah until the local lodge changed its by-laws 30 years ago.

Mom and I just finished reading "Mormons & Masons," a small book written by Gilbert W. Scharffs, a University of Utah Institute teacher whose son is one of Rick's high school friends. He shows that prayer circles, tokens, signs and many other elements of the temple ceremony existed in some form among the Israelites, Egyptians, Coptic Christians and other ancient civilizations long before the Masonic movement was founded, and that many of the temple rituals were already in place in the Kirtland temple long before Joseph Smith became a Mason. So it is not surprising that there would be some similarities. What most people do not appreciate are the significant differences. According to numerous Mormons who are also Masons, the differences in the meanings and purposes are far greater than the similarities. Those who have a first-hand familiarity with both rituals say that they have never been bothered by the similarities, which they view as superficial. They also feel that the Church should not be concerned if a Mormon wants to be Mason, or vice-versa. The values of the Masons and the Mormons are very similar and are mutually supportive.

I hope this information was as interesting to you as it has been to me. Abrazos,

Don Antonio Benitez, el Presidente

Hi family,

April blew by, good grief. Dave went to China, as we said, and the rest of us are just grateful to FINALLY have some sunshine here in the Place that is Gray and Dark. Yay for Spring. Updates:

- Dave: Super Dad of the universe, currently in town and willing to be spit up on and get up with the baby. Deserves a medal.

- Kar: teaching 5 boys in Primary, including Josh. Loves it. These kids have a spiritual depth that amazes me.

- Josh: whipping out the basketball and practicing his lethal moves. Had a sleepover with a "kindred spirit" friend who also had dinosaur pj's, and along with fighting with lightsabers is comfortable enough to give a Triceratops a cute voice and go on adventures with Josh' stuffed animals. (that was a serious run-on sentence)

- Maddie: Counting down the minutes until school is over. Typical morning conversation: "Is there school today?" "Yes." "Dang!" To her credit, though, she gets up and soldiers on. Went to a Daddy-Daughter Dance at school with Dave sporting a hairstyle that she designed.

- Jacob: Crawling dangerously, and "cruising" (walking around holding onto furniture and/or hands). We don't have any childproofing up except for one item: a dancing mechanical chicken which ominously guards the computer cords so that Jakey won't chew on them. It terrifies him so he gives it wide berth. So if he grows up and has psychological issues surrounding poultry, you'll all know why.

Also, for our ward talent show Josh and Maddie dressed up as a dragon and a unicorn, respectively, and told original "castle" jokes. Below is a sample...

Josh's jokes:

Why did the dragon never sleep?
He ate the knight.

How many wizards does it take to open a magic book?
Two: one to seal it, and one to open it.

Why don't dragons like wizards?
Because they always know the way to their lair.


Maddie's Jokes:

Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Me!
Me who?
Neigh! Neigh! Sorry the little pony interrupted.

Why does a dragon blow fire?
How?
He ate too much spicy food.

Why do wizards do magic?
Why?
Because of a good witch.

Why is a king and queen so rich?
Why?
Kings and Queen's orders.

Yep, you missed out! :)

Other Quotes:
"He's cute, but very slimy." -Maddie, summing Jakey up perfectly (he's still a spit-up king)
"It's nice to hug you when you don't have slime on your shoulders." -Maddie, to Dave (an accurate commentary on the aforementioned prolific spitting up of the jake)
"Go Go! Go Johnny, Go! Go!" -Dave, singing Johnny B. Good at the ward talent show as he drummed (amazing!)
"Da Da Da Da Da" -Jakey
"OUCH! That's tough love." -Josh, when Jakey clawed at his face in an attempt to hug him
"I think I got too dizzy in my mind, a little." - Maddie
"I don't really feel comfortable without my imagination." -Maddie
[Big noise]
"What happened Maddie?"
"I'm too tired to say." - Maddie
"I'll go in there for her." -Josh, when he heard Maddie get frustrated as she labored under the consequences of our "you wake him, you take him" rule for Jake (he took over and helped him calm down)

We love you all.

DKJMJ

special days in May

Birthdays: 1st:Kathy. 3rd:Matt. 4th:Peter. 9th:Rachel M. 14th: Mandi.
23rd: Rachel B. 26th: David. 31st Lydia.

Anniversaries: 5th: Jimmy and Mandi. 25th: BOTH Steve & Rachel and Dave & Karalee

here are the photos to go with the story

I saw another angel fly

When we arrived in Tampico there was scaffolding around the tower of the temple. The original Angel Moroni had needed to be “resurfaced”(which happens every 5 or 6 years due to wind and weather), and during the process of taking him down there was an accident and he broke his arm. For five months our angel has been in Veracruz being fixed, and a substitute has been atop the temple. This morning we watched as the he was carefully removed with a complicated series of ropes and pulleys and our very own Moroni was set in place. Shining and polished he stands, blowing his trumpet; announcing the glorious news of the restoration of priesthood keys and all that that includes.

The rains have come, but like in Camelot, they seem to confine themselves to the evening and night time and the days continue sunny and hot (today the forecast is for 108). Monday we traveled across the river into the state of Veracruz where there are three branches of the Church which belong to our temple district. We had addresses of the chapels, but were successful in finding only one. The other two were nowhere to be found, and even their addresses didn’t seem to exist. We will do more checking before our next adventure in that direction. In these newer areas the chapels are usually located on narrow dirt roads. In every case they are the prettiest building, and have the best maintained grounds in the neighborhood. This is the only area of Latin America we have lived in where one will see a wood house interspersed with the more typical cement houses. Within the same block there will be lovely homes and then a shack. They do enjoy bright colors, and a sure sign of money is to see a painted house. Pinks, blues, greens and orange are typical all mixed within the same block. We have been impressed with the lack of poverty and seemingly higher standard of living in this area. The fact that this is the oil capital of Mexico has a lot to do with it as there are good jobs to be had.

However, that said, Monday when we crossed into the next state of Veracruz searching for the chapels, we did come upon a huge “tent city.” And I don’t mean nice pup tents with floors and netted, zipped windows. I mean ropes from trees with a blanket or table cloth thrown over to give some privacy and shade. Since it had rained the night before there was mud everywhere. Some “homes” had cardboard sides, others branches. Paper signs with the families names designated property lines. The area appeared uninhabited as we drove through the muddy, dirt trails. We assumed that the people had gone into the cities to beg or make money anyway they can. It was definitely a humbling experience.

Speaking of humbling, may I tell you about Marialena. At the age of 30 she developed a terrible disease (no one can give me a name for it), which began paralyzing her body. That was about ten years ago. She now can only move her fingers, eyes and talk through clenched teeth. Once a week faithfully she comes to a temple session! She arrives in a taxi and our guard with the help of the driver have to lift her out and get her strapped into a wheel chair in which we have pillows so that she can be at about a 175 degree angle. We pin her temple dress onto the clothes she comes in, and assign a sister to accompany her in the session. This dear sister's joy in life is attending the temple.

Another sister, Hna. Mata, comes four or five times a week. Crippled since birth, she is supported by large braces on both legs and maneuvers with crutches. Whenever, I am tempted to feel sorry for myself all I have to do is remember these sweet sisters.

Love to you each, Mom

Quote of the Day

"Rachel and Josie are doing really good, other than the fact that mom sent her a psycho doll from Mexico for Easter."

This one sent me rolling, Dan is classic. byw, Francesca likes it so don't worry mom. Love Steve

The Adventures of ZM&K

Kaitlyn is a DARE DEVIL! The girl is game for anything that is fast. Yep, that sums it up... FAST. Examples: The blow up slides at carnivals that are really tall and steep, Being pushed good and hard on swings, Goes for the biggest slides at the park, and most recently... 4-wheeling. She was a WRECK when we got to this location to 4-wheel. She hadn't gotten any sleep and was hungry and unconsolable but once we put her on the machine her worries were swept away and she was the happiest girl around. I love this about my little Kaitlyn, it is so fun to see. It does make me wonder a bit about what her hobbies will be as she grows up though.

We are postponing the inevitable at this point, well I am. Packing I mean. We leave 3 weeks from Saturday and I know suddenly our move will be a week away and I'll realize I haven't done enough preparatory packing but I just refuse to cause unnecessary chaos early in the game. What is the optimal time line for moving anyways? I was thinking 2 weeks before start pulling out the boxes. I just hate when every room is lined with boxes and it's all pretty much a mess. We have limited space as it is. I'll give you an update and some pictures for your entertainment.

As for little prego woman, I find out what I'm having in a couple weeks. Woo Hoo. I've got to be honest, these are my thoughts: Girl- I'd be a little relieved. Only because I know what to expect, it will feel comfortable to have another girl and I wouldn't have to buy a thing.. always good on the student budget. I find myself day-dreaming about a girl if that means anything. Boy- I'd be really excited but almost scared. That's silly, I'd love every minute of it, but just will have a lot more questions about what this little guy would be like. Zach thinks we're having a boy. OFCOURSE I will be VERY happy with which ever we get, it's fun to not know right now.

That's us in a nutshell. Zach has 2 more weeks of work and then we pack for a week and we're OUT OF HERE. Party. We love you all. See ya in July unless you live in, or plan on coming to Detroit or Canada in the next month or so. Feel free to stop by. :)

Zach, Maria, and "Speedy"

Another month...no job news... (The Morgan/Bentley Colorado dwellers)

Since it's now been almost a year and a half, I'm sure no one is waiting up at night, but in case you are wondering, Steve still has no news on the job front. Intel's Board of Directors are supposed to be making a decision about this site at the end of May, so we think we might know something at that point. But, I personally am not counting on it.

Elijah made it into 8th grade jazz band. He was so cute acting like it was no big deal while trying to wipe the happy, happy grin off his face.

Israel's terror for the month was being forced to put on lotion/chapstick/hydrocortisone creme after letting his skin get so dry he had patches of excema (sp?) everywhere. Who knew lotion could be so frightening??!! There was WAY too much crying.

Levi is LOVING getting to go play soccer on a Parks and Rec team. My first son to think sports are not of the devil.

Cecelia is ready to go to kindergarten, like yesterday. And she's a creative little monster. It's so cute, since she didn't get any creativity from her mom.

Francesca. 3% for weight. 60% for height and head. Too bad the only thing she wants to eat is spaghetti sauce. Anything dipped in spaghetti sauce...and the occasional grape.

Well. I think that's enough. I'll try to get a video next time of Elijah singing "There are Bunnies in my Soul Today" to himself while wandering around downstairs. (Okay, I'm not really getting a vid of it, but it IS funny.)

Love,

Steve, Rachel, Elijah, Israel, Levi, Cecelia, and Francesca

Gma. worries

I saw a spot on the TV this morning about bullying in schools, and it made me concerned about my darling grandchildren who head out the doors of your homes into an uncertain world each day. The good news is that there is a web site to help parents prepare their children for what they may encounter. You may want to check it out. it is: don'tbullymykids.com Keep up your excellent work within the walls of your homes founding them with the scriptures, FHE and prayer. We pray for them and you.

Dave Says It's Really Big

...The Great Wall of China, that is. And he would know since he actually walked on it! Dave is flying home as we speak from an (almost) week long business trip to Beijing and took some really cool photos. If you want to see them you can go to his picasa web album at http://picasaweb.google.com/bentled and look at the Beijing pics. My personal favorite is the one where looks like he's being axed by a....is that guy a Mongol? Hmmm.

The surreal thing is that since Beijing is 12 hours ahead of us his flight arrives an hour before it departs. Which means that Dave is time traveling...or in the Northwest Airlines Twilight Zone. do-dee-do-do do-dee-do-do (Twilight Zone Music)

We love you guys.....

DKJMJ

FHE

I don't know about you guys, but we don't usually make our kids watch the Saturday sessions of General Conference (excepting priesthood for Elijah, of course). So, we were sad when they announced the solemn assembly and our kids missed it because we didn't even have a chance to go get them from all over the house and explain what was going on and have them participate. So...for family home evening we downloaded the video of the Saturday morning session of conference and for our lesson talked about what the solemn assembly was and how we were going to have a chance to sustain the prophet. Then we watched the video and stood at the appropriate times and sustained our new prophet and the rest of the general authorities. It was a really sweet moment watching our kids stand up and raise their right hands to the square to sustain our leaders, and I think it was good for them to see their mom and dad stand up, in our quorum or group and also sutain our leaders.

I thought I'd share because it was a short FHE lesson (only took about 10 minutes total) (we like short) but I can't think of a more powerful lesson we could have given on following the modern prophet. If you didn't have a chance to participate in the solemn assembly with your kids, I would highly recommend this as a FHE activity/lesson.

Unemployed but Happy

Dear Bentleys,
We are happy to report that Charlie took the plunge and quit his job last week. He has been working hard this week to set up his new company:Segway Funding. We both feel really calm, which is a huge blessing. I've been busy this week writing grants for our elementary school PTA. Hopefully we'll be able to get funding for a p.e. teacher and science field trips for each grade. Our ward split last week so we have big changes ahead. Luckily we get to keep our bishop who we love but we are loosing almost all of the young families who are our friends. Two weeks ago it was Will's first fast Sunday since he was baptized. He was starving to death and as the Sacrament began. I recommended that he pray and ask Heavenly Father for help. He closed his eyes and began praying. I likewise began to pray that the Lord would help him to gain a testimony of the fast. When the Sacrament tray came there was a whole unbroken piece of bread. Will eagerly grabbed it and enjoyed it one small piece at a time. Will and I both saw it as a tender mercy from the Lord to give him the strength to keep the commandments. Will said, "Now I know that if the Lord asks me to do something He will help me to do it." What a simple but beautiful reminder of the Lord's love in even the small things. Love, Kathy

find the crocs & G & G too

Dear Grandchildren,
Do you remember the song, "Oh a Maid Set Sail"? Get your parents to sing it to you and see if you can find the crocodiles hiding in these pictures. We love you, G&G

Hello from the Colorado Thompson Bentleys

Hey Everyone! This may be a little tricky for Rick, so you will have to settle for me until he figures it out. Cora made it into the Young Author's Tea at her school. She was one of two kids from her class nominated to attend a special tea and listen to a local author talk about writing. She felt really honored and is published now. Linc is talking a lot as some of you heard first hand while we were in Utah. He is really into cutting things with scissors too like our cell phone power cords and blinds. And, he is loving turning the hot water heater off - showers have been a little cold around here. Brig has been sickly this year and just got over another cold this week. And Lydia is talking a lot and had the same cold as Brig. Lincoln clearly is looking smarter on this diet!
Life is quiet and uneventful. Rick will be working a lot of moonlighting jobs within the next two months. I keep telling him I don't care about the money - I just want to keep all the stuff. (Name that movie!) Steve and Rachel and family spent the day with us today watching conference. We love having them around ... we wouldn't mind a few more people moving out here.
It was great to see you all and can't wait to reconnect in July.
Lots of love! Rick, Marisa, Cora, Linc, Brig, Lyds and Clyde

Dear fellow bloggers,

As it may be for some of you (read: "the boys"), giving birth to my monthly blog article does not come easy for me. Like bearing my testimony at fast meeting, I just can't think of anything very interesting or different to say. I find myself trying to become invisible, hoping your devoted Mother will forget that I have not yet contributed anything this month. But alas, the woman never forgets such things, and she must have inherited from her Mother a natural gift for motivating shirkers (from the German word "schurke" meaning scoundrel) to do their duty, "ahora mismo, no mañana." I told her my mind was as blank as it was the first time I tried to call a girl for a date and that I had nothing to say, so she suggested the following:

Right after I was called, the Temple Department told me to choose two counselors, one to be the Temple Recorder and the other to be the Temple Engineer. When I told them I didn't know anyone in Tampico, let alone anyone qualified for these two positions, they had me call the Temple President for recommendations. He advised me to keep both of his current counselors because they both had a good retirement and no one else was as qualified as they were (He was right) but the Temple Department sent me back to him to get two or three names of alternative candidates. He gave me three names, but said each one had problems: one worked five days a week as an insurance agent, one liked to sleep in and had little money for buses, and one had been released from a stake presidency because he was difficult to work with. After two General Authorities investigated for themselves, I was allowed to keep the old counselors for 3-6 months until I could find replacements, but President Mickelsen instructed me to visit other wards or stake conferences in our temple district every week until we found the right people. I've been doing that for over five months now, but the longer I looked the more I realized that the best candidates were probably already temple workers.

It has not been an easy decision. Ideally, there would be two candidates who would stand out from the rest in terms of their health, age, dependability, free time available, ability to serve as the recorder or the engineer, having a strong wife (to be Mom's assistant), sweet personality, and other factors. But each candidate had shortcomings and it was hard to balance their pro's and con's fairly because a lot of my information was incomplete or it came from people with obvious biases. Chosing the engineer was the hardest because I went back and forth between two very different people for a long time, first favoring one and then the other. It seemed as though the only feeling I was getting consistently was confusion. Fortunately, there was really no absolute deadline so I just took my time and continued to gather more information. One of the things I did was to interview the candidates themselves, without telling them specifically that I was considering them.

I had been thinking and praying about this more intensely for the last several weeks and had begun to feel somewhat positive about someone who was not recommended by the previous temple president (probably because he works most days as a contractor), but last week I took it a step further. After going on an endowment session I decided to remain in the celestial room a little longer to see if the Lord would give me a more definite feeling. This time, rather than trying again to compare this man logically with the other leading candidate for Temple engineer, I just told the Lord that I felt comfortable with the idea of working with this man but I wanted to do what He wanted me to do. I told Him I had tentatively decided to choose this man but if the Lord wanted me to choose the other candidate I needed to feel something that would change my decision. Almost immediately I felt relief and a warm feeling about the man I had chosen. I felt reassured that if he were called he would be able find the time to devote to his calling. I also felt good about other concerns I had had about him earlier. Mom also feels good about this choice.

This was not as life-changing or dramatic as some of my other spiritual experiences I have told you about in the past, but it is one that I will remember because it taught me once again how essential it is to rely on the Lord for guidance rather than to try to depend completely on my own reasoning and logic when I make decisions like this.

Abuelito

Shhhhh! Mary's Got a Secret

Now this story need to start at the beginning... maybe not the beginning, we'll jump ahead. You may know how much trouble our green Passat has caused over the years. Well, it reached it's pinnacle last weekend. Zach didn't have patients on Thurs/Fri so we decided to go on a trip to Moab/Arches Natl. Park to bike and hike. 10 miles outside of Green River, the infamous Passat began to buck on the freeway... NOT A GOOD SIGN. This just got worse until we couldn't accellerate without it getting more severe. Everytime our car has a problem my stomach drops and my heart jumps to my throat and I think "what now!" This was no different. We are on the side of the freeway (see photo) and LUCKILY we had cell phone service to call AAA to tow us. BEST THING WE EVER DID! AAA ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE IS MY BEST FRIEND! Do you know that in the last 3 years we have used AAA to tow our car... 6 times! This was the last straw! We waited for 2 1/2 hours for the truck and then it was 2 hours to get us to Grand Junction where there was 1 place that works on VW's. We luckily have Krehl and Amy there (the ones we went to Hawaii with) and stayed with them all weekend while the Passat was being fixed. So much for our vacation plans. But we still went hiking and biking and got to do it with them which was great.

Needless to say, I had had it with the Passat and it was decided no matter what we were selling it! We have spent the last 7 days since it broke down going to dealerships, researching and discussing what we should get. Finally it's been decided. Zach went skiing with his family today and I went to look at a Grand Caravan we found online last night for a great price. Well, I bought it and he doesn't even know yet. That's right, Zach is skiing and has no idea I purchaced a minivan. I took it over to Charlie for his stamp of approval though. We got a great deal and had discussed everything beforehand so I know it's fine but I am really enjoying the knowledge that I went and did this with Kaitlyn today by myself. It's a lovely dark blue and when I called to tell Dad, he was REALLY proud of my color choice so I decided that it must be a good decision.

If it's an interesting story, I'll have Zach blog his reaction to the purchace. He'll find out about it tonight when we're all together at Sharon's for dinner. I'm loving it.

Here are some pictures of me landing on Bald Mountain above a town called Hood River, OR on the north side of Mount Hood. This mountain is only about 4,000 ft. elevation so most of you are reading this higher than I got on my flight, but it really was a nice flight. My instructor got out and took the picture. I'm almost done with my training. I will hopefully be done by July so I'll be a full fledged, fully certificated helicopter pilot by then. It's really fun and I really like it. Rachel and Josie are doing really good, other than the fact that mom sent her a psycho doll from Mexico for Easter. Maybe I'll send a picture of it next time. (Don't worry mom, Josie loves it. I'm just a little wary of the little beast). Enjoy conference everybody. Love Dan and Rachel and Josie and Kee

The Gehring 5

I was just reading everyone's entries, when I looked at the top of the page and saw all the buttons all of you say are always there to edit the blog. I decided I couldn't wait until Matt got home to write. It was too exciting to do this the easy way. In other words, instead of Matt's eloquent words, you once again get to read my everyday text ;)

Our family is doing very well. Peter is not quite walking, but has advanced to standing by himself, crawling down stairs head first (which he hasn't fallen yet) and eating our plants. He now has 6 teeth and has started biting off the top of his bottles - good thing I am no longer nursing. Eliza is talking so much. She wants to make sure you know she is two everytime Sam tells someone he is four. She loves pink and is so excited her cousin just gave her a ton of pink clothes. She also knows almost as many letters as Sam and continues to sing daily. Sam is loving the Spiderman bike he got for his birthday and has even done the entire loop on family walks. He is signed up for a soccer team that will start the end of this month. Matt will probably be the coach as he got succored in when he went to sign his life away I mean sign-up (He had to sign three waivers one saying he would be a nice parent and one of the others said his child might experience emotional and physical trauma. Are we sure we are ready for this?).

Sharon and Matt have been working in the yard. Some of you have seen what we started, but the rest will have to wait until July when you come. The Moores thought we were putting in such an effort they brought us chocolates to make us feel better. I really enjoy being in the yard, which is good as I will primarily be in charge of caring for Matt's grandparent's yard as well as this one.

Matt's two projects up at Hill Airforce Base will finish in May so he is pushing forward, but is still allowing me to attend Women's Conference with my friends May 1 & 2. Thanks to everyone who will help me with my kids.

We have had fun seeing people this past month and even had a great visit with the Lander cousins as their oldest grandson, Brian leaves on his mission today and we attended his "non-farewell." They still have cabins available if anyone would like to join us in Wyoming for fun. As of now, Matt and I are the only ones.

Love you all,

Matt, Sharon, Sam, Eliza, and Peter

You've seen the pic, now hear the tale

I posted some pics a few days ago, so you've all gotten to see our little ones who seem to be growing like weeds these days.

Our big news is that Steve is getting so old he is walking around with a cane. Poor guy. Something "bad" happened to his hip about a month and a half ago, and then it just kept getting worse until he couldn't get out of bed a few times. Finally he went to a doc, who was absolutely no help, and then a chiropractor, who might be helping some, but it's hard to tell. Steve started out by using his old crutches, and then finally broke down and let me buy him a cane this week. We hope he is on the mend, but wouldn't be all that surprised if his right leg just fell off one day.

Rachel is messing around with stuff like reading, indian meditation, story writing, reading, and preparing gospel doctine lessons. (Steve assures everyone that he wasn't the one who slated me for this calling...but as far as I know, I haven't driven anyone away from the church yet.)

Israel was asked for words to describe his mom during Cub Scouts. His answers: dictator and thief. I think the dictator part is self-explanatory, but the thief? So...I told them two weeks ago that I was putting their allowance in cups as small change, then taking some away whenever their rooms weren't clean or they weren't ready for school on time, etc. He decided that this meant that I was stealing his money and then he wouldn't be able to pay all his tithing, so I was really stealing from the Lord, too. *eyeroll*

Cecelia turned 5 and was so excited we all thought she might burst. Levi started soccer. Elijah now has his own palm pilot. (Steve's old one, we aren't really buying him stuff like palm pilots.) Francesca is trying very hard to fall down the stair, but we haven't let her yet.

And that's it. Love you,

Steve-Rach-Eli-Is-Levi-Cece-Ches

Mom & Grandmama

APRIL BENTLEY BULLETIN BLOG
Happy Birthday two dear one year olds: April 14th Josinette's
April 23rd Francesca's

Saturday it was our turn to open the temple at 6:00 a.m. When we arrived about 5:45 we found President and Hna. Treto already there, as well as two of our faithful temple workers. Our 7:00 session was filled with local people. By the 8:30 session the buses had arrived from Victoria and Vales and we had to set up all the folding chairs we had to squeeze everyone in. The baptistery was overflowing with eager youth. I was especially touched by two of the young people. A sweet girl in a wheel chair and a blind boy who were there with their friends to serve in the House of the Lord.

There was a beautiful bride and groom, and a family who had come to be sealed. The family had an interesting story. While they were getting their paper work taken care of I greeted the couple, Hno. Y Hna Cruz, who had come with them as their “acompanantes” (I can’t remember the word we use in English). I asked them if they were relatives. “No, we are their Home and Visiting Teachers.” I learned that the family had been inactive members of the Church for many years, but they continued have contact with the Church through the Cruz.’ Visits. As the family returned to activity the bishop called the Cruz’ to teach them the Temple Preparation Classes, and now they were accompanying them to the temple. What a testimony of the power of Home and Visiting teaching. The couple’s 13 year old son and 9 year old daughter were also there to be sealed to their parents. The girl had a lovely dress her mother had made for the occasion. Hna. Esparza called me to look at it as there was a very, very pale cast of pink in the shimmer of the skirt material. I was reminded of my experience Thursday night. Another family had come to be sealed with a 15 year old girl who had saved her money to buy a lovely white dress for the occasion. It had short sleeves and came just below her knees and Pres. Treto had told her she could not wear it. When I learned of the situation, this sweet girl was nearly in tears. I visited with her and offered her one of our dresses with long sleeves and skirt, but she wanted to wear her dress. Fortunately, I had just had three darling bolero jackets made for our brides. With one of these, and long white stockings she was covered from head to toe in white and tears were replaced with smiles, and a happy memory of her first temple experience. Kathy Barnes Walker’s words rang in my mind, “Better a broken rule than a broken heart.” (Kathy is Pres. Hinckley’s daughter and the Matron at the Salt Lake Temple), Our 9 year old got to wear her dress too.

Our young bride and groom were radiant. He was a returned missionary and all of his family were there. In fact, it was a day of double rejoicing for his parents as his younger brother was entering the temple for the first time before leaving this next week for his mission in Tuxla Guiterez. The bride’s family are not members of the Church, but the groom’s mother accompanied her, and the obvious love between them reminded me of Ruth and Naomi.

When I was giving the name for our 10:00 session a sister broke down and began to cry. I hugged her and told her that after the session if she wished to talk to me I’d be available. Two hours later she found me and through her tears she told me that her x-missionary husband who she had been sealed to and was the father of their two young children, had been excommunicated last Sunday and had abandoned the family. What can you say to someone whose heart is broken? I just listened and cried with her. Another woman asked me what last name she should use in the name booth, her maiden name or the name of her husband, the father of her children, who had just divorced her. Such heartaches.

The Esparza’s son and daughter in law with their darling 9 month old baby came to pick up their parents and I got to hold little David. It felt so good to hug this sweet baby and think about our five little ones born last year. I’m so grateful for our web cam and Vonage phone that keeps us in close contact with the family.

This being the last Saturday of the month Pres. and Hna. Moss were going to come at the 2:30 session with the missionaries who were ending their missions. Carol had spoken with me earlier and we had made arrangements for her to come in the morning to be baptized and do the initiatory work for the mother of one of her missionaries who had died just a year earlier while he was serving in the mission field. What a privilege and blessing it was for me to officiate in English with the assistance of Hna. Perez sealing in Spanish, as this mother received her preparatory ordinances. Carol then took this mother’s name (Silvia Romero Acosta) through the session in the afternoon. As they were leaving she introduced me to the son, dear Elder Aguilar. There was no doubt in any of our minds that his mother was in attendance and had accepted the work done on her behalf.

Bro. and Sister Rollins from Layton had come to pick up their son as he ended his mission. Sister Batt (she and her husband serve in the mission office) told me of the touching scene when Elder Rawlings saw his parents for the first time on the temple steps. They ran to each other and embraced and he exclaimed “You came, you really came!” That was a “heart camera” moment. Although it was our turn to leave the temple early we had stayed so that we could be there to take these three American women through the veil in English.

When we finally turned off the lights and locked the doors of the temple we had been there for 12 hours. It sounds like a long time, but the hours always fly past when we are serving the Lord in His house

detroit is bigger than your city......

The remarkable thing about this past month is the notable contrast between; vacation and school/work, homework and not, quiet and screeching, uncluttered and disaster relief, crusty and moistly dribbly, not too smelly and quite too smelly. Dave went on work trips to new york and las vegas while the kids and Kar did homework. Then… we switched all that and the kids took spring break while Dave took a week off. We mostly played, and uncluttered the house, and ate food, sometimes we slept and went on family adventures like visiting the natural history science museum at the university of Michigan and the ford rouge plant. Maddies favorite exhibit was most likely the family of possums, “this is the cutest photo ever”. Josh enjoyed the big canoe and checking out germs in microscopes… he also enjoyed the full immersion surround sound movie of “making trucks”, a complete multi-sensory experience. Kar I’m willing to bet liked having everyone around, she wasn’t outnumbered even once for a whole week. Dave still likes dinosaur bones, and mammoths, and all those cool stuffed predatory birds as well as wolves, and little weasles, and ……… being with Kar and the little people. Jake liked to pretend he was the snarling wolf, even the day before we saw it.

Other highlights this month:

- Josh lost his tooth in a croissant, and got a bulls-eye shooting a bow and arrow.

- Maddie sang in church and gave a talk all in one day, and is a serious math whiz.

- Jacob has cheeks that are so pinchable people can’t stand it. He can get from sitting up to his belly and then back to sitting up again, and can do “mountain climbers”. No crawling yet.

Kid quotes:

“Homework kills trees. Play video games.” –Josh’s slogan, lifted from a t-shirt we think

“You’re the graham cracker fairy’s secretary.” -Josh, to Dave (long story)

“Jake is our sensei!” –Josh and Maddie (as ninjas)

“Bugs Bunny is really….intelligent.” –Maddie, with crack analysis on her first experience with watching Looney Tunes

“Pronoun trouble.” -Daffy Duck (I get into pronoun trouble all of the time)

Will and Cora are playing together and wanted to write some jokes for their cousins.

Cora: Why do birds fly south in the winter? Because it's too far to walk.

Will: Knock, knock, who'se there?Shelby? Shelby who? Shelby comin' round the mountain when she comes!

Emma: Why wasn't Cinderella very good at soccer? She kept running away from the ball!

Cora: Why didn't the skelton cross the road? Because he had no guts to do it!

Emma: What does mother earth use to fish? Her north and south poles!

Cora: knock knock...who;s there? Easter bunny...Easter bunny who? knock knock...Boo...boo who? Don't be sad, the Easter bunny will be here again next year.

Caroline: knock, knock...who's there? Little old lady. Little old lady who? I didn't knock you could yoodle!

We hope that brightened your day! Love, Kathy, Cora, Will, Emma, and Caroline

More...with boys!

I got my boys to hold still for a couple pics. Here they are:

Ches, Cece, and the boys are hiding

Mom wanted to see some pics of the kiddos. I have lots of the girls, but my boys usually run away when I get out the camera, but here's a couple of them:

Grandma

I just looked at these short cuts of movies I took last week at the Benemerito Ballett Folklorico. I thought you'd enjoy a quick taste of Mexico. I also thought my 18 girls (grownup and small) might enjoy dancing along with the fun music. Much love, Mom-Grandma P.S. I guess I can't put all these on. Enjoy the one!

Josinette's New Shirt!

Although Josie doesn't actually own this shirt, we thought you'd get the general idea.

Steve's family has Graphophobia

See, I got your attention. Now you are going to have to look that up. As it turns out, we are still alive, but have dropped such menial tasks as writing about family matters. We have installed 1400 sqft of carpet downstairs and in our master bedroom, which makes it nice for walking around barefoot. I'd put a picture in, but I don't have one. In other news, Rachel is enjoying her new stint as gospel doctorine teacher (I hesitated for a long time on this one, but she hasn't driven anyone away from the church yet -- that I know of). Levi has just signed up for soccer and is really excited. Elijah is going to try out for Jazz band on the saxaphone. He is getting to be really good and has a natural ability for music. Israel is a great friend to his little sisters and is really growing up. Cecilia is happy as ever and is enjoying her pre-school where she has learned her phone number and address. Francesca is crawling- not normally, but with one leg in front of her and one in back. It is kinda cute. Dad and mom have put a bunch of work into the basement and it really doesn't look the same as it did before (read, we wouldn't be too imbarest now if you came and visited). Steve is still looking for a job, we can't decide if we want to stay with intel and move to China, or look around colorado springs. Well China might be a stretch, but it has come up. We may come to Utah for spring break. It would be fun to see everyone.

Love Steve,Rach,Eli,Is,Lev,Cece and Ches