The Great Pumpkin Bog

It finally stopped raining here and we got out to experience Fall in Arkansas. We went to a local pumpkin bog...er... patch. It showed alot of promise, beautiful trees - starting to turn color, a nice drive - not long enough for anyone to get carsick, a packed picnic lunch.... absolutely perfect!

Except - when we arrived at the bog...er... patch - it looked a "little" muddy. I'm not completely sure, but I don't think large passenger vans make good off road vehicles.

After a strict warning to the kiddos to "STAY OUT OF THE MUD" - we unpacked everyone, loaded up the double stroller and set off. My first inkling that this was more than we bargained for - my sandles were completely covered in mud after stepping out of the van! Matt continued to heave the stroller through wheel deep mud onto the wood pallet bridge accross the "muddy" area to the waiting pumpkins.

Meanwhile, Josh and Lydia are clinging to me for safety, and I am trying to find a foot hold where we don't "sink" in too far.... So much for staying out of the mud. Noah begins to remind us to "look out for snakes" and "people with banjos" (I'm not sure exactly where that came from - but I may have made several remarks about life in rural AR lately....)

Ha! We grabbed a couple of pumpkins, I don't even care - just whatever is closest! Forded the nearby stream of mud and high-tailed it out of there. Everyone is crying by now, covered in mud, dressed in MN style shorts/tshirts and sandals, "locals" here were in parkas, mittens and snowboots - no lie!

We were determined for Family Fun to be Found - so off we go to the park for a picnic. The kiddos actually begged to eat in the van - even with the temptation of a huge playset waiting for them.

What a day - but, most certainly - our most memorable adventure to find the Great Pumpkin!!!

PS- the bright side, I had something to "blog" about!

Some Pictures

Here's the photo update from us:

Esther turns 5 months old!

Luke celebrated #10 - first birthday in Arkansas

Sam attempts to carry boxes like the movers do...

and this is the rental house.

If you think that little U-Haul carried our stuff here, well - kinda - we ran out of the BIG truck and had to add more space :-) The movers told Matt it was my 12,000 lbs of books!

Now What do I do?

Well, we're here... the boxes are kinda unpacked, school is back in session, now what?
We had a bit a rough landing, lots of drama and suspense with the house sale (where did "water issues" come from? - never saw that one coming...!)

Now we are in our spacious, 3 bedroom rental home, it looks as if our house in MN will close on Oct 23rd - it's time to move forward. The only problem, I don't know which way is forward?! I can't wait until finding my way to a carton of milk doesn't seem like such a huge adventure!!! Moving is HARD! Not to mention, it hasn't stopped raining since we arrived, it's gray and wet all the time - it matches my mood. I need some sunshine soon. But, at least it's not snowing here, and it is snowing in Minnesota!

A good friend wants me to put a "diaper counter" on my blog - does anyone know how to set one up? I have 3 in diapers, so it could make for some impressive numbers!!!

We Made It!

Okay - enough about what an awesome blog I have - especially since I don't even know how to use it!!! Thank you Jenny for being my blog-setter-upper... I think you could turn this into a home business - setting up blogs for people too tech challenged to do it themselves...

We have so many amazing God stories to tell about our GBA (Great Bentz Adventure) moving from Savage, Minnesota to Conway, Arkansas!

The most recent is - We sold our house on the WAY to AR! Isn't it just like God to show up at just the moment - I'm constantly amazed at his perfect timing. I felt much like the Israelites must have when they were looking at the flooded Jordan River - knowing that God's promises for them where on the other side, but not really "seeing" how they were going to get there to claim them!

Our home in Savage had been on the market for a couple of months, but no offers, my husband was commuting back and forth, I was home alone (relative term - I did have the 8 kids, 2 cats, 2 frogs, and the dog). So, we called the movers, loaded everything on the truck (actually 2 trucks, we ran out of room...) and headed south for our rental home to reunite our family. I really did NOT see how we were going to manage a mortgage and rental, I really did NOT want to leave the wonderful support and family we enjoyed in MN. BUT - I knew that God had directed us to "go and tell" - not to "stay and pray" - That was actually a word from God through Jenny!!

Well, after the frenzy of packing the car, the van and my parents pickup with all the misc. that didn't go with the movers - we put the kiddos in their seats - cats in a cage - dog and frogs with Matt and off we went!

We got the call with the offer, for the house, negoitiated it, and sold the house before we hit the AR state line a mere 11 hours later! Wow- Grace and Mercy in a moving van!! Our God is so good!!!

I promise more installments on the GBA - and even pictures (after Jen teaches me how to do that :-)