Our shirts had our names on the back!!! We took this photo all by ourselves! It was on a makeshift tripod!!! Crazy!


KENLEY PATRICIA BENSON is in Pre-K this year at Our Savior and we are looking forward to all the new things she is going to learn. She is attending the same school where I went to school from Pre-K to 8th grade, what a tradition. She is still cheering at Texas Lonestar Cheer and is on the Tiny team which is a competition team. She has 6 competitions this year and already mastering a lot of tumbling skills. She continues with her gymnastics on Mondays. She loves to play with her classmates, talking about or visiting or even thinking about visiting baby Emma and the twins Jenna & Brody. We are expecting a new baby from my very best friend Jamie in October and that is a big topic of discussion almost daily, baby Emma is getting a cousin and Miss Kenley can't wait! Most days you can find her wrestling at home with Cole or Garrett or taking Golf Cart rides (Thanks Nana & Papa), she watches T.V. with me and is quite a girly girl really enjoying make up and doing hair. She is precious and I could not imagine my life without her!
Garrett graduated from the University of Houston in 2007 with a degree in Construction Management. He currently works at Baker Concrete as a Project Manager.
He is a sports fanatic. However, his love is Texans football and this takes up the majority of our fall and winter. He is an avid Texans tailgater. Every weekend there is a home game he is cooking and preparing for his time in the parking lot at Reliant Stadium. Fajitas, beer, washers, music and sausage are a few items you would find hanging out of the bed of his truck.
Texas Longhorn football is also a staple in our home. Thanksgiving is always fun!!!
Garrett loves his work and is a wonderful father and I could not ask for more.
Our shirts had our names on the back!!! We took this photo all by ourselves! It was on a makeshift tripod!!! Crazy!


Kenley has finished Pre-School, it was sad for her to lose Mrs. Eifert. She still talks to her every day and tells me something about her often. She started Pre-K with Mrs. Armstrong and seems very happy. She always tells me, “School was fine, Mom” Her days are filled with Gymnastics, Cheer, watching Nickelodeon, playing her iPad and iPod. In the summer she will swim, ride Jet-Skiis, 4-wheelers, fish, play basketball, swing, slide, climb, jump, tumble...although that now requires supervision!
She loves spending time with her “Aunts” both real and honorary. She does so many things with each and every one of the people in her life and they are all very different activities. She has made such strong bonds with each of the many amazing women, and men for that matter, that surround her! She is one blessed little girl.
She loves taking care of her babies and plays very hard with her Barbies. She likes to take Golf Cart rides and visit neighbors. She is sweet and loving and just an amazing kid. She is known at school for her sweet singing voice and her sense for fashion.
My Dad often tells Garrett and I we need to be on our knees every night thanking God for her. Every year for the past 4 I have created one of these books for Kenley, and this year has been the most magical for me. I have not only seen her change and grow physically but I see her becoming a person. She has truly became my best friend. With this friendship by no means have I forgotten my responsibility or duties of being a parent. I see her work ethic, her genuine love for others, her patience, and her heart and I see the sweet child I have created through the bonds of my marriage and love with Garrett and I see what she can become and what a joy she brings now and what a joy she will continue to be, for this I get on my knees every day and I THANK GOD!
This is on the flap....
I started putting these books together so you could look back and see Kenley growing up which she has done, right before our eyes. I now see that these books captures the moments that we can never get back. They hold the memories that we will all hold within our hearts and can’t be taken away, but now we can share them with others and most importantly with Kenley in the future. She is such a blessing to me. She is my best friend and she fills my days with joy and I can’t imagine my life without her and I thank you for the part you played in that. I hope that she brings the same joy and love to your heart and life as she does mine!



Garrett and I met at Lutheran High North in 1997. He came to North from Northwest Academy and I came from Our Savior. We started dating in in 1998 and the rest is history. We left Houston in 2001 after we graduted from Lutheran High North. Garrett went to University Texas and I went to Texas A&M. We spent many hours on the road between the two, to be fair it was Garrett who mostly did all the driving. We were married in September 2005 at the Fontenot Grand Mansion and welcomed Princess Kenley in April 2007 and Cole in 2009. We currently live in "the neighborhood".
Both Garrett and I grew up with dogs. Garrett had Boofer growing up and I had a host of dogs, one in particular was Autumn Marie, a Golden Retriever that went everywhere with my Dad. She could be found in the church parking lot, dropping me off at school or at a softball game.
In early 2005 I announced to Garrett that I wanted a Golden Retriever. He agreed and off to New Waverly we went and picked up a 3 month old pup, who shares my birthday of March 6. We chose her name while driving to pick her up, Brighton Marie. Yes, we got it from the home builder. She is very active and weighs around 80 pounds and firmly believes that she is a lap dog. She is very smart but many find it hard to love her. She is starting to calm down this days and is showing signs of her age. She has just a month and will beging a regime of "old lady" food. She is battling her skin lately it is not in agreement with all of the swimming she likes to do. She is aging around the eyes and after a long week at the lake with my parents her joints were worn out and she could barely get in the truck! Autumn lived to be in her teens...so I am hoping we have a long long life to live!!!
In early 2008 I added a maltipoo to our home, this I did without permission. Needless to say, I was in a bit of trouble. Macy is a sweet girl who loves Princess Kenley to death and pretty much allows anything to be done to her. Macy was born on December 10, 2007. This is a special day in our household. This is the day my mother died in 1999 and the day Garrett's grandpa Tom died in 2007. She is now living with Cassi with her sister Tuny. She was not doing well at pottying at our house and Garrett sort of pulled the plug. I had also had enough. But she is still in our family and we see her every weekend. Here is Tuny and Macy!
We recently added Emily. Kenley begged and begged for a kitty and she got her wish. We went to a meeting for Cole's trip to Washington D.C. and the Eiferts had brought 2 kittens that needed homes. They meowed and meowed, needless to say Emily came home. She has been a great edition and is working out wonderfully. I love her! (the secret is that she is a he!) She is so good about going with us to the lake every weekend and is very happy with all the dogs in the family.