Julia, RN, We're proud of you! 1 Year Ago!

My great family of kids---well, most of them, we need to add a couple now!

This picture was taken before Randy was married and before Marygrace was born. Brayden was suffering from a very severe sunburn, he wasn't able to tolerate any clothes on his shoulders, luckily we were able to get a muscle shirt on for the picture.

Randy and Emily's Wedding

Randy and Emily were married one year ago this past Sept in the Lubbock Temple. We are so happy to have Emily in our family.

Goalie---Soccer Hero

Brayden had a soccer game this afternoon and he is the soccer hero, he stopped the ball twice on ONE PK. (It was a close game) These are his words when I asked him to describe what happened. "Well, I just "read" him basically, I just dove to the left, rebounded it back to him, then I "read" him again and dove to the right and stopped the ball again."
I had him demonstrate his stance and he told me how he has to read their eyes and watch their feet and pay attention to which direction they point their feet.
I hate that I missed this game but I worked last night and was asleep.

My Friends Quilt

I started helping my good friends daughter make a quilt a few months ago, she's already finished one (except for minor hand work) and she's almost finished with her 2nd quilt. She has a new baby brother and she had made him a quilt, it's so adorable and I'm so proud of her! She's an amazing young women.

What I have to do tonight!!!

I have changed jobs (I know that everyone knows that, I don't mean to repeat "old" news) and I was really looking forward to getting caught up on all my housework, laundry etc. I was also looking forward to sewing! I have been off for 5 days and I didn't get any laundry put away (I did get some clothes washed--thank goodness), I didn't even look at the sewing machine (except to move it out of the way) I decided today I better vacumn and I shampooed a couple of places that needed to be cleaned. It took me a few days to get caught up on my sleep and we've kept Brayden and Brionna while Julia worked so I have a little bit of an excuse but I have to go back to work tomorrow and I decided that I am going to get completely caught up, wish me luck!

The Best Cat

I really have to brag on Hercules, he's not a big fan of kids, he's not mean or aggressive, he's just not a kid fan. He sure tolerates Brionna, she LOVES Hercules, she calls him "her kitty" and she tries to carry him around (however, I think he may weigh almost as much as she does) he tolerates her holding onto him while she watches cartoons, while she eats her snacks, while she plays with her blocks, etc, etc. She thinks that he should be in whatever room she is in, it doesn't matter if it's the bathroom, game room, bedroom, kitchen or living room, where ever Brionna is, that's where you will find Hercules---much to his chagrin. She was playing in the backyard today and he was watching her out the back door while she played with her toys and Captain La. She also played on the trampoline. Hercules saw Brionna playing and decided to follow her outside, he didn't stay outside long once La saw him but I thought it was funny because maybe he likes her more than I think he does!

My Estate Sale Find

I love pictures that remind me of Europe. I found these two prints at a Estate sale a couple of weeks ago. I am going to re-frame them---well, one isn't even in a frame and the other one is in a green frame so I'm going to buy new frames for them and put them in my bedroom. I love them. I wouldn't pay full price for them, they had posted signs that said everything would be 30% off the next day and 50% after 12:00 noon. I went with Jan and Sandy and we went right at 12:00 and I grabbed it off the wall. (I didn't have to knock anyone away from it---surprisingly to me, no one else was anxiously waiting to buy it) I think the ugly frame threw them off, just wait until I get them re-framed. I love them.

50 cents worth of fun! VIDEO

Brionna and I ran errands today, we ended up at Walmart and Brionna wanted to ride the "boat" (I'm not sure what it was) She sure was cute today, she wore these really cute yellow crocs and kept her yellow sunglasses on, neither one really matched her outfit but she was still cute. We had to go up to the hospital where I worked to turn in some papers and she was very outgoing, she spoke to everyone, even patients in the hallway going to PT. She brightens everyones life that she comes in contact with.

I have my days and nights mixed up

I love my new job, I have always loved hospital work. I used to wonder why I left it and then the longer that I was away from it I wondered if I was even able to go back to it, the work is certainly different than clinic work----but I love my new job. However-----------I am working nights and I am having some difficulty adjusting to working nights! Of course, I've only worked 3 nights, however, it's 2:00 am and I'm wide awake! I want to go to sleep because my family will be awake tomorrow and I have a ton of stuff to do and I'm going to be sleepy. I know that there has to be a way to make it a little easier to adjust. Does anyone have any suggestions?

You are My Sunshine by Brionna VIDEO

Brionna really loves to sing, she is either singing or humming all the time. We all think that she will be an American Idol some day. The original video was 5 minutes and it honestly brought tears to some our our eyes----------it was SO CUTE!!!!
I know that there has to be a way to shorten a video to post it but I didn't know how so, I did the only think I knew how to do! Take a video of a video! I know the quality isn't the best, but you get the general idea of just how cute we think Brionna is singing her song.
Sometimes she will walk up to me and give me a kiss and tell me that I am her sunshine. She's a little sweetheart!

Brayden and Brionna playing

This evening Dick and I went to Julia's to help her move stuff and try to help her unpack, put away stuff and help her get her stuff organized. The kids were playing outside so I wanted to post a couple of pictures. I don't know where Brionna got her hat from but she sure was attached to it! Cute kids.

Happy Birthday Jan!!

I want to wish Jan a very, very happy birthday today! We have had a fun filled day. We started out going to a few estate sales and a few garage sales, I treated her to a pedicure at a local Spa (Sensei Spa) and we had the best pedicures we've ever had. We were really catered to at the Spa. They brought us drinks, strawberries with chocolate and biscotti. We felt like we were the only clients at the Spa, We both left with toe rings on---cute, huh! I kind of felt like a movie star when we left. I can't wait to go back! We then had lunch at Buns over Texas. This evening we met Jan's mother, June, Ben, Sandy and her husband Milton, Delores and her daughter Whitney, Randy and Emily, Brionna and Jan at the Country Barn for a birthday celebration, complete with carrot cake. I think Jan has had a great day. Jan is the best friend anyone can have. Jan will do anything for anyone who has a need, she is hard working, friendly, generous and loving. She is beautiful, she had good taste in clothes, shoes and jewelry! Jan will absolutely do anything for anybody that has a need, I know I said that once but she it the rare person that you can count on for anything. She's the 1st person I call when I have a crisis in my life. (She's the 1st person I called when my sister passed away, when my mother passed away, when my grandchildren were born, when I have a flat tire, when I have the flu, when Brayden had a concussion she was the one I called to be the hostess to the party I had planned at my house, when I have a hang nail----gosh, Jan, am I a little needy for you?????????? Jan has more energy than anyone I know, she will still climb in a tree to put a bird house in the tree! I just wanted to tell her Happy Birthday----and many, many more! I know we will be friends forever!

Game

Cat Show in Amarillo

Brionna and I went to the cat show in Amarillo this afternoon. We had so much fun, she was able to pet several of the cats. We decided that Hercules is the prettiest cat around, maybe next year we'll enter him in the show!

Brayden and his Soccer Games in San Angelo

Brayden and Dick drove to San Angelo yesterday for 2 soccer games. His team did great, the won the first game 4-0 and the 2nd one 8-0. He was happy because he had plenty of playing time, even with his broken finger. I had to stay home because it was my LAST Sat. to work at the drug clinic. I worked on Brionna's quilt.

How fast can you type?

71 words

Speed test

Brayden's new haircut

Brayden got his hair cut yesterday, yeah, we can see his eyes again! What a handsome guy.

Easter

The Easter Bunny didn't visit our house last week because it was cold and yucky outside, I think he's going to make a surprise visit this weekend. I hope we can catch that sneaky guy. We took Brionna to Grandma Peggy's house tonight and she saw the easter bunny in their yard-------I hope he makes it over here.
Brionna didn't feel well on Easter, she climbed on the couch just as soon as church was over and fell asleep.

Emily and Randy's new truck

Randy bought this truck off of ebay, Emily and Randy flew to Florida, the seller picked them up from the airport, they then picked up their truck, drove to the beach for a short visit then headed home. It's a nice truck!

Camaro

Don't you just love it. Randy is going to repair it and sell it. There is something wrong with the motor. If I didn't love my lexus so much I'd want this car!

Brayden and Brionna riding bikes at the new house

Monkey see.........Monkey do! One of my very favorite things to do as a kid was ride my bike at the dirt hills! Brayden and Brionna have their very own dirt hill on the side of their driveway. Brionna loves to follow Brayden around on his bike. She really thinks she is just as big as he is!

Brayden's New Room

Brayden has a new room. We painted a camouflage room, we painted 2 walls with the camouflage, Dick put camouflage border up on the other 2 walls. Taryn and Julia both pitched in and between the three of us we almost completed it. Brayden came home from school and pitched in and completed some bare spots. He also painted the window sills and the baseboards. We sat back and played seek and find with the walls, we found a dinosaur, 2 lobster claws, a boot, a car, someone today found an elephant and a alligator. I think he has the cutest boy's room I've ever seen and I'm glad that we were able to do it for him.

Brionna's new room

Brionna has a really cute new room. Julia and Taryn used stencils to paint her name and flowers on the wall and above the closet. Her curtains are white with soft little butterflies on them. They will go perfect with the paint. Taryn painted one window sill purple and I painted one pink. It's going to be an adorable little girl room. Julia has plans for some cute wall accessories.

Brayden's newest injury!

Brayden's newest injury this week is a broken finger---poor guy! One his friends shut their van door on his finger. It was just an accident, he wasn't familiar with the van doors and she wasn't used to a little finger in the door. BIG OUCH. He is not supposed to play soccer for 4-5 weeks. Rumor has it they (Granddad and the coach) are going to wrap his hand in bubble wrap and put him back on the field----he won't be able to be the goalie for 4-5 weeks but he can still kick. Just for the record, I am not going to participate in that at all. He also had a cut right above the nail bed. I think it's starting to feel a little bit better. Some of the swelling is down and the cut doesn't look as bad. The Dr. wanted him to take the splint off twice a day and clean his finger with hydrogen peroxide and keep it covered with a bandage, he's doing great keeping it clean.

Brayden's Concussion

I wanted to post a little about Brayden's concussion. He was very fortunate that he escaped serious injury. When I worked at the Drs. office we had a couple of men who had suffered serious injuries from being hit by goal posts. If I remember correctly they had neck injuries and Dick was afraid that Brayden's neck was injured. He wanted me to call Roger (our chiropractor) and Roger said he would touch him unless we took him for a x-ray. The Dr. we took him to didn't do a x-ray, he seemed more concerned about his head, the Dr. moved his neck back and forth and felt it quite a bit but he didn't seem to think it needed to be x-rayed. He was concerned about his eyes being reactive and if he lost consciousness. He asked him a lot of questions and had him move his head up and down and I think that if his neck was affected that would have bothered him. We'll just have to continue to watch him and check on his neck. I asked the Dr. about his neck and he said that if he had a compression fracture he wouldn't be able to move his neck at all. He still has a bump on his head and he says it hurts if he touches it but it's much better tonight. We're very fortunate, those goal posts are heavy and heads are precious things. Thank goodness our Brayden has a hard head. (actually, thank goodness, it hit Brayden where it did, not all parts of our head could handle a goal post hitting it) I think this is one of those times when we can really thank our Heavenly Father for watching over Brayden and for blessing us.

Brayden's Concussion

Thanks to our great Texas Panhandle wind, the soccer goal at the West Texas A & M Soccer field blew over and landed on top of Brayden's head yesterday morning! Dick called and I "flew" down there as fast as I could. We took him to the Urgent Care and the Dr. said he has a concussion. He had a huge knot on his head, the knot is down today but these is still some redness. Here is a picture. We are so lucky that it wasn't any worst, that could have been very serious.