braden's birthday...

I have seriously neglected my blog lately...apologies to those of you who care! =) Hopefully next week, we will be getting back to "normal." Actually, next week is the start of Christmas parties, the shopping, music programs at school. Next Thursday, Braden will be doing a historical presentation in his class. His report is on William Penn. This is a great experience for the kids, but I am so nervous for them. I can't wail 'til it's over!

I had only posted that one picture from Braden's birthday, but I'm making up for it today. I don't think I've ever posted this many to scroll through...hope you don't mind. I don't have time to do a slideshow or a collage, so I'm posting way too many snapshots from the birthday activities. :) Go grab yourself a snack and get comfy...

His favorite gift...


We had our family "party" the night before his birthday...


Patiently waiting to dig into the ice cream cake...


Blowing out the candles...


We took the boys to Wasabi for some Japanese grillin...


The boys were all pros at eating with chopsticks (just give me a fork!)


Ummm, ummmm, ummmm...


Tyler doing tricks with his sticks...


He was so embarassed when they came out beating the drum and singing to him...


He didn't really care for wearing the hat...


Goofing off...


A good time was had by all...


Okay, I think I am sufficiently caught up on Braden's birthday. Thanks for sticking with me to the end. :)

a lot of catching up to do...

It is so hard to believe that Braden's birthday was a week ago already! And I have not posted one picture from his birthday...how sad. Of course because of the Thanksgiving holiday, this week was all mixed up and has gone by as a blur. I will try to catch up, quickly ;), in one post.

Here is a picture of Braden with two of his buddies, Pierson and Tyler. We took them to a UT basketball game on Friday night (instead of having a birthday party). They were so hilarious together. We had a lot of fun with them. These three have been in the nursery together since the day they were born, and more than likely, will go right on through high school together too.



The only "normal" day we had this week was Monday. I worked on Tuesday instead of Wednesday, and we also had church services on Tuesday. The kids had parties at school on Wednesday morning, then they got out before lunch so we had the rest of the day together. I did take a few pictures at the parties, so I may post some of those after I go through them.

As for Thanksgiving...I have NO pictures! As we did last year, we went to Gatlinburg on Thursday. Because we do not get to spend the holiday with our families, we like to do something to make it special. Unfortunately this year it was cold and raining, so the camera stayed cozy and warm in its bag. After we ate, we just drove around and never saw anything we wanted to do badly enough that we were willing to get out in the weather. :) We drove all the way up the mountain to Ober Gatlinburg because we thought the kids would enjoy that, but we got up there and you have to pay for parking BEFORE you go in and we had no cash on us. So we drove BACK down the mountain and it just didn't seem worth it to drive back up. As we were driving back toward home, we decided to stop at the Apple Barn...we knew their restaurants were open because we checked into having Thanksgiving dinner there. After we loaded everyone out of the van, we found out that the shops were not open. So we got back in the van and drove home where we all watched a movie together and then went to bed!

I must say though, that I am THANKFUL for my family and for the couple of days off we've had. I look forward to this holiday all year...it's like having three Saturdays in a row! :) We've just lazed around a lot today, the kids got to play football outside with Daddy, and we designed our Christmas card...ah, what a nice day. I hope you all enjoyed your time off...thanks for stopping by. Happy Thanksgiving!

happy birthday, braden (slideshow)...

Braden's big day is finally here! It's so hard to believe that it's been nine years since our first baby was born! And now he's turning into a young man! You know how it is...it seems like he has always been a part of us, but then it also does not seem possible that nine years have passed so quickly!



Braden is definitely a first-born child. We had almost three years with him before Bella was born, so we had that special time with just him, doing lots of playing and reading...all those things you have more time to do with the first one. He was the perfect baby, and I'm not just saying that! He is a daddy's boy. Even when he was very small, the highlight of his day was when Daddy got home from work. He is a typical "big brother." He is very much the instigator and a prankster. He likes to tell jokes...sometimes he makes up riddles himself, and they are usually pretty good! He really thinks about things...he comes up with some pretty deep conversations and questions. :) We have never been able to just give some answer to his questions because he knows if he's not getting the whole story; he just keeps on delving until he gets to the root of a matter. I enjoy having these conversations with him because it's great to see him really "getting it." Only the Lord knows what He has in store for Braden, but I know God can use him! Please pray for us that we will guide him and teach him to seek the heart of God in his life.

To Braden: You are such a bright, handsome young man! We are so thankful to God for giving us such a gift in you. We love you, little man, and may you have the happiest happy birthday!

And here is the slideshow...enjoy the life of Braden! :)

Click here to view the show

If you are tuning in for the first time this week, be sure to scroll down and check out the other posts from this week. Thank you for stopping by and have a great weekend! (Whew, I made it! :)

birthday portraits...

So I didn't get back to this as quickly as I thought I would, and now I'm running out of time to post everything I want to post for Braden's birthday. Tomorrow is the big day...still gotta finish that slideshow! :) I thought I'd go ahead and post some of my favorite shots from his birthday "session." Sure, I might be a bit biased, but isn't he the handsomest little man???











Shots from the goofing-off part of the session :)


Funny story that I have to document...one of those things I want to remember always. We were eating dinner one night last week, and Braden was going on about how good it was. He said he was going to start now making a list of all the things he likes to eat; and when he gets married he will give the list to his wife, so he won't ever have to eat anything he doesn't like. How cute is that? Sounds like he's going to make a GREAT husband! ;o)

Be sure to check back tomorrow. I hope to post early, but...well, you know how it is. =)

two days in a row...

Shocking I know, to see two posts in less than 24 hours. I've been scanning all these pictures for Braden's birthday slideshow, and I wanted to post more of them. This one was taken when he was ten months old. He had only begun to crawl about two weeks earlier (check out the red knees:)...as our first child, we were a little concerned about that. But then he started walking the next week! It's funny, we just can't wait 'til they take those first steps; then they get going and we wish they would be still! I have to say I always enjoyed that stage where they could sit up and play and enjoy themselves, but they couldn't actually go anywhere! :)



I have a lot of photo editing I'm working on, but if I have time I may be back with another post tomorrow. Hope to see you then! =)

let the celebrating begin...

Goodness, it's been more than a week already! I have wanted to post something every day, but there just are not enough hours. This past week has been one of the busiest ever for us. It felt like the week we got married, when there is just so much to do and so little time to breathe.

For one thing, the transmission in our van went out and we were without it from Saturday to Thursday. A million thanks go to Mr. "Christmas" (as Braden has always called him :). Ringo used to work with him at Clayton's. He has more vehicles than he knows what to do with and had told us if we ever needed to borrow one, to call him. I am so thankful that the Lord provided us with a means of transportation! The Lord blessed us in an even greater way than that. We could never even have begun to pay what it cost to get that van repaired, but my dad very willingly and generously offered to take care of having the transmission rebuilt!!!!!! Praise the Lord for taking care of us!

This past week has also been very busy because I have been taking LOTS of pictures. In the past week, I have done sessions with five families, plus I have done our kids twice! I was looking forward to a slower week this week, but then I remembered...Braden is turning nine this week!!!

Which brings me to the point of this post...I am going to TRY to post at least three times this week...notice the emphasis there. Of course this week's posts will be all about Braden! I am working on his slideshow, and I've already done his birthday session. Somehow I am GOING to get it all finished (breathe...take one day at a time...if I can just make it til Saturday). I am actually scanning photos as I type. :)

To start off this week of Braden, click here (or go to November 2006 in the archives list on the left side of this page) to see one of the posts from his birthday last year. And I can't post without a picture, so here is one of my favorites, taken around his fifth birthday...




See you soon! =)

the pumpkin patch...

Last weekend we had a fun time at the pumpkin patch watching the kids pick out pumpkins. The kids had never gotten to do this before, so they thought it was the best thing ever. I thought it was sweet to hear their reasons for why they did or didn't pick certain pumpkins. Bella heard Ringo say something about one of them looking like the perfect pumpkin, so that was the one she wanted. She kept asking if it really was perfect. Anyway, it was a special time with the kids and we all enoyed it. I hope it is a memory they keep in their minds forever.

My favorite fall picture...


Some more of the fun...click on these for a larger view...


Braden even took some pictures of us!


Have a great Lord's day...see you next week.

ap