Chaco, Tiki & The Train

So, today Tiki got to ride the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad with the entire Kindergarten. He was SO excited and he did a super job! I am so proud of him and seeing his face so lit up made me super happy! I would have a great picture of him by the train but. . . .

I took Chaco to pick up Tiki. For those of you who do not know Chaco, he is a HUGE 130 pound Great Pyrenees who was SEVERELY abused as a puppy and he is just a big pathetic baby. Around family, Chaco is great and almost normal, so sometimes I forget how hopelessly pathetic he is. . .well, today I got my reminder.

We hopped in the car and headed downtown to meet Tiki and the train. There is MAJOR construction going on downtown and more noises and traffic than I could have imagined. Poor Chaco. When he gets nervous, he pees. . .and that is exactly what he did for one full block. . .tail tucked between his legs peeing all over himself and me and the sidewalk (which is a BIG no-no in Durango). There were people everywhere and jack hammers and saws and. . . . .needless to say, bringing Chaco was a very very very BIG mistake!

We finally made it to the train station and just as I was about to breath a sign of relief, in came the train. . .and I have never noticed how loud that thing was. . .never before I brought Chaco with me. There was more sheer panic and terror in his poor eyes. My big poor baby.

Tiki was so proud that his dog was meeting him at the train! He about pulled his teacher's arm off to get her to see his dog. All of the kids were so excited to see him. . .he is so big and so beautiful that people stop. (I know that he secretly loved having the kids pet him, but he would never admit it if he could.)

Chaco and Tiki and I finally made it back to the car (barely. . .at one point Chaco accidentally pushed Tiki under the train to get away from the conductor). So, we headed to get Dr. Peppers at McDonald's and a reward hamburger for Chaco.

It was hysterical. . .I realize that it was a "you had to be there" funny (I'm sure my friend, Beth Wiebe, is laughing). It was like the worst of "Marley and Me" mixed with something else funny and embarrassing! We love him, though!!!

Bike Rides, Ice Cream & Airplanes. . .

. . .and of course, elk! She was standing right by the road in front of our house the other night. . .I'm not sure where her hubby was.


Yesterday I loaded up ALL of the bikes and we headed to the park (I actually had 7 bikes because we went to the park with friends). My friend, Jessica (who I really like hanging out with) and her 2 kids biked with us. It was so refreshing! It was a BEAUTIFUL Spring day and we road the river trail for a while. . .then Tiki's training wheel broke and a dust storm moved in and that was all she wrote.


Next we headed to Baskin Robins for 31 cent scoop night. Thank goodness we were 20 minutes early because the line formed quickly!


And back to that above mentioned dust storm. . .yesterday was so beautiful that I had ALL the windows in the house opened and when we got back from BR, I had a layer of dust in my house a quarter inch thick. It is pretty nasty. My sheets even smelled like dirt last night. The dust storm was so surreal. . .I felt like I was in an episode of "Little House on the Prairie." (And now there is snow in the forecast for the next 30 hours.)

Maggie headed to Orlando BY HERSELF this morning to meet BeBe and PaPa. She gets to go to Disney and Epcot. She is SO excited!!!

The Fro Is Back In Town

Well, the braids are gone and I am so sad. I think I'm going to have to go out on a fundraising tour so that I can afford to keep extensions in Gabby's hair.

Phase One: I cut the braids to the length of her real hair.


Phase Two: I unbraided her hair.


Phase Three: Gabby's once-signature fro after her bath.



I think my first fundraiser will be a t-shirt that says "bring back the braids" or something. I can't wait to see if her personality changes back. . .she got so grown up the day the braids went in. . .I wonder if them coming out will have the reverse effect? I'll keep you posted!

Jordin Sparks Hearts Camp Kivu

Ginny Mooney (& Family)

One of our first (and one of my all-time favorite) KCO campers was Ginny Gattle (now Mooney). They have such an amazing story. They lost their first son when he was 99 days old and it is inspiring to me to see the way they celebrate each day of his life. . .something I need to do WAY MORE OFTEN with my kids!!!

Ginny is so great and I am so proud of her! Their story in inspiring and they were on the Today Show today. (You can click on Today Show in the sentence before to see the video.) If you have time, watch their entire "99 Balloons" video (click on 99 Balloons) and get your Kleenex ready!

I love you, G.I. Ginny! :)

Beth Moore: So Long, Insecurity

So, I went to the Beth Moore simulcast this weekend with my two girlfriends from Durango (and 300,000 other women all over the country--including, come to find out, my mother and my grandmother)! It was good and it was much needed! My spiritual climate here in Durango is more dry than the arid mountain climate I live in. It's odd, because I feel so close to God and so "in tune" with what He is trying to do in my life right now. I feel secure and comforted in our new "life" and I am confident that God has us here for a reason. However, it has been spiritually dry in terms of being poured into and stuff (bottom line, I miss the worship at James River and Pastor John's teaching).

So, back to Beth. I, like all women, struggle with insecurity. (I actually didn't think my mother did, but she went to the conference, so she must. . .who would have thought?) The biggest thing I gained from the conference was just being fed. . .I felt refreshed after eleven months in the desert! I also enjoyed the time with my two girlfriends: Gretchen and Valerie. But, I think my little take-away nuggets were:

1. Insecurity is not a weakness, it is UNBELIEF. I do not believe God has made me the way He said He did. It isn't a weakness I need to work on, it is just unbelief. That made sense to me. Being secure is an active choice (I've been learning a lot this year about active choices). I have to CHOOSE to be secure and then live accordingly. Beth said that no woman is secure accidentally. . .you have to be INTENTIONALLY secure!

2. I have NOTHING to gain from my insecurity.

3. Secure women are FREE from self-obsession. SO TRUE!

4. Security start in the mind and is then an action and is a feeling in the end. I cannot wait until I feel secure before I act secure.

5. I need to be EXCEPTIONAL. I've never really thought about what "exceptional" means before, but that is what I want to be. That girl who is the exception to the "rule." For example, "no one could handle that. . .except for. . ." or "no one treats me that way. . .except for. . ." and so on.

Those weren't Beth's five points, but they were the points I took away. And I was feeling really good about my new decision to be secure until the very end of the teaching when Beth told us to turn towards the person besides you (and since I was in a threesome, I turned towards the stranger on my right) and then we had to look into that person's eyes and repeat this huge thing. . .it was terrible! Every insecurity flared up and I was an insecure "So Long, Insecurity" failure!

The day was fun, though. I worshiped. I was taught. I had a great time with Gretchen and Valerie. Who could ask for anything more? (Well, I could ask that my church and my family move next door, but that's pushing it, I think.)

Happy Birthday, Gabby!

Gabby is 3 today! I cannot believe that it has been that long! She has changed my life so much. . .and I think ultimately she has changed the lives of thousands and people begin to think of their family unit differently! It is crazy to think that our minds shifted from China adoption to Rwanda adoption three years ago this week, too. God's mystery will never cease to amaze me!

Gabby: she is funny, she is stubborn, she is happy, she is loving, she is energetic, she is a great encourager! I love this girl!!!

And on this day (as with many others) I cannot help but to think of her birth mom. What a brave person she must be. My dream is that she knows and loves the Lord and that one day she and I will me and hug and share a look that only mothers can know. I think of that reunion often. I pray that somewhere, deep in her mother's heart, she knows that her baby girl is safe and happy and loved.


The first time I saw Gabby. . .I cannot describe the emotions and the happiness!


November 2007 (still in Africa)


Summer 2008


Summer 2009


March 2010

Happy Birthday, Geezer!!! (Her middle name is Iribagiza: "we praise the Lord because you are a blessing". . .that is where her nickname, Geezer, came from.) I cannot imagine my life without you--or our lives without you!

Maggie's Concert

Tonight was Maggie's music (and dance) concert. (Pictured above are Maggie's two best friends from her class: Kayla and Jordan.) She did a great job. She was so cute and so excited about the evening! I loved seeing all of the Durango kids dressed up. . .in the Midwest, you see kids dressed up at least on Sunday, but here, you have to wait for a school concert for that! They were adorable! Maggie sang with her class and danced and played the xylophone. (And, of course, Tamara was there to support my kids. She is so amazing!)


(I told Hays that he is going to be sorry that he smiled like that when I put this picture in his rehearsal dinner video someday!)


Tiki and his favorite friend, William.


Maggie and her teacher (who is wonderful), Mr. McManus.

Then I got to quickly tuck my kids in (concert ended PAST bedtime on a school night) and what a joy to this mother's heart to walk past the girls' room and see Maggie kneeling by Gabby's bed as they were praying together. . .it doesn't get much better than that!


This elk has nothing to do with the concert, but he was standing by the road with his wife (not pictured) right by our house. I love the wildlife here!!! I also wanted my dad to see this picture. . .he gets really jealous that we see huge animals like this every day (and he can't believe that I carry my camera in my car and not a gun).

Tri The Rim Triathlon 2010

I did it! I can't believe it, but I did it! The triathlon was yesterday. I finished (23 minutes ahead of my goal time) and I feel great today! I even think I want to do it again next year! It was hard, but so satisfying. I feel like this is the first time in a long time that I am actually proud of myself. . .and I don't mean that in a bad way, I'm just proud of myself. I think I was proud of myself after birthing my three biological children and after getting Gabby from Africa alone and now.

The best part of the race was that Andy brought all five kids to cheer me on. . .I had the biggest cheering section at the race! I didn't think they would come for the entire race and they were there. When I rounded the corner on my bike and saw them I was so overcome with emotion that I almost wrecked! Seriously, I was crying so hard that my feet slipped off of my pedals and I almost busted. I was just so overwhelmed by what a great family I have. That was my favorite part!

The pre-race jitters were probably the worst part! I was so scared and so nervous! Last Friday, my Gran'ma emailed me and told me not to stress out about the race because she was going to stress for me. And, as crazy as that sounds, it worked! I didn't stress about the race all weekend. . .until Saturday night! I didn't sleep at all and I was so nervous that we arrive at the race an hour before registration even started! But when we registered, it was so funny because as you see, in the picture below, Jenny and my names were the two names for our registration category. . .instead of B through F, they put Braner through Freyman. It was a funny way to start the day!


The swim was great! I was in the perfect lane for me. . .three ladies much slower than me, so I started the race feeling pretty good about myself. The picture below is my HUGE nervous laugh/smile before the race actually began.


The bike was so hard, but I did it! I had never biked 12 miles in my life and I wasn't sure if the race adrenaline was going to get me through. It did! (And Jenny, the veteran triathlete even said that it was an advanced bike course because of the hills.) Below is a picture of me when I first got on my bike. . .looking not very sure about the next hour of my life and a picture of one of the amazing views from the bike route!



The run/walk was great! I ran more than I thought I would. The views (below) of town and of the mountains were breathtaking! I ran the last part and ran through the finish line (even though the picture doesn't quite capture that).



It was a fun race. The atmosphere was fun. My friend, Jenny Freyman, flew in from Little Rock to do the race with me and that was fun. My other friend, Gretchen Willis (who was the "awful" person who convinced me to do the race) was there and we got to run together for a little big.




It was great!

Sick on the Bathroom Floor

Poor Dax is throwing up toady. . .my little cutie ("Sweat Muffin" is my little pet name for him). I thought this sight was priceless when I walked into my bathroom a minute ago. Dax is on my new rug Andy brought me from the Middle East with his "MeMo" (the cape/blanket Pops had made for him that says "D-Man") and the most comfy blanket in the house. It is so cozy there on the heated bathroom floor with a high quality rug under you and your head on a pillow with new amazingly soft pillow case! Sweet boy.

Adoption Fellowship & A Poem

Adoption Fellowship Group last night was wonderful! We had 24 people over and it was so much fun! This time we had 8 countries represented under one roof! I am loving getting to know the adoption community in Durango! There are so many great people and I'm excited to pursue friendships with them! We have families in the waiting stage from Mongolia, Taiwan, Korea and Rwanda. . .that is so much fun!

I have also been searching for this poem for a year and a girl in our AFG found it for me! It makes me cry every time. . .especially now that Tiki is mine!!!

The Waiting Child
by Debbie Bodie

I saw you meet your child today
You kissed your baby joyfully
And as you walked away with her
I played pretend you'd chosen me.

I'm happy for the baby, yet
Inside I"m aching miserably
I want to plead as you go by,
"Does no-one want a child of three?"

I saw you meet your child today
In love with her before you met
And as I watched you take her out
I knew it wasn't my turn yet.

I recognize you from last year!
I knew I'd seen your face before!
But you came for a second babe.
Does no-one want a child of four?

I saw you meet your child today
But this time there was something new
A nurse came in and took MY hand
And then she gave my hand to you.

Can this be true? I'm almost six!
And there are infants here you see?
But then you kissed me and I knew
The child you chose this time was me.

Great Article

Here is the link to a great article by a man I respect SO much! He has worked for decades with troubled teens and I believe that he has amazing wisdom when it comes to today's youth. This article is about adoption and if you have adopted or if you are thinking about adoption, it may be good for you to read it (and to follow his blog, too). His name is Mark Gregston and you can click on his name to take you to the article.

Count On Two Hands

So today on the way home from school drop off I heard a song and part of the lyrics were about how thankful the guy was that he could count the people he loves on two hands (instead of just on one, I guess). I, for sure, can count all of the people that I love on many many hands (I am so very blessed), but the words just hit me about my immediate family. Mornings are chaotic sometimes and life gets crazy at the home of Braner Party of 7 and I was so touched this morning about how thankful I am that I have two hands worth of people I love living under my roof. I am so thankful for my husband and for my kids. God is so good to me and I am so thankful. I just wanted to share that today.







(And then I get so overwhelmed about all of the people I love and who love me who don't live under my roof. I am so very blessed! I love you all!)

So Much And Nothing At All

I feel like I have been so busy with so much going on, but when I look back, I don't feel like too much at all has happened.

Andy is home from the Middle East. He had a wonderful time. The people there were so good to him and he felt so loved and he felt so at home. I'm so thankful that they took such good care of him. He also did a super job with the souvenirs! He isn't much of a gift guy, but he hit it out of the park this time!

His back is killing him from the fall off of the roof. It is so sad to see him in so much pain. He is either miserable and awake or totally sedated. No doctors have really said what is wrong with him at this point and I think that is very discouraging. He has an MRI scheduled for Friday. We'll see.

Hays had middle school open house. I cannot believe it. My baby! It was really good. I like the principal. One of the first things they assured the incoming middle schoolers (and parents) was that the lockers are not big enough to be stuffed in to. Okay. We are praying that Hays and Kenna are in the same "team" and that their "team" teacher is Mr. Aspen. The sixth graders rotate in teams during their morning classes and I think it would be really good if Hays and Kenna could have each other for support next year. And Mr. Aspen seemed very nice and his classroom wasn't too overstimulating and there were no Buddhist prayer flags hanging up. So, overall, the middle school visit was a hit!

We had our KIVU leadership team in this weekend and it was so much fun! The fellowship time was wonderful! We have such great people and I loved being with them!

Hays, Maggie and Tiki stayed with Gretchen and Kenna Willis for the weekend and I know they had a blast! Gabby stayed with the McKinnis girls and loved every minute! Dax stayed at home playing his mama's boy role to perfection!

Sunday I did a "test run" for my triathlon. It was okay. The swimming was fine. I actually enjoy the swimming! The biking was absolutely horrible and I hated every second of it! I actually only did 8 of the 12 miles because I just didn't want to do another "lap" around the rim. The "running" part was great, but there was no running. It was just a nice walk around the rim and a great view of Durango. The race is next Sunday. YUCK and YIKES!

Today I took Dax to Kindergarten open house. He loved it! I know that he really wants to have Mrs. Greenburg (Tiki's teacher) as his teacher next year. He said that her class was the only class he liked!

There is my update in a fairly non-emotional nut shell. Adoption Fellowship Group tomorrow night!!!

Easter Weekend on the Mountain

What a SUPER GREAT weekend we had with GoGo and Pops! It really couldn't have been better! We stayed up at the mountain and the weather was perfect! I love being with my parents and I love watching my kids love being with their grandparents! The relationships make my heart so happy! We are so very blessed! Enjoy the pictures! (News from Andy's trip in the next post.)

GoGo & Pops

GoGo and Pops (my parents) get here this afternoon! I am SO excited! We are all SO excited! We're picking them up and then heading to the mountain. We're staying at the mountain in a big house and we're going to spend the weekend just enjoying one another's company! We'll board some with dad Saturday and Sunday. . .the house is ski in/ski out so that we can see mom and Gabby at the end of each run! I'm thrilled! The only thing that worries me is that my kids think today is Good Friday because GoGo and Pops are coming and I think they're forgetting the REAL reason that it is Good Friday!