Dax's Fifth Sixth Birthday Party

Today Dax got to celebrate his birthday (again) with his friends in his class.  He baked and decorated cupcakes last night (almost totally by himself) and brought them to class.  He was so happy!

Back Posting: 27 November 2010

Happy Birthday (number 93), Gran'ma!!!  You are amazing!  You have been such a dear and faithful friend to me throughout my life.  You are my biggest fan and you have been the wizzard of my imagination!  The times I have spent with you over the years have been some of my sweetest!  I love our imaginary lands and places we would go.  I loved just being who I wanted to be in your house.  I adore you and I cherish our friendship!  You are an amazing woman to look up to and I aspire to be like you in so many ways!  I am blessed to have you in my life and I am blessed that my children also know my dear Gran'ma!  You're unbelievable and I love you more than you know!  Happy Birthday!

For those of you who don't know my Gran'ma, she is one of a kind.  She has a wonderful sense of humor and laughter is never far from her.  She loves deeply.  She is a practical joker.  She is a hard worker (still goes to the office--accounting department--nearly 40 hours a week).  She is creative and can handle almost any project you give her.  She is a faithful friend.  She is so smart and has the memory of an elephant.  She is generous.  She is loving and compassionate.  She is loyal.  She is patient and careful and diligent and thoughtful.  She is a wonderful woman of God and all who know her would say that they are a better person because of the influence she has had on their lives in one way or another.

I am fortunate to have you in my life, Gran'ma!  I love you!

Gran'ma & Pappy at my wedding May 1997

Andrew's Lake, Colorado Summer 2002

Back Posting: Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was good.  I have SO MUCH to be thankful for.  I am so blessed.  My family is amazing.  I am so fortunate! 

My Gran'ma is one of my best friends in the entire world (more on that on November 27th post).  My parents are unbelievable.  They love so deeply.  My in-laws love me with genuine love like I am a biological daughter.  My husband adores me and practices on loving me better each day.  My kids are happy and healthy and wonderful and funny and compassionate and polite.  I have great friends for all of the different "places" in life God has me.  I have Lesley (who could ever need anything else?!?).  I am healthy.  Regardless of the "bad" going on in my life, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I am blessed beyond belief!

I think the highlight of my Thanksgiving break was a very special time I had with my brother, Brady.  He and I got to spend about an hour together just talking about really great stuff one night.  The time was special and the conversation was special.  I am so thankful for the time I got to spend with him (and his wife) and for our friendship.  Thank you, Brady!

We drove over two thousand miles for Thanksgiving. . .more than 38 hours in the car with the kids (longer due to the blizzard we drove through on the way home) and the time with family was worth every single gallon of gas and "how much longer" question!

Time with Andy was precious and sweet and I am thankful that we got to spend a week together. 

Overall, Thanksgiving 2010 was a ten!  Thanks BeBe and PaPa for having us for a couple of days and thank you Mom and Dad for letting us crash for the week.  Wow!  It was perfect!

Thank you, God, for continuing to love me and for continuing to teach me the true meaning of love. . .true and unconditional and honest love!

Back Posting: 24 November 2010

Well, I refuse to say "Happy Birthday" to Dax today.  I just refuse.  Surely if I don't tell my son happy birthday, then he can't be six and he won't ever grow up!  My little thumb-sucker can NOT be getting older.  I just won't allow it!  He is my little snuggler.  He is my sweat-muffin.  He is my little guy and I just don't know what I am going to do if he grows up!

Dax is the best!  He is the funniest little guy I have ever met!  If you have a Twitter account, you need to follow @dax_ism because it will make your day almost every day!  Dax loves big and I am so fortunate that I get to be the person he loves the biggest!  He is the king of Mama's Boys and I am perfectly happy with that!

When he blew out his candles on his cake (cake number one of five for this sixth birthday), someone asked him if he made a wish and he said, "yes and it already came true."  He was standing by me (almost sitting in my lap) and I asked him what he had wished for and he said, "just to be here with you."  MELT MY HEART!  Andy just rolled my eyes and I totally melted.  What a guy!  What a line!  And what great delivery!  I totally fell for him all over again!

I love my little sweat muffin and I don't want him to grow up!  Maybe he and I can go live with Peter Pan and the Lost Boys!!!  I LOVE YOU, DAX!!!!!

Pictures Only...Stories To Come Later

GoGo and the kids at our favorite restaurant, Little Hacienda!

"us" at Little Hacienda

Gran'ma and 4 of the kids on her 93rd Birthday (yesterday)

The kids from Dax's birthday party (his fourth party of the week):  Brady, Maggie, Emmy, Hally, Jackson, Hays, Dax, Lincoln, Lainey, Rae, Gabby & Tiki

Dax and "the boys" at his party

Brittany Watson came down to say "hi" at Dax's party.

Andy with Gabby and Rae.

Dax opening his Nerf Dart Gun

Tiki feeding Pops's deer. . ."Sugar" and "Sugar" (he names all of his deer "Sugar")

GoGo and the Twins

GoGo and my 3 babies.

Gabby feeding the two Sugars

Hays and Pops at the US Naval Academy!

Cooking With BeBe

And I Would Drive 900 Miles...

We drove over 900 miles yesterday to our FIRST stop for the Thanksgiving break. . .TULSA!  Thankfully, Lesley was with us for the first 600 miles and that made the trip much easier!  (Can you tell that I love Lesley?!?!)  But the remaining miles were bearable because not only were BeBe and PaPa waiting for us, but Andy was at their house and it had been WAY TOO LONG!!!

We stopped at the Cadillac Ranch outside of Amarillo.  I have driven by it fifty times and never gotten to stop and yesterday it was the perfect break we needed!  The kids LOVED spray painting the cars and Dax is convinced that we should do that to our car!!!

Pie Parties (Plural)

Today was Pie Party day at Riverview Kindergarten. . .every student was supposed to bring a pie and then we gorged ourselves!  It was really fun!  First we went to Dax's party and I must admit, it was pretty boring.  Only two different kind of pies showed up (many versions of, but only two kinds).  Can you guess?  Apple and pumpkin.  And we did a craft which Dax was not in to.  Then we moved on to Tiki's party and it was much better!  They sang songs about how they were glad they were not a turkey on Thanksgiving day and they did a more fun craft (funny that it was the same craft but it seemed more fun) and the parents were much more creative with the pies. . .I don't think there was a duplicate pie (or a pumpkin pie for that matter) in the group!

The "twins" and I promise that I do not dress them alike. . .they do that on their own!

Tiki and his wonderful teacher, Mrs. Greenburg!

Lesley and Gabby!

Today

Today was "Thanksgiving" at the kids' schools.  I had a really good time eating lunch with my kiddos (no middle school lunch).  I'm not that mom who spends a lot of time at the school, so it was a special treat for all of us!

Sweet Moment

So, I'm not sure if you remember the picture from Friday of Dax and me and our dogs.  Well, Dax came home from school on Friday and immediately told me that he wanted to take that picture.  Okay.  I didn't ask why, we just did it.  End of back story.

So, Monday morning he was getting dressed for school and was kind of getting dressed up (jeans instead of sweats) and he was taking very special care with the way his jeans went over his snow books and the way his hair looked--which is very abnormal.  I asked him what was going on (without trying to make a big deal of the new personal attention) and he told me that he had show and tell.  (He doesn't really like doing show and tell because he doesn't like being in front of the class and talking--surprisingly.)

I asked him what the show and tell theme was for the week and he said that it was what you are thankful for.  Then I asked what he was bringing and he said his Bible and that picture we took on Friday with the dogs.  (Of course, Hays mocked him and said, "Oh, I thought you'd just bring mom!")

Then out of the blue and in the most sincere little voice he said, "Mom, thank so much for taking that picture right when I asked that day."  And that was it.  It was a sweet moment, but it was also a little wake up call because how often do I put off simple things they ask me to do because I'm "too busy" or whatever?

Braner Family Bowling

Well, Braner Party of 7 (minus Andy but plus Lesley) went bowling today.  We had a blast!  They had a bowling for 2 hours special and we took it!  I must say that without the bumpers we are TERRIBLE!  We had so much fun, though!  Dax (with the bumpers) was the high kids' scorer with 112 points and I finally broke 100 on the fourth round (without the bumpers, but my college bowling teacher would have been ashamed).  It was pathetic!  We laughed a lot and our arms are sore.  Now everyone is down for a little nap before church tonight!

This is the round where Dax (player 2) and Maggie BOTH broke 100 on bumper bowl!

We really miss Andy and cannot wait to see him when he meets us for Thanskgiving. . .one more week!

Highlight Of My Day

Jordan, Caroline, Maggie & Kayla

I have no idea why this was the highlight, because it was just so simple (I did really need a highlight today, though).  I picked up Maggie and three of her girlfriends from school today (along with Dax and one of his guy-friends but those two aren't part of the highlight).  They are so adorable.  It was so fun to have them sitting beside and behind me in the car belting out Taylor Swift and Selina Gomez and Justin Bieber!  I loved it!

And while I was uploading that first photo, I got blessed with another highlight.  Dax came upstairs and asked me if we could take a picture with the two of us and Jake and Chaco.  Why?  I have no idea.  But the process was a riot and we have a cute (if not competition worthy) picture!

But The Fire Is So Delightful. . .

. . . .  Let it snow!  Let it snow!  Let it snow! 

Oh my!  What an evening the Braners have had!  It started out as date afternoon/night and we were so excited! 

After picking everyone up from school, we headed to watch "Mega Mind."  The kids have been counting down the days until our date so that they could watch the movie.  As we are getting out of the car, the 2 dogs in the car beside us were literally going crazy. . .mean crazy and somehow, over the barking and growling, Hays heard air RUSHING out of my back tire.  Nice.  So, I took the kids and into the theater, bought them tickets and sent them on their way down the hall and to the fourth theater on the right with Lesley to watch the movie.  Meanwhile, I called AAA.  Surprisingly, they were very speedy and my tire was fixed in no time!  So, I headed into the movie about thirty minutes late and they let me go for free since they had overheard my conversation with AAA about the nail I ran over in the theater parking lot.

Next, we were headed to Applebee's where we have discovered that kids eat for ninety-nine cents on Wednesday nights (ironically, the last Wednesday we ate there, we found ourselves with a flat tire, too).  You cannot beat great meals for under a dollar, so we were pumped to head that direction.  Who knew that everyone else in Durango has heard about the kids' night at Applebee's, too?!?!  It was packed and we were not getting a table for seven any time in the near future, so we headed for our favorite spot Zia's.  Another Wednesday night mistake. . .the line for Zia's was snaking out the door.  That led us to Tequilia's.  It is a favorite, but with the entire brood, it gets expensive (even when we all drink water).  We loved it, though!  Then when it came time to pay the bill, someone (who?) had already picked up our check.  WOW!

So, tonight on date night, I got a free tire change (thank you AAA), one free adult movie ticket and free dinners for seven.  Great date night.  And we all had a blast together!

So, we headed home with full bellies, Justin Bieber singing in our heads and visions of the snow that is promised for the next thrity-six hours in our minds. 

I titled this post, "the fire is so delightful" for a reason.  Our heater is BROKEN.  You got it.  The first snows of the season are forcasted for the next couple of days and the Braners don't have heat. . .we don't have heat anywhere in the house.  The downstairs thermostats are reading in the upper 50s right now (promising to drop lower by morning) and the master bedroom is reading in the upper 40s.  Thankfully, we have a fire place that blows out heat to the living room so the kids are all camping out there tonight!  It is really the perfect ending to our fun date night!  I'll have to take a picture in the morning and post it because it is really cute. . .the blankets by the fire and the Christmas tree.  It made my heart smile!  (I didn't make myself a pallet and I am thinking that I will be regretting that decision come about two o'clock in the morning when my room is cold enough for my breath to frost.)

So, the fire is SO delightful and we are SO ready for it to snow, snow, snow!!!  (Don't get me wrong, though, I would LOVE to have our heaters fixed. . .it isn't that cute!)

Fun Weekend In Nashville

 I got to spend the weekend in Nashville with Andy this weekend and it was a much needed little get-away for the two of us!  We got to eat some great food, laugh a lot together (once induced by me FALLING--COMPLETELY WIPING OUT--while bowling) and we got to spend time with some dear friends!

The weekend was a Show Hope adoption weekend and that is what brought us to Nashville.  It was wonderful to be in the adoption community and to hear what the Lord is doing in the lives of orphans around the world.

But mostly, it was just good to spend time with one another without other distractions and to laugh with old friends.

Now I am ready to go home and be a good mom because I miss my kids!  And I'm ready to let Andy go do his thing until we see him in Branson on Thanksgiving (he'll be in Nashville then on to D.C. and Philly and then back to Nashville until I see him again).

One Year Ago Today

This was actually day two when he ran and jumped into my arms the minute we pulled into the orphanage gates!

 Oh my goodness. . .what a year it has been!  One year ago my life (and the lives of each person in Braner Party of 7) was changed forever!  Today is the day that Hays and I met Tiki. . .the day that Tiki met his mother and his brother.  What a day!  (Click here for that blog post.)

This is the very first day we met Tiki. . .words cannot even describe the moment!

I had no idea what to expect that day and no idea what to expect for the next 365 days.  Tiki is a joy.  He truly is.  He is the happiest and most joyful person I know.  He exploded into our family and it has been a whirlwind ever since.  He called me momma from the first second I met him and he kissed me right on the lips on that very first day.  He was my son in my heart the minute I saw his picture.  He was my son legally the minute the court approved it.  And he was my son physically the second he jumped into my lap.  Tiki is my son and I love him dearly.


Thank You, God, for bringing Tiki Rukarara Braner into our lives and into our home.  Thank You for Your big plan that doesn't look like mine, but that is so much better than mine ever could be.  Thank You for Tiki.  Thank You for his joy and his big smile.  Thank You that he loves so deeply.

What a year it has been!  I love you, Tiki. . .my son!