October is Finished! Wahoo!

Here are my latest pages from October 2007

Daddy's Girls

In my opinion every man needs at least one daughter, if for nothing more, than this reason alone....

(Kliff Bramwell, father to 5 girls and one 1 boy)

And look Dad, I blogged about it- just as I promised! I love you!

Spring Break

Another fun week in Lewisville, Idaho! My sister Angie, and I decided to take the kids to see Grandma and Grandpa at the Bramwell Farm for Spring Break. We had a good time even though we almost got blown away! I forget how windy it is there- although my mom said it was warm... We went to the Museum of Idaho in Idaho Falls and saw the Egyption exhibit. It was neat to see thing from thousands of years ago...even a mummified kitten, although it looked like a ball of dirty rags, but still cool. They had a fun exhibit for the kids with a log cabin and everything. Brooklyn especially liked the dolls and dishes.

The kids had a fun time going out with Grandpa or Grandma to do chores (feeding cows and horses). I remember hating doing chores as kid, but for some reason my city kids think it is pretty neat. It is starting to warm up there, so everything was super muddy. Brooklyn fell one time and got yucky wet hay and dirt all over- even on her head, so into the bath she went.

Brooklyn and Maren loved chasing the cat all over the house. Maren learned that if you grab the kitty's hair and pull, it will come out in little tuffs and will float all over. Mojave actually enjoyed the girls for the most part.

We visited my sister Lexi, in Rexburg by letting her wait on us at the restaurant she works- yum, greatest salsa ever at Gringo's! She is at BYU-I and is so cute and is doing great.

My brother Mark and his wife Mindy came down with their kids a few times, and that was great. The kids played well together most of the time, which was good to see. Brayden and Tristan sometimes have a hard time. I think it is a love/hate relationship. Mindy, Angie and I all spent an afternoon making hair bows for our pretty girls. I even wore one on one of the days!

Let's see a few more highlights: playing silly games, like black magic, sniff the stick, card trick on Monday night, visiting Benson and Anna Smith at their work, visiting Ryan and Tess Smith and eating their cheese puffs, watching Dad pull off a win playing Ticket to Ride after saying over and over how there was no way he could win, he wasted three turns yada yada yada...., the boys making clay volcanoes with Grandma, visiting my Grandma, Marie Bramwell, and also having Lauren and Brittany Bramwell come down to visit,- oh it was so much fun.

It was a great visit home, and I love that my parents are so willing to open their house to us whenever we want to visit. Thanks Mom and Dad.

Happy Late Easter!

I think I'm one of the last people to post their Easter pics, so here they are. It was a great Easter with tons of eggs, full baskets, and lots of hunting. Billy was a little upset that I didn't buy much chocolate candy- only a chocolate bunny for Brayden. All of the chocolate said it might contain trace amounts of peanuts and I didn't want to run Brooklyn to the ER on Easter because of her nut allergies. Luckily, he got his fill at his parents' house when we went there for Easter dinner. I made my adorable bread bunny again this year. It is so funny and huge- and delicious! Brayden got a bike. I told him that was a pretty generous Easter bunny present, but since we were going to have to buy a bigger bike this summer anyway, it was nice that the Easter bunny took care of it for us. So, that was our Easter 2008. I haven't checked the calendar for next year, but am hoping that it will come a bit later in 2009. This one just snuck up on us! We hope you all had a wonderful Easter as well!

So Proud!!!

We are so proud of Brayden. Today he told me that he wanted to take off his training wheels. When Daddy got home, they took them off and headed to the basketball court. He learned so fast. He never even crashed unless he rode off into the grass, which seemed to be a favorite thing to do! This movie is of the 2nd time Billy let go- and off he went! Congratulations Brayden!

Scrambled Eggs...er, I mean Egg Scramble

We went to the Ann Morrison Park Easter Egg Scramble this morning. We met up with our friends down there, and it was so much fun. I read they had 50,000 eggs/candy/toys there, and I sooo believe it.





Brooklyn and Brayden did great getting eggs as their aunt Angie has been coaching them all month with raisins in eggs!





Brayden surrounded by girls!





Afterwards we went to the playground. These were my 2 favorite pics.












We finished off a great morning by getting lunch and taking it to Daddy's office! What cute little tax "orphans!"

Sisters

One of my friends Angela wrote an amazing script and even more amazing songs about the sisterhood of our church through the Relief Society Organization. I knew she played the violin and sang, but really, she has Talent with a capital T! Luckily for me, I was asked to participate as one of the speaking roles. I got to play a woman that cannot have children and is considering adoption. Ironic, because I was once at that point after trying to get pregnant for two years. There was something in the play that applied to every woman that was there, things that we all go through or something similar. She showed how the Relief Society is there to offer support to us no matter what the problem or circumstance. The songs that Angela wrote were so beautiful and the women that performed them did a fabulous job. Some of them were sooooo funny and some so sweet and heartwrenching. It was fun to be up on a stage-even a little one. It kind of took me back to my old high school days as a "Troyplayer." One of the highlights of my H.S. life was when I played the role of Anne Frank my junior year. That was an amazing experience. Anyway, I guess the things you learn in high school really can help you later on in life :) Here are a few pics from the night...

Easter Treat

I saw this cute idea for valentine's day, and thought it would make the cutest Easter treat. I found the little cans at Sam's club (little fruit cups), and had the kids eat a bunch. The trick is to use one of those safety can openers that open up the entire top- I have the Pampered Chef version. Then you just clean them out, make a cute label, fill 'em up and super glue the lids back on. When you give them away, they just pull up the little flip top to open them.

I'm going to give them to the Young Women that I teach at church, my visiting teaching ladies, and my two nieces that live here in Boise. So fun!

Billy's Late Night Adventures...

Sometimes it seems that Billy gets left out of my blogging. It's not that I don't like writing about him, it's just that what he's been up to is less than exciting. Really, who wants to hear about tax returns? But, he did have a funny thing happen to him the other night. When I told him he should blog about it, he said, "but then I would have had to ask the cop to pose with me for a picture..." Ha ha, he thinks he is so funny. Okay, I'll admit, it was pretty funny. So, here's the story:

It was nearly 12 midnight when he left work the other night (he doesn't always stay that late, but he's got a ton to do and he was on a roll) when he took a right hand turn at the stop light. He saw a car whip around and soon after there were flashing lights behind him. He pulled over and the officer walked up to his window and asked if he had been drinking. Apparently, he didn't signal and took a wide turn. Side note: the right turn lane turns into two lanes on the other street so nearly everyone turns into the 2nd lane. Billy, trying to be a good citizen and avoid a ticket was very polite and agreed with the officer. Yes, he had forgotten to signal, and Yes, he did turn wide, and No he had not been drinking, but actually had just left work. The officer was very nice and checked his registration and insurance. Then he asked what seemed like an odd question. "Do you get a lot of speeding tickets?" Billy was confused and said it had been a long time and why did he ask? Well, the officer pointed out that he had a radar detector sitting in plain view on his front seat. OOPS!!!! Billy then hurriedly explained that it was an old one that had been sitting in his console for a long time and his wife had borrowed his car and maybe she had used it, and he hadn't even realized it was there. The cop got a good laugh out of it, and Billy was a bit embarrassed.

Sorry, Billy. I think I pulled it out when I was looking for the phone charger. Sorry for making you look like a shady citizen. I'm just glad you didn't get a ticket. But, do you think that next time you could possibly snap a pic with your cell phone so I can have a picture for my blog? Thanks! I love ya!

Fancy Hair

Brooklyn's hair is getting a lot longer- I know there are some of you that are probably thinking, "What hair?" but taking into account what she started with, it is a lot to me. I'm having so much fun doing her hair, but was feeling like we were kind of in a rut- pigtails up high, pigtails down low, pony tail up on top, pony tail down low- that was about it, just with different bows. I found this great blog, and though it will be a while before I can really try most of these hairstyles, it inspired me. So check out this fancy "do"!

Smith Family St. Pattie's Day

We usually don't do anything special for St. Patrick's Day, but I saw a cute idea online and decided to do it-just changed a bit. That morning, after I didn't get up early and make green pancakes like I was going to, Brayden and I made a Leprechaun Treasure Box. Brayden put it where the sun would shine on it (Leprechauns love the sun since it makes rainbows) so a Leprechaun would come and hide it and maybe leave us a treasure. Well, we waited all morning and into the afternoon (it was a very cloudy day) when finally... The treasure was missing!! We followed the Leprechaun trail up the stairs and into .... the BATHTUB! Inside was 99 pennies and some monster truck stickers- better than gold to my little guy! There was even green pee in the toilet! Brayden kept talking about it and even had to call his dad- and that made a very happy St. Pattie's day to me!



We finished the day with dinner at Costa Vida for Billy's mom's birthday and then came to our house for ice cream and presents. She got lots of help from the kids opening gifts. Happy Birthday Mom! I swear you are getting younger!

Brooklyn Bows

I've tried uploading a video of Brooklyn about a million times, but I can't get it to work. ugh! Maybe I'll try again tomorrow. But, I couldn't wait to show off her new bows I made for her. She is such a doll and very patient with her Mommy. Can you tell she's eating raisins? That girl is always in the pantry. The kids and I had a great movie/pizza night tonight. We watched the Bee Movie and the kids loved it. We love Redbox and Little Ceasers- cheapest family night ever! Poor Billy missed out on it- it is after 11 pm and he's still not home. I think he has something like 4 weeks left of tax time!

Easter Decorations

I can't believe how early Easter is this year. I kept telling Brayden we needed to get out the Easter decorations, but somehow it kept getting put off. So, finally today we got it out. Well, I got out the things and the kids spread out the plastic eggs and that awful plastic grass all over the living room. Boy, it was fun! Then Brayden told me he needed to take picture of the decorations. I freak out a little, letting him use my new camera, but he is very careful and sometimes gets some good ones in! Oh, he is so sweet, he just brought me a glass of water and said he could tell I was looking thirsty. Then he gave me a big hug and kiss and ran up to his room for quiet time. What a sweety!

New Hair Cut

I decided to post a pic of my sexy new haircut...although this is it after its been styled and then rained on.... so not quite as sexy as it could be! The back is super cute. My little sis Desi cut it for me and I love it. It is so fast to do! Thanks Desi. I love ya!

Weekend in Lewisville

I love going home to visit my parents in the tiny town of Lewisville, Idaho. Actually, they don't even live "in" town. So, it is a change of pace for my kids to live the country life with Grandma and Grandpa Bramwell. Billy couldn't come as he had to work- yes tax season is busy, but we are more than half way through it. Here are a few highlights....

Snowmachining with Grandpa...

Seeing Riley Smith get blessed by his uncles, father and grandpas.

Eating a yummy lunch with the Smith family after Riley's Sealing.

Watching Grandpa take the kids out to do chores

Science Fair at cousin Zach's school...

Going up to visit Aunt Desi, Grandpa and Mark at SouthFork Animal Clinic

Storytime before bed- with Grandpa and his famous "3 Little Pigs" rendition

Congratulations Riley!

Billy's brother Benson and his wife Anna adopted sweet, smiley Riley this last summer. We were so happy to welcome this adorable, unbelievably happy baby into the family. I swear, I've never seen a baby smile like he does. His arrival was an answer to many prayers, and he has been such a blessing.

We were so excited to hear a few weeks ago that the adoption would be finalized and they would be able to take him to the Idaho Falls Temple and be sealed together as a family for time and all eternity. It was a great opportunity for us to talk to Brayden about the blessings of the temple, and to explain to him that families can be together forever. Riley looked so cute in his little white tuxedo and actually was asleep during the sealing ceremony. It was a beautiful thing to witness.

I have to say I am so grateful for the adoption process, as I now have 3 great nephews that are adopted. I'm so grateful to birth mothers that look beyond their own desires, and give their children the opportunity to be raised by a couple that will love them and cherish them and give them a family they would not have otherwise had. I can't even begin to imagine the sacrifice, but I have seen the wonderful results- a beautiful happy family!