Braydens Birthday

My Very first Cake
not really sure what to think of this
I can't believe that mom is letting me do this.
Now I am just a big ham.

we had a lot of fun on Bryadens 1st birth day. We had the kids over for a family party and celebrated 4 birth days this month. Gary, Nathan, Christine and Brayden. We made burber bites and had a great time. The burgers were supposed to be regular size, but they shrunk up. We are still learning how to use our grill. They had great flavor, just a little small. Brayden got some really cute clothing from his sister Shawnee. A few books, some p.j.'s and shoes.

Gary was a little jealous and wanted to try on Braydens new out fit. It really looks better on Brayden. He wore it to church today and got a lot of compliments.

Took him a while to get the hang of presents. Maybe he will understand when Christmas rolls around. He really had more fun with the paper.

Ok, so I am usually a pretty quick learner. I will admit to being challenged in the technology area. However I work on a computer every day. I have a pretty good brain. At least I thought so. I just tried once again to upload a photo on my own. But no. I tried for 40 minutes. Annie is a great teacher but the student is in need of a brain transplant. I don't know when I will see Annie next, so I will just tell you. Brayden cracks me up every day. He is walking now and getting around like none other. We have been trying to avoid the whole toilet paper on the floor thing for some weeks now. A few weeks ago he learned how to spin it off the roll. I turned the roll around. That fixed the problem until he saw me pull the paper from the back. You should have seen his little face. His eyes popped open and you could actually see "bingo" appear on his face. He scooted right over and began to spin the paper from the back. No problem, I will just put the roll on the bathroom counter. That worked for a few days until I forgot and got busy. I am in the kitchen and Brayden is really quiet. You know, all parents warn you about quite children, but you never really understand until you have one. So he is really, really quiet. I sneak up on him and he is surrounded with paper he is happy and laughing. Seriously this is the time of his life. I got a great picture. As soon as I figure how to up load it. I will show you. Any way. I am loving life and this little boy of mine. How did I ever have any fun before he came along?

Thanks Annie. I can blog now.

This is a really cute photo of Brayden. My friend Ginger went to Italy with her family. While there she sent this cute Gondolier outfit. Brayden was 9 months when he finally fit into it. He is such a sweet boy. This post is for Ginger. Now that I know how, I will work on providing more info.

Annie is here and we are learning how to up load photos. Here is a cute one of Brayden. It is a few months ago. I think he was only about 4 months old in this photo. I am working on getting some more recent photos. I hope to post a blog of our Michigan trip soon. So, stay tuned. :) xoxoxo

Ok, have a little fun at my expense. It is rather funny that the only photo I managed to upload was a Christmas photo. I am having a lot of trouble with this whole blog thing. I seriously need lessons. Sandra, don't feel so bad about the math test. I cant even figure out how to keep a blog going. I think you are a genius. So, I love you all and I really do have a desire to tell you what is going on in my world. Lets face it, I am no Annie. :)

The picture I really would have like to upload is a cute little photo of Brayden learning to brush his teeth. It is probably the best part of our day. In the evening we have dinner, bath and then its time for the highly anticipated tooth brushing. We place Brayden on the counter, pull back the medicine cabinet door to reveal the masterpiece. Brayden squeals with delight and lunges for his tooth brush. He giggles as he chews on the bristles. He watches intently as I brush my own teeth. Sometimes he leans forward to get a closer look. Often he will try to imitate what he sees me doing. Brayden would probably sit there for an hour if I would let him. He gets really sad when we rinse off the tooth brush and put it away. We always wave good bye and there are a few tears. I think he is starting to understand that we will do it all again tomorrow. So, maybe when Annie returns from Utah she will help me find that photo and you will have a clear picture. :) xoxo

Fun and Games With Weather

Wow, we have been having fun with the weather here in Oklahoma. We are sure glad that Gary installed our gas fireplace on Thanksgiving day. Here is a photo. We think it looks nice, but more importantly it provides heat. Our home is over 80 years old and it does not have central heat. It has worked to our advantage this week as we have lost half of our power due to the ice storm.

Here are some pictures of the damage to our house. A large icy tree fell on the power lines, it pulled the lines down and some of the brick with it. We are sure lucky to have a mason in the family. Gary's son Logan came down and repaired the loose bricks. Now we need to get an electrician to hook the wires back to the house. So, we have power to the living room and one outlet in the kitchen. I have been cooking everything in the crock pot. We are also lucky to have a gas stove. I am able to cook on the stove top. We have run an extension cord from the one good plug to the refrigerator. So we are all set. I will admit it will be nice when we don't have to play this game anymore.

Brayden sure loves his family. we miss you all and will see the salt lake clan at Christmas time. Love you lots. Have a great week.

Here are some cute pix of Brayden all bundled up for winter. See you soon.