Leaving a Legacy

pictured: LeGrande (grandpa), Betty (grandma), baby Ava, Brandon (July 2008)

Brandon's Grandpa passed away just before Christmas.

90 Years old

7 Children

48 Grandchildren

101 Great Grandchildren and counting

I would say that is a legacy to be proud of!

He was an amazing man of strength, determination, and insight.

He will be missed dearly.

Love you Grandpa! 1-2-3!

Some important things missed...Part 1

I have missed some important things lately.....

First missed was Brandon's birthday...which was September 18th.

I missed it however, because he was having the best birthday ever by doing this:



Yes....hunting black bears with his bow and arrow! So manly!!



This was their beautiful scenery in Maine where they found their "poor bears" (as I would say). Also pictured are their luxurious accomodations and some pretty funny signs they came upon.



He went with his brothers and dad....and they had the time of their lives for a week. They all shot a bear...and now we wives are all going to be recipients of some beautiful bear skin rugs! (Can't wait....totally goes with my decor :))

Happy Birthday Babe.....glad you had the time of your life. I love you!

Lucky 13

13 Years ago I became the luckiest girl....

Lucky that I married the most wonderful man in the world!

Lucky that he is an incredible person inside

Lucky that he taught me the importance of being selfless and serving others

Lucky that he shows me through his example how to be patient

Lucky that he has an innate sense of right and wrong

Lucky that he is the most amazing father

Lucky that he loves to get down on the floor and play hard with our kids

Lucky that he is good at everything he does and anything he tries

Lucky that he knows how to fix anything

Lucky that he has an uncanny work ethic

Lucky that he wanted to marry me

LUCKY THAT HE IS MINE!

NASCAR Time

I know there are many people that love NASCAR races.....but Brandon and I are not some of them. So, imagine my shock when Brandon came home one day and said he wanted to go see a NASCAR race in Phoenix!

"What? Please don't tell me this is going to be added to your hobby list....you already have a few too many of those." I said

He assured me it was just a "once in a lifetime" opportunity. (Hmm....where have I heard that before..)

So, off he went to meet his cousins in Phoenix, AZ for a weekend of racing.



They had VIP passes on pit road, were supposed to meet Kyle Bush (he had to go to the bathroom - so they settled for his girlfriend instead....I am sure they were so disappointed :)), and even had a strict dress code of pants and a shirt with sleeves! Yes, you heard me right...you cannot go on pit road in cut off shorts and a white tank top. Oh, how disappointed Brandon was (yeah right)!



He claims they had a great time, got to see some very interesting people, were amazed at all the RV's in the middle of the race track, and even saw a couple of girls riding motorized coolers! (only at NASCAR).

Happy Birthday.....How about some stitches??

Thursday was Brandon's birthday! He was able to celebrate by going to work, and of course playing basketball at lunch like he always does a couple of times a week. I love that he plays - it keeps him in shape, he loves it, and he is good at it! However, today was an eventful day of basketball. Look at this:

Just a little pick up game you might ask? Oh no, it might as well be the NBA championship game with how competitive these boys are. This happened when Brandon was diving (yes, diving at 35 yrs old) for the loose basketball. He hit heads with another very competitive player (aka his cousin Jeremy) and came out with this nasty gash. (Jeremy was unscathed)




Since Brandon loves getting family pictures so much (not!), I had scheduled family pictures with a great photographer for a birthday present :). He called me about 1:00 to let me know that he had some good news and bad news. The good news was that he was on his way home early from work so he could help me get the kids ready for family pictures. The bad news was that I had to take him to get stitches in his head. WHAT?? So much for the family pictures that had been scheduled for months! I know he doesn't like family pics, but this was a little drastic.

So, after plastic surgery and 30 stitches (yes 30!) he successfully got out of family pictures. He also got out of getting the kids ready for pictures - which is definitely the worst part. Thanks to his Mom who took him to the hospital, held his hand :), and took care of him while I tried to get five kids ready for pictures.

Pictures were an event in and of itself - I will have to post about that later. But, we did actually get to go to dinner for Brandon's birthday and give him a few "hunting necessities" for gifts.

photo courtesy of Braden

I love you babe! Happy 35th Birthday! (Boy I am glad I am not as old as you)

My Favorite Look

Brandon can grow facial hair like a bear! (Do bears grow facial hair?) He shaves every morning, and a by the afternoon he already has a scruffy face!

I have always loved him with a goatee, but he thinks it gives off the wrong impression to people. What?...he doesn't want to be seen as tough, rough, outdoorsy, in charge, confident, etc.??

I finally convinced him to grow one while we were in St. George a couple of weeks ago. I love it!

Isn't he handsome? It only lasted for a couple of days....got too itchy and long he said. But I loved every minute of it! Thanks for the sacrifice babe!

A Turkey is Down!

Brandon has been vigilantly scouting for turkeys. He drew out this year, and was determined to get one! He and Kason went up one morning (leaving at 3:00 am) and came oh so close - which is the story he has after every hunting expedition. The next week he decided to try it again, but didn't tell Kason because he had school. After leaving at 2:30 am this time, sitting in the pouring rain and cold, almost calling it a day.....SUCCESS!

Jeremy (Brandon's cousin) and Brandon with the reward!

They actually spotted these while driving out in the car. So much for sitting in the rain for hours - trying to call the turkeys in! Just get in your car and find them! Kason was so devastated that his Dad got a turkey without him there. It took a few hours for him to forgive Brandon for not taking him!

A Living Snowman

We are finishing our basement. Well, let me rephrase that....Brandon is finishing our basement. We are slowly making progress, and are actually at the painting phase! Brandon has been painting for a few days - but I have never gone downstairs while he was actually in the process. I decided to go down the other day, and this is what I found....




I burst out laughing! I didn't even know they had such painting attire! When he took off all the gear - he only had paint all over his eyes. So, the protection worked. I have to admit that he is an extremely cute snowman!

Ode to Saving Money

So, this happened a couple of months ago...but I had to post it when I came across the picture.

Ever since we have been married, Brandon has always been able to do things himself to save money. Whether it is fixing a clogged pipe, replacing floors, finishing the basement, you name it - he can do it. He is an all around "handy man", and can figure out how to do anything! That, in fact, is one of the things that is so attractive about him!

Well, he has always changed the oil in our cars. He thinks it is ridiculous to pay someone $30-40 dollars, that he can easily do himself for under $10. He was routinely changing the oil in one of our cars when all of the sudden he walked into the house looking like this:

The filter fell while he was unscrewing it, and landed in the pan of used oil. Hilarious!! Talk about an "oily" complexion! Needless to say, we just recently needed our oil changed...and he took it to the local Jiffy Lube!