If Home Is Where Your Heart Is. . . .

Oh my goodness!  I just read the BEST BLOG EVER!  (I apologize ahead of time that it probably isn't your blog.)  It is www.ihategreenbeans.com .  I laughed out loud and I am still laughing out loud!  She is hysterical (and come to find out, I met her in Junior High and we were both Pi Phi's at Baylor.  Small world!) She blogs about many different things, but here recaps of "The Bachelor" are priceless!  Confession:  "The Bachelor" is one of my guilty pleasures.  And, while I'm confessing, I was SO MAD that Jennifer didn't get a rose. . .I'm thinking that maybe Ben thought she was too good for him after his late night ocean romp with Courtney.  Just saying. Back to I Hate Green Beans . . .go read it!  You'll laugh!  Enjoy the blog!  Oh my!  I cannot wait to read it tomorrow!

I love living in Durango.  Did you know that in 2011, Durango was voted: + Best Places to Live 2011 (Men's Journal) + Best Place to Put Your Outdoor Life First (Men's Journal) + Top Micropolitan Area in the US (Politicom) + Top Ten Western Towns (True West Magazine) + Top 200 Town in the US (Outdoor Life Magazine) + Top 10 "Life is Better Here" Town (Outside Magazine) + "Next Big Thing" (Outside Magazine) + Colorado's Secret Stash (Ski Magazine) Even if Durango hadn't won all of those awards last year, I would still love this place!  The people are friendly and non-judgemental.  I love the outdoor lifestyle:  the camping and biking and rafting and climbing and boarding that you do with your family every weekend.  I love the weather.  I love the mountains.  I love that dogs are welcome in the stores!  I love the schools!  I love it! I'm so thankful that I get to call Durango home!

This is the music video that Josh Kelly wrote about his daughter with Katherine Heigl.  They adopted her from Korea a few years ago.  It is such a precious song and video!  Enjoy!

What a dog!  Whenever I tell people about Jake, I tell them that he is the dog I always dreamed of having!  So true!  In high school I heard a song called, "Feed Jake."  The chorus went: Now I lay me down to sleep I pray the Lord my soul to keep If I die before I wake Feed Jake He's been a good dog My best friend right through it all If I die before I wake Feed Jake The first time I heard that song, I knew that some day I would have a big yellow lab named Jake.  And for the past 12 years I have. He was the best!  He was so loyal and so dear to me.  His big ole tale would just wag and his eyes would light up whenever we would come out the door or down the driveway.  When he was happy his ears would perk up and kind of fold back. . . that was my favorite!  Jake was best known in the summer for rolling over onto his back the second anyone walked up to him so that he could get a good belly rub. Jake was the best!  He was our "fat ole man." 

KIVU Commercial from Andrew Braner on Vimeo .

  Well, the Miller Angels won again yesterday afternoon. . .against some GIANT boys from Cortez.  It was a close and rough game. . .and so fun to watch!  20-19.  Hays played great!

Well, we had big plans for MLK day and NONE of them happened.  We woke up to 8 inches of snow and there was no sign of it stopping.  So, for most of the day we watched my new AppleTV.  What did we watch? you ask.  We watched all of our photos scroll across the TV to all of our favorite music.  I think we did that for six hours.  It was so much fun!  The kids went sledding for a bit.  And then I had big plans for a fun dinner and a moving in the living room.  The dinner was all of the appetizer size food I could find at City Market and the movie was Peter Pan (with the real people).  And, of course, IBC Cream Sodas!  It turned out to be an okay evening, but not the big bang of a hit that I had imagined.  Oh well.  We made memories!  ("I do believe in fairies!  I do!  I do!") This is how a little boy raised in Africa watches his iPod.  :) Braner boys love their electronics! This is the snow we woke up to and I think we got a little over a foot total.  Beautiful!

Go Miller Angels!  (Yes, they are the angels. . .right before they become the Durango High School Demons. . .seriously!) Hays played super!  It was so much fun to watch!  He missed six days of practice because we were in Cabo, so he walked out onto the court very nervous looking and seemed very unsure of himself but by the end of the game he was rockin' it!  I'm so proud of him! Here is my play by play I was texting Andy during the game: Hays started the game. He scored the first 2 points. He stole the ball. . .and then traveled. Now he is on the bench huffing and puffing like he has been at sea level for 2 weeks. Miller wins! 18-6 Oops. . .half time. . . GREAT steal. . .then turnover Big rebound. Steal-ish. Can you get a steal assist? Another steal assist. Fourth quarter. . . 3 point AIR BALL. Foul. . .hometown ref 26-7. That was my play by play.  Hays's play by play was drastically different!  It was hysterical!  He was so hyped up!  I

My kids are like super hero travelers!  They're great!  The flight attendants always compliment them, TSA compliments them. . . they know how to get their shoes off and electronics and liquids out; they get their own bins and fly through security like seasoned business men!  I love to watch it!  They're old pros and I love traveling with them. . . seriously, I would pick traveling with my kids over going to get ice cream any day!  They are my little troopers!  This trip home from Cabo was no different.  The trip was CHAOTIC!  The airlines messed our tickets up, so we were rerouted which caused chaos on our multiple multiple layovers!  We had 20 minutes between landing and boarding at one point. . . we had to get through immigration, pick up our luggage, get through customs, recheck our luggage, go through security (with a knee brace and crutches) and make our plane. . .yes, in twenty minutes.  We did it!  (They did it!)  And then we had a six hour layover at another point.  T

We had a wonderful time in Cabo again this year!  Time with Braner Party of 7 was super.  Time with my parents is irreplaceable!  Lesley got to come.  Brady and Jen were there for a few days.  Cooper and Missy were there with their three kids for a week.  It was super!  I think watching the cousins play was one of my highlights!  Enjoy the MANY pictures! Pops & GoGo This family pic was not only the best of everyone, but with the pelican that almost hit our photographer, Lesley, it is priceless!   I think this was the best picture of the vacation!  I love this pic! Dax getting up on the surf board for the first time! Tiki getting up on the surf board for the first time! Hays getting up on the surf board for the first time! Proof that I actually was on the vacation! My favorite family picture of the trip!