If Home Is Where Your Heart Is. . . .

Four years ago today we were logged into the China adoption system and our seven month wait began!  Seven month!  My how things change. . .I cannot imagine what my life would be like now if we would have brought a baby girl home from China in June of 2007 instead of getting a picture of a tiny baby girl in Rwanda that same month!  God is so good and so faithful and His plan is so mysterious sometimes. I'm not sure what we are doing with China right now.  Many of you have been asking.  We are still officially in line and the wait continues to get longer.  I'm not sure if we will stay in line or bail, but for now we are "keeping our place" just in case.  Andy and I both feel like our family is complete; however, there is a small part of me who still feels like there is a baby girl in China for us.  Who knows?  And thankfully we don't have to decide for a while. It is just so neat to see the way God works in order to ultimately get us to whe...

Well, it is more than beginning to look a lot like Christmas at the Braner home. . .it does look a lot like Christmas!  Yesterday, with help from Lesley and Mariah Carey's new Christmas album, I decorated this house!  I love it! I know some of you are "do not decorate until Black Thursday" kind of people and I am so happy for you.  The way I look at it, personally, is that we travel for Thanksgiving and for Christmas and I want to enjoy it as long as possible. . .and I am thankful for Christmas, so that goes with the whole Thanksgiving theme! My favorite part about my home being decorated for Christmas is that every afternoon and evening all five of my kids bring their toys (usually Star Wars legos) and they crawl under the tree and all play together UNDER my Christmas tree.  I LOVE IT!  They're all on their backs with their legs and feet sticking out from under the tree.  It makes me so happy to have us all together enjoying the tree! So, from Brane...

I know that isn't really a great name for a post because God will always win, but sometimes I feel like it is my plan verses His ultimate (and perfect) PLAN.  And (sigh) it is hard for a control freak to admit, even though it is so right, that God's will is better and will ultimately prevail. . .but it will and it is just something I have to embrace. I'm sure you're asking: what on earth are you talking about? Well, this could be a post about almost everything in my life, but right now it is about Tiki's birthday and social security number and US passport.  You know that I couldn't get a social security number because his birthday on his Missouri birth certificate doesn't match his birthday on his US Certificate of Citizenship.  So, yesterday I drove to Albuquerque (left at 3:30 in the morning. . .four hour drive one way) to the Department of Homeland Security.  My appointment was at 7:40 and I got right in to see a very nice lady who handed me a documen...

I cannot believe that it is November already.  Where has 2010 gone?  Oh my!  We are very ready for snow and winter here at the Braner home, though!  And we are very excited for what November holds!  We're excited to have a month without soccer and without snowboarding so that once another "season" gets cranked up again (after Thanksgiving), we will be ready for a big start! We are mostly looking forward to our trip back to Branson (through Tulsa) for Thanksgiving.  We are excited to see friends and family in the Midwest!  And Dax is very excited about turning six (although I am in major denial that my little sweat muffin thumb sucker is growing up)! November leaves Braner Party of 7 as six way too often, but we are so proud of how hard Andy is working to try and pull of Camp Kivu 2011.  (And, if you are reading this and you have children ages 11 to 18, please sign your kids up so that Andy can stop traveling so much and can be home with us!)...

    All the kids. . .(top row) Kate, Kenna, Kayla, Maggie, Hays (bottom row), Carver, Gabby, Abby, Tiki & Dax The Willis Family

I just finished Mary Beth Chapman's book "Choosing To SEE" and it was super.  Go get it and read it!  It was perfectly Mary Beth: funny and sad and honest and raw and real.  Thanks, MBC, for writing that book and for being real with the world!!  I love you and cannot wait to see you on Friday!