If Home Is Where Your Heart Is. . . .

This must have been an Oscar Party at the girls' camp. This picture is especially fun because two of the three boys with my little African Davey Crocket are so special to us. . .the blonde is the son of one of my childhood best friends and the kid in the red shirt is my cousin's boy!  So fun!

Today was fun. . . kind of.  It had great potential to be very fun, but after sunflower disappointment, it still ended up being a good day.  Gabby and Lesley and I loaded up the car and hit the road for Utah.  Destination: a gorgeous sunflower field that I have been wanting to see for about seven years.  Last year we found it, but they were all already dead.  So we drove.  And we drove.  And we drove.  And ten miles from Moab we decided that we missed the field.  Come to find out we didn't miss the field, the field hadn't been planted this year.  BIG BUMMER!!!  There was another field across the street, though, that had several of those BIG sunflowers growing.  I actually think it will be covered with the HUGE flowers, but I think I was too early.  So, no rows and rows of six foot flowers, but I got a good pic. And then I got home to our last barn dance of the summer.  The photographer found Gabby and I and I am s...

So, come to find out, the K1 photographer is one of our old Kivu campers and staff members and she sent me several pics of my kids today. I was so super excited! Maggie and one of her friends. . .who happens to be the daughter of one of my childhood friends (Erica Orth).  So fun! Tiki and his counselor!

Its been a while. . .so sorry!  When I finally blog about my house and you see the pictures of all of our hard work, you'll understand. But, in the mean time. . . . . . . We took out Gabby's braids from Easter and then turned around and put them back in (you can see why from the pictures).  This time it only took about 25 hours. . .I am getting better! And we had some super fun company!  Tiffany (one of my best friends from college) and her family came up for their annual visit to Colorado and we loved it!  It was so nice to be with a dear friend who knows me and loves me and who I can laugh with and be myself.  What a blessing she was!  And the icing on the cake is that Andy loves her hubby, Haydn, and my kids (the two left in Colorado and not at camp) are the same age as her kids.  We had a blast!  

I cannot believe that it is August already.  I also cannot believe how terrible I have been at blogging this summer.  (My excuses are that I have been too busy and that all of these new changes with Google have really thrown me for a loop.) August holds many adventures for Braner Party of 7!  We began our last term of Kivu for the summer 2011 season.  When camp ends on Saturday, Andy and I will be working hard to get our new house ready to move into (we have been working so hard and I am so proud of what we have accomplished. . .pictures to come soon).  Dax will be heading to Missouri to spend his week with Pops and GoGo. We will head to Missouri to pick up Hays, Maggie & Tiki from camp.  They will have been gone for 31 days and we will be ready to see them. Andy and Dax are headed to College Station, Texas for a wedding. Pops will be driving back to Durango with the rest of us to spend a couple of days before school starts. And school wil...

So, FedEx came to camp today with a package for Gabby.  We were so excited to open it and what was inside blew us away!  Lesley (wonderful Lesley) made Gabby a beautiful book about Cotton Candy's time in Rwanda. I guess I better explain.  Cotton Candy is Gabby's very special stuffed elephant that sleeps with her every night.  Gabby has a "back up" Cotton Candy (just in case) and a "travel" Cotton Candy for trips.  Bottom line:  Gabby LOVES Cotton Candy! Well, without mentioning anything to us, Lesley elephant-napped Cotton Candy when she went to Rwanda two weeks ago.  She took pictures of Cotton Candy all over Rwanda and made Gabby the sweetest book about Cotton Candy's time there--in Gabby's birth-country. I bawled.  It was one of the sweetest things anyone has ever done for me (even though it wasn't even for me).  Not only did Lesley make Gabby a beautiful book about her birth-country, but it was a beautiful book about her birth-count...

Well, Hays, Maggie and Tiki made it to K1.  I know they're having a blast (and burning up)!  Below are two pictures sent to me by friends of their first day!  I miss them, but life is so quiet without them! This picture warmed my heart!  Brothers! At drop-off with Jackson Brawner.