Yay Tyson!

Just a little note to let the world know that in the 3 months that Ty has been a Cub Scout he has received his Bobcat, his first yellow bead, and a belt loop. Now mind you, I have no idea what this really means other than I know it's awesome and that my son is really loving it! Woo hoo!

Girl Scout Cookies

Wow.....that's really all I can say. In fact, I could end the post now with just that one word. Instead, I'll give you an ear full though.

Anna (and I) sold about 450 boxes of cookies and that was before helping with the cookie booths. Just her order totaled $1500. Geez.....it was a lot to deliver. I'm glad that's over. The biggest problem with all of it is the amount of cookies I've already eaten. I'm sure I've gained at least 5 pounds just from cookies. I think Mike has eaten 3 boxes of Thin Mints alone. Anyway, if you notice that we have gotten fat, at least you know why and hopefully you'll have some sympathy. I mean, who can resist when they are sitting there calling to you?

Grandpa Bradshaw's Funeral

Mike's Grandpa was laid to rest on March 4th. We went up to Cedar on the 3rd for the viewing in the evening and spent the night. We we at the funeral home again in the morning for another viewing and the closing of the casket. The kids were very good and it was nice to spend time with Mike's cousins. Everyone held it together very well until Anna said her good-bye's and totally lost it. Poor girl just sobbed and sobbed. It triggered tears in others in the room. Sweet girl did just what so many of us were holding back. It was a sweet moment. Tyson helped some of the other kids "tuck" Grandpa in and we all put some memories in the casket. One thing that touched me a lot was done by my son. The night before, Mike and I were finishing up the French horn/piano number we were asked to perform at the funeral. We had some staff music out and were writing an arrangement. Tyson asked for some staff paper to write a song as well. He finished it and played it for us. He was so proud of it and carried it around in his pocket the next day. When it was time to put our thoughts/memories in the casket, Tyson took the song out of his pocket and placed it in the casket. He was so proud of that piece.....I thought he would keep it forever......but instead it was the last thing he gave to his Grandpa. I thought it was very sweet. The service was wonderful. It was full of music and good stories. Mike and I were able to help with the children's song and then we performed our piece- If You Could Hie to Kolob. It turned out nice. Bob played the French horn when he was younger and I was glad I could play for him. After the service, we went to the graveside. After many days of stormy weather, it had cleared up nicely. Though sad, it is good to know he is back with Onda. Anna said that over and over. She is so happy that he is not sick anymore and that he is with Grandma again. There is for sure a whole left without both of them here. We miss them and will be glad for that day when we are reunited again.

Hurting Hearts

Mike's Grandpa Bradshaw passed away this morning. Mike had his SUPAF performance today and I had taken the day off to run the event. His band had just played beautifully and they had just sat down in the auditorium to listen to the other groups when his mom called. I was in the hallway waiting for the next groups to arrive when he came out to call his mom back. We both knew before he called he what the conversation would contain. My sweet husband was so sad. Here he was in the middle of a band festival shedding tears for his dear grandpa. We both did.

I will always remember Grandpa Bradshaw as being a very soft spoken, kind, and gentle man. He cared about the people around him, he loved to watch sports, and he was fun to talk to. This summer we went to the cabin with him and he told me some amazing stories about his life. He loved to fly planes and he helped a lot of people through that ability. He was very generous and has helped me and Mike so much. I feel so indebted to him and Onda for their generosity though our married life. Mike and I have vowed that we will be like them one day.....doing what we can to help people in whatever way or with whatever skills we have been given. He has been an example to us, and especially to Mike.

Our kids have grown up going to Papa and Grandma Bradshaw's home. Mike's mom has been caring for them the last few years, so we've been to their house often. We visited on Monday and saw how tired and weak he was. Brayden hugged him a couple of times and that made him smile. He has always loved our kids so much. I'm glad we got to visit this week.

When I left the home of my own Grandma over a year ago, I knew that was the last time I would see her on this Earth even though I told her I would come again. Neither of us wanted to say goodbye so we didn't. As I left I cried and I wanted to hold onto her memory forever. When we left on Monday, we told Grandpa we would be back to visit in two weeks. We all believed that would be the case......we didn't think it was our last visit. Now I wish that instead of telling him when we would come again that we had said how much we loved him and that we were so grateful for all he had taught us. The moment has passed and we can't replay it, but I am glad right now for the knowledge of where he is, how healthy he is, and that he is back with Onda.

Anyway, I didn't really write that with you in mind but rather us. Grandpa Bradshaw has touched our lives deeply and we will miss him. We love you Grandpa!

YAY!

We have had our 2002 Town and Country for lots of years. Anna wasn't born when we purchased it. It's been a great vehicle and we have lots of memories. We've been planning for months to replace her.......and yesterday we did. It's funny though....I took this picture this morning. We have both vans at our house right now (even though we traded this one in). We didn't have our house key because we always get in through the garage. The garage door opener is programed into the van, so we had to bring both home with us and will drop this one off today. Anyway, I thought I'd list a few memories. This is the van in which: we went on all of our family trips, we brought Anna and Brayden home from the hospital, I had my first horrible seizure, we spent lots of money fixing our first transmission, we drove around without a taillight for a few months, backed into a car that backed into us at the same time (weird), we have taken all over the city for years and years. I will miss the built in car seats but really- that's about it. It has been very dependable and that's why.................................... ...........we decided to purchase another Town and Country. This one is a 2010 and has Stow & Go seating, middle row windows that roll down (Bray is going to love that), NO CASSETTE PLAYER but a CD player with an MP3/I-Pod jack (yay), and lots of other little gadgets that will make life a lot more distracting on the road. I'm not too fond of Silver, but it wasn't last on my list. I really wanted red, but that's just asking way too much. So, there she is. I'm very excited for all the storage and the lack of embarrassing noises it will make at carpool pick-up. I'm also looking ahead realizing that this might just be the vehicle Tyson learns to drive with. Yikes!

My boys!

Tyson builds constantly and loves his Lego's. His Lego's are a source of escape and creativity. He builds some pretty cool things. Yesterday he just wanted to get all of his people on the platform at one time. He took this picture. You can see his Star Wars ship. He built that a couple of months ago and amazingly it has stayed together. Oh my little Brayden. He put on his Peter Pan costume, added the Home Depot apron, and to top it off he came downstairs wearing Anna's witch hat. Funny boy!

Valentines Day

We had a blast on Valentine's Day. Anna was the instigator of all the fun. She has been talking about Valentine's for 2 weeks and has played it up to be a twin to Christmas. Man.....I had a lot to live up to. That little booger! Since Mike and I weren't really planning on doing much, I figured we have fun as a family.....so I came up with a plan (insert evil laugh).

To start out the day, we packed special things in the kids lunches and then Mike and I both wrote little love notes to our kids and stuffed them all sorts of places for them to find through the day. Mike picked me up after work and we went to lunch. That was a lot of fun and we didn't have to get a babysitter :)

After we all got home we began the evening fun. We started in the living room and Tyson read a clue as to the first hing we were doing. Anna's cute little friend was over so she joined in too. They all went into the kitchen and wrote/drew letters to their family and stapled service coupons to the letter (wash dishes, undisturbed nap). Anna kept looking through them and picking the "easy" ones. Again....little booger.

After that, we "made" dinner. We stuck a heart shaped pizza in the oven :) While it was cooking, they hunted for pieces of broken hearts. When put together each heart had a special message for each child. That was cute. We ate our Valentine's dinner then headed out on our next task.

For this one, Tyson invited a friend to come along as well, so we had 5 kids with us. We picked a friend and "heart attacked" her house. We got through it without anyone catching us (amazingly). Brayden is so loud these days.....I thought he would for sure blow it for us. We plastered the garage, door, and windows with hearts and then went home to have desert. Tons of fun and made Valentine's Day very special.

I didn't take many pictures, but here are the kids making their letters. Happy V-day. I think we just started a tradition :)