Welcome Back

Sorry for the long stretch of silence, we have been super busy and out of town for the last 2 weeks.  Below are some pictures of our fun adventures.

4th of July

fun at the parade

prepping some fireworks

Visiting Family In California

the kids were super excited to see Bob the Builder

we got a world tour...in Lego form

Camping With Some Good Friends

Luke's fishing lounge set-up

Welcoming our New Nephew into the World

Imaginary Friends

I heard today that it is very normal for a child to make-up things they long for.  Imaginary friends or imaginary pets can actually be typical.  As I was listening to this it made me think about my own children.  They both really want a dog, but instead of making up an imaginary one Kade pretends Kristin is his dog.  I wonder what a psychologist would say about this. =)

Family Camping Trip

Meet My Sloths

Bat-like Flamingo

Kristin's newest and currently her favorite toy has some odd sleeping habits.  Many times when I walk into her room this is what I see:

this one is my personal favorite, I laugh every time I see it

Boating

Last week we got the chance to go boating and had tons of fun.  It was the kid's 1st time tubing and they loved it.  I was reminded that I'm not as young as I once was, because after water skiing I ached for days.  But let me tell you, it was SO worth the pain. =)

Our Trip To Iowa

I got a little creative yesterday and figured out how to make these slide shows.  This is of our trip to visit family in Iowa over Memorial Day Weekend. Enjoy. =)

Prairie Dog Siting

This little guy just showed up in our front yard yesterday.  I think the newer construction has forced them to move this way.  The kids loved watching it.

Another Zoo Day

Thanks to this membership we have enjoyed many more visits to the zoo.  I feel like after this year I'm going to be very well educated on many different types of animals.  My kids love EVERY trip we take and all they seem to do after each trip is pretend to be different animals.  I did learn last week that I strongly dislike day-camp children, they are very rude and disrespectful, and the young adults who watch them do absolutely nothing!

My kids love seeing the birds.  Personally, I find it a bit too humid in there. =)

Every trip to the zoo they insist upon climbing these fake hippos.  Actually, I'm pretty sure every trip we've ever taken to the zoo we have a picture with these hippos.  These hippos are famous. =)

These next 2 are my favorite pictures from our zoo trip last week.  We got to watch the elephants play in the water.

Making The Impossible Possible

This past school year I studied the book of Genesis and throughout that study we learned how God does things that seem totally impossible to us.  Take Abraham and Sarah for example, God promised them a child multiple times, but after waiting years and years and years they still had no children.  Finally, when they were very old, past what we consider child bearing years, God gave them a child.  This seemed totally impossible to us, but to God nothing is impossible.

Throughout Genesis God shows His greatness through situations like these.  And actually, if things didn't seem impossible to us, we probably wouldn't truly understand who God is and how amazing He is.  So right now things may seem impossible to us right now, but Luke and I are trusting God for a complete miracle, one where He shows how truly amazing He is and that nothing is impossible for Him.

Blessed

This last week was tough to say the least.  Lets just say multiple things happened last week to make it all seem a bit overwhelming and depressing at times.  I was reminded this week of the amazing people God has placed in my life and thanks to them they made my life a little easier.  Thank you to some of my amazing friends, my mom, and my husband who made things so much better.  It's amazing how God always seems to place the right people in your life at just right time.  He always seems to know what we need and as I look back on last week God has definitely reminded me of how He is carrying me through right now and always by my side.

Loss of the Unknown

Having a miscarriage is hard, no matter who you are and what your situation.  Before we had Kristin I had 2 miscarriages, the 1st was harder than the second for me.  After one time, I learned not to get my hopes up, but this wasn't the case for my husband, the 2nd was much harder for him.

I've met multiple people who have had failed adoptions for whatever reason, and to me the pain is no different from a miscarriage.  I think it's actually the same thing because you dream of this child and start planning your life with this child and then it suddenly ends, your dreams come crashing down on you and you've lost that child that you so desperately longed to hold.

I'm not sure if it's easier for a miscarriage to happen all of a sudden or to be told ahead of time that you might have a miscarriage. Well, the latter is our case right now.  I can't really share more details, but all I ask is that you pray.

Pray for all the families adopting from Rwanda, this week was a rough week.  Pray that we trust God's plan completely, even though we have no clue what that is right now.  Pray for peace, the ups and downs of adoption can be very hard.  Pray that there are many more referrals soon, many families have now waited over a year.  Also pray for the people working in the ministry and the nuns who run the orphanage.  Pray for wisdom, guidance, and efficiency as they have so much on their plates right now.  Pray that they do what is in the best interest of the orphans in Rwanda.

To all my dedicated followers, thank you for reading this and taking the time to pray.  We truly believe God can move mountains, even in the world of international adoption, and we are trusting that He will!

Why I No Longer Trust our Local Weather Stations

Last week we had a nasty thunderstorm roll in here later in the evening.  We tried to look at all the news stations to see what was going on, it was 9pm, so news was on multiple channels.  None of them said anything about a thunderstorm.  Well, it got a lot worse and sounded like a freight train was coming so we got our kids out of bed and headed for the basement.  We found out later that many of our neighbors did the same.  Well the next morning multiple trees were broken in half and a trampoline was in the power lines.  But did the news say anything about it...of course not.  A couple days later they announced that there may have been a micro-burst, but they still have their doubts.

Yesterday morning this is what I woke up to:

I know this hail doesn't look like much, but it came down so hard it woke me up and made me worry about my garden.  Again I turned on the news and got NOTHING.  30 minutes later, after the storm had past us they said their was a thunderstorm moving through and a chance of rain.

Forget our local news stations, I'll just check the national weather service online since they seem to care more about our safety.  =)

Life in Bloom

My 1st day lilies started to bloom and they just happen to be my favorite color.  I have so many them in my front planter that they are usually blooming a good portion of the summer.

Calling All Rwanda Adoptive Families

If you haven't already heard, there's a new page on facebook just for you.  Join the group and get connected.  Here's the link that can give you a bit more info: Braner Party of 7

Rodent Problem

This week we've had a rather large mouse sneaking through the house.  I don't think they make traps this large. =)

A Bit of History (Part 2)

Last week my grandparents were visiting, so we took a trip with them to see an old farm that was built in the 1800s.  It was very interesting to really see how life used to be lived.  Let me tell you, technology has come a long way.  After really looking at how people lived in the 1800s, the one thing I'm most appreciative of is my washing machine.  I would have loved to live a more simple life like them in many ways, but I would not enjoy washing clothes by hand.

forget about the historical stuff, my kids would much rather check out the dead mouse in the grass

A Bit of History (Part 1)

I have to admit that I find history rather boring.  It was definitely one of my worst subjects growing up.  Reading about what happened in the past tends to put me to sleep.  I discovered recently though that I do enjoy history though when I have the opportunity to see it in artifacts, museums, pictures, etc.  I guess you could say I'm a visual learner when it comes to history, I want to see and touch it.  So this last week we've taken a couple historical field trips that I've really enjoyed.

Yesterday my sister and I went to the museum and learned all about real pirates that lived in the 1700s.  This was a great exhibit, we really enjoyed it.

Random Pirate Facts (in case you are interested):
1. There were women pirates
2.  Even though slavery, segregation, & racism were very prevalent during this time, they didn't apply on pirate ships.  Everyone on a pirate ship was treated as an equal
3. Pirates were so good about being equal that they broke their treasure (jewelery, gold, silver, etc.) into equal pieces so everyone got an equal share (making all the artifacts we saw look broken)
4. Yesterday we got to see (and touch) the only real pirate treasure ever found to this day
5. Pirates burying their treasures and treasure maps are a myth, most pirates squandered their money right away on rum and gambling
6. Many pirates mixed rum with their water to kill the germs in the water...making many of them alcoholics...no wonder they always seemed to have a jolly good time =)
7. The punishment for being a pirate was brutal to say the least.  Many were hung, tarred, and put on display for days.

Baby Deer

When walking on some families property in Iowa, we stumbled across this newborn fawn.  They think it had just been born within 24 hours.  So cute.

Bucket of Fun

Most people store their toys in some kind of container.  And they come in all varieties: boxes, baskets, plastic tubs, etc.  But it seems that no matter what kind of container, they make great toys.  Just this morning my kids emptied some baskets and were walking around with them on their heads pretending to be robots.  The picture below is of a toy tub Kristin dumbed out at Great Grandma's just so she could sit in it.  I really should no longer buy my children toys, and instead just give them a bunch of different containers.  It seems like they are always dumping the toys out just so they can use the containers. =)