New Kitchen

Well we decided that it was finally time to update the kitchen, you know since we are moving in a couple of months. I have been wanting to do this since we moved in and it is now going to be done. We started on Saturday and things are going well so far. There has been some work done everyday and for the most part my kitchen has been in working order the entire time. The kids are loving every minute of it and want to know a step by step process. Braxton has been a big helper and will remember this for quite some time. While we are doing the kitchen we are also redoing the main bath and the 1/2 bath in the master bedroom. So there are a lot of things (everything) out of place right now. But, I guess if you did not know better it looks about as crazy as normal around here. Here are some pictures of the progress that is being made. Roger has been such a blessing through all of this. We are so thankful for him and his talents.

Kaden having a snack before the madness begins.

The first layer of flooring coming up.

Brazos standing on the sub floor next to the additional layers of flooring that were underneath.

Random picture of the cabinets before they came out?

Roger taking down wall paper in the the bathroom - DO NOT ever put up Wall Paper!

Andrea working hard.

Braxton helping pull wall paper

All smiles while he is working

The first hole goes in the wall

The hole gets bigger

The wall is gone - well most of it anyway.

The fridge in the dinning area.

The new kitchen in the living room

The wall between the dinning room and kitchen is gone.

Look at the open area. No wall!

The cabinets are in the floor.

On the one wall. New cabinets on the bottom and old ones on the top - no, it is not going to stay this way - I think?

The back side of the wall - it too will be gone soon.

The part of the wall that is left. The one that is still here will be a half wall when we are done.

What a mess!

Once stood a maroon wall

At least one wall in the kitchen still looks the same

Only one wall still standing that is not part of the exterior.

One more of memory sake

Happy Half Birthday Braxton

Braxton had his half birthday at school on Friday, along with a parade. They were so cute. They did a patriotic parade and a flag, kazoos, drums, and more. It was great. Braxton was so proud. He got to wear a star the a 5 on it. He felt real special all day.
We made a special snack to take to school for his birthday. He wanted to make little pigs, so we did. We also make some small birthday cakes for everyone and took grapes and chocolate milk as well. Here are some pictures from his special day.

The marshmallow pig and marshmallow cake.

More cake and pig

The special birthday boy and his star.

The kids saying the pledge of allegiance

All the kids lined up and ready to preform

Braxton marching with his flag and kazoo

Marching and playing - talent!

Braxton and Rosa's fan club that came to watch.

The excited boy ready for all the activity

Brazos and Logan playing chase while we waited for the parade.

Punching fun with Dad

For Christmas we as a family got a Wii system. The kids have really enjoyed playing with it latley. Braxton and Brazos like to "punch" each other with the boxing game. Brayson is picking up on it and acts out the motions as well. They are a hoot to watch. They have been able to play a couple of days a week and really seem to be enjoying it.

Here is Braxton and dad on the TV.

Dad helping Braxton punch.

Go boys go.

More punching!!

Surgery Day

These pictures are not in order so I will do my best to tell you what is going on in the pictures.
Brayson did well through surgery. He is feeling better and has already had his first ear infection today. His ear is draining and so we have some drops to help with the infection. He seems to be doing some better and is babbling more.

Brayson after surgery - he was a little drowsy but he did real well.

Dad taking dad to surgery.

The nurse getting Brayson ready to go.

Dad and Brayson waiting to meet the doctor

Dad and Brayson leaving to go to the hospital - Brayson waiving by

The day after surgery - Mr. sunglasses running around the kitchen

Brayson all smiles

Dad and Brayson

He did Great

Just wanted to let you all know that Brayson did very well today. We were at the surgery center for about 50 minutes. He is up and going and acts like nothing happened. He is such a trooper. The doctor said that he got quite a bit of fluid off his ears but more than fluid there was a lot of swelling in there so Brayson should be able to tell a big difference soon. Thanks for all your prayers and calls. I will post the pictures later.

Snow Much Fun

Andy took the kids sledding the other day. It was a nice Saturday and we still had 10 inches or more on the ground and so the older two went for some fun. I asked Andy to take some pictures. He said it was hard because the boys wanted to go down with him so he only got a couple and here they are. They all had a good time. Brayson enjoyed a good long quite nap while all the noise was out of the house.

Braxton and Brazos going down the hill.

Brazos - Wipe Out

Brazos ready to go!

Braxton all smiles and holding on.

Two smiling boys ready to go down the hill.

Shocked - Me too

I finally have an update! Shocker I know. But here it is.
My boys are getting bigger and are playing better together better everyday. Things are busy and well that keeps me on my toes.
Today Brayson went to the ENT and got the all clear for tubes. We are scheduled for surgery on Feb 16. I am nervous but so relieved that he will finally have some relief. I know his little body is ready for some relief. I am praying that things will go well and that he can finally sleep through the night without pain.

Brayson - just look at those BIG BROWN EYES

The other night we were going through some things and found a pair of Andy's old glasses. The boys though that was great and they all wanted to try them on. It was funny to watch them try to look through them. Don't worry I didn't let them play in them long.

Brazos trying to focus.

Braxton all smiles - this was a bribe. I told him that if he would smile and look at the camera he could take some pictures.

Same thing with Brazos - but this is all I got.

Kaden - that look of what are you doing. Another picture!

Braxton in dad's old glasses. They actually fit him. Andy has a small head.

My sweet little man has not been sleeping well at night and fell asleep during lunch last week. This has since happened a couple of times. We are working on getting him to sleep better. One step at a time.
The boys are playing with some friends today and I am enjoying a quite house.

I wish, I wish

Well I wish I did better at updating this blog, but the reality is I have not done well latley. Things have been crazy busy here and it looks like it will stay that way for a little while.
My goal this week is to take new pictures and post them. So you can see that my kids are getting BIG and I have not been doing a good job keeping up.
So, I am going to try.
That's all for now.

Happy Birthday Little Man

I can not believe that my baby is One. But I am so thankful for the last year and all the excitement that Brayson has bought to our lives. What a sweet little precious boy he is. He loves his dad and mom very much and likes to be around them most of the time. He is happy and usually smiling when he is not sick.
Little one you have grown a lot in the last year. From all the nose issue to all the milestones you are such a sweet little jewel. I am so glad that God has blessed us with you and your smiles.
I look forward to all the things that God has in his plan for you. I pray that you will be a leader for Him and and wonderful man one day. I look forward to all good things to come.
Happy Birthday Brayson Zade - Dad and Mom love you!

We have a second round of antibiotic shots today as we had yet two more ear infections. So we will take round two today and round three on Monday and then back to the ENT. We pray that this time we will get something that will help. Our appointment in on the 5th of Feb

Happy New Year!

We brought in the new year with some friends and family from the Lamesa church of Christ. We played 42 most of the night (when we weren't chasing kids). We had a great time and the boys did way better than I could have ever expected.

Please continue to pray for The Wims. My thoughts and prayers have really been with them lately. And they would appreciate your prayers as well.

We have been looking for houses and have found some that we would like to consider but nothing that is screaming for us. So we will continue to look.

My goal is to get some updates done in the next week or so. I am about 2 months behind now so when I do get started you better look out.

May God bless you all as we being another year of serving him.

Texas Here we come!

We are in Texas for the holidays and are enjoying every minute we get to spend. We are in the east now and will head to the west on Saturday. The boys have been enjoying themselves and their parents have too.

We have some news:
We will be moving to Texas - Summer 2009
While there are still a lot of details to work out we are planning a migrant move!

There are a lot of emotions with this and while there are a lot of happy ones there are just as many sad ones. We have been in Iowa for 8 years and made a whole new family there and it is hard to know that we will be leaving that.

Please add our move to your prayer list and pray that things will go smoothly for the kids, our church family here in Iowa, and our adjustments that will be made.

I know, I know, I know

CRAZY!!!
Computer with pictures is dead.
I will do better soon.

Home Again, Home Again

Well we did indeed make it back to the wintry weather of Iowa. We currently have about 4 inches of snow on the ground. The boys were excited - I however was not. It does make it feel more like December though. We had a safe trip and all is well. Braxton went back to school today and Andy back to work. We are trying to get everything put away and cleaned up.

On another note:
We have a couple of prayer requests
Andy's cousin Robyn delivered a littler girl yesterday at 28 weeks. Right now they are both doing okay but are in need of our prayers. They have a long road ahead. Please pray for them.

Our friend Peyson has had a rough week with doctors and blood test galore. He seems to be doing some better today but please remember him in your prayers as well.

I promise I will have pictures soon but for now this will have to do.