Boys will be Boys

I have few memories of kindergarten, but one thing I can clearly remember is spending my free time playing with red cardboard bricks. We made forts. We made houses. We used them to make walls to keep the boys away. So, when this package was opened at Christmas, I was so excited. I didn't even know they were still around. Thanks again, Peltons.



I couldn't wait to see what creations his little mind would conceive. I pictured us spending quality time together building fortresses for Caleb and houses for "Wala" (his koala).

Instead, this is what Father and Son spend quality time together doing:









...over and over and over again. You should hear the laughing as the blocks crash on top of him. I don't understand those two half the time, but I enjoy them pretty much all the time.

Happy Birthday, Brandon!

I have such a wonderful husband. Every day, I think about how blessed I am to be his wife. We celebrated his birthday yesterday with a trip to hit range balls and another trip to El Paso to our favorite restaurant, Taco Tote. Several of our good friends joined us...in spite of the drive.

Thanks, babe, for being the perfect husband for me. I love you.


(And thanks to all you sweet people who commented below. I really like you guys and am excited to make something for you. :-) Andrea and Kel, I don't think I have your addresses. Could you give me those?)

Our Medical Updates

BRANDON UPDATE: 

Brandon's surgery went well yesterday.  We had some wonderful friends from church switch off babysitting our little man, and I got to spend most of the day at the hospital with him.  He was nauseous and dizzy from the anesthesia for a while yesterday, but he is doing better in that department.  Now, he is just really sore and has to sleep a lot.  Being immobile for long periods of time is not at good for preventing blood clots, so please do keep praying.  He hasn't been able to walk around as much as we thought he would. 

I don't think the doctor prepared us that well for how much he would need to recover from his surgery.  I had another impression entirely.  He will be out of commission for a while, I think.  

MANDY UPDATE: 

I think I had mentioned that I was supposed to go in for some fertility tests this week.  I cancelled them, and I am going to start in January.  Our insurance deductible is really high, and mine hasn't been touched this year.  So, I am going to wait a few weeks to allow the costs to go to my 2009 deductible...which will hopefully be finished off by the costs of pregnancy.  Si Dios quiere...  

Thanks for the notes, emails, texts, comments and calls.  We love our friends.

Brandon's Surgery

Right now, I am in the hospital waiting room, and Brandon is in surgery.  He is doing well, and he should be out in an hour or so.  Please pray he won't have any more blood clots as a result of the surgery.  We don't like blood clots.  As we were praying last night, Brandon thanked God again for the hernia...because he wouldn't have gone to the doctor about the pain in the leg. That pain turned out to be the blood clot, and we are so grateful that he went in for the hernia. We'll also be really grateful it's gone. 

We took some pictures on our computer while we were waiting. It was strange seeing him lying there in a hospital gown hooked up to an iv.  Thanks, Lord, so much for our good health. 

I like him. :-)

Brandon went out of town last weekend for our church men's retreat.  Soon after he left, Caleb and I got in the car to go somewhere, and this is what I saw: 

Isn't he the sweetest?  I am glad he added the "i love you" so that people who see it don't think I put it up for self affirmation.  :-)  I think I will leave it up there for a while.  

Another Brandon Update

Okay, so my update the other day wasn't exactly true.  I realized yesterday that Brandon's leg is still bothering him quite a bit actually;  he just isn't complaining about it.  

So, I wanted to clarify.  Please pray for him.  

Thanks.  We love you guys. 

Our Anniversary

Brandon and I were married 4 years ago today on top of a mountain in the Smokies.  It has been an incredible four years...and they have gone so fast.  

Good News

Brandon met with the hematologist today, and he had some good news for us. Although Brandon tested positive for a gene that makes him predisposed to DVTs, the doctor today made it clear that it is not the big deal it originally appeared to be. It is pretty common, actually, and it doesn't mean that he will be on blood thinners for the rest of his life...as our general practitioner thought he would be.

So, we were excited about that...and very grateful. Please continue to pray that his clot goes away uneventfully. They are still monitoring his blood clotting level and will continue to do so throughout the summer.

Lambda Chi High Alpha

Brandon has been very involved this last year in the Lambda Chi fraternity here on campus.  He was a Lambda Chi at K-State, and he has loved getting to know the guys at the NMSU chapter.  On Saturday night, we went to their White Rose Formal.  It was our third year going, but this year was really fun for me.  I loved seeing him interact with all of the guys.  

A part of the evening involves an awards ceremony.  The last formal award of the evening was for the High Alpha award, a recognition chosen by the chapter president.  As Nate, the president, was sharing about the recipient (an alum who had contributed significantly to the chapter this year, who was not even a part of the chapter), I started hearing guys all over the banquet room whispering to each other, "It's Brandon!"  "Brandon." 

When they said his name for the award, I wanted to cry.  It was so fun to see him recognized for something he loves so much.  I am very grateful for all the ways in which the Lord has blessed my husband's job this year.  He has loved it more than ever before.  Thanks, God.  :-)

I didn't edit this photo very well.  The red eye fix made these poor men look like aliens.  They don't really look like that.  I brought our old camera to the event.  Sorry. 

Celebration Banquet

So, after the triathlon I wasn't sure I could get much prouder of Brandon. Tonight, I was reminded of how wrong I was...and how truly blessed I am that I get to be married to him.

We had our Cru Celebration Banquet this evening. It is our annual fundraiser for all of the expenses we as an organization have throughout the year, and it was an incredibly affirming night for us. Brandon spoke first about the changes we made to Cru, and his passion really came out tonight. It is so exciting and fun for me to see him love being on campus this much. I wish that everyone could have been there to hear him speak. As I mentioned before, I was so proud of him.

I wish I could accurately put into words all that God did tonight. I can't. There really aren't words to express how truly good He is. I can share one pretty crazy thing He did though. After taking care of every detail for the event, we felt that everything looked professional. The caterers, however, brought plastic plates and cups and flatware. They had made a mistake, and there was nothing we could do about it at that point. People had paid 20 dollars a plate. After praying about it, we left it in God's hands.

At the end of the evening, the woman who owns the catering business came in and made an apology to everyone and told us basically that she would not be charging Cru for the meal in order to compensate for the mistake. Normally the majority of the ticket price goes to the costs of the night, and what people give on top of that becomes what we use throughout the year. So, for her to basically wipe out the majority of the cost of the evening, we saw so much more come in than we had expected. How crazy that God would provide so much for us through plastic plates and silverware. How good is He!

Happy Birthday to Brandon...

almost a week later.  :-)  Brandon turned 32 on Thursday, though we didn't get to do much to celebrate.  We only saw each other for an hour after I got home from Saint Louis and Brandon took off for his Thursday night Cru meetings.  So, we decided to celebrate on Friday.

After our family breakfast in bed (Caleb and Brandon had Cheerios and I ate Trix), our team came over and had cake with us.  That night, we went to El Paso with some friends to our favorite restaurant...Taco Tote.  It was a great time.

I just wanted to put these pictures up of Caleb and Daddy playing together.  They definitely enjoy one another.

All of these are blurry, but I think they capture Caleb's wrestling/freefalling quite perfectly.  :-)

Run*Bike*Swim

I am married to a stud!  Yesterday, Brandon ran a 5k, biked 22k (?), and swam 500m.  After weeks of training, he participated in his first ever triathlon.  I was SO unbelievably proud of him.  Caleb and I had a lot of fun cheering him on!  Well, Caleb's "good job" at least had two syllables.  :-)

WE LOVE YOU, Brandon/Daddy!!!

Ultimate Frisbee

As I write this, Brandon is getting more exercise than I do in a week.  Every Saturday, guys gather in the middle of campus and play ultimate frisbee.  It is a cross between frisbee and football (I think), and Brandon looks forward to it every week.  It is relaxing for him and a great way for him to hang out with the guys involved in Cru.  And don't tell him that I told you, but he is AMAZING out there on that field. :-)