Cadden Kendall Bratcher

SEPTEMBER 18, 2013

This is my grandson, Cadden.

He has been with Alysha & Jared for over a year, 

and involved in their lives since he was only months old.

This is the day he legally became family...

and their FOREVER CHILD!

 Cadden is 3 1/2 years old.

 This was a great day!

Terry's 49th Birthday

Since April, I have been working on TERRY's SURPRISE BIRTHDAY/BUCKET LIST TRIP!!! He has had Wrigley Field on his list of baseball field's to watch a game in for years. The Atlanta Braves is one of his top two favorite teams. Well this year, in 2013, the Braves played at Wrigley Field the weekend of Terry's birthday...WALAHH!

 For those of you who do not know, Wrigley Field is in Chicago, Illinois. If you have never been to the city, we recommend you go. It was b-e-a-utiful! Totally not what we expected. We stayed on the Millennium Mile, walked everywhere or rode the very clean subway. An Architectural Boat Tour gave us our first viewing of the buildings...stunning! What a great way to see the cityscape!

We tried to take in as much as we could in the 2 full days we had there. Navy Pier and the ginormous ferris wheel gave us some great views as well.

We made the long trek to the top of the John Hancock building...94 stories...only took about 60 seconds in an elevator that travels 20mph.

And the view from the top was spectacular!

 

Of course we had to take in some pizza pie. Giardano's was our choice..it was a really thick, scrumptious, slice heaven on earth, if you like pizza!

Maybe cinnamon rolls and a good breakfast is more your thing... Ann Sather's is the place to go. Huge, hot, yummy cinnamon rolls is one of the sides to your "southern" breakfast plate.

 And not be left out, a Chicago dawg...well, as you can see, I was a little leery of the relish but if I could do over again, I'd load it up with relish and grilled onions! Thank heavens we were walking everywhere or I would have gained 10 pounds in two days!

All the while we explored this city, we were continually amazed at the beauty it has to offer. Not only were the streets clean of trash and the buildings stunning, but the huge ornamental pots on almost every corner were abundantly filled with green and lots of flowering beauties! The zoo, which was free, was worth paying for!

 

And for the grand finale, we took the subway to Wrigley Field for the Cubs v. Braves game. Although the Braves lost that night, they came back to win the next night and clench going to the playoffs.

 Happy Birthday My Sweet Man! I'm so blessed to have been able to share this experience with you!

 

 

 
 
 

Beginning of School

In August, Jack started high school in 9th grade and Kate started 3rd grade, both at Roosevelt School...and both excited to start a new school year.

As a freshman, Jack was excited to take some different classes and be on the JV football team.

 And as usual, Kate was extremely excited to be back in school. 

The year started out with a bang...after surviving 2-a-days in football, Jack found himself with a broken finger on Labor Day weekend, the day before turning 15 years old, due to "tossing" the football around with big brother, Travis. Surprisingly, it was not able to be manipulated back into place. Jack underwent out-patient surgery to place a pin in his finger, to which his hand was incapacitated for about 5 weeks. Best part of that was

Aunt Vickie was the surgical nurse to the hand specialist he saw.

  

Kate played soccer again this year. Whether hot or cold temperatures, she was consistantly one of the fastest on the team and quick to the ball. We will be looking into a soccer league in the Spring.

Kate still loves to hang out with her friends, ride her razor, play with River and reading. This season, she was invited to go to her first Texas Tech football game and cheer on the Red Raiders!

 

 

Summer Vacation 2013 @ the Coast

In July, we took off to the Texas coast for a little relaxation & fishing in Port Aransas. A little history: Terry is not real keen on beach vacations! I love a good beach vacation! I agreed to not expect him to "just sit around on the beach getting all sandy" with the kids and me. We both compromised on 5 days, including the 9 hour travel days!
Our small complex was quaint and comfy! A short walk to the boardwalk and we were on the beach!

 

 

Arriving on a Wednesday, we had the beach practically to ourselves! The kids and I spent time on the beach and playing in the surf while Terry fished for a day. We went to Corpus a day to the USS Lexington and the Texas State Aquarium. Of course we enjoyed lots of fresh seafood and pool time also.

Our last day in Port Aransas was spent with a sweet friend of mine...Jennifer Axelrod drove down and us girls hung out while                                        the boys went fishing.

 

  

And believe it or not, Terry did sit on the beach with us for a little bit!

Summer Litter 2013

If you have followed this blog for a little while, you know we bought a new female Australian Shepherd last Spring. She is a little jewel...ummm, a little sweetie...well, a little beauty... Ok, what I really mean is: River is a little stinker! She is a digger! Sweet? Yes! Energetic? Yes! Pretty? Yes! Driving us CRAZY? Yes! Terry has worked so hard over our first two summers in this home to get the yard looking spectacular...and THAT it does! For some reason unbeknownst to us, she likes to randomly dig wholes about 10" wide by 10" deep in our backyard, usually in the grass. So this past Spring, she spent a lot of time in the kennel or house with us! Oh, did I mention this breed sheds a lot? It is the one drawback to the breed...well, except for the digging by our little sweetie! So more time in the kennel...and it just bothers me to have a dog locked up and not able to roam the yard! 

Let me just skip all the details about making sure everyone was "checking" River and watching Hank (our boy dog) for "signs" so we would know when to separate them as to not have a litter of puppies. (I like to wait until my female is fully mature around age 2 before breeding.) So by now, if you noticed the post title, you realize we had an OOOPS! Only once! Yup, that's all it takes! And 63 days later, River had one of the most colorful, well balanced litter of puppies I have had the pleasure to raise!

3 Boys - 3 Girls

 

 4 Blacks - 2 Reds

3 Merles - 3 Solids

I can say that after witnessing her raise her babies, she is an outstanding mama dog! Just ask Hank because he all of a sudden lost his status and no longer ruled the roost...or ruled the yard! (I still miss not having chickens!)

Meet the crew! Girls first...

Flower, a red merle with blue eyes who was the boss of the litter. She stole the heart of my daughter and niece. If we have a red merle female...she is ALWAYS named Flower, thanks to Kate. Flower went to Levelland to live with a daddy and his daughter...and gets to stay with one of her brothers cuz he bought TWO...crazy man!

This is Cookie! She was a blue merle with great copper and white. She had some striking contrast in her coloring and was a smart little girl with an active and easy-going disposition. She lives with Jeremy in the Lubbock area and goes everywhere with him in the back of the truck!

Say hello to Skye...sweet Skye. Another blue merle with copper and white...and my personal favorite! Great disposition, active and lovie all the same! She was the female I would have kept if Terry had killed River for all the diggin! She moved to Borger to be with a sweet family that has two young boys and will enjoy the work-time on the ranch. 

I just love it when my dogs go to a working home...after all, this breed is instinctive, loyal and dedicated to pleasing their master and herding the livestock!

Now for the BIG BOYS...

Here is Hoss, a black tri...and yes, his name has purpose! He was the biggest boy in the litter! He was also the least active, least assertive, least awake pup of them all! Oh but is he a lover! Snuggles and kisses is what he was good for!  This is the guy who moved to Levelland with Flower...she will be wearing the pants in that relationship!

Meet Joey, another big boy and another black tri! Joey was a tremendously active guy and loved to antagonize Flower...that bossy, little female pup. And WATER...he takes after his daddy and loves to makes splashes! He moved to McKinney, Texas for the good life with with another Aussie and her family!

And finally, Copper! Our special red tri with the green eyes. Another active and smart guy with lots of love to offer. Surprisingly, he was the last to sell. He moved in with an Odessa family of 6 and will have plenty of playmates to keep him busy.