Back to blogging!

Hello....Hello? Is anyone out there? I can't believe it's been almost a year since I last blogged. The shakes and tremors from withdrawals have long since passed. I am happy to report, all is well. Well, mostly! This year has brought a few bumps in the road but we have come out of it mostly unscathed and better for it.

Alex is entering his senior year of high school. Can you believe it? Do I look like I could have an 18 year old? I sure hope not. Even more exciting, a year from now he will be submitting his papers for a mission. Yikes! That's even more crazy. He has worked hard this summer for the Canyons School District mowing lawns and just got his first pay check. I am so proud of him. Working 40 hours a week is not an easy task, I hate it! But he has done well to get up and fix his lunch and get off to work every day.

Kaitibug starts high school in a month. I love watching her! I love watching the beautiful young woman she is becoming. So compassionate-when she wants to be! She has been a HUGE help to me with housework and yard work. She's not quite old enough to have a job but willing to earn her keep around the house most days. She will be a licensed driver soon. Yeah, super scary. She knows she gets the truck to drive after Alex leaves on his mission. It's a reliable old thing, not the cutest. She has decided to call her "ol Bessie".

Max starts 6th grade on Tuesday. He has our family favorite teacher, Mr. Welker. He is very excited. last fall he failed the school eye exam. I finally took him to be checked and sure enough, he needed glasses. We picked up his glasses yesterday. It's amazing how vivid the world is when you can actually see it! I know from experience! He loves the glasses. Let's hope it lasts!

If you follow me on Facebook, you know we took a family cruise. It was so much fun to have our kids for a full week without cell phones. Though we were all glad to get home and reconnect with friends!

I am making a personal goal to blog more over the next while. My kids certainly do have big life events coming and since this has been my only real journal for more than 8 years, I will need to keep it updated! So if your still out there fellow bloggers, look for more regular posts!

What we've been up to....Summer pics!

Wow, it's been awhile! Let me try and get you up to speed! First, we've had a need to go private. Creepy people have left comments as well as some weird requests that I can only assume are finding us via Facebook, so with that in mind, we're going private!

I went to my 20 year High School Reunion! Super fun, glad I went, loved seeing my friends, hated feeling like I was back in High School again!

Alex is staying pretty busy. With football, his new job at Smith's and of course, his "lady friends", he doesn't have much time for us anymore! We were super proud of the Hillcrest Huskies victory of the new Herriman High! A little bit torn, since that is our team too! Alex rolled his ankle last week so he didn't get to play in the Murray game. Huge bummer! But he's ready for the Lehi Pioneers this week!

Kaiti, beautiful Kaiti has been busy too. We went to Girls Camp at the first of the month...good times! I think she likes it better when it doesn't rain! She's super excited to be a "freshman" this year and is staying busy with dance. She dances 3 nights a week, some as a teacher's assistant, and then her own dance classes. She getting really good and will hopefully feel ready to tryout for the Dance company at the high school next year!

What can I say about Max?!? Our comic relief! I had to take him to the doctor this morning. He was laying on the examing bed. It was evidently pretty comfortable because he asked, "What is this made out of....heaven?" This year he has really come into his own with football. He plays defense and I have been so impressed. He has turned into a tough little defensive machine! He 'z-down' to play with kids his own size. He's the oldest on his team. But this year he'll be a standout and get to play! I sure hope he starts growing though!

Troy starts Fall semester tonight...uggh! He only has a couple more. We know it will be worth it but it sure is hard! He does his best to get to Max's practice to coach and to Alex's football games. Who knew being a parent would be this hard?

I am taking on more responsibility at work. I was appointed to the Quality of Work Life Committee Chair. That means meetings and travel! I'm okay with the travel, the meetings, well I guess as long as they are paying me! I did get a nice raise! Hooray, now maybe I can afford the lifestyle my kids think they deserve!

All is well at the Brakey house. Busy is the norm, wouldn't have it any other way! Below are some of my favorite pics of the summer!

Trying to stay warm at Lagoon!

Hoping one day I'll take a picture that I can stand to look at later-I'm just not photogenic!

Look out! She's turning 15 and can't wait for the learner's permit!

My 5k Race this year in Henefer...I talked Alex, McKay, Tyson and Wade into running it too!

Troy and Max went for a ride to the "H" in Henefer! Max loved the go cart!

We worked hard and played harder!

Max and Kambrie!

The Stud!

Good times at Youth Conference!

Bobbie and Alex's "Blue Steal" look

Cute Kaitibug!

Kaiti and Megan-Megan wanted a nice pic of her hair blowing in the wind!

A RE-RUN!!

Okay so I'm sitting here at work, have to work in the center for a bit. Good because it's kinda a promotion, bad because I work at Jetblue to work from home!!! Anyway got a little bored and was looking through my previous posts. It's interesting how things have changed in just 2 years so I'm rerunning my CRAZY EIGHTS!!! If you find it inspirational....by all means do the same!!!


8 TV SHOWS I LOVE TO WATCH

1. GLEE-I love this show!!!
2. Survivor
3. Amazing Race
4. Project Runway
5. What Not to Wear
6. The Office
7. 30 Rock
8. Biggest Loser

8 Favorite Restaurants

1. Cafe Rio
2. Chili's
3. Bajio
4. Winger's-Aleen introduced me to the sticky finger salad and now I'm addicted!
5. Cheesecake Factory-though I haven't' been in ages
6. PF Chang's-again haven't been FOREVER!
7. Riverton baseball snack shack-not really a fav, just one I frequent-a lot!
8. Einstein's Bagels

8 Things that happened Yesterday

1. Worked
2. - 8. SLEPT

8 Things I'm looking forward to

1. Kaiti's dance competition this weekend
2. Alex's baseball banquet
3. Max's baseball games
4. school to get out for all of them
5. family vacation-planning on Cancun!
6. a raise and promotion at work
7. much needed hair cut and color
8. running again

8 Things on my Wish List

1. To lose a few pounds
2. vacation
3. Healthy, happy kids
4. kids who appreciate me
5. a shopping spree
6. a clean house-someone else to do it!
7. a money tree
8. my children's book to be published!

8 People I tag....

I'll leave that up to you. I will say this, it was really hard this time. Hard to be clever and hard to come up with things to wish for. I have to say I'm pretty content right now. There are a couple things I can check off from my last list though, finished painting Max's room. It turned out super nice. I got a new washer and dryer set that I absolutely LOVE!!!! I got a new car (new to me) and a new truck (again, new to us!)

What more could I ask for??? Probably plenty, but right now I'm pretty thankful to be in a good place!

All she wants to do is dance, dance!!!

I love this time of year! I love the world being reborn, I love General Conference, the earth getting warmer-although I'm anxiously waiting for that! But mostly, I love to take time with Kaiti. Every March we head down to St. George. We counted, she's been dancing with the Miller's for 7 years! Amazing. As a team they have come so far and they are SOO GOOD! This year was no different. This year they competed on the Champion level. The only level higher is Pro. When the music started Becky, Shelly, Jen and I started too! We screamed, whistled and cheered! Those beautiful girls were awesome. Their precision was fantastic, it matched the music perfectly. Hard choreography. Based on my description it's clear I have zero dance skills! But I can definitely appreciate a good performance, and this truly was one!
There has been a lot of drama this year, changes and ups and downs. But the girls put that aside and danced their hearts out! It's the same every year. I try to fight back the tears, some days are better than others. When the scores came back, they girls were elated!!! First place!

I love her! I'm not going to lie, teenage girls are difficult! I know because I was one! My mom promised me I would have one just like me-and I did! I loved Elder Ballard's talk today! I pray that I am the kind of mother she can learn from. I know my skills are limited-particularly my domestic skills! But I'm certain my Father in Heaven sent her to me for a purpose and I hope I can teach her all he would have her know! She is stronger, funnier and definitely cuter than I was at her age! I had some seriously "awkward" years! Most recently we have come to truly appreciate her cute personality. She is so funny and I just love her. So here are some highlights of my cute Kaitibug! I think she is coming to hate her nickname but I just can't help myself! You'll always be my Kaitibug!

Our sweet new ride!

This pic was for Troy! He's totally into Dave Ramsey's stuff and we had a whole FHE on it so Kaiti took this billboard pic just for him!

Last minute run through!

The team

Good Times!

So Alex and Bobby have been friends since 6th grade. Together they are usually trouble. They do things like spill plants, make a fake bloody mess on the front porch, oh yeah, the sling shot in the back yard, fire in the garage. Good times. But I think the best thing to date was yesterday's baptism. Bobby has had the missionary discussions a number of times. In fact, his sister got baptized last fall. We love Bobby and even if he never chose to be baptized, we would love him. He recently joked that he better get baptized-it was a financial decision, because tuition at BYU is double for non-members! We have been very blessed with two of the most impressive missionaries I have seen in our stake in 10+ years. I am so grateful to them for being a good example to Alex. I think it was the end of December when they showed up at our door and ask Alex if he would challenge Bobby to be baptized. Pretty scary for 16 year old kid. We counseled Alex to fast and pray so when he met with Bobby and the Elders he would be prepared. Things must have gone well, both boys have been fairly quiet about it. So yesterday, dressed in white, they walked into the font together, best friends in the world and Alex baptized Bobby! This has been the best missionary experience I think you can have living here in the Salt Lake Valley. We have loved getting to know these cute missionaries and share this great experience with them. They are doing amazing work here. I think they have had a pretty busy month of baptisms! Anyway, these are our favorite moments from yesterday and a couple from earlier on.

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The Sweetest thing......

Some days all I want is my kids to be on the same team-you know what I mean? No fighting or teasing or ganging up on the third wheel. Usually it's two against one. It could be any combination of two as well. There's no rhyme or reason to it. It could be the older ones teasing the younger one or just the opposite. But very rarely is it the same.
Except Sundays! Every Sunday I can count on my family doing exactly the same thing. We all race to the top of the stairs to change our clothes, but not without a little friendly push and shove. Today was no different. In fact it was alarmingly the same!!!

When I got downstairs, Alex had made his way to the couch to settle in for a nap. Suddenly I heard Kaiti yell, "NO WAY!" I didn't see the issue at first glance but then she said, "I wore this to church, you go change!" To which Alex and Max, who was now in on the action replied, "I wore this to church!!!" Then I saw the problem. All my kids were wearing exactly the same thing!!!! What are the odds????

I didn't ask, but I'm certain if I did, Max would tell me that he and Alex planned it out! Just their little way of getting under Kaiti's skin. Apparently it didn't bother her too much. They spent the remainder of the day all the same! Ahhhh! All on the same team!

The Big Night!

So he hasn't said much about it, but I think he had fun! He went with a cute girl named Kaitlin-so she had to be fun, our Kaitlin is! They went and saw "Valentine's Day" then they went to dinner, the dance, bowling and dessert at one of the other girls in the group's house. Truly an all day-and I might add expensive day!

But here are the highlights!

Awwww! Sweet Hearts Ball!

So Alex got asked to the Sweet Hearts Ball. This cute girl from the drill team left a plate of heart-shaped cookies on the front door with his name, Sweethearts and a big questions mark decorating the cookies. So this is how we decided to answer!

First we got a beautiful fish. We put red rocks on the bottom of the bowl and then wrote out Yes in white rocks. Then we attached this poem to the bowl:

So this babe left some cookies

Right on my front door!

The cookies were so tasty,

I thought, "I've got to have some more!"

So I'd love to go to Sweet Hearts

but not just 'cuz you bake,

Mostly cuz, of all the fish,

You're the one I'd love to take!

It's been kinda fun having a teenagers-if only for stuff like this! This is really the only fun part. The every day stuff, like sassing, bad choices, laziness....that's all pretty ugly! But some days are better than others I guess!

Already sick of snow!!!

Isn't it weird how the temperature outside feels so much colder than before Christmas, yet is it exactly the same? How can I kick the winter time blues? If you have a suggestion please tell me what you've got, 'cuz I just might not make it to Spring!
The kids don't seem to mind it! Alex has gone snowboarding a couple times, Max has been sledding. We had our cousins stay with us during the Christmas break, and they all jumped on the snowy trampoline. I'm just not feelin' it though! As I look out at the bleak inversion, I am more and more convinced that when we retire, it will be to somewhere WARM!!!!!

A Brakey Family Christmas

These are the Brakey Boys! Trying their best to challenge the strength of the Stud, Alex!

This was Kaiti's attempt to turn me into a super model! Although she gave great direction, just like Tyra would, there really is only so much that can be done.

Ryan and Troy rocckin' out....Alex is on drums. Neither Ryan or Troy are coordinated enough to rock the drums!

I love this picture! The other night, Max and I were at Kaiti's dance recital. Kaiti was in the dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies with the little kids! Max loved it! He turned to me and said, "I just love that Kaiti!"

Too long.......

It's been awhile since I blogged, we have stayed pretty darn busy! But I thought I'd show off a few pictures!

Halloween was a little lonely for me and Troy! Kaiti went off with her girlfriends, Alex went to a party and Max went Trick or Treating with Bo and Brooklyn. Troy was okay with that though. Then he could watch the Yankees came uninteruppted!!!

It's a little weird-Halloween is, when you don't have little kids to dress up in cute costumes, but we did our best!

Here's our Super Girl (s)!

Alex thought it would be funny to be a cheerleader!



But not before trying on Max's StarWars Trooper costume from last year!



Darling!

Max is D Track so he tracked off a couple weeks before Halloween. I hadn't heard anything about whether or not they would be doing a party so when Bo and Brooklyn came dressed up that last morning before they tracked off in their cute costumes, I panicked! We literally threw this together within minutes so he would have a costume. This is why I hate Halloween. Growing up I always felt like a dork with the dumb costume and I have never wanted my kids to feel the way I did. Max didn't seem to care that his costume was his football uniform! We just threw on a black eye to make it look a little better! It was pretty real looking too! Everyone at Football practice thought it was real!

On Halloween night's party, Meckell's dad didn't like the idea of Alex being the cheerleader and Meckell being the qback! And of course you can't keep Max out of any picture!

Alex and his friends-the night before Halloween. They went to another party. Hunter is an Ultimate Fighter, Bobby is Nacho Libre-ore stretchy pants of course, and the two girls (whose names I can't remember!)

So a priest walks into a bar....

Okay, I really don't have a funny joke and if I did, I'd mess it up! I don't even have a picture to go with this post, which I know is like blogging suicide! I just wanted to take a minute to say thanks to my friends who are finally blogging again! I love my job, I really do! But I get so bored late at night and it's the perfect time to blog and catch up!

And just for the record......the chairs I bought are blue. I am not making a statement, though Troy is as blue as they come! I hope the best for both teams but I definitely think the Utes got robbed last year!!!

Runnin' Utes Red or True Blue BYU?

So today I was on a search for stadium chairs. Mine has seen it's last ball game and Troy never had one-because he's always coaching. I went to Sports Authority they had nothing. The salesman suggested I go to the Sports Chalet. Off I went. I looked all over the store and just wasn't finding the kind I was looking for. Then out of nowhere, a large Polynesian sales associate who, by the way was wearing a U of U shirt, asked if he could help me find something. I told him I was in search for really good stadium chairs. He said he had some U of U chairs and BYU chairs and started back across the store. I followed him thinking I had already been to that end of the store when he stopped right in front of them. I picked up a chair. I was looking it over for quality and wondering if they would be comfy or not when I heard him say, "Oh, sorry-looks like we only have one blue one left."

Now, I'm thinking, what is it about me that makes me look like a BYU fan? Why would he make the assumption that I couldn't possibly love the Runnin' Utes? At any rate, as he walked around the stand he found another blue seat and brought it back to me when he noticed I had picked up and was looking a red chair, and just said, "Oh!" and walked away. Weird!

So tell me, do I look like a Ute fan or do I look like a Cougar fan? What exactly does a Ute or Cougar fan look like? And more importantly, which color did I buy?

"If it's too loud....well, you know the rest!"

In recent months, I have been spending an awful lot of time in the car. Traveling to and from dance, baseball, football and school-AND IT'S SUMMER!!!!

Our rides in the car wouldn't be complete without a some music. I used to think I was the boss of the car stereo. Isn't that the way it's supposed to work? The driver is the DJ? The Driver gets to pick what song we listen to? At any rate, I no longer have the "power of the dial". To be honest, most times I don't mind their music. In fact I like Secondhand Serenade or Katy Perry and I love Pink. But when your trying to have a conversation and the music is drowning you out, it's gets a little frustrating.

Tonight was one such night. I'd like to think I'm hip and cool. I'd like to think I'm still 17. At least I am in my head! Tonight my world was shattered when my loving daughter uttered those dreadful words, "if it's too loud..." she started then quickly realized she may have said too much, "well, you know the rest!" she muttered under her breath.

Not only was the the music too loud tonight, but on Sunday I totally had a "mom moment". We attended the Oquirrh Mountain Temple Dedication. It was Max's Birthday. What a special treat, I thought! Not so much to the kids. I made a big deal about how important it was, that they may never have the opportunity again. When it was over I made them take this picture-holding their hankies and tickets. I think I will save them and when they are able to go to the temple I'll give them their special hankies from the temple dedication. You know, just what a mom would do!

No, you can't "shut off the mom"! It's too hard. I try to be cool-and most times I think I really am, but every now and then, just in case I've forgotten, I'm reminded if it's to loud.....

That was then...this is now!

This is Max. August of 2003. Way back then, he wanted to be just like Alex. Every day we went to the football field and every day he would stretch with the big boys before practice. Over the years we worried whether Max would still want to play. He is a little on the small side and more into Pokemon than sports but this year, he decided he was ready.

Here he is, stretching with Riley this last week. It's funny how a little game can change a kid! Suddenly his voice is lower, he's walking with a little strut! I can hardly wait until games start! Even if he spends more time watching the game than actually playing, this will be a great experience!