Fishing on Labor Day wknd

This was one trip fishing to Sunshine Basin up by Meteetsee. We didn't have a lot of luck there, but did catch a few up around the 19 inch mark. They were big enough that Brayden didn't get to reel any in, but he did get to cast and reel his own pole with just a casting plug on it. That went pretty good for a while till he got bored with that and decided that papa's net looked fun.

Labor Day Weekend

Just us two

Since Roger doesn't know how to work the camera we bought...I never appear on this blog. Thought maybe mama deserved a little face time on my son's blog, so here we are for pics a week ago. I won't spoil the x-mas card fam pic by posting it here, you will have to wait for it to arrive in your mailbox!! :-) I don't think I am going grey, I think its just incredibly BLOND streaks. Summer has been hot here, perhaps with a little cold this winter it will go back to dark brown. :-) Dad mentioned it to me this last weekend, so I know it shows...oh well.

Just practicing

Its almost school pic time again, so Alan was needing subjects to practice on, well this little boy cooperated for a little while. Of course we started it out with our annual fam pics then went to the shop to do these on the background. This one turned out especially good.

Yesterday we took Brayden in for an evaluation by child development services. He scored well in gross and fine motor skills but is a bit low on communication, problem solving and personal social skills. The question she asked was did he know he was a boy vs girl, well he didn't know that because I didn't know to teach him that. She also asked him to say his name, well he didn't know that either. Needless to say after we got in the pickup I was quizzing him on being a boy and saying his name!! Otherwise, she said that considering where he came from, he is doing very well!! I have some charts now to look at to know where he should be for age 3 and we are working on getting him to those points. All in all a good evaluation. Altho he had wax in his ear again, we had a long bath this morning to try to loosen it up, hope we are successful.

splashing Katie

Camping trip 07

Can you find Brayden???

Just walking around the backside

of camp...

just going in to come out again and again and again

Sitting on a rock at Tomahawk Lake eating lunch, his feet were crossed just like Daddy's but we commented on it and he was changing it as I took this pic.

Sleeping in comfort...

On our way back to Granny and Papa's last monday afternoon from Billings shopping trip. Obviously it had been a hard day!!

A Year has come and gone!

We have surpassed the year anniversary of our homecoming!! The actual date was Aug 25, we flew into Riverton on the 8:30 p.m. flight with our little boy. And wasn't he little. His first doctor appointment was Aug 28th and he was 31" tall and weighed 22 lbs. Now on Aug 28th today, he is 35" tall and weighs 29.6 lbs. Lots of change, but wanted to show you all the numbers as they are simply amazing to us.

This last weekend we went camping for Brayden's first time. He loved camp, really enjoyed running around outside and learned all about the campfire. He reached out once and touched a rock on the outside edge, it was just better than warm, but not hot enough to burn him. He learned though and never tried to touch one again. Daddy helped him roast his first marshmallow and he got to stick his first hotdog in the ashes. Happens to us all!! We washed it and started again. He rode in his backpack carrier to Thomahawk Lake, its a 3 mile hike that takes about 2 hrs. Its a long hike and lots of uphill going in, lots of down coming out. He did really well. We let him walk for part of it, but he likes to look around lots so its a constant tugging on the arm and shoulder of the one guiding him. We got to the lake and had lunch first then threw in the fishing lines. Brayden reeled in one fish before napping for an hour and then reeled in two more before we headed back out. We got back to camp about 5:30 and put supper on the fire. Ate about 6:30 and then had marshmallows and smores. He had two bites of a smore and decided that didn't call for s'more, so he ran around instead. The first night was FRIGID up there, he slept in two layers of pjs, in a sleeping bag with a quilt over that and then I made a comforter "tent" over his head part way through the night as his ears were COLD. The second night was way different, he rolled off the couch bed hit the floor but didn't wake up, I put him back in bed, but left him out of the sleeping bag. I got 4 hours of uninterrupted sleep from 2:30 to 6:30 a.m.. He was up and rearing to go at 6:30, when he is in that shape, there is no slowing him down so we can rest a bit longer!! Breakfast was about 8:30 and a much slower morning. We fished off the boat dock for a bit and walked in the water down on the beach end of the lake. It was cold water though. After lunch he was walking around camp with his eyes about shut so it was time for a rest. He slept for an hour and then we packed up and headed home. Arrived in Riverton in time for supper with Uncle Laurin and Aunt Cindy and got our first view of the new scrapbook that Vicki made. Wow a lot of work went into that project and we are soooo very pleased with the finished product. I still haven't had time to really sit down and study it, but perhaps later today. It covers the trips to Russia very well. That covers the weekend, summer is coming to an end here. It is much cooler today and reminds me that the garden won't be much longer and soon we will be back to long sleeves. Will let this do for now.

Officially Ours!!!

Its been a year ago tonight that we got final custody of Brayden. Seems like everything comes around to that point of a year ago, but now we have reached that point. Its all been so much fun and quite the experience. We wouldn't do anything different now, and we are sooo glad to have him. Here is the first pic of Brayden right after we got him back to the hotel. Not real happy, but definitely better than the day before at the orphanage. Can you believe the difference?? WOW.

A year ago this morning...

First visit with Brayden a year ago
today, wow between the pouty face
and the fact that he WOULD NOT
look at me, it was obvious he didn't remember a thing!! Does anyone else remember that we FORGOT
the camera cable?? These pics
were never posted, I had to take

them out of video this morning, had
to find the tape first!

A year ago tonight...

We were somewhere over something on our way to Frankfurt in Route to Omsk. Hard to believe that its been that long ago already. I don't even really remember how it feels to be jetlagged, but I do know how it feels to be "mama tired"!! We are going to have a celebratory weekend, as Sat is the mark of Court and final custody. More pics later as its already late tonight. But wanted to mark the date and time as a good memory!! I believe I watched Walk the Line and a cartoon movie on the airplane that night since sleep was VERY far from my mind!!

Big boots by popular demand!!

summer clearance

I have been enjoying the summer clearance for clothes for next year. Brayden had his Hep A shot on Tues the 7th, he did soooo good no crying or anything, so when we went shopping we found this hat. Actually we bought a different hat that had cars on it, when we found out they were on clearance, well we had to have the tigger hat too. It says "Away we go" on the back. The pooh hat has been relegated to the shop as its looking worn and dingy, now we have two new hats to wear to town and such.

A year ago

A year ago today, we were madly packing and trying to make sure everything was done and ready for us to be gone for a month. The crib was up and blankets in it and ready, clothes of all sizes were in the chest. We were ready to bring our little boy home to stay. Now after a year, we have changed out the clothes in the chest several times, from 12 mo to 2T, thats lots of sizes. On any given day there are toys scattered all over the house and yard. It truly has tons of evidence of a very active and happy toddler. The changes of the last year have been huge, tons of fun, full of challenge, never ending, and very appreciated. This has been just what we needed to show us the real meaning of life. We have become less selfish, lots less self centered, now we are Brayden centered. In reflection, all the hard work, stress over paperwork, stress in waiting, heartache in waiting, all was WORTH it in the end. We are so grateful in so many ways for the blessing this little boy has brought into our lives. I know that these feelings are also felt by those around us.

corn on cob means spitting some...

First jelly donut - deprivation!!!

Blowing good time - dry ice

First corn on the cob

Well he likes it, its fun to play with, its good to eat, only thing is...he doesn't chew it up very well. It makes for interesting potty time!!

Casper trip

yup we went back to Casper to meet my friend Jen and her daughter. We had a lovely day, caught up on lots of stuff. I enjoyed meeting her little girl, Megan is 6 now, I hadn't ever seen her before, what a lovely little girl. Granny and Papa went with us, so we were a car full and full of fun too. We all got to do our shopping and stuff. Brayden missed his nap, but got one on the way home, so we all survived rather nicely. The mall has this awesome play area, some of you have seen it. The play stuff is very spongy as is the floor. The kids go barefoot or stocking footed to play there, bare feet gives them grip to climb on the stuff. It has tunnels, bridges and lots of other fun stuff to climb on. As you can see, there is room for Papa and Daddy to watch as well as anyone else interested!!

just a FROG!!

We have had some rain the last couple of weeks, one morning when daddy was coming back in for breakfast...he brought this frog. Guess its a leopard frog, not a toad, long legs and all. This little guy stuck around for several days and endured a cat attack, and Brayden stepping on him. Don't know what ever happened to him, but he left, not wet enough now.