Man Cub

When we were expecting William, people would always say "Oh Ben must be SO excited to be having a boy!" He was excited, but more he just wished for a happy and healthy child, girl or boy.

He has given his love equally to our daughters and our son. I know the girls have never had a reason to feel threatened by a brother entering into their father's heart deeper than they have reached.You get my point...

However, this little man cub KNOWS who his daddy is and he KNOWS he shares manhood with him. He LOVES his daddy and it is enough to make any heart melt.
So William is a man cub in the man club and I think Ben's glad to have a little buddy.
His face shows it.

We are so happy to have this little team in our family! They sure are some good lookin' fellas!

Guss, Russ, and Janelle

The girls and I got a little silly a few Sundays ago and Ben agreed to draw faces on our chins. We had a good time.

Janelle is the name of one of Hannah's personalities. The other ones are Eric and Vanessa. I'm not sure that she named her chin Janelle, but it's a safe guess.

A Friend You Must Meet

"it's mid-afternoon and i am ready for a change of scenery. a ferocious rush of wind pummels my left side and knocks me off balance, finds its way inside my jacket, and triggers my goose bumps. i imagine what it would feel like to be blown away - swept up into the chilly air with a whoosh!! watching the babies in the red buggy below grow smaller and smaller and smaller as i'm whisked up and up and up. feeling panic and frightfully out of control to be carried by the whims of the wind, and yet liberated to let go and be swept away to wherever away may be. or maybe my matter would slowly dissipate and i would become wind myself - rushing through barren trees and wisps of hair, picking up others who's feet aren't firmly on the ground.


october's gale packs a mean punch. it's now time to go home and i notice everyone is bundled today - wrapped up in hats and coats. we have the same red cheeks and watery eyes, the same squinted expression as the relentless bluster threatens to knock us all down. just as a faint ringing begins to fill my ears i reach the warmth and stillness of our truck's interior... "


Stephanie Braniff... She is the dream machine wonder artist who penned these words! Aren't they magical? They take me away. When ever Stephanie posts a blog it's like candy, but better because it's good for you...like ripe pears picked from a tree on a sweet summer's day, or whatever your favorite fruit may be.

To all my dear friends and family who don't already know Stephanie, I am introducing you, you must meet her. She is a gift and talent-filled wonder to behold and I feel like shouting it from the rooftops, but instead I'm posting it on my blog!

www.branfam.blogspot.com

PS~ This is really posted by Jessica, even though it says by Ben.
PSS~ To any of you who may feel a small sigh inside saying "Augh, doesn't she think I'm amazing too?" Oh, don't worry, I do! I am so grateful for all of my dear friends who could easily fill a museum with their awesome talents, deeds, photos, kindness, craftiness, motherly incredible-ness, you-name-it...Watch your back, maybe you'll be next...

Keepin' in Touch

I have a friend who sometimes talks to her daughters as if she was reading them a letter (you can read about it here). I think it's darling.
Today Evelyn was pretending to talk to me on the phone. I said I was going to write her back with a letter. It went something like this: Dear Evelyn, I am so glad I get to be your mom. I love you. Love, Mom.
Evelyn responded, "Mom, is it okay if I just send you an email on my phone?"

I suppose it's just fine as long as she keeps in touch...

44 Degrees, We'll Take it!

It was a cold day, but the sun was shining, so how could we refuse an afternoon outdoors?

We had a chance to fly the new kite the kids got from Grammie for Easter. I forgot how much fun it is to fly a kite! Hannah was a champ while she was holding it, as long as the string wasn't out more than 10 feet. Then she got scared of the "giant fish" as she called it.

William kept a close eye on it and whined about it.

Evelyn loved it. She had so much fun flying the kite, even when she let go! I'm pretty sure she said "oh no!" before she let go, oh well. So I left a terrified and screaming Hannah (I think she was scared that the fish was loose) and a bawling William and ran for the kite. Luckily a chain link fence intercepted it and we caught the fish.

We also had a fun stop at the nature park, after we thawed out for a bit.

William loved the ducks and said "kak, kak, kak" and tried to catch one. The girls were brave until I told them to be careful of the geese. Big mistake. As soon as I did the geese came over to the girls (they were as tall as Hannah) and each girl ran SCREAMING in opposite directions. I ran yelling after them "DROP THE BREAD! They want the bread!" While I was chasing the geese that were chasing my daughters, I turned around and William was chasing ducks in another direction in the road! It was loud and probably very funny to watch! I know we gave a few onlookers a good chuckle.


Survivors of Rexburg Duck and Geese feeding

William was not very happy about leaving, but when the hands go from red to purple, it's time to go!

Merry Easter!

That's what it felt like here! We awoke to a snowstorm on April 3, the morning we were planning on going to the city's egg hunt.

We found out they were distributing the eggs in a nearby weight room.

All of the kids were a little confused about what was going on, but it was still very nice that we got baskets full of eggs!

This is on the way there, I just liked Hannah's face!

This was Easter morning. Their Grandmas sure know how to spoil them! Thank you Grammie and Grandma Sally!

My favorite part of Easter was watching General Conference. This is something that happens 2 times a year in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is a time that the members of the Church gather, even if it's in front of the t.v. or computer, all together and we listen to the prophet, who is now President Thomas S. Monson, and the apostles and the other leaders of the Church. Their words are heavenly, uplifting, and full of love and truth.

The epitome of Easter for me was President Monson's talk in the Sunday morning session. You can find it here. If you take the time to watch and listen, you will not regret it.

At the end of the talk, President Monson spoke the lines to the song "He is Risen." Next the choir sang it. In that moment I felt the reason for the celebrations. I know the words to the song are true and that because of Christ, we will live again.

"He is risen! He is risen! Tell it out with joyful voice. He has burst his three day's prison; Let the whole wide earth rejoice. Death is conquered; man is free. Christ has won the victory."

April 2

Happy Birthday
to the man of my dreams!!!

WE LOVE YOU!

April Fools'!

Hi friends and family! We've been out of the loop for a bit. We have so much to post: a trip to AZ, William's birthday back in Feb., and much more from our daily happenings. For now you get what we did on April Fools' Day. First the girls were served "fruit punch." It was really jello in cups with straws. Evelyn said I left the fruit punch in the fridge too long.

The next joke is what is on the video. I told the girls Ben was still sleeping, but he had long since gone to work...

Then Ben came home from work with a Little Ceasar's pizza in his hand. I felt a little confused because I was already halfway through dinner and he usually won't do that unless he knows I've had a rough day and dinner wouldn't happen unless he intervened. The kids were excited he brought home a pizza. He opened the box to reveal 5 fancy Easter cookies.

The girls later used the box to deliver our rent to our landlord. They drew a picture of a pizza inside. Evelyn said she felt embarrassed to deliver it.

My favorite joke of the day: I had Ben's dad call my sister and left a message that said "Becky, this is Mr. Lyon from the US Navy. Please call me back at this number: (the number of the local zoo)." My sister called the number and found out it was a zoo she was calling to ask for Mr. Lyon. Funny, huh?!

Well, it would have been funny if my sister hadn't answered the phone when Ben's dad called her! What I wrote above was what was supposed to happen. Instead my sister answered and he told her who he was and that her sister was trying to prank her. Oh well. It was still my favorite.

Next year, if we are not living somewhere where there are big snow storms on April 1st, I am going to spray-paint mushrooms in bright colors and plant them in neighbors' yards. An idea off of FamilyFun.

We're you fooled this April 1?