My " Ya Ya Sisterhood "

I have been truly blessed with the sisters in my life.

There is no Friend like a Sister

There's no better friend than a sister -

There's no one more loyal and true . . .

and even when sisters are different . . .

their likeness come shining through!

Perhaps it's a family resemblance

that strengthens the bond they share . . .

or maybe it's just that sisters

live life with a similar flair!

A sister remembers your childhood -

She knows more than you will admit

of times you were Little Miss Perfect . . .

and times you were just a little “s...tinker."

She's seen you in some situations

when silence just wouldn't suffice . . .

and managed somehow to get by

with those sisterly words of advice!

And when some encouragement's needed . . .

a sister will always be there . . .

to listen . . . to laugh . . .or to lean on . . .

to comfort, or simply to care.

There's no one who's more in your corner . . .

and no one you're more grateful to.

There's no better friend than a sister . . .

and no better sister than you.

taken in part from "There Is No Friend Like A Sister" by Mary Engelbreit

My sisters.... my friends

These are three very special people in my life. They are, my Mom of course, without her this post wouldn't even be possible. On the left Margaret and next to her Mitz. They are as much alike as they are different. I have seen them both come against some insurmountable obstacles. Just when you think "This is it, she just can't take anymore" they come up with this inner strength and tackle whatever they have to, to get through the crap life sometimes hands them. That inner strength comes through time spent talking to God. We had two great role models in our parents who taught us that anything is possible with God. They are both great mothers. Not only to the children they gave birth to but to stepchildren, foster children, adopted children and for Mitz , children-in-laws and grandchildren. I am so proud of my sisters and the great women they have become. My greatest wish is that I could spend more time with them.

But they buggered off and left me all alone. HA HA HA

See what I have to put up with!!!


Well I am not totally alone. God blessed me with some wonderful sister-in-laws.

With these girls I always forget the "in-law" part!

These lovely ladies took over the job of raising my brothers,
when they married into our crazy family.
And what a fine job they did.!!!!
They each made me an Auntie, which is a role I love.
Each one of them has a very special place in my heart and I love them all so much!.

"Seven Brides For Seven Brothers"

Orla- (Peter)

Christine- (John)

Margaret "E" - (Henry)

Carol - (Art)

Colleen - (Jake)

Maggie - (Abe)

Carolyn - (Dave)

And then...

My Friend...My sister

This is my friend Val.

She does not have any sisters and since mine are far away we decided that we would be sisters. I have also seen her overcome challenges that would have made most women give up. She credits all of who she is to God. She is one of the strongest people I know. She is a wonderful mother and wife, and just recently became a grandma to two little boys. She encourages me to be the best that I can be and then to accept that. She accepts me for who I am and helps me to dream of becoming more. I can go to her house for coffee and rant about whatever is bugging me and go away feeling encouraged and ready to face whatever comes my way. Sometimes I'm back the next day ranting and raving about the same thing. I'm slow and someimes it takes a while for me to get it all figured out. She prays for me and my family. I can ask her to pray about anything and I know that she will.

"Thank you lord for my sisters"

Can you see yourself in some of these people ?

Great Grandma & Grandpa Braun or Berg
(this could be Grandma Braun's parents. )

Great Grandma & Grandpa Andres

Grandma & Grandpa Andres

A much younger Grandma & Grandpa Andres
(with Uncle John )

Grandma & Grandpa Braun

A much younger Grandma & Grandpa Braun
( I believe this is their wedding day)

A Happy Birthday to Me!

I turned 50 yesterday. I still can't believe it.
I had a very quiet day. Went to church in the morning. Marv had to work in the afternoon.
My kid's and my Mom came over. The kid's made supper for me.
It was deeeeeelicious! Roast beef was done to perfection. (The way I like it anyway.)
I had a nice long nap with Thomas and then a short one with Chloe.
Sat in the Hot tub for a while and went to bed.
Now the other half of my life begins.

These are the flowers that my hubby gave me.
Apparently a little girl in the parking lot looked at them
and told him " Good choice".

Thomas had to go home to bed before we had cake.

Too bad, I would have like to see him dig into all that chocolate and icing!

I guess we'll have to wait for his birthday.

For your listening...Uh...pleasure?
Here is a sample of what it sounds like at our house when someone has a birthday.

I think they may have openings if you want to book them for your next shindig!
...Ya Think!!!!!

NaBloPoMo???

Well I did agree to do this. I have been wanting to start blogging again and couldn't come up with ideas for things to blog about I just didn't ...unlees I got tagged by Chris.

Cindi asked me to do this with her so here goes. I am going to follow the letters of the Alphabet. Which is what the NaBloPoMo people suggested. I am not as creative as Cindi to actually write letters everyday for a month.

Day 1 - A

Since My first post was supposed to be yesterday... April Fool's!!! I have nothing.

Day 2 - B

Brothers

I am fortunate to have 7, yes 7, brothers. Four older and three younger.

In this photo first on the left is Peter. He is the oldest and therfore expected to be responsible and to set a good example for the rest of the brothers. For the most part I'd say he did a pretty good job. All you have to do is be at a family gathering sometime and listen to the stories of some of the escapades that these boys were involved in and you know he may have slipped from seat of honor as the trail blazer of the GOOD Braun boys. I am looking forward to spending more time with Peter and his family once they are moved into their house her in town.

Then is John. The quiet one. Never caused alot of kerfluffle as a kid. Kinda just did whatever Peter did or maybe it was the other way around. They took care of each other. John has recently been diagnosed with cancer. I have been amazed many times at the stength and peace that he shows. I am praying that John is going to come through this and live to be an old man with lots of grandkids and even great-grandchildren. It's been a tough year and we may have to go through some more deep water before we see his complete healing but I trully believe it will be so. We have alot of camping to do yet.

Then beside John is Henry. I wonder if ,by looking at his cute little smile, you can tell who the tease or the "trroughtzieich bolche" was. Oh my goodness! could this guy ever be a pest. He just loved to laugh. If there was nothing funny happening he would start somthing going with one of us that usually only he found funny. We'ed cry, Mom would yell and Henry would giggle. I think he may still be like that a bit. Just go camping with him and his family sometime. Or if you dare get pulled behind his boat on a tube. Not that I have done the tube thing, but I have been in the boat when he had Trav and B.J. behind on a tube. I do hope that we can spend some time together at the lake this year. Those are the best times.

Now bside the big white dog named Chief is Willie or Art as we all know him as. Art and I are only a year apart and therefore we were quite close growing up. Us younger siblings used to love to tease him. We were quite mean at times. Sorry Art. He would retaliate with his Andres hotheadedness especially when we called him "Monty Schultz". It makes me laugh right now just thinking about it. Art and I shared alot of our friends, and had some pretty good times together. This fall I had the wonderful oppotunity to get to know my brother again. He stayed with us for 2 months while working out here. I will treasure those times forever and hope to have more of them soon. Maybe in BC at the Beach Hut.

These are the twins. Jake and Abe.They are five years younger than I am. I didn't have alot to do with them at home. But I do remember seeing them for the first time. I had to stay with Aunt Lena while Mom was in the hospital. I walked into the bedroom and ther were other women there, all watching as Mom nursed these two babies at the same time. I remember being alittle freaked out about this. For many years it was like they weren't two separate little boys they were just "The Twins". Since they have grown up I have gotten to know the two separate men. i do appreciate the Men they have become and hope to spend some fun times together with each of them annd their families this summer.

Then last but certainly not least is David or "Doft" as we affectionatly call him. As you can see in the picture He was traveling to BC even at this age. I had just turned 16 when he was born. I quit school and stayed home and helped Mom with him and the housework for a while. We became very close and even after I got married he would come and stay for weekends quite often. Then just like ever cute little boy they turn into teenagers and I who was and old woman in my late 20's and early 30's could no longer understand what made him tick. It was as if we spoke different languages. He of course didn't want to hang out with us anymore either. He had friends and youth group things to do. Then he met Carolyn and we started to see him a bit more. This fall they moved back to Sask for a few months and I so enjoyed getting to know him again. I really hope that they come out for a bit this summer.

Those are my brothers. I am blessed by having each one of them as part of my life and I love and appreciate them more than words can say.

Happy Birthday Cindi

Twenty five years ago today I became the mother of a beautiful baby girl. She has been such a blessing in our lives. She has grown into a beautiful woman in what seems like just a few years. she is a wonderful wife and mother. She loves the Lord and is raising her family to do the same. We are so proud of her.
Cindi, I hope you have a wonderful day. We miss you lots and wish we could spend this day together.

Christmas Pictures

These are pictures of our Christmas. You will probably notice a "Chloe" theme throughout all of them. She is the center of our world. She loves braclets.

This is one of the few pictures of her in her Christmas dress. She got it from her Grandpa Rick & Grandma Sally. I did get some on my camera but it isn't ditgital so until I get them scanned this is it.

She like unwrapping gifts but was a little slow because every piece of paper she tore off she had to hand it to someone. what does that green button do?

She had a little trouble getting off .She enjoys pushing it around more than riding it.

Chloe got a really cool keybord from anuty Jen & Uncle Kelly. Grandma got a new house coat.

Story time with grandpa.

That little puppy spins when you poke it!

Trav & Amanda

Kelly got new gloves. Jen was getting Jazz (thier dog) to fetch his while out for a walk and lost one of Kelly's gloves.

Our good friends Shwan,Karen & Evan who came to share our family Christmas.

They are like part of our family.

FUN IN THE SNOW

love this picture

Making snow angels Jen making it snow
She is not to sure what to make of this snow stuff.


What a good place to warm up in.

We had such a good time and miss having them here.

There are more pictures and you will probably see some on Cindi's and Chloe's blogs.

My Double Portion

As you can see we were doubly blessed this year. This is Tori, Marv's niece who has been a big part of our family for many years. She is such a beautiful person, inside and out and we all love her so much. She is like our 4th child. Tori was able to come over for a few days and we had a good time playing cards and just hanging out. Love you Kiddo!

A Wish Come True

My little Christmas wish arrived almost an hour late but safe and sound. We have been having so much fun with her. She is the center of attention no matter what is happening. She is such a busy little girl. How did we have fun before you came into this world.

Thanks Trevor , for sharing your girls with us during this Christmas season. Wish you were here.



There will be more pictures to come.

My Christmas Wish List

My Christmas wish list is quite short. Actually about 30" high. It is the cutest little thing. It has blue eyes and a little tiny nose. It has the biggest smile and when you see it first thing in the morning it's hair is quite a site. All fuzzy and sticking out everywhere. It is not a FURBIE. You can put it in the bathtub and it splashes around until you and the bathroom are soaked. When it recharges it's battery it likes to snuggle in and stick it's hand just inside the collar of your shirt or up your sleeve. It is designed to copy everything you do or say, so we have to be very careful that we are on our best behavior when it is in the room. It is hard to believe that someday this tiny little gift will be my size. One really cool thing about this gift is that it has these two attachments that make sure that it is well looked after. They are almost always with the little gift , which is good because they are part of my wish list too. They feed it, clean up any messes it makes and dress it up too look really cute. These two attachements have the most awesome responsibility. You could compare it to a computer game. They have to take this little gift and manoever it through a huge maze filled with good and evil. This little gift has the capability to store alot of information, and it uses it in the game after it reaches the level of going it alone. This little gift has the capability to make us do and say the most ridiculous things, just trying to get it to respond to us. I know that it is the wish of my whole family that I get my wish, because it is probably at the top of thier list too. I am praying that I get my wish this Christmas.

We are so lonesome we could cry

Our smiles are not quite so bright today. We took our little sweetheart to the airport this morning. Saying good bye is so hard. We miss her so much. I can't believe how fast this last week went. Why does it seem that way, when you are having the best of times. The toys are still all over the house and the house still smells like a baby. I am almost crying as I write this, so I am going to quit for now. We love you and miss you little one. We are praying that you get better and that you and your Mom & Dad will be able to come home for Christmas.