2011 School pictures

Mindi Alyssa Brailsford    Mindi just turned 7 on August 26th.  She  just started the 2nd grade.   Her teacher is  Miss Owen.

Eric Clark Brailsford  9   Eric is in the 4th grade this year.  He  has  Mrs. Catlet .

Joshua Kent Brailsford  11   Joshua is in 5th grade this year.  His teacher is  Miss Padilla

Keri Elyse Brailsford  12    Keri is in her first year of Jr. High School so she has  too many teachers to name.

Joshua and his new spectacles!

     Well,  I received a phone call from Joshua's teacher.  Phone calls from a teacher are usually not good.  The said teacher continued to tell me that Joshua was having a hard time seeing the board and other objects.  She says, " have I seen Josh in glasses before or should he be wearing glasses?"  Well, I got my boy an eye appointment.  I guess it was time.  I took him in last year, and was told his eye sight wasn't perfect, but that if he had a drivers licence and could drive that they would still let him drive with the eye sight that he had.  So,  his eye sight wasn't to bad last year.  Well from last year to this year, Joshua's eye sight plummeted!  He had to get glasses!  I must say he looks like a handsome boy in his expensive glasses!  He told me that he could actually see the numbers on the microwave now.  He is now 11 years old, and he wishes that his mom would stop telling him how handsome he looks!  He told me the other day that I was annoying.  Well I have news for my little (Big) Joshua, I can be quite annoying, but at least he will always know that his mom thinks he is handsome, and that he is loved!

One hermit crab..... rescued!

     Payson onion days brings a lot of fun times, fun memories, and last but not least some fun things to buy.  Keri was in the Payson onion days parade with the foothill cloggers.  She enjoys clogging, and is quite good at it, but this story is all about my little red headed boy!  Eric somehow convinced his grandma Brailsford to buy him the most wanted thing a 9 year old red headed boy would want at a carnival, a hermit crab!  Oh but not just one. Oh no he came home with three!  What is a mom to do?  Let him keep these creepy crawly creatures? Or rip his heart out and not let him keep them?  Hmmm......Well I decided to let him keep them under the condition that he took care of them.  He was so excited when he brought them home.  So proud of his hermit crabs.  He told me how he and Dillon raced their hermit crabs, and how his won every time they raced.   He had these three hermit crabs in  a shoe box.  Had some water and some marshmallows, lettuce,  bits of apple for them to eat.  Oh so proud.  He had them all tucked away and safe on his dresser ready for the night.  He woke up the next morning.  He went to check on his pride and joy.  Well, he had three hermit crabs one had a soccer ball print shell, one had a spider man print shell and the last had a superman print shell.  The soccer ball, and sprider man hermit crabs were gone.  They had somehow escaped from their oasis that Eric had created for them.  I was at work, and I quickly got a phone call telling me that they had escaped.  Eric had found superman, but the soccor ball was missing!  He had looked everywhere.  I told him that I would help him look when I got home from work.  When I did return home, my kids had looked on the internet how to find a lost hermit crab.  They had cut up plasic cups and spread peanut butter, and little cups of water all over the house.  In every room  was a small plastic cup of water and a little peanut butter.  Eric was devistated!  He told me he had set traps and everything.  So, I went on my search.  I looked in every room. I wondered to myself where in the world could this little creature be!  I don't want it to crawl in a hole and die in my house.  So, I looked again in every room.  I didn't want to attempt looking in Mindi's closet.  It is so messy, but I had looked everywhere else.  The little soccor ball creature had to be in there!  I began my search in the messy closet!  Cleaning as I went thinking to myself that Mindi doesn't need all this stuff.  I was just about to give up when I thought that I should move her big container of toys, and look behind it.  Well I did, and there it was a little white and black shell that looked like a soccor ball.  Eric was so happy and relieved.  I have to admit that I was happy and relieved to no dead hermit crabs to be surprised by later!  As Eric left this morning to school he said to me " Oh mom will you give my hermit crabs some water they are out."  So, I guess there goes him taking care of his hermit crabs.  Mom has to feed them and water them and find them when they escape their oasis!  Oh Well what a parent won't do for their kids!  :)

Our First Flight ..... as a family!

Our family went to San Diego for a short Trip thanks to my wonderful husband and the Yellow Ribbon Event that the Air Force provides to those that are in Post deployment.  It was an opportunity for our small family to fly together for our very first time.  All my kids were so excited to fly with the exception of Eric.  He was scared to fly.  On the plane, I told him "Now when the air plane takes off it is going to feel like you need to pop your ears. "  That is all it took!   Eric started to get big tears in his eyes.  He asked me if it was going to hurt when his ears popped.  I told him it didn't feel any different than when you go on a trip in the car, and your ears have to pop.  Well after about 10-15 minutes of crying the plane finally took off.  Eric had his head buried in my arms.  he wouldn't even let us open the window shade so we could look outside.  He told me that he just wanted to pretend that he was riding in a car.  Once he realized that flying wasn't as bad as he had imagined.  He calmed down and had some fun on the plane.

After waiting a long time at the car rental place, we finally got our van that was going to take us around in a place we had no idea where anything was.  Thank goodness for GPS!  We found Sea World with no problems.  We stayed at Sea World until dark.  The kids had a lot of fun.  After Sea World, we attempted to find our hotel.  The GPS failed us this time.  I guess even GPS isn't perfect.  OH WELL!  We found our hotel with good ole intelligence if that is what you want to call it.  Saturday we spent the day doing the Yellow ribbon stuff the air force had prepared for us.  It wasn't to fun, and the kids didn't have fun either.  They ended up spending the 6-7 hours in the hotel room.  Oh well they didn't care.  It gave everyone time to do homework, play on the computer, watch TV, and fight a little.  They survived. After the yellow ribbon event, we all went to   Mission Bay Beach.  The kids had a blast.  We stayed there until almost dark.  The kids started to build a sand castle up on the beach.  They thought they were far enough away from the shore.  Well, they were not!  The Tide came in, and try as they might, my kids failed at saving their sand castle.  They decided if it was going to get destroyed they were going to do the destroying not the ocean.

Sunday we went to the San Diego zoo.  Well, I had a friend who warned me about the zoo, but I didn't listen.  She told me it wasn't worth it.  It is too big and not kid friendly.  Well we went,  we got lost trying to find the bus that would just give us a ride around to see the animals.  It was hotter than normal.  We were all sweating and all the animals were sleeping because it was too hot for even them!  The Trip wasn't a complete loss.  We did find the bus and we did get to go on the tour of the zoo.  Unfortunately, we saw most everything that was on the bus tour when we were walking around lost.  By the time we got off of the tour,  we had to leave for the airport.  It was a good little trip.  I love spending time with my family!

The beginning of a miracle!

     I have to begin by saying that my amazing cousins prompted me to attempt a journal on the Internet.  Every  once in a while, I would read their blogs,  and say to myself Wow I have amazing,  and talented cousins.  They don't know they have impressed me so much, but they have!  So here I go let the MIRACLE begin!  I am going to attempt to write my thoughts and the Brailsford happenings on the Internet or The Brailsford Blog.  I do have to say that I am no English Scholar, so please disregard any errors in punctuation, and or any errors in English grammar.
     Our first Miracle happened about 20 years ago when I first met my fabulous husband.  I wouldn't have met him if it wasn't for a very persistent friend (thanks Shana).  I was working at Crestview Care Center, a nursing home in Provo as a CNA.  We were having some kind of carnival at work that day which included a dunk tank.  I along with my friend Shana got into the dunk tank, and of course got dunked, so we were soaked.  We went into our work place and found the room with all the extra clothes.  Clothes from past residents, lost and found etc.  Well we each took off our wet clothes, and put on a very stylish duster, and we both agreed that we would go to our homes and change clothes.  Well I lived in Spring Lake at the time, and so we had to pass through Payson to get there.  My friend said, " I have a friend I want to stop by and say hi to before we change clothes. Is that ok?"  I said ok assuming it was a girl.  I waited in the car so she could say hi.  I didn't want anyone seeing me.  I looked like a wet rat.  She goes to the door and knocks......When Kent came out my heart sank right into my stomach.  I knew this BOY( not girl).  I knew him from high school, and to tell you the truth I was a bit out of my comfort zone.  Shana had a knack at doing that though she did it a lot! I wouldn't have traded those moments for anything though.  Shana was and is an amazing friend.  We had some good times.  Needless to say Kent and I married eight and a half years later in my mothers beautiful back yard.  Ten years into our marriage we were sealed in the Manti temple for time and all eternity with our four beautiful children.