A Trip to Austin!

The weekend of January 17th, Katelyn and I rode down to Austin with my youngest sister Brittany for a little visit. Dave had already scheduled to attend training conference that weekend, so unfortunately for him (and us!), he wasn't able to come. Brittany took that Friday off work (thanks Britt!), and we hit the road that morning!

Although we love to go to Austin whenever we can, we had a special reason for visiting this time! Some of you may know that my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer on Monday, January 5. That Friday, January 9, her surgeon performed a successful masectomy, and she has been recovering ever since....you wouldn't really be able to tell by looking at her or talking to her that she has been through such an experience though. She has an amazing faith and abiding hope in the Lord, and she understands (and makes sure others do too!) that His purposes are accomplished through whatever comes our way. I love my mom. She teaches me so much about what it means to be joyful in all things...not happy, but joyful...there's a big difference. My dad took three weeks off work to take care of her. He did a great job (and continues to, I'm sure!). My mom's first appointment with the oncologist is Feb. 5 (a week from today). They will determine a follow-up treatment plan (chemo/radiation?) at that time.

Below are a few pictures from our visit and a video of Katelyn doing one of her favorite past times with her pee paw...flag running. The video says it all!

Me, Katelyn, and MaMaw

Katelyn and MaMaw reading in the rocking chair that my sisters and I had when we were little! Thank you, Peepaw, for getting it out of the garage and cleaning it up!

Flag running with Peepaw!

Happy New Year(s)!

On January 1, 2009, we celebrated new year's day in the U.S., and today, on January 26, we celebrate Chinese New Year--the Year of the Ox! Depending on which animal is next in the zodiac calendar, that's how they determine what year it is! We just finished year of the rat!

Below are two pictures--one of Katelyn celebrating New Year's Eve along with the rest of America, and one of her celebrating New Year's Eve along with the rest of China...after all, she WAS made there!

Baby Kate and Brodie!

We love our playdates with Brodie and his mom Jill! The last two times we have playdated (I just made that verb up!), we met at Dunkin Donuts (my favorite!!) and then it was off to a nearby park to burn some energy (and work off those donuts!)! I mean really...eating donuts and playing at a park...does it get any better than that?! Yes, it does...because we ended our playdate with a yummy lunch of pizza, grapes, and carrots...courtesy of Jill's loving hands!! One thing I loved about this particular playdate....Katelyn has really gotten into climbing lately. So while we were at Dunkin Donuts, she was attempting to climb onto a little newspaper stand. I pulled her away and told her "No touch." A few minutes later, I saw her heading toward the newspaper stand again. Then I saw Brodie walking toward her and saying softly "No." She walked away from the newspaper stand and followed Brodie. What a good friend! It was so sweet! Here are a few pictures of Baby Kate (that's what Brodie calls her!) and Brodie having fun together!

Katelyn sitting in Brodie's rocking chair. Notice the longhorn symbol on the back of the chair. Jill is a longhorn, and her husband, Kyle, is an Aggie. FYI-Dave hasn't seen this picture yet!

All smiles!

Storytime Allstar!

Katelyn and I started going to our local library's storytime when she was about 4 months old. It started with "Mother Goose Time" (for children 0-15 months), and then we graduated to "Toddler Time" (children 15-36 months). The first time you go, they give you a "Storytime Allstar" card, and each time you attend storytime, you get a sticker to put on your allstar card! We received our final sticker this past week! "What was the prize?" you ask! We got to pick a book out of the special book box reserved especially for Storytime Allstars! Although Katelyn wanted to empty all of the books out of the box before choosing one, we finally ended up choosing a "Lift-the-Flap" Barney book!

Oh what fun it is to ride....

To Austin and Waco for Christmas!! We had such a great time with our families over the Christmas holidays! We left Saturday, December 20 for Austin and stopped in Waco that afternoon to attend the annual Christmas party that Dave's mom hosts for the kids in their extended family. It was lots of fun! We continued on our journey to Austin and stayed there until Christmas Eve. A couple of highlights during our stay included: 1) Dave and I going on a date to see the Nutcracker for the first time while my parents babysat Katelyn and 2) participating in the 1st annual family Christmas dance tradition that my youngest sister Brittany created this year! You have to dance to a song of your choice before getting to open your presents (see below for pictures and see the previous post titled "Christmas Update Appetizer" for videos of the dancing). I'm pretty sure Katelyn ended up being a part of each person's dance! She was a dancing queen...or should I say princess?!

Mommy and Katelyn gettin' down to Garth Brooks "Wrapped Up in You"

Aunt Brenner and Katelyn dancing

My mom dancing to the song "I'm a Believer!" from the Shrek soundtrack

Then it was off to Waco until the 28th! We had a great time enjoying Christmas morning with Dave's mom, grandmother, aunt, and cousin! We ate some yummy homeade (not by us!) tamales for lunch too! One of the highlights of our trip was watching Katelyn play with this huge stuffed ladybug that Dave's mom was given by one of her friends! Click on the video below to watch Katelyn give that ladybug some sweet love!!

Christmas Update Appetizer!

OK-so I haven't had time to sit down and update our blog with stories/pics from our Christmas holidays, but my youngest sister Brittany sure has! Until I get my camera charged enough to download pictures from it onto our computer, a snippet and link from her blog will have to serve as an appetizer for you...Enjoy!

From Brittany's blog: To add to the Christmas festivities, I decided to start a new Christmas tradition this year. I've heard that it's not a tradition unless it's happened for 3 years. So, I'll rephrase. This year was the 1st annual Bradberry Christmas Dance. What does this even mean, you might ask? This means that each person in attendance, in any way related to the Bradberry family, must dance to a song of their choice before they can open their presents. It was AWESOME! I've included some videos below...

To view the videos from Brittany's blog, visit www.getreadyeurope.blogspot.com, and scroll down to the bottom of the post titled "Happy Birthday Jesus!" Note: Kristen's dancing was the only one from our family not videoed....still not really sure why! :) Maybe it was just too good for one video to hold!