We Are Leaving on a Jet Plane

Grace and I are headed to Florida at 5:15a.m. Our flight doesn't leave until 7:30a.m. but Dallas and I have this obsession with getting to the airport early. You never know how much traffic will be on the road, you never know how long it will take you to get through security, etc. Better safe than sorry. It is one obsession that Dallas and I have in common. We would rather sit at the airport for hours than to be pushing it.

We are staying until Tuesday. Mom is home and doing well. We are looking forward to seeing everyone.

Way to Go, Nick!

Nicholas' video won first place for his age group in our county. The video was not chosen to go to the national level but we are still very excited for him. In mid March there is a county level banquet where he will be recongnized. Great job, Nick!

Our Church

We finally decided on a church. I would have strongly disliked it 5 years ago. To say the service is contemporary is an understatement. We all feel like it is the church God wants us to attend. The boys spent last weekend at Revolution-sort of like a retreat but they stayed in people's homes. The first night Kristopher did not want to stay the night so we agreed to pick him up. By the second night he was fine. The boys had so much fun and learned so much. Youth Quest(a group from Liberty University)led the program. We finally feel like the boys are plugged in and the girls have adjusted to the nusery.

If you would like to hear the sermon we heard Sunday go to www.C3church.org. The senior high youth pastor preached and it was a great sermon. When we miss a sermon we just download the video podcast to our zune and can watch it anytime.

The Last Week

It has been so long since I posted. We came back from Florida on Monday. Mom seems to be improving. Hopefully she will be going home next week.

Grace had her 3rd follow up with the plastic surgeon. He doesn't think the hole in her palate is going to heal at this point. He would not want to do surgery until at least May. He has referred her to speech and will see her again in April. If she does need surgery it will be minor.

Nicholas made the Fuquay Varina travel baseball team. He was so excited. Practice starts Saturday for him. Fortunately the longest distance he will have to travel is about 1 1/2 hours.

Kristopher's mouth is healing well. He goes to the orthodonist on Tuesday so we can start that process.

Dallas is in Florida until Friday. He is bringing my neice, Maribeth, back with him.

Six Months Ago

Referral picture, Meeting Grace, Today (sorry, the pictures aren't in order)
Six months ago our lifes changed. We walked into a hotel conference room and met our youngest daughter. She was not happy to see us, just the opposite. Everything she ever knew was about to change. I often ask her if she likes it better here. Of course she doesn't answer and or even understand what I am asking. She was in a foster home and well taken care of. Her story is the opposite of Julia's. There was never a question about where Julia would receive better care. Grace would not have remained in that foster home, foster parents usually are not allowed to adopt. We are so thankful we were chosen to parent this child. Even when she was given to us crying and screaming we knew that one day she would come to love us. God doesn't make mistakes, he knew that this little girl was meant to be a Braxton.

The Circus

I have always loved the circus. Last night we took Grace to her first circus. To be honest she liked it for about the first 5 minutes. She was good for the whole thing but she would have been perfectly happy to leave. Zachary, Julia, and Dallas loved it though. Julia was alittle obsessed with getting a snack. We allowed her one that she choose for her and Grace to split. Of course after finishing her cotton candy she then wanted Zachary's Snocone. We arrived early so the kids could experience the preshow activities. Zachary was chosen to do a skit with the clown. He basically couldn't move and had to hold the clown's coat on his hand.

Don't worry Nicholas was at home being Kristopher's butler. Kristopher didn't like the term babysitter. He said Nicholas could be his butler. The tickets were bought before we knew Kristopher would be getting his wisdom teeth taken out. He was experiencing pain from his wisdom teeth pressing on other teeth and his 12 years molars couldn't come in because his wisdom teeth were partially on top of them. So he didn't want to delay it. If he wasn't doing well either Dallas or I would have stayed with him.

Mom

Mom seems to be improving. She is still in the hospital. They are waiting for tests results before they decide when they will release her.

Happy New Year!

Yes, you read that right. Today is New Year's Day in China. We went to a Chinese New Year's festival a couple of weeks ago. We would have enjoyed Chinese food tonight if we didn't have tickets to the circus. We plan to do this sometime this weekend. I did get some pictures of Grace today. As she gets older we will try and do more for the Chinese New Year. Below is a brief description of the Chinese New Year that I got off another website.

The Chinese New Year that is celebrated for about fifteen days is one moment in the year when the whole nation feels united as they can imagine each other's enjoyment. The Chinese New Year gets determined by the Lunar calendar and therefore it is sometimes called the Lunar New Year. In 2008, the Chinese Lunar Year Festival would start from 7 th of February. As every one is aware of its significance, the working people in china can take weeks of holidays so that they can join the company of their near and dear ones and a feast with their family members on the Lunar New Year's Eve. Although with the changing times and increasing mobility of the people the celebration of Chinese New Year Festival has undergone some changes, everybody still very fervently follow all the customs that their elders have taught them.

Kristopher

I am happy to report Kristopher has done great! He has had very little pain. Soon after arriving home he was playing guitar hero and drinking a milk shake. So far so good. We have heard Day 2 is worse so we shall see.

Prayers Please

Please pray for my Mom tonight. Dad and my sister took her to the emergency room Monday night. After spending all night there they were released. After Dad took her to her primary care doctor today, she wanted Mom to be admitted to the hospital. She has an UTI and a cold. The doctor felt it would be easier to care for Mom in the hospital and that she could be closely monitored. It is so hard not being there to help out. We will see what the doctor says tomorrow and I will decide what to do.

Also, pray for Kristopher. His wisdom teeth are being removed tomorrow morning. We know he will be fine but he is very nervous. He hasn't had much experience with doctors since he was very young. Since about 4 years of age, he has been very healthy.

I Can Make A Difference

I don't know why it took me so long to post this. Back in the fall Nicholas had to do this project at school. The title was I can make a difference. He could make a collage, write a paper, prepare a dance(yeah, right),or make a movie. He chose to make a movie. We were very proud of his movie. If he chose to he could enter it in the PTAs yearly contest. Of course he chose to enter it. We know he made it to the county level and are waiting to see how he did.