Coming out of a blog fog: Snapshot of a Year

Holy Cow it has been a year!! A whole year since I blogged. And truthfully what happened was we got busy and I lost track of time and then I felt overwhelmed by how much had happened and didn't feel like I could write about it all so I just stopped altogether. At least that is part of what happened. A lot of what happened is that I lost 47lbs and went on a journey of finding a lot of things that Christ was teaching me about self worth, image control, and who I really am. And I didn't blog during that time because I was in a way, protecting myself. A lot of what I was feeling made me feel vulnerable and I didn't want to put that out in the open. So here is a quick run down of the past year:

Braxton became the Chaplain for the University of Memphis football team and we spent last fall investing in football players and in a program that we have grown to love. The coaches, the wives, the players, the mascot. All of it. Even when everyone else turns a cold shoulder we stand tall and proud beside them. We saw the hearts of a lot of these 19-20 year olds and their coaches and when you truly see and know someone's heart you don't get mad at them because they lose a game. We look forward to another great fall with them! Go Tigers!

Preston played football and basketball for ECS, he is currently finishing up 8th grade and headed into High School. So weird. And yet so exciting. He will start driving with his learner's permit this summer and I have started taking blood pressure medicine and spent a lot of time on my knees praying.

Bennett turned 10 this past year! He played flag football and basketball and is looking forward to starting the 4th grade next year. He got to go on his birthday experience trip with his dad to New York. They had a great trip and had many great memories and stories to tell.

Emma Sanders turned 5 in November. She will be in Sr K next year and played in her first organized sport of soccer this Spring. Braxton coached and that almost caused us to land in marriage counseling. And quiet honestly this will have to be a blog post of its own. Bad part is I only have 3 pictures and none of them are action shots. It is hard to take action shots when you are laughing your head off. Truly, great entertainment for the whole family. We look forward to many more years of her playing or just looking cute in that uniform.

Kevin. I don't even know where to start. And part of me doesn't want to say all that I feel because it makes me cry. Like ugly cry. Kevin is a precious 6 year old boy that has come into our hearts and lives. He lives in Honduras but yet he is a Brady by all intents and purposes. We were privileged to have him come into our home for the month of December last year and it has forever changed us. We are leaving in about a week and a half to go back to Honduras and we will spend time with him there. Our hope and prayer is that we will continue our relationship with him.

901 hats. Braxton has a heart bigger than I could ever tell you and he is a great visionary. You put those two things together and you get one amazing man. So he had this idea to combine our love for the city of Memphis and for Honduras/Kevin. So we along with the help of a few people created a 901 hat. All proceeds go to POI www.poihn.org (the ministry that Kevin is a part of) to either help with us getting to Honduras, getting Kevin here or just supporting Point of Impact. Check out the whole story here www.wear901.com we have been blown away by the response. Thank you to all who have bought a hat or t-shirt. Truly we are grateful.

Braxton turned 40. Or half of 80. :) I love my husband so much and am so grateful to do life with him. He truly makes a better person. We got to spend a great long weekend at the beach with great friends and celebrated life! I look forward to the back half of 40 with my sweet man, especially since I am 3 years younger.

We are winding down on the 2012-2013 school year. This summer is going to be filled with trips, memories, and some great family time. Looking forward to blogging about it!