Weekend "Stuff"

Our weekend was pretty uneventful. We both work so much during the week that by Friday we're ready to put our feet up and relax. Well, Brett did anything BUT that. He worked (out in this heat) all day Saturday and Sunday building things in the garage. He built a workbench and a table for our back patio, plus mowed the yard in between. No wonder he stays in such good shape working in 101 degree weather! Me, on the other hand, I took Meg's grocery shopping on Saturday and to get pedicures on Sunday. It was great spending time together. I also did some reading over the weekend. For those of you who haven't read the book Fish!, it is a great motivational book not only for work, but for everyday life. I liked it so much, that I went and bought the book Fish! Tales on Sunday and started reading it last night. I love to read, just don't always have the time. I also did some "back to school" shopping and bought Sierra some outfits for school. I can't believe she is going into the First grade.

Brandon didn't catch over the weekend. Apparently the coaches found out about his thumb(s), they are both hurt, and he has been resting. He did DH on Saturday night, but wasn't one of his better games. Although he doesn't like it he thinks the rest will be good for him and allow the swelling to go down.

That's about all I can muster up for now...pretty boring huh?

Have a great week!
KB

New Post

Come on People! We started this "Family Blog" so we could all keep in touch and hear what is going on in our daily lives. Some of us, including us, have not been doing a very good job of keeping our post current. I get into work every morning and look at everyone's blog only to find out that every one is as boring (or busy) as we are. I know, I know, I have way too much time on my hands if I can check out everyone's blog every morning. But that's because I get to work around 7:30am.

FYI...the Chukars are in first place after last nights game. I'm sure Brett will post more about that in the future. Sierra is great...can't wait until school starts. JB is great...he spends his days going back and forth from the 3-year old class to the 4-year old class. He tells us he is serious in the 3-year old class and silly in the 4-year old class. He is growing like a weed and about to catch up with his big sister. Megan is also great...she has recovered from watching the little ones last weekend and is just working and hanging out with her friends. She has saved her money and planned a trip to Cancun for her 20th b-day in August. She didn't take a Senior Trip after graduation so she is really excited about it! Us...we're just working and enjoying life. God is good to us.

Hope everyone is enjoying this 105 degree weather we're having. I'm a warm natured person so actually I do enjoy it.

If you're ever close to Edmond, please stop by we'd love to see you and don't worry, we'll have some "Madonna" chilling and ready :)

Take care.
KB

Trip to Idaho

Brandon played again last night and went 2-5. He also took a foul ball off of his throwing hand while catching in the second inning, played the rest of the game (picked the tying run off of third in the fifth inning) and played very well. They took him to X-ray his hand and he has a hairline fracture in his thumb. The doctor said to rest and ice, but Brandon told Kelly this morning that he is playing Friday as scheduled no matter what anyone says. Anyway, he played well and is having a lot of fun (although it is really more "work" than fun right now).

While we were there, we talked to a scout that Kelly and I both know from our Santa Fe days and he said that the "higher ups" with the Royals are saying only VERY good things about Brandon. The biggest thing is his work ethic and the way that he is in control of the team when he is on the field. It was a great conversation.

We also met a ton of people and once they found out that Brandon was our son, they said that they were going to come to all of the games and follow him and his career (as he moves on from Idaho Falls). In fact, one of our acquaintances is a photographer and she is going to take some pics of Brandon as he plays and email them to us. Her husband also said for us to have Brandon call them if he ever needs to go anywhere (his example was that they would come and get him just to go to Walmart for anything he needs - and the funniest part of this is that they live an hour and a half away in Jackson Hole, WY!!).

All in all, Brandon is having the time of his life, he loves the guys on his team, and loves the town, and definitely - the town LOVES their players. Fun stuff.

We put some pics up on his page on our photo album. You can view them here or go to the photo album link on the right side of this page.

SB and JB are doing well and they had a great time with Megan while we were gone. Megan babysat for some people at our office plus had some friends over that have brothers and sisters that are the same age, so SB and JB met a lot of new friends - some of which I think they will keep in touch with.

Kelly and I went to Vegas for our two year anniversary. You know, you can only get so much out of Vegas so we only stayed for about 40 minutes (that is where our flights were connected through from Salt Lake) So our time in Vegas was spent in line at the airport Subway getting a sandwich and three dollars worth of slots. :)

We had a great trip to Idaho Falls and the scenery was absolutely incredible. On top of that, I personally got to spend the time with my best friend doing what we both love to do the most - watch baseball.

July 23....

This post is two-fold. First, to let everyone know we had a great time in Idaho Falls. It is so beautiful and Brandon is doing great. I can't believe how much he's grown up in just one month. I'm really proud of him.

Second...today is our two-year anniversary. Can you believe we've been married for two years already? It seems like just yesterday. But maybe that's because we haven't stopped going since July 23, 2004.

Brett is getting everything unpacked from the trip and I wanted to take a few minutes to say I'm truly blessed with a wonderful husband. I never dreamed I would find someone as compatible as Brett, or someone who loves my children as their own. The past two years have been a whirlwind (BL transferring to NMSU, Megan graduating, BL getting drafted, Sierra starting school, PIERCE :) you name it, it's happened in the past two years. But I can't think of anyone I would have rather spent it with than Brett.

Happy Anniversary BRB. I love you.
KB

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Happy Birthday Paul/Dad! Just want you to know how much we love and appreciate you. Each time I'm around you I realize how lucky I am that Brett had such a wonderful role model for a father. I see that more and more in him with our children.

I'm amazed by you and the things you do. You live life to the fullest and never let anything stand in your way. You and Mary not only seem to enjoy life, you really seem to enjoy each other and I look forward to that same relationship with Brett for years to come.

Have a wonderful day!

We love you,
KB & BB (Wonderwoman/Superman)

Thank you!

What a great day! Thank you to Paul & Mary for purchasing tickets for everyone to enjoy Frontier City today. And thanks Nataly for giving them the idea!

We really enjoyed having everyone over to our house and hope we can do that more often. Paul, Happy Birthday and thank you for giving us a reason to all get together.

Tony and Melody, we talked after you left and we need to just plan it (and actually make it happen) to get together at "least" once a quarter. We can trade off OKC/Tulsa and just plan an evening out to get caught up on everything that's going on.

We really enjoyed today and want to thank everyone for the opportunity to spend it with family.

Love you guys!
KB & BB

Frontier City

We are very excited about Frontier City and even more excited to extend an invite to everyone to come over to our house after Frontier City to celebrate Dad's/Papaw's/The Hulk's birthday around 5PM after the roller coasters.

We'll have pizza, cake and ice cream and we'll sing a quick song to celebrate 66 incredible years (maybe the theme should be "Route 66!") of an incredible husband, father and grandfather.

This invitation is extended to anyone in the family (even if you are not attending the Frontier City "get-together").

Hope to see everyone there!

Brett and Kelly

Thankful

I haven't posted about how thankful I am in a while. Monday really put my life into perspective. Made me realize just how delicate life is and how we can't take anything for granted. It also made me realize we need to kiss our children (and loved ones) every chance we get. We only have a short time on this earth and I've learned I can't change the things I can't control, so hopefully that will help me relax and enjoy life a little more each day.

Just want everyone to know how thankful I am everyday to have such a wonderful husband who loves me, our children and God to the fullest. I'm a very lucky person.

KB

Kale Powell

I have questions for Jesus when I get home. I have already asked. Maybe it is just the fact that my mortal mind cannot comprehend the fact that helping people is not why we are here (though Kale did that beyond most 18-year-olds). Maybe it is the fact that being the "All-American kid" is not why we are here (though he was every bit of that). Maybe it is the fact that he loved Jesus and shared his faith with others... maybe it is the fact that through his death (and what he faced head on), he has touched more people than he even did in his life on earth - which was attested to by the droves of people in attendance today (see Kelly's post below).

Maybe it is just not for me to know yet. In fact, maybe it is selfish to WANT to know until He is ready to let me in on the answer... but I am sure going to continue to ask.

Kale will be missed - but only for a season....

Kale Wayne Haney Powell 1988 - 2006. <- That "dash" means everything.

BB

Closure

Today was Kale's funeral. I'm not sure I have been to a funeral that was as sad as this one. But it's such a double-edge sword because at the same time, they read from Kale's journal and he was very positive and seemed to know he was going to heaven soon.

The church prepared three over-flow rooms with large screens and all three were at capacity. We arrived 25 minutes early and still had to sit in an over-flow room. The funeral was very personal and Kale's best friend Dane spoke, along with the Guthrie HS football coach. The football team was there and they had their heads shaved for Kale, who had lost his hair while undergoing chemo. There were two separate slide shows and most of the pictures were of the past two years. Kale went to his high school prom and graduated approximately 8 weeks ago. It's amazing how quickly he took a turn for the worse.

Knowing what we went through today, I can't even comprehend what his family is going through. But most importantly, what they will go through over the next few weeks, months and years when everyone leaves and reality sets in.

Please keep them in your prayers. Kale is in a better place. As hard is it is for us to understand, God was ready for him.

KB

Sad News

For those of you who met Kale at our wedding, or kept up with his progress through emails, I wanted to pass along that Kale passed away today. It is really sad and I can't comprehend what a parent goes through when they lose a child.

For those of you who weren't fortunate enough to meet him or don't know the story...I'll try and make it brief.

Megan was dating Kale who was a sophomore and on top of the world as the quarterback at Guthrie HS. During the homecoming game Kale was hurt during a play and taken by ambulance to Edmond Hospital. We followed behind and stayed with he and his family at the hospital. I'll never forget because we had made Pierce a shirt that had Kale's name and number and he ran around the hospital and played while we waited on the doctor. They determined that Kale had broken his collarbone in two places, but also found a mass in his chest the size of an egg, next to his aorta. Since that time, Kale has been undergoing chemo, radiation, a bone marrow, etc. More than anyone should have to go through, but especially someone that young.

Megan got a call yesterday saying the doctors had told Kale and his family there was nothing else they could do. They had given him weeks. She got a call today that he passed away. He was only 18 years old.

Please keep his family in your prayers. This is going to be a very difficult time for them.

KB

4th of July

Hope everyone had as much fun as we did on the 4th of July! We took the kids to The Oklahoman Centennial Freedom Festival in Bethany (I know, it's a mouth full). I worked a little, and played a lot. They had rides, inflatables, food, crafts a parade, and everything you can possibly imagine. We had more fun watching Sierra and Pierce as they ran from ride to ride. At one point, Brett and Sierra decided to go on a ride and Pierce wasn't quite tall enough, so I took him over to a "kiddie" rollercoaster and the man said, "son, can you step over here so I can see how tall you are?" Well, Pierce marched right over, stood on his very tippie toes and was just tall enough! haha The man thought is was so cute, he let him ride. Well, much to my surprise, I watched him fasten Pierce in (a seat by himself) and I thought, I hope this doesn't go very fast because he doesn't look very secure. That ride took off and if you've ever seen small rollercoasters, they are VERY bumpy! The first time around his eyes were as wide as saucers and I thought he was going to start crying. By the second time around, he was laughing so hard and having so much fun I thought I was never going to get him off! Then, we headed over and they decide to bungie! Sierra was a little timid at first, but by her second time, she was doing back flips (which dad loved) and JB LOVED the bungie and would go really high. The cutest thing to me was sitting back and watching JB...he would talk to every worker, ask a million questions and wasn't shy at all.

We had an absolute blast at the carnival! We ended the day with me and Sierra making cookies and then headed up to UCO to watch fireworks. JB wasn't quite as interested as Sierra, but thought they were cool.

They are both ready for Frontier City. Sure hope they have rollercoasters and bungies because those two are pro's now!!

See everyone soon. Have a great "short" week!
KB

House

Why is it that every time we have a weekend to ourselves we think we've got to kill ourselves around the house?? As most of you know from earlier posts, several weekends ago we built a berm in our backyard. This past weekend, we laid pavers, built a two tierd flowerbed in the back corner, planted "more" flowers and cleaned the garage (well, Brett did that). Yesterday at church when they asked everyone to stand, me and Brett looked at each other and just started laughing. We're both so sore we can hardly walk! We looked like an 80 year old couple walking out of church.

We really enjoy our home and work inside or out every chance we get. You'd think after a while we wouldn't get sore anymore. Guess that tells you how much we do in between chores :)

Hope everyone has a wonderful 4th of July. We're excited about taking the kids to see fireworks and spending the day with them. BL is scheduled to catch July 4th in Idaho Falls. He's pretty excited about it and still having a great time.

KB