Night and Day

It's amazing how opposite two children with the same parents can be!!! Here is Brooklyn's bedroom when I walked by this morning after taking them to school. Scary, huh?!? I had a moment where I thought "Maybe if she had a bigger room with more storage..." Then I pinched myself, woke up, and realized that wouldn't change a thing with her. She used to have a room three or four times the size and it was the same way. Luckily it really only takes a few minutes to clean this one up.

Then there's Jaeden. He's our OCD child. Gotta love having a boy this neat and tidy! Everything in its place.Remember this? It seems like a figment of my imagination now. *sigh* One can only hope......

Jordan is smack in the middle of these two. Clothes on floor, bed unmade, but everything else is basically in its place.

Guess we can't have our cake and eat it too.

Brandon

Just over a week ago, I flew to Arizona to attend the memorial service of my cousin Brandon.
It was a busy, emotional weekend.

It was very touching to drive up and see fire truck 37 parked outside the building. It's the truck that responded. Aunt Deanna was telling us that Brandon was in Company 37 in the Army, he was killed on 37th Street, and truck 37 responded from Fire Department 37. Kind of gives you goosebumps...

Article in Arizona paper

Here is the cutie pie that Brandon left behind. His name is Dakoda, and he was too cute! He had a birthday just a few days before Brandon died. I held Dakoda a bit and smothered him with kisses and hugs. Not one complaint from him. His Aunt Lisa assures me he's not perfect, though. Don't you love his hair?
A picture of a picture - Brandon and his twin brother, Jason. I know he'll be missed by many.

The upside of my quick AZ trip - getting to see my twin brother, Donald and his sweetheart of a wife, Erika! I cannot believe it's been over two years since I last saw them. They are now residents of Alabama and a lot further away. We hope to get out to visit them this next summer. I've only been around Erika twice now, but I feel as if I've known her forever. We had a great time together.

Now we're looking forward to Thanksgiving Break. We actually leave this Thursday after the kids get out of school. They are excited about visiting Disneyland. First time for Jaeden and Brooklyn and second for Jordan.

Wishing you a happy week! Hard to believe 2008 is almost over!!!

In Loving Memory of Brandon

We are very saddened by the news of a cousin that was killed last night in a hit-and-run motorcycle crash in Arizona. He was only 25. I wasn't extremely close to him, but I always felt a certain connection because of being a twin, just like him. I can't imagine the grief his family is going through right now, especially his mother and twin brother. Our thoughts are with them.

Boo-isms

Don't have much to post at the moment, but I did want to tell of something Brooklyn said yesterday afternoon as we were driving through town. It had been raining and we saw a beautiful, bright rainbow. So then we were talking again about the rainbow being God's promise not to destroy the whole earth with another flood. Brooklyn piped up and asked, "Mom, were you alive when it flooded?" Ummmm, yeah..... Do I really look as old as Noah???