*~Rory Turned Two~*

Singing "Happy Birthday"

Blowing out the candles

HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY TO RORY!!!!!

Because pictures of Rory are always nice...

4-2-11
Rory and "Baby Bear" of Goldilocks and the Three Bears at Storyland

Come on People!

Okay, here's the deal.  I have been in this family since July 1986, that is 24 years 8 months and 23 days.  That is a total of 9, 032 days.  I have been married to your Father, Brother, Cousin, Uncle, all around good guy Terry for 24 years, 2 months and 24 days.

Why you ask is this relevant?  Well I will tell you.  This blog was started in January I believe and no one is posting to it.  As long as I've been in this family I have never known you people to not having anything to say?  What gives?  Does no one have a single thing going on in their lives?  Has it come to us only seeing each other at weddings, funerals and.... well, weddings and funerals?  It seems that's what it take to get us together and frankly I don't like it.  I feel I have been in the family long enough (see above I did the calculations for you) that I can confidently air my grievance.  

I only turned 50 once and demanded and fiesta/quinceanera as an excuse to get the family together.  That is the last time we got together and really communicated for a fun reason.  I know that we are all busy people and have our differences in the kind of lives we live but honestly we are family.

I got called out on a chaplain call earlier tonight.  There was a SWAT team trying to get a man to come out of his house after having an altercation with a neighbor.  This man was mentally ill.  I sat with this man's mother while she watched the police and sheriff's department try to get her son to come out.  I watched her as she sat there trying to take in everything that was going.  There were swat officers running back and forth, loaded down with gear and weapons.  Lots of them. The sound of tear gas being shot through the windows mad her jump every time, she thought they were shooting her son.

I tried to put myself in her place to feel what she must have been feeling.  She has four kids.  two of them are mentally ill while the other two are perfectly fine.  One being a police officer the other a fireman.  She was terrified and rightfully so.  I was pretty terrified too.  I talked with her about God trying to find if she had a personal relationship with Him.  She was raised in the catholic church but had not gone to church in a long time.

As the hours ticked by and the commotion continued and became more and more tense I kept her occupied as best I could with conversation about any and everything I could think of.  We talked about family and kids and how kids from the same family can be so different.  We talked about life and we talked about faith.

I explained to her that she could not fix her son,  that his problems were beyond what she could repair.  She said I know that, but I am still a mother.  I so totally related to that.  I shared with her a little about my life and that there are time I lose sight of Him when I get wrapped up in my pain.  Then she told me a story she had heard.  It's worth sharing and you may have read it or heard it before but I hadn't.

A man goes to God and says, God I know that we all have our crosses to bear and that you being God has borne the weight of the heaviest of all crosses.  But, the cross you have given to me is just too heavy for me to carry and I am begging you to ease my load.  God takes him to a room that is full of crosses of every shape and size imaginable and made from every sort of material.  God said, okay you pick the cross you think you can bear.  Any cross and it is yours.  Of course the man picked the smallest cross and told God in relief I will take this one.  And God simply told him, that is the exact cross that you have now and are so willing to give up.  That story really got me to thinking about how trivial my problems really are and how her story gave me a new perspective from which to think about what is going on with me.

God puts me in this situations for a reason.  I never know the reason prior to going in and sometimes I never figure out why.  But each is a lesson.  

Tonight my lesson I think was that I need to focus on the family that I have been blessed with and concentrate my energy into making an honest effort to reach out to everyone I love.  

So to all of those who live locally and would like to get together sometime soon for coffee, desert, dinner, a picnic, a pot luck a trip to Walmart.... (you get the picture) To the ones not as close I urge you to post a little something once in a while just to let us know what's going on in your lives.  Maybe after the spring gets started we can plan a time when we can all get together.  Let me know when is a good time and I will make it happen.

Any one have any thoughts on this?  I don't want to hear any excuses of "i'm so busy," I've been so this, or that.  I am not asking for anything from anyone but time.  When it comes right down to it there are only a few things that are certain in life.  One of those certainties is that family is so important and what I don't want to regret at the end of my life is that I didn't try to bring my family closer.  

I love you all.

Annie B.

My own Blog

Hi everyone,

I started a blog of my own.  It's just random stuff.  Mainly about knitting and family.

http://annbray411.blogspot.com/  Come by and visit.

Annie B.

New Kid in Town

By way of Facebook I caught a glimpse of the newest kid on the "Bray" block...and he's a cutie! Welcome Zachary Paul Bray!

30th Birthday Bash

Thanks to David and my family and friends, I had a terrific 30th birthday. David threw/coordinated a great party, taking on a project that most men would leave entirely to the women. Here's a few of the pictures.

DEPRIVED!

I must be paying the piper for Holiday indulgences because I'm feeling deprived lately. On Christmas Day my computer got a virus and has been dead for a month. Lack of funds and a good IT guy has kept me in the dark. No Facebook, no internet access at home whatsoever. The only reason I can post this blog is because I have access at work. You don't realize how much you depend on a computer until you don't have one. I brought out the jigsaw puzzles...I've completed 4 of over 1000 pieces this month so far. Ryan wanted to know what we did to pass the time as kids...my reply...who had time to pass??? I was busy with the cooking, cleaning and laundry! (Although I did find time to read...MUST have time to read.) Then he gave me spackling lessons and put me to work!
The other reason I feel deprived is that I just completed the second week of a three week fast that our church is doing in a consecration effort to start off the new year drawing closer to God. If you've ever been on the Daniel's Fast you will know what I mean. I'm craving pizza! Hamburgers! Good bread! Cheese! And counting the days until Sunday...

Ratatouille

Sara and I are always looking for new and exciting recipes to try. While walking through Disneyland a few weeks ago, we came across a window display form the recent Disney cartoon "Ratatouille." Intrigued by the cool name and complete ignorance of what the dish even was, we set out to discover what all the fuss was about. We discovered that ratatouille is a "French peasant dish", which in my vernacular means their version of soul-food. Meant to be cheap enough that anyone can make it and hearty enough to please any family, the vegetarian stew has been apart of French tradition for hundreds of years. We discovered that Disney had actually hired a chef to create a new way to serve ratatouille to feature in their cartoon. Decidedly, we knew we had to try it. We did all the Google searching and you tube research necessary and then a few nights ago Sara made the most beautiful ratatouille. I've posted a picture (left) to showcase her handy-work. It tastes as good as it looks. Bon Appetit!

Happy Birthday Stephanie

My wonderful wife Stephanie is 30 today. I just want to say I hope you have a wonderful day. You are a great friend and wife to me, and a wonderful mommy to Rory.

We both love you very much!!!!

David

Happy Birthday to Carson

Now, I am AWFUL at remembering birthdays and anniversaries, so please don't count on me to remember to post them all. But I happen to know when Carson's birthday is AND I happened to remember it this year!
Miss you buddy!
Keep warm on your birthday and find something good to eat.
Love,
David, Steph and Rory

Need family email addresses

Please send me any family email addresses you can. I know of 3 I am missing currently- Annie, Kenny & Teddy.

So if you can help me out, send them to me via email and I will add them as contributors to this blog.

Thanks Everybody!

Kookies and Kaplans

Greetings All,

Today's big event is the celebration of the Epiphany with Sara's parents. The brand of Catholicism that is observed in Mexico includes this tiny holiday (actually the 6th of January) to celebrate the arrival of the three wise men in Bethlehem. According to scholars, the wise men didn't reach Jesus until two years after his birth. So, two weeks after Christmas Sara's parents have everyone over for food and fun! For the occasion I've made a batch of shortbread cookies that I intend to dip in chocolate before Sara gets home. Tonight will probably be spent over a fish dinner (as it's Friday), with another shower of holiday gifts, and couple rounds of Nana's favorite card game; Bueda. Party on!!

Be careful with hair clippers.

Rory had an "incident" at the barber. An incident involving a miscommunication and the loss of much hair. I am bitter about it. Rory's wearing a lot of hats these days to cover up the issue.

Lucky for him he is cute.

Happy New Year!

This is an awesome idea! Thank you Shegazelle for setting this up!

I'm looking forward to a new year with a renewed hope. Life had some major changes for me in 2010. The majorest (is that a word?) of all was the purchase of my new home. I've been so happy in my home and very happy to have my family come to visit and stay with me. I look forward to many more happy times at the "Ponderosa". Welcome one and all (please, not at the same time!)I would love to have you visit or stay with me. Just call me up for reservations...I'll leave the light on for ya!

Laurie

Welcome!

Welcome to the Bray's Bulletin Online edition! The idea for the original Bray's Bulletin was not my own, but it was good and enjoyable in it's time. The idea for the Online Edition came to me recently, and so begins the virtual pages of www.braysbulletin.blogspot.com. All generations are welcome to contribute, young and old. If you are not yet a contributor, please email me so I can add your email to the list of authors for this blog.

Please post pictures, family news or a funny or two. Post anytime- as often or as little as you like. And as we used to do with the paper edition, you are welcome to share with a good friend.

So here it is for Brays from the frigid north (kudos to the Bray missionaries!) to the warm, sunny south. Let's get together here in this virtual corner of the world!