Baby Porter

Yes, it's been awhile since I have posted, so I have a bunch of things to catch up on. But none of them are more important than this one. Baby Porter is finally here! And yes, that means that I am a grandma - and I couldn't be more happy about it!

First family picture.

Porter Lyle Bracken was born on December 4, 2013 at 10:20 pm. He weighed in at 7 lbs 3 oz and was 20 3/4 inches long.

Turns out Maquel had to have an emergency "C" section. She had a prolapsed cord, which basically means that the cord was coming out before the baby. When they finally got the baby out, the cord was wrapped around his neck and leg too. It was a pretty scary experience for them. We are so glad that everything went so well and that both Maquel and Porter were okay.

Maquel and Lyle did not want family up at the hospital (it was really hard, but we respected their wishes), so we really didn't know anything. We knew that they started her on the 4th at around 10:00 am, but that is all we knew. We couldn't get texts or any updates from them at all. We all spent a very restless night worrying about her and the baby - and come to find out, he was already here. No matter how old your kids are, you never stop worrying about them - it just doesn't happen! About 6:30 am on December 5, she finally called us. That is when we were invited to go up and see Porter for the first time.

One of my favorite pictures!

He loves sticking his tongue out!

Jordan is officially an uncle now.

His hospital picture.

Everyone who saw Porter after he was born said what a cute baby he is, and he really is. A lot of babies are red and it takes a couple of weeks for them to get really cute. It wasn't that way with Porter. He was born cute!

Great-Grandma

Great-Grandpa

Christmas Eve - he has grown so much.

Kevin in heaven.

Kolar loves holding him.

Great-Grandma Blake

His Santa hat is just a little big.

 

In his Christmas jammies from grandma and grandpa.

I love this picture - his Christmas sock is so much bigger than he is!

Outfit we gave Porter for Christmas - had to have some blue and gold.

And of course, the Cowboys gear!

 

Porter has brought so much joy into our family. Last Christmas was not the easiest one. Losing Kevin's dad just days before Christmas was so hard on the whole family. It actually didn't really feel like we had Christmas at all last year. Now we have a new spirit in our family. He is perfect in every way! We are so blessed to have such an angel become part of our family!

Catching Up

I haven't posted to "my" blog for awhile because I am constantly updating Dylan's missionary blog. I put a lot of my time and emotions there, so this one is like the last on my list.

Just to update a couple of things. The kids started school. Jordan is starting high school and Kolar is starting 5th grade - the last year we will have a kid in elementary school. Definitely a good thing, but sad too. Our kids are growing up!

 

 

Then the past week or so we painted our house. I am loving the colors. Our house is in the shade, so you can't really tell the colors, but it is gray with black shutters and doors, and white trim. Kevin did most of it, but me and the boys helped when we could.

And of course with the start of school and fall coming we have FOOTBALL. I seriously love this sport. I love the Friday night lights and the community coming together to support this sport. Although Blanding plays several different sports and are good at a lot of them, our town sport is definitely football! I had to take some picture of Jordan in his travel shirt. He doesn't get to travel with the varsity team (he is only a freshman), but he gets to play on both the C and JV teams.

Dylan is doing really well. He is in Atlanta, Georgia now. He flew in this week and we got to talk to him. I do really well while I am talking to him, but fall apart when I'm done. Man, I miss that kid! And now that he is in Georgia, I won't get an email from him on Friday. His p-day should be Monday and I can't wait for that!

 

And Maquel is finally starting to show her cute baby belly. I can't wait for little Porter to join the family. Our first grandbaby - how exciting! I just know that her and Lyle are going to make amazing parents.

 

I am so BLESSED. LIFE IS GOOD!

State Baseball

After we took Dylan to the MTC, Jordan played in the State Baseball Tournament for his league. It was a good distraction for me and gave me something to focus on, other than Dylan being gone.

We only have three teams in our league, so it is kind of frustrating playing. Blanding took an all-star team with a couple of Monticello players too. Then there was Carbon and Vernal - that's it. I wish we would have state like we have in past years so that there were 10 or more teams to play. It made the tournament a lot more fun.

Here are some pictures from the tournament.

Vernal had two pictures that could pitch so fast. Most of the kids couldn't hit off of them, and we lost to them. But we were able to hang with Carbon. We won them in pool play, then we lost to them in the tournament. Then we had to play them again in the tournament because we had both lost one game - us to them, and them to Vernal. It was a brutal game.

Luckily we were the home team. We were ahead by five during the sixth quarter and Carbon made 10 points in the 7th inning. Their parents went crazy. I can understand a little bit, but they acted like they just won and we had no chance. They kept screaming, "Here we go Carbon, here we go!" Even their coach on the field was going crazy. Then they had this one kid that whenever he hit and got on base would blow our picture a kiss and do a dance. It seriously was ridiculous.

Well, we totally rallied and came back. We scored six points - plus I'm sure we would have scored more - to win the game. We shut them up, that's for sure. This win put us in the championship game. Jordan did awesome pitching. He pitched the first two innings and help Vernal to 2 runs. The top of the third inning, it was 2-0. Three pitchers and two innings later, it was 15-0 and game.

I am really proud of our team. We were good sports and played really well as a team. We took second place, which was really good for us. Here is Jordan with his team and the trophy that the got. They also all got a ball and had each other sign it.

A couple of weeks before Jordan's tournament, Kolar played a tournament in Blanding. His team took 5th place, but they played really good. I am really proud of my boys and their talents. They always put their heart and soul into the sports that they play. Good job, boys! Love you both!!!

Jordan's Birthday

I am behind on posting this, but wanted to post something on Jordan's 15th birthday. He turned 15 on July 15, 2013. He even has his learner's permit now and can actually drive (watch out everyone). We were taking Dylan up to the MTC the next day, so Jordan just wanted money. He is pretty picky about his clothes and shoes, but he was able to get quite a few nice outfits.

After Dylan was set apart as a missionary, we came home and had Jordan's birthday dinner. He wanted BBQ ribs, mashed cheesy potatoes, and raspberry pretzel jello. I fixed two huge racks of ribs for everyone and I think Jordan ate a whole one himself. Man can that kid put food away! For dessert we had his favorite - cheesecake!

Here are some of my favorite non-sports pictures of Jordan as a kid - hey, and he is even smiling in most of them.

Jordan's 1st birthday - man he loved those taffy sticks!

Loved this outfit for church.

Love this one!

 

Being goofy.

 

He loved the huge slippers.

 

The Jordan clothes.

 

 

I am so glad that this kid is part of our family. He is so talented and smart and awesome and athletic. He works really hard to be who he is. Love you bud.

 

 

A week after Dylan went into the MTC, Jordan went to Martin's Cove to Rocky Ridge. They had a 12 hour bus ride there, two days of walking 15 + miles, and a 12 hour bus ride home. At first Jordan didn't want to go, but then he decided to go. Jimmy and Rachel Johnson were his pa and ma. Kamri and Charis were also in his family, so he at least had people he knew.

 

He left Tuesday morning at 4:00 in the morning and got home Friday night at 10:15 at night. He stayed up and talked to me and Kevin for an hour after he got home. He said he had such a great time. He said that the spirit was so strong and he had never felt the spirit that strong in his whole life. I am so glad that he went and was able to feel the spirit. Not just that, but that he was able to see a little bit of what the pioneers went through. They made tremendous sacrifices so that we could live in Utah and have the true gospel in our lives. I am so thankful that the Stake took all the youth in Blanding so they could have this amazing experience.



Dylan's 1st Letter!

Every day after we put Dylan in the MTC, I have been checking my email. Dylan said that he would email me and let me know his new address. Well, an email never came. We got home on Saturday, and low and behold, we had a letter in the mail. Yes, I started crying again, but they were tears of joy! I was so happy to hear from him. Here is his letter.

July 17th 2013

Dear family,

Today has been a good day/crazy day. First there was leaving you behind, then there was everything we had to jam into today like getting to our room and getting our keys, name tags, IDs, and a bunch more stuff. Then we get to class and the teacher speaks nothing but Portuguese. Haha. But today has definitely been a great day. The food here is great and its like the Cruise - there is like a million things to choose from. They even have the soft ice cream machines.

My companion is Elder Palmer. He is a little bit different. Then I have Elder Ence and Elder Stevens in my room. They are definitely a bit different too. Then we have one more set of companions in our room too - Elder Buch and Elder Madson. So we have 6 people in a 2 person room. Its really stuffed. But its amazing and I'm doing great and I'm already learning tons. We already have 3 sets of investigators. Its pretty crazy because its only my first day. But its Awesome and my teach is so dang awesome! I already love her.

But I love you guys and hope that your not worrying about me because I'm fine. The gospel is true and the church is true.

Love,
Elder Blake

For any of you out there that would like to write to Dylan, his address is:

Elder Dylan John Blake
AUG 26 BRA-SPS
2007 N 900 E, Unit 2
Provo, UT   84602
Dylan.Blake@myldsmail.net

He can only read email on his p-day, but another way to get in touch would be to email him through www.dearelder.com. I guess they print the letters off free and daily for those in the Provo MTC.

I know that he will receive a ton of letters and prayers! We definitely have a very supportive family!

Just knowing that he likes the food and won't starve and that he is already learning a ton is like music to my ears. I am so glad that he is doing so well and that we were able to hear from him. I can definitely tell that I am going to look forward to his p-days and emails. Can't wait to hear more!

The Worst Day of My Life - But Also the Best!

 

Well, Dylan was supposed to fly to Brazil on July 16 and attend the MTC there, but of course, his visa didn't come. Most of the missionaries going to Brazil have not received their visa in time. So on July 4th the Stake President said he got an email stating that Dylan would be entering the Provo MTC on July 17 at 12:30 pm. Wow, I honestly can't believe it is here already.

The night before Dylan went into the MTC, we sat up and had our last mother-son heart-to-heart. I told him how proud I was of him and that I knew he was going where he was supposed to go. I told them that even though he was doing the right thing, things would not always be easy, that Satan would always try to get to him, but that every answer to any problem is found on your knees and in the scriptures. If he turned to the Lord in everything, that Satan would not be able to get to him. It was definitely an emotional time for both of us.

Well, the day arrived and we decided to go to the Provo Temple and take some pictures. I guess it is sort of a missionary tradition.

I seriously held it together until now. Then I totally lost it. My boys all saying goodbye to each other, just kind of did me in. It was seriously so touching.

Then an emotional goodbye with father and son - man the tears were really flowing now!

After this we got in the car and went to the MTC. We drove through the gates at 12:22 pm. You see several security guards and one of them asks if you are dropping off a boy or girl and they put a sticker on your car. You see several more guards on the way. One of them heard me crying (yes, I was crying that loud - sobbing actually), and said, "You aren't crying already are you?"

Then you go down a long alley/driveway where missionaries are lined up all along the side waving to you. And before you know it, you pull up and get out. We took his suitcases out and gave him one last hug. Then he was gone - last time I can see him in person for two years! And we were exiting the MTC by 12:27 pm. In 5 minutes, my life and his life changed forever - both definitely for the better!

I have given birth to four children and had one horrible miscarriage, and yet through everything, nothing was as hard as dropping Dylan off at the MTC and knowing that I would not see him for two more years! I know he is doing what was right, but my heart is truly breaking into a thousand pieces! I know he is where he is supposed to be, but I will sure miss him - we all will! Love you to the moon, Dylan and so proud of you!