Merry Christmas

I apologize for not sending out my Christmas cards this year. I had every good intention to and thing went from busy to really busy and the cards had to be put on the back burner. I had my stamps ready and even had the most adorable family pictures taken with www.janeypiephotography.com (whom I highly recommend in you are around the Baton Rouge area). But if I were to send them they would be a more presentable and festive version of this:

A special thanks to all of our family, friends and to those who have made 2012 an exciting and memorable year. We love and appreciate each of you.
Merry Christmas!
Love, The Bradleys

10.30.2012

October 30, 2012 was super eventful. Our family grew 4 feet in one day! My sister and brother-in-law welcomed their brand new and super cute baby boy, Eli. And a few hours later my cousin delivered her sweet Sydney. How crazy is that? Same day. Same hospital. Same doctor. So much excitement for one day! I think they learned to never schedule 2 Broussards at the same time cause there was a herd of about 15 people going back and forth in the hallways between the rooms.These little babies will not be short on love that is for sure. We are so blessed and absolutely love the new additions to the family. Congratulations to the new parents!
Pictured is little Eli, just as cute as can be! Oh goodness, love that little boy SO much!

Bravos wildcard match.

I was so happy when the braves got into the wildcard game. So happy.
I had much higher expectations than the actual result of their game against the cardinals today.
I am so sad that chipper is retired. So sad.

Athens trip.

A couple weekends ago we were able to spend a long weekend in Georgia. We always love our visits there and it is always wonderful hanging out with family and friends.

Friday afternoon we caught up with Kevin's brothers, Steven and Kyle for lunch at Team Biscuits and Burgers. I highly recommend it. It's a small little place with great service. Loved it.

Friday night we were able to go with family and friends to the Braves vs. Nationals game. I had to see Chipper Jones play one more time before he retires after this season.

Braves won and it was awesome!

Turner Field in all it's glory via instagram.

Kev and I sporting my Chipper Jones souvenir cup.

Saturday we enjoyed game day and a lunch date with Doyle, Chels, and Miss Evie at Stuffed Burger. They put whatever you want inside your hamburger be it cheese, jalapenos, an egg, bacon, mushrooms. So good. That evening we enjoyed a cookout and football with Kevin's family, which is always a treat! And what would all this food be without a little dessert? Steven and Sharee had the great idea of grabbing fro yo to top off our calarie intake for the week.

 

We do other things besides eat. I promise.

 

Hope everyone is enjoying the fall

 and my most favorite time of the year!

Geaux Tigers!

Bree's wedding

This weekend we were able to attend one of my best friend's weddings. We are so happy for Bree and Devin and glad we were able to be part of their special day. Everything was beautiful including the two lovebirds. Congratulations Mr and Mrs Allen! Love you guys.

Isaac update

Lights still on and so is the gumbo.

Isaac

I know some of you may not even be the least bit worried about us but just in case you were I wanted to give you an update with this Tropical Storm/Hurricane Isaac. Right now it is to the East of us and all we will get is some wind and rain - nothing too bad. If it drifts more to the west, which lets hope it does not for NOLA's sake, we will get more winds and more rain. We are also ready if the electricity goes out for a few days. We shall keep you posted.
For today, we will enjoy the drop in temperature and the unusal cool breeze that we get with Isaac making his way toward land.

August Happenings

The first weekend in August we had a bridal shower for one of my best fiends, Bree. Her wedding theme is vintage, which we had fun decorating for. Some of the items - runners, teacups, and bowls - were my great grandmother's so it was so fun to use these little treasures that we have.

I also got brave and whipped up a cake. It wasn't too bad for taking a 3 year break.

My sister made the cutest little favors - flavored popcorn.

 This past weekend we volunteered for Games of Acadiana, which was absolutely amazing. It is a huge fundraiser that the Miles Perret Cancer Services put on every year (click here if you'd like to know about the organization). The mission of Miles Perret Cancer Services is to help families fight, survive, and live with cancer. My own family has benefited from this organization so the least we can do is to help them and our community with this huge event. It is great to see so many people sponser and participate. There was food, games, rock climbing, trampolines, face painting, everything. Absolutely loved, loved, loved this. We will definitely be participating next year.

Alaina bright and smiley at 7AM helping set up balloons before the event. She never complained the entire time and loved helping. 

About to open the doors for opening ceremoies. The picture does not do justice. Tons of booths, balloons, and games. There was also the convention center next door full on the 1st and 2nd floor with activities.

Alaina found her best friends in the face painting line - she was beyond estatic. Their paintings were awesome!

So far August has been a lot of fun and we are booked up every single weekend in September and October so there will be more posts coming!



Fourth Festivities and then some...

What we have been up to the last 2 weeks:

Every week we have mutual. It is just part of the normal routine but I did happen to take a picture of the girls for their craft night. Here they are showing off they're modpodge picture frames.

 My dad's birthday - here he is with the kiddos.

Some of the girls in my family met in Texas for a weekend of shopping in Canton, Texas. It only opens once a month and it is a huge craft fair - you can find just about anything. It was pretty hot but fun for us to just spend time with one another. Everyone commented on our matching shirts and purses - it sure does make it easy to find one another in the crowds. Such a fun weekend!

 My birthday - Mom and the kids brought me Chickfila for breakfast! It fell on a Monday so I eneded up having to work. My family, Kevin and I went to Zea's for dinner, which was amazingly delicious. Gotta love those Thai Ribs and corn grits! We later came home for strawberry cake. It was a low key birthday but an absolutely wonderful one. Thank you to everyone for the cards, gifts, and warm wishes. You made my day wonderful!

 My awesome Aunt Mel got me a Mickey Mouse waffel iron for my birthday! Ever since I can remember when we would have breakfast at granny and PawPaw's we would have Mickey Mouse waffels. We would fill all the little divits in his ears, eyes, and mouth with syrup. I was so excited to receive this and I know it was not easy for her to find. Thanks Clarke family!

  For the fourth of July we rode in the boat around at False River. It was our first time going there and loved the cute homes surronding the lake. They had tubing, a boat parade, and we swam and had a picnic. We all got a little sunburned but really enjoyed our morning there.

After that we went to the Stewarts' for some yummy BBQ and fireworks. There isn't a better way to enjoy the holiday than with good food and good friends! We were especially excited Bree and Devin were visiting. Here are the 3 of us our with our guys!

 My little cousin Cole was baptized and we were able to make a quick trip to Katy to attend that event. We are so excited for Cole and glad that we could be a part of his special day!

  Right after the baptism, we packed in the car and headed back to Louisiana to make our friend, Kelli's wedding that was later that evening. Needless to say, it was a long day on the road but well worth it. The decorations were beautiful and Kelli was gorgeous.

Funny flashback from 2008. Here we are at Meag's wedding - she was the first of us to get married.

...and here we are a few years later with all our wedding rings.

3 years!

Well as of last post I am back home. We have kept busy since my return, bouncing between work, girl's camp, scout camp, weddings, and other various activites. The list doesn't seem long but we are lucky if we get a walk/run in the evenings.

This week we celebrated our 3 year wedding anniversary!

Since it was a work day we did not do much - just lunch at La Pizzeria (yum, one of my favorites). And later that evening we had a romantic time... at mutual. It was still a great day- even though we may not have celebrated as most normal couples do.

again?

They say absence makes the heart grow fonder. What a bunch of bologna - it only makes you lonely. I'm currently in Idaho for training with the hospital for 3 weeks. I thought we said we never wanted to do that again? Unfortunately, we must work so we decided I would come. Good news is I'm half-way thru it and that much closer to seeing my hubby again!

On a more positive note, I get to see my family. They are absolutely wonderful and I'm a lucky girl. 

I miss you, Kev!

Springin' into Action

For Easter weekend we were able to take a quick trip to Georgia and see some of Kevin's family. We hadn't seen Layne and Sarah since our wedding day, which has been almost 3 years! We had the typical spring time activities a barbque/picnic and an egg hunt for the kids. It was an absolutely wonderful weekend. Amazingly, I left without taking a single picture. But I do have this lovely picture of Alaina sporting her Easter Bonnet she made for her party at school.

The following weekend we were able to go to our Camp. We came back with a few crabs and some nice sunburns.

 Oh so I must tell you my Friday the 13th drama! So my little dog Lola is currently living at my sister's home (she is the one who own's Sadie, remember the guacamole dream). They were let out to play and made an escape by digging their way under the fence. Lola is very footlose and fancy-free. The minute she experiences any sort of freedom she jets. And to make it a million times better she has zero sense of direction. So Lola was lost for about 4 to 6 hours on Friday. After walking thru the neighborhood for an hour calling for her, I printed about 150 copies of a lost dog flyer and put one in every mailbox in Heidi's neighborhood and the one next door. (I am aware, it probably is illegal to do that but it was the easiest way for me to get word out). Luckily, she only made it accross the road to the neighbor's back yard. And life is now back to normal. Could have done have done without that!

dreams

So lately I have been having some weird dreams and pretty much each night the last few days. I'd really just like if they stopped all together so that I could get a decent nights rest. These are a few I've had lately...

Dream #1 - I'm in a mexican restaurant with my high school friends and for some strange reason my sister's dog Sadie is there. Maybe Sadie was there because all I do is hear her bark at home constantly. She barks at everything - other dogs, squirrls in the trees, lizards, the wind, a blade of grass. You get it so back to the dream. She starts her *yip*yip*yip* so I say "Here Sadie, go in this." And let her potty in a box of guacamole. Weird right?

Dream #2 - There was a huge black, yellow and red snake hiding under the patio table. Dad told me to kill it with an axe so I took a swing. The snake was so big I only put a scratch on him and it only made the snake more upset. He snapped at my little sister, Alaina, and bit her on the elbow.

update...

I thought it'd be good to let everyone know we are here in Louisiana now. We are almost settled in - we have a place to sleep and a storage unit for most of our belongings (for the time being). Once something interesting happens, I'll be sure to post!

Markie was right...

I can't do it. The purpose of this blog is to keep in touch with friends and family and I feel as though I'm making it impossible to keep them updated with this blog on private. My friend, Markie, told me "everyone that decides to go private goes back." Well, I'm going back. I lasted almost a month.

On another note, why is it snowing now? It has gone almost all winter long with little skiffs that melt quick and now it is sticking - of course it happens the week we are moving. I guess we will be packing the truck in snow/rainy weather. Looking forward to that and driving it in the unplowed streets.

Great news...everything is packed and ready to go. What is even more impressive is I did it alone since Kevin has been working in Louisiana. And just to note, I am so glad we only have enough to fit in our apartment. I couldn't imagine packing a house.

And even better news... Kevin will be home tomorrow! I can't even tell you how excited I am! As long as I can help it, we will never do that again. Ever.

How I spent my weekend...

I found this puzzle of New Orleans' French Quarter at Walmart while I was picking up some cleaning supplies. I was thrilled and worked on it while watching episodes of The Office.

I was actually productive and did some cleaning in between sittings.
The oven has never looked better!

big news... no we're not pregnant

We had come to the conclusion that we would remain in Idaho after Kevin's graduation. We thought it would be smart to avoid the cost of a move and keep my job, which I absolutely love. It has paid the bills and we have insurance benefits and... Idaho might have grown on us a little. Disclaimer: I do not love Idaho, but it has been good to us and I think we've grown up. After a few interviews, prayers, and trying to exercise as much patience as possible...we have decided to move back home to Lafayette at the end of February. Kevin will be working with my dad at the lockshop and getting to use his degree, which is pretty exciting. He hopes to also begin in the Fall 2012 semester for his MBA at U of L. I'm fortunate enough to keep my job with the hospital and I'll be also working at the shop. With this situation it is win-win for everyone involved, which is always great.
We'll be busy and these are big changes but we are excited to be back in the south!

going private

Hello All! If you would like to continue following our blog please email me at frozencajun@gmail.com with your request by February 1st.
Thanks!

Pictures from December 2011

Temple Square - looking at the beautiful lights and freezing!

Kevin graduated from BYU Idaho! Elder Quentin L. Cook attended the ceremonies.

Way to go, Kev!

Dad and Scott came. You know, I just can't see the resemblance...I'm so proud.

Christmas was just us in our apartment. We enjoyed the traditional Bradley German pancake breakfast and opened our stockings and other gifts. We attended church for sacrament meeting and afterwards enjoyed Christmas dinner at our home with a couple of our friends. We then played a few games on new gift - our XBox 360 and kinect! It was a quiet and very relaxing holiday. As wonderful as it would have been (and I wanted to) spend the time with family, I did like it more than I thought I would.