Merry Christmas

Well the mid section of the country is getting hit pretty hard by a HUGE storm. We are getting wind and some rain is on the way. This will be quiet around the Brandt household again this year. Shelia, Brianna and I are watching "It's a Wonderful Life" for millionth time. Shelia and I watched White Christmas earlier. Brianna is very excited about tomorrow and chompin at the bit checking out all her presents. Shelia and I bought each some Bicycles. We each got a Beach Cruiser's and a bike carrier so we can take them camping with us. Shelia will not read this until after Christmas morning so I can say I got her some socks and she got me some chocolate covered cherries.. Hee hee......

Christmas Day we will have a big breakfast and go to the show and see Sherlock Holmes. Then home for a Ham dinner.

Here is wishing you all a very Merry Christmas...... and a Happy New Year

Each day is a Blessing

Hello everyone I am so sorry that we just have not been very good at keeping up with the blog.
Brianna just finished her second week with JOBS and is home for the Christmas Holiday til January 4th. Her first week she got 2 ribbons at JOBS. You must get a total of 13 ribbons to be able to graduate out of the JOBS Program. Each ribbon is for a job well done. They work on job ethics.
Attendance & punctuality, appearance & hygiene, safety awareness, following instructions, staying on task, work quality, work speed, staff relations, respond to correction, peer relations, work tolerance, initiative and works independently. Brianna's two ribbons that she got was for work quality and work tolerance. Very good because usually it takes about 3 weeks before you get your first ribbon and she got two in her first week. Her second week they did not do a ribbon ceremony because of the Christmas Holiday and some people leave early for that. Lee and I are still trying to get over this gross virus that we have. Some days we feel pretty good and then we are back to feeling gross again.
They are calling for snow flurries the entire week-end. It is 34 and misty rain at the moment.
Have a great day I will try and stay up with the blog..love us

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

WOW it is that time of year again. First I have a disclaimer Lee is doing the Christmas Cards!! I am so thankful that he wanted to help because we have been sick and now we are WAY behind on everything. Brianna is in her first full week of the JOBS program, Alex is in England and we are trying to sell the house here in TN so that we can move closer to CA to be with our friends and family.
We miss you all very much.

Brianna Update

We just got the call from TRC Brianna made it she is in JOBS!!!!! We are so proud of her. PRAISE THE LORD Thank you for all your Prayers.

Off to Pennslyvania

Well we went and got Bree yesterday from the TRC and of course she is very tried. Wonder why??lol
We will be doing laundry and packing so that we can head off to PA. to spend Thanksgiving with Toni, Tim and the girls. Lee says he would like to be out by 7am that is alot better then what he said at the beginning of the week. He wanted to be on the road by 5am, no way on my birthday I have to get up that early.
We are wishing everyone a Happy, Blessed and safe Thanksgiving. Gobble, Gobble.

November 15, 1969

WOW 40 years ago today Lee and I said our "I DOS" . That went fast. Many ups and downs, good and bad, happy and sad but we have stuck together and I think we would do it all over again. Maybe listen to our parents a little more and save all the $$ we spent that we could have saved. hehe
I love you Lee.

Corvette Museum

Woooooo Hoooooooo....... Empty Nesters...... He Hee Hee

Brianna Update

Good news!! The TRC just called to let us know that Brianna will be able to start her 2 week trial on Monday. She will be there 11/16 to 11/20 then a break the week of Thanksgiving and then back on 11/30 to 12/4 if she passes they will take her right into the program on 12/7.

OK New Post

Brianna went to the doctor yesterday and he released her. Kidney/bladder infections is gone legs look good. As soon as she got home she put on her jeans. She was a happy camper. I have a call into the TRC and waiting to hear back from them to see when Bree will get to go back for the one week assessment for J.O.B.S. Well most of the trees in our yard have lost their leaves they look so sad. Yes I have been busy with my crafty things our Harvest Fair here in Portland is Saturday, November 14th.
Once we hear from the TRC I will post again.
Everyone be safe at whatever you day but enjoy life.

Brianna update

Bree went back to the doctor on 10/19 and he was very pleased at how good her legs look. The one sore is really deep so it is taking a while to heal. The other two are almost completely healed. He will see her again on 11/2 for another recheck. Now if they are still looking good then she gets to start walking more and wearing pants again. She will start out in sweats and jogging pants then she will graduate to jeans. Once she has worn her jeans for a few days with a lot of walking and no rash then he will release her. Then we notify TRC and they put on at the top of the list to come back for another one week trial. They would do a one day assessment for JOBS to see if she can go into that program. If the assessment goes well then it is back on the list for an opening so she can do her trial period with them. Their trial period I believe is two weeks then if she passes that then I believe it is back on a list for an opening. This could go on forever. Lets hope not.

Just moving along

Well Brianna's legs are looking much better. The skin is peeling some from the infection. The meds they have her on for the bladder/kidney infection makes her drowsy other then that no hives which is awesome. Bree doesn't do well on antibiotics. She only has one spot that still looks yucky but each time I put the cream on it seems to slowly be improving. Thanks for all the prayers. Now if Bree will just take this situation and learn from it then that will be a good thing. She can't live on four or five hours of sleep a night. It only took a little over two weeks and her body started crashing. We will have to wait and see what happens once she gets back to TRC. We have already told her she WILL NOT be staying there over the week-end until she proves herself. We will pick her up on Friday right after her class and take her back Sunday evening. She is not a happy camper on that note but we told her once she has proven that she will go to her room no later then 9pm and take care of herself then we will slowly start letting her stay over the week-ends. We hate treating her like a child but if that is how she wants to act then SO BE IT.
Take care everyone.

Getting Better

Brianna is getting better and Shelia is doing a AWESOME job nursing her. We have been doing a lot of talking to Bri regarding her taking care of her self. I am sure Shelia will post more in the days to come.

Brianna Update

She went to our doctor today. He could not believe how bad it was and believe me it has gotten so much better. He took her off the cream and put her on clotrimazole antifungal cream and fluconazole for the yeast infection. He is sending off the urine sample to see if she has any infection there. He said to give her baths 3 to 4 times a day and to keep the area dry. The doctor also went over the importance of sleep, eating well and drinking water. He told her she needs at least 8 hours of sleep each night.

Update on Brianna

We received a phone call from the TRC yesterday that they were doing a medical discharge on Brianna because she is so ill. They put her in a wheelchair on Thursday late afternoon after the doctor saw her for a second time and the infection was not getting any better if anything it was getting worse. They want her walking as little as possible because with her gate she is just rubbing those thighs raw.
WOW this yeast infection on her inner thighs is awful. It is rubbed raw. It is half way down her inner thighs. I have never seen anything this bad. She is in so much pain when she tries to walk. The doctor at the TRC has her on Nystatin Cream which is put on twice a day after she has showered and then she is also on Keflex 500 mg one cap in the am and pm. We have a doctors appointment with our doctor on Monday morning. She is a mess. She was so tired she went to bed at 9pm, even though she wasn't tired and was sounded asleep in 10 minutes.
Once she gets well we call the TRC and they will put her on the top of the list to see about getting her in the JOBS program.

Brianna (Take 2)

Brianna (worked) the food service program today and tomorrow she will go back to the TBI unit. Monday she is going to the JOBS program. They are trying to find something for her.

Right now she is hurting (she has what we would refer to as Jock Itch and it is a sever case from what we are being told) we think it is caused by a combination of her gate (the way she walks) and not drying properly. She will be coming home this weekend to not only heal but for us to try and talk to her about the opportunity.

As we all know she is very social (as we all know) and being she was stuck with her parents for a long time. Now she is with her peers she went over board with them and got distracted from the purpose of the TRC....

I hope you all can read between the lines and understand where Shelia and I are with this situation....

Brianna Update

Well Brianna did not make it into the TBI program at the TRC. They said the classroom setting is not a good fit for her. They believe she is a hands on learner. They are going to see if she can get into J.O.B.S. this is a program which provides instruction and helps develop basic work habits and behaviors that are necessary to learn before you can get a job or enter other training programs within the TRC. Needless to say this was not a good visit for Bree (or us). If JOBS doesn't work then we are not sure what will happen. We have to find something for Brianna she just can not continue living with us. She is only 24 and has her whole life ahead of her.

Not Sure About Bri.

Well things at the TRC are iffy. Brianna has got her card taken away from her so she is not able to go on any off campus activities because she got caught with her "new boyfriend" (Mike) this is a different Mike from her first go around at the TRC. Our hands are tied and she is on her own. This is a real set back she does not understand how important this is for her. She only see's what is right in front of her. We have a meeting on Tuesday with the teachers and administration to determined if she can stay. We are taking more of her stuff when we go there on Tuesday. We are trying our best to remain positive. We can only hope our prayers are answered and she gets a clue. We are disappointed with her and ourselves. I can only hope all this worrying is for nothing and she see's the light. Stay tuned.

The count down is on

Well we will be leaving around 8am tomorrow to take Brianna to TRC. She has had several meltdowns I'm not sure why. I told her she has already been to TRC and knows what is required of her but for some reason she is really nervous this time. We are thinking maybe it just seems more final to her that it is time for her to move on. But anyway if you could all say a prayer for her that she understands the importance of the classes and that she needs to stay focused on that and not the social aspect of the TRC.
Today is the first day of autumn my favorite time of the year. Lee and I hope to get out and get some really good pictures of the colors this year. Last year we keep saying we need to take a road trip to take pictures and then the next thing we knew there were no leaves on the tress. This year we hope to do better.
Everyone have a great day and be safe in what ever you do.

Love
the Brandts

Rain Rain Rain.... And more on the way

Your gonna like this. Not sure if most of you know but we have had a lot of rain back here for the past week (and there is more to come) but anyway. There is flooding south of us and the other day they were doing a news report about a family who were trapped. They tried several ways to get to them with no luck. Finely the guy said the heck with it and loaded up his family and dog (a Black Lab) into their truck and decided to go for it. The news crew was there filming and the guy had to cross a spot that was about 2 feet deep. So here here he comes (about 25 miles an hour) and water was flying everywhere. Well he made it (Yay) and everyone was cheering and the cameras were rolling. Then the guy opens his door on the truck and the damn dog jumped out and ran right straight for the water and jumped in. The funny part was the camera man was shooting the dog and not the people who had just been saved. Anyway the dog almost drowned in the swift water. They saved him... Then they showed rescues with people using their John Deer Tractors........ Gotta love the south..

Brianna Update

We just got the e-mail that Brianna goes into the TRC on September 23. Bless her heart. We were leaving on the 24th for Woman's Retreat for church to Pigeon Forge, which has already been paid for and now there will be no trip for Bree.

She said that's ok she is so excited. She goes in for her 2 week trial and now we pray that she gets accepted into the program.

Lock A

http://s649.photobucket.com/albums/uu212/Brandt-127/Lock%20A%208-09/?albumview=slideshow

Our camp-out was great. There was 37 people at the pot luck. The camp grounds was so nice everything is so clean, green and I loved the paved site to put the rig on everything stays nice and clean. We were camped right on the Cumberland River and it was awesome.
TRC had their graduation on August 28tha and we went. Very touching. All the grads were so proud of what they had done. I believe 6 grads were from the TBI unit so hopefully that will open up some space.
We have all 3 been under the weather with some kind of bug or allergies or something.
Well we were up at 5am closing windows a 30% chance of hit and miss showers turned into lightening, thunder and a down pour that is still going on. Of course Bree slept through the storming. She gets up this morning ans says "oh it is storming outside" How she can sleep through the thunder I do not know the thunder here sounds like it is going to rip the house apart. Very, very loud!!
Well every one have a great day and be safe and remember the Lord loves you.

House for Sale

Well the house has the for sale sign on it.
Once we get the link for the virtual tour I will post it for everyone to see.
We will be heading out tomorrow morning for our camp-out that we are hosting. We have all been down with some kind of virus so we have a lot of work to do today to get ready. Usually we do a little bit each day but we just haven't felt up to it. Today we are heading to Bowling Green to go to Camping World and Sam's Club then we will start packing the trailer. Hopefully the weatherman is wrong because they are calling for rain Thursday thorough Saturday. It is only 30% so if it does rain maybe it will just be a little.
Oh Alex told us last night that he made Staff Sergeant and Brianna is doing really well on her new meds for her depression. We still have not hear from TRC but they have a big graduation on Friday, which we will be going to so hopefully that will open up some space.
Everyone enjoy your day and be safe.

Update

Brianna went to see Dr. John Cain yesterday for her psychiatric evaluation. He said yes he felt she is depressed but not extremely depressed. He has prescribed a low dose of Citalopram for her depression and anxiety so we will see how that goes. He will see her again on Sept. 14th. Hopefully she will be in TRC by then. No we have not heard anything from them.

Now on a lighter note.
We went camping with our Camp Tenn group. We had so much fun. The theme was "Birthday Bash". The kids and big kids decorated cupcakes. They did a really good job. Of course we had a great potluck with tons of food. It was pretty humid the whole time and we had a downpour on Friday night. The people in this group are awesome. Our next rip is August 26 - 31 and we will be hosting that one. The theme for our camp out is "A Day at the Beach" it should be fun.

Well gotta go lots of stuff to do after camping for 5 days.

Everyone have a great day and be safe.

Nothing Much Happening

Not much going on. We got Brianna's report today from the TRC and it didn't really tell us much more then we already knew.

Brianna has been doing good for the past week and we hope she keeps it up. She has earned the right to Play her Play Station and watch TV 4 hours a day. She is keeping track her time and managing it. 2 hours each or 3 hours and 1 hour.

We got new neighbors today Ted Kennedy and his wife Donna. We went over and gave them a little house warming gift of a candle. Seem like nice people they moved here from Michigan.

We learned that July was the wettest and coolest in many many years... only 4 days in the 90's and over 6 inches of rain......... Man everything is so green....

Brianna Update

Well good news and some not so good news on Bree.

They said she has more positives working for her then negatives but the negatives are something they can not work on.

She tested average on all the testing which is good and she has visual impairment on the right side and organizational problems. That we already knew. Her main problem and this is something only Brianna can work on is being interested in the TBI classes themselves. A lot of the times she would set in the class with her head on the table and not interact with the class, she will not make eye contact with people in class. They do believe Brianna is depressed and they want us to have her seen by a Psychiatrist for possible meds.

At this point they have put her on an active waiting list (2 to 4 months long) for her to come back for a two week trail period. If after the trail period they see more interest, interaction and enthusiasm on her part then she can start the program. If she does not show interest, interaction and enthusiasm she will not qualify for the TBI program.

So now it is really up to Brianna. She has the social side all wrapped up but the working part is a different story.

So now it is just a waiting game. We are leaving it in the Lords hands He knows what His plan is.

Me

It's almost time

Tomorrow is the day that we find out if the TRC can put a program together for Brianna. Please keep her in your prayers. She is really enjoying herself there and I just don't know what will happen if they are not able to help her.

Just a Update

Brianna is doing well and adapting to her new surroundings. She called last night and told us and I quote " Mom I love here and hope I make it into the program here at the TRC" she also said and I quote again "You and Dad are smothering me and I need to break free". At which point I said and I quote "Whoopee" ha ha ha...... Anyway she is doing real well and we wish her the best.

Yesterday as I was heading towards Wal-Mart going down "The 31w" I noticed a bug about the size of a Winnebago flying towards the car. Well it hit the outside rear view mirror and rick-o-shade inside the open car window and struck me in the neck. Well I was doing about 55 at the time and there was no place to pull over so I started slapping my neck and my shirt and everything else with-in range. I pulled into the Wal-Mart parking lot and jumped out of the car (still slapping stuff) and this guy walked to me and asked if I was OK. I told him what happened and he saw the welt the size of a Winnebago on my neck. He started grinning (yes he had teeth) and we were looking all over the car for a dead or injured Winnebago. There it was laying on the back seat (Shinny side down) with it's wheels (LEGGS) churning the air. Well I quick like a bunny flicked him outside on the ground and the guy in the Wal-Mart parking lot smashed him or her. OK so it was a Beetle about the size of a dime. BUT IT COULD HAVE BEEN A WINNEBAGO. So that was traumatic RIGHT! Well last night about 9:30 I was standing at the back door and I turned on the back flood lights and in the yard was a animal about the size of a cat. Well it turned around and looked me eye to eye and low and behold it was Pepe La Pew....... Oh C**P I shouted (very softly) and he turned around threw his or her tail in the air and......................................... Walked away. Phew I said to myself I was happy I didn't have to say PU...... OK so that's the latest.

Today Shelia had a procedure done that involved the use of a CAMERA and she is 100% fine........ Pictures to follow if anyone finds it necessary... Just kidding

Brianna Update

Lee and I took the different tops to Bree today. She says to tell everyone "Hello". She was very happy to see us but could not wait for us to leave so she could get back to new friends. She is doing great. Her room probably would not have passed the room inspection but it was very good for Bree. We are asking for prayers now that the TRC can put together a program for her it is about time that things start working out for her.

Bummer

When we were in California Brianna went on a shopping spree and got herself a bunch of tops and pants for the TRC. The tops are cute peasant type tops. Well she just called and said they will not let her wear them because some of her bra strap shows and they think they are a little to low cut !!?? Dad and I though they were fine but anyway we will need to take a trip out to TRC tomorrow afternoon and take her some t-shirts. She can wear t-shirts as long as there is no "bad" writing on them. So road trip tomorrow afternoon.

Brianna

Lets see she has called three times today. This morning after breakfast to let us know what she had and that she was on her way to class, at 3:15 to say she was done for the day, lots of testing and then she just called to say she passed her room inspection. She was a happy camper.

Pics of the TRC

Click on them and they will get bigger......

http://picasaweb.google.com/LeeandShe.Brandt/TRC#

If you click on the LINK above you will see the same pictures with Captions... (I Think) LoL

We are back from TRC

We left @ 7:23 this morning and got back @ 4:38. The center had concerns about Bree mobility and her memory (go figure she had a brain injury). Anyway they asked if we would stay fro a few extra hours just to make sure she was doing ok. So of course we did. We are disappointed because we found out that they do not have an opening right now if everything goes well with this evaluation then it could be 2 to 3 months before she gets into the program.
For anyone who would like to send her a card or note her address is:

Brianna Brandt room#214
c/o Joanna Landurm, TBI Unit
Tennessee Rehabilition Center
460 9th Ave.
Smyrna, TN 37167

If you want to send her a card do it soon she will only be there until next Friday the 17th

It was hard saying good bye but I know the Lord will watch over her.

Here is her schedule for the next two days, she will not get next week's schedule till Friday.
8:15 Physical Therapy Assessment
9:00 Vocational Assessment
10:00 to 10:15 break
10:00 Occupational Therapy Assessment
11:00 TBI Education
11:45 Lunch
1:00 Meeting Dr Glenn Psychological Assessment
2:00 Vocational Assessment again
3:15 Testing done for the day

8:15 Vocational Assessment
9:00 Speech Assessment
10: to 10:15 break
10:15 Vision Assessment
11:00 TBI Support Group
11:45 Lunch
1:00 OT/PT Assessment
2:00 Break
2:15 Leisure Skills
3:15 Testing done for the day

She is going to be one busy little lady.
Lee will post some pictures.

6 AM

It is 6am and we have been up for a 1/2 hour. Showers are almost done and packing of the car should begin soon. Shelia and I remembered Sept 23 2003 when Alex left for the Air Force. Today July 8 2009 is the day our little girl takes a GIANT step.. I wonder if we will remember this date also... At least with Bri she will not be far away and she is going to a place that's full of LOVE. Unlike Alex where he went was far away and everyone there yelled at him..... LOL.

Yes the camera is in the car.....

BIG DAY

Well tomorrow we will leave @ 7am to take Brianna to TRC. Today we are going to go see the Pixar movie "UP". That should keep our minds busy for a few hours. When we get home we will go thorough everything one more time to make sure we have everything that Brianna needs. Once we found out what her address is we will let every know so if you want to drop her a note of encouragement you can. We are taking our camera and hopefully we will be able to take pictures of her room and then Lee can post them. Well it's about time for us to leave we need to go to the bank so she can get some $$.
I will try and post more tomorrow.

Doppler Radar

Check out the RED line of a Thunder Storm that we watched for about an hour approaching us from the west....... Nature gave us one heck of a Celebration of the 4th of July......

TRC

One week from today Bree will be leaving for the TRC for her two week evaluation. She went to the doctor last week and got all her meds. recorder and had blood work done. Today she went to the dentist and got her teeth cleaned :) Now we need to go through her drawers and see what jeans she can take. She is totally bummed because she can not wear low ride jeans or blink and torn jeans. No T-shirts with writting. We also have to buy bed foam, mattress cover, sheets and spread for a twin size bed. We don't believe she will be able to take her cell phone so we need to get her a calling card.
I will try and keep the blog updated with everything that goes on.
Take care and be safe at whatever you do.

Love
me

Lee Does A Happy Dance......

Sometime between 8:00 am and 8:15 am my e-mail LIT-UP... Apparently 2 of the people that had a lot to do with me quitting and re-tiring early. GOT LAID OFF.....

We are back in Portland

I guess I better post something so I don't get YELLED at by certain people. (and you know who you are) ha ha ha..... It has been Hot and Humid ever sense we got back. I have learned that being retired in this weather is not that bad. I just take it easy and take lots of breaks. Hey just like my old job..... LoL
Anyway we have been busy cleaning the truck and "Birdie" we were gone 10 weeks and put almost 11,000 miles. We really enjoyed our adventure and vacation and would do it again in a heart beat. We did talk and decided that we were gone a little long and next time we will keep it shorter.
We have also getting ready to send Brianna to the TRC. She is nervous as we are also. We got her packet this week and have been reading it over. They have lots of RULES that Brianna will have to live by...
OK that's it for now....... Are ya happy now?

Back to Tennessee

We are in Benton Illinois. Should be home by late tomorrow or Sunday. The place we are at right now is Beautiful. I only wish you all could see how pretty it is. The sites all have green grass landing and the RV is sitting on LEVEL gravel. There are plenty of large trees also. I took some pictures and will post them in a few days.

I know you all have heard about the bad weather back here but rest assured that we have not been effected by any of it.

Mount Rushmore

We are on the road towards home..... Thunder and Lightning here so I will post this fast

Good Bye Yellowstone

Today was our last day in Yellowstone. We drove most of the southern loop and saw some amazing stuff....... I hope you enjoy the pictures....

Tomorrow we head to Mt. Rushmore it will take at least 2 days......

God Bless you all...

Yellowstone/Tetons

Today we did a little Yellowstone (Geyser's and Bufflos) we saw Old Faithful and several others. Saw lots and lots Bufflos and then we drove to The Grand Tetons as you can see from the pictures Tetons were awesome and the Lodge at Lake Jackson was something to behold.... Tomorrow is relax and laundry day...

We Arrived at Yellowstone

We stayed at a Indian Casino (Fort Hall) for $20 with full hook ups. The place was awesome and very clean and the food at the Casino wasn't bad either.

We arrived at West Yellowstone around 2ish nice short drive (only 160 miles) little bit of rain... Check out the Bald Eagle nesting we stopped and got a picture (along with a whole bunch of people.)Nice Buffalo as you can see he stood still so I could pet him or her. Shelia got a whiff of the sulfur from the hot pool..

Tomorrow we plan on going to The Grand Tetons... Then after that we will stick around Yellowstone until we leave on Monday...

That's about it for now....

2nd Day Heading to Yellowstone

We followed/passed these guys hauling these huge "Pipes" turns out that they are the Base to Wind Mills. We must have passed/followed 5 or 6 of them.

We were all along the Snake River and took a few pics...

Took a pic of the turn off to Deb and Ralph's home in Idaho.... Kuna....

Weather looked worse then it was.....

Got a phone call from Terry Martin. He is a house husband in New Hampshire and a very dear friend.....

Olympia towards Yellowstone

We left Olympia at 8am had a wonderful day driving. Lots of long climbs and long descents. The truck handled AWESOME.. We are in La Grange Oregon just off I-84 approx. 550 miles from Yellowstone....

Heading East

Tomorrow June 9th 2009 we leave Olympia Washington we head East....

We are leaving Olympia around 7am ish and will head for Yellowstone we hope to make it there in 2 days. We will be staying at Grizzly RV Park for a couple days and visit Yellowstone and The Grand Tetons..

I hope to have internet so I can keep ya'll posted...

We have had a wonderful time but now it's time for our Vacation to start......

Adventure Is On

I was going to ADD to the blog but Shelia wants to use the computer so I HAVE to get off...... You need to guess what the pictures are......

Well our visit to Sunny, Smoggy, and BROKE California is about over. But OH what a grand time we had. We were able to stay at our BESTEST friends resort El Rancho Stephens Resort-A-Rama. We arrived here on or about April 27th. We visited so many family and friends I will and can not list them all. We were able to do a small gatherings and large ones. We loved our adventure here so much. I am going to cut this short because we are off to church in a few minutes. However I will do my best to post more as our travels continue to the state of Washington, and beyond...

Wow It's been a LONG time

Whoops It has been a long time sense I have posted. Well we are in California staying at Mark and Pam's. Out 5th wheel is set up in their back yard. We have been visiting with family and friends and have been so darn busy it is amazing. So many things have happen to us being here I don't know where to start (so I won't) LoL

I am sure I will be posting more as time goes by. We leave here on the 1st of June and head towards Washington to visit with family up there and see friends along the way.

Busy and No Internet

Wow we have been very busy and there has been no internet. Well yes we had internet but it was slower then Molasses.

The pictures show what we have been doing we woke up to snow Friday morning and it was very cold all day. We got to go see Neal Sedaka in concert here in the HUGE tent that is here. We went to the Hot Air Balloon Museum. We have been to several seminars relating to RV's... Last but not least they had a Night Time Lighting of the Balloons and it was awesome.

Balloon Ride 2009

Oh My what a great time we had..... Shelia and Steve did real well........ ha ha ha

More days of our trip

We had a cool drive the past couple days. We traveled Hiway 60, 96, and 160 a lot of it was the old route 66 scooting along the Oklahoma Boarder in Missouri and Kansas and then we picked up Hiway 54 that went South/West towards New Mexico through Oklahoma and Texas. While traveling through Kansas we noticed abandoned homes that look like they were abandoned during the 30's It was kind of Erie thinking about whats going on with the country right now.

Anyway we had a 450 miles day and we were desperate for a RV Park we found a HELL HOLE in Guymon OK. We got in there about 7:00 and watch Australia and went to bed and we were on the road by 6:45 Am in search of coffee and breakfast.. 3 hours later we were at McDonalds eating... Needless to say it was one for the books.....

We are now at American RV Park in Albuquerque along with friends from California and very comfortable.

The 5th wheel is LEAKING at the water inlet AGAIN and I have called the dealer and the builder and we will have to get it fixed when we return... Grrrrrrrr

Day 1 of our 2009 Vacation

We left today @ 9:30 and drove about 300 miles to Sikeston Mo. and we are at a place that has WiFi so I downloaded the pictures we took today. We ate at Lamberts (Home Of The Throwed Rolls) as you can see from the pictures of our dinner it was GREAT. They throw hot rolls from all over the place. Fun fun place. The guy throwing rolls was about 30ft from me and threw it. I caught it just in time before it landed in Shelia's soda. Needless to say we have dinner for tomorrow. The drive was good and good road all the way. Truck ran great and kitty followed just as planned

Fun Weather

Well yesterday it was 75 degrees. We had Thunder Storms and a Tornado Watch came over the weather radios. Wow can it rain here. It was just like some was pouring buckets of water on the front room windows. It is weird though the rain goes away as fast as it comes and the ground soaks it up and you can't tell it was raining so hard.
Today I have the stove going and we may get snow. One of the things we wanted when we moved here was 4 seasons and we sure got it. Except it has been doubled... ha ha ha. Everything is sooooooooooo Green and growing at a pace that I have never seen.

I talked to Alex (via e-mail) and he started working Mids (Midnite to 8am) I guess he is settling in over there and enjoying it.

We leave for "The Rally" Thursday and will meet up with friends from California. We have hired our pastor to do the yards while we are gone. So that is one thing I will not have to worry about.

Camping At Montgomery Bell State Park

I turned 59

The above was taken on my Birthday what a special day it was....

We decided to buy the below.......... My Dad gave us a house warming gift when we moved.






The above was taken on Terry's Birthday..... SHE WAS NOT 59

I removed the Smore as soon as I took the picture...

Lee's Birthday

Well today at last Lee catches up to me he is 59. Bree and I took him to Cracker Barrel for breakfast and we were going to go out to dinner tonight BUT the weather is turning really bad. Rain, ice pellets, sleet and poss. snow so we are going to stay in. We are going to make the poor pizza guy deliver us a pizza.

I hope you all have a great day.

Love ya

Brianna and the TRC

Well at last we have some news. They have let us know that Brianna is scheduled for her 2 week evaluation sometime the end of June beginning of July. That is as of last night. The director of the TBI unit is going to give as the date as soon as she gets it. Why they could not have given us this information earlier we do not know. We have had our lives pretty much on hold because we did not want to be to far from home and get the e-mail that she needed to report to the center.
But Praise the Lord that we at least have this information. As soon as I get the date I will post it.

Thanks for all your prayers.

Love and miss you guys,

Take care and be safe.

Gezzzzzzz

You don't put "GAS" in a Duramax it's "Fuel" Gezzzzzz.

Well I am about half way to getting the new Laptop set up. I am doing my best to keep it clean. So I need people who read this to send me a E-Mail so I can add them to the address book. Yes I am lazy and I could just transfer them over here but I don't remember how. Please don't send it to the Gmail account I am trying to faze it out. How ever I will keep it and check it just in case.

There has been development with Brianna on the TRC. So stay tuned for a update from my better half.

Extra Tank

WOW it is so cold and windy today. But the weather man is calling for 70's by the week-end. Well Lee is a happy camper he just got done installing the extra gas tank in the truck. So he just needs to go put some gas in it and he will be done.

I am so sorry

We have been busy just doing stuff. We took Kitty out on Monday 2/23 up to the KOA in Bowling Green, Ky and spent the night. We just wanted to check everything out to make sure it was working right. Of course it wasn't. Everything was great till we went to close in the living room slide and found out that the carpet at the back of the rig was soaking wet. The holding tank in the back was leaking. Then when we went to dump her the toilet started leaking. Ok Lee says those are easy fixes. So we are driving down the hiway when the breaks started making a grinding sound. So off to Nashville she went. Everything was fixed and she was ready for pick up on Friday. Tuesday night and Wednesday morning is Bible study for Bree and I then Thursday I had a meeting at church with the retreat committee.
I must say I do not know how we worked. It seems like we never have enough time to get everything done that needs to be done.
They are calling for 1 to 2 inches of snow tonight so we will have to see what happens.
Alex is in England trying to get housing off base and just getting use to England. We are still waiting to hear about the TRC for Brianna. Now this is driving all of us crazy.

We wish everyone happiness and sunny skies.

Love
the Brandts

Wow What a Wild 1/2 hour

First as I type this Alex is on his way to England his flights were delayed in Oklahoma and in Chicago. He left Chicago 99 minutes late and is as of right now at 9:05 he is over "The Pond" going 633 MPH at 37,000 feet. Yes I am tracking his flight.. Ha ha ha...

The Storm here hit at 11:55 exactly the time the weather radio said it would. It lasted about 10 to 15 minutes and it rained so hard on the front windows it was like someone turned the hose on and pointed it towards the house. We suffered no ill effects except Direct T.V. went out for a few minutes. (I think it was from the heavy down pour) Shelia was on the phone with Carolyn at the time also. It was VERY windy after wards and still is right now but it has calmed down and is only blowing at 20 mph instead of 40 to 50.

It is nice to know that the weather radios work.........

First Severe Storm of 2009 (Maybe)

Alex leaves for England tomorrow. He is being reassigned to Mildenhall RAF. http://www.mildenhall.af.mil/Please keep him in your prayers. It will be a GREAT experience for him. He has reenlisted for another 6 years.

Brianna has qualified for the TRC and is now on a waiting list as soon as there is a opening she will go in and be evaluated to see if they can help her to learn a skill.

They are calling for severe weather to come through here around 10 or 10:30. Thunderstorms possible along with Tornadoes. We have 2 weather radios plus we have signed up for telephone alerts from a local T.V. station. http://www.newschannel5.com/Global/story.asp?S=9795436&nav=menu374_3

Yes we have a plan....... I have included a couple links if interested......

Here's Kitty

Here's Kitty........

The Ice Man Cometh...

We went to visit Alex last weekend and had a wonderful visit. He is suppose to be heading off to England soon but has yet received his orders. It is hard on him because he is like in limbo. He needs to get rid (sell) his car and there is a lot of "STUFF" in his apartment that needs to be dealt with. He is suppose to report to Mendanhall AFB on Feb. 28th yet he does not have his orders. Needless to say this is driving him crazy.

While there the news was talking about a Ice Storm coming and it was going to hit Monday in the AM. We were either going to stay until Wednesday or leave early Monday. We decided to leave early Monday at 5:45am and we were ahead of the storm by about 2 hours. Going through Conway Arkansas we hit some Ice and all of us on the highway slowed down and drove very carefully. We had some Ice build up on the corners of the windshield but I had the heater on and not the defroster (Lesson Learned) it was coming down as rain but freezing as soon as it hit.

You can see Tuesday we spent the day INSIDE and it rained and froze for a good portion of the day. We never lost power (Thank You Lord) and did not suffer any ill effects at all. It is raining right now and should turn to snow at any time. The weather man out here is for the most part pretty right in as far as timing of the storms so that's kind of neat... Take Care and write when you can! We miss you all and hope to see some of you this summer.

Snow Day #1

Today we got a nice surprise when we woke up.....

Burrrrrrrr

.............Click it to make it bigger.....

Yes that's Minus 10.......... But it's a dry cold.... ha ha ha...

WOW

Sorry I can not believe that we have not written on the blog since New Years Day. OOPPSS
Well as most of you know we sold our motor home. Lee also sold the truck and purchased a new 2008 Chevy Silverado 2500 HD 4x4 Duramax Diesel with 6 speed Allison transmission. His name is Max. Now we start looking for a fifth wheel.
Busy busy I am so happy were are retired.
Lee is down the hill checking into a hitch. What kind, price etc.
Brianna still has not heard anything from the TRC in Smyrna.
Once we get everything I will try and get Lee to post pictures.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2009

Sorry I know I have not posted for a while. I have been busy doing all the Christmas stuff. I hope everyone had a happy and safe New Year. We made it to 12:20. We started the day taking down the Christmas decoration. Most of that is done. The tree and ornaments do not come down till New Years Day. Bad luck you know....hehehe. Last night I made homemade beer bread pizza. OMG it was fantastic!!! Then we got on the web cam and talked with our RV Net friends from California. Then we watched Mummy one and two. We will have to watch Mummy 3 today because it was getting to late last night. At 11:40 we put on the Dick Clark's countdown had our toast of Sprakling apple cidar and then off to bed. No hang over today...
Do you know what year it is. I bet you say the year of the OX. NO!! It is the year of the Shelia. I will be turning 60 this year and I have made it the year of the Shelia. HEHEHE.....
Wishing you happiness and health in 2009.
May the Lord Bless you and yours.
We love you all!!!!

Is that better Caroline in the City....?