Tuesday, March 29, 2011

our pregnancy announcement

I really wanted to insert my thoughts. I re-read this letter from time to time. I look at our pregnancy announcement with such painful desire to close my eyes, click my heals and be back there ... Pregnancy meant having a baby and happy times to come. Isn't that what our future held in this innocent picture? The link hasn't changed since we sent out the letter in 2008. I doubt it ever will.

The Branagan's Christmas Letter 2008

       (Yup, another one!)
Good Christmas to all! Wow, how has another year passed already? How is it possible we just celebrated the kids' birthdays? Kale turned 6 an d Timber turned 2 on December 3. For their birthdays, we were super-blessed by our mom and dad Mamola, who gave us an awesome vacation to Jersey and New York for the kids' birthdays. What an amazing time! Kale and Timber enjoyed every minute of Grandma and Grandpa time, and the touristy stuff in New York City was just icing on the cake. We went to see the Rockettes Christmas Show, which was breathtaking. Our trip to F.A.O Swartz could have kept us there for days – not just for the kids – but the adults were having just as much fun. The freezing cold was refreshing . . . not so much to the kids – but for us, it was great to have a white Christmas. Yes, it snowed the last day we were in Jersey. God knew how much we needed the snow! Kale learned how to ice skate, within just a few minutes, in the famous Rockefeller Center Ice Rink. We visited quite few tourist spots in New Jersey and New York, including The Life CafĂ© (to get our RENT fix!), but the main attraction was great grandma's surprise birthday party! If only we could visit more often.
Things have really been happening for Casper at work. I can't brag enough about what an amazing integrity he has with even the highest managers in his company. He has been within the top three sales people in the entire company for four months in a row. Just two months ago he was the number one sales person for Massey Services. He truly believes in what he is doing and cares about all of his customers. He's gone above and beyond the call of his job for years and now his customers and superiors responding with resounding praise. He just took the last state board test to be a "triple threat" he will soon hold accreditations in all three fields that Massey works with – Pest Control, Termite, and he just completed Lawn & Ornamental, he will be one of a very select few within the state who holds all three certifications.
The Branagan's are on a roll with new frontiers! We have a great new project under construction! But you must check this website to see what's going on:  http://i430.photobucket.com/albums/qq21/cxbranagan/underconstruction.jpg  (As if the letter isn't enough?!) The site should be up and running by Christmas. We cannot wait to hear feedback!
Casper was named the Youth Director of our church. We go to Woodbury Presbyterian Church every Wednesday night and Casper leads the youth group, called Y-Zone. We also teach the middle and high school Sunday school class on Sunday morning. Kale and Timber are the "Y-Zone Mascots" because they hang out with all the middle and high school kids, as well as attend all the Y-zone functions. It's kind of funny how much our young kids have taught the teenagers about life and faith in Jesus. What a blessing Kale and Timber are to everyone who knows them.
We're thrilled with everything the Lord is doing in our lives. We're hoping to close on a house in January. It is a beautiful house in Christmas, Florida that sits on 2 acres. We plan to start a farm and mobile petting zoo. Everyone always said I'd end up working with animals as a career! I'm still caring for children during the day. Right now, I have three great kids that come during the week. They all get along so well. It's a treat to watch them play and interact. Home schooling is working out well for Kale and I. He is very intelligent, creative, and artistic. It just blows me away, how quickly he picks up on anything we're studying. He's reading and writing and has decided he wants to be a mechanical engineer and build robots when he grows up. Timber is a little spitfire who loves to play and do everything her big brother does.  She's talking and it seems she went straight from crawling to running! What a daredevil. There's so much more we could say about the joy and blessings in this past year; but for now, we'll just say Merry Christmas and may the coming year bring you joy, and blessings too!
Love,
Casper, Andrea, Kale, and Timber

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