Saturday, February 24, 2007

No new pics, but new news!!!

Hi, everyone!
I am sorry I have no pics to put up, but I thought that I needed to update everyone on the major news we received this past week. A few weeks ago, Bray received an email from a director in NY about possibly doing a role for the show "Showboat," this summer. He had heard of Bray from the director of this competition that Bray went to last year, and was interested in hearing him. We were naturally very excited, and quickly recorded a few songs and sent them off. Within a week, the director had called and offered him the role, but said the budget people still had to figure out how much they could pay him. We decided that if it was 'worth his while,' Bray would accept.
On Wednesday of this week, the finance lady called and said they would cover travel expenses, give him more money for a month than we normally make, and a furnished apartment for while he was there. Of course we said yes!! The only tricky part, however, is that the show is performing the first week in June, which means Bray will be in NY for the whole month of May. The school year at our current job ends at the end of May, so we knew we would be leaving early. To complicate things further, I am due in April, and we decided we did not want to move everythig possibly a week after I might give birth. Thus, we have chosen to leave the school here now, head to Moscow (as Bray is starting grad school in the fall there), and have the baby there. Then Bray shall head to NY in May, come back for a few weeks after the show is over, and head to Santa Barbara for the summer. It will be tricky, and lots of traveling for Bray, but it'l be worth it!
I hope this is fairly clear to everyone- I know how complicated things in the music business seem, so I did my best to sum things up. Please pray for us, as it is bittersweet leaving so quickly...at least as far as family and friends are concerned. Specifically, please pray that:
-Hobbes and my flight on March 5 goes smoothly, and that the pregnancy remains normal
-Bray's drive across the country with all of our stuff goes safely, and that he does not get too tired
-that we would find appropriate housing in Moscow
-that all the goodbyes go well, and we trust in God's good providence to bring us all together when the time is right
Thanks to all who have been so helpful thus far-this is truly a wonderful opportunity in Bray's calling-these sorts of chances rarely come up for young singers, so we are very thankful that God has opened this door for us. To those of you up north, we look forward to seeing you soon! We shall update as we go along, but for now love to you all!

Monday, February 19, 2007

Happy Birthday Bray!

Well, Bray is now old....just kidding! We had a really nice day yesterday, celebrating with family, eating good food, and just relaxing. I made dinner in the evening, and Wendy made a delicious chocolate truffle cake to finish it off! So here are just a few pics from the end of the day. Love you all!
Daddy looking zoned after lots of food and wine....fun! The boys love to have crazy time- it's hard to catch them at a 'calm' moment!
What Bray calls 'lovin' mama' time....where Hobbes squeezes me as hard as he can! Sometimes it's love that hurts!:)


Last but not least....an updated pregnancy pic, mainly for my mom, but here I am(and Madeline, too) with about 7ish weeks to go! I can't wait!









Saturday, February 17, 2007

Such a BIG boy!!!

Hello, everyone!
Hope you had a great Valentine's Day...just thought I would give a quick update on what we've been doing/are about to do. Tomorrow is Bray's 26th (can you believe it?) birthday, so we are in Monroe to celebrate. We went and found him a very classy chocolate brown, pinstripe suit for 1 present from his parents, and he doesn't know it yet, but he's getting a very nice drill gun from my parents and me, too. In 2 weeks he goes to Memphis to compete in the next level of the Met finals, so we've been busy preparing for that....and I have a little less than 8 weeks to go! Whoa! As to what Hobbes has been doing, well I think the pictures speak for themselves.:)
Here are Hobbes' and Bray, 'riding' cousin Archer's trike...and having a blast! (ignore the wrong date on the picture)

Here is Hobbes, proving to Mom that he can still eat like a baby...or should I say a boy?
Here he is making Valentine's for all the relatives...our first time finger painting! Whoa, messy!!!



And the aftermath...most of the paint was on the table-good thing it's washable!


Balls have always been, and so far always are, our favorite pasttime! Miss you all!




Sunday, February 04, 2007

Way to go Bray!!!

Hello, everyone! Sorry it's been so long since I posted....things never seem to slow down. We have been very busy beginning potty training, competing in vocal competitions and going to the doctor. As nothing has been incredibly exciting or Kodak moment worthy, I shall just sum up what's been happening, and try to put up pics as they are taken.

We began potty training about a week ago, and I must say it is the most time-consuming part of baby/toddlerhood so far. It has not yet been a negative experience, though, so we shall continue on until we have it under control. Here are 2 pics of Hobbes in his ' big boy pants.' :)


Bray has also been insanely busy, not only with teaching,but with filling out grad school applications and preparing for vocal competitions. Yesterday Bray and I went to Cleveland, MS to compete in the National Metropolitan Opera Competition, the Southern Mississippi District Division. Bray did amazing, and won! So, he is on to Memphis, TN on March 3 to compete in the regionals. If he wins there, he gets to go to NY to compete in the finals...so pray he does well, it would be a wonderful opportunity!

I have hit the 10 weeks to go in the pregnancy point, so I am trying to pack as much of the house before the baby comes as I can! We leave in May, so things are nonstop busy! We have our last ultrasound on Thursday, so pray that everything looks peachy-keen! Other than that, I am helping Bray with the vocal polishing for all these competitions, and taking a little boy to the bathroom every hour or so! We miss all of you, and hope this helps you catch up on what we've been doing! Talk to you soon!

Hobbes has to help Mama clean after he has an 'accident,' so I was trying to get a pic of him mopping, but I caught him after the fact....such is life.:)