My Mom's 75th Birthday!!

For anyone who knows me, even a little, knows how much I adore my mother. She is easily the greatest lady I know. Her impact reaches into every aspect of my life. Well, she turned 75 this past September 24! We had a family party for her this weekend to celebrate her 75 years! It was incredible to see the legacy that she has built through her family. I am quite certain that if you were to ask her what the most important thing in her life is, her answer would be her faith and her family. Her life has absolutely reflected these priorities, and as a result, she has a large family (7 kids, 23 grand kids, and 7 great grand kids...) that absolutely adores her!


My sister Janet created a wonderful tribute to my mom on her blog. It sums up beautifully that kind of woman she is. Here is link to that post:
http://tateannasarah.blogspot.com/2008/09/75-years-young.html

Kiley, my dad, my mom, & me


So, Mom, here's to you! I love you dearly! Happy Birthday!

Obama in Elko!

Obama made his 3rd visit to Elko, NV today! Yep, 3rd visit! I never thought that by living in Elko I would be able to participate in a grass roots campaign and see the Presidential Candidate of my choice twice. Before this, I had never met a Presidential Candidate. Now I have seen 2, Obama and Edwards.

Obama being introduced by a local Elkonian!

I went with two friends from work to here him speak. We were all in agreement, he is impressive! I have to say that I am grateful to live in Nevada right now where my vote could make a big difference in the election as Nevada is a swing state!

Here is a video of people cheering and welcoming Obama!

I took others, but turned the camera so you would have to watch them sideways, not good. If anyone knows how to edit and rotate videos, please let me know!

I actually got to shake his and his wife's hand last time he was in town, but unfortunately, not this time. Hey, last time, I even made my CNN debut! Still, this time was as great and historic for me as the first time.

I loved how he ended his speach....

“The most important thing that I will do as president is restore opportunity for all Americans. To get our economy growing, we need to recapture that fundamental American promise that if you work hard you can pay your bills, that if you get sick you won't get bankrupt, that your kids can get a good education and go to college even if they're not rich. Now we can leave a legacy of greater opportunity for future generations. That's the change that the American people need.”

Not that you don't all know already, but he definitely has my vote!

Keaton and Russell are Home!

Here is Keaton! Isn't he handsome! I

am not a very good aunt as I didn't get a photo with Russell!

My two nephews, Keaton and Russell, both got home from their missions this past month. Both of them went to Chile Santiago, Keaton to the west and Russell to the east. I wasn’t able to get out for Russell’s welcome home, but was able to go this past weekend to Keaton’s.

Both look great and seem to have enjoyed their missions. However, both also seem to be glad to be home!

It is great to have them back!

The Launch of the Brannon Family Blog

Welcome to the launch of the Brannon Family Blog. Now that we will actually have something to blog about, we thought we would join the masses of others in the blogging world. We also thought it would be a great way to stay in touch with family and friends and keep everyone updated on our exciting journey to parenthood!

For those of you don't know, we are expecting our first baby, a little girl, on January 22, 2009. We had our ultrasound last Friday to ensure that everything was on track and healthy. I am very pleased to report that although I suffer from "Advanced Maternal Age", medical definition: being over 35 and pregnant, everything looks great! After our 1 hour + ultrasound we were told that despite my condition, we are expecting a very normal and healthy baby girl! We were both very grateful to get that great news!

We are still working on names. If anyone has suggestions, let us know. I want something unique so that she doesn't have 3 other kids in her class with the same name. Also, since Kiley and Kim both start with "K" we want to avoid "K" names or sounds. We don't want to be the KKK. :-)

Here are some photos of our upcoming addition to the family!

Here is her little profile.... isn't she cute?

This is a shot of her straight on.

This is a shot from the top of her head with her little hand coming up. The gal doing the ultrasound was trying to get her to move by shaking my stomach. Her little had just shot up with some attitude like "Stop! Leave me alone!"

This shows her side view and she now measures about 14 cm long or 5.5 inches.

Her little leg!

And her foot.

Stay tuned for more exciting details of our little one to follow! Oh, yeah, and if anything exciting happens with Kiley or myself, we will add that too!