Bragg Family South

Wait...when did we get to 2014, let alone mid-January of 2014???  Now that things have slowed down a bit after the holidays, I see that I haven't done a blog post since the first day of December 2013.  In truth, it's not because we've quit doing things, it's just that I haven't been taking lots of pictures!  We had a good holiday season this year.  Above, Beth enjoyed decorating some Christmas cookies...Unlike last year's bad flu outbreak for Bragg Family South during the Christmas season, we seem to have < > gotten through this winter so far with only a few relatively minor illnesses.  Of course, Kenny and I managed to get sick on the trip up to Michigan, but that passed relatively quickly.  We got to open presents on Christmas morning and the Prudens in lower Michigan...Below, Kenny and Stephen try to figure out why they all got cans of cat food for Christmas gifts (hint:  it was a bit of a prank by us!): Rich Pruden, below, loves visit...

 Lots of news with Bragg Family South since our last posting...where to begin...Well, I should start by wishing Kenny a happy 12th birthday!  Rather than posting an embarrassing picture of him, as parents are wont to do, I'll post this one taken of us on his second birthday.  Hard to believe the near teenager was ever this small...This picture was taken shortly after we had moved into the house we had just bought, so that is another anniversary to mark--we've lived here at McKnight Drive for a decade now!  Hard to believe next March I'll have been working here in southeastern Arkansas for the US Forest Service for 14 years!!  Our other really big news relates to the young lady pictured below: Y'all may recall that we have a tradition with Bragg Family South of taking pictures of the kids at the door each year as they start their march off to school in the fall...Now we have a new star of the show...The picture above is of Hope heading out for her first d...

The last couple weeks after the government reopened have been particularly hectic for Bragg Family South.  With things back to "normal", we were able to do the business trip/family trip to Charleston, South Carolina, as we planned.  First major stop, though, was at the Georgia Aquarium in downtown Atlanta, on Beth's birthday.  Below, the kids enjoyed the "petting zoo" part of the aquarium, where they let you touch a number of different sea creatures--here were urchins, starfish, and hermit crabs: This is an amazing aquarium, with all sorts of exhibits, including the albino alligator that really impressed the kids: Not everything at the Georgia Aquarium was fish, as you can see Kenny getting a close-up of some penguins: I think my favorite part was watching their big ocean tank, which had whale sharks, large stingrays, and lots of other big fish.  I could probably sit for hours just watching them swim by: Later that evening we arrived a...