For the past three years, we have been fortunate to attend Art in the Courtyard at Brailey's school in June. The last two years, Brady has had to miss, but this year, he made sure to plan his schedule so he could come, and he is so glad he did! He had more fun than anyone, as I'm sure you can imagine - it was a perfect, special evening full of art, music, auctions and best of all, special people. They had it catered this year by Texas Roadhouse, and one of the kids serving the meal remembered us from Sunday when we were there for Bray's birthday - he was the one who brought us our food. Once again, it was delicious! 
Above, Brailey and one of her besties, Ellie, who brought her a belated birthday gift. Below, an old friend and a former boss of mine I hadn't seen in years, Rob Harris. It was great to see him! He hired me to work for JP Associates back when Brailey was in pre-school - a good, long time ago. He has moved into a different field of work, and I still work for JP Associates to this day. His youngest son goes to school at Monroe. It is always fun to run into people you care about that you never get to see.
Brailey loves showing all her art, and this year she was even more thrilled to give us a personal tour of a few of the things she made over the course of the year. Below, a hat trinket box made out of clay, complete with a feather and a "B." She said she was going to do a "C" like Charlie 1 Horse, and then she decided, "I want a B on my hat!" It is so cute - we will cherish this forever!
A picture of the ceiling tile she and the other girl in the picture painted for the school. Gorgeous!
A collage about her. All of her art this year seemed to have a horse in it.
And here she is, the famous Mrs. Kronser, and Brailey's favorite teacher. Bray was so blessed to be in her year long art class this year, and we will be forever grateful for the opportunity. They are standing in front of a piano Brailey helped paint. It is absolutely darling. What a fun idea! Brailey was so incredibly proud of this. It took a lot of time to do and it turned out so well!
And of course, the famous trash can. We had to watch it like a hawk to make sure we won it in the Silent Auction. She is very attached to it!
Britt and his friend Trevon. 
Brady was contemplating bidding on an item. There were so many fun things to choose from. It was great auction! And we actually won a great prize in the raffle! We are going to surprise Brady with it on Father's Day, because it is the one thing he really wanted in the raffle - rafting!
These two are so cute, and they really melt my heart. Talk about bonded. I love watching them! 
Even Britt had some art! He was only able to take art for nine weeks, and he ended up getting pneumonia and missing two of those weeks near the end, so he wasn't able to make some of the projects that were featured. But he did make this cute collage - I love the red and blue on the side. There was another piece of art of his featured, as well, but he didn't know it until the day after the event, so we didn't get a picture of him with it. He is very artistic, too, and I hope he will be able to enjoy more of Mrs. Kronser's art classes in the next two years so he can develop his natural, God-given talent. One of the things Brailey discovered this year is that Brady's uncle was a very famous artist, Henry Faulkner. She is now reading a book about him, which also has a lot of family history in it. It is said that the artistic gene is very strong and has passed to all the Faulkners. Brady is artistic, as well. Although our last name is Murray, he was born a Faulkner. His dad died when he was very young, and his mom gave him the Murray name when she married Brady's step-dad, Dick Murray. Brady's dad and uncles were cousins with the great William Faulkner. It has been fun to learn about all this, to say the least.
This lady is so amazing. Her name is Nancy, and Brailey has worked for one period in the office with her every day. She takes great care of everyone and is such a fun person! Brailey is hopeful she will get to come back to work for her when she is in high school.
Britt and his friend, Jesse. Funny story... One day, Jesse said to Britt, "Hey Brittney!" And Britt quipped back, "Hey Jessica!" I love a good sense of humor.
These girls have been friends for dang near ever! Alondra joined their "group" last year, and they are missing Keysi and Naomi in this picture below. The other three have gone to school together since first grade, so eight years, now. They eat lunch together every single day, do the morning announcements in teams and best of all, love each other. 
Brailey and Mr. Johnson, the principal of the school. I told him I was going to miss Brailey keeping an eye on Britt for me, and he said, "I'm going to miss her keeping an eye on me! She keeps us all in line, this girl. She's a good one!" It is so sweet to hear things like this about your kid. I'm so glad she got to work in the office this year so she got to know the office crew.
Brady ran in to so many people he knew, he couldn't believe it! You may recognize Doug from last year's volleyball pictures, as he was in a few of those. His daughter Sarah and Brailey have gone to school together in the Spanish Immersion program since second grade. Now that Sarah and Brailey don't play volleyball, we don't get to see much of Doug, and we miss him!
And even more folks Brady knew, happy to see him and visit. 
You can't keep a good man from bidding. You just can't! He wanted a golf package sooooooo bad. But it just wasn't meant to be. At least he made the winner earn it, right? 
Brailey and her Spanish teacher, "DiLi," as they call him.
Brady and one of his favorite people in the world, Chris. We go to church with his family, and our kids have gone to school since first grade in the Spanish Immersion. His wife is one of my favorite people, as well. We love this family! Brady is telling him a great story about a trucker who asked him to roll his window down on the freeway in Portland rush hour traffic this week. Brady thought something must be wrong with the pickup, but the truck driver said, "Where did you get your Trump sticker?" And Brady said, "My wife got it on the internet." And the trucker said, "I worked for Mr. Trump 25 years ago, and he was the best boss I ever had!" Brady said, "He's got my vote," and the trucker said, "He's got mine, too!" Brady was sharing that fun moment in time with Chris in this picture. 
Britt and one of the twins he played basketball with, Aiden. You may remember seeing him in pictures from earlier posts. He and his twin brother are so cute! 
Brady and Brailey kept a close eye on the trash can... We had to win this one! 
Britt and one of his best friends in the world, Daniel. They have been friends since before first grade. And Daniel is Chris' son, pictured above with Brady. He is also an Altar Boy and hopes to someday become a priest. 
I can't believe this year is coming to a close. It has been such a dream to drop both B's off at the same school. It will be two years until they are at the same school again. And then, they will probably be driving themselves. EEEEEEECK!
We had to wait until the auction ended, but end it did, and we won the beloved trash can! Brady thoroughly enjoyed this special evening with his family, and we are so glad he was able to come to it. Next year, I don't know if Britt will have any art or not. But I still want to go to bid on the items and to try to win something in the the raffle. We are so grateful for times like these. Friends, family and celebration. Thank you Monroe Middle School for putting it all together!
