It's Great 2 B 8!

Sometimes you blink and wonder where the time went.  This is one of those times.

The memories of this little spice of life girl coming into our world still seem so fresh to me.  My remembrances are vivid.  I can still feel her breathing on my next as she laid ever so still on my chest in the NICU.  She was small and so extra fragile to me with all those tubes and gadgets connected.   When I finally got to hold her for the first time several days after her birth, I cried.  I still remember how I felt sitting in that chair and tear up now as I type just thinking about it. 

Although her beginnings were a little rocky, she has thrived and grown into such a beautiful and spirited girl.  It's amazing that she's already eight and now a full-fledged baptized member of the church.  Ryan had the great honor and opportunity of baptizing her last month on January 7, 2012, with so many family and some good friends there to support her.  It was an extra blessing that her little cousin, Lily, got to share this special baptism day with her.  They were only born a week apart.

Rowan Sue Brown and Lily Sue Berrey, both proudly carrying their Great Grandma Sue's name, just before they got baptized at the Lehi Stake Center on Saturday, January 7, 2012

Here they are together at Rowan's birthday party

Rowan with her school friend, Ava Driggs

Grandma Cheri came to the movie with us (The Chipwrecked movie) and helped me transport the kiddos

Ryan, Rowan, Lily and J.R.

Rowan's Aunt Jayme made her this cute candy poster for her baptism.

During Christmas break, we had our Weaver cousins in from Washington visiting for their Aunt Cami's wedding.  So we decided to have Lainey & Avery over for a sleep over, then the next day the Weaver boys, cousin Lily and friend Ava all came over and we went to the movies for Rowan's birthday.  We picked up Ned's Crazy Sub and ate cake afterwards for the best impromptu birthday party ever!

My Mom

How about a big happy birthday shout-out to my mom? Happy Birthday, Mom. I love you so much!

I was thinking about her on the drive in to work today, looking forward to our planned lunch together. She's amazing, no doubt about it. She's the reason I stay sane and have been able to keep up my part-time career all these years. She's a great listener and a great sounding board for ideas and concerns. She loves a good fillet Mignon and has taught my kids that there's really nothing else quite as delicious. She loves shoes, maybe even more than me. She's my cooking consultant, my sewing mentor, the hardest worker, my fellow party-planner in crime, and the most devoted mother I know. On the days I work, she thinks ahead about what she could do to help make our night run more smoothly upon my return - little things like giving the two youngers a quick bath before we pick them up, or sending home some dinner. Things that amount to a whole heck of a lot after a long day away. Things I wish I was there doing, but so appreciate the surrogate mom that she is when I'm not. It's always been, and probably always will be, a balancing act trying to manage work and all the things that mom-hood entails. Mostly, I think we do a pretty decent job at our house keeping the scales in check and running a smooth house with happy occupants who are leading productive lives. No doubt, we have our days, just like everyone. We're lucky that Ryan has a lot of flexibility as his own boss and is such an active player on our team and that my mom is so great to help out. Truly, my mom is charity personified and I have been blessed all my life to not only learn from her example, but to also reap the benefits of her unending love.

My kids are blessed beyond measure to have her in their lives, too. I don't think they realize how good they have it living just down the street. Barrett sits by my mom every single Sunday in church (in the row right behind us) and doesn't know anything different. Afton writes her first draft of her weekly paragraph every week with grandma's brainstorming help. Rowan gets so much love from Grandma Cin and a much needed listening ear. And Buddy Boy is her little sidekick. They have a great relationship for sure since they have a handful of hours together alone every week.

Lately, when Easton and I are heading out for errands, he quizzes me about the exact stops we'll be making in our route, as if trying to decide whether it's worth his while to tag along or not (as if he has a choice). He's wising up and realizing that mom's errand list pretty much stinks these days (one more run to Imperial Tile, hunting valley-wide for replacement granite, heading to Lowes - yet again, etc.) Just a couple more weeks, Buddy. We're getting so close and it's looking o-so-fabulous-o! So lately, when the run down of the planned stops doesn't quite pass muster in his 5-year old world, Buddy pleads, "Can't you just call Grandma? I don't want to go shopping." He knows he just might have an out.

So thanks, Mom, for being there for me and all of us and loving us like you do. Happy Birthday! I hope 2011 is fantastic for you.

My Newest Double Digit Kid

Here she is.

Miss Afton Kate Brown.

Code name "Afty Cakes."

She's newly ten.

Ten and fabulous, that is.

We enjoyed Sunday dinner at our house to celebrate with the family. Grandma Cheri made this killer giant cupcake using her new handy dandy pan. It was the maiden voyage for the oversized delight and it turned out great. Aunt Jayme brought her famous homemade cheesecake too, and it did not disappoint.

Grandma Cindy & Grandpa Steve bought Afton a new hoodie (which she is sporting here and which she has been wearing non-stop since she opened it on Saturday morning.) She also got a new pair of Vans, thanks to the lean mean shopping machine, also known as GC, or Grandma Cindy, who hit two Journeys, two Tilly's, one Van's store, and who knows how many others until she could finally procure the must-have style that Afty fell in love with. Sadly, they were too big, so we're hoping to find a half size smaller this week.

Grandma Cheri & Grandpa Bob scored with a new Build It Monopoly game and an inside smore maker with all the fixins. I'm sure that will be a huge hit in our house.

On Saturday, Afton's actual birthday, we all had a blast at Afty's cosmic bowling party at Brunswick. She invited five girlfriends for some cosmic bowling, pizza, and some arcade fun. It was such a score for me too, since all we had to do was show up and let the party hostess take over. No prep, no extra house cleaning, no game planning, no cooking. I just had to drive. And pay. What a screamin' deal. I'm thinking I like that kind of party...I like it a lot...Plus I got to bowl and did pretty dang good if I do say so myself. I bowled a mean 152, although that still wasn't enough to pass Grandma Cindy, who scored in the 170's. But then again, she is a bowling pro and bowled three games in her new Friday morning bowling league the day before. Yes, GC just filled the fourth spot on a team and joined a bowling league with a few of her good friends, and I am really excited for her. She hasn't bowled on a league since I was a little girl, but she's always loved it.

Riley, Barrett, Lily, Afton, Kelly & Sydney at the party

Easton had too much fun bowling, but he also loved playing some air hockey with his daddy afterwards. I'm not sure who was having more fun...Easton or Dad.

Happy Birthday my sweet Afton. We love you so much. Thanks for being a remarkable girl. Funny as heck, so sporty, beautiful voice, truly creative, ultra smart, super obedient, and good to the core. What would we do without you? I can hardly believe you're a double digit kid now. Oh, where did the time go?

12 Things: This is Us Oct 2010

(Us at the end of a great day at Knotts Berry Farm 10/13/10)

I have too many things to write about. It's like when I don't write in my journal for far too long then finally open it up and think I have to catch up and I end up writing a novel. But I have no time for a novel today.

Life has been so good and so busy and so memorable. Lots of milestones. Lots of memories. Lots of everything. I've taken a bunch of pics, but haven't uploaded anything from my good digital camera all month. There's a treasure of photo joys on that oh-so-precious memory stick, just waiting for a good hour of my time. They're begging to be seen. But until then...a few gems from the iPhone camera.

One of my favorite journaling styles, especially in my scrapbooks (which have been 100% neglected for months and months), is lists. I'm good at lists. I can make them like the best of 'em. So here are the bullet point highlights of October 2010 before the calendar page is turned and the "HOLIDAYS" officially begin:

1) We beach camped at South Carlsbad State Beach for Fall Break. Loved it. Lots and lots of cousins and friends. Kid city...kids everywhere. Mine were in heaven. Grilled steaks, ate at our favorite Mexican food dive, Juanitas - three times. Played Rook. Barrett started reminding me of a teenager, roaming through the campground with packs of friends, just checking in for mom's sanity periodically. She's growing up. The first half of the week graced us with fantastic weather (I was out boogie boarding and loving it), the second half not so much. Still, we worshiped the beach and hoped for the sun and the kids braved the cooler weather like troopers. I've decided that they don't really care. As long as they are outside, with friends, roaming free - life is good. Sun or no sun.

2) Barrett turned 12 while we were there. We celebrated her birthday at Knotts Berry Farm and had the place to ourselves. What a great day together.

3) After a long full day of crazy theme park riding, we ate at Cheesecake Factory with the kids and my folks. Barrett ordered up a scrumptious cheesecake (of course) and even shared a little with me!

3) The next day, we went with Barrett to do baptisms for the dead at the San Diego temple. Such a great experience for all of us. In addition to a few other family names and temple prepared names, Barrett was able to be baptized for her great great Aunt Evelyn, who Barrett met and stayed with in Ohio a few years back during one her trips with Ryan (she passed away in 2007). What a great temple experience for all of us. Hopefully Evelyn is smiling up there...

4) Our 20-year Mountain View High School Reunion was last weekend. Toro Class of 1990. Everything turned out so great. It was such a neat experience heading that up with our marvelous committee and rekindling so many friendships from the past during this past year as we planned and prepared for this big event. Yes, it was a lot of work, but really, I had fun all along the way. Really, truly. So I think that's a good sign. Even our planning meetings were so fun. And Saturday night - amazing fun. I left exhausted but smiling.

Some of our committee (there were 14 of us on the committee altogether): Me, Linda Lou, Shari, Nicole, Althea & JaNae. I loved working with you! (I posted all the reunion pics on my Facebook page and our class website, so that will have to do. Too many for this blog.)

My handsome husband, and fellow Class of 1990 grad. I loved that we graduated together and were both able to enjoy this reunion together.

Some of my best high school friends: Linda, Cindy, Tara, Stacy & Me

Our spectacular Toro candy table. Isn't it awesome? That was a huge hit.

We had about 160 people at the reunion and such a great crowd. The venue was perfect at Rustler's Rooste, in their outside barn area at the top of South Mountain. Spectacular views. City lights. Perfect weather. The place was decorated so festively with all our Toro red and blue. Big blown up black and white photos of our sports teams and graduation pics. Yearbooks. Pom pons. Megaphones. Memory books keepsakes to take home on the table. Food was delicious too. We mingled, ate, laughed, watched our "Then and Now" tribute movie that turned out so good. Had funny awards, took a huge group photo, danced to some good '80's tunes whipped up by our DJ, laughed some more, talked, talked, talked. So many good friends and a good mix of people. The real "cliques" were mostly gone. Nobody really cared who you used to hang out with 20 years ago. Everyone was just so happy to see everyone else and genuinely interested in each other's lives. So many good people that we went to school with. Really, good, good to the core kind of people. And it's so good to see so many people happy and thriving in life. My favorite part of our "Then and Now" DVD was by the far the "Now." As the current family pictures scrolled across the screen, one by one, I was overcome with emotion seeing all the families of our classmates and realizing what a legacy we have. Truly, we are so blessed.

The feedback has been overwhelming. Just about every single person at the reunion came up before leaving with a huge smile and hug, expressing genuine thanks for such a great night. Everyone loved the placed and the more casual atmosphere and dished kudos all the way around. And I can't even begin to count the number of personal emails, texts and Facebook messages we've received over the past several days, thanking me and our committee for such a memorable night. Truly, I've been awed and humbled by the gratitude and the response.

5) And now life moves on, still so busy but so good. My two sisters-in-laws' babies were blessed Sunday (Boston and Ava) and we had a big family dinner afterwards to celebrate that great occasion as well as all the October birthdays in the Brown family, which are many.

6) We drew names for Christmas (can't believe it's here again already). Caught up with the fam.

7) The boys gave Bob, my father in law a blessing, as he went in for his third surgery in a month. He's getting ready for kidney dialysis and has had to have a couple surgeries to prepare, and then he got a hernia that had to be repaired. Thankfully, he's been handling them all well and has been such a trooper through it all. We continue to pray for him day and night.

8) The big annual church Halloween chili & fry bread party is Saturday night. Still the activities director so I'm heading it up. Many fliers delivered Monday night with the Berrey family for FHE (thanks for taking the kiddos on the Ranger - they loved it), lots of volunteers to coordinate for Saturday, too many paper goods to count. It will be great, just as it has been every year for the past 25+ years as we live in such a great neighborhood with great people. And how can chili and fry bread and homemade root beer and kids in costumes be anything but good?

9) I got another calling on Sunday too. Now teaching the 4th Sunday Relief Society lessons as well, which will be good for me. More study, more devotion. I need it.

10) Did the last minute costume accessory shopping at lunch hour today: vampire teeth, white face makeup, fake fairy eyelashes, a little hair dazzle for the rock star. I vetoed new Halloween costumes this year. Just wasn't interested in devoting any energy or funds to that this year. We have two huge crates of past Halloween costumes - four kids' worth - so we let the peeps have it and come up with something to wear. They didn't even complain or ask once to go to the store for something new. I was pleasantly surprised. It was great. I'm doing that every year I think. They were happy as clams taking turns mixing it up and changing their minds a million times before finally landing on "the one." Easton sported the hodge podge of at least six different costume parts and cracked us all up. He was the the cat slash pirate slash lobster slash vampire slash superhero. Nice.

11) Candy ready. Treats and plates and all for four class parties tomorrow - ready.

12) And the running goes on. I'm loving the cooler weather. I was actually cold this morning at 5:50 am. Long sleeves even. Race day is 16 days away and I am getting excited. Can't wait for Ryan to be there running too. His first half marathon, my second. What a cool thing for us to do together. I want to be speedier, but I never do sprint days in my training so I'll probably never gain much speed until I do. So I'll just run my comfortable pace, which is fine. I am doing it and I am happy and life is good.

So this is Us. The Mesa Browns. Living life.

Michael

My mom wanted to have a large family. She always imagined that she'd have four or five kids. But Heavenly Father had a different plan in mind for her, and blessed her with just two: Michael & me. She's told me so many times over the years how grateful she was to have us and that two turned out to be the perfect number for her. And lucky for me - I got to be the little sister to the best brother in the world, and have him all to myself. All my childhood memories with Michael are so good. Really, all of them. If we ever fought, I can't remember it. He was the big brother that every girl dreams of: fun, protective, likable, didn't tease. He always let me tag along. He was the measuring stick I used to evaluate my future husband material. When I met Ryan and quickly fell in love with him, I knew he was the one not only because my heart told me so, but because he possessed so many of the same great attributes I had always admired in Michael. Both Ryan and Michael are among those "good to the core" kind of men, and I'm blessed to have both of them in my life.

Now that we're all grown up, Mike still ranks up there in the top 3 of my life, right along side my husband and my father. Truly, he's one of a kind and I get to claim him as my favorite brother without bias.

Yesterday was his birthday. Mike turned 41, which means I must be getting old too, but I still have a year and a few months before my ticker swaps out a "3" for a "4". So I really can't be that old :).

We are getting together on Sunday night for family dinner to celebrate, but I've been thinking about him all week. These are just a few of my favorite pictures of Michael. If you know Michael, you know he has a passion for a number of things: his wife, his family, his weapons, his outdoors, and his fun. He's a "do it 100% or nothing" kind of guy, and I love that about him.

Us at Magic Mountain this summer

At Carlsbad Beach with Dad and his four terrific sons

Mike has always loved to surf. This was taken maybe 20 years ago I think?

He loves to ride and has bought and sold a number of bikes over the years. I think he's presently bike-less, but I know the love is still there...

From the time Michael was a young boy, he always had a love for weapons. True, the knife/sword goes with the pirate costume, but I would venture a guess that he chose the costume because of the sword! Just sayin'...

He was my very best friend growing up, and we still love hanging out with he and Shari now. We double date and vacation together often.

I'm not sure which birthday this was, but from the looks of my missing teeth, I would guess I was in second grade, so I'm thinking this was probably Mike's 10th birthday. He loved that dart board! In this pic: Michael, Matt Schoenthaler (sp?), Dale Jr., me, Julie & Laura

Michael with Tate & Easton two years ago on his birthday.

Shari & Mike - very much in love. One of the things I love most about Michael is the love he shows to Shari. When we are with them, you just know beyond a shadow of a doubt that he adores her.

Again, note the knife strapped onto Michael's hip. Hmmm....I wonder how it all began?

Michael loves the great outdoors, in whatever shape it presents itself. This is him kayacking in Mexico a couple of summers ago (the one and only time we got them to join us down in Rocky Point, which was a total blast. Maybe someday they'll come back with us!)

Rappelling at Roger's Trough. He took his gear and taught all of us how to get down the mountain. That was such a great trip.

This one just melts my heart. Michael with Tater when he was just a babe. Man, Tate has come such a long way!

My sniper SWAT brother...you make me proud! And feel safe!

Happy Birthday, bro. I love you to infinity and beyond!

Happy 5th, Bud!

Everyone always says it: "I can't believe my baby is ____. They've grown up so fast." Well they always say it because it's true. They do grow up so fast. Too fast. Any my little man is no exception. In less than an hour (I'm blogging late), it will officially be Easton's birthday. September 19th.

Ryan took the picture above tonight at LJ's Pizza. We took Easton there for the lunch buffet last month when the girls were in school and the kid scarfed down so much pizza and salad I couldn't believe it. He must have loved it (and the soft serve cone they bring you after the meal and the special attention he got being one on two with mom and dad for a lunch date) because that's where he requested we go for his birthday dinner. He's been talking it up all week. And he seriously cracks me up. Easton knows that Rowan doesn't like pizza, so today when I got home and we were getting ready to head out, he told me that I needed to get a babysitter for Rowan because she couldn't go. When I asked him why not, he just matter of factly told me that if she wasn't going to eat pizza, she couldn't go to his birthday dinner. So funny. Thankfully, Rowan compensates for the love loss on pizza with her true love: salad. So she filled up on salad and garlic bread (and the soft serve cone) and topped it off with some toast at home before bed - her night time crutch to get her through 'til breakfast.

None of the other kids had been to LJ's before and it was pretty much a huge hit with all of them. Afton's plotting to make it our regular Saturday night family dinner date. We'll see.

Anyhow, Easton's been asking me how many more days until his birthday since around Easter time, so for him, tomorrow can't come soon enough. But since I just got back from my girls trip to Cali around 4:00 today and knew I wouldn't be able to swing a party tonight, and since tomorrow is Sunday, our birthday celebrating will be a family dinner with his cousins (Easton's request), chocolate cake and presents. He's five, so I'm sure that tomorrow's celebration will be all that he hopes for. They are so easy to please at five. As long as his cousins are there, he has treats to eat and a couple of good somethings to unwrap, we should be golden.

Aren't these guys awesome? I had a blast on my trip, but I missed my peeps so much. They didn't disappoint on arrival, either. The non-stop talking, rough housing, and just typical Saturday kid-ness was in high gear all afternoon and night. When we were driving home tonight after dinner and a quick trip to Home Depot, the volume was extra extra loud in our crowded car with four over-tired but still hyper kids (we had a new BBQ crammed in the back). All four were double buckled in the middle seat of the suburban, Rowan was "touching" Afton and Easton was making everyone crazy giddy with his funny one-liners. It was just so dang loud. Ryan just turned to look at me and I met his glance. He smiled, gave me that knowing look, and said, "Welcome Home." I hadn't missed a beat. And at that moment, really, truly...I couldn't think of anywhere else I would have rather been. These guys are my world.

Happy Birthday, Buddy Boy. You are our caboose, my baby, my big 5-year old wonder. You melt my heart and keep us laughing. Your smile is contagious and your eyes light up my world. I hope your day is great tomorrow, Bud, and that this next year is your best ever!

I love you too much!

Happy Birthday, Krissie!

My Aunt Krissie, my mom's youngest sister, celebrated her 48th birthday on Saturday. She loves birthdays just like my Grandma Sue did, so we always try to celebrate Krissie's big day with a bang. Although Kris has many special gifts and talents, one of her great talents is bowling. She loves to bowl and she is super good. She beats us all - no kidding. For the last few years, we've enjoyed Krissie's big day right along with her at Brunswick. This year was no exception. Here's our crew on Saturday bowling up some mean stuff.

Rowan and Me (Ryan & Easton were gone to Father & Son's so they missed out on all the fun. But they did make it back in time to come by Grandpa Reid's house after the bowling and eat pizza and cake with all of us.)

The Goodman grandkids, my mom & dad's posterity, minus Tate & Easton.

My Aunt Pauly & Aunt Krissie

My Aunt Laurie holding her granddaughter, Lauren, and my cousin, Ashley standing behind. Three generations right there - all blondies and all beautiful inside and out!

Rowan was cracking us up. She bowled on the same lane with me, my mom, and Shari. She picked the lightest ball possible, but she was still having to heave it back and then whip it around with all her might to get it down the lane. It would crash with a mightly plunk and then oh so slowly roll down the lane, always curving at the last second. Thank heaven for the bumpers they put in the gutters. It was pin ball city for the kids, but it sure makes it fun for them. (Note the mulit-layer ruffled skirt. Very appropriate bowling attire I know. But would you expect anything less from our Rowan?)

Our cute cousins, Ella & Lily

My nephew, Bryant, and cousins, Hayden & Austin, all looking cool at the alley...And Austin was heading to prom that night. He's graduating from Dobson this month. Holy cow...how did that happen so fast? It will be Bryant's turn before I know it.

Grandma Cindy and Tallin were both having good games. My mom used to bowl on a league with my Aunt Laurie and Uncle Mick when I was younger. She's goooood!

Barrett & Randi Girl. They, too, were fortunate to have the bumpers up. Just sayin'.

This is my favorite picture from the whole day. All the kids love Krissie and she loves them. Even though Kris has been having a really hard time with her health and dementia issues lately, she still lights up on occassion and I was lucky enough to capture it on film. It's moments like this that make my heart melt. Happy 48th, Kris! We love you so much and hope that you can break through this trial you're facing and find some peace. Everyone is frustrated that the plethora of doctors and specialists you've seen can't seem to figure out how to help you or even diagnose the problem, but we know that our Heavenly Father is aware of you and sees you. He hears our prayers for you. Thanks for letting us share this day with you. We had a blast! What a great family we have.