Brownie Updates

Brownie Updates
this is the life

Monday, December 31, 2012

Goodbye 2012

 We have taken advantage of the Pizza Pie Cafe coupons a couple of times. I love that place. I don't love how much I eat but I love how it tastes.
Little Andrew sleeping on my shoulder. It didn't last long but he is so precious. This was two weeks ago. We saw him last night and he has changed so much. Loves to smile and interact. So fun!
 Christmas was great. We drove on the wrong days (snow and super icy roads), but other than that it was super fun. Moki did awesome in the car which was a relief. She chilled on someone's lap for the most part. Oh and as you can see in the picture below comforted the driver when needed.
Home is just always so great. It is a little crazy when we are all in my parents house but it is fun.
 All my Dad wanted for Christmas were some Lego's. All his dreams came true!
 My Mom after opening presents on Christmas day. Now it's time to go cook the meal.
 We has tri-tip, loaded mashed potatoes, salad, and a jello salad for Christmas dinner. It was delicious. The boys provided the drinks.

 Good food and good company. It was nice because we were not cooking all day long. I hate that. We also used paper utensils which I am a big fan of.

After dinner we went to watch Les Miserables.
 I loved it. It was so good. We went with the Hemstalks, well Mikila and Nancy, but there were lots of Oroville Mormons in attendance. Everyone seemed to enjoy the show.

The Hemstalks came over and we shared our Christmas desserts. It was really fun to visit and catch up.
 
I didn't take any pictures at the Brown family Christmas party but it was so fun. That is the get together with all the Brown aunts, uncles, and cousins. We have used the church building the last two years and it has been awesome. We play music, visit, eat, play games, and have a book white elephant. It is nice to be able to see everyone and catch up.

It is always nice to be in Oroville at the same time as others. A highlight this year was being home for the Stutznegger Wassail party. I have not been to that in years and it was so fun to visit and catch up with people I have not seen in a long time (and Angelee came:). All the Cherry boys were at church. I can't remember the last time I had seen Brian, so that was fun. Carrie Hughes and Emily Taylor as well.

Mikila and I visited Katie on Christmas Eve. It was fun to chat and catch up. Just like the good ole days back in college.
After our visit with Katie we stopped and saw Erica. Well we had to wake her up because it was so late. But she was nice enough to come visit and I am so glad she did because it was my only chance to see her.

Being back in Provo has not been bad. I have had basketball practice, played in a soccer game, snowshoed with Moki (2X), taken naps, did laundry, and cleaned. Tomorrow I will take down Christmas. I am kind of sad about that. I love all the decorations I have and they are up for such a short time.

Moki LOVES the snow. That is great.
It is also a good way to wear her out. if we put in 3 miles she sleeps the rest of the day. It is awesome and hilarious. We will see how she does when I go back to school. She will have a lot of alone time, which will be sad. Hopefully I can still keep her active and busy.

I spent yesterday super sick. I was really tired Saturday but I had done a lot so I didn't think much about it. Sunday morning I kept debating if I was going to actually go to church. I felt off but not terrible. I was supposed to teach a class so I went. Then I came right home and felt worse and worse as the night went. After throwing up twice and taking a really hot shower I finally felt a little better. Headed to bed at 8 but still felt sick enough that I could not sleep. I think around 10 I fell asleep and slept great until my alarm went off at 6:30 for basketball. I have felt fine today. I have a cold but the flu like symptoms are gone. YUCK!!!! I hate being sick. 2012 has been a good year. I only have a couple of hours to come up with some New Years resolutions.



Thursday, December 20, 2012

I Made It!

 It is finally here.....Christmas break. December is sooo busy. I am so grateful for the two week break. If only basketball could take a two week break.

Life has been busy. Hanging out with family, shopping, coaching, teaching, playing sports, making cookies for lots of people, buying a dog, trying to work out. You get the picture.

I love to see Andrew and his parents. What a sweetie.
He is trying to perfect his smile.

My puppy visited last weekend. She was awesome. Her name is Moki. I love her. She is so fun, so soft, and so happy.
 She loves the snow but it tuckered her out.

A week later and Andrew has the smile down.
 He has yet to smile for me but he does for mom and dad.

I picked up Moki last night. I am so excited to have her. We will see when the excitement wears off how I feel.
She is a double doodle. I did tons of research on dogs and looked at lots of breeds but I feel like this one fits my life style best. Friendly, good for long slow runs (slower than 7mph), love the water, like to hike, don't shed. It has been really fun. She is 11 weeks old. Not quite potty trained. So I have my work cut out for me.

I am so excited to head to California tomorrow. To sleep in, play games, laugh. Now there are some presents I must go wrap. Merry Christmas to all.

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Recipe for perfection

 Today was just a great day! I always love Sundays but today was just so good. I listened to Christmas music this morning. Went for a lovely walk. Was able to enjoy my clean house and decorated house. I love having it decorated for Christmas.

In relief society they talked about traditions a little bit. Since I am single I don't have a lot of traditions but as I was thinking I thought my favorite thing about getting ready for Christmas is setting up my nativity. I love it. I reflect on each piece as I place it on the shelf and contemplate their sacred roles at that time in the world. I love that I have a simple Nativity (I wish it meant that it had been cheap). It has taken me four years of buying pieces to have the set I have now. It is not 100% complete but I am happy with it. They always add extra pieces but I love mine the way that it is and it has all the major parts.
 One other tradition is that I have read this book the last two years. I love love love this book. It is a great reminder of what the Christmas season is all about and helps me reflect on the Savior as well as the purpose for the season.
 Don't die of shock but I bore my testimony in church today. I almost get up every month but then I don't. It is ridiculous. I never say anything profound but my heart has been so full. One thing I have been contemplating the last few months was my setting apart as a temple worker. In the blessing the worker said that not only would I be blessed for my service but my family would be as well. I have seen this come to pass. I have the opportunity each week to pray, ponder, and place names on the temple prayer roll. I can testify that Heavenly Father has answered my prayers and is very aware of what is in my heart. I am so grateful for that. Every immediate family member and many of my friends have been in my thoughts and my prayers. I am so blessed to have such wonderful people in my life. I love them. I want them to be happy and blessed!

After church Sam, Amanda, and Nancy joined Dan, Caleb, Katie and I for dinner. After dinner we watched the Christmas devotional. I feel like it isn't really Christmas until the devotional each year. That really starts the season for me.

My tree all decked out.
This is the first year that I really wished my tree was more full. The only problem is that I don't have storage space for a much bigger tree. But I think next year I just may do it. It has been a good one but it may be time to move on. I have impressed myself with my self control, I didn't just run out and buy a new one. It has been very tempting. I love my new ornaments. I also put poinsettia flowers in the tree like my mom does and I love the red that it adds. It just makes me happy each morning and evening as I am coming and going.

All posts are better if I post a picture of a niece or nephew. This little stinker would not let me hold him tonight until Amanda put him to sleep.
 He then slept on my for quite awhile, so I forgave him. Such a cutie. I can't believe he is already six weeks old. Love him.

So recipe for a perfect Sunday: Music, Walks, Church, The Spirit, Family, Dessert (obviously), Wholesome movie (ELF), and Devotionals.


Saturday, November 24, 2012

Thanksgiving

I have so much to be grateful for. Like so much. It is crazy as I reflect on all that I have in my life. I am blessed. Without naming every person and thing we will just say I am grateful. Each night as I reflect on all that I have I thank the Lord for every thing, at times I am overwhelmed as I try to comprehend it all.

Basketball is underway. We won our first game. I am really excited about my team this year. All the girls are amazing athletes and a few of them are already great at basketball. Now we just have to get them all great at basketball. My parents were in town and came to watch our first game, Nancy came too! They have never seen me coach but I guess I passed the test.

My parents and Ben and Katie and crew drove out and spent the week out here. Talk about blessings. I loved having so much family here. I loved not driving to California. If only I got the entire week off like those educators in California. We played and played and played. I worked Monday and Tuesday but played after work. I am now ready for a vacation from vacation. I was supposed to catch up on sleep. I don't think that happened.

Saturday night after working at the temple I drove to Sandy to see the visitors. I was thrilled that this stinker waited up for me. We played and laughed and two hours later went to bed (don't tell her parents).
 For some reason she felt like she needed to sleep on the single air mattress with me. She has her own but we shared. Not so great for me but she didn't seem to mind.

Sunday we did church, dinner and attempted to do games. These two boys made the games really hard.
 You would think someone was pinching them.

I have no pictures from Monday and Tuesday. Monday after work Dan and I headed to Sandy. We ate and babysat for Ben and Katie. We visited with my parents as well.

Tuesday I hosted everyone in Provo. We had mango chicken rice bowls and hung out. Olivia stayed the night with me. Again not the best nights sleep for me.

Wednesday I dragged myself and Olivia out of bed at 5am to go coach basketball. YUCK! I hate practicing over the holidays but it is a necessity.

After basketball we met up with the family and headed to the children's museum. SO FUN!
 Olivia loved it. She had so much fun. Except for those times when she didn't want to share. Late nights and short naps were definitely a factor in a couple of meltdowns.


 My cousin Katie and Heather, along with Heather's girls, met us in Salt Lake. Olivia loved the big girls. She asked about her friends the rest of the weekend. Good thing we saw more of them.

Cierra carried Olivia so much she was sore the next day. Olivia is half of her weight.
After the museum we browsed through City Creek and the planetarium.


My cousin Heather and her girls or as Olivia believed her girls.

 On Thursday morning Sam and I ran in The Human Race. Olivia and Braxton kept me company while I was waiting for Sam to pick me up. Again another early morning.
 Post race, we did it. Why did I still feel like I ate way too much even after running six miles????
After the race we showered and headed to the zoo. The weather has been amazing this fall.

The girls came so Olivia was in heaven. They all took turns carrying her.
Konner loved watching all the animals. Here is he mesmerized by the polar bear.
 We saw lots of very fun animals. Olivia had been talking about the giraffes all week so that was a hit.
 I love all the big animals: elephants, bears, seals, giraffes, and tigers. On this particular day the Polar Bear stole the show. He was super fun to watch.








 Apparently he put on the same show for Jana and company the day before.....show off!
And the tiger is just beautiful.

Going to the zoo with Katie was awesome because she has a season pass and so you can ride the carrousel for free. That was also a hit with the kids.



 Olivia is truly a Brown. No booty to hold up her pants. We were constantly pulling them up all day. Poor girl....I feel her pain.

 Two little boys joined us at the zoo. They were good until they were done. And once they were done they were DONE!!!

We rested and napped after the zoo before the the big dinner. Loralie hosted, which was so nice of her. The food and company were superb.

The girls were so worn out from playing hard all day. They loved that they had their own chairs for the movie.
 Braxton was awesome. He was so happy all evening and let everyone hold him. He was also hamming it up for everyone as well. What a cutie pie.
 These two boys couldn't be more different. They are four months apart. Next time they are together I am guessing they will be able to actually interact. The one thing they do have in common is their unusually long arms, oh and they both can scream really really loud.
 Andrew was not so excited to be held by grandpa. My dad likes to hold the baby for like 2 minutes max so it all worked out.
After everyone left Thursday night Katie, Heather, Caleb and I jumped in the car and headed to Park City to shop. I hate shopping on black Friday and I hate staying up late but it seemed fun at 6pm when we decided to go. It actually was fun. We all did a little shopping. Once we headed home I slept the entire way. I was tired.

Friday was supposed to be my clean the house and get ready for Christmas day. Instead it was I am sore and tired and grouchy. So I slept in, went to breakfast with Dan, went to watch The Life of PI, took a nap and shopped in the evening.

I bought new Christmas tree ornaments and I love them!

Today I cleaned my house for 7 hours. 7 hours, PEOPLE!!! That is a long time. I washed base boards, and vacuumed cushions and blinds, mopped, and set up Christmas. It looks great. I love it. Then I worked at the temple. As I enter the temple each week I am again reminded of all that I have and that the Lord has given it to me. It was a wonderful way to spend my evening. I am blessed.






Audrey's Dance Recital

 How do you win the hearts of all the Brown's? Have the cutest niece ever perform in a dance recital. It was so fun to watch Audreys lit...