Christmas Joy

Another great year for the Brown's. We have four very content people in our house tonight. Not only because of the thoughtful and unique gifts we received, but mostly because we are together on this special day of the year. We are a family, and we have the Gospel in our lives which gives us incredible peace and joy.

We are blessed and we are grateful.

We hope you have the same peace and joy this holiday season.

Merry Christmas!!

Happy Anniversary to Us!

Exactly 10 years ago today, on one of the coldest December days in the history of Idaho, this happened:



Da da da da dun da da, dun dah duh dah...(wedding march). Look out world, here we come!! This was us coming out of the Idaho Falls Temple, freshly hitched. It was absolutely freezing that day, and I felt like a popsicle in my short-sleeved dress. I channeled Rose from Titanic that day whilst taking picture after picture on the frozen Temple grounds. By the end of the session we couldn't use many of our pictures anyway as we both had red, Rudolph noses and were visibly clenching our teeth.



Later on at our Reception...us and our parents, the people who made this all happen. Our reception was held in a Banquet Room on the campus of the former Ricks College, Rexburg, Idaho. Very appropriate as we met at Ricks 5 years earlier. Mark's Mom worked there, and had special connections and the room was just perfect. We went with the Christmas theme, and had trees with white lights, white and burgundy poinsettas, and emerald green and burgundy accents throughout. (I know, veeerry 1998.) It was beautiful though.



Me and my pets, oops I mean "bridesmaids". Melanie had just celebrated her first anniversary with Jeff that summer, and Erin was in her single days at UVCC. We found the emerald green velvet dresses at a JCPenney in Provo during Thanksgiving break that year. I think they were like $30 or $40. My roomate Nicky (also a mission companion) was also my bridesmaid that day.



Mark and his "groomsmen". From left, Tony Mosier, Dan Brown, Jason Brown. My how we've all changed!!



I just love this picture of Mark. Isn't that expression priceless? Especially on his wedding day. Doesn't he look like he's saying "whoo boy, what have I gotten myself into?!?" Either that, or somebody spiked the punch and he's feeling a little happy. Anyway, what a cute groom, huh?

P.S. We want a cut of any winnings anybody acquired on bets placed on whether or not we would actually make it this far...you can mail them to our new address.

Thanks!!

It's Great to Be Eight!

Maryn's birthday was on Sunday, as well as her baptism. She had a great celebration. Grandma and Grandpa Brown came all the way from Rigby to be with us, and the fun just never ended.

Except...

that Maryn came home from school on Thursday with a fever over 100 degrees. The same night that her Grandparents were arriving to stay with us, and the same night as my RS Christmas Party. We made quick arrangements for me to drop off my treats to the party early (and not go), and to keep her with me while Mark and Avery went to the airport. We all had dinner together that night, and kept Maryn as far away from them as possible.

The next day (Friday) I kept both of them home from school. Maryn definitely had strep (like the 6th time this year), and Avery was just a ball of jealous determination that she needed to stay home as well. We got Maryn into the dr. that afternoon, and started the antibiotics, hoping that they would kick in for her to feel well at her baptism.

And they did.

Saturday was pleasant, and we went out and ran some errands and had "the grandparents" party, where both sets lavished her with presents and attention. It was fun. Later that night we had more presents and she blew out her premature birthday candles on top of a Tim Horton's double chocolate donut.

Then we went to Church on Sunday, and after we got home Avery complained that her tummy was hurting. Usually Ave uses this tactic to get out of eating what is being served, but what was being served was one of her faves...roast, potatoes, and carrots. And she didn't touch it. She went to lay down, and then she jumped up and got to the toilet just in time for, you guessed it!! I was shocked. At first I thought maybe she was faking it...that her jealousy had reached an all new level and she was making herself sick to turn the attention on her. She fell asleep and I figured when she got up, she'd be fine for the baptism.

I was wrong.

She got up and threw up again, and again, and again. Mark and Grandpa Brown gave her a blessing. She was miserable. They left without us to set things up. I packed the puke bucket, towels, a change of clothes, and off we went. She was fine for awhile, and when we got there she was seemingly fine as well.

Then towards the middle of Grandma Brown's talk she said she needed to GO! And off we went...sprinting across the back of the chapel to the nearest garbage can. A couple friends followed me out, but I didn't want to pawn off my sick child on somebody else...and basically spread the germs for all to acquire. (Maybe that was already too late?)

So I missed the last half of Laurie's talk and the beautiful musical number I had arranged with my friends, Maryn and my favorite primary hymn, "If the Savior Stood Beside Me". Ave pulled it together and we went to the Baptistry.


Mark and Maryn got in the font and it was freezing. Ave got up close enough to see. It was wonderful. But I was distracted. And I walked Avery back to the Chapel with her bucket, forgetting that a sopping wet skinny little 8 year old was waiting for me in the changing room. It finally hit me, and off I sprinted across the back of the chapel again to rescue my poor little chicken baby Maryn.

I got into the changing room, and there she was completely naked with a HUGE grin on her face. She looked at me excitedly and said, "I'm freeeeeeezzzzing!" It was so cute, and something I will never forget. It calmed my nerves immediately. I grabbed her blue fuzzy towel and finished drying her off and got her dressed. We met up with Mark and walked back to the Chapel.

When we got there, Amy was playing beautiful Christmas music on her violin and I immediately felt the Spirit again.

But then...

I noticed that Avery was missing, and so was her bucket. Sprint #3 across the back of the chapel to see if she was puking somewhere on the other side of the building. Nowhere. to. be. found. I returned and saw that she was sitting with friends on the back row. My friend insisted she would keep her and that I needed to get up to the front row and sit with Maryn and Mark. I did and started calming down again.

The program really was beautiful. Wonderful talks by both of her Grandmothers, prayers from her Grandfathers, Ordinances by her Dad and Uncles and Grandpas. It was awesome.

Unfortunately, Avery had to cap it off with another dash to the garbage can.

After the closing prayer, she went home with Grandpa and Grandma Brown. I'm so glad they were there. I went into the Young Women's room to cut the birthday cake. We had a great turnout (thank you for all of you who came!), and we were able to visit and enjoy our guests and Maryn's birthday.

I think it was another momentous occassion in the Brown family that was perfectly punctuated with a little drama and tribulation. Remember our honeymoon story? I think that it's just our luck quite honestly. And it also makes for great stories afterwards...and lllooooonnngggg blog posts!! Hee hee.

All in all, Maryn had a great birthday. At one point, she looked at Mark and said, "I just can't stop smiling." I think that sums it up. She is a big girl now, and we are so proud of her. And so happy that her birthday was such a memorable one.

And lest we forget her little sister...she's fine today. I kept her home from school, and she's been happy as a clam watching Star Wars and eating Ramen Noodles. I think it was a quirky 24-hour bug that just so happened to have the worst possible timing imaginable.

Oh well.

Life goes on.

Dramatic Interpretation

Have you guys heard the story about a guy named Joseph yet? It's a big hit at our house this year. As a matter of fact, we've come up with a little dramatic interpretation of our own just for fun...after raiding the dress up box, and finding a few props, we came up with this.

I give you Joseph, humble carpenter by trade.



And his lovely, rosy-cheeked wife Mary,



(who was all smiles after just having given birth to the Christ child),



in a humble, carpeted stable made of pillows and blankeys, in a little town called Bethlehem.

Aaaand, Scene.

Wacky Kids

Avery and Maryn had a wacky "mix-n-match" day at school last week. They were so excited to pick out their outfits the night before because one of their absolute favorite things to do is play dress-up. This was like getting to wear dress-up all day.

Except...

You know how sometimes when you were a kid, and you'd have nightmares of showing up to school in your pajamas or worse yet, naked. Well, that's not exactly what happened, but kinda close. When I picked up the girls from school, I noticed that none of the other kids looked quite as wacky as the Brown girls. I asked them how "mix-n-match" day went, and they said that nobody really did it. One other girl in Maryn's class dressed up, and when the other kids remembered, they kind of half-heartedly turned their shirts around so they'd be backwards. Avery said nobody else in her class did it. I asked them how it made them feel, if they were embarrassed or sad, and they said a little bit, but mostly it just didn't bug them that much. Maryn actually really loved it and wore one tennishoe and one boot all day long to complete her wacky ensemble.

I guess it taught me a couple little lessons too.

It taught me that at this age, appearance, etc. doesn't really matter a whole lot. They could go to school with mismatched clothes everyday and it wouldn't be the end of the world (lesson for me is to relax about perfectly matching outfits).

Also it taught me that my girls (and maybe other kids out there too) are developing into independent thinkers and learning that it's okay to be different and stand apart from the crowd. I think the other kids wished they'd remembered by the end of the day. I hope that when they are teenagers and they're deciding to dress modestly instead of like the rest of the girls at school, that they have as much fun as they did that day. And that even if nobody else is doing it, they are doing what is right.

Anyway, just thought I'd share.

Oh and Happy Birthday...

...to this little guy,

who somehow turned into this big guy over night.

Happy Birthday to our favorite missionary...Collin Jeffrey Pierson!!

Stuff

NO way, I just wrote a super long post and it disappeared!! AAGH!!

I was going to say many things, but now I'm kind of mad, so I'm going to keep it brief.

I was going to say that I'm sorry that I haven't posted much lately. Now that I'm not sitting in front of a screen all day, I forget about blogging. My life in a cube wasn't great, but it definitely gave me lots of time for blogging.

I was going to say that everything with the house is still good to go. We still need financing, appliances, a dryer vent to the outside, and area rugs. We're scheduled to close on the Monday before Christmas. Hopefully we can get everything hooked up for our actual move date. We're thinking either the 26th and 27th or the 30th and 31st. What do you think?

I was going to give you updates on the family.

Mark finishes working at Henry Ford on Thursday, and Young Detroit Builders on the 19th. I know he's glad and anxious to move onto IVCC. I know I'm glad that now he'll be going to work in a cornfield, rather than the hood.

Maryn got chosen to be the "star student" in her class starting next week. It involved a detailed poster all about her. The platypus and mac and cheese had prominent places on her poster, you can be sure. She has a crooked, 2nd grade smile right now. 2 huge teeth at different angles and lengths coming in on top and lots of little white baby teeth hanging on for dear life all around them. She's a funny girl. She'll be turning 8 and getting baptized on her birthday, Dec. 14th...it's a Sunday...the baptism is at 7 at the Stake Center. You're all invited.

Avery is (thank the heavens above) doing so much better with her reading. You get that girl a comic book or a book about Star Wars and that's all it takes. I was really nearing the end of my rope. She's strong willed, but when it's in the right direction, she really does well. I kind of held my breath at parent/teacher confs, but her teacher had great things to say. Phew. She cracks me up and still lets me snuggle and treat her like my baby. Although we may start sharing shoes soon. She's a tall tilly.

I am busy and happy...happily busy. I didn't realize how drained I was...my reserves were empty and I didn't feel like I had anything left over to give. Now I do, and it feels great to have more time and energy for my family and friends. Busy Christmas shopping, organizing and beginning to pack, filing for unemployment, etc. It's all good though.

So that's our stuff. It was more brief than the first post, but it's just going to have to do. Let me know if I left anything out.