Pretty Dang Cute!!!

These are my favorite pictures of the kids from Christmas. I know I am not quite a partial judge, but I think these are two adorable kids. After Lizzy opened this present she crawled inside and said - "Mom, look Santa gave you me for Christmas."
Despite getting lots of nice new clothes - Andrew preferred the natural look.

Lizzy didn't want to take her new boots off for anything. Even to get in the hot tub.

Just outside our cabin, Andrew is modeling some of his new clothes.

Merry Christmas!!!

Make a slideshow - it's easy!

Who Needs Presents??

We received a Christmas package today from my parents. While I was on the phone with my Mom confirming that we'd recieved it, the kids decided to explore. They've already had Christmas and we haven't opened any presents yet. Besides the enormous mess I'll have to clean up, I think it is a blast. Lizzy says its like having snow inside. Thanks Mom!!!!

(Don't get me wrong - we're very excited for the real gifts too!!!)

The Hand of God

I wrote this blog quite awhile ago, but never posted it. I decided to post it today because again today I feel really blessed. I am so grateful for my many many blessings. Especially during this Christmas season I feel a deep love for the gospel of Jesus Christ and the love that He shares so freely with all of us. Merry Christmas to all of you.

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November 2007
In conference President Eyering spoke about learning to recognize the hand of the Lord in your life. That has stuck with me. I have tried to more fully see those things that have blessed my life. Here are a few that have come to mind lately.

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When we moved to Salt Lake - Lizzy was about 6 months old. I was having some difficulty adjusting to stay at home mom - hood. We lived on the top floor of an apartment and right across the hall we soon met the Kidds. Their little girl "Ellie" is about 1 month older than Lizzy. We used to open the doors of our apartments and put a gate at the top of the stairs and the girls would run back and forth - enjoying a four bedroom home instead of two. They were like sister for the 3 years that we lived in Salt Lake.

Katie, Tyler, Ellie and Liam are great friends whom we miss a lot. Here they are this Halloween as a star wars family. (Katie - how did you manage not to be in any pictures?)
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We met Sanoe in church and his wife and kids hadn't arrived in Maryland yet. However, I had a feeling that we'd get to be great friends. I was right. We will only live near the Harrison for a year before we return to Utah and they to Hawaii, but we will never forgot them. Besides friends in Hawaii are very tempting to come and visit some time.

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I feel especially grateful for Aaron today. Why? Because he saved me the last shrimp from our leftovers. He said "That's because I love you."

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I am grateful for my kids and the joy they bring into my life. My kids just really really make me laugh everday and I am grateful for that. This is a video of Andrew just after he'd turned one. It is old, but a favorite video of mine so I decided to put it on.

Gingerbread Houses

Well .... we love the Harrisons. We have really felt blessed to have met them this year. We have done everything from babysitting to playdates to parties and everything else with them. They are just one of those great families that you immediately feel comfortable with. Tonight we made gingerbread houses. Sanoe and Aaron did most of the work and the kids ate most of the candy (and most of the frosting....hmmmm no wonder the houses kept falling apart.)

Little Blessings

Andrew has been having difficulty sleeping lately. He's started throwing fits about bedtime and naptime and waking up in the night and waking up really early. I hope it won't last long because he has always been a GREAT sleeper. Anyway, he woke up quite early this morning and I was really tired. He's been kind of sick lately too, so I really hoped he'd sleep longer. Anyway - before I went into his room I quickly prayed that I'd find a way to help him go back to sleep. I picked him up and took him into the living room. I turned off the lights and lay down on the couch. I sat him on the couch beside me and amazingly he just sat there. A few minutes later he said "blankie" so I went and got him his blanket. We then sat there for awhile longer and then he said "night-night". Here's the amazing part - he then got up, went into his room and climbed into his crib all by himself and went back to sleep. If that isn't a miracle - I don't know what is. Sleeping kids really are some of the best little blessings.

TAG - YOUR IT!!!!

I've been tagged which means I get to put all sorts of secretive stuff about my husband up on the blog. What fun!!! Here goes.

Aaron tried this look for a few hours. What do you think?

What is his name? Aaron Paul Brown
How long have you been married? 6 years (in a few weeks)
How long did you date? I can't give an exact number. We got engaged on the anniversary of 5 years from our first date. That time included high school dances, 1 year of college, lots of dates with other people, an engagement to another person and a mission. After his mission we dated 2 months before we were engaged. (As I side note I think it is cool because I was the first girl Aaron ever asked out.) If my scanner worked, I'd put up some pictures from our highschool dances.
How old is he? 27
Who eats more? Definitely Aaron
Who said I love you first? We haven't said that to each other yet. Actually - I really don't know.
Who is taller? Aaron

Who sings better? It'd have to be Aaron since he made the Madrigal choir in highschool and I only made Chamber singers.
Who is smarter? Aaron.
Whose temper is worse? Mine. Aaron will never fight with me no matter how much I try.
Who does the laundry? I think Aaron did the laundry once when we were newlyweds.
Who does the dishes? I do most of the time, but Aaron helps too. He did all of the dishes after Thanksgiving dinner.
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Aaron.
Who pays the bills? I pay the bills but Aaron makes the money.

Who cooks dinner? I do. But Aaron makes the phone call when we order out. :)

Who drives when you are together? Aaron- unless I am dropping him off somewhere.
Who is more stubborn? I think that would be me again. Well - I don't know. Aaron can be stubborn too. I'll call it a tie.
Whose parents do you see the most? As a family - we try to split it pretty equally. (They live 15 minutes away from each other.) We haven't seen either of them for 5 months.
Who proposed? Aaron did - at Temple Square under the very tree where his father proposed to his mother.
Who has more friends? Since we've been together forever we have mostly the same friends. I keep up with old friends though and he really doesn't.
Who has more siblings? I do. I have 4 and he has 2.
Who wears the pants in the family? Aaron has the final say, but I'm good at getting my way too.



As these answers reveal, Aaron is pretty much the better half. (Thanks for making me tell it to the world Michelle). He is a great dad and a sweet husband. I love you Aaron!!

I tag Kim Tucker, Carolyn Hanson and Kalleen Wright

Christmas is for Children

We purchased a small artificial tree for Christmas this year. The kids were so excited. They ran around the store from one Christmas item to the next jumping up and down. We have a family tradition where each person gets to pick a new ornament each year. Lizzy picked a Tinkerbell ornament and Andrew picked a package with a variety of Sesame Street characters (including Elmo). The morning after we'd set up the tree Andrew woke up at 5:30 - happy and excited as can be. I told him it was too early to be up and tried to put him back in his bed, but he began kicking and squirming to get out of his bedroom and into the living room - all the while hollering "Missmus Tee!!, Missmuss Tee!!, Elmo!!!!!, Elmo!!!!"

I also am putting up a picture of our Thanksgiving even though it probably looks pretty lame. It was a pretty mellow year but we had fun relaxing. It was also a record for the quickest Thanksgiving meal I've had. We sat down to eat at 1:00 and by 2:15, the kids were in bed for naps and the dishes were all cleaned up and put away. I hope you all had a wonderful celebration.

Christmas Memories

I am starting to get a little bit homesick as the holidays approach. Although I am so excited for Christmas this year and looking forward to kind of a different celebration with our little family - I am a little sad to be missing out on the celebration with mine and Aaron's family. I was surprised this morning to find myself crying while listening to some Christmas song on the radio. Here are the top 10 things I will miss this year.

#10 A white Christmas. Okay it's possible it could snow here.... right?

#9 Extended family parties with the Browns and the Goodrich's. Chaotic - yes but we love them.
#8 Acting out the nativity - twice. Once with each family.


#7 Singing Christmas songs around the piano. I love the two part "Stars That Twinkle and Shine" and of course the hymns. Camille and I also do Barry Manilow's "Jingle Bells" and "Baby It's Cold Outside".

#6 The top of the stairs in our pajamas photo. In this one we had to get back in our pajamas later in the day, just to get the photo.

#5 Doing the Christmas wiggle with my siblings. (Don't ask - I couldn't explain it)


#4 Candlelight Christmas Eve dinner. We have an assortment of all of the yummiest food we can think of.


#3 Cousins playing together.

#2 Being able to see people open the gifts we give them.

#1 That warm fuzzy feeling that comes when you are in a crowded room with people you love. (I'll still be with people I love, it just won't be so crowded.)

In honor of Veterans Day

We have had a lot of remarkable experiences while here in Maryland. Aaron and I agreed, however, that the most memorable one has been our trip to Gettysburg. We went with our own personal tour guide, Chris Brewer, who is a member of our ward and lives in our building.

He is a historian who specializes in American history. He gives a lot of speeches, writes books, he has helped make several films (including the movie "Gettysburg") and he gives this tour to a lot of famous people. (Jennifer Aniston, Brad Pitt, Reese Witherspoon and many more). His fees are $1500 a day, plus $50 a person. We, however had this remarkable experience free of charge. (He is extremely generous in his service to others. I also have to say that for the past 16 years, he has had a special calling of being "Santa" at the temple in Washington DC. I will probably have to write some more about him later because he is probably the most amazing person I have ever met) He is an incredible story teller and at each stop we learned amazing and moving stories from this great battle.

This (on the left) is the field where Picketts Charge happened. In less than an hour, nearly 6,000 men died on this field. More than 50,000 men died in 3 days of battle.

Today we honor and remember all of those who

have sacrificed all for our great country.

Happiness Is . . . .

Caught in the Rain

I've resisted starting a blog for a long time now. Finally I have given in. I figure it's a pretty good thing. It's like scrapbooking (only free), a journal (well not quite so private, but it is a record of my thoughts), and its a great way to keep in touch with friends and family. So - I'm out of excuses. Welcome to our blog. This picture is when we were walking home from the Metro station and it just staring pouring sheets of rain. As if we didn't get wet enough from the rain, Lizzy and I got hit with a giant splash as a car passed by us. The kids were shaking, but I was laughing. I love the rain.