Increasingly Jealous

Is it normal to become increasingly jealous of your younger brother?

First of all, he submitted his mission papers to his bishop today.  He's grown a foot or two and they are going to call him on a mission!  I'm a little bit super jealous of this.  I have to wait until I'm old to go on a mission.  I'll have the best companion in the world, though.

So as if that's not enough excitement for one person...

He's going to New York City.  For four days.  With my dad.  For free.

He entered to be a part of the NFL and Nike's Back to Football Photo Day.  And he won.  Seriously.

Is it just me, or does no one ever win those things?  Like no one you even know ever wins those things.  And my brother won.  He just submitted this photo and gave his style in 3 words.

Classy.  Collected.  Casual.

He's just a stud.  That's all there is to it.

Anyway, they fly out to NYC, get picked up in a limo, and stay at the Marriott Marquis in the middle of Times Square.  They have an all day photo shoot party thing (hair and makeup artists included).  He gets to meet the NFL Commissioner (I'm not a football fan, but I know that's a big deal) and other NFL Legends.  They get to go as VIP guests to a Mariah Carey and some other someone concert.  They have plans to see the Empire State Building, Central Park, etc. etc.

All I can say is...I'm increasingly jealous.

I Was Her Counselor

This cracks me up!  We are so scandalous...

And whoever made this meme can't spell.

Good Friends and Early Mornings

Here's proof to show that we met up with Kyle and Michelle in Utah.  This is the whole crew, if you include Michelle's shadow in the lower left-hand corner.  We're both kicking ourselves for not capturing a picture of the two of us.  We're good friends, I promise.

When we grow up, the Browns want to be just like these folks...

In other news, I've survived the first few days of senior year.  The Little Dude, on the other hand, isn't doing as well.  We tried to wean him into an earlier schedule by putting him to bed a little bit earlier everyday the last few days.  This morning was our first early morning.  He decided it was to early for breakfast.  He fell asleep in Grannie's car amidst errands.  He slept for at least three hours when he got home.  When he woke up he said it was not time to eat.  I asked him if he wanted to play?  No.  Did he want to read stories?  No.  Did he want to go back to bed?  Ya.  So back to bed he went, where he laid for another half hour before deciding it was time for dinner.  He was kinda grouchy the rest of the evening and went to bed without much trouble at 6pm.  Poor guy.  Hopefully his little body will transition in the next few days.  There's no getting around  the yucky early morning schedule.

Sunbeams and Spiderman

I have a little sunbeam at church.  He is four years old and he thinks he is Spiderman.  The Amazing Spiderman.  We constantly have to remind him that he is not Spiderman.  He'll start talking about how his name is Peter Parker and how he has webs and all sorts of other crazy Spiderman things.  I guess at home it's really bad.  He won't answer to his own name.  He gets mad and says, "That's not my name!  I am Spiderman!!"

This past Sunday in church, he was sitting next to me and he held up his hand and said, "Look, it's my web!"

No.  No.  That's a booger.

Kudos for creativity, though.

The End of All Things Fun

School starts tomorrow.  It marks the end of all things fun.

Instead of novels, I'll be reading textbooks.

Instead of vacationing, I'll be writing papers and completing assignments.

Instead of sleeping, I'll be driving Hyrum to Grannie's so that I can go to class.

Instead of spending time with Husband, I'll be in clinical.

But, before the end of all things fun, we were able to go visit the Browns and Goodwins in Utah.  We left in the afternoon after Tony got off of work.  It worked perfectly, because by the time we got to Flagstaff, Hyrum was asleep for the night and the roads were empty and life was good.

 We played with cousin Jacie.

We got lots of tickles from Grandpa.

We spent an afternoon at the Children's Discovery Gardens at Thanksgiving Point.  It was a lot of fun.  There were splash pads, a little play pool, a maze, fish to feed, things to climb on, caves to explore, boats to send down the stream, and grass to run in.  Hyrum loved it.

Oh man...those are fish.

I love this picture of my boys.

While in Utah we went shopping (also known as getting spoiled by Grandma), played at the park, played tennis, ate yummy food (including Tucanos), and enjoyed being together.

 

Hryum got new clothes from Grandma Brown.

 

 He got a new train set and other fun toys.

One of our favorite things about the trip was that we got to visit Kyle, Michelle, and their family.  Tony knew Kyle and Michelle from the BYU days.  Kyle was a groomsman at our wedding.  Michelle couldn't make it.  So, in the last two and a half years, Michelle and I have followed each others' blogs and dreamed of the day when we would meet.  Every time we've been to Utah we've tried to see them, but things never have worked out.  This time Kyle was in town, but Michelle was at BYU Education Week.  Darn.  But I guess Michelle wanted to make my day, because she came home just to visit with us for 15 minutes.  (Lame, I know, but we had dinner reservations...)  It was wonderful just to visit.  We've always claimed we were friends, but now we really are.   Next time we'll need to go out to dinner or something grand.  (A picture soon to come, I hope!  Thanks, Michelle, for capturing the moment.)

We decided that Hyrum sleeping in the car was a heavenly thing, so instead of leaving early on Saturday morning, we hiked up Provo Canyon to Bridalveil Falls.

It was a fun little hike, all paved (perfect for babies in strollers), and you can play in the freezing cold water once you make it to the falls.

The water was so cold it made your feet hurt, but Hyrum and Jacie just kept wanting to put their feet back in.  Hyrum was so fascinated he couldn't even pay attention to the camera.

After our hike, Husband got spoiled.  We stopped by the BYU Creamery and bought chocolate milk.  He was even lucky enough to get approval to buy a whole case of Barq's Red Cream Soda.  We also got burgers and fries so we would be ready for the road.

It was a short trip, but a good trip.  Too bad it's the last trip.

California: Day 6

Day 6 was our last day!  We finished strong at Disneyland and California Adventures!

My 18 year old brother waited in line for an hour to meet his princess...Rapunzel.  He's a stud.

We rode the Nemo submarines for the first time.  I voted it one of my new favorite rides.

I love my husband!

I love my parents!  I'm so grateful for all they do for me.  My mom is always willing to help with Hyrum.  My dad makes us all laugh so much and he is the number one supporter of all of his kids.  I'm so glad we were able to spend the week with them!

Cars Land was the big deal this trip.

We loved Mater's tractors.  "Por favor a todos!"

Now for the story about Radiator Springs Racers...

On Wednesday we went to California Adventures first thing and Tony ran to get fast passes for Racers.  (See wait time in picture above: 135 minutes.)  He didn't get them.  The park had been open for a half hour and the fast passes were gone.  We were bummed.  Well, we did the same thing on Friday.  Tony ran, got in line, and actually got fast passes (for 5:50pm...but they were fast passes)!  So that evening, everyone went and rode Radiator Springs Racers except for Tony, Hyrum, and I.  Hyrum was too short to ride, so we waited for the others to finish and then jumped in line. 

We were so close to making it to the front of the fast pass line when the ride malfunctioned.  So we waited over an hour for them to fix it.  They fixed it and we were in great shape.  The ride was magnificent.  It was like you were really in the movie!  And it wasn't a little weenie ride, either.  You went fast.  You made sharp turns.   Your stomach went "Ah!" a few times.  And then just as we made it to the end and Mater and Lightning McQueen were chatting at us...

It broke again.  We had to wait to be escorted out.  Holy smokes aren't we lucky we weren't still in line...or halfway through the ride...  It may not have been ideal, but we were able to ride Radiator Springs Racers.

California: Day 5

Day 5 was a relaxation day for most of us.  Husband and I used it as an opportunity to visit a new temple.  We went to the Redlands Temple.

This was our 15th temple.  We were asked to be witness couple, which is always something special. 

It was a fun date, complete with spicy chicken sandwiches from Church's chicken and McFlurries.

California: Day 4

Now that we're home for good from what our friend Kyle claims is the "vacation a week club" I'm back to reporting our adventures.

Day 4 was made up of more adventures at Disneyland/California Adventure.

In California Adventures, they have a Wilderness Explorer Camp.  Hyrum loved it.  He splashed in the stream, went down slides, climbed through tubes, explored caves, and (his favorite) climbed up and down the stairs.  Grannie hung out with him here while everyone else went on Grizzly Falls.

Pops and Bryton in the fifth row getting ready for California Screamin' to blast off.  When Husband (stud that he is) managed to get us fast passes for the Radiator Springs Racers, we also got a bunch of surprise fast passes for Screamin'.  It was fun to ride it three or four times in a row!

Hyrum met a few characters throughout the week.  This was his classic response.

"Why are we doing this?"

Hyrum's favorite moments were those times when we let him roam around...free of his stroller.  I love this face.