Blog Attack!

The next few weeks may consist of a very scary blog attack.  I'm sorry. That's what happens when you get busy with life, reading stories, Christmas, vacations, anniversaries, kissing, and the like.  Then, when you're finally back home and you settle back into a regular routine you say, "Wow! I better let the world catch up with what the Browns have been up to..." 

So, for today, I will share with you the wonderful Brown family pictures we had done.  Thanks go to Ali Micek and her wonderful talent.  And yes...it was cold. 

 Don't you just love Tony's I'm-so-lucky-I-got-this-one smirk?

 Two babies on the way and only about three weeks apart!

 SNOW!

Thanksgiving 2010

This year we spent Thanksgiving in Utah with the Brown side of the family.  I skipped out early on some of my classes so that we could spend a couple extra days with Whitney and Kemp.  We had a fabulous time!  Here are some of the highlights:

• We watched Harry Potter 1-6 at home and then went and saw the seventh one on the mammoth screen.
• We made our Thanksgiving dinner from scratch and it was delicious!  Turkey (Whitney's creation), stuffing, corn, gravy, rolls (Kemp's deliciousness), green beans, mashed potatoes, and a scrumptious punch.

•  We also had apple pie, peach cobbler, cherry pie, better-than-anything cake, and pumpkin crumble.
• Black Friday was a busy day for the boys and the girls.  Dr. Brown took Whitney and I shopping until we could shop no more.  We were spoiled.  In the meantime, the boys built a wall in order to create a nursery for the arrival of Jacie Lynn Goodwin. (YES! They're having a girl!!)
• We all met up that evening and went to Tocano's, a Brazilian barbecue place.  It has an all-you-can-eat salad bar and then they bring around a wide selection of meats and you eat until your heart's (or stomach's) content.
• After dinner it was back to work! The boys finished up the wall while the girls wrapped all the purchases for Christmas the next day.

•  Tony and I were spoiled rotten, as usual.  On top of my maternity wardrobe I received a stethoscope, a sphygmomanometer, new tennis shoes, a wheat grinder, and puzzles.  Tony got a brand new fancy-pants Android phone (which he loves), new dress shirts, tennis shoes, and some of his favorite board games.  Baby got a new jogging stroller and car seat.

•  On Saturday afternoon we went out into the freezing snow and took family pictures.  We had a lot of fun doing that and I'm excited to see how they turned out!
• Sunday meant driving home and, lucky us, there was a snow storm.  The "Speed Limit 80" signs taunted us all the way from Lehi to St. George, where we stopped for the night.  We topped of the whole trip with Cracker Barrel for breakfast.

We really enjoyed the opportunity to spend time with our family.  We really do take advantage of every chance we have since we're all so spread out.  It was probably the last time we'll have all six of us together before six becomes eight!

The Infamous Christmas Card

So I’ve been thinking…should I send Christmas cards out or no? Tons of people do it every year. Am I one of those people?

Reasons why not to send Christmas cards:

1. Most people have these cute little kids that they plaster on the front. I don’t have any cute little kids yet, just a baby in my belly. Does anyone really want to get a Christmas card that has a picture of just Husband and I on the front?

2. It’s time consuming… You have to pick the card. You have to pick the picture. You have to order them. You have to decide who to send them to. You have to address the envelopes. You have to lick-and-stick the envelopes. You have to stamp the envelopes. You have to take the envelopes to the post office.

3. Sending Christmas cards can get mighty pricey. Period.

Reasons to send Christmas cards:

1. We recently had pictures taken and they’re perfect for Christmas cards. There’s snow. Husband and I are freezing. At least if we look like we’re absolutely freezing but still trying to smile the picture will be entertaining. (There’s nothing better than family pictures in Utah.)

2. Shutterfly.com makes the time-consuming-ness of Christmas cards a million times easier. They have a large selection of fabulous cards so it doesn’t matter which one you pick. If you want, Shutterfly will even stamp and mail them for you!

3. If you shop on shutterfly.com, you can get great deals because they always have things on sale and run great promotions (such as free shipping).

I’ve bought books, calendars, and prints from Shutterfly and I’ve always been very impressed. I just might use them for my first ever Christmas photo cards as well!

Some of their choices!

The getting-ready-for-Christmas-hoopla!

I told myself that Christmas had to wait until after Thanksgiving.  Necessary shopping, such as gifts and an artificial, 4 foot, pre-lit Christmas tree (on sale at Michael's for $20), could be done, but Christmas music, decorations, and the like were completely off limits until AFTER Thanksgiving.

[I caved]

I don't know what it was exactly... It might have been going to see "How the Grinch Stole Christmas!"  It might have been the discovery that 99.9KEZ was playing their Christmas music...the fact that the boxed up Christmas tree was taunting me...the fact that the neighbors upstairs had their Christmas tree up...perhaps even the simple fact that it was cold outside... I don't know, but I do know that my justification was that we needed to wrap presents for the Brown Family Thanksgiving/Christmas celebrations the following week and Christmas present wrapping just isn't allowed unless there is a tree up and Christmas music playing.

I also know that Tony thought I was going to have a conniption, or maybe he knew I was having one.
      con·nip·tion: [kuh-nip-shuhn]  a fit of hysterical excitement

Whatever the case may be, Saturday was the day.  We went and bought wrapping paper and those cute little sticky gift tags.  We pulled out the ornaments and Grandma Carter's olive wood Nativity.  We rearranged the living room so that our Christmas tree could have a home.  We created a Christmas music playlist on iTunes and turned it up.  The Christmas tree went up.  The blue ornaments (previously used as centerpieces at our Arizona wedding reception) went on, along with the red apple ornament Tony has had since childhood.  It was perfect!  The presents were wrapped, pictures were taken, and then the lights went off and I sat in awe as I looked at my little Christmas tree and realized that this was the best getting-ready-for-Christmas-hoopla I had ever had.  I was just Husband and me and it was perfect.  I was in love...with my Christmas tree...with my husband...with the holiday season...for a chance to focus my thoughts upon my family and, more importantly, upon my Savior, Jesus Christ. 

I love the holidays.  They remind me to be grateful.  They remind me to be compassionate and giving.  They remind me of what life is all about.  Let the celebrations begin, but let us not forget what matters most.

My First Blogging Award

Let me just tell you how absolutely blown away I was to learn that the

fabulous, talented, wonderful, beautiful Michelle
nominated ME for the Beautiful Blogger Award.
Thank you, Michelle!

Beautiful Blogger Award

Terms of this award: must list 10 things about yourself,

thank the person who gave you this award, and pass it on to 10 wonderful bloggers.

1. I have been in denial since mid-June that there were 10 things I could share about myself that anyone would care about.  Little did I realize that all it took was a little bit of creativity and humility.  Humility, yes.  Because my "no one else cares about any of these facts about me" was really me saying "I'm totally awesome, I just don't want to brag."

2. [I'll start off easy.]  I am officially 18 weeks pregnant.  My baby, if my baby is an average baby, is about 5.6 inches in length.  No, I haven't felt any movement yet.  I tell myself it's because whenever I think about trying to see if I can feel Baby move I hold real still and I think Baby decides it's time for them to hold still too.  Husband and I are not going to find out what Baby's gender is for four reasons... {one} I have absolutely no desire {two} it's killing Tony not to know {three} my dad says that finding out is forbidden in our family (my parents had seven children and never found out) {four} I like calling my baby, Baby.

3. If I could be anywhere RIGHT NOW it would be Nauvoo, Illinois. I love the feeling I have when I'm there. It's a mixture of awe and peace and a determination to do better. It also helps that Nauvoo is the place where I met Husband. It's the place where he became one of my very best friends. Nauvoo was a brand new beginning for many of the Saints. It marked a brand new beginning for us too.

4. I love love LOVE Disneyland.  Husband and I were planning a trip last fall, but then I was pregnant.  I decided that I couldn't enjoy it to my fullest potential if I couldn't ride the big roller coasters and if I would be sick to my stomach just from the motion of "It's a Small World."  One of these days, however, I will introduce Husband to the wonderfulness that is Disneyland.  I will show him why Peter Pan is my favorite ride.  I will share with him delicious churros and turkey legs.  We will sip hot chocolate while we watch the fireworks.  It shall be delightful.

5. Rice Krispie Treats are my favorite homemade treat ever.  I can eat a whole 9x13 pan in a week (if not three days).  Besides their delectable taste, I love them because they are easy to make and because  Husband doesn't like them, so I don't have to share.

6. I was valedictorian of my high school's graduating class of 2009.  It was cool and exciting then.  It wasn't so cool and exciting when we were driving to Wells Fargo Arena where I was supposed to give a speech in front of 3,000 people and I couldn't stop crying and I thought I was going to throw up, and I still wasn't a big fan of how my hair looked with a graduation cap stuffed over it.  It was cool and exciting again when I didn't die giving my Dr. Seuss inspired, poetic speech.  Now it's not so cool and exciting anymore because no one really cares what you did in high school.

7. I like to think that Husband and I are professional budget-ers.  I'm a full-time student and work only 8 hours a week and Tony has been unemployed for a year or so.  Consider that and figure out how we've not only had the money we need to survive, but also that we've paid off debt each month and that our amount of cash in the bank has also been increasing.  Like I said, we're pros.

8. I love to go hiking.  I'm glad Husband does too.  My mom and I have hiked the Grand Canyon twice together.  The second time it was a rim-to-rim hike.  Tony and I aspire hike the Grand Canyon together as well.  In the mean time, we go for small hikes around town.  Once we even hitched up our fancy backpacks and a tent and hiked to the top of Flat Iron and spent the night on top.  That was an adventure.

9. I don't donate blood.  I did it once.  I wanted to be a hero.  I ended up passing out, chugging orange juice, and then ridding myself of orange juice.  It didn't help that I was on the way to a very important event when my tummy decided it didn't like the orange juice.  I had to stop at the grocery store so that I could wash my hair in the bathroom and buy instant stain remover (orange juice and white dresses don't mix), febreeze, and such.

10. I love to see the temple.  Tony and I have the unreachable goal of visiting every temple in the world.  So far we've been to Nauvoo, Arizona, Dallas, San Antonio, Houston, St. George, Las Vegas, and Oquirrh Mountain.  We're going to visit our tenth this week!  We've also been to the Gila Valley Temple Open House and Dedication and the Gilbert Temple Groundbreaking.  It's an outrageous goal, we know, but we also like to dream of all the cool places we'll go if we really do it some day.

That wasn't so painful...
Here are my Beautiful Blogger nominations:
Melanie, Katie, Whitney, Alexa, Katelin, Rocki, Sherra, Casey, Nalani, & Tayler

How the Grinch Stole Christmas!

Last week, Tony and I went and saw "How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical."  We had a splendiferous time!  It seems like lately we've both been content to stay at home and read a book together or play a board game or go for a walk on date night, so it was fun to get out of the house. 

The performance was outstanding.  I still can't get over how talented the 6 or 7 year old Cindy Lou Who was.  She could sing, dance, and act like you wouldn't believe!  I have no doubt in my mind that they really got Mr. Grinch to come to our performance...no need for an actor. 

Tony's favorite part was when the audience was invited to sing along to...

You're a foul one, Mister Grinch!

You're a nasty wasty skunk!

Your heart is full of unwashed socks, your soul is full of gunk, Mister Grinch!

The three words that describe you are as follows, and I quote, "Stink, Stank, Stunk!"

The Grinch helped us get into the Christmas mood...a perfect preparation for our Saturday night getting-ready-for-Christmas-hoopla (to be discussed at a later time)!

Gilbert Temple Groundbreaking

This last weekend we had the opportunity to attend the Gilbert Temple Groundbreaking. Tony and I took my four youngest siblings with us.


It was a wonderful event. There were probably 6000+ people in attendance. Elder Claudio R. M. Costa, from the Presidency of the Seventy, presided over the dedicatory service. His talk, along with the those given by his wife, the current Mesa Temple President, and others were phenomenal. I was especially impressed by how much they talked about the children and youth of the Gilbert Temple District and how important it was for them to gain a love for "their" temple.


Tony and I went to the groundbreaking not even knowing that we currently reside in the Gilbert Temple District! It was kind of surprising to discover this since the Mesa Temple is only ten minutes away. We are excited, though, to be able to play a part in the building of a new temple here in Arizona. We invite everyone to come with us to the temple when it is complete and they hold an open house. It will be a marvelous experience for us to share with you why the temple is so sacred and so important to us.