Stormin

We woke up to quite the surprise out back on Saturday...

The storm was a doozey and it broke off a large branch from our tree!

You can see in this picture below the only thing it really hit on the way down was our picnic table. It only barely cracked the right bench, it will still work just fine. Shawn had moved all the patio furniture out of the way a couple days earlier so the kids could ride the power wheels all around. SO LUCKY!

My hot husband cleaned it all up by himself. He is such a stud! We are just so glad it didn't hit the house. It seriously hit right in the middle of the patio, we didn't even hear it crack or fall- If Krista and the kids hadn't come over to play, who knows how long it would have taken us to notice (probably just later that day, but you get the point!)

Bou

Happy Birthday princess Bou! We went out to Logan and Clarissa's for Bou's first birthday party. Bou is such a sweet girl. She loves her mama like nothing else. She is so sweet with her big beautiful blue eyes. You could look at her all day! She walks with a cute swagger and has the sweetest little voice. I'm so glad she lives close and that we get to see her as much as we do. I love you Bou, Happy Birthday, from your most favorite aunt!

Cruise 2010 - part 3

In Cozumel, Mexico we rented a Jeep and explored the whole entire island. It was raining and a little cold, but it was perfect for us. We feel like we got to do so much more and spent so much less money than we would have doing an "exploration" with a guide or whatever. Plus we got be be alone!!

I love the nice cold ocean on a hot day.. but I have never experienced a nice warm ocean on a cold day. The water was a warm 80-85 degrees. We literally got in the ocean to warm up!

We were the only ones in the ocean for as long as we could see, it was like we had our own private beach. Isn't it stunning!!!?? The sand was almost pebble like but so soft!! I am definitely coming back here when the sun is shining and I can spend a whole week in my suit just laying around in THAT sand!

We also couldn't come all the way and not see some ruins. They were pretty amazing how old they were and the walks to them were breath-taking!

The plants were growing EVERYWHERE!

Shawn was a pro with this shot of the day!! It should be in some magazine or something if you ask me!

Cruise 2010 - part 2

Our night-life was so much fun on the cruise! Dressing up, going to shows, getting in the spa! It was a blast!Our first night was mostly exploring the ship, seeing 3 shows, and delicious food. We had so much fun!
Our second night was the FORMAL night. We got all dressed up and fancy, went to dinner, a show and almost as soon as we got all up, we changed and went exploring. We were all alone on the ship, it felt like, and again... we got in the spa! (my favorite!)

The third night was the day we went to Mexico. It was the most fun day I have had in I can't even remember how long (more to come on that, later) We continued it with one crazy night! We went to a hilarious magic show then to the "Newlywed Game" The cruise director talked about it the past few days and was saying he wanted a true newlywed couple, old pros (50 yrs+ married) and someone in between. You had to sort of "audition"... we made out in the isle of the theatre in front of thousands and they picked us (as the couple in between)! We were on the show and we took home first prize!! We won a painting, a bunch of little nick knacks and a bottle of champagne.... well we gave that to the newlyweds, lol. It was so fun though and the rest of the cruise we felt like celebrities. They re-played the whole thing on the tv's in every ones room on a loop all the next day. People were coming up to us non-stop. It was hilarious, Shawn is such a riot!!

During the newlywed game the night before they put us each in this sound-proof elevator shaft like room while the other answered some questions. Also that night there was 40 mile an hour winds (hello, earthquakes and hurricanes not too far) and the boat was a rockin!! Well needless to say Shawn got pretty sick. As soon as the game was over he went strait to the room and spent the next day all sicky! We finally found out they were giving away free nausea medicine and he got some and felt good enough around dinner time to go eat and get in the spa. It was freezing and they had closed them all, but we had fun, none the less!

Cruise 2010 - part 1

Shawn is so excited- he's dancing!!

We were sailing on the Navigator of the Seas, we were 20th in line to get on and we found out its the 2nd biggest cruise ship in the world. What?! Crazy!!

This is a picture of part of the mall, one of the theatres, the elevators, a stairway and one of the dining rooms!Our first full day on the cruise was spent at sea. We went full out and took advantage of EVERYTHING (well almost everything)!

We slept in until 11 our first day (9am AZ time) then did tons of sports stuff. We also went to a live show on ice our first day, saw a Vegas-style welcome show, lots of hot-tubbing, some ping-pong and lounging around the pool. We saw a parade down the promenade from the window in our room. I didn't really get a good picture of our room but we had an inside cabin with this huge bay window with a couch in front of it that over looked the inside mall. It was fun to be able to see the two parades from the comfort of our own room. The people watching was fun and only ONCE did Shawn open the curtains at a very in-opportune moment when I came out from the bathroom completely nude getting ready to change into my swim-suit. We were pretty high up, I don't think anyone saw (or at least I keep telling myself so).

Susan, Jaden, Ryan, Grandpa and Daddy

Happy Birthday...

Susan Cheyanne Jones- she turned 3 on December 2. Susan is such a spitfire. She is so cute and fun and spunky! She reminds me a lot of me :) But the me now, not the me when I was little, she is much braver and funnier than I ever was! She is more like the little girl I always wished I was. She has this adorable raspy voice and I love her to pieces!! Happy Birthday Susan- from your favorite Aunt!!Jaden Rockwell Brown turned 4 on December 27. He is hilarious. Just look at this picture, it says it all. He is Mr. man and one day the ladies are going to be swooning all over him (I'm sure they already are) he is sweet and funny and I miss him like crazy (along with is sweet brother and sister) and I look forward to seeing them again the minute they leave! I love you Jaden, from your favorite Aunt!! lol :)

Ryan is who knows how old... just old :) I think every family has a "glue" ... for the browns, at least as far as siblings go, its Ryan. He is smart and caring and is always aware of what and where everyone is. He is the loving oldest brother and you know you can always count on him. He is genuine and Christ-like but also fun, spontaneous and hilarious! I love being around Ryan, he is always positive and fun to be around!! Happy Birthday Ryan from your favorite sister in law!!!

You know how I feel about Grandpa. He just turned 84... sorry Grandpa, now the world knows :) He is fun and I love him to pieces. I love sitting and chatting with him for as long as he can stand it. He has so much history and charm and he is an absolute delight. I could go on for hours about him, but I'll just say Happy Birthday from your favorite grand-daughter!!
And last for this time around is my sweet Daddy-O. He is the best daddy a girl could ask for. he is genuine and giving, to a fault :) For his birthday he watched my kids for a week and got up every night with them 3 or 4 times in the night and let my mom sleep. This is typical for my dad. He is the most self-less giving person. His best gifts to himself are watching the people he loves be happy and taken care of. He is so sweet and for as long as I can remember he has always been the person that can cheer me up no matter what. We all have our talents, his is being happy and having a positive outlook on life no matter what. I wish so much to be like him. I love you so much daddy, from your favorite spunky daughter!!

**p.s. I know I'm not really every ones favorite, I just like to pretend to make myslef feel better :)

Tomorrow...

Right about this time tomorrow....

with

Merry Christmas to Shawn!

see you all in a week

December in pictures

Sorry... trying to play catch-up. I'm a little behind so I'm just going to throw you a few pictures.

December has had some very lovely weather which, for us, meant a lot of back yard play! We finally have lots of grass out back and an awesome swing-set. We also have a gorgeous patio (picture to come later!) that is used all the time!We had some fun setting up the Christmas tree, I wish I would have gotten a picture of the outside of our house at night before taking it all down- with the white lights up and our window open with the tree lit, it was GORGEOUS! *Notice the tree on the table?? It was a genius idea stolen from my mom's charlie brown tree so that Jack would not kill himself pulling the tree on top of himself. It worked perfectly!! Lacy's preschool party. She was so excited-- we dressed up her broken thumb with cute fabric and a silk flower. It was hilarious and she loved showing it off- I wish I would have gotten a picture of that! :)



I spent a lot of time this year home-making Christmas gifts. One because it is more cost efficient and also because I think it is more heart-felt and so much fun! In addition to these adorable clothes-pin dolls, about 50 necklaces, and this apron, I also made my kids these adorable backpacks they absolutely love, some blinged out note-pads (thanks Krista for that idea), and a ton of different treats in the kitchen. Home-made gifts are one of my favorite parts about the holidays. It makes me sooo happy!! This is grandpa, my mom and all her sisters and the famous Christmas eve-eve party. I didn't get any pictures that night (thanks Toni for this one) the night was fantastic, the food divine, the company pleasant and the sister singing worth the year wait. I already can't wait for next year!

Christmas eve with Shawn's family was perfect. Then after our own family time Christmas morning we went back for breakfast and was surprised when Ryan and Krista and their family showed up right when we were about to eat. It was awesome! I seriously was getting so excited I almost cried, it was like something from a Hallmark movie when the walked in and surprised us all -especially since mom had cooked a delicious FEAST and was gracious and just kept cooking, all excited when they arrived.

Christmas day at the Fullers was tons of fun as well. We had fun exploding things and playing with trains. My parents got enough trains for each kid to have their own remote and enough track to cover the whole family room floor. It is now the big hit and Samuel has to compete for the kids attention :) We had a ton of fun at their house, kids and adults alike! They (my parents and Grandpa) spoiled us with tons of food storage and a wheat grinder. We got our pantry all organized, its awesome - I'll blog about that another day!
Santa spoiled our kids with lots of toys too!! An Escalade and lots of games/ toys/ cars and more!!

with all of this, we did not forget the true reason for celebrating. We are so grateful and aware of the Savior in our lives. We are blessed beyond measure and thank our Heavenly Father every day for sending His son and for all He has given us.

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Happy 2010!!!