February 2009 Happy Valentines Day

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What a boring year we are having. We have had
birthdays and birthdays and birthdays. The kids
have had field trips all February and Mommy has been a chaperon for almost all of them. It is nice working 2 days a week and the field trips have been on Wed. or Fri. I got to go to several plays with Torey and Morgan. I helped with Brynne's choir at the District Choir Festival and then I got to go to Junior Achievement BizTown with her. It is a little town in a big building and they all have jobs and positions to do. They learn how to run a town. I was in charge of the Diamondbacks and helped. We had a great time.

Whitni started out February with what we thought was appendicitis but turned into a kidney infection. She went into the emergency room on Saturday afternoon and was admitted into the hospital on Sunday morning. We got out on Tuesday evening just in time to celebrate Daddy's birthday. She is much better, but we have one more test to do to see if she has a structural problem and needs to get it fixed. We are very thankful for all the wonderful friends and workers who came to visit. They really cheered her and Mommy up. I spent my nights sleeping on the couch and came home to shower and go back.

We celebrated my mom's birthday the end of January, then it was Mark's and then Cheryl's. It will slow down now. We are getting ready for Spring Break and then convention and then summer. I will put some pictures of our year so far.
Hope everyone is doing great and enjoying this new year.
Love,
Laurie

Thanksgiving 2008

Wow!!! It was here and is gone! We had 30 people in our house and nothing is broke and everything is cleaned. Mark bought a fresh pig leg and smoked it and we smoked a turkey. I even made mashed potatoes from red potatoes and stuffing and green bean casserole. I'm very proud because there wasn't any left. Yeah!! I can cook and people will eat it. We had all of Mark's family and my family. We even had my cousin and family from Washington. We saw them when we went on our cruise in May and then Anita was down for a funeral and now the whole family is down. We are loving it and the kids are having a great time.

Hiking Usury Mountain Wind Cave

We are cleaning up the yard for Thanksgiving and the kids are playing on the airplane. Whitni is a pilot. Scarey!!!! Mark and Pepper are cleaning out the weeds. What a job!!!
Brynne has joined the Nature Club this year, so we get to go on hikes. This is our first hike of the year. We hiked up Usury Park the Wind Cave. It was 1.6 miles up and 1.6 miles down. We went up about 800 feet and saw gorgeous views. This is our exercise for the family. We didn't have 2 of the kids because Grandma was here and they wanted to stay with her. It was good because we found our Whitni "puked" in her bed. Well keep you updated on the monthly hikes.

Halloween 2008

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Halloween 2008 was spent with Kathy and Del Olsen and another family. The kids loved trick or treating and getting all of the candy. Mommy wasn't real happy about all the sugar but kids will be kids. Brynne was Alice in Wonderland. Morgan was Belle and a pretty beauty. Torey was a pirate with a patch on his eye. The patch is actually for a stigmatism problem and is getting better. Little Whitni was Aurora from Sleeping Beauty and a very cute Sleeping Beauty. We walked the whole neighborhood and got lots of candy for Mommy to look at and sort through. Will post more later. I know that it is Thanksgiving and I'm just putting Halloween on. But better late than never. Mark is dressed as a Dork for Dork side. Haha!!!

It's October and the end is coming to October!!!!!

Where are we? We just finished a great time of Special Meetings. We had a few changes of where meetings were held but change is good when the fellowship is still there. The weather is starting to cool down a little. We are in the 90s and not the 100s. Hey it is cooler. We are enjoying our courtyard in the front and eat dinner out there lots. I will have to get a picture on the blog real soon. The kids are on the 2nd quarter and doing great. They had the time of their life spending a week in Cottonwood with my parents and the 2nd week of break in Tucson with Mark's parents. We had weekend visitation for 2 weeks. Our parents didn't trust us with our kids. Just kidding!!! We have managed to get glasses for Torey and Morgan and now have 3 kids in glasses. I'm broke and can't afford any more!!!! We have managed to stay busy doing nothing but not getting anything done. We also had some birthdays!! September and October are busy months for that. I had a birthday the 29th, Whitni had one the 30th of September and then Torey had one the 7th of October. Wow!!!! Whitni is 4 years old and big and Torey is 6 years old. Where did my babies go? As Whitni says they are all gone. They are all big now. It is great to have kids that are independent, but I miss my little ones who climb up on my lap and need me to put them to sleep. Well, I got you up to date a little more. I will have more real soon when we have Thanksgiving and have a house full of people. More later!!! Take care and enjoy the Brown Family times.

I'm so behind that I'm ahead!!! YEAH!!!

Where did August go? We are 4 weeks into school and the quarter is almost over. I'm a bad mom. I haven't taken pictures lately and haven't even been home with the kids. Mark is working again and that is nice. The is pay is low but we will take any money. Anyone have any extra money? Please send it our way. I need to get pictures of Brynne playing her flute. She is in beginning band this year and in choir again. I will try and take pictures this long Labor day weekend. It is already September. Oh no!!! That means it is time for Birthdays to start in our family. Get ready!! Here come the birthday people. These pictures are old ones I found and thought were real cute. The kids are real little so they are real old. Enjoy the old pictures and hopefully new ones will come after the Labor Day weekend. Have a great and safe Labor Day weekend!! Love, Laurie

The First Day of School

It is the first day of school and we are walking to school. The whole family walked Brynne, Morgan, and Torey. We dropped Torey off in his Kindergarten class first. He is excited to have Ms. Ferree and really likes school. Morgan was the next to be dropped off. She is in 3rd grade and has Brynne's old 3rd grade teacher, Mrs. Milot. Brynne was the last to be dropped off. She is in 5th grade and gets her teacher from 4th grade again, Mrs. Shield's. After dropping them all off Mommy and Daddy and Whitni went walking around the big block. That is the morning routine. Whitni thinks it is great having the house all to herself with her parents. She entertains herself and talks to herself all day.
Daddy is still looking for a job and still working f
rom home part time for Choice Hotels. We are
almost done with one week of school.
Wow!!! Where does the time go?