I care...

have you ever had one of those days when you think no one cares about you? like you could fall of the face of the earth and no one would notice? like you are the last on the list or not important enough to even make the list? well i know this feeling well and yesterday when i talked to my bff she was have one of these kinds of days. this made me so sad because she is one of the most amazing women i know. 

 

This is my bff JENNIFER. 

(the finger and camera belong to sweet mason..hehe)

she is BEAUTIFUL, smart, TALENTED, thoughtful, selfless, spiritual, an amazing friend, loving, kind, incredible mom, the best shopper, always willing to laugh...cry...or listen, forgiving and she has a gift of making you feel like you are the most IMPORTANT person in the world.  i look up to her for all these QUALITIES. she has been and always will be a great EXAMPLE to me. i honestly don't know what i would do with out her. i can call her anytime and she will always be there. i feel like i have been so blessed to have her in my life these last 15 years and hope that i can be the FRIEND she needs too. i cherish our FRIENDSHIP. i hold dear all the times we have spent together from laying on the couch watching tv, trying on every shoe in the store, target shopping trips, weddings, disasters, crafting, and babies. did i mention that jen was my "mom" when i had preston?? yup! she held him and fed him his first bottle while i was in a drug induced coma. that is the kind of friend she is and i LOVE her for it. 

i love you jen!

season of thanks...

LOVE thanksgiving!!! This is one of my favorite holidays. When I was a kid (and now at 100) I looked forward to all my sisters coming to mom's in the morning to cook. Sometimes we would have my Aunts and Uncles over and all of us cousins run around crazy probably putting our mom's in the home. The smells....the food...yummy...my mom is the best cook!!!  Tomorrow will be a little different. Some of the family is out of town and others are at their other families this year. I know SAD huh??? Well never fear!! I am picking up my Diet Coke and heading to my mom's. We will eat one of the relish trays for breakfast and cook like mad. We will eat till we are stuffed, look at the ads, and my heart will be happy!

Asked my family what they were most thankful for this year...

Josh- a beautiful wife, healthy kids, the gospel, an education, career, friends/family,and freedom

Pam-MY FAMILY!!! The most important people in my life. I LOVE YOU!!

  Preston- my family, house, and grandparents

Abbie- family and friends

Mckena- my mom and dad, food, my teacher, and friends

Ella- brubber (brother)

Hope you get to spend thanksgiving with the ones you love also!

HaPpy tHaNkSgIvInG!!!

jarvis reunion and girls camp

We had planned to go camping for our Jarvis reunion but my Dad was scheduled for another back surgery the week before so we changed our plans. We camped out in my parents backyard so that Dad could participate as much as possible. We ended up having a great time. We had some yummy dutch oven chicken and potatoes and then Josh set up a movie outside for the kids

Ella followed Kenny's dog, Hemi, around for the whole 2 days

In the morning after pancakes and bacon we did mani's and pedi's for all the girls.

Ella thought it was bath time

k

Jessica planned a family version of Minute to Win it but we ran out of time but never fear we got together for FHE the next week and had so much stinkin fun. Sorry the pic's are on mom's camera:(

One of my favorite things to do this summer was girls camp!!!

We loaded up on Monday night and had the best week. Heber Valley Camp ROCKS!!! Of all the activities the girls liked the challenge course the best. Here they are after completing one of the challenges.

Cute huh??:)

Not only did I get to spend the week with my sweet girls but with some of the most amazing women I know

Here are 5 of the 8 members of the "Dream Team" 

I LOVE these ladies. They are truly amazing and I cherish my friendship with every one of them.

We made memories we will never forget:)

best vaca...

Took our kids to our favorite close to home vaca spot. BEAR LAKE! We filled our days with the sun, sand, water and shakes!

We stopped in Logan for a little lunch and of course the kids wanted to sit outside.

Went to the Minatonka Cave

Ella being funny:)

Spent most of our time here!

The water was warm and beautiful. The kids played...

dug...

rested...

and played some more!

Even though we used sun screen like crazy josh ended up like this

(hahah...he is going to kill me for posting this pic)

oh well :o)

I took the kids to the Pickelville Playhouse to see Bandito Rides Again. If you make it to Bear Lake you must spend an evening here. Never been disappointed.

Like I said the best vaca EVER!!!

annual brown celebrations

Every year the Brown's have super fun traditions. We ALWAYS have a fourth of July water party at Grandma's house and a camp out at the Chrisman park. We would miss either!!!

Josh spent some time feeding and loving on his new niece.

 Then tried to drowned Preston

 Abbie got in on the action
 and got both of them. We really did have a fun time and as always Grandma was the hostess with the mostest.

 The Chrisman camp out is a MUST every summer. We have a BBQ first and then the good stuff is pulled out. SMORES!!! I think Spence is as excited as the kids:)

 I LOVE this picture of Abbie and Mckena:)

 As you can tell Mckena is all girl. The purse of course when EVERYWHERE!

 Spence was super sweet with Miss Ella and helped her make a smore

She LOVED it! Surprise Surprise.

 We set up the tents but it was raining so we went inside for the movie. Then the Browns braved the weather and slept outside.

It wouldn't be a camp out if we didn't sleep in the tent!

Thanks Jo we had a GREAT time!!! 

See ya next year:)

so far behind...

As you can tell my blog is in serious neglect mode. I have been in a funk for the last few months but I am putting on my big girl panties and getting things together:)

So with that being said I am going to try and get caught up!

July was such a busy month so it might take me a few post to get caught up so be patient.
First of all we had cul-de-sac of fire with some neighbors

 LOTS of kids and LOTS of fun.

 Ella with her BFF Ewin (Erin). Thanks for hosting we had a BLAST literally:)

We took the kids to our favorite park for the Thanksgiving Point fireworks. We were sad to be going alone this year since our friends had other plans but we had a great time anyway.

We also had a little reunion for the Gourley side of the family. We LOVE seeing all our cousins. We were missing a few but hey who's counting??

We got to meet these two darlings!!! Sorry you only get to see Quincey's face. Tenley is laying on her beautiful mama's lap (can you believe she just birthed twins???) 

We went over to the Reid's for a BBQ and a few THOUSAND of these

Mckena LOVED it. Can you tell??

and last but not least we attended a few neighborhood activities

Sounds like fun huh???

Wait until you see the rest of the month:)

Preston's Trip to Washington, D.C.

Some of you have heard that we started a family tradition a few years ago (To be honest... we decided this 10 years ago). When the kids turn 12 years old, as a rite of passage, they get to select a trip location and a parent to go there for a few days. When Preston stated he wanted to go to Washington, D.C. we couldn't back down from our end of the promise. So off we went. Preston loved it!!! Lincoln Memorial was his favorite. It was an awesome time hanging out with Preston, riding the metro, and watching the street performers. Only time will tell how this experience will change both our lives.

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