Bonnie & Clyde

Not really, but I had to post about this just because it’s so bizarre.  So, on Pioneer Day ( the 24th), my Dad decided to make his famous salsa for the BBQ, and somehow, in the process, managed to cut off the top part of his middle finger!  My mom had to run him to the ER, where they stitched it up and told him to wait a week to see if it would heal.  Well, unfortunately, it’s taken a turn and totally turned black.  So, it appears my Dad will be losing part of his finger.  I think he’s a little sad about that. 

What I mean, when I mention that this is so bizarre, is that when we were out hiking Doughnut Falls last week, I got a call on the way home from my Dad saying that my Mom had decided to chop cucumbers to make homemade pickles and managed to slice the flat part of her thumb off on the mandolyn.  What is up with these guys?  They had to go to the ER for her too!  SO disgusting!!  Poor Mom!  She said the bottom half of her thumb was stuck to the bottom of the slicer!

I made them pose together; they’re a sorry looking lot!  My mom went to a plastic surgeon and they are going to wait and see how it heals before they do anything else.  There is a chance she will need a skin graft!  These guys are dangerous!

Parade Day

As I mentioned before, one of the highlights of our city’s celebration is the parade at the conclusion of the week!  All the local high school bands march and there are tons of dancers and local businesses.  There also are floats and some of them are really ornate!  The kids love that the various acts toss out candy throughout the duration of the parade and this year came prepared with a bag ready to collect!  It was SO hot!  Right after the parade, the park is filled with tons of  inflatable toys and slides for the kiddos along with more outdoor boutiques and stands, a pony ride and a stage set up for the talent show.  

Also, the local Arts Council hosted a little table where the kids could color on sunglasses and hackey sacks to decorate them.  There was also a station to decorate foam hats with cute stickers to make visors.  It was totally up Jared’s alley.

It lasts all day. We of course, only last until about 1pm before we feel completely cooked!

 

 

 

Almost Camping

Well, maybe not, but this was the substitute for the campout our family was going to attempt this summer!  I tried to reserve a good site in advance for all of us, but things were either too full or sites that were only available by first come first serve.  That doesn’t really work when I have a baby; drive up the canyon and set up camp early morning for later that night.  Not to mention, it was just easier with Mason, not to attempt it this year.  Kenna had a garage sale to prepare for too and the timing just didn’t seem to work out.  So, we opted to roast marshmallows over a fire in the backyard and watch yet another outdoor movie.  It was a fun time!  The kids always love getting together!  I love the Summer; late nights and busy fun filled days!

Yee-Haw

Once again the Rodeo has rolled around!  This has become a Brown Family tradition.  We somehow manage to talk my parents into joining us most years and it worked this time around! I think they enjoyed it too!  Its fun to go with the family and watch the barrell races, the bull riding and the wagon racing and especially……the motocross show!  The boys would probably say their favorite part is getting snow cones!  I think they pretty much feel entitled to one now every time we go!   I have to laugh now at how it took me  a few years of watching rodeo events to realize why, exactly, it was that the animals would buck and how they got them to!  Ha!

This year was a little crazy; 3 different cowboys ended up being hauled out of the arena by EMS.  I felt bad for those guys.  They sure chose a tough line of work to earn a little $.  I think I’d rather take a desk job, myself. 

Reflections

Lately I have had quite a few things going on around me that have caused me to think, like I haven’t for awhile.  My neighbor two doors down over the past 5 years has been fighting melanoma.  It is because she scared me enough, that I went to the dermatologist and found that I too had Basal Cell Carcinoma in my head and also Melanocytic Hyperplasia in my face; in two places.  Truly, in all sincerity, I owe her my life.  For five years I have been reading her journey through her blog  www.joshandalisa.blogspot.com & www.joshalisa.blogspot.com, respectively.   It seems lately she has received blow after blow in her fight against this awful cancer and its very painful to watch.  I remember chatting with her when she first was diagnosed and she came over and asked us how we dealt with it when Michael was diagnosed with cancer.  I remember telling her she could talk to me because “I get it” and you know what…..I don’t anymore.  I have regretted saying that ever since I did because I haven’t gone down this path she is going down.  The playing field used to be level, but now she is facing so much more than we had to.  Yes, cancer is cancer, but Michael’s was WAY more treatable.  I wish so badly I could will things better for her.  I wish there was an intensity I could pray with that would command it to be cured, if that makes any sense. 

I look at my boys with wiser eyes.  Yes, they still overwhelm me, but its put so much into perspective.  All of a sudden my gripes aren’t in any way justified.  We just had Jared when Michael had both a brain tumor (Acromegaly) and testicular cancer.  Honestly, it scared the hell out of me.  “Would I be raising our son alone?  Would Michael live?  Where would we go?  What would we do?  I don’t want to live life without him!”

But, time is a  funny thing.  With the passing of time comes complacency.  For too brief of a time, I lived my life with the thought in the front of my mind that it could be gone  at any time.  That we could go  in for a scan and it would be back.  Living from scan to scan, I was waiting for that confirmation that all would be fine.  This year marks 10 years for us since that ordeal.  I still hold my breath from scan to scan, but until a few months ago, I learned to move those thoughts to the back of my mind.  Until now.

Watching my friend going through this re-opens all sorts of wounds.  I am grateful for the reminder that life is fragile.  I am sorry beyond any appropriate words, that it takes something so awful to bring that back to the forefront of my mind.  In some weird sense, I almost feel guilty that we’ve moved forward.  It’s not fair.  She has 3 beautiful baby boys.  I have 4.  She is around 32.  I am 34.   What makes one outcome different for some than others?  WHY?

I know I will never have those answers.  Not in this life.  Maybe not in the next either.

All I can do is try to keep this perspective in the front of my mind again.  This time I am determined to keep it there.  From day to day when there’s lots of fighting and arguing, and whining, and when it seems to never end, I need to remember…..life is fragile.  Time is a blessing.  If time and love are two of God’s greatest gifts (of that, I am convinced), what am I going to do with mine?  There are so many changes to be made.

So, I can’t honestly say I will never lose my patience again, never yell again, never be self centered again, but  this much I can commit to.  I am going to try.  I will hug my babies, burn in my memory all the smiles, all the mischief, all the frustrations, even the bad times, along with the good.  This is my life.  My experience. 

I Gavin Brown, Promise….

 

 

To do my best, to do my duty, to God & my country, to help other people and to obey the Law of the Pack!  Gavs will be turning 8 in a week, and had his visit with his Wolf Den Leader.  He was excited!  We found out that since his birthday is on July 1st, a week before they scheduled Cub Scout Camp, they are inviting him to join at the camp.  So, naturally, that means I was invited to join…..and help drive!   It was fun.  I sometimes do miss all those sweet little guys that I used to have in my Pack when I was the leader.  They sure are getting bigger. :{ 

So, we went to camp and they had a bunch of different stations for the boys, all set around the theme of teamwork.  At one station they were to build the largest tower they could with a bunch of pvc pipes of different sizes.  Another couple involved ropes and tug-o-war,  and being blindfolded and having to walk across a “mine field” and not get blown up, listening to your friends instructions.  They even had water up there and canoes for the boys to paddle in!   Of course, I couldn’t turn down the invitation when I was asked if I wanted a chance to canoe!  I pushed Amy into going with me (against her better judgement), and I think she’s happy she did!  It was so funny!  We seemed to struggle with our sense of direction when paddling with oars!  For some reason we kept ending up beached!   The last fun station we were at, I’m not sure what the term for it is.  Basically it was where everyone stood in a circle holding fabric which resembles that of a trampoline and the whole team (with the help of a few adults), tosses one kid at a time up and down like a trampoline.  Some of those boys really hit air!  It was awesome!  When we got into the car to drive back home, I smiled as they exclaimed, one at a time “Scout camp was way more fun that I thought it would be!  I had so much fun!”  It was very cute! 

We had a fun time and I’m glad I got to come along!   Think I might get to go do this again next year?! 

 

 

 

Fun In The Sun

I LOVE SUMMER!  I can’t say it enough!  Everything comes to life…..including me!  I took some pictures of our typical summer day; hose is running, kids are jumping on the trampoline and hosing each other down.  Jared is swinging on the hammock with his best friend Rayne.  Life is good.  We have really fun kids in our neighborhood.  I love where I live.

Because He’ So Cute….

I had to take this quick picture.  I was thinking…..since I’m done having babies,I want to burn in my memory all these sweet things I find adorable about newborns.  This is one of my favorites; I love waking up one of my babies!  They are always so happy so see you and their whole body, not just their face….lights up!  This time, when I walked in he still slept and I thought to myself, “There is nothing more adorable than a baby all curled up with his knees tucked under him and his baby diaper bum in the air.”  So……I took this picture……because he’s so cute!  I love you Mason!

Celebrating The Old Man

HA!  Michael turned 36 this year!  And, as it was on a Sunday this year, it was a great excuse to make it a birthday weekend! We began with taking the kids to the aquarium.  Once upon a time Michael wanted to grow up to be a Marine Biologist.  We both grew up on the coast in Southern California and we LOVE all things beach….especially all the beautiful sea life.  He hadn’t been to the aquarium out here yet, so that’s where he took us! 

		Michael 26th B-Day VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

We celebrated more of his birthday on his actual day.  Unfortunately for him, it’s not just his birthday in our family.  My sister Kenna’s husband Brad, has the same birthday!  So all the family on my side got together on Sunday to celebrate their birthdays…..along with ALL the rest of the people on my side’s May/June birthdays.  I felt a little bad because it didn’t seem as special because of it, but we tried to jazz it up a bit..  Scott was adamant…. “I want to buy my Dad a big Dad water gun so we can play.” Jared and Gavin had the same idea I had; a tablet.  Michael has been eyeing a Prime Asus Tablet for some time now and he never gets himself something nice whenever his incremental bonus comes around.  So…..perfect excuse for me to indulge him!  And…..he loved it!  It was fun to watch his face light up as I hand the box to him.  He totally knew as soon as he held it.  I had great satisfaction at the look on his face when he opened it…..fun! 

Regrettably, Michael had to travel for work the week following, and he spent Monday through Thursday in Texas.  We tried to do a BBQ for his B-Day with the Brown side of the family, but it hadn’t worked out, so we rescheduled for the Friday after!  That was fun too!  We had Maren and her family over, and David.  My sisters Kenna & Kelly came too with their families.  At first it was crazy –windy…..not exactly ideal BBQ weather, but that didn’t stop the kiddos from breaking out the water balloons.  It died down in time to put on another outdoor movie!  Love Summer!  Happy Birthday my love!

He’s A Hottie!

This guy still makes me laugh!  I went and bought a bike trailer so I can take all my kids biking and Michael helped me anchor it on to my cruiser.  He of course had to test it out and I could’t resist taking a picture of how awesome he looked!  He’s SO funny!  I love this guy!

Angry Birds

When I was looking around on the internet for ideas of activities I could put the kids in for the Summer, I thought the Angry Birds camp over at Thanksgiving Point sounded like a really fun idea!  So, I put Jared & Gavin in.  It was only a one day deal, but I liked it because I got a break for most of the day and they loved it because they got to learn about birds and make slingshots!  It was just like the game on the app; they had the boys stack blocks and then use a big slingshot to shoot stuffed animal birds into them.  It was fun!

Basketball Camp

Week 2 of Summer vacation had the two older boys going to basketball camp that they were holding at our local High School.  The HS basketball teams teach kids the basics and help them improve their skills for two hours each day, for a week.  The boys had a great time and were extra excited that former professional NBA player Thurl Bailey made an appearance.   It was a nice break for me to only have the younger two….and I think they didn’t mind too much!

 

 

Bey Blade Brothers

One of the many crazes that overtakes my children, happens to be that of Bey Blades.  Basically they are way overpriced, top of the line spinning tops that they’ve marketed to little boys, and the kids buy a special “stadium” to compete in spinning them.  Well, Mason is no different.  He finds them fascinating and follows his brothers when they are playing with them.  His latest trick is to pick up the “stadium” and shake it while the tops are spinning and just baby giggle with his belly laugh!

Blue Jays Make It To State!

Jared’s team somehow managed to make it into the playoffs and this Baseball is way more serious than I realized it would be!  They play early games and if they win, they play later games.  To my surprise, even when they’ve lost games they later games to play for “winner of the losers.”  A few weeks ago they won both double header playoff games and that put them in the tournament.  On Wednesday, they had a 5pm game which they lost, so they were playing another time that lost again, at 8pm that evening!  It was a LONG night!  Michael was out of town, so it was just me and Jare; I got a sitter for the others.  The game was ho-hum for about an hour (games are typically 1 hr and 15 minutes), and then the last few minutes, we started making all sorts of runs!  We tied and had to play an extra inning and ended up winning!  It was intense; ended up with coaches yelling at umpires and kids getting banged up from running into each other on base.  But, Blue Jays came out on top and Jared was grinning from ear to ear!  So much that when he finally made it to the shower that evening around 11:00 he was screeching opera songs and whatever other hits that were on his mind, from the top of his lungs!  I could hear him upstairs and had to remind him that everyone else was sleeping!  He’s VERY excited.  That win meant that he would have one more game for 9th or 10th place out of 25 teams and that they would get to compete in the UT State tournament sometime in July! **Note the crazed look oh his ecstatic face!**

Running With The Torch

….A real Olympic torch!  The boys are registered at our local Literacy Center for summer classes to help them keep their minds active.   Since the Olympics are coming up, they decided to do a kick off with the kids with that theme.  I’m not sure how they came to get one, but they had an authentic Olympic torch and had all the kids from all the programs at their time slot, dot the block around the center.  Each kid had a chance to run with the torch and pass it off to the next kid.  They had them all color their favorite flag too.  Scott was so cute.  When I asked him what flag he made, he said, “One for you Mom.”  It was very cute.  Full of brown scribbles of love and a scrawled “Scott B.”….which I might add, he’s very proud of! 

Never Too Young…..

to learn how to work!  This little baby is so funny!  I had the garbage sitting out and told him I was going to give it to Jared to take out to the big cans on the side of the house.  So he grabbed the garbage and dragged it through the kitchen to the front door and handed it off to him!  Of course it was accompanied with a 5 minute sermon in baby gibberish.  Every day he looks at me and speaks nonsense ( at least to me), but he knows exactly what he’s saying!  And what makes it SO funny is his expression while he’s saying whatever he’s getting off his mind, like he’s so serious and expects me to understand!  Mason’s chores don’t end there!  If I ever leave the sponge from the kitchen sink, sitting at his level, he takes off with it and I catch him wiping down the chairs!  He’s so much fun! Love our sweet baby Mase!