Christmas Eve on the News

So our 15 minutes (really about 3 mins) came on Christmas Eve when a news crew showed up to our family dinner. The story was about getting along with your family during the holidays. It sure made for some fun memories! This is the clip!

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=5162006&autostart=y

I am pretty sure that Christmas Eve is the one day of the year when people are definitely NOT going to watch the news. Go figure!

Some things are just meant to stay...

PRIVATE!

We have decided that it will be best for our family to take our blog private. You know the drill- Leave me your email if you would like to keep up with our extremely exciting life! This blog will go private on December 31, so please let me know by then!

Gratitude

As I have reflected on the season of thanksgiving and the topic of Gratitude, I have thought alot about what I would consider to be the perfect example of a Grateful person. There are many people in my life whose gracious examples have helped to shape the mold I would love to someday fill.

To me a grateful person treats everyday like a gift. One that is full of surprises, some good and some bad.

A grateful person realizes that the Lord intended for us to have hard times so that we can humbly learn to come to him.

A grateful person is someone who loves herself. Someone who has completely accepted the way God has made her.

A grateful person loves every day that they are granted to spend with the people they love. They don’t wish for the time to pass by or for the day to end, but they enjoy each minute they have.

A grateful person remembers God in everything. They remember God when they comfort a crying child or experience beauty in the nature that surrounds them.

Ibelieve a grateful person is someone who is in love.

A grateful person says, “thank you”.

A grateful person will make you feel good about yourself.

A grateful person is always thinking of another person and wondering how they could ease their burden or make their day brighter.

A grateful person can cry.

A grateful person is not perfect but is striving to become so.

A grateful person prays a lot. They have a relationship with their God and include Him in all aspects of their life.

A grateful person knows pain.

A grateful person sees the glass half full.

A grateful person cares more about his standing with the Lord than what the world views as important.

A grateful person has integrity.

A grateful person wouldn’t trade their own life with that of anyone else.

A grateful person Loves God and tells Him.

The Power Within

What is this? you may be thinking to yourself. Well this, my friends, is the next ticket to anything you desire your little one to do. This is called the Power Box. For those of you who know my little Anna, you know that at times she can be shy, very shy. We have had a hard time persuading Anna to do several things: ie. Nursery, going to sleep by herself at night, staying in Dance class by herself.

*You will notice that all of our examples are doing things without Mom or Dad.

About a week ago Anna and I made and decorated her very own Power Box. Anytime she does something that takes courage, (or in this case power) she gets to put her hand in and pick out a surprise. It works like a charm. She is very motivated to try to be brave. If any of you are having a hard time with anything, try it! I promise it will work!

Anna Claire TinkerBell Brown...

...That is what Anna would like you to call her this month!

The excitement levels at our house have been sky-high (and that was before the intake of absurd amounts of sugar). Every night we had to go to sleep there was a subltle tear in a little eye as this little person asked, " But WHEN is it going to be Halloween?" Well the day finally arrived in all its Glory and fortunately for us it lived up to every expectation the little one had!

We started out the day Decorating Pumpkins 'Claire Style'. ( No Mess, No Clean Up)
Though at time it did get a little bit stressfull...

All Worked Out in the End...

Our little friend Grace

Froggy, TinkerBell, and Spidey

and the broom so that froggy wouldn't hop off the step during the photo shoot

YES that is indeed my Father. Nice. The wheelbarrow is a long-time tradition that has now begun the 2 nd generation.

*I can see how we look related but I don't think we should be mistaken for each other. 8:30 PM and not one bit ready for Bed!

Just Call Me Crafty-Claire

Or I could be honest and give all the credit to my incredibly Crafty Mother...It was all her Idea!

Right Now would be a perfect time to make this little craft for yourself if you are interested. The pumpkin was purchased at Roberts ( which is now about 75% off). Then pick out your favorite colored scrapbook paper. (Estimate about 1 1/2 pages to cover one pumpkin) Tear and Mod Podge paper onto the pumpkin! Super cute AND you will feel a quaint sense of pride when your project is complete!

Happy Birthday Adam!

So about 3+ years ago I had this great idea to birth my children in the fall. I thought there would be several benefits (except being 8 months pregnant in August!) ie. being oldest in their class, but now that I have made 3 birthday cakes in 4 weeks I am starting to rethink my plan. Nevertheless we had a wonderful time celebrating Adam's Birthday. Only 1 more year in the twenties...better be a good one!

*In case you are looking for a good alternative to the TraDitiOnal CaKe, this recipe is a sure fire way to receive several 'that was the best cake ever' comments!

MiX:

1 Yellow Cake Mix

1 Large Box of Instant Vanilla Pudding

1/2 C. Water

1/2 C. Oil

4 Eggs

1 C. Sour Cream

PouR into greased and floured BUNT pan

BaKe for 50 Mins @ 350 degrees

Garnish with home-made whipped cream and fresh cut strawberries!

A Night With My Man

For about the last month I have been looking forward to a night away. I didn't want to think too much about it because there is always that chance that someone may get sick, something may come up at work, or some other unexpected reason thus causing the long awaited

get-a-way to be cancelled. So when the day came and everyone reported healthy, the calendar was blocked, and my mom gave the final O.K. to take the kids, I felt like I was 3 years old again meeting Cinderella for the first time! The night was nothing fancy but it was absolutely perfect! We went to MainStreet in Park City for dinner... A Movie...Swimming/Hot-Tubbing and then back to the condo for more food. We fell asleep and didn't wake up until 9 hours later. NINE hours of un-interupted sleep. Haven't experienced that for about 3 years. When we woke up we just layed in bed and talked. No one came in our room demanding we fulfill their desires 'right now'. No one needed a bottle or needed to go potty. We just talked. It was wonderful. We spent some time at the outlets where there was not even one penny spent on anyone under the age of 26...also wonderful. I am now looking forward to retirement more than ever.

[as a side note: Don't worry, I am still completely in love with my children.]

My Baby is ONE!!

I am in complete denial that my little baby is now a toddler! For me when my baby turns one I usually spend the day reminiscing of the day he was born. Quinn's story started out a little bit different than most. Without telling too many details...in the beginning of my pregnancy I had a few complications which led my doctor to believe I had miscarried. I had a little bit of time to accept the idea and I had decided to go ahead with a D and C. The surgery was scheduled for Thursday and on Wednesday I went in for a ultra sound just for protocol. When I checked in at the front desk, I had tears streaming down my face. I was called back to the technician's office. As she began the ultra sound she asked, "what are we looking for today?". I explained that they already knew that I had miscarried, she was just supposed to verify so that we could go ahead with surgery. She looked at the monitor and then said, "There is definitely a baby here and it definitely has a strong heart beat." Now with tears of joy, I was speachless. The rest of my pregnancy was smooth and wonderful. There have been times I have thought back to that experience and I can't imagine a day without my precious baby. This little boy is an absolute joy and a pure gift from heaven. I am eternally grateful he is mine. I love you Quinn!

Add 'Dish-washer' to the Resume

The Honeymoon stage of owning our own home is beginning to diminish. Don't get me wrong, I am still totally in love with living here but yesterday the dishwasher broke. I am trying to decide if I should pay for them to come out and fix it or if we should just buy a new one. All I am sure about is something needs to happen quick, because the 30 minutes of 'free time' I get during the day is now spent in front of my kitchen sink while my hands turn into raisins. I am hoping we get this little issue fixed this weekend. I think all I need to do is tell Adam he is in charge of dishes for one day and for sure I will have a dishwasher by noon!

I FINALLY Did IT!

For the past few months I have been having a mental debate as to wether I should cut my hair or not. I have had few problems with the long hair: 1) For some reason Anna absolutely hates when I wear a pony tail (which is what I wear about 75% of the time) 2) Quinn's little sticky fingers are so quick to pull out hand fulls of hair while my hands are full of other things.

So because of these 2 reasons I have been in a little predicament. For the past oh 10 YEARS I have had the same long hair. It has varied in length and has had some differing layers throughout the years. However yesterday I cut my hair off. About 12 inches in all. The last time I cut my hair "short" I called Sarah P. to come with me for moral support. Danielle did an awesome job and I absolutely love having short hair. Anna has said countless times how she just loves my short hair and she is so glad that my pony tail is gone! I am relieved that I am finally bearable for my 3 year old to look at! Wheew!

Our New Home

For those of you who are interested, here are some pictures of our new home!
Enjoy...

Happy Birthday Anna!

Anna's Birthday Began the day before when we had the Calverts over for dinner and a little party. I thought it would be fun to put all the presents on the ottoman in the basement and when we were done with dinner we would watch her open presents. Well during dinner I realized Anna was missing. When we went to find her, she was in the basement opening all her presents in the presence of Josh, singing happy birthday to herself while opening. At least she was happy! We went to the zoo with Grandma and Josh and played with alot of presents. I think she had a great Birthday. By the way, I am in complete denial that my baby is three!

Small Ears Hear So Much...

These past few weeks have been incredibly busy for us and I am planning on blogging about it all as soon as I get some pictures taken, however I wanted to tell of this little experience I had with Anna.

The past 5 days Adam has been sick, really sick. I think he got the virus the kids did only it was about 5x worse. I was getting really worried. I took him to the urgent care a few days ago and then last night I was in SL when he called me home. He was really sick, having difficulty breathing. He needed a blessing fast. I called 2 of my brother-in-laws who came to my house within 20 minutes. As I have had a lot of time to think about life and what our priorities should be, I have had many conversations with Anna explaining why daddy is sick. We have said many prayers for him. Now... all of that being said this is why I wanted to post; after saying a prayer Anna said to me, "But how does Heavenly Father hear us? Is there a hole in the floor so that he can hear what we say? But does he really hear me?" I then on the spot got to have a little conversation with her about the power of prayer and why it is so special. I realized this week that my little girl is growing up and I am realizing that my part as a Mom is beginning to become even more vital. I now get to teach her to the best of my ability all that I have learned to be true. I am so very grateful to my heavenly father for entrusting me with my 2 beautiful children to raise despite my imperfections. I promise to do the very best I can to teach my little children all that my Heavenly Father would have them learn.

And incase you were concerned, Adam is feeling alot better and hopefully will continue to improve as the days go by.

I am grateful for the times we fall so that may be a little taller and stronger when we stand back up!

AUGUST: the mother of all Posts

This past month has been the busiest month of the year, therefore is the longest post in my history of blogging! Here it goes:

The month started out with Adam and I putting an offer on a home, which was accepted!



Then my little Sister married her true love, on August 2. It was a beautiful wedding. She and Ryan are a great couple and we are so excited to have them join the married crowd. I think Adam is happy to have another in-law to commiserate with while at all the family functions!

We sent all of Anna's Binkies to heaven for the little babies. I hung a birthday bag on the door and told her that when she was ready she could put her binkies in the bag and we would send them away and then she could have a new bike. She was actually pretty excited about it until that night! Adam was putting her to bed. She was crying. She was yelling at heaven saying, "Dang-it, Dang-it Heaven". Poor girl. I hope she doesn't have a negative complex of heaven now!


A few days after that we took Adam's little sister through the Timpanogos temple. It was so wonderful to be in the temple with our whole family.

That night Adam's brother and his family flew in from Arkansas for the wedding. So that week was jam-packed with family activities every single day which led up to the wedding of Bethany and Jake. Their wedding was the dream backyard wedding. My sweet mother-in-law has been working her guts out for the past 7 months to prepare for this wedding. All her hard work paid off...it was beautiful. We were able to spend a few more days with the AR Browns before they headed back to start school.



After the wedding was over we finally were able to focus on our own little family and the changes we are about to make. I started packing just in time for Anna and Quinn to get sick with fevers that lasted for 4 days. I always psych myself out when my kids get sick. I always think, oh they are just fine, it is just a cold. But then I always end up taking them to the doctor just to have him verify what I already knew... just a virus, you will have to wait it out! rrrr!

My little boy isn't so little! Quinn has decided he would like to walk now! So just in the past week he has mastered walking. The poor little guy has bruises all over his head from falling but it hasn't seemed to slow him down! I often catch myself taking a double take when I look at him. I am so not ready for him to be growing up!

Which now leads me to today, my house is all packed I am ready (so ready) to finally get a home. We are so excited and can hardly wait. We are closing on the home tomorrow and are moving in on Wednesday. Funny story... when I asked Anna if she would like to move to a new home she said, "No, I want to live here for eber and eber." But then I explained that she would get her bike and have a backyard to play in, she thought about it and said, "Okay, we can leave in 10 minutes."

What a wonderful month we have had and if you made it to the end of this post you are a wonderful friend!

Only Birds Have Wings

"Anna please put your seatbelt on. If you don't wear your seatbelt you will go flying through the window, crack your head open, and land on the ground."

After thinking about it for a few seconds...

"But mom, I can't go flying through the window because I don't have wings, only birds have wings mom."

*so much for obedience motivated by fear!

CALIFORNIA FUN...

Last week the kids and I ventured to California with the Calverts. We had quite an eventful trip. I would have to say that my kids (well mostly my oldest child) could probably win awards for being the worst carseat driver ever! I still can't believe I made my kids drive to CA! However given the circumstances they did really well. Here is the run down!

St. George to visit the Pink Palace!

On to New Port Beach to visit the Christensens. My good friend Lisa and her family met up with us just after we arrived and then we headed to the beach. Shortly after returning from the beach Anna and Josh were running around playing. I went inside to shower. Anna followed Josh by walking on a little cement wall and fell off into the rose bush. Her whole little arm was pretty bad. That night she kept complaining that her shoulder hurt. The next day we took Amy through the New Port Temple. (which was absolutely beautiful and wonderful!) When I got home I just didn't feel like Anna was okay so we took her to the ER. 2 hours later the x-rays showed a completely broken clavical. She was so brave, and in a lot of pain. She was a trooper! The unfortunate part of breaking your collar bone is they do nothing for it. They gave her a little sling which she was to wear 24 hours. She actually didn't oppose to wearing it because I think it actually helped the pain.

While I was at the ER with Anna, Mike and Missy took care of Quinn. As I left I said, "Quinn doesn't really like the beach so you may want to just stay at the house." Well I am sure that minutes after I left Mike was like, 'hey let's take Quinn to the beach!'. They were right. Quinn loved the beach! I only wish I could have seen it!

So anyway... after a couple of days in New Port, we drove to a little resort in the mountains called Idlywild. We met up with the entire Calvert Family for a 2 day family reunion. It was so fun to see all of my extended family. Some of the them I haven't seen since our wedding 5 years ago!

Missy was wonderful on this trip! If she can endure 7 days of the Calverts and still have a smile on her face at the end of the trip, she can do anything!! Thank you Missy for all of your help!

Grandpa Mel, my Dad's dad. He is always good for a laugh!

Natalie and Anna. Natalie is my cousin, Robbie's little girl. He is in North Carolina and just finished his boot camp training and will most likely be deployed soon there after. We are so proud of him. His little girls miss him so much as do we! This was the best picture I had of Anna in her sling.

Cousin Greg, what a riot! He was such a blast to hang out with!

Amanda, cousin Joey, uncle Mikey

My Aunt Laurie (dad's sister) holding her 2 grand babies, Natalie and Julia Claire

We had a great time. On the way home we stopped in Las Vegas to visit my uncle who was just called to be the mission president in the Las Vegas Mission. It was fun to see them as missionaries. Then finally after 7 long-wonderful days we returned home to Daddy. We were so excited to see him! We had a great trip!