All 10 of us. Brown Family Love

All 10 of us,

here, together.

what a trip, what a week (well more like 3 for us:)

My family, my 5 sisters, 4 brothers,

here together. their spouses, their kids, cousins...love..

amazing really.

the last time we were all together??

4 years at least?

It was great. Thanks Mom and Dad for pulling this all together.

So much more to come. Ry and I just pulled up. A long drive home from St. Charles.

But so worth it.

Family time with Ry's fam in Bear River,

and time with my family at Bear Lake.

what a FUN few weeks...

fabulous.

love it.

and feel so blessed to have all

these peeps in my life.

look at the pic, it's ALL of us.

Greg, Jan, Misty, Brandon, Amber, Troy, Tawny, Brooke, Brett and Brie.

and of course, Mom and Dad.

what a pic

hard to say goodbye today, but grateful for my fam :)

We are ready to be back. home.

Life is in full swing.

xo!

Fun Christmas night, friend gathering, good times

December 10, 2010

~~Friend Christmas dinner.~~

Stott home.

Stott's, Schramm's, Rennaker's, Coons, Bagley's, and Folster's.
A Colorado Christmas Evening with friends.

I was so excited to host. I love a fun Christmas party. Especially a great night with friends. We decided on favorite Christmas desserts and appetizers. WE also did white elephants. We wanted an easy evening where we could all hang out and chat, eat treats, open gifts and have a good evening. I made homemade caramel, chocolate covered rice krispies, white chocolate cookies and Artichoke Parmesan dip.
As usual, I find no time to blog! I just want to say that the party was great, we had such a good time with our friends.

Now off to Christmas fun...always so much to do!

One more week until the big day! we are so excited....

Here our pics from the night...Merry Christmas!

All of us hanging out.

We got our plates of food and drinks and talked the night away....

No kids! what a miracle!!

All the cute hubbies.

Left to Right

(Ryan, Matt,Brian, Ryan, Darren, and Michael)

okay here come the girls....sorry I put up a few of us!

We just couldn't get a good shot!

Love these girls!

(and why am I next to the shortest girl..Amy?! haha)

Left to right...(Ashley, Mandi, Amy, me, Jodee, and Stacie)

All of us!

We all have so much in common.

We are all lucky to be stay at home mama's.

(we have 24 kids between all of us!)

WE have Tues playgroups and lots of play dates with our older kids.

We love to have a girls night every once in awhile (when we can fit it in!)

(oh and hit the mall and lunch during school hours :)

ummm, I had to add a pic of my cutest Christmas shirt. (Don't laugh!) I love it.

Love the twirly flowers. They make me so happy.

I bought a similar one for Ry's work party.

.(it was last night in Boulder! so fun!)


Isn't it pretty???
The Ladies.

Hanging out.

(by the food!)

Like I said earlier, I am so lucky to know these girls (and families)!

They are such great friends.

The night was great....we ate, laughed, had some funny white elephants!

WE also had some good laughs with the game, Loaded Questions...!"

Thanks for the party friends!

(we have been in Colorado now for 6 and a half months! wow!)

Merry Christmas! Loving it...

oh and here is a pic of Ry and I going to his work party at a

restaurant in Boulder last night....

xo!

okay, by the way..........

~Utah in 2 weeks! (omg, yay....sooo excited! I have made so many plans and still want plans w all of you....)

~Jake just finished his big Biography project and presented it today...good job Jakey.)

~Ashlyn just found out she broke the Junior High record in the Turkey Trot mile!!!

She got awarded with a trophy and a plaque ( I do have a pic!)

and will get put in the awards window.

(she beat all 6, 7, and 8th grade girls and all the boys but 2!) way to go ash!

~ I no longer teach sunbeams..(sad!) but now have 12 active 10 year olds in church! I team teach with my cute friend, Jodee!

~we are loving our twelve days of christmas service...only 8 days left!

~the kids are doing so great with filling the manger with straw! The cutest thing ever with Jake helping Mace today....love watching the kids do secret service!

~we miss the snow and are (possibly) going up tomorrow to Breckinridge or Boulder mountains to get it! (what is up with 70's in December??)

~we didn't do a Christmas card this year...why?! I should of because I have so many great pics of our colorado adventures! I will get to it next year! I have received so many of yours and LOVE them! thank you!)

Pumpkin Patch Love~ F.H.E

F.H.E.. pumpkin patch 2010

It was lovely!

The Rocky Creek pumpkin patch.
We dropped all scheduled plans and headed down to the

patch for Family Home Evening.

It was beautiful...to say the least. We had a fabulous night-
The kids loved it!
Picking out their O W N pumpkins and all...

there were patches and patches of pumpkins...rows and rows..

the air was a warm 72 degrees, the sun was setting,

the kids so happy,

running around picking out the

p e r f e c t pumpkin...

their prize pumpkins:

A lovely October night...

It was great....

(the farm stretched for miles...it was so pretty there! I love CO)
the corn maze was their favorite...

(and I blog for 2 reasons...)
1. the journaling and then
2. taking and editing pics!
I absolutely love pretty pics.

I love to make a picture "tell a story" without using words..

~the corn lady~

We couldn't get Ashlyn out of the maze...it had closed and she didn't want to leave....she ran and ran.

She was loving the wide open spaces....

I thought her hair looked like the corn :)

windy and wavy.

(poor girl got my thick hair :)

the lighting was perfect...quick pic of the kids..

goodbye~

cheers to a great night.

We ended the night at Chili's for dinner...(yummy queso/chips!)

(we may be back Saturday...8 miles of corn maze fun!)

Utah. Love. Family. Friends. Good times.

Oh Utah.

I loved you.

I had. so. much. fun:

The family, sissa's, friends, the sunshine, bbq's, pools...

Here are some of my favorite pics:

It was like I never left. I was back in Utah and it felt so good. Austin and I jumped on a plane (spontaneously) and spent 3 blissful days filling our "love pot" (as Nat puts it.)
And Love pot I did fill. With sweet love my parents opened their doors at the mountain house. (always!) My absolute favorite place (oh it feels JUST like HOME. here's why): warm air with a cool mountain breeze, birds chirping on every branch (blue jays), the sun shining through all the scrub oak, decks on the front and back of the house, a mountain view of lush green oak and sprawling green pine everywhere. A mountain house for sure. A feeling it brings. Simply Home.

The day I arrived, my parents hosted a family BBQ with everyone there! Oh I was so happy! Everyone walking in one by one, sisters, brothers, in laws, nieces, nephews. It was a sweet reunion indeed. Oh how my heart missed my family. But instantly I felt like I never left. We laughed, we talked, we caught up. We BBQ hamburgers, ate fresh Spinach salad, watermelon, and homemade cooked beans (fab TY!). For dessert: red velvet cake (oh sinfully divine) and chocolate chocolate donuts. After dinner, we ate fresh grown peas out of my parents garden. Then we watched my Grandpa Dalton's Memorial Day speech (he's a WWII vet) with goosebumps realizing how grateful we are for the 4th and celebrating a Country of Freedom. We told stories some more and hung out till the sun went down. I was a happy girl feeling the Brown family love again. Yes my love pot brimming!

The next day, I went on an early morning run loving every second with my beautiful Rockies. (oh yes!)Then went on a walk with my mom looking at beautiful homes and (yards!) against the mountain. Then I ate breakfast with m and d on the back porch with Alison Krauss sweet voice singing through the air. My mom made homemade wheat pancakes with fresh mango and raspberries on top of yogurt. A glass of cold apple juice to top it off. My cute parents making such a special effort for (little ole) me! I was spoiled and relished in my alone time with my parents. (loving every second). My Dad and I talked about how the earth was created, how our galaxies are beyond our imaginations and how important God is in our lives. I loved it. I was home.


The rest of the trip: Secret pools, shopping, pedicures, cafe Rio, early morning run and breakfast...it was heavenly. I fit so much in 3 days, going to the pools, hanging with the family, visiting with my friends ( I missed so much) Kim, Nat and Robyn. Catching up on each other's lives and kids. I was loving it! Kim and I sat in the sun at secret pool and talked and talked.(we could talk forever!) Nat, Rob and I met at the Riverbottom's at sunrise on Tuesday morning and went on a 5 mile walk and then ate veggie omelette's at Paradise. We had such a great time! WE talked and talked away..oh I love my girls! My friendships mean the world to me, I realize how more important they are to me. Girls need girls, relationships and good friends. I am so blessed to have sissa's and friends who fill my love pot. Thanks girls.

From delicious pork salad at Cafe Rio to cute pedicures with the girls, my trip was so fun. Like I said, being away makes you relish and love your relationships more. Austin played and played his life away with the 4 pack. His smile so big the second we arrived. Amber and Tyler taking him in their home: sleepovers in a tent, homemade crepes, and movies. They are simply the best aunt and uncle to my kids. (how we miss you guys!) What a trip, a trip I needed.

Now my July even better, looking forward to the days ahead. Ry's parents coming out to visit, my birthday week coming up and ending it with a trip to Bear Lake with the entire Brown clan (oh we can't wait!)

Loves to all of you and thanks for hanging with me! You all mean the world. The trip was fabulous minus the 2:34 a.m. arrival (so tired.) from Salt Lake to Denver. A flight to leave at 7:30 p.m and be home by 8:30. But a five hour delay (due to black clouds in Denver) sitting at the airport. No fun! But Austin and I made the best of it. We ate cinnabons, pink candy popcorn, bought Harry Potter and Crocodile Hunter Biography's, and drank Sprite all night. Good times. It now feels good to be home. Loved it. Thanks everybody! Love you Utah. xo!
p.s stole this song (Glee!) off my cute niece Ali's blog. Aligories.

Family Home evening, scripture moment, and busy days

Family Home Evening.

The best.

We try to do it every week. (Monday nights!)

Hard sometimes, yes, but it really brings us together.

and I have found, the kids soak up all our lessons.....kids love to learn.

This week, we focused on Jake's upcoming Baptism!

I bought a book, it talks A to Z about Baptism. The kids love it. We read 5 letters a night. (i.e A is for accountable, B is for Baptism, C is for Choose the Right, D is for Desire, E is for Eternal Covenants....)

Ry and I also presented Jake and Ashlyn with a special gift: (Aus already has his!)

Their very own scriptures with their name inscribed and their own case.

The joy in their smiles and (Ashlyn) with happy tears, made my mama moment again.

We are reading the Book of Mormon together as a family.

Ry and I didn't set our goals to high, a chapter a night.

But last night the kids didn't want to stop and read 3 chapters.

Ashlyn and Jake have already come to us and begged to keep reading...so here we go.

Also, have to speak in our Ward in Feb. Stress! Stress! Stress! The Stott fam the entire hour! Yikes. Anxiety, but hopefully good. The topic: Stewardship to our families, to our neighbors and to one another. Perfect, sounds good.

But it doesn't stop there.....Jake has to speak in Primary and I have to prepare a lesson for my cute, little Sunbeams.

Besides the fact that today we are up to our ears in two science fair projects

and

I am planning Jake's baptism set for 2 weeks, the program, talk, song..etc and plan a big lunch after for the whole family!

Whoa! I swear when it rains, it pours right?!

But grateful that life keeps on giving.

On to homework, Biggest Loser (yes!), scripture reading, and cleaning up dinner!

Have a good crazy week too!

And wish us good luck!

We will need it!

Friends forever. Christmas party 2009

Our Annual Friend Christmas party had arrived......
WE look forward to it every year.

It was at my house and preparations were underway.....

(I wore my pink polka dot apron for you Nat!)

We made it simple.

Just fancy appetizers and Christmas desserts.

No games, no white elephants,

We just wanted the evening to talk and talk....time to catch up.

Time to check in with every one's lives....

A time to just hang out, laugh and remember all the

good ole' days!

I was so impressed with our selection of food!

Great job girls.

We all decided Friday night was best for the majority of us...not all was there but

most of us managed to get to the party!

It was a crazy, snowy night and the men were coming from work and us mom's finding sitters for all the kids...thanks everyone for making the E F F O R T!

(there are 21 kids between all of us...!)

Back to the food!

I loved Krista's gourmet salad: spinach, blueberries, strawberries, fresh grated Parmesan! Yummy

Turkey avocado croissants, brie cheese and crackers, salads, homemade chocolate fudge, christmas cookies, veggies....it was delicious!

We just hung out,

chatted,

caught up, reminisced,

retold, rehashed, laughed,

and remembered

W H Y

we are

all F R I E N D S!

The boyz sat around telling high school stories of their

past girlfriends, dances, boys trips,

outings to his cabin up in Heber....

stories and more stories.....we were all laughing!

We had such a great night.

We could of hung out and chatted the night away.

But back to all our kiddos waiting for us!

(speaking of....the cutest baby ever....I loved her all night long!!)

What a night we had!

These boys have been friends since 5 th grade....going on 25 plus years!

So awesome!
We handed out gifts and called it a night!


My stocking gifts full of Fernwood chocolates....yum!

Alright boys.....your friendship means so much!
Cheers to another year,
cheers to all the great memories,
cheers to our future!



and we must NOT forget my brother Brandon, aka "Bear!"

We missed you and Em....we had some good chats of the high school days!

(Feb 2009...last visit from Germany!)

missing a few girls....

We had a great night....thanks everyone for a great time.

Merry Christmas to you all!

This Christmas season has been a whirlwind of parties, parties and more parties. Just had the Brown cousin party today (post to come LATER)...what a hit! This week we have a few more and starting the 12 days of christmas for Fam home evening tomorrow. I need to leave my blog and do my church christmas lesson for Jake's class tomorrow.

Off to another crazy, fabulous Christmas week!