Too hot to be outside!

This summer weather has been scorching so we thought we would find a fun indoor activity.  I am not the craftiest person but I have been wanting to make some diy handprint molds with the kiddos.  So thanks to http://www.theimaginationtree.com/ we found a really fun and easy recipe!  Bradley seemed to really enjoy doing all the measuring and mixing.

First add 1 cup of flour

then 1 cup of salt

then 1/2 cup water and mix

form it into a ball and roll out

this was his favorite part... the hand press

Luke got in on the action too!  We put them in the oven at 200 degrees for 2 hours.  We just have to paint them and tie a ribbon to put them up on their wall! 

My boys!!

I love every  moment of being a mommy!!  My boys are growing up so fast!!  Luke is a big boy.  He has his 9 month check up this friday so we will see if his weight has surpassed his big brothers yet.  He rolls all over the place but isn't crawling yet.  He just recently cut 4 teeth (2 on top and 2 on the bottom).  His big blue eyes are so beautiful!  Bradley is talking up a storm and being such a wonderful big brother!  He loves his little brothe and is so good with him.  They will be best friends forever!!  I captured some playtime photos of them being so sweet with one another.

this is really one of my favorites!



The Browns invade Hilton Head, SC!!

It's just not summer without a family vacation! So the Brown family invaded Hilton Head Island, SC for our 2nd annual family vacation!! Mark & I love the beach! There is something so soothing about sitting on the beach, watching the waves crash at the shore, and watching the kiddos play. Bradley was a bit more daring with the ocean this year. He seems to share the love of the ocean with his parents! Luke was hilarious discovering sand with Mason.

The resort had a splash park that was fun for the kids and the adults. Mark liked it so much that he has been checking out how to get one into his parents pool.

This was the only family shot of us from the trip!

Mark had some help this year from Jason for the Iron Chef at the resort. They made roasted tomato risotto and it was soooo good!! They didn't win but I was quite impressed!

Me & my love!

One of our favorite dining experiences is a local joint called Harold's Diner. It is a small little diner with a ton of personality and delicious food! Luke was trying to get Papa to share, lol. We went there for lunch on Lucy's birthday and got the whole place to sing Happy Birthday. She even got a gift from the diner.

Kira and Jason had a great idea to go on a dolphin cruise. It was a hot afternoon but we got to see quite a few dolphins. We even got to see a mother and baby dolphin!

This is one of my favorite pictures from the trip! Those Brown boys being silly with the next generation!

I had to add this one of my blue-eyed boys!

I really adore my family and it was so wonderful to have them all to myself for a few days in a row! There is nothing more precious in this life than spending time with the ones that we love most doing the things that we love most... relaxing, eating, and loving!

Summatime!

I have been enjoying the summer much more this year since I am no longer preggo! It's amazing how much growing a baby makes you feel like a furnace! The boys are growing like weeds! Bradley is talking so much and being such a sweet natured little boys. He loves his little brother and is a wonderful big brother. Luke is getting around by rolling around and in a month has cut 4 teeth! They are both amazing little boys!!

Bradley enjoyed his first father/son campout with Daddy and Papa!! They swam in the lake, road jet skis, played and chatted with Uncle Adam and Matthew. That night mark put the seats down in our Envoy and put a memory foam mattress cover down and they snuggled and watched a movie on Mark's playbook. Now that's making awesome memories!!

The day after the campout we went to the Riverhouse with some amazing friends! We had a wonderful time relaxing in the water and on the jetskis. Bradley rode for the first time with Daddy. I love spending time with good friends and my wonderful family!







So many more memories to make this summer and it has only just begun...

For Time and All Eternity

One of the most important events for our family took place on March 15, 2011! We went to the temple and were sealed for time and all eternity!! For those that are not familiar with this ceremony... we believe that marriages performed in temples are “sealed,” or blessed to last for eternity. The concept that the family unit can continue beyond the grave as a conscious, loving entity, with the marriage partnership and parent-child relationships intact, is a core belief members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. “Whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven” (Matthew 16:19). I cannot imagine any life without my family whether it be here on this Earth or in Heaven. Throughout the day and as we drove home from the temple my heart was overwhelmed with such a peaceful, loving feeling.

Reflections

As I turn 29... I have been reflecting on my last 9 years and trying to make the most of my last year of my 20s. Thirty always felt so far away and it is hard to believe that it will be here in now less than a year. I kicked off my twenties in 2002 during my first year as a LPN working at MWH on 4N and starting my first semester of the RN program. I spent a lot of time with my best friend, Britney, because we were making the same journey together. When we weren't working or studying, we were SHOPPING! It was really awesome to have a career and be so young! The next year at 21, I met my now husband... Mark Brown!! We were set up on a blind date by my co-worker who is now my Aunt Sandra. We started our romance in April of 2003. I then graduated from the RN program that December. Needless to say that was an amazing year!!! That following January of 2004 I moved out on my own into first apartment in Fredericksburg! That was quite the adventure!! Once I signed my lease I packed a bag and a cushion from my favorite chair and spend my first night on the floor. That night a group of people got rowdy in the parking lot and tried to run someone over. I woke up to screams and looked out the window to see a man with a gun, so I called 911. What a way to kick off my independence!!! It turned out that man was a police officer that lived in the neighborhood and the rowdy group was evicted. I look back on my years in that apartment with so much joy!! I did a lot of living and growing during those 2 years. I have so many cherished memories with friends!

Mark and I loved and broke up a few times but always seemed to reunite. I had a couple friends move in when their marriages were on the rocks. My awesome neices would come over and have Girls Night with me. We usually rented movies, ordered pizza, and ate raw cookie dough. I alo had my first pets that were all mine... my kitties, Coco and Oliver.



Mark and I had our ups and downs during our dating years but we also had some really fun times. We went on several beach vacations and used to love going to B&Bs in the fall. We saw a TON of movies (which is one of my favorite things to do). I will always have wonderful memories of our dating years!

I moved out of my apartment in February of 2006. I moved back home with Mom and Dad that summer while my first HOUSE was being built. I also left 4N that summer and started working at Hospice. The house was done early that fall and Mark & I moved in.

We dated for another year and then he FINALLY popped the question! We went to Williamsburg for the weekend and as were checking in he got "a call" from a buddy that was stranded in VA beach with a broken down truck. So I reluctantly tagged along while he was helping. I remember how incredibly sweet he was being on the drive down. He offered to stop where I wanted and treated me with my favorite foods. We were walking around the beach trying to find his buddy and stumbled along a photographer just hanging out. He then got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. The coolest part of the story is that he had chosen a spot where the sunset appears to be setting into the water and is supposed to be gorgeous. That day was so rainy and cloudy that we didn't get to see the sunset but he was so romantic!! (I am still hoping to see that sunset...)

Six short weeks later I became Mrs. Mark Allen Brown!!! I had my heart set on a Fall wedding and got it with the help of our amazing families!! That day was one of the most special and and wonderful days of my life!! We then went on our Honeymoon to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

We started working on our family that night! It took 4 months and we found out that I was pregnant with our first son that March of 2008 and Bradley Nathan Brown was born that November!! I felt right away that becoming a mother was my calling in life.



That summer we also suffered heartbreak when we found out that Mark's brother, Luke, had died. :-( We were on vacation with my family in Myrtle Beach when we got the news. We raced home to spend the week with the Brown family to mourn his loss.

In his honor, we named our newest addition after him... Luke Allen Brown was born on September 29, 2010.

So here I am now... a daughter, wife, and mother! I wouldn't change a thing that led to where I am now. I couldn't be more content and fulfilled. So as I enjoy the last year of my twenties, I look forward to what the future holds for me and my wonderful little family!