Our Christmas

The day before Christmas and Christmas Eve was spent at the hospital with Bill's dad. He has pneumonia. That along with his age and dementia he is growing weaker every day. We were able to get him home for Christmas. That made everyone happy. The day after Christmas we had a Christmas party at his house. He sat with everyone and sang Christmas songs. It was wonderful to see and hear. He is such a big part of our lives. It is hard to see him go through all of this. But he is in no pain. This is a big blessing.
Christmas was a lot fun this year. It was our "practical" Christmas. We got alot of things we needed (clothes, socks, etc.) along with a few wants. I think it was our best Christmas ever. It made it that way because it wasnt all about the presents this year. It was about family. ALL of my children were home. Ashley and Josh came on Christmas eve and spent the night. With this house full of people we still got to sleep in until 8:00! I was excited about that! We opened our presents and then spent the morning in our pajamas playing games. Wayne and Malya Forsberg and their 3 youngest came over for lunch. It was so nice to be home with my family, talking and playing games. It snowed all day which made it even better.
I had to take down our Christmas tree Saturday. It was all dried out. But I left up all of the other decorations. They are just to pretty to take down. I think I may leave them up through January. January is such a boring time of the year. We could use a little festivity.

Cassandra Won!!!

Cassandra's basketball team took first place in their district tournament last night. They played Marsing. Marsing had not lost a game all year. Our girls played like their lives depended on it. Cassandra fouled out the last 30 seconds of the game. They played hard. They won 24-17. It was a close game the whole time.
When they got off the freeway they were met by our fire department. They escorted them back into town with their lights and sirens on. They did a little tour through the town. Fire department with their sirens and the girls screaming out the bus windows, and parents following behind honking their horns. People that have lived here a long time know what that means. Someone has won an important game. Usually State for the high school. But for the Middle School they dont have state. They only have districts. For those that havent lived here very long, they wonder if the world is coming to an end. All part of living in a small town. I love it!
So the girls will have their picture taken and put on a plaque. It will be hung in the trophy case right next to their trophy. They are super excited.

Our hunt for a Christmas Tree

It has always been our tradition to go to a Christmas tree farm in Fruitland. It is called Littles Christmas Tree Farm. My kids were so excited to go this year. I told them they had to do all of their chores and then we would go get our tree. So they pitched in and got everything done. Off we went to go pick out the perfect tree. This farm has about 5 acres of Christmas trees. You go pick out the tree you like and they cut it down for you. Then they put it on a machine that shakes all the dead needles off. They always have a sheep dog out there that my kids love to play with. When we got to the farm, all the trees were gone. We couldnt believe it. They sold the farm. No more Christmas trees. My children were crushed. They sat in silence the whole way home.
We went out again yesterday to hunt for the perfect tree. We were spoiled at Littles because we always got a 7 foot tree for 15.00. The first place we went to we found the perfect 7 foot tree. For 60.00!!!!!!! :( I couldnt bring myself to pay 60.00 for a tree that I would be throwing away in less than a month! So we ended up going to the Home Depot. We found a very pretty 6 foot douglas fir for 32.00.
Why are trees sooooo expensive!!!! I am going to leave this tree up through January just to get my moneys worth! :) That is my rant for the day!

Tagging

I was on a friends blog this morning. She had been tagged by a friend. I have never heard of tagging before! I loved reading about her likes, interests, and wishes. I would love to hear some of yours. I do not have 8 people that follow my site yet. So I cant tag 8 of you. But I will tag those that I know. For all those that look at my site that dont have a blog, please email me your tag. And then after you have written your tag please pass it on to others. Please share these things:
My 8 favorite shows:
1. The Doctors
2. Gilmore Girls
3. Oprah
4. The Biggest Looser
5. ER
6. The Waltons
7. Little House on the Prairie
8. The Today Show

8 Things I did yesterday:
1. Had prayer & scripture study with my children
2. Went to my Father in laws and did his laundry and watched some shows with him
3. Watched Cassey and Samuel (2 little boys I watch every day)
4. Washed and folded 5 loads of laundry at my house
5. Put up the rest of my Christmas decorations outside
6. I read a wonderful book called "The Christmas Box" by Richard Paul Evans
7. I exercised on my eliptical for 30 minutes
8. Relaxed in my bed while I finished reading the December Ensign

8 Favorite Restaurants:
1. Carrabas (best italian food ever!)
2. Golden Corral
3. Chuck a Rama (of course another all you can eat!)
4. Outback Steakhouse
5. Fudruckers (best hamburgers ever!)
6. Papa Murphys (I know its not a restaurant, but it has saved my life more than once)
7. Jimbo Restaurant ( A wonderful all you can eat chinese restaurant in Payette)
8. Any and All Mexican Restaurants

8 Things I'm looking forward to:
1. Snow
2. Christmas with all of our family home
3. My sister coming home from Idaho Falls
4. Ashley's baby shower in January
5. The twins being born
6. Kents State wrestling tournament
7. Kent graduating from High School
8. A summer vacation

8 Things on my Wish List:
1. I wish eating right and exercising wasn't a requirement to loose weight!
2. I wish I could delete everything in my life I have ever done wrong to others.
3. I wish I had a magical fairy living in my house that cleaned it while I was sleeping every night.
4. I wish I was the perfect wife and mother.
5. I wish all my Christmas shopping was done.
6. I wish I was at the Oregon coast on a warm sunny day.
7. I wish I had one full day alone with my Mother.
8. I wish all my bills were paid in full with money left over in the bank.

I Tag
1. Amberly
2. Brittany
3. Heather

Together we make a family

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Heidi Kaylyn Brown

Heidi is 3 years old. She is our little princess. Heidi loves Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, pretty much anyone that looks like a princess. She loves to dress in pretty dresses and fix her hair. She is all girl. She loves to help her Mommy. She loves nursery and all of her friends.

Tanner Paul Brown

Tanner is 6 years old. He is in 1st grade. He is learning to read. He loves to read books. Tanner loves skateboarding. He loves to do flips on the trampoline. He likes to run, play football, baseball and wrestling. He likes to play at his cousins house (Stokes'). He also loves to bake things with his Aunt Leisa and play marbles with his Uncle Theron.

Braxton Riley Brown

Braxton is 9 years old. He is in 4th grade. Braxton is a very good student. He excels academically especially in math and Idaho History. Braxton likes football, baseball and wrestling. His favorite thing to do is hang out with his cousin Ellis. They like to catch bugs in the ditch.

Tristan Clark Brown

Tristan is 12 years old. He is in 7th grade. He is a deacon now and passes the sacrament each Sunday. Tristan loves baseball. He played for a competitive league in Ontario this year. He is a pitcher and a shortstop. He also plays basketball, wrestles and plays football. Tristan is a good student and love to hang out with his family.

Cassandra Ruth Brown

Cassandra is 14 years old. She is in 8th grade. Cassandra loves basketball. She has been to basketball camps at Boise State University as well as Brigham Young University. She is a very good basketball player. She also plays volleyball, soccer, softball, and track. She is a good student. She loves mutual and hanging out with her friends.

Kent Dan Brown

Kent is 17 years old. He is a Senior at New Plymouth High School. Kent will work for 9 months after school and then will be leaving for a 2 year mission. Kent loves to hunt, fish and hike in the Seven Devils, wrestling and playing football. He also has an interest in photography. He works part time for a photographer.

Ashley and Josh Byers

Ashley is 20 years old. She is married to Josh Byers. They are living in Nampa. They are expecting twin boys in March. Ashley is a Medical Assistant. She is working for Idaho Diabetes and Endocronoly in Boise. Josh is a computer tech for Supervalue in Boise.

Kerry Moyle Brown

Kerry is 21 years old. He returned home September 15, 2008 from serving an honorable 2 year mission for the LDS church in Leon Mexico. He speaks fluent spanish. He is now working at Costco in Nampa. He will be attending BSU this spring. Kerry loves to hunt, hike and fish in the Seven Devils, play darts and hang out with his friends.

Our Children

I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.
3 John 4

Welcome!

Welcome!  I am not a computer savey person.  So this is taking me awhile to get this website up and running.  Please be patient.  It is a work in progress.  I am super excited to get this blog going.  If you are from a big family, you will understand that their is a 100 things going on all at once.  My children's lives keep Bill and I hopping from one event to the next.  Our family is growing and changing each and every day.  So I am sure that I will never run out of things to blog. Again welcome to our site.  Please leave a comment before you leave.  We would love to hear from you!