2011 in Review

2011 was a year of wonderful and memorable milestones!

Brett and Tia became engaged on January 27th!

 

Haley began working for Garn and Mason Orthdontics as an assistant

and is loving every minute of it

 Clark played on the freshman basketball team.

He was also a member of the last 9th grade class to attend Poston Jr. High.

Haley and Cassidy both attended Prom in April

May was chock full of crazy goodness...

Brett and Tia were sealed on May 13th in the Mesa Arizona Temple

by Grandpa Clark!

and

Haley graduated from Mountain View Highschool on May 26th!

We survived our Stake Pioneer Trek in June.

(I can now check that off the bucket list!)

Celebrated 25 years of wedded bliss on June 7th!

Clark and Bennett had the time of their lives at basketball camp in Prescott.

They were both awarded "The Hustler" award for their age groups.

Bennett participated in Swim Team

 Cassidy loved hanging out in Provo with the cousins and Grandpa and Grandma
and enjoyed the 4th of July celebrations

We enjoyed a quick get away to La Jolla the end of July

 Katie, one of Haley's best friends, had the missionary discussions

 in our home and then Curt baptized her on August 16th

Endured some brutally hot football games during September,
 but it was all worth it to see Clark in action.

He was named MVP for the team!

Haley kept us entertained coming out of the anthesia
 after having her wisdom teeth pulled in September

Bennett tore it up on the basketball court wearing #31 for the Poston Panthers!

Cassidy had a busy couple of months working on homecoming

and then had a blast at the dance with all of her friends!

Clark played in his first varsity football game AND SCORED A TOUCHDOWN!

(Cassidy said she was famous after that game for just being Clark's sister!)

Haley got all decked out to go to the Taylor Swift concert in October

 

Cassidy planned, organized and attended Winter Formal

and did a fabulous job at all of it!

Cassidy and Clark attended Winter Formal
This was Clark's first school dance and he had a blast with date, Ashlynn

Bennett got his braces off after almost 3 years!

Bennett turned 14 in December and was ordained to the office of teacher.

(Clark turned 16 in August and was ordained a Priest)

Bennett FINALLY got a DOG!

A goldendoodle named Echo.

Can hardly wait to see what 2012 has in store for the Brown Family!

Out with the Old...

The past few years we have celebrated New Year's Eve

eating Chinese food at Golden Gate Restaurant.

This year was no exception!

We started early so the kids would not miss out on any

of their planned activities!

Here's to a great 2012!

(and 8:30am church tomorrow!  Wish us luck!)

Glimpses of Christmas

We enjoyed every bit of our Christmas celebration.

We spent Christmas Eve with the extended Clark Family,

where ET & Kristin hosted a delicious dinner and organized the program.

(We missed Brett and Tia who were celebrating with the Allred Family

before Brett's parents leave to Chile for two years)

The kids did a great job re-enacting the Nativity.

 Haley and Kimberly were the narrators

 Cassidy was just one of several who played the piano as we sang Christmas Carols.

 Grandma and Grandpa not only shared their testimonies and experiences of

Christmases past, but conducted the evening's events.

 Clark was the donkey for Mary (Abby) and Joseph (Cash)

 Sam, Katie, and Hailey were the glorious angels

 Max, Joey and Matthew were the awe-struck shepherds

 We played the traditional Christmas Gift Exchange Game.

 Grandma and Grandpa opened their Christmas Gift from the family.

A photo book entitled "Our Grandchildren" with a page of pictures of each grandchild

 and expressions of why they love Grandma and Grandpa.

It turned out beautifully!

The next morning, after attending church, we went to visit Great Grandpa Breinholt.

Christmas night we enjoyed a yummy dinner at Grandpa & Grandma Clark's.

We never get tired of spending time with our extended family and

celebrating the greatest of all gifts...the birth of our Savior!

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you a wonderful Holiday Season!

To see our family's past Christmas cards go here.

Christmas Caroling...Brown Style!

Every December 23rd is the Brown Family Christmas Party.

This year we combined the annual Family Dinner Party with our Caroling Party.

Grandma and Mel generously paid to have dinner catered as their

Christmas gift to both the Brown and Stradling Families.

A FABULOUS idea, in my book!

Carolina's Green Chili Burritos, rice, beans, chips and salsa were the menu for the evening.

 Brian and Curt manned the cheese crisp station for the little kids.

 We had seating for almost 100 and every seat was filled!

After dinner, we loaded up Chuck's semi-truck with a huge trailer.

 Caleb, Clark, Cassidy

 Bennett and Naaman were our skaters...

they would skate ahead of the trailer and ring doorbells,

so by the time the truck drove by, people were at their doors.

 our awesome driver, Ron

(the rig is so big that only special licensed drivers can drive it)

 the whole gang singing, visiting,

and just waiting for the hot chocolate and donuts after the cold ride!

Here's the guy who helped haul the hay for the trailer,

ordered and picked up the food,

helped with the song playlist and sound equipment,

and a gazillion other little details to pull this night together.

We could not have done it with out Clint and Debbie and their family

who spear headed this great party!

 The MVPs of the night...Grandma and Mel

 Brett, Tia and Breckyn

 Isaac and Cassidy

Our main caroling destination was to Great Grandpa Breinholt's home.

We brought him outside to sing to him and let him see his posterity.

 Love that so many of Curt's siblings could be there.

We missed Chawna and Celeste!

LOVE this picture!

Until next year...