Giving Thanks

Thanksgiving this year was with the Brown's.

Clark started the morning running the 10K Turkey Trot.

(sorry, no pics)

Grandma Charlene and Mel were awesome hosts!

 The food never disappoints!

Curt claimed himself the winner of the "Mashed Potatoes War"!

 Brett & Tia

 Great Grandpa Breinholt could not wait to get his food!

He was eating before we even got him pushed up to the table.

Clark not really appreciating my picture taking!

 The cute teenage girls!

 Curt, Celeste, Matt, Dan & Courtney



 Ally, Kinzie, and Madison

 Just a few of the adorable GREAT GRANDKIDS!

 The fabulous host and hostess!

These two are amazing...Grandma had just had a round of chemo a few days before Thanksgiving.

She looked wonderful and when I asked her how she was feeling,

she said "a little bit awesome".

Although not feeling well, she insisted on having Thanksgiving and Mel is always so supportive

of Grandma and our entire family!

We love them both!

 Celeste and Bennett plotting their strategy for the Black Friday shopping!

They scored some great deals at Walmart during the wee morning hours.

the turkey coma

Yummy, yummy pie!

Hot off the Press!

I have to brag...

My brother David has just had his first book published!

It is AWESOME!

To me a book is good if it keeps me entertained.

A book is GREAT if I find myself thinking about it days after I have finished reading it.

This book did just that...and then some.

It is clever, laugh out loud funny, tender, and real.

I COULDN'T BE MORE PROUD!

Click here to read an interview with the author, David Clark

Click here, here, or here to order your copy.

and if you don't believe me...here are a few reviews:

"Clark vividly captures the perils and joys of early adolescence in the 1980s.

By turns heartbreaking and hilarious, this novel is a meditation on the meaning of sacrifice

and the transforming responsibility of familial love."

                                              —Angela Hallstrom, author of Bound on Earth

"Clark perfectly captures the torture and hilarity of navigating adolescence

and the perpetual change of family ties. Simply beautiful."

                                        —Bridget Verhaaren, cofounder, theliteratemother.org

"Funny, poignant, and hopeful. Clark takes Mormon literary fiction another big step forward."

—Richard Cracroft, emeritus professor of English, BYU

Never Say Never

You would think after all this time that I would learn...

I said I would NEVER have a December baby...I had 3!

I said I would NEVER have babies less than a year apart...

Haley and Cassidy are 11 months apart!

I said we would NEVER have a dog...and then this child came along!

He loved every kind of animal!

So, we bought him the giant bucket of plastic animals to play with.

We subscribed to Kids National Geographic.

We watched Animal Planet and every special on PBS that referenced wildlife.

We bought the documentary "Planet Earth" and watched all the animal sequences.

We read "Where the Red Fern Grows" and he couldn't understand why I cried.

But none of it was enough!

 So, we let him play with the neighbor's puppies.



We told him to enjoy the baby chicks in his Kindergarten class.

We let him participate in a rodeo.



We took him to the ranch...several times.

He was chosen to hold the lamb in the Easter Pageant,

STILL...it just wasn't enough and I was getting tired!

So, we let him get chickens,

 

 and more chickens,

 

 and a tortise named Ned.

He started a little business taking care of the neighbor's dogs while they were out of town.

He lovingly cared for Oreo, Zeus, Sundance, Barkley, Red Dog and Winston.

But, it still wasn't enough...and I am now OLD AND TIRED!

So, after hours and hours of research, begging and bartering,

 

WE HAVE A DOG!!!!

an 11 week old Goldendoodle named ECHO...

and this boy couldn't be happier!

Haley encouraged and paid for this little guy

because this boy NEEDED a dog!

Thanks, Haley for your love and generosity!

11.13.11

April 1993 was a surreal month. 

Tia was 3, Haley was 4 months old, Curt had lost his job, and I was expecting baby #3. 

 How had my life gotten so completely out of control? 

 I remember lying in my hospital bed,

hooked up to IVs due to my severe dehydration and nausea,

wondering how the heck I was going to survive. 

And then on November 13, 1993 this angel was born...

6 lbs 12 oz of blonde, blue-eyed perfection!

We brought Cassidy home from the hospital all bundled up in pink,

and as she slept, we tried to teach Haley how to take her first steps.


Cassidy was a patient, calm baby.

She never demanded attention, unless she was hungry.

She was exactly what I needed as I tried to figure out how to be a mom to my 3 girls.

And now, 18 years later...not much has changed.

I am still trying to figure out how to be a mom,

and she just does her thing, whether it is homework, student council responsibilities,

church callings, reading her scriptures, memorizing the "Family Proclamation",

practicing the piano, completing personal progress, fulfilling her service hours,
applying for colleges, and the list goes on and on.

There is not much I have had to teach her during her life.

She was born obedient and trusting and my job has been to watch and learn from her.

Happy, Happy Birthday, Cassidy!

We love you more than you know!

Happy Birthday!

Happy, Happy Birthday, Emily!!!!

Hope you had a fabulous 16th Birthday!

Thanks for always keeping Clark in line...

it is much appreciated!

Love,

The Brown Family

October 2011

 Haley and Skyler attended the Taylor Swift concert

and LOVED it!

Gotta love their neon accessories, red lips and the DIY T-shirts!



 Clark played his final JV football game.

He was pulled up to varsity for their final game.

He played awesome and scored his first varsity touchdown!

During the varsity game he wore #5 and it wasn't until the last quarter of the game that the announcers realized they had been calling him Kevin Nelson, a 5'11", 190 lb senior all night.

We thought it was hilarious and had a few good laughs!

Cassidy said she was famous after Clark's stellar performance during the varsity game!

He caught 6 passes for 125 yards and led the team in receiving.

 Brett turned the big 25!

He and Tia spent his birthday weekend in Sedona at a little bed and breakfast
 and then joined us Sunday night for his birthday dinner
topped off with German Chocolate cake!

Bennett dressed up as a nerd for Halloween and the girls couldn't keep their hands off of him!

We enjoyed our traditional dinner of goulosh in pumpkin bread bowls

at Grandpa and Grandma Clark's!

Always a Warrior

Westwood High School celebrated 50 years last night at their Homecoming Game.

In commemoration of the historic event, each decade of classes

was invited to make a float for the Homecoming parade and half-time show.

The 70's and 80's got together and came up with this great float...

"Cruisin' back through Time"

As a 1982 graduate of Westwood, Curt was asked (actually cajoled)

into dressing up as Bruce Springsteen for their float.

He was in the company of Elton John (Scott Jackson),

John Travolta (Keith Deering), and Michael Jackson (Greg Arnett not shown).

 Each singer danced to their song that was blasted from the float.

Bruce's was "Born in the USA"

The crowds along the parade route.

Gotta love that Westwood is steeped in tradition and spirit!

The float looked awesome and the crowd loved it!

Even the Elders were impressed!

50 years is a big deal and all the news stations were there for the historic celebration!

Cassidy came to offer moral support, but she couldn't let her Toro pride go!

At the half-time show...

Curt has always said that his blood runs deep orange...

and he proved it last night!

Congratulations Warriors!