Brown Corner

Fun in Milville

2011-10-20T19:44:00.000-07:00

This was a awesome trip to Logan! Rachel really spoiled us, with homemade bread bowls, candy, Eden's favorite popcorn that she'll come to expect from her aunty Ray-Ray if she's not careful, walks together, hiking, Mike's special salsa, and milkshakes galore! I love my nephews/niece. It was especially fun to see Eden and Elsie glance at each other unsure then take off to the play room. Those two have come a long way since 3 years ago when Eden couldn't even look at Elsie without tears. Thank you weather for giving us optimal bonding environment! On our way home we stopped by our ancestors' graves/memorial in Ogden/Harrisville. Namely for Pleasant Green Taylor and Clarissa Lake Taylor (whom Cosette was named after, as you can see on her headstone she went by Clara). They were Latter-Day Saint Pioneers and have given me a rich heritage to learn about. The memorial for Pleasant is located on a plot of land he owned that he donated to the church to build a chapel on. It's still church owned today. Just looking at these photos inspires a feeling in me that just makes me happy. I probably look at them twice a day.

Updates on the kiddos:
Eden: Her bike busted, she seems content enough to run around the quad however! And I don't have to cringe on all those fast turns she makes.
Cosette: Starting to show some frustration at a toy that is just out of her reach. Which is remarkable because she's so mellow I thought she'd not work up the motivation to crawl for some time. she's experimenting more on her belly, it's just so exciting! She's playing with her voice more too.
Micah: says he just produce and directed the best thing on his reel yet! a Fed-Ed promo.
Me: experimented in the kitchen this week with pears and apples (thanks rach). The applesauce turned out tasty, but the jam and pie could be improved!!!

First Family vaca!

2011-10-06T21:16:00.000-07:00

So Eden and I monopolize these pictures, Micah was obviously behind the camera with Cozy. So I threw in a few older ones of Cosette. This was our first family vacation. Besides our Honeymoon, we'd never had a destination that didn't involve family. And after our summer apart, we decided it was time! We went all the way to.....SALT LAKE CITY! It was more than I could've asked for. We did the children's museum, church history museum, Melting Pot, and Build-a-bear (the first stuffed animal we ever bought Eden-whoah-she get's all of the toys Micah and I couldn't part with from our childhood). We had some plans to do more outside but it was way too hot. Oh the irony of recording that as today it snowed!
Updates: Cosette is still working on her schedule, night times are going better and better, now we are working on the day time. She was so tired the other day; while driving home from the grocery store she fell asleep as Eden was bouncing a balloon in her face. Nevertheless, she stays smiley as ever! Eden is growing a friendly brave bone. We went to a play place this week. The last time we ventured it, a few months ago, Eden couldn't go inside the play tubes on her own for fear of all the other kids. THIS time, she didn't even look back as she put her boots in the cubby and took off. I could hear her growling, screaming, and saying "my name's Eden, what's yours?" As we left, some girls shouted, "thanks for playing with us Eden!" and she waved. It was as if they'd been long time friends. It's really special for me to see her personality grow and emerge into her own self.

9-29-11

2011-09-29T06:30:00.000-07:00

Cosette's blessing outfit, the day after her blessing day. Seeing as with 8:30 church, we overlooked pictures in our scamper out the door. Adventures: Cosette is working on sleeping through the night on her own, and without binkey! yikes! Eden's been bug hunting this week, finding grasshoppers, ants, praying mantises, slugs, and spiders.

Cozy's 5 months today!

2011-09-22T18:59:00.000-07:00

For the sake of family members who don't get to see, particularly our Cosette, grow so rapidly I'm going to turn this into a photo blog. Not that anyone really checks any more, so hopefully not too many people have to pay attention to the BILLIONS of photos our family (ech-hem, Micah the ever talented photographer). I hope you enjoy these pictures as much as I do...

a couple of fun things the kiddos are doing: Cosette can sit for a minute now! getting so strong. And Eden is saying some funny things as she tries to repeat back grown up talk she hears such as: "Mom, you are really going to death on your sandwhich" (instead of 'going to town'). I'll have to record more as she saying so many funny things every day, but I can never remember them! She also loves her 'blankey' to be cold. Frequently before bed time, she turns on the AC and uses it to make her blankey cold. Eden has learned to write her name and draw people with arms and legs that extend off the body rather than the head. She spends at least an hour a day coloring, drawing, painting, and writing letters/her name. I think I have a little artist on my hands.

More Baby

2011-04-30T14:46:00.001-07:00

Little Cosette

2011-04-22T17:45:00.000-07:00

Born April 22, 2011 7 lbs 5 ounces and 20 inches

The Grumpy Old Troll

2011-04-04T19:35:00.000-07:00

Majority of the time little Eden wants her parents to tell her long long big stories. But there are those few great occasions throughout the year when she wants to tell big big big long stories to her parents. I have been meaning to document these stories for quite some time but always seem to forget to grab the camera until it is far too late. However tonight I was able to capture the moment. The video is quite long and I don't expect you all to watch it in its entirety. Notice how she utilizes objects in her surroundings that she sees to add to the story.

Protestor Changes BYU Forever

2011-03-19T12:28:00.000-07:00

I did this great photo shoot with Eden. Apparently she has become a real activist. The following is an actual event taken by the photographer Micah Brown on March the 18th 2011.

The Party of Activism Warfare Against Germs or The PAWAG had a protest today on the local playground in Wymount Terrace today when multiple children got sick all at the same time from nothing more than germs.

Their leader and only member Eden Brown only had one comment today about the subject. "I like potatoes." Of course the demonstration was so disheartening to all those that witnessed this sad pathetic protest, that an entire four quarters were raised which Eden promtly spent at the store on a mixed berry bagal and 5 gummy bunnies.

The local authorities were even notified and informed of a picketing protest/riot happening on BYU grounds which is prohibited under section 143 of the stated honor code of BYU campus. However, when the officials arrived Eden imminently sprung into action. She clung to a sign and gave the best pouty protest face the world had ever seen. This display of pity and bravery forced the Guards via Eden's adorable cuteness to drop all charges.

This is the first time in the long 100 some years of BYU history that one single protester made a difference and changed Honor Code on the BYU campus. It has now become legal for children under 4 to protest on BYU campus. (with the help of their parents which is another great reason to have children, so your lame views may be heard.) Now if only they could grow a beard to overthrow the no beards on campus policy.

This goes to show that as long as you are a cute three year old with an adorable frowny face and are packed full of idealism (forced upon them by their parents) you can win any political, social or economic debate using the powers of cuteness.

Travel Log 8.17.10

2010-08-17T09:54:00.000-07:00

Okay, this should be the last Travel Log...it's kinda like eating pop tarts everyday for breakfast. The first couple days are really fun, but there really is too much of a good thing. And I'm sure you are wanting some new spices.
So now we travel to WASHINGTON. We stayed at my parents' NEW house and switched back and forth to the Browns' too. We had toooo much fun catching butterflies, having very merry unbirthday and realy birthday parties, swimming, playing with cousins, flagging down ice cream trucks, visiting neighboring diary farms and chicken coops, eating too many fun snacks of go-gurts and juice boxes, making fools of ourselves on DDR, and being lazy book worms. I love my mom's new house. I've always wanted to live in the coutry. It was hard for me to come home to SO many neighbors after two weeks of looking out my window and seeing the ocean or rolling wheat fields. Eden especially loved playing with her cousins Dulcinea and Elsie. You always want your kids to get along with your siblings kids, it was perfect. Nearly every time we get out the milk Eden comments on how it comes from cows and likewise with the eggs coming from chickens.

Travel Log 8.13.07

2010-08-13T15:16:00.000-07:00

WE MADE IT! Pacific City....aaaahhhhh
It was cold and windy and thus detered Eden from playing much in the sand that was blowing into her face. But she was a good sport and would go out when we begged. All of my in-laws and Eden's cousins treated us good. We indulged on everything-overdosed on relaxing, binged on delicious food, had adventurous excursions, and feasted our eyes on the some of the most beautiful things the world has to offer. It was terrific to see everyone again, especially Doyle and Jeanne. So here's an upload of a buttload of pictures....(did I just say butt-load? Yes, I must've been hanging out with the Browns for a week)

Travel Log 8.5.10

2010-08-05T08:25:00.000-07:00

So the next week of traveling has over 300 pictures capturing our adventures; so, here goes.....Buckle up, here we go, we're OFF, "adventure is out there!" We are heading to Pacific City, OR for a 'Brown Beach Bonanza'. Micah's parents recently came home from a two year mission in Japan and a reunion was in call!
We decided to split the 16 hours into two days, so we found a hotel half way. When we came into the room, Eden was asking what we were doing there. I explained that we were staying the night and she got really excited. She starting running around the room and pointed at things saying: "This lamp is mine?" "This chair is mine?" "This TV is mine?" Then, "This bed is mine?" "no" I answered, "that's mine and Dad's bed". She was a little dissapointed that the HUGE bed wasn't hers and asked where she was going to sleep. Right on cue, the service brought in her crib on wheels. She was soooo excited. Here's a video of us getting ready to go swimming, not a great video, but to demonstrate some of her enthusiasm.

It was the first time she actually tried to swim and enjoyed the water. I think because there wasn't a ton of other kids splashing around. It was SO HOT. So we walked over to the Dairy Queen and got ice cream. Eden was ecstatic that her cone was dipped into a PINK/red flavor! So this was definitely the start of our vacation. Our first motel experience.

Travel Log 7.31.10

2010-07-31T12:29:00.000-07:00

Next batch of miles takes us off to Malad, Idaho. This was a LONG awaited event! Whenever I refer to 'my buddies' Micah always knows it's in reference to three friends I made in nursing school. Well, my buddies and I had a get together after 5 years! I've caught up with them individually now and then, but we were able to all convene at once. It brought back so many memories. These are rare friends I doubt the future of time will ever be able to duplicate. They reawakened parts of me. And five minutes after leaving them I missed them terribly again. We only had a few hours together, but it was perfect. Here's to show that some of the best things can hatch out of the hardest times!

Travel Log 7.26.210

2010-07-26T13:36:00.000-07:00

over 2,200 miles LATER......Let's start at mile 1 dating a few months back and in future days I'll show you other miles that were covered.

Destination: Salt Lake
Company: Nelson GIRLS
Occasion: remembering Grandma

Mom put us up in a hotel for a couple days in Salt Lake and we literally shopped til we dropped and then, we ATE! I don't think I've ever shopped that much AND enjoyed it! We were shopping for luxury, for fun, for laughing, and for escape. Grandma had given us all some inheritance money, so we had some burning in our pockets. I had previously purchased a flat screen, while my sisters went on a jewelry hunt. Notice my purchased 'jewelry'

The Food, Glorious Food.
It was fun to envision Grandma in good health keeping up with us. As we ate at a salad/soup buffet I particularly thought of her as it's the kind of place she always took me out to eat at. I'm sure she's the one who pointed us to that eatery! Mom had previously been to Spain and brought back some treasures with her. Here's a picture of all the girls in our scarves from Spain. We were feeling pretty prestigious.

Temple square was blooming beautifully. Just to show you one last picture.....

The weekends' episodes

2010-06-25T12:28:00.000-07:00

I was so very looking forward to summer. I imagined it with lounging lazy days, especially with Micah in the picture with no homework and fewer projects. However, it's coming to pass in a blurring alternate form. Micah is working extra hard (which is part my fault for quitting my job). He's seizing his freer moments to sharpen his trade skills and work on long desired projects. So working harder means we have to play harder! So I'll share some pictures with you of hard at play pictures!

Becky Tingey invited Eden and I up to her ranch while Micah was out one weekend. That weekend was like we were in the rain forest rather than dry Wyoming! Nonstop rain! But I loved it that way because I had little other choice than to stare out the window all day at the beautiful, green nothingness of the world. For the moment it let up raining, we went on a walk through the marshes towards the overflowed river. At one point, the cattle spooked us as they came jaunting straight at us. We hoped a fence and there they stood; a line back of cows! Slightly unnerving and comical. Can I pause for a moment and give a shout out to Becky, one of the greatest friends the world has to offer! She's moving this weekend and it makes me sad. I have a few other fun days to share too.....

Becky was teacher of the year at her school and generously shared some of her prizes with me. One was a pass to this sweeeeeeet water park. It was wicked fun. She also shared a gift card for a professional massage. During which we could change from nearly unconscious relaxation to giggles in two seconds.

We got out bikes all fixed up for the summer and have really been enjoying them. Our favorite excursions have been to Mavericks for their 99 cent ice cream cones, to bigger parks, and along the provo river trail. It also makes me happy that Micah is always willing to pull Eden along, otherwise they may not be so enjoyable.

Micah's absence gave us another excuse to get out of the house. A trip to Thanksgiving point was in order! We went to their animal farm which Eden loved! She was so excited to ride the pony she patiently waited in line for what felt like forever.
To see what Micah's doing you can check out his blog linked at the side of mine.

Eden post part Two

2010-06-14T12:31:00.000-07:00

Eden is starting to sound like a big girl. She is using more common words and phrases. It's cracking me up and I'm seeing my baby disappear more and more. I write this with the risk of sounding like an over zealous mother; but, let's face it, I AM!

Eden's funny encountered scenarios:
--While cleaning the bathroom, I proceeded to wash the mirror and was quickly informed by Eden "That's MMMMMMy job!"
--She was chewing on a piece of ginger-yeah like ginger root. It was slightly candied but still a very strong flavor I didn't think she'd like. I found her chomping on a piece and keep trying to convince her it wasn't very tasty and she could spit it out if she wanted. she'd had enough and ended the debate with a finalized "I like it, OKAY?"
--I'd purchased some cheese bagels for lunch one day as a special indulging treat. Excited to have Eden taste one. She kept eating around the cheesy parts. When I asked her why, if she didn't like it, she answered, "They're yucky scabs".
--Eden and I were chatting about how Poppy was going to be comming in a few days and Aunt Michelle was going to be leaving. She excitedly asked, "Grammy comming too?" "No, not this time, just Poppy." Eden ponders for a moment and then shouts "Santa's comming too!" uuuuuuh, "No, Santa doesn't come until there's lots of snow outside". The next week it snowed.
--At the breakfast table, Michelle and I were explaining how we were sisters and who our parents are etc. It totally clicked for her. She said, "I want a sister too Mom." hehe. Then as Michelle was heading out the door Eden announced, "Moooooommmmm, your sister is leaving for schoooool"
--Michelle was slicing and dicing like the wind and Eden comments, "Wow, look at you go!" Then at the dinner table, "mmmmm, ya it's pretty tasty Michelle'.
--While playing inside, we hear the garbage truck going past. Eden's comment is, "It's taking away my POOPY DIAPERs"!
--During my birthday Micah says to Eden "I need to get a present for Mommy, do you want to come in the car with me to get it?" Eden's face lights up. "Is it a fruit snack?!" He chuckles and says no. Then she thinks a second more and shouts "Is it a DOLLY?!"
--She's memorized her first book! It's 'Brown Bear, Brown Bear' by Eric Carl

Eden's Photo shoot

2010-06-10T13:24:00.000-07:00

Micah has borrowed Michelle's camera for practice his 'cinematography'. He's taken some great pictures so I wanted to share. He takes them of other children too and gives them to their families. I thought that was awfully nice.

I cut my hair off and I quit my job; not necessarily in that order.

2010-06-01T19:18:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure what to say about either occurrence. SO I'll leave the title as the update. I don't think I want to post a picture. All is well!

depressing or exciting?

2010-05-25T12:00:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we got snow. Eden and I made a snowman in the end of May. How often does that happen, so cool right? But, also really so not cool. The trees and growing life really didn't like it. The biggest, oldest trees had massive limbs snapped off. Scariness.

p.s. Today is very pleasant

Alphabet Days

2010-05-17T12:39:00.000-07:00

With my fellow neighborhood mothers we've been meeting together once a week to chat, play, and teach. We've been learning about the letters of the alphabet. I thought I'd post about this because I love it when other people do. After browsing I can be a more creative and fun mother. It helps break up routine for me. So I thought I'd just show you what we've done for each letter so far!

A: Made Ants out of egg cartons and pipe cleaners. The ants went on an adventure trying to find the picnic blanket. But they got lost and yelled "aaaaaaaaah!" Finally they found it and waiting for them were apples and 'ants on a log' treats. Then with their ants the marched to the song "The Ants Go Marching" I think this was Eden's favorite because now whenever she sees an 'A' she YELLS AAAAAAAAAh!

B: We celebrated birthdays by making party hats and blowing up balloons. We ate Bananas and made butterflies. To make the butterfly use a toilet paper rolls or something of the like and glue 2 cut out B's for the wings.

C: we glued cotton balls into the shape of a C. We played 'poor poor pussy cat' and pretended to be cats. We read a book called "Cookies Week" by Cindy Ward while eating cookies. We noticed that if you take a bite out of the cookie it can look like a C. And of course we watched Cookie Monster sing 'C is for cookie' on you tube.

D: I have a djembe drum that the kids loved to bang on. We sang "I'm so glad when Daddy comes home" while hitting the drum and then colored a picture for him. Then we went digging in the sand looking for anything that started with a D. I had previously hid some toys such as dolls, dinosaurs, dolphin....Then we had drinks with the letter D written on the cup.

E: We made elephants out of a paper plate for the head and stapled ears on the sides. Then you cut a hole in the plate for your arm to become the trunk. Then we ate imitation elephant ears; tortilla, butter, and cinnamon sugar. This was my favorite to watch the kids run around pretending to be elephants and trying to make elephant sounds.

F: The theme here was flying. We played football and spun a few other flying toys. We learned about fireflies and read "Sesame Street Pet show" although there would be much better firefly books out there probably. We ate Frosted Flakes. We colored pictures of fireflies, taped them to some string, and ran around with them to make the fly.

G: We made Giraffe puppets with paper bags (which became Eden's new purse). Watched Super Grover on youtube because he has a G on his chest. And pretended to be Gorillas banging our chests yelling "GAAAAAAAAAH".

Lifestyle Lessons with Michelle!

2010-05-05T12:42:00.000-07:00

As previously mentioned, Michelle is living with the Browns for Spring Term. Why her conscious mind would I agree to this arrangement, I'm not sure, but it makes ME happy. Preface: I'm going to make an assumption and say that there are some people out there like me-tell me your thoughts-That after being married for a little while a new YOU sprouts. Some hobbies get dropped; maybe because it doesn't interest your spouse or takes up too much time you want to be spending with them. Some new hobbies develop; like learning what an 'f-stop' is or how to frame a shot, hobbies your spouse wants to share. Some bad habits disappear like snapping your gum as you can clearly see it annoys your spouse. While some unwanted habits appear, like...maybe..not making the bed because it's your spouse's turn. You laugh at different things, make different jokes. You can turn a little softer, or you could turn a little less considerate. That's been my experience anyways and you get the idea. Since Michelle has come to live with me for a while, I'm seeing where I've drifted here and sprouted there. I'm also seeing some places I'd like to plant more seeds! Let me tutor you:
Lesson One. Brush your teeth. Become used to that squeaky clean feeling that runs across your teeth as you inhale through your mouth. So much, that it bothers you after you eat to let that sensation cease.
Lesson Two. Water, glorious water. Drink copious amounts. Particularly in BPA free containers.
Lesson Three. A clean sink is a happy kitchen. Do your dishes right after dirtying them! Saves time and the overwhelming headache that come from clutter. Just pick up after yourself.
Lesson Four. Drop the Doughnut! Eating healthy starts at the grocery store, don't even let that candy tempt me, it's not worth my money. And at home, find the inner qi to just say no!
Lesson Five. Exercise love company. Yesterday I made it to the top of the temple's hill while jogging with Michelle *pause* without stopping.
Lesson Six. Be nice. Leave a note, call that friend, go to that activity, share a meal, make someone laugh, don't let that problem or homework stump you, don't worry.
Lesson Seven. Take time for pondering free of distraction.
Now don't you all wish you had a Michelle to live with!

Days with Crystal

2010-04-25T14:51:00.000-07:00

Crystal is one of Eden's best friends. We used to babysit her about four days a week for the last six months. But Fernanda, her mom, quit work-hooray for her. Not so happy for Eden, she wakes up from her naps yelling "Cryyyyyyystal!" They have truly become sisters, cat fights and all! Here have been some of their adventures...

Easter Etc.

2010-04-20T13:03:00.000-07:00

Eden had three Easters this year! Sometimes I overlook the holidays and forget to teach her or start traditions, but not this one. Firstly, our ward put one on. Then only I was home Saturday so with Michelle we entreated Eden to another celebration. But only Micah was home Sunday, and he wanted to celebrate with her toooooo. And just so you don't think we are pagan with all the egg hunts, we discussed many times Jesus' love and resurrection.

I also wanted to share a couple of my favorite parts of conference. I didn't catch alot since I worked one day, and watched a two year old the other, but here's what I liked.
Brother McMullin talked about how things can get better and better even in the face of tragedy.
Brother W.W. Anderson also says Our happiness is not dependent on our circumstances, we don't have to be products of circumstances. Between our work and Jesus's atonement we can be happy. "The difference between the devils and the faithful members of this Church is not belief but work"
Elder Christofferson shared many of the blessings of the scriptures. "I suppose that never in history has a people been blessed with such a quantity of holy writ." And has no other time had such the need for them.

Viva BBQ

2010-04-20T12:56:00.000-07:00

So at this previously mentioned yard sale, we took our neighbor's barbecuing grill. I can sincerely say, it's been one of the best investments of my life. WHY hadn't I done it earlier? Micah has been scheming new ways of BBQing for the last week. I told him I felt bad I hadn't cooked in so long. His reply "don't worry about it, I'm having fun, I think it's my new hobby" Our neighbors tease us since we smoke them out every night. Eden runs around like a banshee all evening (barefoot is her new style) while we cook, eat, and talk to friends. We are already out of marshmallows. If any one has a BBQ recipe they love, send it our way to us beginners.

The best day

2010-04-20T12:34:00.000-07:00

The last couple months have been spring cleaning and mucking out months. When all of your neighbors have the same house, you can drastically see how and where yours can be improved! Thus I have some good motivations. Another exciting reason for my undertaking is to make room for my sister coming to live with me for a few weeks during spring term!
My neighbor friend, Libby, took pity on me and we ventured to Ikea during priesthood conference. She gave me great tips for improvements, and places to add colors. I came home with a new valance which I'm loving. It's colors remind me of a teacher I had in high school, Jane Payne, so it makes me happy, as she is a happy person.
So all this extra 'stuff' I've been gleaning in my apartment was finding a temporary home under my bed. Until even my bed seemed to be floating on all this clutter. Our fond neighbors, the Tingeys, planted an idea to do a joint yard sale. They are moving soon (moment of silence) and so were doing a massive spring cleaning too. So on the 10th that's what we did! It was way fun spending the morning with them. Micah and I decided that whatever money we make will go to partying that night! We made 50 smakeroos! Where to eat and play.....It started with Greek food. Then to Nickle City arcade where for the first time in my life I had more than 3 options of what to buy with my won tickets. Ice cream was in order, so cold stone was a must; but, we were too full so we were going to just stick it in the freezer. We stopped to get a movie first, Princess and the Frog, and played outside for a while. Micah put the ice cream outside so it wouldn't melt so much..and you can see where this is going, we drove over them :( The movie was still just as amazing without ice cream. Plus we had money left over that fed us pizza for three days! (blissful, not to have to cook). It was one of the best days of the year for me! So I wanted to share it with you, sorry no pictures.

Woe is Me

2010-04-15T12:27:00.000-07:00

My family is eating out of Tupperware. This afternoon I have have a death match with the kitchen, not sure who will win....Wish me luck

L.O.L.

2010-04-14T15:23:00.000-07:00

Eden and I were watching America's Funniest Videos yesterday and saw this clip! Either this boy will become a great impressionist or a politician. Hilarious and Astounding. You will have to copy and paste, as I couldn't figure out how to create the link

http://greatmindsthinklikemerainlillie.blogspot.com/2009/06/fun-friday-cute-little-boy-quotes.html

adventures

2010-04-05T13:25:00.001-07:00

Micah's been man of the hour lately, helping out on all his classmates' projects. And he brings home stories of adventures and pictures of opportunities. I feel like he's Zorro going off afar places wearing a mask I'm unfamiliar with. I never really see him with the mask on or am really sure all the places he disappears to; but he recounts adventures of lighting torches in caves, colliding cars, and chasing Zebras.

The weekend before last, Micah was free to play with us! So we made an occasion of it. We ate at the infamous "In and Out". However, neither of us were dropping our jaws over it. We rented our first blue-ray DVD; thanks to Micah's brother, Dan. It was a beautiful pictures. We watched 2012, a ridiculous movie, but perfect for what we wanted. We attended our Stake's annual International Night. We watched Brazilian artistic fighting, Mexican dancing, Russian singing, learned to weave Hawaiian leis, and my favorite listened to Korean drummers. We also went bowling! That was actually Eden's idea, I'd talked to her about it a few weeks earlier, that we could go as a family sometime. And then she spontaneously remembered. We had a blast. Eden really got into it to, carrying her own bowling ball, a mighty heave and then running away. She was anxious for her turn every moment, until she found the fan every bowling lane has. Then we shared an ice cream from the creamery.

Micah's borrowed Michelle's nice camera for practicing some technicques so here's a few pictures of our adventures.

Here's to you wheel barrow boy

2010-03-12T20:09:00.000-08:00

I think I used 50 napkins today. It was one of those days. Memo: Don't mix purchased play-do with the home-made kind=barf.

More Sister Fun!

2010-03-03T14:52:00.000-08:00

Michelle and I visited Rachel in Logan this last weekend. It was so great to just lay low, have girl talk, go shopping, and have Olympic enthusiasts in my company. Where else can you go and take a 2 hour nap and not feel guilty or cumbersome? Here's one moment we shared...(copy right Rachel Jeppson)

Alright, I'm a bit ticked off. I just watched Apolo race the 500m, and I for one thought he totally deserved the silver! Whatever and good riddance to the ref who disqualified him for touching Mr. Canada. Since when does a touch on the hip deserve a disqualification in short-track? So, Apolo, I know you'll never read this blog, but I'm saying, "Good Job and well done! You've shown great sportsmanship and you have torn the track up!"
I would just like to take a poll: all those who think Apolo deserved the silver, comment here!

It was also fun to watch Eden and Elsie play with each other. Both of their favorite games is hide and seek. I bet they enjoyed playing it together being on the same mind track-always hiding and looking in the same spots. They both tearfully endured nursery together. And it was particularly fun to watch them eat their ice cream cones together. The cutest mess you'll ever see. It was Eden's first cone; after a couple licks off the top the cone started to disappear. I guess eating an ice cream cone is a learned behavior.
Rachel also had a magic tone that convinced Eden to wear a clip in her hair. Since coming home, I've yet to be so magical.

2010-03-01T18:30:00.001-08:00

Jenn comes to visit!

2010-03-01T14:02:00.000-08:00

Jenn is my adopted sister. She lives in Colorado near Lanita. And although I try to avoid sounding like my mother...She's practically perfect in every way. From her I've learned how to celebrate turning 30, how to be a friend that becomes family, how to get beat in Wii Boxing, to salivate when I think of Magelby's fresh pancakes and syrup, to laugh until muscles I didn't know I had are sore, to love my kids and husband loyally, and vicariously learned the passion of a scotcheroos (sianara rice kripsees!) I've got some great pictures, but you'll have to wait for those I guess. Love ya Jenn!

Comments?

2010-02-24T12:33:00.002-08:00

I've had mixed feelings about this concept my entire life...

A person really can change the world if they care enough-Ralph waldo Emerson

The World? Come on, really? But there's a part of me that wants to say yes! Opinions?

2 items of business

2010-02-24T12:20:00.001-08:00

FIRST
I want to publish an apology....There have been no pictures! Technical difficulties. And what's a blog without picutres? I tell you it's a BLAAAAAHg! So bear with me as I try to apprehend an answer!

SECOND
My mother and father are inhabitants of Spain for the next two weeks! For the first time Micah's parents in Japan may be closer to us for a season. It's an odd feeling; being parentless on the continent. Of course we don't feel parent-less, that's not what I want to imply. It's just a different kind of independence. Last night I get a phone call early in the morning, I dunno around 2? I have a neighbor with a sick baby I told she could call me anytime. So I jumped out of bed, nervous for the news. But it was my MOM!!! 'Hi!' she says.
'Mom?' I croak.
"are you okay? you sound so tired! are you sick?"
"um, *clear throat* well, it's just in the middle of the night here"
"OH HOH! I FORGOT! I 'm so sorry, so so so sorry. I just got so excited! Oh dear, I'm so sorry!"
She was in a grocery store of something and came across Micah's favorite chocolate bar. The coveted MILKA BAR. And was so excited to share the news with us, she called us right then and there! Do you know the sound of a person's voice when they are really excited? Talking so fast and about 2 octaves higher than they normally talk. I've heard my mom be excited before. But this, this was like she was 30 years younger and had all the energy in the world! It was the best thing to wake up to. I really wish I could see her in Spain, living it up. But then, she'd be back in mother role, and I'd ruin the opportunity. So here's to my parents, living the life!
p.s. BYU's bookstore sells milka bars! It's the creamiest chocolate you'll ever eat.

novelties worn out

2010-02-22T19:44:00.000-08:00

You can tell what a person is made up of when the polish has worn off their shoes. Do they return them for new ones? Or do they use them until their socks shine through?
Eden has shown the capability for use for the bathroom for many moons. And so, for many moons, we've coaxed and encouraged and praised any incline she's had towards the toilet. It started of course with a little potty. How fun was that, a mini-grown up experience! It lasted about a day. Then came the Elmo panties. Oh boy did she want to wear those, for about a day. Maybe she likes the child sized adaptable toilet seat better. Did she ever! For a day. Dora panties, a day. Reese pieces, a day. Phone calls, a day. Yesterday it was a 'big treat' (animal cookies) if she went poop in the potty. Hooray! And as anticipated....We'll see in a few more months, where she stands, or sits.

So both shoe wearers, I've decided, have great personalities-head strong and decisive. It's just where they put their energy that it counts. I think it takes as much work to kick against the pricks, as it does to put your shoulder to the wheel.

FL'd

2010-02-16T12:34:00.000-08:00

My Valentine's day turned into valentines week, and I just wanted to announce that I'm FL'd. (When your heart is just full of love). I think this was the best valentines day I've ever had, and could ever have! Maybe it was I was putting more effort into it, but I decided I love Valentines day. A day you can say I love you to anyone, and they won't look at you funny or wonder what's brought this on. It started with my door being attacked by kind notes written on hearts! Then I had a 'secret sister' drop cupcakes off at my door. Eden, Micah, and I, dropped off a few valentines to friends. And Eden thought was way too fun with exclamations of 'more van-times!' Micah surprised me by taking me to Thai food, then to walmart to buy a treat that we'd eat at a bed in breakfast. Michelle watched Eden that night, and I felt so spoiled. I was at work on Valentines day, and that was nice for me. I've come to really love the people at the nursing home, and was happy to tell them so. It was fun to go in their room and wake them up whispering 'happy valentines day'. I got so many smiles that morning (as opposed to the grimace they often give as they see the cup of pills I hold in my hand and a wincing smile on my face). Then my visiting teacher, probably the best in the world, surprised me coming to my work with a plate of cookies! THEN when I came home, another friend who is a great baker, had brought over the biggest valentine cookie you'll ever see. I hope I can pass on all the love I've been given! And to whoever is reading this blog, I love you too!
I'm looking for the camera that will show pictures of our festivities. So stay tuned.

Hello McFLY

2010-02-16T12:11:00.000-08:00

I've hit the time when I need to be more pro-active in my parenting. Eden isn't so fond of playing with play do all day, or taking the same walks every time, or even eating the same lunch frequently. Eden is needing more creative activities. Her mind is learning faster, and she's picking up most anything I give her or teach her. This dawned on me particularly during the holidays. I forget to acknowledge to Eden that they are approaching or what some of the traditions are. My friend Suzy showed Eden how to trace her hand into a turkey. My friend Jen talked to her about groundhogs day and that they are 'afraid' of their shadows. My other friend Jen reminded me that she was doing valentines cookies with her kids and giving them to her neighbors. So I'd like to announce, I'm branching out! Eden now helps put the groceries in the cart instead of straddling her in the cart. She can peel her own stickers off the paper. She has an apron the help cook in the kitchen and can put her own plate on the counter. In our Family nights we teach gospel stories and principles that she's familiarizing herself with.
Thank goodness for friends and neighbors that tutor me and are great examples to me! Not to mention older sisters and a Mommy! Wish me luck as I try to keep up with my 2 year old!

Noteworhty

2010-01-27T13:52:00.000-08:00

I've decided that Micah has some of the coolest homework assignments EVER! His assignments help foster creativity, set goals and visions, heighten ambition and confidence, and conjure alternative ways of doing things. I don't want you to think it's ALL a walk in the woods for him, it is college; but, I love some of the homework he's assigned. One of them was to create a list of significant medias. Not wanting to feel left out, I did it to! I hope you don't mind me sharing, and I hope you may want to share too!
Significant media-not necessarily favorites, but significant

BOOKS
1) Chronicles of Narnia-helped me feel something when I was feeling little
2) The Great Brain books-started me reading
3) The Giver-one of the few that I remember the entire book
4) Harry Potter-who could ever put that one down?
5) Redwalls-the first 6, then they got repetitiously redundant. It started my love of
fantasy
6) Eragon 1 and 2-the first books Micah and I read together
7) Jayne Eyre-I actually enjoyed the minuet details in this one
8) The Hot Zone-My first queezy intense book!

Music
1) Les Meserables-spent many a days acting and singing with my sisters
2) Billy Joel-my inspiration while I played soccer
3) Newsie soundtrack-If you can resist singing while this is playing, I'd like to meet you.
4) Josh Groban-has rocked me to sleep many a nights
5) Celine Dion-has kept me awake a many days while driving
6) Frank Sinatra-he fits any mood you may feel, big band in general is great for weekends.
7) David Archuleta-I wouldn't ever choose to take the cd out of my car, but Micah actually does get tired of it.

TV shows
1) Kids say the darnedest Things-Entertained by kids for an hour? Heck yes!
2) Quantum Leap-”Oh Boy”
3) Sabrina-when TGIF used to be good on ABC
4) Growing Pains-my welcome home show while eating Mom's cookie
5) Lost-a new found passion, I've got 6 seasons to catch up on!
6) Stargate SG1-replaced our TGIF tradition!
7) Pushing Daises-the narrator cracks me up!

MOVIES
1) Enchanted-a movies gotta be good when you feel like singing and dancing when it's over
2) Pride and Prejudice-The new one, how they ever condensed 6 hours without making me feel like I've missed anything is a mystery to me.
3) Sound of Music-pretty much anything with Julie Andrews in it, but I hear Toothfairy was a flop.
4) Corrina Corrina-so it didn't make the 'classics' list, but it does a great job sucking you into their world, but not toooo much.
5) Chronicles of Narnia, because it was a favorite book-and they made it JUST as I had imagined!
6) Jurassic Park-The first scarey movie I have recollection of being truly scared in...I remember being scared in coma but, I haven't seen that in over a decade
7) Mulan-This was a frequent Sunday movie for Michelle and I, for while we scrap booked.

We have a TWO year old!

2010-01-21T11:22:00.000-08:00

After a day of little fingers itching to open presents and a mouth drooling over the cake and more particularly, the FrostinG, Eden's birthday arrived. She was on hyper-active-hyper-drive all evening. Thanks to everyone that wished her a happy birthday, she BEAMED whenever she heard those words-and still frequently says them to herself: 'happy-biday Ede'. We were going to take her to the bouncy cages, but the day just ran out of time. We'll still make it up to her, but thankfully she has little concept of time as of now. New achievements of my two-year-old daughter are that she's used the potty a couple of times-willingly, chatters incessantly, is loving to sing and dance again, knows a handful of shapes and colors, is back to giving hugs-abundantly, is able to make simple choices, and knows every availbale word to discribe something 'gross', yucky, disgusting, eeeewy, or stinky. I'll cross my fingers as I say this, but I have a delightful 2 year old, here's to hopeful thinking!

play-doh from the TingeysOur party! Cathy Hopkinson, Michelle, Troy and Becky Tingey

Gloves from Japan Grandma/pa, that FIT! They are adorably small.

Her 'dolly house' which is sometimes an animal shelter, or auto museum, ....

Messy Hands

2010-01-14T11:45:00.001-08:00

I learned a lesson taught two different ways yesterday. Teacher: Eden. Student: Becky. Subject: life gets messy.

Life gets messy,

yup, with some frequency,
But there are two kinds of messy,
never confuse them or life gets testy....
There's one to laugh through:
when you're finger painting and every inch of the room turns blue
Life throws you a curve ball
you swing and you fall
you chuckle and wince
and are just glad you didn't split your pants...
Then there's the one to cry through
that you'll never repeat again without further ado
It's when you go digging for crap (yes as in-in a diaper)
and it's not just a mishap

It's only funny when life splashes us messy
But not when we go looking for the debris

Favorite Christmas Video

2010-01-13T20:44:00.000-08:00

Watch and listen carefully. When she can't get it in. It is her new phrase.

passage of time

2010-01-12T13:04:00.000-08:00

I have deliberated on whether or not I should coerce you into enduring a catch-up of the months OR pick up from today like we're old friends who speak to each other every day. I've decided on the later. So, my quaint friend, let's reminisce....remember the fun we had at Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New years?! Those were certainly good times! We chuckled over Eden not letting go of her candy bag until there were marks in her hands, we made the best of a cold thanksgiving, we reveled in sleeping in on Christmas morning-probably for the last year, and started a movie at midnight on new years? And tomorrow is Eden's birthday. Wow. We'll be celebrating it on Saturday. I'll see you then!

Shout Out

2009-11-03T13:38:00.000-08:00

Here's to you Dunford Doughnut
May your succulence smother all cravings for chocolate
May your frosting keep it's initial crisp crust then melt in your mouth luxury
And may all who see you feel the boil of lust and envy

Big girls don't cry

2009-10-21T10:50:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I returned from kicking it with my older sister, Lanita, in Denver Colorado. I learned a lesson from her three boys. Chase, 3, has learned to whistle and use the toilet. Seth, 6, can tie his own shoes and has many wrestling spoils. Abram, 8, is learning the ways of a meteorologist: he can tell me how to read weather maps and how to predict weather through specific fronts. In each scenario bragging rights were held high, and optimism and energy expelled from my nephews with their new accomplishments. I too was excited to share in their achievements.
So I looked back on the last few weeks/months, and wondered why I hadn't been feeling the same zest and zeal as my nephews. I feel like the Dr. Suess book: oh the places you'll go.
Firstly, we went on a vacation over labor Day weekend. Our great friends, the Tingeys, invited us to their ranch near Evanston Wyoming.
Secondly, I worked full time for two weeks. I recognize that most of the world's population does this and more every week. For me, it's noteworthy.
Thirdly, apple session descended and I did my traditional drying of apples and tried for my first time canning apple pie filling (thanks to my sister Rachel)
Fourthly, I tried my hand in a test run of making grape juice (thanks to my neighbor Suzy).
Fifthly, Micah turned 25!!
Sixthly, my terrific sister-in-laws Ariel and Autumn came over conference weekend. We went to Salt Lake, we hiked the Y, went to the movies, and ate yummy yummies!
Seventhly (is that a word?), my grandmother was issued from this life. I journeyed to Idaho Falls for remembrances and a great big Taylor/Rydalch family party.
Eightly (has anyone gone this high on 'ly's'?), and as previously mentioned, I partyed at Lanita's. Micah left to party in Texas at a movie shoot, so I treked to Colorado for some of my own fun (thanks Lanita and Micah).
SOOOOOO. Those were all long stories made very short. And to save you from boredome I shan't delve into specifics. I'll post pictures, isn't one worth a thousand words anyways?
At the risk of sounding cliche, I'll tie this into my previous thought....I'd been reviewing how busy I've felt the last two months. (inserted disclaimer: I do believe in being "too busy".) It got me tired. Then I thought a more child-like approach would benefit me. Look at what I can do! I should be feeling powerful and on top of the world. So as I look into the next couple weeks, which don't appear promising in the slowing down business, I'd rather take Chase's perspective. In his words "I no baby, I big girl". In the last 24 hours, it's been rather refreshing to clap my hands insted of wringing them.
Becky and Troy Tingey: the excurtion on the new atv!
Sister-Sister in Idaho Falls
Grandma's pink casket!-pictured behind, Adam, Tom Jr, Eric

The top of the 'Y'Autumn too close to the edge!
Salt Lake with Autumn and Ariel-nice smizing gals!

Micah's B-day.

Braving my world into canning, one can at a time!
Great time and Great food with the Bells!

And what's a photo real without Eden! Her first fingerpainting. It was all she wanted to do for a couple of days.

Daddy Daughter Weekend

2009-10-11T11:30:00.000-07:00

Becky's grandmother passed away last Tuesday and so this weekend she went to the funeral in Idaho Falls leaving me with homework and watching little Eden. I first I thought it would be a burden and wasn't really looking forward to watching her by myself all weekend but it turned out to be way fun. She was very well behaved and we had tons of fun together. Her favorite time was singing time which was basiclly all the time. Well at least most of the time. She watches the monkey jumping on the bed little video on Youtube a lot and yesterday I started singing it and she joined in with the words. It was way cute. I first I thought becky had taught her but when she got home I found that little Eden had never sang the words before. So we sang other songs too; like the snowman song, popcorn, pady cake, and head shoulders knees and toes. I was even able to get some footage. So enjoy.

Make Believe

2009-08-29T12:37:00.000-07:00

My heart goes out to you mother. I get to live 5 minuets from Michelle, 2.5 hours from Rachel, and 8 hours from Lanita. Where as you are 10, 12, and 17.5 hours away. But then again, you could be living an alternate life style and we'd never know it! So that got me thinking, what is my mother REALLY doing these days? If I were you I imagine myself spending my days at in the country riding horses, drinking milkshakes and swimming; or in the Puget Sound walking the piers, learning to sail ship, and catching swordfish; or, maybe the mysterious route of private investigating, anonymous cop and newspaper tipper, practicing stealth and defense techniques.
So really, this blog is to update the mundane routineness of my life. There are three noteworthy topics to mention. Firstly, Micah starts school Monday. This is good, because now I'll have a car parts of the day; however, obviously no one is partial to the load of homework. Secondly, we are down more nurses at work, this means an increased work load for me as well. Now, best for last, as hinted at, MICHELLE LIVES IN PROVO! This totally rocks my world. I've gotten to spend alot of time with her the last few days, a pattern I don't expect to continue with school approaching. She's been a sport to put up with me supplicating her attention.
p.s. what's a post without pictures?! Eden watching some goats at an animal farm

Trickery

2009-08-16T08:49:00.000-07:00

Eden has begun a world of fakes. She's found a fake laugh that she uses at times of, 'oh, everyone else is laughing, I should too' or 'don't you think I'm funny?'. She uses fake pain as a method of attention and avoiding undesired events like buckling into a car seat or diaper changes by saying 'owie owie owie owie'. She fakes me out to pretend that she's going to give me something, hug, bite of food, etc. But my favorite is her fake smile, particularly for the camera....
Her eyes always go squinty (I wonder where she picked up that one?!) and the corners of her mouth pull down rather than up. It's my favorite now, but if it lasts as long as my nephew Seth, who's pictures run along the lines of Calvin and Hobbes, she may never grow out of it.
p.s. her adorable PJ's are from Micah's mom who's in Japan on a mission.

Happy 3rd Anniversary (yesterday)!

2009-08-13T08:57:00.000-07:00

I'll save all the sap and just say to every female out there, THIS ONE'S MINE! Thanks for all the love Micah.

Day in the Life of....

2009-08-10T12:55:00.000-07:00

A few of my favorite things

2009-08-04T07:13:00.000-07:00

I appreciate when the construction outside my window begins at 6:30 and sounds like they are tearing down the wall of my home; because I have very little temptation to linger in bed doze the day away.

I appreciate when I'm given a notice to purge my apartment of it's belongings and vacate myself for the day so new carpet can be put in (which has a haunting likeness to the old carpet) and enjoy the smell of glue for a week afterwards; because when else do you get to scream around your home's shell playing the game 'echo'?!

I appreciate when my daughter decides she's too good for bread crust, because now I get to cut it off and turn her sandwiches into fun shapes.

I appreciate having a hard time saying no, because then I get to host book shows where I end up buying too many beautiful books.

Celebrate good times!

2009-07-22T11:28:00.000-07:00

If I had to pick a favorite month, it would be December or July. But since it's presently July, I've gotta say it's tops! How can you go wrong with BBQ's, family reunions, dripping fresh watermellon and peaches, parades, neighbors outside chilling together, no school, celebrating freedom, and ice cream in all its creamy chill fashions-cones, shakes, sundaes....
Provo goes all out celebrating our independence. They call it 'freedom days' and it lasts for two months. The last week they go out with a bang! I'd never been to a parade that had those ginormous balloons before, so that was memorable for me. Down town there were giant blow up sets to jump on, a dozen kid crafts, face painting, performers, vendors, reenacted sets of colonial days (even though they were all texting on their cells phones), military men...But my favorite was the hot air balloon festival. And of course we did our own amazing fireworks show-pops and sparklers!

Last week was our Nelson family reunion at my Uncle Karl's cattle ranch near Idaho Falls. Sadly, we don't have any pictures because we had too much fun with the video camera. So I'm counting on my family to produce and post so I can steal!!! cha cha cha guys. I won't bore everyone with my thrills and being with my family; except to say they are the best. They are the most fun people: who else can make glow sticks entertain for hours and marshmellow guns so provoking while sitting only few feet away from each other. Eden continues to asks for her Chase and Poppy.

Last weekend our primary had an activity. A very simple pioneer reenactment starting in Navoo and ending in Salt Lake. I pretended to be Agnes Hogan, my 3x-great grandmother. It was a great experience for me to learn about her, and then share it in such a personal manner. They traveled from Scotland, and her husband's (Walter) life ended in Salt Lake as he was quarring rock for the temple. What a heritage! On a lighter note, there's a gal in our ward who has a little cake business, her blog is linked on mine as "crystals custom cakes". Anyways, she has amazing talent at amazing prices. She made this for our activity, it was amazing. Eden has turned 18 months, so she was able to go to the activity too! Her 1st week of nursery at church went great. She's been such a trooper as we've run her ragged.

Eden Post

2009-06-23T11:40:00.000-07:00

Eden has a few consistent quirks that I wanted to share because they make me laugh

a) she loves to put things down her shirt
Dominoes are probably her favorite, but anything is free game. I'm grateful, however, she's yet to discover food as an option. Other common objects include bark and small toys.

B) Collecting objects in a specific area will entertain her for a long time. Here's a picture for clarification.
All the kitchen utensils found themselves on our deck. Another time all the crayons were put in her crib, toys onto a chair, or books onto the bed.

C) And this isn't a quirk but it's on the list anyways. She has a doll that she's began caring for. It mostly gets the cares that I give Eden. When it's time to put on shoes, the doll gets them too. Diaper changes, bottles, reading books, certain toys, and eating time, are all shared with Dolly.
She has a doll Elmo that is a substitute for 'Dolly' sometimes. I particularly enjoy this since it eliminates tears or running away that nearly always accompany diapering and clothes changes.

Addictions

2009-06-19T11:17:00.000-07:00

I love my sister-in-laws. This story begins with Ariel. I particularly love to hear Ariel's theories and ideas. She shared one of them with Micah, and planted an idea for him. It was, if you have a genetic propensity to alcoholism and don't indulge it, it will manifest itself in a passion/dependence for sugar. I've some family history of alcoholism, but Micah has more. But, no we don't drink alcoholic beverages. And yes, sugar is in abundance in our home. Probably in America, sugar is in abundance in most homes, but for those of you who know Micah very well, know that the more refined the sugar is the more he likes it. Bring on the Nerds, Jelly Beans, Tafy, Candy Corn, and Mike n' Ikes. When Micah heard Ariel's purposal, he didn't like the idea of having an "addiction". He suggested that for a month we don't spend any money on sweets and have a sugar-fast for one week. I was excitied about the idea since I wasn't alone in my desire to be more healthy conscious. I'm proud to announce, we had a successful week. And a week later, to the hour, was when we celebrated with peanut butter cookies! We continue our attempts of bringing/cooking less sweets into our house, and this second week has been a little more difficult. We've been finding ways around it. Such as.....
Chocolate pancakes! And sweet breads like pumpkin and almond poppyseed! So call us hopeless or inventive, but it makes us feel better.

Watch Out

2009-06-10T12:45:00.000-07:00

Do you ever get those glimpses in life where you think, 'Woah-Wa!, am I really married with a baby' or 'am I really self-subsistent, self-dependent, and in charge of big things...can I really make every day small decisions for myself that sum up my existence?!' I get that fleeting feeling occassionally, such as in this moment, and quickly shake my head and get on my way. It's a similar feeling of that when your brain thinks about the eternity of time, better left untouched. So here's some pictures of my unbelievable life!~

We met Micah at school with a picnic to feed the ducks. I think Eden would have rathered to fed her whole lunch to the ducks than eat it herself.
We had Eden in these shorts and blue shirt and all day she was called a boy (a common occurence her whole life, it's not a big deal any more). So we put this tiara on her to clarify, she suprisingly kept it on for a while!
We went to the Logan area to visit Micah's extended family, the Kowallis'. This is Lynn and Tami, it was their wedding reception that we came for. It was fun for me to get more glimpses into life as a Brown. We spent the night at Rachel's. Eden and Elsie did okay together, no big problems or tears (except over blankets), even with a cast added to the equation. We also visited Logan's community zoo. It was mostly full of birds, which happens to be Eden's favorite. In the picture she is signing bird and trying to say it, she went crazy! And on a last side note, Pelicans are GINORMOUS!

It's my party

2009-05-30T19:16:00.000-07:00

Oh, lots of fun things to tell with too few pictures to share! My parents and Michelle came in for a day and a half last weekend. I was super excited to see them. Michelle flew in from Paris to Salt Lake and my folks picked her up there to take her home to Washington. But I didn't know it was possible to be so spoiled in so short of time! We went out to eat, Michelle brought me back a simple surprise from Europe, we went swimming, and Mom and Dad bought us some sweeeet sweets. It was rejuvenating to see them.

Friday was my birthday. Micah didn't have classes and didn't go into work so the three of us spent a fabulous day together!!! He's kept the house clean practically all by himself for 3 consecutive days for me. Friday morning Micah decorated the apartment with streamers, I had delicious muffins for breakfast, we went shopping for some new capris (thanks Mom), had free cold stone ice cream for lunch, went indoor rock climbing (which I already want to go again and again), had pizza for dinner and shared grasshopper pie with our neighbors (layered oreos, mint ice cream, fudge and cool whip). We had a baby sitter for while we were rock climbing and she refused payment with a "happy birthday", thanks Emily! Eden was really good at finding A.B.C. gum at cold stone AND the pizza place. She'd point at it and say "hmmmmm". It was difficult to convince her it was 'yuckies'.

Micah gave me this video for my birthday. It's been a tradition that I sing and dance for him on his birthday, so this is what he came up with. I love it! But funny thing is, he's horrible at keeping secrets and gave it to me quite a bit earlier than May 29th. He was embarrassed for me to post it, but he's a champ to let me anyways.

Thanks to everyone for calling me, especially my parents-in-law in Japan. It made me feel really special hearing all your renditions of happy birthday!

Our computer has been out of commission for a couple of weeks, more pictures will come sooner than later.

Friday is my favorite day

2009-05-18T12:19:00.000-07:00

A whole lot of exciting nothings have blessed my week. In case you were wondering.....

Micah and I made a real honest to goodness cheesecake, swirled in chocolate. Amazing how the kitchen can be fun with company!
Eden and I painted our toenails together. Yes, this daughter of mine is going to completely feminize me someday. She loved it and kept saying "polish?" and "more?" As soon as I painted it on, her little fingers wiped it right off, but I think you could actually tell they are painted still.
I worked on Sunday, and my day was full of grumpy patients and less ambitious assistance. It was kind of tiring. I came home late but to a welcomed surprise. Micah had set up a table on the deck with my favorite red checkered table cloth with yummy food. He even somehow managed to keep Eden out of the food and strawberries.
We got a sitter for Eden and went out to the movies. We watched Star Trek. Pretty much it was amazing. It was nice to dress up, meander with Micah, enjoy a phenomenal movie, and admire my husband.
Over the last three nights we watched Sister Act, I love that movie!
Saturday was a perfect day because we had nowhere we needed to be on our docket, don't know when the last time that was! We ended up going to Maceys where some veterans had conglomerated and we celebrated Armed Forces Day with them. I especially enjoyed talking with the nurse. She didn't have much training, and I just thought about how intimidating it would be. Certainly, war is beyond intimidating, her situation just hit home with me a little more. We gave her a thank you card and Eden drew her a colored page. Then we played kickball in our courtyard with our neighbor friend and kids. Funny, but that was probably my favorite part of the week.

And lastly and totally unrelated to anything. My dad showed me this, and I thought it was absolutely hilarious, so for your viewing pleasure, follow this link if you'd like....

Everythings Amazing and Nobody's Happy

Bodies

2009-05-12T11:34:00.000-07:00

Mother's day was perfect for me. I worked twice this week; and just over the last couple weeks, and days in particular, the house's condition has deteriorated. On Saturday Micah refurbished it! He had a whole lot of homework and rugby work to do, so I'm not sure how he accomplished this feat. Nevertheless, I enjoyed a relaxing Mother's Day. Even Eden seemed to be extra obedient and smiley.
I hadn't been to work for a couple of weeks and was surprised to notice a few rooms empty. About once a month, I'd say, someone passes on. But this startled me since I wasn't there and active in their care. Life and Death go on without me. On the rehabilitation side, a specific patient was admitted yet once again. Sad for her, yes; but, I was glad to see her. She is so amazing to me. I hope that if/when I become sick I can follow her example. Let me preface this just by saying that her own physical/emotional health aren't ideal and has her own family troubles. There are 3 things I admire about her. 1) Everyday, she gets out of her room 2)Everyday she talks to some other patient 3)Frequently she finds some other way to serve another patient/nurse besides already conversing with them. I.e. once she anonymously made a blanket for another patient (which I think I've mentioned in a past post), made small talk with a patient with dementia, and another time she picked up some bubble gum for another patient which became the highlight of this other's week. I hope that when I'm that down, I still think of others. I specifically admire this after watching Elder Bednar's CES fireside linked here. He partly talked about how we should be using our God-given bodies to be with people rather than being acted upon by media of the world. Most of the residents watch TV all day. I also want to say that I do not judge them, because I've not been in their shoes, and I have my own sick days when I watch plenty of television. It just got me thinking. I am just so grateful for my body, and others who use theirs to serve me.
On a random side note....We made this snowman about 3 weeks ago and wanted to document it. A 6 foot snowman in April! The weather is terrific now I might add. And pictured with us are our neighbors Troy and Becky Tingy, we wish they could be our neighbors forever!

Out and About

2009-05-05T11:34:00.000-07:00

This weekend I found myself in Logan with my sister Rachel! Micah followed BYU's rugby team to California for nationals and they inconveniently dropped Eden and I off in Logan. I was very grateful to the passengers for the sacrifice. Unfortunately Eden was sick the whole time with a fever and croup. She stuck to my hip nearly the entire time. I felt bad too, because then I wasn't much of a help around the house. We mostly relaxed. Rachel and I had fun jamming out to some folk music, experiencing their new ward, going to a baptism, and keeping up with kids and friends. A preface to the pictures, Eden was very wary of Elsie and whenever she'd come within 3 feet of her, she's cry or run away. So anytime Eden pulled it together to play near her was a kodak moment. Elsie was a doll though, sharing and happy towards Eden.
Sorry so short, and sideways, but I thought it depicted their relationship pretty well

And P.S. BYU won the nationals for the first time! Micah is making a highlight video.

a scimmer...

2009-04-27T11:40:00.000-07:00

Eden really enjoys Sesame Street, particularly "Elmo's World", as I'm sure many other toddlers of America do. I find his voice a little grating and don't like how he always refers to himself in 3rd person, but Eden enjoys it and there is some grown-up comedy in there to keep me happy too. I recently found a picture of the voice of elmo and it totally caught me off guard. I was not expecting a macho man....
We've been having a difficult time getting Eden to not cry during praying times. So we've come up with the "prayer pig". Just a stuffed animal that she only gets to hold while it's time to pray, and no it doesn't come to church. So now, the tears are mostly gone, and she mostly holds still...but I think the pig will have to leave soon, because she just wants to play with it rather than fold her arms. We did some spring cleaning this weekend, hoping to clear the place of the stale air that's been sitting all winter. Conveniently, it was also graduation weekend. That means people were trying to pawn stuff off. So we got a new couch AND entertainment center. We found a dime in the couch so we were paid to take it, and the TV stand was only 5 dollars, what a timely blessing! We posted our couch on craig's list for free, and not 60 seconds had passed when we had the first phone call. The next night it was taken away and the recipients gave us a thank you card and brownies, can you believe that! Thoughtful people. In most scenarios I would've been wary of the food but, it was delicious and we've suffered no side effects! We had a moment of silence for the lost couch, it was high in sentimental value. We enjoy the extra space the reclining love seat gives us though.

Pictures

2009-04-21T08:44:00.000-07:00

This last weekend Micah flew to Georgia to continue filming BYU's Rugby team; so, I was left a lone woman. Eden and I had girls' night! I rented Twilight, and we went to play on McDonnald's toy playground, and took advantage of the fabulous weather playing soccer outside! We went to birthday parties, visiting teaching, training meetings, and baby showers. Although we missed Micah, we did pretty good having a fun time together.
Here's just a picture update of the last couple weeks!

We went to Petsmart for fun, Eden decided she wanted to stay and be raised by the dogs instead.

Eden's favorite attractions were the birds and fish, she'd run from one to the other

The Orem Mall has an indoor park which I went to with a friend.
Every couple days we'll go out to collect a new batch of flowers. There were a whole bunch of cherry blossoms until the snow strom broke the branches and killed many of the buds.
Another visit to touch the temple for Family Home Evening

We attended two multi-cultural evenings. I tasted octopus for the first time, ate "romeo and juliets" from Brazil from we listened to presentations from Japan and Mexico, learned the salsa, and Eden's favorite was the Korean dancer as shown...
Micah and I decorated cakes one evening. His was a Ninja Turtle and mine a ranch theme.
For Easter we decorated eggs with water color. Eden even stayed into it for a full five minuets! Then we 'hid' plastic eggs in the grass for Eden; they had jelly beans in them so she figured it out pretty quickly!

And lastly, some of our friends' juggling club playing with fire! Just for fun

My New Movie

2009-04-12T09:12:00.000-07:00

Thank you all for your great feed back and comments on my newest film "Tip of the String."
It has been taken down. Thank you for watching

Post Production

2009-04-09T19:49:00.000-07:00

It is a known fact that you should shot your movie so the raw footage looks good and not have to fix it in post. Well I had quite the time fixing my movie. First edit, next remove the unwanted gain than color correct. This is my new best friend. You ever watch the special features of a movie and you see the deleted scene and it almost looks like a home video camera? Well this is because it hasn't been color corrected. Here is a prime example.

The original image from the camera. Notice the low contrast and grain in the bushes.

Here is the color corrected footage. Notice the high contrast and vivid colors. Also notice that there is less grain in this one. I love color correction.

The final film will be posted on Sunday and will be up for a week only. So tell your friends to watch it is going to be amazing. Thanks.

My Conference Highlights

2009-04-07T11:28:00.000-07:00

In our church, we hold world wide semi-annual conferences. Here, we listen to individuals who instruct us further on God's word for our specific time. A themed message I felt this time was encouragement, to be hopeful and happy amid difficult times. Here were some of my favorite words shared (not direct quotes):
"We need Christians who lift others, sustain hope, consistently withstand temptation, make things happen through faith, and defend the gospel" (Christofferson)
"He who accepts trials as an invitation to grow, finds peace" (Eyring)
"Being built on a rock doesn't help us avoid rain and wind" (Pino)
"God will shape the back which the burden is placed on" (Anderson)
"We get what we focus on, so beware of the 6 destructive D's: doubt, discouragement, despair, distraction, disobedience, and disbelief" ( Pearson)
"The future is as bright as your faith...There will be nothing in this world that can defeat us" (President Monson, prophet)

(the conference center in Salt Lake, UT sitting 21,000 people)
I could go on and on. The hours seemed to fly by much faster than when I was a child. We kept our tradition of doughnuts (my favorite are in Albertson's, how about you?) and had some neighbors over during one of the sessions. During the men's priesthood session, I and another neighbor went to Deseret Book's "Ladies Night" in the mall. What a fantastic weekend!

Recipe

2009-04-04T19:36:00.000-07:00

A couple of days ago, I went online and found yummmmmy honey butter. I couldn't get it to turn out fluffy like my mom's, so there's still room for improvement. It's a recipe from Alton Brown for those of you who enjoy the cooking channel. Without further ado....

1 pound butter
1/4 cups honey
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Micah said it made the cornbread taste like corn cake; which, I'm informed, is what they actually call it in Brazil.

Eden's days

2009-04-01T12:38:00.000-07:00

Eden has been SO much fun lately. She's beginning to mimic sounds and finally says 'mama'. It warms my heart when I hear those sweet tones! Of course 50% of the time it's used in a whining context, but even then, I love to hear it.
She's figured out what to do with crayons besides eat them. On the left is her very first color picture. It didn't scan very well, but whatever. We already have begun the battle of coloring on everything besides paper. It's one of her favorite pass times, to color.
AND, on the days it's not snowing here, we go play on the slides. Every time we step outside, whether to do laundry or check the mail, going down the slides is on her mind. She will do it over, and over, and over.....a little monotonous for me, but her laugh totally wins me over. One time I glanced away, and she tried to go down a regular slide in her Eden fashion of head first. Don't you worry, my mother reflexes caught her before she could eat any bark. I think some science major out there should do a theses on which is faster: mother vs cat reflexes. Who do you think would win?

Commercial

2009-03-27T07:30:00.000-07:00

I loved this, just keep watching.......

Film Making Madness that I Love

2009-03-26T14:42:00.000-07:00

So you want to make a movie, you get everything set up the times the places the equipment. All is well and should run smoothly. Yet deep in the under belles of your mind you know everything will go horribly airy. You get there on time you get everything set up your crew of one shows up and than wait where is the actor. An hour passes still not there. You go to his house and there he is sleeping in his bed. "Oh I forgot" Those wonderful sounding words. "I kind of over booked myself I have to leave for Payson in 30 minutes." That is perfect because you know who needs actors in their movies. Especially the main ones. You make a deal that he comes to shoot for 30 minutes and than go to Payson and just get back by 11:30. Ok well you got the first scene done in 30 minutes no problem right because you have to move locations anyway and set up in another house. Should work out great. Execpt he doesn't come back until 1:30. Oh joy. Now it is speeding through the scene to get it shot and having your crew leave and new people come in and it is all fun. Not to mention you are using new equipment you haven't used before and that seems to be a pain in the brain.

NEW EQUIPMENT (No it is not mine)
Of course your new equipment it totally awesome

By the end you want to jump for joy while popping your eyes from their sockets. Some how you actually finish the last shoot 30 minutes earlier than you had planned holy cow amazing.

And your daughter comes to play with cords while you wait for your main actor to get back from Payson.

Friends

2009-03-25T10:59:00.000-07:00

One of the reasons I really like where I live is a) proximity and b) everyone's in the same station of life, for the most part. There's 150-200 people that live within 100 yards of each other who have similar values and are all going to college. We all face inwards to a play ground and when the weather is decent, the courtyard is filled with people. It's easy to make friends this way, and apparently Eden feels the same. She's been making lots of friends lately. She's still shy if there are too many little people being loud, but otherwise she's becoming very social. On our way out of church she said hi to everyone we passed. It's a joy to me to see her becoming a part of the world, that her sphere of involvement is expanding. I'm persuaded it will also be a sorrow as the years increase and her sphere expands; but, for now I get a great kick out of it. Here are some of her friends.....

Nathan, 2
Joe, 1 1/2
Jared, 3 1/2

Temples and Courthouses

2009-03-23T06:52:00.000-07:00

There were some memorable events of the week....We went to an open house of the Draper, Utah temple, and then Micah went to it's dedication. It was particularly neat for him as his ancestor, Ebenezer Brown, settled the area. My in-laws can correct me, but I read that the town was originally called Brownsville. The name was later changed to honor the town's first bishop, William Draper. Unfortunately I had to work that day, so Eden had a babysitter, and Micah said he had a good time. On last Sunday we went on a walk to the Provo temple grounds, hence the picture below.
My own memorable experience of the week was JURY DUTY! I've been on call for 3 months and this was my 3rd letter of invitation to join a jury. And lucky me, I was selected. I don't mean to sound grumpy about it though. I'm grateful our judicial system can allow for a jury and that I can assist our government in upholding the constitution. My journey began at the court house at 8:30 am, and ended at 11:30 pm. Lawyers would nit pick on the tiniest details, there was lots of "he said this" "she did that" from the witnesses blowing things out of proportion, and I was grateful for the judge that kept order and protocol on track. Out of the ordeal, I did get Brick Oven pizza which is delicious! There were six of us on the jury, we unanimously found the defendant guilty. Although I feel I made the right decision, my mind floats back over the case frequently each day. The life of a judge is not for me!

Visitors

2009-03-18T05:00:00.000-07:00

(song) I'm so glad when Daddy comes home, glad as I can be! My Dad had conferences in Salt Lake the weekend before last; and my mom often goes with him. They took an extra day off and came to visit ME! I was so happy to see them! And, so was Eden. She took a particular liking to Poppy (grandpa). I'm not sure if this was good timing or bad timing, but Eden got an ear infection and had a really high temperature the day they arrived. I wasn't sure what to do with 105 temps, so it took alot of stress off me that my mom was there. But, my parents didn't get to play with Eden which is the downside. Before I realized how sick she was, we did get to go out for some Chinese, visited a tiny earth science museum (which my dad observed was missing a soils/earth section), and Micah and I went swimming in their hotel's pool. So, it's probably my fault Eden got more sick, but it worked out anyways. The week had been a stressful one for me, my parents couldn't have planned a more welcome time to come. Thanks so much for spoiling us Mom and Dad!

Girl Scout Cookies

2009-03-16T06:54:00.001-07:00

'Tis the season for....Girl Scout Cookies! Growing up, my mother occassionally purchased 'thin mints' from the girls posted outside Safeway, to support the cause. Thin Mints are delicious, but, I hadn't swallowed the hook. A couple of years ago, a friend of mine was selling them and so I picked up the example of my mother and bought some traditional Thin Mints. Well Well Well. There is a whole world out there besides Thin Mints, and it's beginning to be revealed unto me. At work, a co-worker asked if I would buy some from her daughter. Feeling that I was beginning to be included into work's comradeship I agreed. Someone next to me said "Buy the Samoas, there's the best!" I looked down at the paper and he was signed up for 4 boxes. Breaking away from tradition, I put my name down for one. Thursday, my world changed. My mind swirled as I bit into caramel and fudge smothered into coconut in the good old girl scout fashion. After my first cookie, I indeed wished I'd signed up for four boxes. BUT, the story continues....The next day I read about samoa and thin mint, ice creams! I've can't vouch for the Thin Mint ice cream yet, but Samoa didn't let me down. It was a dream come true, tasting just like the cookie in a smooth goodness. Now every corner seems to have sweet innocent girl scouts, selling tempting pernicious cookies. They are going to eat me out of pocket and into my thighs before the season is through. In the words of Jaque "I shall resist!"

Doughnut Frenzy

2009-03-09T10:49:00.000-07:00

For Family Night last week we had our neighbors the Tingy's over. They are super busy, so it was nice of them to take time out to hang out with us. Eden LOVES the Tingy's, it may have to do with the googly eyes they give her. After a gospel lesson and fun talk, we made doughnuts, compliments of Micah. He's the doughnut pro. We got pretty inventive with our filllings, shapes and toppings. Here's some pictures of Eden helping us eat them.

Polarized

2009-03-04T07:02:00.000-08:00

(sung to california dreaming) All the snow is melted, and skies are blue. I went for a walk, and didn't want to go back in...Eden wants to spend much of the days outside, AT LEAST on the deck. She's recently taken to sun bathing. It's too tempting for her because I have the window open and she can hear all the workers, birds, and people outside. I'll welcome this weather with arms wide open; neighbors are socializing more and I can feel the energy increasing in me and all around me as life springs forward. I think this external bliss is more appreciated particularly at this time. There are tons of people are sick. Micah's getting over his fever and Eden her croup. And I'm convinced, death comes in 3's, as superstition has it. It's been a bit of a roller coaster week. I love were I live. I just step outside, and I'll see a neighbor or two or three. Micah and I have been enjoying watching the kids play at the park that sits just below our balcony. People are enjoying picnics, runny noses and all.

A 'hot' kitchen

2009-03-02T07:13:00.000-08:00

So I've been reading this book, "The Hot Zone", holy cow. It's a fascination of abominations, as my sister Rachel would say. It's a true story about this virus that kills 80% of the people it infects. Discovered about 30 years ago with minor outbreaks here and there. Needless to say, it's got my mind paranoid about germs (even more so on top of my medical oriented mind). So you can understand my horror when I found weevils and weevil larva infiltrating my apartment. It started one dark and deary evening....I found them around my sink as I was washing my dishes! EHG! I didn't know what they were, termites? Then Micah tormented my mind with baby cockroaches. The kitchen got a good disinfectant spray down. THEN, I found the source, all over my wheat flour. Out goes any food that didn't have tight seals, more disinfectant spray, a good vacuum wipe down. I thought I was in the clear. UNTIL, I found another conglomerate of weevils and wiggling white larva. This time in a cabinate across the kitchen. Again, out goes unsealed food, more spray, vacuming, wiping, and more spray! I'm beginning to disbelieve spontanious generation was prooved false. Then I found a massive patch of mold behind my bed! And we've been killing spiders like crazy the last couple months. This apartment is beining to sicken me out. I'm sure no one will want to come visit me after reading this post. This is TMI (too much information). I really don't feel like I'm that dirty of a person, my place isn't immaculet, but I do keep it decent. Let's just say, spring cleaning may be coming a litter earilier for this place.

I won Jeapordy!

2009-02-25T06:53:00.000-08:00

I wanted to document this magical moment....I got the finally jeapordy question correct when none of the other contestants did! Wahooo. Okay, so maybe it was a guess, but I'll take the credit anyways. The answer was Oedipus, an old Greek story about this guy who fulfills the prophecy to kill his father and marry his mother accedentally.
Okay, enough celebrations, but we'll continue with the useless tibits of information (unless you're on jepordy mind you.) I went to this "ready to learn" program held for parents/caretakers. (It's at Macey's, the last Tues. of the month at 7, for anyone who wants to go!). I also love it becuase I walk away with a free children's book or two. Yesterday I aquired, "I like Me" and "If you take a mouse to the movies". We learned about emergent reading, skills needed before and as true reading begins; perfect for me. The steps were 1) listening; including observation of letters and emotions 2)talking 3)writing; any use of scribbles 4)decoding; such as graphs and symbols 5)comprehension; what did you just read. We discussed brain growth in the first 0-6 years of life and how caretakers largely influence it. I influence their brain wiring for the rest of their life?!
I got thinking about how Eden is learning new words. She takes them at face value. I tell her 'that's a picture of a bird'. Even though the previous picture of a bird looked totally different cartoon and stylized, and she believes me. So every time we pull out the bird book, she'll begin to sign the name for it, I don't think she even understands what a bird is, except for it's a picture in a book. THEN, birds have begun to make their voices heard here and swoop around our courtyard. Now she's bird obsessed! Her new concept of birds have changed. A bird is no longer a picture on a page, that's just the symbol, it's a living animal!
It just got me thinking to what it means to have the faith of a child. To accept 100% what God is telling you, you've never heard of the concept before, but okay! Then, some day, we'll see that concept in action, and it will be so real, we'll be so excitied. Like teaching a child God answers prayers. Having faith in a God, but not so sure what he is, or what prayer is, until one day, a prayer is answered, and it all clicks.

The collage entry

2009-02-20T07:22:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I've posted so be prepared for a smattering of random tidbits throughout this entry! It's not a very entertaining one....

Some of my favorite news was that I've seen lots of family the last 5 days! Michelle came to visit me from Rexburg over Valentines weekend, and then I followed her back up to Idaho Falls for a couple days. She came down to scope out BYU's campus considering moving here next Fall, which totally rocks my world! While she was down here we had fun, at leaste I did. We tried out Sub-Zero ice cream. For those unfamiliar....they pour cream and your choice of flavors and mix-ins in a bowl, then pour liquid (which is more like gas?) nitrogen over it and you watch it turn into ice cream! It was really fun, not amazing tasting, but what it lacked in taste it more than made up in experience. We also went out for breakfast at denny's, which is a very new and different experience for me now, with Eden. We had a fun valentine's dinner and Cathy (Michelle's friend) joined us. I successfully made a ham, and it wasn't even that hard! Michelle and Cathy offered to babysit, which was way nice; so Micah and I went bowling and played a virtual game of "Deal or no Deal"!!! We ended up with the case that held 1 dollar! My bowling score was 62 and Micah's 98. I enjoy the game if I can break 60 points. Looking back, I suppose that wasn't a very "lucky" night, but I felt like I was walking under my lucky star! Then I had to work a 12 hour shift. I was so bumbed I couldn't spend that time at home with Michelle, but she was totally supportive.

Over the weekend, my Grandpa passed away. Fortuenatly it was something we'd been preparing our hearts for since he'd been on hospice for a few weeks, he was 89. That's why I drove back with Michelle. I thank my parents for putting me and Eden up in a hotel!!!! I was able to see my Grandma and Eden meet her great-grandma Rydalch. That is always a special treat since she's had ailing health for most of her life. The funeral was perfect. I got to reflect, appreciate, learn, love and say goodbye for quite a while to my Grandpa. I learned a little more about life, and got to know some cousins better. I won't burden you with details of a funeral...
I have a new calling in my church, Primary President. Supervise and love all children 12 and under in our ward. When I say all, I mean 5 three and older and 8 two and younger ;).
I've been called in for jury duty twice, but each time it was cancelled! I even got work off for one of them. The last 2 weeks, we've gone through stomache bugs. ear infections, and colds. I've still got one lingering, but what's new with that, they always settle in my lungs. It's just nice to hear Eden laughing again!
Eden's latest obsessions....she enjoys playing 'ghost'; putting a blanket over her head and making sure she doesn't run into too much. Some birds have begun signing and she loves to stand on the deck waiting for their appearance. She's started mimicking words, though they sound NOTHING like it. She finally says dada! It's so sweet to hear it! I think not seeing him for a couple days helped that along.

Eden Hightlights

2009-02-03T16:35:00.000-08:00

It has been a fun filled year with our totally cute and adorable little girl Eden Brown. To celebrate this time we have had together we have put together this little video of fun and joy for little baby Eden's first year. We do have a longer 23 minute version but we felt this did a good enough job for all of you. Enjoooy.

Eden's 1st birthday

2009-01-30T15:31:00.000-08:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EDEN

Warning:
This is a three minute video so it may get boring.

Celebrations

2009-01-21T10:17:00.000-08:00

So the 13th (Tues.) was Eden's 1st birthday! We have a toddler now, no longer an 'infant'! A bitter-sweet feeling to me. But since I worked a 12 hr shift on Tuesday, we celebrated it the 11th (Sun). BUT, it was only a PRE-party. On the 24th (Saturday) we'll go to Logan and Elsie (her cousin) and Eden can celebrate their birthdays together!!! -did you catch all that?
Sooooo, here's some video from our mini B-day celebration. (uh, comming soon? I have to wait for Micah's help here...)

And...last Sunday the Jeppsons visited us! Mike ran a half marathon in St. George and made time to come to our apartment. It was so nice of them. It reasonably excusable to drive on by since we'd be seeing each other in only another week; it made my heart happy! Peter is one of the kindest most polite 3 yr-olds I've ever met. He asked, "Aunt Becky, will you read me this book please?" I got distracted every other page, he was patient with me, never raised his voice, simply asked "will you read me this page please Aunt Becky?". His inquisitive mind never let mine rest. Nearly every page provoked a question: "Why did she spill popcorn on him?" No wonder kids need extra sleep, just to give their mind a rest, let alone their little bodies keeping up with our big ones! Eden and Elsie just happened to be wearing the same outfits that day! Eden and Elsie's interactions were minimal. It was obvious Eden was an only child and Elsie had a big brother. To put it simply, there were many tears from Eden. I hope this stage passes, so she can have more fun with her cousins!

developments in the kitchen

2009-01-19T08:14:00.000-08:00

Micah and I made our first successful batch of cinnamon rolls! It was mostly fun to do it together. Well, actually eating them was pretty good too! Micah's been really nice to join me in my adventures lately....coming with me to Eden's 12 mo. check up, to the grocery store, helping cook, it's made my week great!
The second development is Eden's using utensils occasionally! I'll load up her spoon and fork for her and put it on her tray. She then swoops it into her mouth, pulls it back to make sure she got it all off, and if not reinserts it a couple more times then hands it back for me to reload. It takes a while for her to eat her entire meal this way, so we only do it "occasionally".

stages of a woman's life

2009-01-17T09:28:00.000-08:00

I found this quote from James E. Faust on a friend's blog and liked it...... "You cannot be a 100% wife, a 100% mother, a 100% church worker, a 100% career person, and a 100% public-service worker at the same time. How can all of these roles be coordinated? Says Sarah Davidson: 'The only answer I come up with is that you can have it sequentially. At one stage you may emphasize career, and at another marriage and nurturing young children, and at any point you will be aware of what is missing. If you are lucky, you will be able to fit everything in.'

Doing things sequentially, filling roles one at a time at different times is not always possible, as we know, but it gives a woman the opportunity to do each thing well in its time and to fill a variety of roles in her life. A woman does not necessarily have to track a career like a man does. She may fit more than one career into the various seasons of life. She need not try to sing all of the verses of her song at the same time." (A Message to My Granddaughters: Becoming Great Women. Ensign, Sept. 1986, 16.)

Since Eden has joined our family, there have been activities taken off our agenda. Things I can't do simply because of the phases of our life. Things as simple as holding hands with my husband as we walk, a conversation uninterrupted. Or larger activities like going to see President Monson at a fireside and other activities were children aren't invited or make it too difficult to participate. Let it be perfectly clear that I don't regret Eden being in my life nor postponing these activities. Regret connotes a feeling of sadness. The feeling is more of an inclination or realization. It is a new phase of life for all of us; one that I feel we've transitioned to fairly well. And I think I will slowly figure out how to put different aspects back together for maybe a 70/20/10 balance. Until then, I have a blast crawling on the ground most of the day spending my world in the mind of a 1-yr-old!

Let me give this it's two bits: At the same time, being in a phase of parent also allows for trick-or-treating, buying fruit snacks, and talking 'baby babble' in public that you can't get away with in any other phase of life!

Homemaking update

2009-01-07T10:56:00.000-08:00

If you'll recall a past post, I've been trying to get my house looking like a "home". With the new year we did out with some of the old and in with some new! We bought a rug which seems to be softening our cinder block, and a piece of fabric to frame a couple of decorative pieces. I'm learning textures help enhance the feeling.

Posts from the past

2009-01-05T10:34:00.000-08:00

There were a few things I wanted to mention from last month but didn't get to it...
SLEDDING! It was much more fun this year...NOT being 9 months pregnant and watching Eden laugh and smile.

Each year we add a little more to our traditions list. Last year it was lights, this year it was giving holiday treats, hopefully next year we'll do Christmas cards.

Autumn, my sister-in-law, came home to visit from Cameroon. It was awesome to see her! She brought us back gifts including these sweet pants. She also taught us how to make Koki, a pureed black eye peas dish. It was fun shucking bean after bean after bean and listening to everyone quote Brain Regan the comedian.

And of course, we continued with the Brown tradition of real gingerbread houses. But I have to say, never go gum drop shopping 3 days before Christmas, there aren't ANY! (until the 5th attempt)

air travel: the test of humanity

2009-01-03T10:37:00.000-08:00

I believe air ports bring out the worst or best in people. Some people were SO nice to us, especially having a baby. They would help entertain Eden, try to make her smile, give compliments, and be very patient through her wailing. And then, you run into the grumpies: those that push and curse through lines of waiting. I was pleasantly surprised by the TSA in Spokane. After practically undressing, dumping everything out of every pocket and crevice of bag, being whipped along the way, but keeping your boarding pass and ID in your hand, and then putting everything back together in a fraction of the time you had to take it apart; my blood pressure had jumped 30 points, pulse and respirations increased to anxiety attack level 5. If I worked in that enviroment I would be a grumpy TSA too. But one TSA worker who had to through away some of our lotion and paraphanelia even apologized and talked civily with us! Then on the airplane, we were sitting in the back, across from the beverage cart and there was a lady who was stealing alcohol right in front of me. I tapped her on the back and gave her "the look" of you'd better stop. But then she came back for more! Poor lady, she was pretty drunk. We tattled and she ended up getting kicked off the plane. It was comical to me though because that's the kind of senario you'd only see in movies or something.
So to sum up this story: you can tell alot about a person when they are in the airport/security checks and airplane.

After All There is Only One Christmas a Year

2008-12-31T10:20:00.000-08:00

This Christmas was packed full of Christmas cheer. We went home for the holidays and spent time with both of our families. We did everything from......

Building Ginger Bread Houses...
to building igloos...
to watching Eden play the piano.

But nothing was quite as fun as watching Eden open all her presents. It was really fun to watch her start to understand the concept behind it. At first she didn't really care much for the presents until she understood that there were fun things inside of them. After that realization she started getting into it. She would rip it open enough to see what was inside and just try and pull that out. It was really fun to watch her play. And no present was a great hit than her first doll. She was really smitten by it and it was so cute to watch her play with it.

The other really funny thing Eden would do on the trip was that she was obsessed with a Santa Clause the Nelson's had at there house and she called it the ho ho ho. So every time someone would say Eden where's the Ho Ho she would go run and stand by it.

More Baby Steps

2008-12-18T10:13:00.000-08:00

I've had a few baby steps myself. Since moving to this cinder block rectangle of an apt. I've been completely frustrated with my lack of ability to keep a decent looking home. At first I blamed it on shape and style of the apartment; but, with further investigation I've realized it goes much deeper than that. My first problem is the habit of picking up after myself AND baby. The second problem is "seeing" the mess. I can just feel something out of place and uncomfortable. So, for the last 4 months I've been searching for ideas and inspiration. Luckily for me, my church's women's organization (called Relief Society) put an activity together for people like me! We tour a couple of people's apartments whom have a talent for home-making. The ideas I came forward with were to add non-flouresent lighting, a rug, and curtains. Then we made these tiles together. You could pick from many styles and sayings. It was great fun! But that just seemed a bandaid solution for my problem. It seems that any horizontal surface gets covered within a matter of hours with paraphenelia. I think if have a spot everything belongs to, it may help.....I'm still working on that one. Currently I'm trying to instil the habit of picking up after myself 100%. For example, after breakfast, the milk, bowl, and cereal get put away, but somehow that spoon survives. Or the wipes that get left behind. Every week, I'll pick a new object that I will conciously put away. Last week was the remote controls, this week is wiping off Eden's eating tray. We'll see how it turns out in another month or two.

Baby Steps

2008-12-16T09:55:00.000-08:00

I forgot to record: Eden's walking! For a month and a half, we knew she had it in her but she just wouldn't do it. If there was any encouragment from us, she'd plop down right on her bottom. This was going to be on her terms and conditions. Then my sister, Lanita, gave her a push toy. After a week with that, she must've built up her confidence or something because she began to walk everywhere. This week she's discovered carrying things with her as she walks. My first discovery was the rattle in the cooking drawer, then the sock in with the pots and pans. It's cute right now, but I wonder when she'll find my wallet and think of somewhere cute and impossible to put it...jk. My favorite is her pulling a book off a shelf and bringing it to me to read. This occurs nearly every hour of the day, the girl is currently obsessed with books.

a little laugh

2008-12-10T09:43:00.000-08:00

I took our car in for a standard oil change about a month ago, and of course came out with list of "needs to be dones". We just changed the tires on it yesterday, and I was very impressed with Les Schwab; they even met me out at my car. But when I found out it would be a three hour wait, I decided to run home. The problem with this decision was that I had Eden (and a stroller) and it was 25 degrees out. When I started my adventure I didn't realize how cold it was, nor how far from home I was. Unfortunetly the story ends with many tears, a popsicle for a daughter, and being locked out of my apt. FORTUNEATLY, the manager could let me in. I then realized the car seat was in the car still, so I couldn't have someone take me to pick up the car until Micah came home. FORTUNATELY Micah came home at 3 insted of 6. So our kind neighbors, took Micah to get the car. I have come across this blond joke and laughed because it hit a little too close to home~

A blonde was driving home after a game and got caught in a really bad hailstorm. Her car was covered with dents, so the next day she took it to a repair shop. The shop owner saw that she was a blonde, so he decided to have some fun. He told her to go home and blow into the tail pipe really hard, and all the dents would pop out.

So, the blonde went home, got down on her hands and knees and started blowing into the tailpipe. Nothing happened.

So she blew a little harder, and still nothing happened.

Her blonde roommate saw her and asked, "What are you doing?" The first blonde told her how the repairman had instructed her to blow into the tail pipe in order to get all the dents to pop out.

The roommate rolled her eyes and said, "Uh, like hello! You need to roll up the windows first."

unexpected family reunion

2008-12-02T08:49:00.000-08:00

We had a big treat this thanksgiving. Every one of my family members came together at Rachel's house in Logan to celebrate the thankful and FULL day. Rachel never talked about how cumbersome we were, because we were, but opened her refridgerator doors, bedroom doors, closet doors, and all doors to us.

The first day, Wednesday, was spent with greeting hugs, cooking, and playing outside.

Thursday was spent cooking and eating of course. In our thankful expressions, families was on the top of everyone's list.

Eden had great fun smearing food everywhere and getting different tastes in every bite. So, when do we stop liking our food touching? Eden LOVED her cousins. Well, she wasn't too fond of Elsie since she'd take her toys or walk into her, so, let me clarify. Eden loved her cousins that doted all over her. 7 year old Abram said, "when I grow up I want to have a kid like Eden, as long as she doesn't play with dolls and stuff." And Seth (5) was always pulling faces at her to make her laugh.

Thursday night we poured through the black friday adds, making up our schedules for when to go to which store and prepping ourselves for the early morning. However, as we bid our goodnights, all of us agreed to forgo the 5:00 rush, and get the extra hour of sleep.

Friday started at 6:30 with the Nelson girls hitting the stores! It was mostly fun just being together, sneaking presents for each other into baskets, and trying to find everyone in the crowds. Then a quiet afternoon reading and sleeping. In the evening we decorated the Christmas tree Mike, Rachel, Peter, and Dad cut down from the wild; ate chocolates, and enjoyed Abram's violin music and cabage patch christmas music. The night was just getting started as we played a couple games of Quelf and stayed up late into the next day.

Saturday we packed up, said I love yous, and hit the road. We got back just in time for Micah to start on a group project for school.

The Joys of Film Making

2008-11-24T10:49:00.000-08:00

Last year I entered the apple 24 hour insomnia film festival. It is pretty self explanatory just by the name but the idea is you have 24 hours to make a film and submit it. The nice thing about it is that it is only for students in high school or college, this helps narrow down the playing field. Each team is allowed 5 members. That is the tricky part. I went through six different people who said they could but than realized they couldn't. When it was reaching crunch time and I finally got my team together, apple's site was down and I couldn't register my team. The next day I get an email that says the festival has been canceled until further notice. This was one day before the shoot. I was so bummed. I had everything set up, two of my old mission companions and some other friends from class, I got permission to shoot at the bowling ally and finally got my team together and than they cancel the whole thing. So I decide to do it anyway.

A Still from the movie "Defeated Champ"

So we go to the bowling ally and it is like happy birthday Saturday bring all your kids to the bowling ally day. The place was packed. It was so hard to shoot in a small area trying not to get all the kids in the background looking at the camera.

Kids looking at the camera

Oh and two of the actors didn't show so I played a part and another guy played two parts. It was crazy and the audio was so hard to get because of all the noise in the place. But all in all we had a really fun time and things worked out in the end. The film is coming soon it is called "Defeated Champ"

Me playing a part in "Defeated Champ"

Nate (my old mission buddy) Playing Ace and his roommate Christian playing Harry. They were both hilarious.

2 of my favorite things

2008-11-20T13:13:00.000-08:00

FIRST: CHoColate:
I love to even hear the word!
I like the movie "chocolat" in part of the frequent refrences and video angles of chocolate.
Another movie I enjoy for the same reason is Willy Wonka, but in much smaller doses.
Micah says the word "chocolate" with the 'c' kind of in the back of his throat, and it practically hypnotizes me!
Yesterday I made "THE cake", as my family makes reference to it. It has multiple names, the only other one I dare record is "skor bar cake". It is so tantalizing (excites the senses) and some would describe it as rich; but, as Michelle and I say "rich? what's that?".
After Eden was born, I couldn't have chocolate for an arduous 4 months, or she would be terribly colicky. But THE cake was the first whip of chocolate I had afterwards.
Well, what causes me to reflect on my love of chocolate is a new chocolate bar we stumbled on. Milka. Micah ate it in Bulgaria and has in the past made several mentions of it's tastefulness. While grocery shopping at Smith, a light came beaming down from the skys upon this marvelous chocolate bar. Micah snatched a couple up and after tasting it, yes, it was worth all the praise (and moneys). On the wrapper it says "made in Germany". If you come across it, I'd highly recommend giving it a lick!

SECOND: BLANKETS
specifically, home-made, with TLC sewn in.
My collection begins with my childhood. 8 years old? It was a Christmas gift from my mother. Red on one side, personified animals in a city on the other. I told Micah when he would be marrying me, he'd be marrying the blanket as well. Thankfully he accepted us. ;) Every time, I snuggle with a home-made blanket, I just feel secure and loved. Our closet over flows, but I don't think I'll ever be able to get rid of ONE. I have blankets sewn/crocheted/gifted from cousin Sarah, Aunt Peggy, the Walkers, Aunt Anita, multiple from Mother, and most recently, sister-in-law Haven. The photos are of Haven's which we recently received in the mail. She has AMAZING talents. Aren't they beautiful? Look at the Detail!

Vintage

2008-11-12T13:09:00.000-08:00

This was a fun web page! Have you ever wondered, if your mom or dad were the same age as you back in grade school, would you be friends? Seeing my picture in my mom's era, just made me chuckle and give it some thought. It was funny to think of me being by her side in some of the stories she tells: seeing myself playing with her at recess or wandering the ranch with my dad. I also wonder what recess will be like 10 years from now. We've evolved from metal merry-go-rounds and teetertoters, to plastic dinosaurs, blacktops to recycled rubber, From jacks to pogs, marbles to 2 square. Of course some classics will never change hopscotch, tag, and someone's collarbone will break whenever redrover is played.

Shifting

2008-11-07T09:12:00.000-08:00

Baby, it's cold outside! Playing outside is less of an option these days. Hence, no romping children to entertain Eden, the sandbox is covered with leaves, the slides are wet and cold, and the grass is muddy and no longer cushiony to fall onto. So we've resorted to playing inside. Unfortuneatly, Eden's favorite inside game, is "make a mess"-the pull books off shelves type. Finding alternatives has been difficult since everything still goes into her mouth: crayons, bubble wands, and the leaves we track in. Any suggestions for an ACTIVE 10 month old baby?We did find the Earth Science museum sponsored by BYU, Eden really liked that.

Plethora of Costumes

2008-11-02T08:14:00.000-08:00

Micah here to report this years Halloween excitement. Between work, school, ward party and Halloween itself I dressed up Six different times in six different costumes. (A bum, Nerd, Afro Man, Undercover Russian Ninja, Black Man, and a devil) Becky dressed up Four times in different costumes. (A bum, Afro Girl, smarty pants and a Nurse) Eden three times but was the same costume each time (A Cat)

Our Trip to the University Halloween Festival

My Undercover Russian Ninja that I wore to work

What we wore for Halloween Me the Black Man and Becky the Smarty Pants (Look at her pants)

My Satan outfit for the Ward Party

Just another picture of me as a black man pretty sweet huh

Eden had a ton of fun over the past few days from fishing to trick or treating. (of course there was a high daddy tax on all candy, just trying to protect her ;) ) She didn't really get trick or treating at first but after awhile she started to catch on. She didn't seem to care what she got but she loved pulling things out of the bowls of candy.
She had tons of fun playing the games. (well sort of)

Fishing at University Festival

Getting her prize fishy

Playing Cake walk were daddy got to eat the winnings Yeah!!

Eden eating her first lolly Pop.

So that was our awesome first Halloween with Eden.

To work on Sundays or not to work....

2008-10-28T12:18:00.000-07:00

I work at a nursing and rehabilitation center 5-7 times a month. Oddly enough, I enjoy working Sundays. Of course I miss church, and wish I didn't have to work on Sundays, but let me clarify. On Sundays, there are many visitors, both family and strangers. And it warms my heart to see people spreading and sharing love. To see the anxious patient calm and smile when a daughter comes in, the grumpy and irritable's eyes make a contact, the depressed spirit's lift, the isolated come out of their rooms, the hurting forget for a moment they're in pain, those just longing to talk get to be heard, people wanting to be noticed feel special. I get to see all of this most often on Sundays. There are a few incidents that have brought emotions to my eyes: One of the residents made a blanket for another. To reach out to another when you are feeling sick yourself is noble. A couple of ladies brought left over coursages and boutiniers from a floral shop after homecoming weekend. A spouse invests energy to their care. A neighbor came in just to help a frusterated resident do up her hair for Sunday. And nearly every Sunday, there are young adults that come sing hymns. Not to mention the crayola pictures all over walls from grandchildren. To see these patients as more than a person in a frail body is miraculous to me. I'm learning a leason: a pancake is never so thin it only has one side. The children will grow old, and the old were children. The happy are sad. The sad are happy. The sick are healthy, and the healthy sick. And family is there through it all.

details you probably don't care about

2008-10-24T09:47:00.000-07:00

Our family has caught a little head cold the last week. Nothing serious, just feel crummy enough to not want to do much. As I've been getting better, Eden's just catching it; good timing in my opinion. The last few days have tried my patience, and I find myself taking a big sigh at the end of the day. 2 nights ago, I put the baby to sleep, pulled up some of my favorite soft tunes, and had hot chocolate with a lot of marshmallows. That's one of my favorite unwinding activities. I remember many Saturday nights in high school: after coming home late, listening to NPR's smooth jazz and drinking hot chocolate out of grandma's cup and saucer heirloom.
But last night, I HAD to get out of the house. We went to an arcade, complements of Andrea Despain (THANKS!), We played "Dance Revolution" and "Deal or no Deal" our favorites. When Eden was brand new, we'd stay up with her and watch Deal or no Deal and enthusiastically pretend like we were really playing, in whispered voices.

Comfort Foods

2008-10-20T07:35:00.000-07:00

Try as I might, I can never seem to replicate the comfort foods my parents made for me as a kid. Specifically, I'll mention my dad's cheese fondue and my mom's cookies. My attempts at the secret fondue recipe have been a tragedy, I've given up. I used to have it every year for my birthday, but I know not to ruin a birthday anymore to try to make it myself. My mom's cookies on the other hand, are salvageable, but can't compare to the puffy, delicious, made with love, warm cookies mom makes. So I've nearly given up on those too. INSTEAD, I've found parmesan cheese fondue and an alternative ch. chip cookie recipe. "Maybe I can pass on my comfort foods to my family in another form." Although, they won't compare to what memories, I can still keep some tradition in my heart. I have to admit, Micah can make these cookies better than I can, I thought that was supposed to be something 'mom' makes for you when you come home from school. I suppose traditions can change ;)
Here's the new cookie recipie, if anyone is interested:
1 C. margarine
3/4 C brown sugar
1/4 C white sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 pkg (3 1/2 oz or 1/2 C) instant vanilla pudding mix
2 eggs
2 1/4 C flour
1 tsp soda
2 C ch. chips
1 C walnuts, chopped-opt-
-mix 1st five ingredients, add eggs. Combine then slowly mix in flour and soda. stir in remaining ingredients. (batter will be stiff). Bake on ungreased sheet at 375 for 9 min. Yield about 4 doz.

p.s. we LOVE this recipie with mint chips. It leaves a refreshing taste in your mouth!

swing life away

2008-10-16T08:17:00.000-07:00

The last few days I've been kinda tired, which wouldn't be hard to notice, evidenced by the lack of meal preparedness and instead of eating in the kitchen the kitchen eats YOU! It probably started with a lazy attitude as I got sucked into the vortex of "Ender's Game". Then, hoping to shake off my sluggish feelings, I found killer deals on apples and decided to dehydrate 40 lbs of them. Needless to say, it turned our dirty kitchen into a sticky fly trap and there seemed to be no escape. But I'm pleased to announce, it's beginning to look sanitary and we're back into the swing of life!

Salt Lake trip

2008-10-15T07:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Eden and I went on an adventure to visit one of my buds from nursing school-Mindy. It was splendid to her! But after a few moments at her apartment, Eden was starting to get into everything. So, we went to the ZOO! Mindy and I exchanged tidbits about animals, but Eden could care less. It was field trip day for some elementary school. I tried to get Eden to look at the Elephant or monkeys, but her attention was glued to the scores of kids running around. I supposed I'll have to start remembering to bring my camera to post pictures of our outings!

And so it begins...

2008-10-09T12:27:00.001-07:00

My Oscar speech would go something like this: Yes, I would love to accept this invitation to begin a blog, and I'd like to thank all those who inspired me! (although, they will soon be regretting it).... This was just a trial run post. Thanks for visiting!