Oregon

The first week of August we went to Oregon for a Brown family reunion. It was our first visit to Oregon and it did not disappoint!! Not only was it beautiful, but they pump your gas for you. Awesome. It took us a WHOLE day to drive, but we stopped along the way at a waterfall and a few other pretty places. The big boys do really good in the car, but Nolan whined "Momma" the whole time with his arms stretched out...except when he was wearing head phones!!

Notice the golf clubs in the back...they got packed instead of the pack and play. nice. Luckily the hotel had one.

When we were driving, Austin looked out and said "I wouldn't want to get lost in all those trees!" Of course he would think of something like that.

Nolan and Caden (my cousin Katy's little man). They are only 3 weeks and about 8 inches apart!!

Katy, Laurie, me, my mom, and aunt Renee

The whole gang ate at Mo's...yummy clam chowder.

Yaquina Head lighthouse. We climbed the stairs all the way to the top.

Austin is so happy to be at the lighthouse.

Nolan and Dad at the beach. LOVE IT!

Nolan loved the beach. I don't think I have one picture of him looking at the camera because he was too busy digging in the sand or wading in the water to look at me!!

Jacks and Austin got alot of exercise running from the waves.

Family Picture. Is anybody still reading this...

YEA...another girl!!

My little, but much taller, brother Jared got married in July. And that means we added another girl to the family!!! Brittany is so cute and I can't wait to get to know her better. Somehow my mom pulled off a beautiful wedding with only 6 weeks notice! He was so nervous to ask her to marry him...he kept waiting and waiting.

Things I want to remember...

I know I will always remember family vacations, reunions, and weddings (things we have done this summer that I will post soon, hopefully) but today I want to remember the little things my boys do. The things that make them who they are. The things I know I will forget. The things that make me laugh. The things they do everyday that don't seem important.

Jacks shaking his booty! I want to remember this because one day he will be too cool to dance. But for right now he shakes his booty anytime the radio is on or anytime he is singing. He can hear a song one time and know the words and carry the tune...not always a good thing! And just today he asked me how to be a singer on the radio.

Austin always wearing accessories. I want to remember this mostly because it makes me laugh. He told me he didn't want his eyes or nose to get hurt while riding his bike. Austin LOVES to wear capes, old football jerseys, masks, super hero outfits, and has even worn a ninja turtle suit to Wal Mart. I call them accessories because Jeremy doesn't like it when we say "dress up" clothes!!
Nolan and his LOVE for tools and wearing gloves. I want to remember this because one day those big gloves won't be too big. In the winter it was Jeremy's HUGE snow gloves, now it's the work gloves. As soon as he goes outside he puts on a pair of gloves and grabs a tool. The funny thing is, he actually knows how to use the tools. He is a hard worker!

Family Pictures

My friend Mandy came to visit me last week and we had so much fun. She and her husband were our neighbors when we first got married, but have since moved to Texas. We have kids all the same ages except she has an extra one!!! She takes amazing pictures and I begged her to take our pictures while she was here. Since she had her kids, we just stayed at our house and took pictures, but I think they turned out beautiful. But she didn't stop there. We printed them at Costco...a 16x20 for $5.99 awesome...and then she framed them and hung them on my wall!!! Now that's my kind of photographer. Thanks Mandy for a fun visit and beautiful pictures that hang straight on the wall.

She took a bunch, but here is a sneak peak. I even edited a few by myself. I just got photo shop and she showed me what to do...too bad I probably won't remember!

love it.

Jackson.

Austin.

Nolan.

Here's Mandy hard at work hanging my pictures.

Pretend there is a cute black table under the picture.

Mandy still taking pictures.

Enjoying the HOT weather.

Nolan was sleeping while we were playing outside, but apparently he woke up and was checking out the action. I turned around and saw two little hands through the blinds! Too cute.

Fun 4th Weekend

My parents came up for the weekend to visit and do LOTS of projects around our house. Mom and I painted while dad and Jeremy built shelves in our cold storage room in the basement. Dad and Jeremy also worked on the sprinkler system, adjusted all the blinds, fixed the drains in the bathroom sinks, and oiled the garage doors!! Even though we did alot of work we still managed to squeeze in some fun and shopping! We spent the 4th playing outside, eating yummy food, taking naps, watching fireworks, and enjoying family. Every time I hear America songs I get choked up thinking about how great we have it and how many men and women have died for us. I LOVE the USA!!!


My awesome shelves...I guess I need to buy more food.

Playing ladder ball. Our new favorite game. For the record mom and I won the championship!

Jacks stayed outside pretty much all day. He took his shirt off for a little tiny bit and got really sunburned.


Resting in the shade.

Sleepy Nolan. He played so hard until he couldn't move.

Sleepy Poppa. He worked like a slave.

Refreshed from his nap, Nolan saw Jeremy light one firework and knew exactly what to do. To say he LOVED the fireworks would be an understatement.

Our festive dessert. We made sugar cookies too, but they didn't last long enough for a picture.

This is how Austin watched the fireworks.


I LOVE my parents. Thanks for working so hard!!

Bye Bye Tomato Soup

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE tomato soup...just not on my walls! I've dreamed of the day I could actually paint my own walls, and I have to admit now that it's here I'm so nervous. I knew before we moved here that the tomato soup would go bye bye and a lovely green would take it's place. But finding the right green has proved to be HARD. There are 4 windows in my kitchen and all that light makes shades of green look very different. So after lots of debating and encouraging words from Jeremy like "Choose one already they all look the same," I have chosen a color and started painting. YIKES! Taping was a BIG pain, but I am excited to see the finished product...and be done!

Narrowed it down to 3. Are those the biggest paint swatches you've ever seen?? Did you know you could buy little sample cans at Home Depot for $3??

Narrowed it down to 2. Can you guess which one I picked??

My mother helping me with a broken wrist...that's true LOVE!


Yea, that's me.

One more coat of paint tomorrow and we should be done. I'll keep my fingers crossed that it will look good once the blue tape is all gone. Stay tuned for an update!

School's Out!!!!

The big boys are out of school and I am so proud of all the new things they learned this year. Austin finished pre-school and Jackson finished 1st grade.

Austin is very smart, but HATES to write, color, or even hold a pencil. When he does hold a pencil he holds it with every finger on his hand! His teacher and I have been working with him and I can't tell you how proud I was when he brought home a picture at the end of the year that actually looked like something. I unrolled his drawing expecting to find scribbles of purple, but found this instead...

I asked Austin what his picture was and he said, "This is me (pointing to the person on the right) and this is someone else. But I didn't punch him, he just got a bloody nose! Notice the red. It doesn't surprise me that his first drawing is about punching!! Funny Boy.

Jacks received the citizenship award for his class and I went to the assembly. As i was taking the picture of him I noticed a little boy through the lens of the camera!! Nolan ran up to Jacks and gave him a hug in front of the whole school. Yes it was cute, but the chase that followed in front of the whole school was not so cute!!