Leaves Anyone?

A couple Saturdays ago before the rain came we had an insane amount of leaves in our yard. We love the trees, and I actually love the leaves, but maybe that's because it's not my job to clean them up. For some reason I always remember how when we'd visit during the fall my Grandpa would rake up the leaves for us to jump in and I thought it was so much fun. Norah has enjoyed every bit of fall this year and has quite an obsession with leaves. Anywhere we go--the grocery, church, to get the mail, to the car, wherever, she always finds leaves and then carries them like little treasures all around the house. Crumpled leave pieces all over the house aren't so fun, but you've got to choose your battles, right? As we're driving and she sees trees she'll ask, "Mommy, can I get a leaf when we get out? Can I get it myself?"

Anyway, before the cleaning began I thought the kids would enjoy playing in them and I got some fun fall pictures.

Here's the Last 2 Months....

So, remember how I said we had food poisoning? Turns out it was just a wretched stomach flu and the two little ones got it just as Jason and I had recovered. Sounds like just about everyone has had it this year.

I was right on my prediction of Ellis crawling in a few days.....he's now exploring the whole house and loving it.


One good potential job position for Jason. We'll know more by the new year. It would be great and a true miracle if it works out. If not, I think we'll be selling the house. But, it's just a house....and it's out of our control....so why cry over it, right?

Anyway, here's some pictures from the past couple months....

2 Thanksgivings

Started out with a noon Thanksgiving at my mom's house. Norah liked corn, and that was about it.


Ellis was all over the yams, and seriously ate more than Norah. He LOVES food.


Daddy and Ellis watching football.


Then we headed over to the other Browns (Ben & Nicole's house) for yet another Thanksgiving dinner. It was delicious as well. Ellis saying hi to Great Grandma Verna.


Fun cousins.

If you have to get the stomach flu, what better time than after having multiple Thanksgiving dinners, right?

Halloween stunk

Not really, we had lots of fun. Our "stinky" pig and skunk were hilarious to watch. Norah was in "hog heaven" (ha!) and Ellis endured his costume, although I'm not sure he actually enjoyed it. Raining and all, we got some trick or treating in.




Grandma Brown made the adorable skunk costume for one of the cousins and many of them have worn it since. Ellis filled it out nicely with his chubby cheeks. And enjoyed eating the black fur.


Little piggy LOVED trick or treating.




Norah looking like a ghetto pig throwing up some gang signs here. Truth is her "head" kept falling into her eyes and so she's peaking out from under it. As far as I know pink isn't typically a gang color so I think we're okay.


Norah having fun at the church Halloween party with her cute twin friends Courtney and Aubrey. This mid-air skip-hop with sucker in mouth is accurate of just how much she loved Halloween. This girl is all about candy, being social, and dressing up, so no surprise she was all over it.


My darling little skunk looked like this all night at the church party but didn't ever really complain. Maybe he was too hot to have enough energy to. He's so cute I just can't handle it.

Fun at Apple Hill

My family never really did the Apple Hill thing, and Jason's typically only went up to get a tree for Christmas (at least that's all he remembers doing...) so, we're always experimenting to see what's fun when we go up. This year we went to Pluebell's which was a keeper. Little "petting" zoo for the kids (really it is just a bunch of animals that you can feed through the gate, but good enough), tire swing, food, and other stuff we didn't pay attention to. Rainbow Donuts is another keeper-- who wouldn't love an apple cider donut? Yummmmm. Kids Inc for dessert and a little pumpkin. We love you Apple Hill.




My cowgirl who LOVES animals and has absolutely no fear. This goat was huge, intense, and aggressive, but Norah was more than happy to make friends. Seeing her get so thrilled to see animals makes me feel a little guilty we don't have a pet. Not guilty enough to get one though. At least not yet. I figure a little brother is way more fun than a dog.

Ellis being a good sport.

I asked Norah to take a picture with her pumpkin (it's the mini one to the left of her). She told me to "hold on a sec" and as I waited for what seemed like a long time she carefully balanced her pumpkin on the big one and then sat against them. Funny girl. Now we just have to work on her smiling on command...

We're Behind....But for good reason

I know there are many family members and friends who must be sick of checking the blog only to find no new posts. My sincerest apologies, but would it help to know that we've had quite the past 2 months? Not to mention a sick last couple weeks. I got mastitis right before Thanksgiving (a breast infection....really not fun. I got it twice with Norah, but not at all with Ellis until now. He's 7 months! So weird that I would get it now). Then, just as that recovery was looking up, Jason and I both got some MAJOR food poisoning over the weekend. It was horrid. The food poisoning diet is highly effective but NOT recommended--how else could you lose 5 lbs. over Thanksgiving weekend? We had taken Norah to McDonald's around the corner so she could play on the playground on Saturday night and I had a cheeseburger and gave Jason some and, let's just say, we WEREN'T "lovin' it." Well, I guess that's what we get for reneging on our McDonald's ban after seeing Super Size Me a few years ago. Thank GOODNESS we have family around to help (thank you MOM!!!!!). Today I'm a little better, at least have enough energy to sit upright and do a quick post. The kids are healthy thankfully, although Ellis has been throwing up today while acting completely normal and energetic. Hope it doesn't develop into anything else.


So, until I get some new posts up, here's a quick look at what we've been up to:

• Halloween was fun
• Thanksgiving was great
• Norah's in a big girl bed!
• Ellis is days away from figuring out how to crawl!
• Jason accepted a call to be a seminary teacher back in October. He teaches the freshmen an early morning bible study before they go to school. They're studying the New Testament this year. He has about 20 kids in his class and is really enjoying it even with the early morning part (the teacher devotional starts at 6:15. Yikes!). The kids love him and he loves them.
• With the economy the way it is, the developer market is non-existent. Redfern closed shop and Jason's been trying to figure out what direction to go next. Most likely he'll be going back to school to get his MBA in fall, so he's started studying for the GMAT while continuing to look out for job opportunities.
• SO, now we're trying to decide what to do with our house. Rent it out while we go to school, or sell it?

See, I told you there was good reason for the delay in new posts! But, amongst all of the changes in our lives, we still have so much to be thankful for. I'm so thankful for our wonderful family who is so loving and supportive. I'm grateful for my funny, sweet, and darling kids who make everything else less important. And I'm especially blessed to have such a wonderful husband. He's a great father, a hard worker, a worthy priesthood holder, a charitable and trustworthy friend, and a loving, supportive husband who can always make me laugh. What else really matters?!

Anyway, thanks for your patience. I'll try to get some pictures up soon.....I promise!