find joy in the journey

happy thanksgiving

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

angry face!

The Christmas card photo shoot was today.  Thank goodness it took less than 10 minutes and we got some great shots.  But to keep things light and fun, and to make sure you get some natural smiles in there from the kids sometimes you have to shout silly things like, "monkeys with pickle hair!"  or have all the boys say "princess!".  But the best way to lighten the mood is to throw in a few fun poses like . . . . angry face!!!  A sneak peek . . . .

 

That's my angry face claw.  And Anna . . . . this is one of the few pictures where she actually smiled.  Her real angry face can be found in several other outtakes.  Conner's is more like "alien-horror-movie-face".  And Payton - just too cute to look angry. 

ANOTHER happy day!

 

Yaaayy!!!  I'm just soooo thrilled!  

On Friday alone the movie made $35 million (that's the 14th best first-day gross OF ALL TIME).  And it only cost them $37million to make the movie.  I thought we'd have to wait the whole weekend before hearing an announcement like this . . . . I'm really interested to see what the final weekend numbers will be.

But most of all . . . . I'm excited for the Volturi, a birthday paper-cut, cliff jumping, motorcycle riding, some crazy wolf transformations, and more Edward!

dazzled

The day has finally come . . . . Twilight the movie!!!  Who knew it would get this huge?!  Twilight is everywhere.  And to think . . .  I was stalking the set, getting pictures with actors & the director, and dropping off birthday balloons for Kristen Stewart before most of the country even knew what Twilight was.

I loved it!  I'm already making plans to see it again.  With Scott, and probably one more time after that.  Hey - gotta do my part to make sure New Moon happens. :)

My favorite parts:

• the baseball scene -- by far the most entertaining scene of the movie.  Smile on my face the whole time.
• the ballet scene -- loved it!  I loved it because it made me feel the same emotions & intensity I do when reading the book.
• Edward's smile -- dazzling, for sure.
• The end, in the gazebo -- their relationship has really solidified and they look so comfortable together, it makes me want to see more!
• The Cullen family -- they were great.  Alice was a total cutie.  I just wish there was more of them in the movie.  I would've loved to see Alice play prom dress-up on Bella.
• Seeing my town in so many parts of the movie!
• The soundtrack - #6

I'm a happy girl tonight.

bits of sunshine on an otherwise cloudy, rainy day

• watching/listening to Anna sing her heart out at play group.  Those dimples are trouble. :)
• walking out of Papa Murphy's and having a group of high school girls call out to me, "hey, I like your hair."
• receiving a cool retro style kitchen timer in a package today.  Thanks, mom.
• two quiet hours in the temple
• coming home to a clean house and delightful notes about our children

I've got a scary mask on my face right now, finish this sentence, and I am off to bed.

weekly report

Not much time to blog or think about blogging this week . . . so here's a little synopsis of what we've been up to.

Attended my first auxiliary training for primary on Tuesday night.  The kids sang the new primary song for 2009, "My Eternal Family" and they were just wonderful!  Even Anna sang along for most of the song and she knew the words.  I wasn't sure if I liked this song at first, but it quickly caught on.  The kids love it and sing it all the time.  It has a good solid rhythm (almost like marching) and many of the lines begin with, "I am a builder . . ."

Got a haircut.  My last cut was in May, so this was long overdue.

Made a cute ribbon key fob for my bazillion primary keys.

Spent some time at the church going through the primary closet.  The contents behind door number one were quite shocking and scary -- thankfully, it belonged to another ward. Phew!  Our closet, on the other hand, had been very well taken care of.  Thank you! 

Planning my first ever sharing time.

Created a photo book from snapfish.com for free!  How sweet is that!  I filled the book with pictures from our Disneyland trip.  I think the kids will love flipping through it.  They still bring out the Disneyland album from 2005 quite often.

Watched absolutely no tv.  Lots of DVR episodes to catch up on.  Well, except for the news in the morning while I'm gliding on the elliptical.  Yes, I am working out - shocking, I know.  I'm shocked!  Everyday, M-F, for the past 3 weeks.  I won't say much more because I don't want to jinx myself.  This kind of habit is a delicate thing.

Got my teeth cleaned.  And x-rays.  Free and clear for another 4 months. :)

Took Conner to the orthodontist.  He has some crazy over-crowding -- one of his bottom teeth is starting to come in behind the other teeth because there is no room for it.  So the recommended plan of action is to have our dentist remove 4 baby canine teeth.  Merry Christmas Conner!

Cut all the boys' hair.

Held our first primary presidency meeting.

Received 9 packages this week.  It's always a happy day when you come home to a brown box on your doorstep.

Family dinner out on Thursday.  Sweet & sour chicken / chicken nuggets at B___'s.  We always order the sauce separate from the chicken.  That way the kids can dip the plain deep-fried chicken in ketchup.

Basketball practice and a game for Conner.  Today he scored his first basket!  I was so excited for him!  He is loving the game and he is a great defensive player.  He told us that he wants to keep playing basketball until he is in 12th grade.

And I think that's about it.  Tomorrow we have church, Conner is scheduled to have his baptismal interview with the bishop (yes, he is getting baptized in less than 2 weeks!),  I'm doing a little visiting teaching, and hoping I can make it to choir practice.  The "plan" is to spend next week doing some major de-cluttering.  Wish me luck!

we welcome you today to primary

Two weeks ago I sat down in the bishop's office with Scott by my side and listened to the bishop share some sage advice from President Monson given at the most recent general conference.  Change in life is inevitable.  And change can be a good thing.

Ever since receiving the phone call a few hours earlier my mind thought, surely this new calling is for Scott.  I mean, he's been in the young men's presidency for 5 1/2 years!  But . . . my heart knew otherwise.  It was for me.

And so, today in church I was sustained as the new PrimaryPresident.  This has been a humbling experience . . . to have this kind of responsibility placed upon me.  For the first week after talking to the bishop every time the words "primary president" entered my mind, my heart & stomach would get that "I'm going to be sick or hyperventilate" kind of feeling.  Counselor - I can do counselor.  But to be president - the one in charge, the one who has to deal with all the stuff . . . .

{sigh} Happily, this week I entered the calm zone.  I can do this.  We can do this.  I guess I feel like expectations are high -- expectations I've set for myself.  And I have to remind myself that there will be a learning/adjustment period, some time to work out the kinks, to figure out what the heck I'm doing.

On a very positive note . . . . I'm excited about the women that I will get to work with.  I'm excited for next year's theme - My Eternal Family - and getting to teach the children about building eternal families and how important this is.  I'm thankful that I've had this last year in the primary (as chorister) to get to know the kids and get a feel for how things work (otherwise, I really would've been lost).  I'm excited for all the possibilities & new experiences that this change will bring.

Hey, just a few hours into the job and I can already add a first to my list . . . . I got to attend Cub Scout committee meeting this afternoon.  :)

two weeks and

2 hours and 22 minutes to go . . . .

and I can hardly wait!!!!

Paramore - New Music - More Music Videos

A video about adding the musical score.  Chills!!  And did you see the blood dripping from the corners of Edward's mouth?!

And a few choice movie stills . . .

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

okay, okay.  That was more than a few.  I had a hard time narrowing it down. :) 

husband tag

{photo taken April 2008}

Full name - Scott Ray Brown

How long have you been married?  Almost 10 years! 

How long did you date?  7 months, including engagement. 

Who eats the most sweets?  Scott.  He has this thing for peanut M&M's and buys them by the jumbo bag.  But he's cut back a ton in the last few weeks as we've both established some healthy goals.

Who said I love you first?  He did.  And guess what I said in return? . . . . "thanks." 

Who's taller?  Um, Scott by 7-8 inches

Who sings better?  He does.  He has a much better musical ear than I do.

Who's smarter?  Well, if you asked Conner he would say, dad.

Who does the laundry?  That one is ALL me.  Although he has helped me fold the clothes on occasion.

Who pays the bills?  He pays the big bills, I pay the little bills.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed?  Me.  We started out our marriage with me on the left and we quickly discovered (one night) that that was not going to work.  I woke up practically hanging off the edge with this guy sprawled out spread-eagle across the rest of the king-size bed.

Who mows the lawn?  That one is ALL Scott.  I have never operated a lawn mower in my life.  And creating the diagonal patterns in the lawn is one of his true joys in life.  Why steal it from him?

Who drives?  Usually Scott.  Especially (if not entirely) on big trips.

Who admits they are wrong?  I'd say we're about equal.  Although it takes a lot of work, because we're both pretty sure we're right all the time.

Who kissed who first?  The official first kiss was mutual.  But there were 1 1/2 unsuccessful attempts before that - I gave him the dodge.  Sorry honey!

Who asked out who first?  Scott asked me out to lunch when an unexpected opening appeared in his work schedule (he worked morning/afternoons and nights).

Who wears the pants?  ha!  I'd like to think that we each have a leg in those pants. :)

{tagged by Heidi}

photo scavenger hunt

 

mom's photo scavenger hunt challenge.

• where you go to church
• pink shoes - size 7 1/2
• fall colored tree
• a live bird - I count 39
• children smiling - this morning before school
• a man's tie - Scott before work this morning in his new purple shirt & tie.
• something half eaten - we attempted the Spam, but there's no way I could eat half of that.  One tiny bite was enough!
• water falling - on my windshield yesterday at school pick-up