Merry Christmas

Love, The Browns

A Phone Call to the North Pole

This evening when Bella was disobeying, John said to her, "Do you want me to call Santa and tell him that you are being naughty?" This made her stop her "naughty" behavior almost immediately. A few minutes later, John did something that Bella did not like. She proceeded to head into her bedroom, get her toy cell phone and make the following call:

Bella: "Hi Santa. Daddy is being naughty. Put him on the naughty list, OK? Bye-Bye Santa."

Bella's First Dance Recital

Bella has been in dance this fall and yesterday was her first recital. I was so proud of her. She did really good. They did two dances. One, to Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree and the second, to Under the Sea from the Little Mermaid. Bella, especially loved the second because she loves all things Disney Princess. My favorite part was her costume. How cute is the miniature coconut bra?

My TV Debut...

A CAUTIONARY TALE

Doctors and Dentists are not kidding when they say,
"DO NOT GIVE YOUR KIDS JUICE AND CRACKERS IN BED."
We, unfortunately, had to learn this lesson the hard way. So sorry, Bella.

Bella's First Primary Program

Two weeks ago, Bella was in her first Primary Program. She was so happy that Grammie Karen got to be there. She did so good. She didn't have to be promoted or anything and she repeated her part, "I am thankful for my daddy because he plays with me." We are so proud of you, Bells!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! -Love, Chicken and Jas

On Halloween, our friends, the Allreds and the Foulgers, came over for dinner. And then we went tricker treating. Chicken and Jas (what I affectionately called Chase and Bells on Halloween) loved having their friends, Hayden, Tate, Addison, Lucas, Reese and Avery over.

Chase and I went to about five houses tricker treating, while John and Bella went to a lot more! In fact, Bella had to come home, dump her bucket, and went back out. She refused to let John help her. So, most of the time she was dragging it behind her. John said that in between every house Bella would turn to him and say, "Dad, I love you! Dad, I love HALLOWEEN!"

FHE- Pumpkin Style

The Monday before Halloween we carved our pumpkins for Family Home Evening. Bella wanted a "real scary" one. So, she and daddy had spooky pumpkins and Chase and I had happy pumpkins. Bella dictated the emotion of everyone's pumpkins. We had a lot of fun and we especially enjoyed munching on the pumpkin seeds we roasted from our pumpkins.

Pumpkin Patch

A few weeks ago, I had to drive to Idaho and work for the weekend. The kids had a blast at Aunt Erin's on Friday, going to a Halloween party. Then on Saturday, daddy took them to the pumpkin patch. John said that Bella just kept bringing more and more pumpkins over. Our little family of four, ended up coming home with about 10 pumpkins. Way to go little girl!

Witches Night Out

Every year my sister, Erin, and I got to Gardner Village for Witches Night Out. It is food, shopping, and lots o' witches. We always have the best time. This year we went, with lots of friends, to Buca Di Beppo for dinner and then headed over and went shopping. It is one of my favorite nights of the year.

So Cal, Don't Call it That

The first weekend of October, we headed down to John's parent's house to be with Karen on her birthday. Julie and I drove down with all 5 kids by ourselves, and John flew in the next day. On Friday, we went to Oak Glen, this fun apple-picking community. It was a perfect fall day. Then, on Saturday, we went to the beach. Perfect. Fall and Summer all in one. It is always nice to skip town and head down and be with family.

The Killers

When it comes to music, John and I could not have more different taste. I am country. My feelings for Kenny Chesney are clear. I love Taylor Swift and would do almost anything to see George Strait at the Grand Ole Opry. John, on the other hand, loves British (insert whiny) rock. Radiohead. Muse. You get the picture. The ONLY band we can agree on is The Killers. So, they came to SLC in September and we went together. Brandon Flowers is a great performer and definitely has some flare towards the dramatic. It was a fun night. I am thankful for fun date nights with my hudband.

Another Cents of Style Giveaway!

Our Friends over at The Krazy Coupon Lady are doing a Cents of Style giveaway. Go over and comment on the giveaway and be entered to win one of 2 $20 gift cards to www.mycentsofstyle.com.

Also, enter the coupon code KCL-20% at Cents of Style's check out to receive 20% off your entire purchase. From tonight until October, 24, 2009!

Thanks and Happy Shopping!

Family Pictures

We had family pictures done a couple of weeks ago. Melissa Niu did them. I can not get over how much I love them. She did such an amazing job. I am still having a hard time deciding which to print off...

Bella's First Day of Preschool

Bella started pre-school on August 31. She was so excited. Here she is perfecting her Grandpa Bob smile.

I just had to add this one of Chase. His smile kills me.

Last year she cried when I put her on the bus, this year, she ran.

Austin, Texas

John and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary with a great trip to Austin, Texas. John and Brad had to go for work and Erin and I were lucky enough to tag along. It was the most relaxing, beautiful trip. A HUGE shout out to Julie for watching our babes.

This is the ranch we stayed at the first night. It was so beautiful. I could come and stay here anytime...

...we fished...

...John got a ATV stuck in the mud...

...the guys golfed and we tanned. Perfection.

This is the rotunda of the Texas State Capitol. We went there on our last day before heading to the airport. It was a gorgeous building and we learned some super fascinating facts about the Lone Star State. IE- There state legislature only meets once every other year. Ok, maybe that is only interesting to me.