The Ultrasound...

Well, apparently my pictures didn't scan very well. Oh well, we'll make do!

1-The first picture is of the feet crossed.

2-The second picture is a bum shot so you can see if it's a boy or a girl.

3-The last picture is of the heart and the heartbeat.

Basically, Brookelyn has 10 fingers and 10 toes! Yes, Samantha FINALLY gets a sister! She couldn't be happier. We'll see how long that feeling lasts when she isn't the center of attention anymore!

Bown Family Pictures 2010

This digital slideshow generated with Smilebox Thanks again to Shalise for taking these! We love them lots & are excited to print them!

Our Weekend at a Glance

Saturday:

1-Go to Hyrum's Holiday at the Hardware - check.

2-Visit Santa and have mom's head chopped off in the photo - check

3-Wait in line to go on a sleigh ride to "see Santa's elk" - check

4-After waiting in line for 20 minutes and moving 3 feet give up and decide to come back another day with dad - check.

5-Finish 12 of 18 rows on a levi quilt - check.

6-Sell something on my etsy website - check.

7-Sell an apron & 2 bags to a friend - check.

8-Make 3 trips to Logan when I wasn't planning on making any trips at all - check.

9-Tuck all 3 kids in bed at 10:30 pm and NOT have a single one get out of bed - CHECK!!

10-Stay up until 2 am working on sewing projects - check.

11-Make 3 more goodies for the Christmas plates for neighbors - check.

Sunday:

1-Wake up to Nash croup coughing - check.

2-Wake up to 2 children and a dog in my bed - check.

3-Watch Drake & Josh's Holiday Show with kids - check.

4-Bake for 3 hours straight and not finish the Christmas baking - check.

5-Wonder why on Earth Caleb keeps striping down and running through the house like a wild streaker man - check.

6-Kill a batch of Pineapple Upside Down Cupcakes - check.

7-Do a few batches of laundry but don't get it put away - check.

8-Decide to bake "just one more" Christmas treat at 9 pm - check.

9-Get a bunch of stuff ready to mail tomorrow - check.

10-Wrap Sam's teacher present for her to take to school tomorrow - check.

11-Be super excited about my ultrasound tomorrow - CHECK!

Sarah's Key

I just finished reading Sarah's Key last night. This was a book I inherited from my aunt. I love reading historical fiction and I thought I'd read quite a bit about WW2 (it's my favorite time period because of all the interesting politics that were going on). Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that this book dealt with something that happened in France in 1942 that I had read (and known) NOTHING about! It was a super good book. I was about 1/2 way through it when I laid down to read last night. I couldn't put it down (surprise) and finished it at 2:04 am!

Things you should know before you read this book:

1-There were quite a few French names of people & places (glad I took French for 3 out of 4 of my high school years!), but I was able to decipher them well enough to understand what was going on.

2-It deals with a part of the Holocaust that occurred in France. The reason I think you should know this is that not everyone can deal with that (it was harder for me this time - maybe because I'm pregnant?). What was especially heart wrenching was the description of what happened to the little children. (It was told from the point of view of a 10 yr. old girl.)

3-There are a few cuss words (not too bad though).

4-I found the attitude of the French citizens toward what happened difficult to understand. So many people are knowledgeable about the events of the Holocaust and are sensitive to them. The author portrayed the French citizens as totally indifferent to what happened to the French Jews- both in 1942 and in current day. That bothered me. Not that they were indifferent in 1942, I can understand that, but their indifference to what happened today.

Anyway, it was a great book and I'd highly recommend it. If you want to borrow it, just let me know!

Festival of the Trees

Before I tell you about the Festival of the Trees, I must say how thoroughly happy I am that my 5 year old SON will play Barbies with my 7 year old DAUGHTER. In fact, he was perfectly content to play Barbies by HIMSELF while she was busy doing homework! How awesome is that? Not necessarily that he plays Barbies, but that he plays with his big sister so willingly and at HER choice of playing!

Last night Samantha danced at the Festival of Trees with her dance group, LaShar's. I had never been before, so I had no idea what to expect. I know it's a fundraiser for Primary Children's Hospital (which holds a special place in my heart), but that's about it.

I learned that they have AMAZING gingerbread houses that are put up for sale. Can you even imagine creating this sucker?!
They also had quilts, center pieces, wreathes, and trees of all shapes and sizes that had been decorated and placed for sale. I think I might try and find out how to donate items to be sold for next year.

The entire Expo Center was decorated beautifully...
This is Sam all costumed, make up'd and ready to go...

Her group, Dyna-kids...
Getting ready for a practice run...
The entire group of LaShar's girls that performed...
They also have a "kids corner" at Festival of Trees. You buy tickets (3/$1.00) and then the kids can do different activities with their tickets. I bought Sam $5 worth of tickets (so 15 tickets). She got her face tattooed, made a stained glass ornament, painted a plaster ornament, visited the giving tree, made some sand layering (that got shook up and is not a beautiful assortment of colors instead of the nice even layers), oh and she made a reindeer light bulb ornament too.
This tree made of lights was out in the foyer. It was HUGE!
She did great and had fun. I videoed her dances but it is taking FOREVER to try and load them. Perhaps I'll try that again another day!