Adventures with the Browns

A little randomness

2019-03-11T14:29:00.001-05:00

Just going through my pictures and thought I would try to wrap up 2018 with a few random pictures. As you can tell it goes from Thanksgiving to Christmas and all in between. But wait....there will be more to come.

Have no idea what they are looking so intently at.

Basketball season

2019-02-01T11:12:00.002-06:00

In the fall the two older boys played football with pads, tackling etc. Now it is basketball season and all three of the boys are playing. It is so fun to watch them play and see how much they have learned. Isaiah of course because he is just in kindergarten is really fun to watch. Each player wears a colored arm band so they can match the same color arm band with a player on the other team. This is who they will "guard". Right. So far they have bumped their arms band together like they were some kind of super hero, they have had group hugs and lots of nose picking. Ugh! And like Jonah, Isaiah doesn't really run down the court but kind of jumps and bounces. Last year Jonah would gallop. Guess we are going to have to teach these kids how to run but it sure is cute to watch them bounce.

Have no idea what these boys are looking at. Must be something really good.

I am so behind!!!!!

2019-01-28T12:56:00.001-06:00

I can't believe I have gone this long without blogging and mainly posting pictures. So here goes. Randomness at its best...….

Well that was written in November and here is January. I have never gone this long without posting pictures. Don't know why except I have been in kind of a slump. I have lots of pictures but no desire to post anything. Also I am having trouble getting the pictures from my phone to my computer without uploading all of my thousands of pictures all at once. Hopefully I will finally figure it out and start posting again. But saying all of that, I am just going to start with the beginning of the month of January...….first hiking some with light jackets and some with shorts and tank tops.

then the snow a few days later....

More to come.

Our Family

2018-10-04T14:28:00.002-05:00

Going to be posting some more vacation pictures but seems like our vacations get crazier every year. I guess that's why Jessica bought a pillow for her home that says "My family must be God's favorite sitcom." Someday I'm going to look back at all our vacations and see what was going on in them but for now I am posting pictures before and after the tropical storm/hurricane. First off is our annual up before daylight, let's go picture of the kids. Yes we are those people that leave in the middle of the night.

Next we had to get our "year" picture. Lily wouldn't get in the picture, oh well.

Then each boy had to write his name in the same. I love it.

They were down on the beach almost as soon as we got everything unloaded. These kids love the sand and beach.

Jenny fixed each of the kids a shark tooth digging kit complete with great white shark teeth and megaladon shark teeth. Some were real and some she made but you really couldn't tell the difference. As you can see from their expressions, they loved it.

And were very serious about finding these teeth.

As you can see, the first couple of days it was stormy, even before "Gordon" came ashore but at the same time a lot of the rain before hand stayed way out in the ocean.

We did have a visitor.

The waves were pretty big before the storm.

We love the birds

Where we stay

2018-09-19T17:15:00.000-05:00

I have had several people through the years of going to Dauphin Island ask me where do we stay? We have been going down there for seven years now and we always rent a house on the beach. Not one house back or across the street or on the bay side but on the gulf side on the beach with the water nearly at our back door. Not sure I had ever rented a house before we started going to the island but I figured if I went with a realty company surely I wouldn't get scammed. I looked for months at all the realty company websites there, VRBO, Homeaway and just googled "beach houses". I finally settled on Dauphin Island Realty. Houses to rent on the beach are kind of expensive unless you go in the off season which is what we have done because the grandkids were either young enough to not be in school or it was OK to take them out for a week. Another thing you have to be very careful of is the pictures of the house. If you don't see a picture from the deck looking right at the water and it says "gulf views", look out. Probably not right on the beach and you better at least talk to the realtor about the location. Pictures can be deceiving. Dauphin Island Realty (DIRE) has been great to work with. We have never ever had any problems. This year we even had to deal with a coming tropical storm/hurricane in which we had to evacuate for one night. And yes, we got reimbursed for that one night without even having to ask for it.
I'm sure there are other companies to rent from but this has been our experience and it has been Great.

Fall is here but not the cool weather

2018-09-17T19:07:00.002-05:00

In this part of the country when Fall arrives, about the only way you know it is that school is starting. And with school starting that also means football games. This year we have three starting school and two playing football. The kids are growing up so fast. Such handsome young men. Melts my heart.

Isaiah was so excited to start kindergarten.

Three brothers Brown.....

Supposed to be serious but Jonah just couldn't do it.

AND just as school gets started, we go on vacation to our absolutely most favorite place. This will be our last year to go during school since Noah is getting older.

It was stormy the first couple of days. Hehe. Like Hurricane stormy. Got to the island on Saturday and had to go to Mobile for the night on Tuesday. It was a hurricane until it hit land and then was a tropical storm. What an adventure. Spend the night in Mobile, tried to get back to our rented house the next day but couldn't so we stayed in a house further up on the island and finally got back in on Thursday. Still had a great vacation.

This is what I like to do. Just sit (in a chair) in the water. Ahhhhhh.

Notice the difference in the waves? From big to calm. So nice.

While in Mobile, we saw some really cool old buildings before the storm hit there.

This was really cool. Just read.

While at the motel, we ate, made up games, watched some tv, went downstairs so we could see and hear the storm. We couldn't hear it at all in our rooms.

And finally our pirate greeting us at the Maritime museum. ARGGGGGGGGG.

2018-08-29T19:53:00.003-05:00

Slumber party at Aunt Jessica's. What's cooler than that....making a tent to sleep in, making popcycles, getting movies and toys. Doesn't get any better.

Last Silver Dollar City trip before school starts.

It is well

2018-08-15T10:25:00.000-05:00

As I sit in my beautiful home with the outside being a rainy, gloomy kind of day, I realize it really is well with my soul. The last few months have been trying to say the least but I am finally able to say "It is well". I will follow the path You want me to go down, not the one I think I should go. I am so abundantly blessed. Through this, I have found my way back to a much closer relationship with Jesus. Looking out my windows, I am reminded how good God has been to me. Yes, it is raining A LOT, but it is warm, dry and cozy inside. He has been coming after me and I don't think I even realized it because I was so busy with life. I have definitely been slowed down. I have time to listen now. To just rest in his arms of love feels so good. We all need to slow down so we can listen and experience this wonderful love of God. Believe me, I know it is hard to slow down. We lead such busy lives and I know this has been said thousands of times but we need this. Just clearing our minds so we can soak up His goodness even if just a short time everyday.

Blink

2018-08-13T17:35:00.000-05:00

What? July is gone for this year? No, can't be. I just blinked and the summer is about over. But I have more pictures to post. I can't keep up. Well, here are pictures of July 4th from the square in our little town, ice cream, shooting our own fireworks and having a great show right here in our backyard.

Busy, busy, busy

2018-07-25T10:48:00.004-05:00

The kids have had already a very busy summer but that's a good thing. I love that I get to be more of a part of the summer with them since I have "retired". We have had camp which pictures are already posted, birthdays, FASDOGs, swimming, and much more.

At the Janet Huckabee Nature Center

Spending those tickets makes decisions so hard

water park fun

Miss Prissy Britches

After FASDOGS. This is a program at the school for all athletes, boys and girls, for speed and strength training that starts when the child is entering the third grade. Noah went last year and this is Jonah's first year. They both love it. For the boys this sometimes leads into playing football which for our guys it has.

Birthdays are a special time in our family. We celebrate sometimes for days.

T-ball swimming parties are such fun too including getting that trophy,

And let's don't forget facepainting. It's a lot different now than when I used to do it.

Let pad camp begin

A few more and I'm done

2018-07-19T12:18:00.004-05:00

I love going back and looking at all the camp photos that everyone has taken. They are priceless. So I'm going to post a few more and then I'll move on to something else. I'm kind of getting behind on posting pics. First off Jamie is helping his kids make their camp shirts.

Group pic of kids camp

getting ready for s'mores. Yum

worship time. I love seeing these kids pour their hearts out to God.

Future camp director

Papa and his girl

Jonah loves climbing this wall at the swimming pool

Game time before service

hiking

Camp

2018-07-18T15:52:00.002-05:00

Another year of church camp has come and gone and it was awesome. Yes I was exhausted afterwards, yes I really wish our cabin was in better condition but I think everyone had a great time and lives were changed. That is what it is all about. I think the following pictures say it all.

Best friends

This one loves camp even though he is not quite old enough yet but has been going for several years.

three cuties

Can we say dirty???? I think so.

loves his ice cream especially after swimming

Just about out. When the thumb is in the mouth it is nap time.

In their down time, the kids and teen always are playing some kind of card game.

Love these two

A new journey

2018-07-09T09:35:00.000-05:00

A new journey awaits me. I haven't found what it is yet but with Gods help and direction I am confident that He isn't finished with me yet. God is so good. That's not to say that this hasn't been a trying couple of months. I have never not worked outside the home except for a short time years ago but I had children at home. Now it is just me and Gary so sometimes I get kind of lost. But I know that if I trust in Him, He will take me where I need to go. This morning listening to worship music has been so refreshing. If you ever get the chance, listen to Bethel Worship. For now, I am just going to rest in His arms and wait on Him with my eyes on Him.

More time, Less posts

2018-07-02T14:11:00.002-05:00

Well, now that I am at home, I don't seem to think about my blog as much. I do have lots of pictures to post because it has already been a very busy summer. I think I will start with the boys and tennis camp. Isaiah was old enough to go to tennis camp this year and he loves it. This is really called First Serve put on by the FCA. I love that they start each session with prayer. So here goes and this is picture heavy.

What a month

2018-06-05T10:55:00.000-05:00

This month started off with a bang as in losing my job of 18 years, 5 years worth of pictures and also trying to get ready for another Junk Ranch show and camp. Whew! So I am going to just post pictures I do have. Starting with Isaiah and his T-ball. He is loving it and so cute.

Next is little Daisy Mae or Lily our strawberry picker and eater.

End of school field trip to Wild Things Farm. Can't believe this cutie is going to be in the third grade soon.

Noah loves dressing up and this time it is the greatest showman. He is so funny.

So sweet to be reading to the little kids.

AWARDS!

Bestest Friends

AWARDS! and teacher

teacher

I didn't even go

2018-05-01T11:49:00.000-05:00

A few weeks back, Jessica took her youth group to the Young Christian Weekend at Silver Dollar City in Branson. Jamie went with her to help out and in turn took his two older boys and a friend. I didn't go but sure have enjoyed the pictures they took. I know they all had a blast even if it was freezing cold.

Nothing like a giant turkey leg wrapped in his favorite food.....BACON!!!

Cold here but....

guess it warmed up later at the concert.

Hey I need one of these at home.

Best friends

I am thankful that the teens love our boys so much and don't mind at all if they crash their trip.

Even dad got in the fun.

We always rent a house for this trip and this way they can cook instead of always having to go out to eat. Besides, Jamie loves cooking breakfast for everyone.

Their traditional goofy picture at Silver Dollar City.

Love these kids and adults.

The hunt.

2018-04-26T12:05:00.000-05:00

And....they're off. Even Lily is old enough this year to really get into the spirit of the hunt.

And I just had to post a picture of the "hiders".

More Easter pictures

2018-04-13T11:37:00.002-05:00

Love the boys "Easter baskets/laundry baskets" they brought to the egg hunt the City of Barling holds each year. They love coming to this one.

Lily has really gotten the hang of this egg hunting thing this year.

Then Sunday on to Aunt Detra's where the hunting is fine but the prize basket is soooo much better. But first we had to do individual pictures and group cousin pictures. So thankful these guys get to see each other enough that they don't have any bashfulness when they get together. They just start playing like they just saw each other yesterday.

This picture just might embarrass these two when they are older, but maybe not.

These two have been having their picture taken from here.....

to here.....

Hope they will always be close.

Pictures, pictures and more

2018-04-10T10:53:00.001-05:00

As a family, we take tons of pictures and since I use this blog as a way to eventually get my pictures printed in one place, I post a lot of pictures here. So here goes for our Easter pictures. Also, although we do have a lot of fun at Easter, we also know why we even have Easter. Jesus was crucified, died and the rose again. Thank you Jesus for your sacrifice, for your love, for everything you do for us day after day but especially for the love that you gave us on the cross. Someday we will see you face to face and what a wonderful day that will be.
We start with our annual Easter egg dying of the eggs. I started not to do that his year because of the disinterest the two older boys had with the Christmas cookies but decided to go ahead since the two little ones were still interested. Turns out the older boys loved it too.

The longest ride part II

2018-03-28T10:52:00.002-05:00

OK so here is the second and final part to the longest ride. After we left Guthrie, we started back towards Stillwater because that is where the race ended as well as started. We didn't really have anything to do, outside of taking a nap which I definitely did, but wait and watch. But it wasn't long before riders began coming in to cross the finish line.

Looks like they have spotted Jenny coming in the cross the finish line.

The boys got to run in with Jenny crossing the finish line all together.

Whitney couldn't wait to greet Jen.

Isaiah was very serious about helping Jenny with her bike.

These kids adore her.

She is dirty but not quite like last year.

Yes even Mom was glad to see her finish safe and sound.

This picture is "Whipper" as Jamie calls her and the "Jamester" and Whitney calls him. So special.

After a quick shower, we all went to eat. I don't know how Jenny had the energy to even do a quick shower much less go eat with a bunch of starving people who asked her a million questions. But we all had a great time and my only regret is that we weren't there for her last year seeing as how it was so miserably wet and cold for her.

Oh one last thought......I think we have a new land run 100 participant in the making.

The longest ride

2018-03-21T14:54:00.001-05:00

This was the longest ride, not in history or anything like that, but it was a very long ride. For me, it would be a non-existant ride but for my oldest daughter, Jenny, it was just a very long ride. And on a bicycle no less. 100 MILES. In ONE day. Last weekend Jenny participated in Oklahoma's LandRun 100 in Stillwater. If you remember your history, this was one of the locations of the beginning of the famous Land Rush of 1889. So this "run" is appropriately named LandRun 100. This race goes from Stillwater to Guthrie and back. This year, we brought a support team for Jenny, which we should have been doing all along. The thoughtful mother that I am just didn't think of it before. It took Jenny's Aunt Detra, to spearhead all of us going. We brought food, drink, snacks like we thought we would never eat again. The race started at 8 with a break at Guthrie and then ended whenever the rider gets back to Stillwater. So now, just a few of the many pictures taken during the race.

Here we all are supporting Jenny just before the race is set to begin. As you can see it was pretty cold with the boys and Gary forgetting their coats. And it looks like Isaiah is getting some instructions on the app to be able to follow along on the phone with Jenny's progress.

And this is only a very small idea of how many people were in this race. I'm not sure of the number but it has been estimated that around 1400 bikers started the race. After the bikers started, we all got in our cars and headed toward Guthrie. Jenny would be there in about three hours.

And here she comes....

We had a tent set up next to her team tent (which at the time we didn't know we had done that.) with her food all ready and some for us. The kids were all excited. The team tent did a little bit of maintenance on her bike while she ate. Just hung her bike on the bar and they went to work. So cool.

Such a short stop and then she was ready to finish this race.

and there she goes back to Stillwater to finish this 100 MILE RACE! Man am I tired.

The last bits

2018-03-19T14:25:00.001-05:00

Just posting the last bits of winter (if you can call it that) pictures. Maybe snow next year.

You can tell it's not very cold by the way the kids are dressed. I'm sure there are people in the northeast that would gladly give us a few feet of their snow.

Blessed

2018-03-06T13:52:00.000-06:00

I am one blessed person! If I didn't say anything other than that it would be enough. But I am blessed in every way you can be blessed. No my life has not been perfect. I've had my share of loss but even through that God has been there with me and my family supporting us. My mother had a favorite poem I'm sure you have read where it asks the question of why at one point there is only one set of footprints. I love the answer: that is where I was carrying you. Such a comfort. One particular way I am blessed is that I get to see my grandchildren almost every day. We live close enough that they can and do walk to our house. I do know I would not like any of my kids living hours and hours away and that I wouldn't get to see them but a couple times a year if even that. I am so thankful to Jesus for his blessings.

Wow

2018-02-26T13:46:00.000-06:00

Where do I start! Gary had the flu this past weekend and needed to find someone to speak for him on Sunday. He asked Jessica and of course she said yes. That alone is amazing to me because I never would have thought Jessica would be very comfortable speaking in front of the entire church. She speaks to our youth every week but that is an entirely different setting. She has been our youth pastor I guess about 13 years now. She does an incredible job with them and truly loves all the kids that pass through her youth group. Jess is actually a rather quiet person BUT once when she was in elementary school I did get a note from her teacher stating that she was talking too much in class. Jessica?! Her Papa just couldn't believe that but if you have ever taken a trip with her, you'll soon find out she just can't be quiet. She is either telling a very long story or just singing. So naturally when she was a teenager she became one of the worship team singers in her youth group. Then there came a time when she felt God's calling on her life to not sing anymore but to speak to youth which she has been doing ever since. Jessica has spoken a couple of times in the Sunday morning service but yesterday was incredible. She is one of those few people that you know without doubt that Jesus is the most important person in her life and she loves Him with everything she has. If you ever want to see what a true Christian looks like and lives like, just look at her. I know Jess wouldn't want me saying this and NO she is not perfect at all. If you are reading this and get the chance to hear her from yesterday's service, do it. It was so annointed. You can hear her at Victory Church, then go to the videos. I am proud of all of my children, they are all amazing. But right now I am very proud of her.

Birthday

2018-02-23T12:22:00.002-06:00

Someone had a birthday this month. Well, actually several someone's in our family have birthdays this month but I am talking about a very special little girl who is growing up way too fast. She is three. Wow.