Brown Family Blog

16 Years Old!

2008-10-06T14:37:00.005-06:00

Happy 16th Trey! This weekend we celebrated Trey's 16th birthday with a very unexpected surprise party. We had it all planned out that Trey would go to the football game, and when he came back home his friends would all be sitting in the basement waiting for him. Boy were we surprised when he came home from his soccer game saying he wasn't going to the football game! Mom pulled one of those fake phone calls while Trey was in the bathroom (you know the ones where mom calls the home phone with her cell phone and pretends to be talking to someone?). Trey caught her, but finally he agreed to go with us. We were saved and the party all worked out!

Surprise!

The drivers license doesn't come here till your 16 1/2 so Trey's just going to have to wait a little while yet for that one.

Pennsylvania!

2008-10-06T14:17:00.006-06:00

Alright! We have finally started to get settled in here in Pennsylvania. We're really enjoying it here and the kids have made some many friends already.

Some action shots of Trey will come soon but for now this is what we've got. Trey is number 16 and plays mid-field on the J.V. team.

While the Engle grandparents were in town, they showed us the real Lancaster county. We went down to the fair grounds Dad used to go to when he was little, and had a good time. The best part was the tractors. Andrew loved climbing up on top of them.

First day of school for Courtney, Nick

2008-09-04T20:31:00.002-06:00

What is happenin with the Naylors

2008-07-03T12:33:00.004-06:00

Powell got the Dick Garber award for lacrosse. His team won the state championship.
Powells soccer team got 1st in his tournmanet and were undefeated in the league.
Powell has braces!!!!
Breck got straight As her whole 8th grade year.

2008-07-02T16:44:00.007-06:00

On the alpine slide.

Powell doing flips on the tramp.
The boys.
At Park City!!!

Breck blacked out and ran into this fountain multple times. Woops!
Our California trip to Disney when the boys were in Spain.
Crew with his friends at Taylor and Cydney Bryans rodeo.

The boys in spain. This is the Barcelona soccer stadium.

Crew at prom.

Breck the 8th grade dance

Naylor Happenings

2008-07-02T16:41:00.002-06:00

Here is a picture of Powell at the Lacrosse tournament in Park City. He's taking a face off.

Sheryl swimming with the Dolphins

2008-06-26T14:15:00.003-06:00

This is a picture of when I swam with the dolphins in the Bahamas. Joyce Ricks is next to me. The rest are either Dan McCormick's family or the Bennett family.

Jason in Brazil

2008-06-26T14:02:00.009-06:00

This is a bird we saw in the street while knockin doors:

Sweet monkey. I was like 4 feet from it. Sweet!

LEFT: The temple of sao paulo.I let a member borrow my camera to go to sao paulo to the temple. So i got to save this pic on the memory card. usually you arent allowed to take your camera to the temple while in the ctm. So it is cool.

RIGHT: Marli's baptism

Fashion Show

2008-06-18T15:45:00.007-06:00

For todays activity the kids had a fashion show with some of their friends. Each one found a skirt and a pair of shoes from Jordan's closet and put together their own creative outfit. The shows theme was "Modest is the Hottest".

These were the winners!

Eagle Scout

2008-06-15T13:32:00.017-06:00

Trey received his Eagle Scout Award June 14, 2008 in a ceremony honoring 6 scouts in Troop 1046. Trey's Eagle project included clearing and replanting a 60 ft x 60 ft area at the Bloomfield Hills Nature Center that had been damaged by Dutch Elm Disease. Trey had 70 volunteers for a total of 221.5 service hours. One of the badges Trey earned that most represents his experience during his scouting years is the Portuguese Interpreters Strip. Trey was the class interpreter in his young men/sunday school class translating the English taught lesson into Portuguese for the Brazilian members of the class. Great work Trey!

Beginning of Summer!

2008-06-12T18:07:00.011-06:00

We've been celebrating summer here by going to Greenfield Village, playing at the malls play-land (a giant replica of a picnic) and hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa. Needless to say, it's been a busy week.

We rode the train around the park

We rode in the horse carriage pulled by Abe and Lincoln

The merry-go-round played one of our favorite songs

"In the Good Old Summertime"

We played tag on life sized food

(Nick felt like superman jumping off the food)

Graduation Pictures

2008-06-12T17:50:00.012-06:00

5th Grade Graduate

2008-06-10T20:02:00.002-06:00

Katie had a full year at Quarton Elementary School. She joined every possible club. Some of her favorites were choir, orchestra, chess, student council and safety patrol.

Katie was this years recipient of the the Character Education Award. Katie was recognized for coming to school everyday with a smile on her face! This award includes positive attitude, kindness, helpfulness, work ethic and accountability. Her teachers said "Katie can be counted on to make great choices showing integrity and honesty." Katie's name was engraved on a plaque that remains in the main hallway at her school.

We love you Katie - our Sunshine Girl!

6-9-08 Pictures from Jason

2008-06-10T14:35:00.013-06:00

LEFT: My name tag.

RIGHT: Chillin' at the Branch President's house.

LEFT: Wesley's baptism.

RIGHT: Elder Fox and me, he's my ZL.

A lizard in my bedroom.

LEFT: Our new church during the day.

RIGHT: At night, it will be dedicated on the 28th of this month. Dallins bday, and Holly's.

Pictures from Jason's Mission

2008-06-05T11:35:00.020-06:00

Valdson and me. My favorite investigator until now. He is a stud. He is from my last area in Anapolis:

My best friends on the mish, Elder Willie in the middle and Elder Williams on the side. Both are from my group and Williams was my comp in the CTM:

Fabricio at his batismo. Sweet baptismal jumpsuit:

The district here in Aparecida:

Elder Flanagan (my comp who is now at byu) and me at a buffet pizza restaurant:

My study area:

A frog that was in our house:

Newton's baptism:

Dallin takes STATE in Tennis!

2008-05-21T15:38:00.008-06:00

We got to see Dallin compete in the State Tennis Finals last Saturday at Liberty Park. We all wore our Timpview orange shirts in support of Dallin and his team. Timpview took state as a team and Dallin took 1st place in doubles. This is the second year in a row that Dallin has taken state, and he still has his senior year ahead of him. WAY TO GO DALLIN!

Here are links to articles in the Deseret News and in the Daily Herald. The pictures are from the Daily Herald.

http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700226947,00.html

http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/266793/140/

We understand that both Powell and Crew were competing in the state finals for Lacrosse this past weekend down in Vegas. Powell took state for his age group. GREAT JOB CREW & POWELL!

WE WERE THERE!

2008-05-11T08:22:00.018-06:00

The day after we returned from New Zealand we rented a Disney movie as a family. In the previews for the movie we watched a trailer for the new Narnia movie. Holly and I literally jumped out of our seats while watching the trailer because the scenes were filmed in the exact same location we were at just 3 days earlier. The scenes were shot at Coromandel Peninsula (Cathedral Cove) in New Zealand. It is a beautiful sandy beach with caves and a really cool archway. The interesting thing is that it is about a one hour hike to this beach. Holly and I were trying to figure out how they got all of the film equipment down to the beach.

Now we are even more excited to see the new Chronicles of Narnia movie. The pictures on the left are from the movie and the pictures on the right are from our vacation.

Chronicles of Narnia.............................................Chronicles of Mark, Holly & Harper

Princess Harper's First Birthday

2008-05-10T13:25:00.014-06:00

This is the day that Holly has dreamed of since she was a little girl...and a day Harper will probably never remember. Holly got to plan a birthday party for her little girl. Holly pulled out all the stops...everything was pink and covered in princesses. It's the fairytale birthday party she has always wanted to plan for her baby girl's first birthday. We had to take a lot of pictures so Harper would have some memory of the festivities. We went to the petting zoo at Thanksgiving Point and then went to Chili's for dinner. Harper was surrounded by her 4 Harper cousins and her 3 big brothers. She trully was the princess for the night. Holly even had Harper wear a tiara just in case any one was wondering if Harper was a princess. Her cake was incredible...it was a princess castle with all of the Disney princesses on top. Harper had to have known it was her birthday, she was giddy during the entire party. She was so happy and knew that she was in the spotlight. She didn't get grumpy or sad the entire night.

New Zealand T-shirts

2008-05-10T13:02:00.005-06:00

When we were in New Zealand, Grandma & Grandpa bought t-shirts for Packer, Holland, Cannon & Harper. The boys love the t-shirts. Holland's is an "All Blacks" t-shirt. All Blacks is the name of the rugby team in New Zealand. Packer and Cannon have a Mauri totem face on their t-shirts. Mauri's are native New Zealanders. Harper got a cute pink t-shirt that says "Grandparents Little Darling" Here they are in their t-shirts....

Thanks Grandma & Grandpa!

Packer's Birthday Party

2008-05-10T12:45:00.006-06:00

Packer turned 9 and had a great birthday party at "Jump On It." The theme for the party was "Indiana Jones". The first picture is the invitation that he gave to his friends.

The party started at Packer's house with pizza and highlights from the Indiana Jones movies. After pizza, everyone went to Jump On It in Lindon.

Packer Becomes a Bear

2008-05-10T12:39:00.004-06:00

Packer is now a bear in cub scouts. He earned his wolf badge, several belt loops and other awards at his last pack meeting as a wolf. He really loves cub scouts and is excited to be a Boy Scout. He wants to earn his Eagle someday just like his cousins Jason, Crew, Dallin & Trey.

He also lead the pack in the pledge of allegiance as well as the cub scout oath, law, etc.

Easter Morning

2008-05-10T12:25:00.009-06:00

Pictures from Easter morning....family easter egg hunt...new easter clothes for church...

Cousin Easter Egg Hunt

2008-05-10T12:02:00.006-06:00

All the Utah Harper cousins went to Heath & Sheree's for an Easter Egg Hunt. The kids had a blast with their cousins and found some really good loot. Harper even figured out what was going on and loved putting eggs in her basket.

Auckland, New Zealand

2008-05-10T11:35:00.007-06:00

We had a great trip to New Zealand! The best part was being able to see Grandma and Grandpa and introducing them to their newest grandchild, Harper. Grandma & Grandpa left on their mission just 1 month before Harper was born. She is now 10 months old and meeting her Brown Grandparents for the first time. She loves grandma and grandpa and had no problem getting to know them. She went to grandma right away at the airport and was very content being held by them or playing with them.

We loved New Zealand! We saw some incredible sites. We saw several locations that looked exactly like scenes from Lord of the Rings and from The Chronicles of Narnia. It is a beautiful country. Our time was short in New Zealand but we packed in a lot of great stuff.

The next several blog entries are about our trip. Several of the postings include a slide show. If you are truly interested in seeing the slides, here are some tips...click on the picture shown in the black box. It will open a new window for you to view the slides. You will enter the slide show mid way through the slide presentation. The slides do not loop, so you will have arrow back to the beginning to see all the slides.

The first set of slides is from downtown Auckland. Auckland is a great city -- very clean and right on the water. We took a ferry across the bay in Auckland. It is a very pretty city.

New Zealand Temple

2008-05-10T11:26:00.007-06:00

We went to the New Zealand Temple on our first day. They had just completed the new visitors center at the temple and we arrived right on time for the Visitor Center Open House. The new visitor's center is very nice. The temple is in Hamilton, a few hours south of Auckland.

Coromandel Peninsula (Cathedral Cove)

2008-05-10T11:10:00.009-06:00

One of our favorite sites was on the Coromandel Peninsula called Cathedral Cove. It is a great beach that you have to hike to. The hike is beautiful through a dense forest. You end up at this sandy beach that has several caves and an incredible arch that you go through if the tide is just right. I went through the arch just as the tide was rising and got knocked over by a huge wave. We spent several hours just sitting on the beach. Harper loved the sand and water.

The Gannet Colony

2008-05-10T10:46:00.004-06:00

One one of the first days in New Zealand, Grandma & Grandpa told us we were going to the Gannet Colony. We had no idea what a gannet was, but we assumed it was some native tribe of New Zealanders that had built a village called the Gannet Colony. It wasn't until we arrived at our destination that we learned that a gannet is a bird. We were going to see a colony of birds. Now unless you are a bird enthusiast, this may not sound very enticing. I'm no bird watcher, but I actually found the gannet colony to be amazing.

The Gannet Colony sits on these beautiful cliffs overlooking Muriwai Beach. There are tens of thousands of birds sitting on these cliffs. The fascinating part is that these birds leave when they are young and fly all the way across the Tasman Sea to Australia. A few years later, the same birds return to this exact same spot to nest.

The birds were cool, but the scenery was incredible. We hiked around the cliffs and looked out over the Tasman Sea. It was very beautiful. Harper loved the birds. Every time she heard or saw a bird she stuck her arm straight out like a heil Hitler salute.

Bay of Islands

2008-05-10T10:08:00.007-06:00

The Bay of Islands was my favorite part of the trip. It is a 3-4 hour drive north of Auckland. We spent the night in the Bay of Islands in this beautiful little seaside village called Paihia. Paihia is considered the "Jewel of the Bay of Islands". Across the bay is a village called Russell, which used to be called the "Hell Hole of the Pacific". Russell is actually beautiful as well, but it was originally the home of sailors, traders and whalers that had very bad manners.

While in the Bay of Islands we took a 4 hour boat cruise that took us around the 150 islands. The highlight of the cruise was going through the "Hole in the Rock". This is a spectacular arch made of rock that boats can sail through. The cruise also made stops at some of the islands so we could get out and explore. The view was incredible from the top of the islands looking out over the ocean and seeing all the other islands. Harper loved just playing on the grass on the top of the island.

Treaty of Waitangi

2008-05-10T10:03:00.004-06:00

On our overnight trip to the Bay of Islands, we also went to the spot where the Mauri's signed the Treaty of Waitangi. Waitangi is considered the most historic site in all of New Zealand. The treaty that was signed here is what gave birth to what we now know as New Zealand and is revered by Maori (native New Zealanders) as a guarantee of their rights.

Mission Friends

2008-05-10T09:54:00.004-06:00

Of Course Grandma was excited to show off her grandbaby. This is Harper with Elder Condie, the Area President of the Pacific Islands. We got to see G&G's office and meet all of their missions friends. They were having a going away party for one of the mission couples. Grandma & Grandpa have made alot of special friends on their mission.

The Beach & Pool in G&G's Backyard

2008-05-10T09:41:00.005-06:00

Grandma & Grandpa live right on the beach! From their balcony, you have a the most beautiful view of the water. Each morning we took a walk along the beach. One morning their was a sail boat regatta. On Saturday, there was a huge beach party with bands playing and people picnicing, dancing and playing in the water. Grandma & Grandpa also have a pool that overlooks the beach. We could have hung out at the pool and beach all week.

The Food in New Zealand

2008-05-10T09:27:00.004-06:00

Grandma & Grandpa took us to some wonderful restaurants. My favorite restaurant was a place where you cook your own steak or seafood on a really hot brick. They heat the brick to several hundred degrees and then bring this huge thick steak (which is raw) out on top of the hot brick. You then slice off pieces of steak and cook it as long you want on top of the brick. The brick stayed piping hot through the end of the meal. It was delicious.

We also had tacos one afternoon. It was the only Mexican place in Auckland. When we ordered, the man asked us "have you ever heard of a taco?" He then proceeded to explain what a taco was. It was quite funny.

We were craving brownies one of the days we were there. We went to the grocery store and actually found one brownie mix. We asked the grocery store clerk where the chocolate chips were, and he looked at us with a blank face. We finally found a tiny little bag of "chocolate morsels".

The picture below is of Harper trying seafood...I'm happy to report that she didn't like it!

Mount Victoria

2008-05-10T09:19:00.005-06:00

These pictures are from Mount Victoria. It is right in the center of Auckland and overlooks the city and the bay. It is a spectacular view.

Harper's Going to New Zealand

2008-05-10T07:47:00.010-06:00

This is how we broke the news to Grandma and Grandpa Brown that Harper was going to New Zealand to see them for the very first time. On Grandma Brown's birthday we sent her an email with this picture. Grandma & Grandpa had no idea we were planning to come. In the email we told Grandma that we were very excited to come, but we had some very important things to do first.

First, Harper had to have surgery to get tubes inserted in her ears. Harper had had 4 major ear infections in the past month. No antibiotics would help the infections. The doctor even tried daily injections of medication, which also didn't work. He told us that flying on an airplane would be cruel because it would hurt her ears so badly. So we scheduled the surgery.

We also had to get passports for the big trip. This doesn't seem like a big deal, but we wanted to leave for the trip in less than 6 weeks. Several laws had just changed regarding passports, which meant the demand for passports and wait time were longer then usual. We went to the post office to get passports and the man laughed at us and said he didn't have any open appointments for a month. So we had to go downtown to the county offices to get our passports.

So with these things out of the way, we were able to make plans to go to New Zealand to see Grandma and Grandpa. The surgery was successful and the passports arrived on time. Now we just had to brace ourselves for the incredibly long flight. Our flight, in fact, ended up being even longer than we had anticipated. When we arrived in Los Angeles for our layover, we were informed that our connecting flight to New Zealand had been canceled! There was only one flight a day to New Zealand, which meant we would not be flying out until the next day. We were disappointed that our trip would be shortened by an entire day. The airline put us up for the night in a very nice hotel. They also gave us money for our meals, which surprised us. The trip the next day to New Zealand was actually quite nice. We were on a 747 and the plane was only about 20% full. We were able to spread out and relax. I'm guessing that is why the flight was canceled the previous day...they don't have enough people to fill the flight.

Flying home was another story. The plane was on time and none of the connections were canceled. The plane was also completely full! The poor man next to us was literally trapped in his seat. When you travel overseas with an infant, they give you a bassinet that attaches to the wall in front of your seats. Well the bassinet, was directly in front of this man's seat (next to the window). It was right in his face. We asked if he would prefer to be in the aisle, but he insisted that we wanted the window seat. He unsuccessfully tried to scout out another seat, every seat was full. He was actually a very good sport and ended up being very friendly. Harper was perfect for the 12 hour leg of the flight. She slept alot of the time and was happy the rest of the time.

The Utah Jazz

2008-02-02T11:50:00.000-07:00

Packer and his two best buddies, Will & Joseph, got to go to a Utah Jazz basketball game. The 3 boys were accompanied by their dads. It was "Junior Jazz Night", so each Junior Jazz player got 2 free tickets.

The highlight of the evening was when Packer, Will & Joseph got to go down on the floor and high five the players when they ran out onto the court. The Murdochs are good friends with the wife of one of the coaches, so they were able to make arrangements for the 3 boys to go down on the court to greet the players. So the boys stood there with all the coaches and Larry Miller and gave each of the players a high five as they came out for the game. It was VERY COOL. We've had several friends (that we didn't even know were at the game) come up to us and tell us that they saw Packer down on the floor at the game.

The only bummer is that we couldn't get any good pictures of the boys with the players, because they were surrounded by so many tall people.

We had a great time and the Jazz won!

SMILE!

2008-02-02T10:56:00.000-07:00

Our good friend Jenn Taylor took pictures of our family last fall at Thanksgiving Point. Here are some of the pictures she took.

More Random Pictures....

Snow, Snow, and more Snow

2008-02-02T10:26:00.001-07:00

Utah is getting pounded with snow. For the past two weeks, we've had a major snow storm every 2-3 days. The biggest storm delivered over 18 inches of snow. Other storms have added anywhere from 3-12 inches each time. School even closed early one day because of bad snow conditions. The kids are having a ball, but for those of us that don't own a snow blower or a snow plow, the snow has been a nightmare. I keep getting calls from the Bishop with a list of people who need help removing snow. I can't even stay ahead of the snow at our house, let alone the rest of the neighborhood! I've made fast friends with an Elder in the ward who has a large tractor with a great big plow on the front of it. I call him every few days to recruit his help with digging out people in the ward. He can't do sidewalks with his rig, but it sure helps with driveways. He did have the nerve to take his family on a cruise that lasted 5 days. I sure missed him while he was gone. He got home last night and I had a list waiting for him -- poor guy. He's very happy to help. He spent 6 hours out on his plow after the biggest storm. He typically does every house on his street. Unfortunately he doesn't live on our street, so we don't get the benefit. He does, however, come up to our street on an "as needed basis".

Christmas in February

2008-02-02T10:11:00.000-07:00

No, we're not still celebrating Christmas in February...we're just posting our Christmas pictures in February. The cord for our digital camera mysteriously disappeared 2 months ago, so we haven't been able to upload any pictures. We finally got a new cord, so here is the Brown Family Christmas...a few months late!

2007 Christmas Greetings

2008-02-02T09:32:00.001-07:00

Christmas Picture....

Christmas letter - click to enlarge...

Our good friends, the Murdochs, turned us on to a really fun website called JibJab. The website let's you upload your own pictures, then inserts your faces into fun holiday videos. Our kids insisted that we make a few videos. They had so much fun watching themselves in these silly videos. We sent the videos out on Christmas Day to our family in the following email:

Dear Family:

Merry Christmas!

Our family made some special holiday memories this Christmas season and we were able to capture a few of these moments on film. We wanted to share these precious moments with each of our family members to help bring you some holiday cheer.

We hope you enjoy!

VIDEO #1: Decorating the Christmas Tree is always a highlight at the Brown home. Do you have this much fun decorating your tree?

VIDEO #2: We have received alot of snow in Utah. We have had great time sledding, making snowmen and.....having snowball fights.

VIDEO #3: For those family members that don't celebrate Christmas, we have included a special tribute to Hanukkah. Who knew Hanukkah could be so much fun?

We love you all and hope you have a wonderful Christmas Day!

Love,

Mark, Holly, Packer, Holland, Cannon & Harper Brown

Magical Christmas Morning

2008-02-02T09:03:00.000-07:00

Holland's face says it all...it was a magical Christmas morning. As usual, Santa left an impressive display. All of the kids' dreams came true.

According to tradition at the Brown's house, all the kids have to wait patiently on the stairs while dad turns on Christmas music (it has to be Andy Williams' "It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year") then dad makes sure that Santa really did come. After these important procedures are completed, each child gets to come in one by one, starting with the youngest. Santa doesn't do any wrapping, so all the presents sit on display for the kids to see.

Annual Nativity

2008-02-02T08:40:00.000-07:00

On Christrmas Eve, all the kids participated in the Harper Family's Annual Nativity re-enactment.

Cannon was Joseph. We were short on girls, so we recruited the Harper's neighbors to join us so we could have a Mary.

Harper was a beautiful angel.

Packer & Holland were wise men, kings, sheperds, drummer boys, etc . (along with their cousins Dax, Dace, Ethan & Jackson). After the Nativity, we all went Christmas Caroling.

Visiting Santa

2008-02-02T07:47:00.000-07:00

Santa made an appearance at our ward's Christmas breakfast and at Cannon's preschool program.

Pax did a great job of training his little brothers and sister on how to get your list to Santa. In year's past, our kids have gotten mild cases of "Santa Fright". They have always been willing to sit on Santa's lap, but then they freeze up and forget to tell santa what they want for Christmas.

Pax made sure that didn't happen this year. He had everyone rehearse what they were going to ask for before getting on Santa's lap. All the kids did as instructed and were able to convey their important information to the jolley old man.

Harper asked for a doll, Strawberry Shortcake and My Little Pony.

Cannon asked for a Flying Lighning McQueen and a Gun. The gun was a surprise to us all. After getting over the shock we narrowed it down to two things. His cousins, Travis & Weston, have a Nerf machine gun that can shoot about 30 nerf bullets in about 3 seconds. We also discovered that the Flying Lightning McQueen has the ability to shoot small bullets. We're relieved to know that his idea of a gun is pretty harmless.

Holland wants a Wii and Packer wants a Sony PSP

These last pictures are from Cannon's preschool program.

Cathedral Cove and the falls at Rapaura Watergarden

2008-01-12T21:03:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Saturday, we invited the Turpins to join us in touring the Coromandel Peninsula that is about 200 km south and east of Auckland. We began at the water garden and then spent most of the day at Cathedral Cove. We understand that Cathedral Cove is the location for some of the next Chronicles of Narnia scenes. The beach is spectacular! Next we visited the Hot Water Beach near Mercury Bay where there are multiple hot springs that flow under the beach and can be exerienced only at low tide. If you dig a few inches into the sand, the scalding hot water will flow freely.

Extreme Makeover

2008-01-11T15:12:00.001-07:00

This last weekend, Holly had to run to the store and I was out shoveling the snow. The 5 boys found this to be the perfect opportunity to give Harper an EXTREME MAKEOVER without any adult supervision.

Packer, Travis, Holland, Weston & Cannon literally gave Harper a complete makeover. She had on a new outfit that Holly had just purchased. Her hair was all gussied up. She had lip stick plastered on her lips that extended to her ears. She had eye makeup of some sort smeared around her eyes.

The best part was that the boys had sprayed what must have been an entire bottle of Holly's perfume all over Harper's body. The perfume had little sparkles in it so Harper really shined! I swear I could smell Harper from the garage. In fact, it has been almost a week, and several baths later and I still smell a residue of perfume in her hair.

When I walked in to find Harper all made up for "The Ball", the boys were in the process of trying to attach very large, dangling earrings (not clip-ons) to Harper's ears. I arrived just in time!

Once again, the boys had a great time playing with Harper. She has the best bodyguards (and make-up artists) on the planet!

Christmas Luncheon at Abergine Restaurant - 2007

2007-12-31T00:22:00.000-07:00

All of the senior missionaries couldn't fit around one table, but we were seated with some special friends. Jan Malloy, dressed in red on the right, is not a missionary. She is employed as the secretary to the Director of Temporal Affairs. She is a former nun and her conversion story is included in Hartman Rector's book, "No More Strangers." The older couple next to Jan is the Roeuche's. He is the Executive Secretary to the Area Presidency. He has been a stake president, mission president, and temple president. They are in their mid 80s and they've been told that this will be their last mission. They have served in Europe and Hong Kong. The Turpins next to MelRae are wonderful people from Centerville. We drove three hours up north to watch them run in the half marathon last month. Both finished!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

2007-12-24T15:53:00.001-07:00

We walked the 150 - 200 yards from our apartment to Takapuna Beach and I removed my shoes for a run in the sand and water. You can see our Mon Desur apartment building in the background and the Pohutukawa trees in the foreground. The Pohutukawa tree is nicknamed "Christmas Tree" because of their beautiful bright red flower that blossoms in early December and then turns a rust color before falling to the ground in late December. There are many people enjoying the beach by walking, running, swimming, kayaking, boating and wind surfing on this Christmas day.

We will spend our Christmas afternoon and evening with Elder and Sister Hans Sorensen and their family. We were with Elder and Sister Condie for dinner three nights ago and will be with Elder and Sister Baxter on New Years Eve. These three members of our Area Presidency are great friends and are doing their best to help everyone feel the Christmas spirit. All of them have joined us in our fasting and prayers for Sheryl and they are rejoicing with us as we express our gratitude for all of the miracles that Sheryl and Lon have received during the past three months.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Love David and MelRae

Hon Winnie Laban - Minister of Pacific Island Affairs

2007-12-19T02:32:00.000-07:00

We drove to Wellington a week ago to meet with Winnie Laban. She has been a Member of Parliament for many years and was selected as a member of the Cabinet (Minister) about three months ago. We have met with her on four or five different occasions and she is a very good friend of ours, and most of all she is supportive of all of our activities. I scheduled the visit to get her perspective on the challenges facing the Polynesians in New Zealand and to get her support in promoting some of the family values programs that we will be taking to the various islands early next year. Her responsibility is limited to domestic issues, but the Polynesians in New Zealand have an excellent understanding of the challenges and opportunities of the their friends and relatives living in the Islands. She was most helpful and I may even invite her to join us on some of our travels to the islands.

John Key, Member of Parliament - National Party Leader

2007-12-19T01:30:00.000-07:00

I'm pictured with Anthony Wilson (Public Affairs Director in New Zealand), Elder Condie, and John Key. We are in Hamilton where John was the VIP speaker who turned on the Christmas lights after a very nice Christmas program that was presented by local stake members. We visited with John and two other Members of Parliament for 45 minutes before the program. The National party (Conservative) is the heavy favorite to defeat the Labour party in next falls election and if so, John will become the Prime Minister. He is a very bright, capable and quality guy and could likely serve as the PM for multiple terms. He was an investment banker for Merrill Lynch in New Zealand, Sydney, London, and Singapore and has worked with the Federal Reserve Bank of NY and has completed management studies at Harvard. We are working to assure that he is a good friend of the Church in New Zealand.

Soccer Honors

2007-12-06T23:07:00.000-07:00

Just thought we would add a quick note to let you know about some recognition that Crew received this week. As mentioned before, his high school soccer team did fairly well this year and as a result there was some recognition given out. Crew received Defensive Player of the Year for his team. He was also named to the 4A All Sunset League Team (which is the league they play in) and then he was named to the All Northwest Region Team. He was one of two players from his team to get this honor. We are very happy for him and what he has been able to accomplish this year.

Kick off to Christmas

2007-12-04T14:55:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was our official kick off to Christmas! We had a great weekend and did alot of fun things to get us in the spirit of the season.

We started the weekend by waking up to find a foot of new snow. The boys spent hours sledding, snow boarding and playing in the snow. It was cold, but it didn't bother them at all.

We then went to Aunt Annabelle's for the Annual Cookie Party. Each boy made a pan full of personally decorated gingerbread cookies. We had a wonderful lunch and had a great time visiting with our Brown cousins.

After the cookie party, we went to the Festival of Trees at the South Towne Expo Center. The boys all agreed that their favorite tree on display was the Star Wars tree. The tree had 238 Star Wars action figures as ornements (see photo below). The tree was topped with a life size Darth Vader. We also saw a super hero tree, a transformer tree, BYU tree, and more. We also ate cinnamon rolls, watched Chirstmas perfromances and participated in several games/arts and crafts in the kid zone. We always love to go to the Festival of Trees.

Our cousin on the Harper side, Ethan, also spent the night and participated in these fun events with us.

Happy Birthday Sheryl!

2007-12-04T14:40:00.000-07:00

One of the highlights of our Thanksgiving holiday was when all of us gathered in the Wardrop's den to talk to Sherly & Lon and to sing Happy Birthday to Sheryl! As Lon declared, November 22, 2007 is Sheryl's new birthday, since this is the day that the stem cells were implanted back into Sheryl. It was so wonderful to talk to both Sheryl and Lon. They are both so positive and full of faith. We are all truly grateful that everything is going so well in China. What a perfect day for Sheryl to have her 2nd birthday...on Thanksgiving day.

We love you Sheryl & Lon!!

Here's a note to Sheryl that Holland wrote all on his own while we were on the phone with them in China....

Thanksgiving

2007-12-04T12:01:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner. Shayna and Jordan were our hosts and the guest list included the Naylors, Browns, G&G Wardrop, Kari, and of course Dallin, Brandon, Travis & Weston. Dinner was delicious and everyone contributed (either their time or yummy food). Glenn & Pauline are experts at making Turkey -- perhaps the juiciest one ever! Holly made rolls with the help of Dallin, Breck and Brandon. Kari made fabulous pies -- the Nestle Tollhouse was my favorite. Shayna made sweet potatoes. The boys did the mashed potatoes. Suzi was the head chef making sure everything coordinated beautifully. It was a great day!

The entire Thanksgiving weekend was alot of fun. The Browns and the Naylors camped out at the Wardrop's house and did lots of fun activities. We had a mystery dinner for all the kids on Wednesday night (see the menu below). Suzi planned a scavenger hunt for Friday that the kids LOVED. We all watched Christmas Vacation together. We also got most of the Christmas decorations up (inside and out). It was fun to be together, but we missed Jason, the Engles, G&G Brown, and of course Sheryl and Lon. But we were grateful to be able to all congregate at Sheryl & Lon's house. THANKS!

Mystery Café Menu

(these were the utensils, they got to select one for each course)
A Devils Staff
An Elephants Trunk
The Little Dipper
A Swiss Stick
A Jedi Weapon
King Arthur’s Plight

Drink selections...
Belching Bubbles
Crystal Ice
Dragons Blood
Dirty Lava

Hors d'oevres

Shark Teeth
Cheetah Toes
Idaho Fliers
Spring Surprise

Appetizers
Teacher’s Pet
Rabbit Vision
Monkey Brains
Johnny’s Delight

Main Dish
Road Kill Sliders
Cows Best Friend
Acne Overload
Undercover Rover

Dessert
Dirty Diaper
Turkish Delight
Winter Dream
Litter Box Surprise

Building Forts

2007-12-04T10:43:00.000-07:00

We're not sure if it's because of the Home Depot workshops or if it's just their natural boy instincts, but the 5 boys have become little Huck Fins and Tom Sawyers. They spend every free moment outside building forts. They have built several from the ground up. They are quite creative in their building skills. As you can see from the pictures below, their forts have such amenities as a basketball hoop, picket fence, a birdhouse/mailbox, a slide for quick getaways, special shelving for toys, and even an outhouse a few yards away from the main structure (we've never visited the outhouse but have been told about it in great detail).

(CLICK ON THE PICTURES TO ENLARGE)

One Saturday afternoon, there were probably 15 boys from the neighborhood who came over to admire their handy work and to offer suggestions for new additions to the fort. Our boys allowed the neighborhood kids to help for a period of time, but made it perfectly clear that it was OUR FORT, and all final decisions would be made by the elect 5...

The fort pictured in this posting was the first fort the boys built (built 100% by themselves). While it is extremely cool and very creative, the inspector visited the fort and found it to be structurally unsound....Therefore the boys were denied the chance to sleep in this fort (even after hours of begging and pleading).

The following weekend, however, the boys built a new fort. This time they used real tools -- hammer, nails, drill, scrap wood, etc. This fort was approved by the building inspector and the boys were permitted to inhabit the fort for an overnight adventure. All five boys slept in the new fort and had a few added amenities. This one was draped with Christmas lights, had piles of blankets to keep the boys warm in the 42 F weather, and also had a laptop playing movies and connected to surround sound....pretty fancy fort.

We are sad to report that the 2nd fort was destroyed a week later by an awful windstorm. Fort #3 is now under construction with the help of Uncle Hollan and Grandma Harper. As a Christmas present to the boys, The Harpers bought real wood and materials to build a fort that will endure any kind of weather. It is firmly cemented into the ground and is built with 2x4 studs, real roofing tiles on the roof, and is completely enclosed. It is an impressive site -- we'll add pictures once it is complete. The boys are having the time of their lives!

High School Musical on Ice

2007-12-04T10:31:00.000-07:00

The boys got a special treat, courtesy of Shayna. The 5 boys all got to go to see High School Musical on Ice. The boys had a blast. The show was at the Delta Center (Now called the Energy Solutions Arena). The first half was all HSM 1 and the second half was all of HSM 2 (all the songs from both movies were included). Shayna had requested the very best seats available -- and they were great. We were on the 9th row. Shayna was hoping to go with Brandon and take all the younger boys, but Brandon's surgery was the day before the big show and was ordered by his doctor to stay home. Shayna and Jordan ended up having alot of homework, so we got to go with the boys. It was alot of fun and were very grateful that Shayna included us on the fun day. The boys were mesmerized throughout the entire show!

Playing Dress Up

2007-12-04T10:03:00.000-07:00

Cannon, Holland, Weston, Travis & Packer love to play the boy version of "Dress Up". Their idea of dress up is getting out the costume box and dressing up as Spider-man, Darth Vader, Power Rangers, Super Man, Batman, Rock Man, Lightning McQueen, Thomas the Train, Bobba Fet, Jenga Fet, Jedi Warriors, etc.

Their normal routine is that they put on parts from several different costumes (all at the same time) then they all parade throughout the house trying to get any willing participants to try and guess which of the 5 boys is beneath the assortment of costumes. This can go on for an entire afternoon...it entertains the boys for hours.

Recently, however, the boys have discovered a new game of dress up. The boys love to dress up Harper. The dress she is wearing in these pictures is their FAVORITE dress for Harper -- they think it is so cute since it is pink with so many ruffles and lace.

What you're not seeing in the pictures is when they dressed Harper up as a Football player -- helmet and all -- and then proceeded to shoot nerf darts at her. They have also dressed her up as the baby Jesus for their own version of the Nativity Scene (100% kid directed and performed...complete with Travis as Mary giving birth to a beautiful baby...fortunately Travis was strategically placed behind a sheet, but we got the birthing sound effects from exaggerated moans and groans made by Travis from behind the sheet).

Harper also starred in a play written and directed by the boys in which she was all wrapped up in a very special Christmas present. We had no idea she was wrapped up until out popped baby Harper.

So dress up has taken on a whole new meaning at the Brown house. We never know what the boys are cooking up. We always brace ourselves when one of the boys is sent in by the other 4 boys to ask "Can we borrow Harper for a minute?"

Rangitoto Island

2007-11-25T21:16:00.000-07:00

This picture is of Mount Rangitoto that we see every morning from our patio as the sun rises. We took a half day P-Day this morning and drove to the Devonport Wharf and caught a ferry boat for the 15 minute ride to the island of Rangitoto. We took what was advertised as an easy one hour hike to the top of the volcano and looked down into the crater. It took us 1 1/2 hours up and another hour to return to the ferry boat. The volcano erupted about 600 years ago and was semi-active for 200 years before all activity ceased. The eruption created the island of Rangitoto that is connected by a causeway to an island to the east that had been occupied prior to the eruption by Maoris’. Rangitoto is currently uninhabited, though there were summer and longer term residents in the 1930’s but the City Council of Auckland succeeded in forcing recent residents to leave the island and they gave the longer term residents20 years to re-locate. The people had lived in Baches (small cottages) and about 100 baches still exist and some are being preserved as historic sites.

Muriwai Beach - Gannett Colony

2007-11-24T22:19:00.000-07:00

This is a very popular spot for surfing, hang gliding, and playing on the black sand beaches. The birds on the large rock are Gannetts and they are members of the Tern family. They migrate from this nesting spot to Australia that is 2000 km (1200 miles) away across the Tasmanian Sea. This recreation site is less than one hour from our home onTakapuna Beach.

Auckland - The City of Sails

2007-11-24T22:06:00.000-07:00

This photo was taken from Devonport near the wharf where ferry service is available to several points in and around the Auckland bay. We spent our Saturday with Elder and Sister McMullin from the Sydney office touring the Devonport peninsula and the Auckland harbor on the east coast of the North Island. Later in the afternoon, we drove 45 minutes to the Gannett Colony on the west coast of the North Island. This is one of the most scenic sites in the country. We plan to take the ferry to Rangitoto Island this next week. Rangitoto is the volcanic island that we can see from our balcony that overlooks Takapuna Bay. The island is uninhabited but is a very popular tourist destination with many walking and hiking trails.

Bay of Islands - Hole in the Rock

2007-11-22T21:28:00.000-07:00

We joined Elder and Sister Trupin last weekend at the Bay of Islands. They both entered and finished the Kerikeri half-marathon whose finish line was about 15 miles north of the Bay of Islands. Following the race, we took a three hour cruise through the beautiful Bay and fortunately, the sea was calm enough that we were able to take the large boat that seats about 75 through the Hole in the Rock. We also spotted numerous dolphins while in route to the rock. We also visited the Waitangi Treaty House where the treaty between the British and the first 40 of the 512 tribes of Maories was signed in 1840. Most historians claim that this treaty was the beginning of modern civilization in New Zealand.

Helen Clark, Prime Minister of New Zealand

2007-11-21T15:25:00.000-07:00

The Rt. Hon Helen Clark has served as the Prime Minister of New Zealand for nearly eight years and will likely continue if her Labor party wins over the National party in next years elections. In this photo, I'm visiting with Helen Clark after her key note speech to 1600 youth of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Sunday November 11 at 7pm. The event was to promote the importance of continuing education and we were pleased that she delivered an excellent message. The National party leader is John Key and we have a commitment from him to speak to our youth on May 18, 2008. Prime Minister Clark's standards don't always match up with those of our Church but she addressed her audience perfectly well. She was in Tonga for the Pacific Forum on October 15th - 20th and she was the only Head of State out of the 16 present that was a woman and more noteworthy, she was the only one to wear pants. All of the men wore skirts (tupenu) usually covered with a woven mat around the waist that is called a ta'ovala. We were also pleased with the announcement on November 11th that our friend Winnie Laban who is a Member of Parliament has just been named the Minister of Pacific Island Affairs for New Zealand. This means that we will have more than friendship to justify our visits with her in the future.

Pa'alang's in Tonga

2007-11-20T19:22:00.000-07:00

A Pa'alangi is a non-Polynesian and there are many in Tonga. The richest man in Tonga is Ross Chapman, a Pa'alangi from Sydney with whom we have developed a good friendship. From the left is Elder Condie, President and Sister McMurray (Mission President beginning July 1, 2007) and Wendy and Elder Russell M. Nelson. President McMurray served as a young Elder in Tonga and then after marrying and getting his college degree, they returned to Tonga where he taught in the Church High School on the island of Vavau. They are the parents of 11 children and three are with them in Tonga. He is an attorney and most of his legal work in Salt Lake was with the Tongan members there. He is totally fluent in Tongan and is loved and respected by the missionaries, members and the non-members.

Queen Mother Halaevalu Mata'aho

2007-11-19T14:28:00.000-07:00

Elder Condie called from New Zealand on a Thursday and asked if I could set up a meeting for the Nelson's with the Queen the following Monday. Elder Nelson had met the Queen several years ago when she came to Salt Lake City with her husband. We met in the British High Commissioner's home on the waterfront and she served lemon grass tea and a selection of pastries. She is a very gracious lady and she is loved by all Tongan's. She came to the VIP open house and really wanted to be with us at the cultural event on Satruday evening, November 3rd but she was in New Zealand for medical treatment.

KSL's Carole Mikita at "Heaven on Earth"

2007-11-19T14:11:00.000-07:00

We are with Carole Mikita and President and Sister Fineasi Nau of the Nuku'alofa Tonga Central Stake. He is related to the Royal family and the previous King had given him several hundred acres of beautiful beach front property that he has cared for much as he thinks Adam and Eve would have cared for the Garden of Eden. There are no buildings but this beach resort is the most beautiful spot on the main island of Tongatapu. President Nau invited us to join him and his wife at the resort several times and we finally found the time on October 29th. I was so impressed that I asked if he would host Elder Condie and Elder Nelson later in the week. He was excited to do so. I immediately began to persuade Elder Condie and Elder Nelson to come on November 2nd. The sales process took three days and the probability went from 30% to 70% to 90% to 100%. Elder Nelson blessed the food and gave an Apostolic blessing on the Nau's and upon this beautiful property. President Nau also arranged to have a family of five baptized after our feast at this "Heaven on Earth." The family was taught the gospel after attending the temple open house and they were in the temple for the re-dedication on November 4th. This experience was a scenic and spiritual highlight for the Condies and Nelsons in Tonga.

Wives of the Prime Ministers of the Pacific Islands

2007-11-19T13:58:00.000-07:00

MelRae and I are with Princess Pilolevu and the wives of most of the Heads of State of the Pacific Island Nations. The Pacific Forum is held once per year and all 16 nations attended. In addition, Ministers and delegates from other countries who interact with Tonga were also present. We received an invitation from the King and from the Prime Minister to attend the opening ceremonies on October 15th. We met with the Ambassador from China on several ocassions and with the High Commissioner from Great Britian. The Minister of Foreign Affairs from Venezuela was also in Tonga to negotiate a petroleum deal. He was one of 45 VIPs that joined us on this tour and he was most impressed by everything that he saw and he asked why the Church didn't have a temple in Venezuela. He was excited to find that we do have a temple in Caracas, Venezuela. He was also impressed by the fact that all of the beautiful paintings focus on a Risen Christ rather than Christ being crucified on the cross. He was having an "Ah Ha!" experience that he will never forget.

Four Beautiful Tongan Women

2007-11-18T20:41:00.000-07:00

MelRae is with Sister Fineanganofo (wife of the Area Seventy), Ainise Sevele (former Consul to France and the wife of Prime Minister Feleti Sevele), and Mele Taumoepeau (wife of Afu the Director of Public Affairs for Tonga and the Principal of the Liahona High School). MelRae, Ainise and Princess Pilolevu organized the temple open house tour for the wives of the Heads of State on October 18th. Ainise gave us the following comment after her second visit to the temple:
"My visit to the temple was a personal journey into the realm of all that is holy, which is peace, serenity, hope, happiness, and joy. I felt the presence of God. On my second visit it was reconfirmed to me that there is a living God. I was touched by the emphasis on the Risen Lord. All the paintings in the temple depicted a Risen Lord, not a Crucified Lord. The message is that there is hope for all those who believe in God. God has died for our sins, but He has risen. The temple gives us a clear message that all who die in his name will be resurrected, a message of renewed hope, joy, and happiness. In the temple we feel hopeful, we feel good, we feel joy.

Princess Pilolevu Tuita

2007-11-18T20:31:00.000-07:00

We are with the Her Royal Highness following her third visit at the Nuku'alofa Tonga Temple open house. She said that her minister was really upset with her because she comes so often. She is so bright and talented that we joked with her that she could do the next tour and I think she would have loved to do it. She was so attentative and complimentary of everyone and everything . Her brother is the current king and he doesn't enjoy the love and respect that Princess Pilolovu receives from everyone. We became such good friends after 5 or 6 visits that said that most everyone calls her "Her Royal Highness" but she wants Elder and Sister Brown to call her Sister Tuita!

Naylor Sports Update

2007-11-16T17:15:00.000-07:00

I just thought I would give a quick update as to what the Naylors have been up to. Crew finished a successful high school soccer season. Once again he moved positions to play in the Stopper spot, which is center position between the mid-fielders and the defense. He did very well and was able to take control of the play back in that area. His team made it to the State Playoffs, but after one of the best and most exciting games I have ever seen they were knocked out. Quick synopsis of the game. Crew's school is Palo Verde and they were playing Gorman. At the end of the first half PV was ahead two to one. G is the reigning state champs and favored to killed everyone in their path. With just 8 minutes left in the game G got a penalty kick and made it to tie the score 2 - 2. The game went into over time and G had their hands full. Then into a second overtime where PV had their hands full. Finally the game went into penalty kicks. Each team selects five players to alternate kicking shots against the goalie from 15 out. If tied after five shots they alternate one kicker each until someone wins. Well G missed their first shot and so did PV. Then each team made the next four. G then missed their next shot. If PV made theirs the game would be over. Crew was up to kick but then got called back to allow another kid to kick. Who knows why because this player had not even been in the game. Anyway, all he had to do was make the shot to win the game, but he shanked it left and missed. G made their and Crew then shot and made his. G made another one and then the PV player missed. The loss was heart breaking for everyone. The Gorman team is actually all of the players from Crew's old club team. It would have been nice to beat them, but instead they went all the way to win the State Championship. It was a fun season and we will look forward to next year. Now Crew has Lacrosse to look forward to after the holidays.

Now Powell, Well Powell is playing his first season on a new club team called Las Vegas Premire. The entire team is new so they are having to learn to work together and understand what each other can bring to the game. Powell has also been playing in a lacrosse league on Saturday nights. It just finished up and Powell's team, also know as North Carolina did very well. The team was made up of seventh and eighth grades with Powell being the only sixth grade in the league. Powell got a lot of playing time as an outside mid-fielders and sometimes as Attack (forward). The team only lost one game to a bunch of big eighth graders, but got to get revenge when both teams made it to the championship. NC totally dominated the game with speed and team work and at half time had the other boys on the ropes with a score of 5 to 1. Powell had a great assist to make it 6 to 2 and the final score was 7 to 3. It was a blast to watch and a great warm up to the regular season. Powell's looking forward to getting back out there and knocking the big boys down.

As for Breck, she is still at the top of the tower in cheerleading. Her team, Desert Cheer Extreme, has not started competing yet this year, but she is excited to get going. She did have an unfortunate fall during a practice the other night and luckily she didn't get hurt but one of the girls below her in her base broke her collar bone. I cheerleading is a contact sport. We will keep you updated as the seasons progresses.

Take care everyone.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDPA BROWN!!

2007-11-16T16:46:00.001-07:00

We LOVE you Grandpa!

Have a TERRIFIC DAY!!

Home Depot Kid Workshops

2007-11-16T16:25:00.000-07:00

We have a new tradition...we go to Home Depot on the first Saturday of every month for their "Kid Workshop". Each kid gets their own tools and a kit to build some sort of craft (bird houses, race cars, pirate ships). They also each get a Home Depot apron and a pin for each project they complete. The workshop is free and the kids love it.

This past month, we built pirate ships. Even Harper gets her own apron and kit. Here are some fun pictures from our last project.

Halloween Stash

2007-11-16T16:17:00.000-07:00

Packer, Travis, Weston, Holland and Cannon raked in the candy on halloween night. It was perfect weather and they didn't want to stop...so they just kept going. The best treat of the night, though, was waiting for them when they got home from Trick or Treating. The Engle family sent matching, glow-in-the-dark, Spiderman t-shirts for all five boys. The shirts were laid out on the living room floor when the boys returned from trick or treating. What a great night!

Thank you Engle Family!

24 Withdrawal

2007-11-10T09:03:00.000-07:00

Fox has indefinitely postponed the 7th season of my favorite tv show -- 24. Most Internet buzz says that it won't be back until January of 2009! For those of you who currently live in China, New Zealand and Brazil, you may not be aware that most American TV shows are shutting down operations because of a writers strike. The last writers strike was in 1988, and it lasted 6 months. Another show we like to watch, The Office, will air what may be their last episode for the season next week. Typically the show would run 22-25 episodes, but with the strike, there may only be 8 episodes this year.

24 has been plagued with problems. Many people argue that last season was the worst season ever. The plot for this new season has been rewritten multiple times and the setting has even changed a few times. Keiffer Sutherland was recently arrested for a DUI, and has been sentenced to 48 days in prison. His sentence begins at the end of December. With all of the script, plot, & setting problems combined with Keiffer's prison sentence and the writers strike, Fox has decided that "Day 7" may be delayed another year.

Holly and I are going through withdrawals that shows like 24 and The Office may not be around for another year. We don't watch much TV, but we look forward to "escaping" from our crazy lives for an hour or two each week. With a house full of kids, date night has become getting takeout, putting the kids to bed and then watching a few shows that we TIVO'ed during the week. That may no longer be an option.

We're wondering what the writers strike means for the Wardrops....Travis and Weston have informed us that their dad has unplugged their TVs until 24 starts up again. They may have a long wait!

Football in Utah

2007-11-10T02:48:00.000-07:00

This has been a GREAT weekend for football in Utah.

BYU beat TCU on Thursday night, 27-22. BYU is the only team in the MWC to be undefeated in conference play. Every other team has lost at least two conference games.

Timpview High School (Dallin & Brandon's school) won their semi final game against Mountain Crest, 38-0. They move on to the 4A state championship game next weekend against Pine View. Timpview has had an incredible season, going undefeated and winning every game by an average of 35 points.

Alta High School (where our kids may some day go) won their 5A semi final game last night against Bingham. Bingham was ranked #1 in the state and had beat Alta in their last 5 meetings. Alta won in a nailbiter game, 21-17. Our next door neighbor is the star linebacker for Alta and hopes to go to BYU next year. Packer's summer camp soccer coach plays for Bingham. He is playing in the All-American prep game as the kicker, and has a full ride to BYU next year. Unfortunately, he missed two field goals in this semi final game which cost the team the game. We were excited that Alta won, however. Alta will play Layton next week for the 5A State Championship game.

In other sports news, Holland started Junior Jazz Basketball this week. He has an excellent coach who is doing a great job teaching them how to play. He is also alot of fun -- Holland loves it! He is playing with 4 other friends from the neighborhood. We learned last night that this will be a long season. The team doesn't begin games for over a month (has 5 weeks of practices) and then the season lasts through March! All the games are at the Sandy rec center by Grandpa Noal's house. We drove by grandpa's house and there were 3 cars in the driveway. Obviously the house has new owners. We wished we could have picked up grandpa to come watch some basketball.

Packer begins basketball next week. He is playing with his friends Will and Joseph.

Mom & Dad on KSL

2007-11-08T16:31:00.000-07:00

KSL ran a series of news vignettes about Tonga during the 10 o'clock news each night for 3 straight nights. They did an excellent job of showing the different festivities going on as well as reporting on the Tonga temple dedication.

It was very exciting to see what Mom & Dad have been working so hard on for the past 6 months.

Below are links to KSL's website and the accompanying stories about Tonga.

WATCH THE VIDEOS OF TONGA!! If you click on the PLAY button on the top photo (after you click on the ksl link) you can see the actual news footage with clips of the cultural events and dedication. In the second link you can SEE MOM AND DAD sitting directly behind Elder Nelson as he is speaking -- it shows them for a long time. Mom is also pictured within the text of the news story. I saw the 3rd clip live on KSL TV, but was excited that all 3 were available online.

They are short...watch all 3!!

King of Tonga (Nov. 2, 2007)
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=2082822

Cultural Event (Nov. 3, 2007) Mom & Dad seated behind Elder Nelson
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=2088882

Dedication (Nov. 4, 2007)
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=2092928

Remember to Vote

2007-11-06T13:32:00.001-07:00

We have been supporting a good friend who was running for Draper City council. Holly was moreless acting as his campaign manager and I created his website. We have been out putting up signs, holding cottage meetings, and campaigning for Troy Walker since July.

HE WON! In fact there were 3 open seats (out of 5 total seats) and all 3 were filled by people we supported (people who will be supportive of charter schools and education in Draper). We are very excited by the outcome. This will make our lives ALOT easier. Holly spent a good portion of her summer fighting the old city council in order to build the new junior high. The new council will be GREAT to work with.

BY THE WAY -- GRANDPA NOAL WOULD BE DELIGHTED TO KNOW THAT HIS GOOD FRIEND LINDA SEVILLE RETAINED HER SEAT ON THE SANDY CITY COUNCIL!!

Below is a copy of an email Holly sent out to 200 friends in Draper.

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

As many of you know, our family has been involved in the campaign to elect Troy Walker to Draper City Council. We've had many people ask us, "Why become involved with a campaign during the busiest time of your life?" For us, it comes down to our family, especially our children.

We envision a day when we don't have to drive to Sandy to sign our kids up for sports. We imagine a time when our city council fights to reduce, and not increase, property taxes. We want to see our parks and trails maintained without that money being redirected toward expanding city staff positions. We see a time when our city council fights to put more public schools in Draper and has more control over spending.

We strongly endorse Troy Walker for city council. We have worked with him personally in many volunteer community-based causes and know him to be visionary, fiscally conservative, and passionate about Draper.

Holland, our second son, was outraged this morning when he realized kids couldn't vote. It made us remember what a privilege it is to participate in the process. Thanks for listening, and make sure that you exercise that right today.

Sincerely,

Mark and Holly Brown

Thank goodness for pictures

2007-10-31T14:48:00.001-06:00

It has been a few months since we have made any posts to the Brown Family Blog. We have been so busy with a hundred different things.

Holly & I were looking at pictures we've taken over the last few months, and realized that there are alot of important events that we captured on film, but did not capture on the blog. So we are making up for lost time and have gone crazy posting pictures.

We hope you enjoy....and would love to hear from all of you on the blog!

You can click on the pictures to enlarge if you'd like.

2007-10-31T12:52:00.000-06:00

What's better than a Knight in Shining Armor?

Five of them!

Musketeers in Training!

Protecting the Fair Maiden from the vicious dragon!

Princess Harper is saved by the 5 Musketeers!

Valiant Musketeers: Packer, Travis, Weston, Holland & Cannon

Photo Blog: Halloween Parties

2007-10-31T11:38:00.000-06:00

The weekend before Halloween was jam packed with lots of fun activities.

On Friday night we all went to the Barnyard Boo at Thanksgiving Point. They have carnival games, a haunted hayride, pony rides, a headless horseman, cookie decorating, etc.

Then on Saturday we spent the full day at Cornbellys. At cornbellies they have a hay maze, inflatable trampoline, pumpkin & corn on the cob missles, go carts, a cow train, pig races, and other games and activites. The kids loved it and it kept them entertained for hours.

Saturday night we had the neighborhood halloween party at the Kenny's house. All 5 of the boys went to the party. Packer & Travis were also invited to Emilee's birthday party Saturday night, so they had to party hop to both parties. It was a great weekend!

Photo Blog: Preschool Halloween Festivities

2007-10-31T11:22:00.000-06:00

Cannon decided to be Thomas the Train for his preschool Halloween party. He looked adorable in the costume. Holly reminded me that this was Grandpa Noal's favorite costume back when Holland was Thomas the Train. We wish we could run over and visit grandpa and show him that the costume still looks great!

At the party, the kids did a parade through the school, did a short halloween program with songs and spooky actions, made witch's brew, and decorated pumpkin cookies. Cannon had a great time. His buddy Josh is in the monkey costume below.

Photo Blog: Halloween Fun

2007-10-31T11:03:00.000-06:00

Aunt Suzi, Aunt Shannon, & G&G Brown all sent packages of fun Halloween crafts, games & books. We made chocolate spiders, played hide the skeleton bones, carved pumpkins, made life size skeletons, played pin the nose on the pumpkin, read probably 15 Halloween books, and had lots of silly fun.

Thank you Suzi, Shannon, and G&G for all the fun stuff! These were the perfect activities for a long Sunday afternoon!

Photo Blog: First Day of Preschool

2007-10-31T10:46:00.000-06:00

We have been working with Cannon all summer to make sure he is potty trained in time to go to preschool. Preschool started at the beginning of September, but Cannon had still not conquered the diaper. One afternoon in mid September, Cannon went to his friend's house to play (Josh, who is in the preschool class that Cannon should be attending). We're not sure what happened, but when Cannon came home from Josh's house, he was potty trained. Josh must have been more persuasive then we were regarding the perks of being potty trained.

So Cannon now gets to go to "his brothers' school" for preschool. He is so excited to be at the same school as Packer and Holland. He LOVES preschool and is convinced that he has just as much homework as Packer and Holland. He gets out his backpack when it's homework time and works on his important papers. Hopefully he is this enthusiastic about homework when he really has homework!

Photo Blog: Pinewood Derby

2007-10-31T10:32:00.000-06:00

Packer did a great job at his first pinewood derby. He worked very hard with Grandpa Harper to shape and sand his car. Then he worked with his mom to get the perfect paint job and design. He got an award for the car design and placed in the top five (out of 20 cars) for speed. He had a great time and is already making plans for next years pinewood derby.

Packer also got to participate in his first flag seremony. He is loving cub scouts and has already earned several badges.

Photo Blog: Random Pictures of Harper

2007-10-31T10:06:00.001-06:00

We all know that the main pictures Grandma Brown wants to see are of baby Harper. Here are a few random pictures we have snapped of Harper over the last few months.

This is the boys favorite dress of Harper's. They think this is how every little girl should be dressed...in lots of pink, lots of lace, and lots of ruffles. Travis and Westin have adopted Harper as their own baby sister. They ask Holly all the time if they can pick out her clothes and get Harper dressed. The other day Travis came to us and said "The one thing I really want is a baby sister." Travis is so sweet to Harper. If Harper makes one sad sound, he is the first one to run over and pick her up. Harper is very loved!

Harper is a very happy baby. She always has a big smile. When she wakes up in the morning, she just lays there and smiles, no crying at all. She is very sweet.

Harper just goes with the flow. She'll let the boys play silly games with her. She can also fall asleep anywhere we may be, no matter how loud it is. She is a good baby.

Photo Blog: First Day of School

2007-10-31T09:51:00.000-06:00

School started early this year -- on August 15th. The school is expanding to include a junior high and enrollment wil go up from 585 to 1000 students. The new junior high will not be completed until January 1, 2008. In order to accomodate 1000 students at the beginning of the school year, they are following a modified track system. Basically there are 4 tracks, but only 3 tracks can attend at a time. Our kids will have 2 breaks during the fall semester (each one about 2 1/2 weeks long). In January, the new school will be open and they can return to the traditional school calendar.

Packer started third grade and his teacher is Mrs. Hansen. He is very excited to be in the same class as his best friend Will. He is also in the same class as Mark & Laura Willis' grandson -- Joseph.

Holland is in first grade and is excited to be able to eat lunch at school! His teacher is Mrs. Poulsen. He is in the same class as his beach buddies -- Emma & Katie.

Photo Blog: Draper's Safety Fair

2007-10-28T06:54:00.000-06:00

This was a fun activity they had in Draper.

Photo Blog: BYU Football Game

2007-10-28T06:45:00.000-06:00

The whole family went to BYU's season opener football game. They played Arizona and it was HOT! The kids loved it and BYU won! We did have to take a break and find some shade and eat ice cream. We had great seats right up from the 50 yard line.

Photo Blog: High School Musical Birthday Party

2007-10-28T06:26:00.000-06:00

Holland decided that he wanted to have a High School Musical 2 Premier Party/Birthday Party. He loves both movies and has decided that basketball is his favorite sport as a result. He has never played on a team, but starts playing the first week of November. He knows all the basketball moves to "Get Your Head in the Game" and taught his friends the moves at his party. The Naylors gave him the "how to" dance video for his birthday! They party was alot of fun. They played High School Musical trivia, had a basketball shooting competition, and did several sing alongs and dance alongs. It was a big hit!

Photo Blog: Summer Soccer

2007-10-28T06:00:00.000-06:00

All 3 boys played soccer this summer, which we probably won't do again. It is too hot to play summer soccer! Plus, we'd rather be on the boat then running to 3 different soccer games every Saturday. They still had alot of fun. It was Cannons first time playing soccer. Packer also participated in a soccer camp put on by some high school students from Bingham High School. One of the coaches (Justin Sorensen) has a full ride scholarship to play football at BYU as the kicker. We got to watch one of his football games and he is amazing. He was named the number 1 kicker in the nation this year. At the game we saw, he kicked a 62-yard field goal (without wind). He's kicked a 75 yard field goal with wind. It was cool for Packer to have him as a coach.

Photo Blog: Boating 2007

2007-10-28T05:37:00.000-06:00

Boating is one of our favorite things to do, but with a new baby and crazy schedules, we went out less than 5 times this summer. The few times we went out were a blast. Even Harper loved it. The boat put her right to sleep!

Photo Blog: Cannon's Third Birthday

2007-10-28T05:17:00.000-06:00

Cannon turned 3 on July 20th. He had a Transformers party with all his friends at home. Mom made him a Transformers cake and a Bumblebee Pinata. Cannon loves Bumblebee -- a black and yellow Transformer (the main character in the movie). Evertime Cannon sees a cool yellow car, ye yells out "There's Bumblebee." He was very excited to receive a Bumblebee from Aunt Suzi and the Naylors and other Transformer toys from his friends.

2007-10-12T16:30:00.000-06:00

MelRae was the host for a "Hawiian Haystack" dinner recently. This picture shows 8 of the 24 people that were present. MelRae purchased the leis at the Dollar store (acutally a $2 store). The ladies in the photo are evenly divided between Church employees and Sister Missionaries.

We meet with the 24 people every Monday evening for FHE and one Monday per month is a dinner with each couple having the chance to be the host. We also go to a restaurant once a month.

The missionaries in Tonga follow a similar pattern and we have enjoyed both groups of great people. These missionaries are great people and they have become wonderful friends.

MelRae with Princess Pilolevu

2007-10-01T23:05:00.000-06:00

The Kingdom of Tonga continues to be a monarchy

and the King that was most respected died 12 months ago. The Queen Mother is a wonderful lady and her daughter Princess Pilolevu a really loved by the people. We have had the privilege of being with the Queen and the Princess many times. MelRae hosted the Princess and the Prime Minister's wife, 'Ainise Selvele, today at lunch. They are both lovely women and they are excited for us and for the temple. The Princess has been in the temple twice already and she has requested another visit this week and has also agreed to attend with the wives of the Heads of State on October 18th.

Elder Brown getting clipped by Palu

2007-09-21T19:25:00.000-06:00

Palu celebrated his 69th birthday last month and has been barbering for 45 years. He was Elder John H. Groberg's barber and he has cut the hair of all mission and temple presidents for all these years. He is the uncle of Verna Tukuafu who is an outstanding young mother that works in the Church Service Center and has been most helpful to us. After driving to our home, he offered to cut my hair for nothing, but I paid him $20 Pa'anga (about $10) and he insisted that was way way too much.

I am seated on the back porch of our House #29 on the Liahona campus and the temple is about 100 yards to the east of us.

My Favorite Picture of the Brown Girls

2007-09-19T20:08:00.000-06:00

Holly got to add her favorite pictures of Harper with the Brown boys, so now I get to post my favorite picture of Harper with Holly.

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

2007-09-16T22:45:00.000-06:00

We love you Grandpa! We hope you have a great Birthday.

Love, Packer, Holland, Cannon & Harper

Hi Grandma, I love you!

2007-08-29T12:46:00.000-06:00

Packer and Harper

2007-08-29T12:40:00.000-06:00

Harper is having fun watching Packer play soccer

this season. Packer has become an aggressive player and is loving the game. He attended a soccer camp in the summer with his whole team and they are really playing well!! He still stops to kiss his baby sister on the sidelines whenever he has a chance.

Cannon and Harper

2007-08-29T12:35:00.000-06:00

Precious Girl

2007-08-29T09:39:00.000-06:00

Holland and Harper

2007-08-29T09:30:00.000-06:00

Holland are Harper are best buddies. When we pick Holland up from school, he always tells Harper about his day and what he did and how much he missed her. He usually comforts her when he leaves by reminding her that he will miss her, but he'll be home soon.

A picture is worth....

2007-08-29T08:22:00.000-06:00

Forever, when I think of Mark and Harper, I will remember this picture. It's the first time I saw him lean down to kiss his baby girl.