I Love Mud & Mud Loves Me

Pax, Holls & Cans spent the weekend at their cousin Ethan's last week. Their weekend fun incuded a romp in the mud. Here are some pictures from their getaway and their muddy fun. The bottom pictures are from the Eagle Mountain Fair we attended with the Harpers.

Rise and Shout!

We had a great ward activity last night. Bronco Mendenhall, the head football coach for BYU, was the main event. The activity was for families, so Packer, Holland & Cannon all got to meet him and get his autograph. We had a nice dinner and then Bronco spoke to us. He is a very impressive guy -- and very humble as well. Here are some thoughts and statistics that he shared with us.

• This will be Bronco's 3rd year as head coach at BYU. He was given the job at age 38. When he took over as head coach for the 2005 season, the team had not had a winning season since 2001 and had not been to a bowl game for 3 years.
  
• Elder Eyring interviewed him for the job. Bronco spent alot of time preparing for the interview by rehearsing in his mind what he would say when asked how he would turn the football team around, how he would deal with honor code violations (which were at a record high), what his recruiting tactics would be, etc. The first question Elder Eyring asked him was "Is the church true?" It was then that Bronco realized that this wasn't just about football. Although this is not a church calling, he asked Elder Eyring to give him a blessing. He said the blessing was "amazing" and gave very specific instruction & promises.


• He was booed by his own fans at his very first home game. The team lost 3 of their first 4 games.


• Bronco decided that there needed to be a change in focus. He decided to require a higher level of commitment on AND off the field.


• He decided that his team would start presenting firesides while on the road before each away game. His first attempt to do this was in San Diego. The stake president in San Diego said "No thanks" and said he didn't think people would be interested. His 2nd attempt was in New Mexico, where he was given permission to do the fireside, but only 15 people attended.


• He attended a high profile press conference where the only playbook he brought with him was the Book of Mormon. He shared two stories at the press conference, without mentioning any names, first about a great leader and his commitment to greatness (Captain Moroni & the Title of Liberty), second about a group of 2000 impressive young men (the stripling warriors).


• He took a page from his father's playbook -- his dad was mission president in Auckland, New Zealand. He decided that much like a mission, he would require every player to be apart of a "companionship." The idea is that this would help keep the players out of trouble. He also required each player to send him a letter every week to report how the player and his companion is doing. He held players accountable for attending all 3 hours of church, fulfilling their church callings, and doing their home teaching. He also implemented strict guidelines for academics.


• After the team started doing the firesides and the companionships, the team went on to win 5 of the next 6 games. They finished the season with more wins then losses, placed 2nd in the conference and went to their first bowl game in 3 years.


• During his second season, they went 10-2, won every home game, had the 3rd longest winning streak in the country, outscored their competition by an average of 21 points per game, ranked in the top 20 in all the polls, won the MWC title, and won their bowl game against Oregon. Bronco also won several national prestigious "Coach of the Year" awards.


• Today, the BYU football team has the highest average GPA in the country. 71 out of 105 players are returned missionaries and only 14 are non members. He has not had to kick a single player off the team. He has had 15 guys quit because the expectations are too high.


• He now has the team captains assign companionships. It was also his team captains that insisted that the team do 2 firesides in Las Vegas at their last bowl game. The captains also insisted that they perform service while in Vegas -- they are required by the NCAA to have 5 players perform 2 hours of service each. BYU had 50 players participate in service for 4+ hours while in Vegas.

It was a great evening. Packer, Holland & Cannon had Bronco sign their BYU t-shirts (as shown below). We also got a little momento for Nick, Powell, Travis & Westin -- we'll get these to you soon.

"Hot Cousins"

The other night we were sitting in our neighbor's driveway with several other couples as our kids played night games together. One of the couple's teenage daughter, Jessica, was talking on her cellphone to her best friend. Her friend was calling from Hawaii to tell Jessica that she had just met the "hottest guys in all of Hawaii." They were looking for a Mormon church on the island and ended up following a car with these hot guys who also looked like they were heading to church. Well, as it turned out, the hot guys were Jason, Dallin, & Brandon -- I'm sure they thought Lon, Travis and Westin were hot too, but they were more concerned with the 14, 16 & 18 year old.

So the Wardrop's went to church in Hawaii with our neighbors up the street. The family is not in our ward, but the dad is in our stake presidency (Patrick). His brother Spencer is our bishop and Pat and Spencer's father is a GA. They are a great family. And now they know that we have "hot cousins".

I should mention that the Naylors were at our house a week earlier and met this same group of friends. One of our neighbors, Becky, was very disappointed that her teenage daughter Jessica was out of town and couldn't meet Crew. I told Jessica that she should have been at church on Sunday because she could have met Crew, Jason, Dallin & Brandon all at the same time. She missed out.

Celebration!

This is a big month for birthdays in the Brown Family! Happy Birthday to Powell, Travis, Brandon, Shayna, Sheryl, Dallin and Holly! Hope you all had a great day!

Trey's Trip to China

I just discovered that Trey uploaded pictures from his trip to China almost 2 months ago. He posted them on Yahoo, but I never noticed that they were there. In case the rest of you never saw them, here is a slide show of them. Click on the link below to see them.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8259492@N03/sets/72157600393726245/show/

Thanks for sharing Trey!

A Father’s Day Blessing

A little over a month ago Holly had a Mother’s Day she’ll never forget. She spent Mother’s Day in the hospital holding her brand new baby girl, Harper. Well, I got the greatest Father’s Day present. I got to bless my baby daughter on Father’s Day. Holly made her blessing dress, which turned out beautiful. She found one she liked online, but it cost $350, so she decided to duplicate it on the sewing machine. Harper looked so precious.

(click on pictures to enlarge)

We had a lot of family and friends join us for our special day. All of Holly’s family came except for Hollan, who is in El Salvador for the summer, and Heidi’s family who live in Georgia. Both Heidi and Hollan have been able to meet Harper though. From the Brown side, the Wardrops and the Naylors were with us. We were sad that G&G Brown are so far away on their mission to New Zealand and the Engles are a long distance in Michigan. We also had our "Beach Buddies" with us – the Christensens, Murdochs, and Claytons (our friends that went to North Carolina with us).

Church was at 8:30 AM, so we had a light brunch afterwards. Holly made wonderful food – homemade cinnamon rolls and orange rolls as well as breakfast casseroles. We had lots of fresh fruit as well.

It was a wonderful day, and a father’s day I’ll never forget!

Barbie’s Backyard

We’re all familiar with Barbie’s dream house. But have you ever seen her backyard?

Well, we’re not certain, but we think we may have just had a little vacation in Barbie’s backyard. Last week we spent two full days at the Wardrop resort. There’s not a sign out front that says “Wardrop Resort,” so you may miss it if you are driving by. But the Brown’s got an exclusive invitation for a little getaway at this hidden gem. The backyard has everything you’d want at your favorite resort: Tennis courts, sand volleyball pit, swimming pool heated to 94 degrees, hot tub heated to 104, fire pit, soft serve ice cream machine with chocolate, vanilla or twist, pool house with a full kitchen and party room, 2 full bathrooms for him and her, complete entertainment center with Earth, Wind and Fire or the Commodores being piped throughout the grounds, strategically placed televisions with DirecTV, bronze dolphin fountains spraying into the pool, perfectly manicured gardens with gigantic rose bushes and exotic flowers, large grassy area for playing soccer or any game you desire.

Yes indeed, this has got to be Barbie’s backyard. This may be our new favorite place to vacation.

By the way, if you go, I recommend trying the belgian waffles with fresh strawberries, raspberries, whipped cream and Magleby's maple syrup -- yummy!

What time is it? Summertime!

Summer vacation started just one week ago, but we’ve already knocked several “Must Do's” off our summertime list. Here’s how we’ve started summer at the Brown house:

1) Daily trips to the pool – we purchased our family pool pass and have been swimming every day except for Sunday. Most of our swimming has not actually been at our neighborhood pool. We have been swimming twice at the Wardrops, and one time each at the Lehi swimming pool and at the South Jordan swimming pool.

2) Sleepovers with cousins – Travis and Westin slept over one night and Powell stayed another night.

3) Summer Blockbuster Movies – We’ve hit all of the big blockbusters…Spider-man 3, Shrek 3 (the boys went with G&G Harper), Pirates 3, Oceans 13 (Mark & Holly went with friends) and Fantastic 4.

4) Birthday Parties – 3 birthday parties in one week!

5) Lots of Snow Cones – they just opened a “Tropical Snow” a mile down the road from us. We have become very frequent customers!

6) County Fair – we went to the fair in Eagle Mountain with all of our Harper cousins. We climbed the rock wall, went on rides and played some carnival games. Of course we had to each get a snow cone as well.

7) Night Games – almost every night since school got out, you can find more then 20 neighborhood kids playing night games outside. They play sardines, kings court, hide n’ seek, dodge ball, follow the leader on bikes, etc. Usually the adults congregate in one of the driveways or at the neighbors fire pit and make s’mores, bar-b-que, or eat treats while the kids run from yard to yard playing games.

8) Golf Ball Hunts – at last count we have found 123 golf balls in our backyard since school got out. We've found balls of almost every color, as well as balls with sheep on them, balls with smiley faces, and balls from golf courses from all over the country. The boys want to set up a golf ball stand and sell them for a buck a piece.

9) Bike Races – our neighborhood had a bar-b-que and bike races at the draper equestrian center. The course followed a fun path that winded through wooded areas and followed a dirt bike trail. The boys won a portable bike pump and had a great time.

You’ll notice that there are a few items missing from our list that you would normally expect to see on our list. First, boating. We’re disappointed to report that we have not yet been out on the boat. With Harper being born and other commitments we have just not made it out yet. We planned to go out while the Naylor’s were in town, but we discovered that we have an electrical problem – which prevents the boat from starting. We promise to make things right and to be out on the boat ASAP. The second thing missing on our list is hot tubbing – again we seem to have an electrical problem. We had it up and running in the spring, but for some reason it isn’t heating properly now. Does any one know an electrician?

In spite of our electrical problems, our kickoff to summer has been a blast. We’re worried that we’re not going to be able to keep up this pace all summer long. We’re hoping for one “boring day” so we can get some R&R!

Five Little Friends

When we moved to our new neighborhood we were delighted to find that we were living on a street full of boys. Packer, Holland, and Cannon could each walk one house north, south, east or west to find another boy their age. The one thing our street didn’t have was girls. There must have been something in the water, because every house had a family full of boys.

When we learned that Harper was on her way, we were curious how she would survive on a street full of boys. Who would she play with? Would she be forced into being a tomboy?

Well again, there must have been something in the water. All of a sudden there was an invasion of little girls. Within 2 weeks, 5 baby girls were born within walking distance of our house. Harper must have pulled some strings in heaven because what was once an all boys street now has pink woven throughout it. Harper has her playgroup all worked out. One family insisted that we do a photo session with Harper and their little girl Cami. They are just a few days apart and sure to be lifelong friends. We need to have a photo shoot with all five girls!

The boys had better watch their turf, because the girls are back in town!

Last Week of School

Field days. Parties. Award ceremonies. No homework. Fun & games.

It must be the last week of school!

Packer and Holland got out of school on June 8th, but I think “school” really ended about one week earlier. The last week of school was one party after another. One day was all about being safe for summer – they got to bring their bikes to school and learn about bike safety and how to be safe at the pool, etc. Another day was field day with potato sack races, volleyball, and other track and field events – of course this is the day that it rained nonstop so all of the events had to be moved inside. Another day was Hawaiian day with picnic lunches outside. One day was "game day" where kids got to bring their favorite board games to play with their friends. It was also spirit week, so the kids got to replace their school uniform each day with clothes from their favorite decade, beach wear, crazy hats, and clothes worn backwards. Packer got an award at the school assembly for winning first place in the speech competition.

All in all, it was a worthless week as far as education goes. With summer around the corner, reading, writing and arithmetic are tough to focus on. But the boys definitely had a great time for their last week of school.

Queen Mata'aha

MelRae and I are pictured with Queen Mata'aha, wife of the much loved king of Tonga who died last September. The little girl is the queen's oldest great granddaughter. The queen is 81 years old and she joined us in sitting on mats on the floor for nearly an hour as we conversed about our plans to dedicate the temple later in the year. Queen Mata'aha is also the mother of the present king who doesn't enjoy the same love and respect as his father. We just returned from five days in Tonga where we met with all of the government, religious, media, and business leaders in the nation. Our objective was to have those in high positions write positive testimonials about the Church. We will include these testimonials in a media kit that we'll distribute to all media representative in hopes that they will say nice things about us in the newspapers and on radio and TV. We were treated almost as their equal in all meetings and we feel that we are building a strong bond with the wonderful people of Tonga. We will be in Tonga again on June 22nd thru June 25th for our fourth trip since April 13th.

MelRae and I are with Elder Condie on the left and Peter Dunne (next to Elder Condie). Peter is a Member of Parliament in New Zealand and we are in his Wellington office presenting our Church's views on some legislation that would seal all Birth, Death, and Marriage records for 50 to 100 years after a person's death. (50 years if you're related and 100 years if no relation) This legislation would obviously bring our geneaology research in New Zealand to a screeching halt.