Torrey's Baptism

Our Beautiful Torrey Eva Brown decided to get baptized on June 30th!  It was a beautiful day, just perfect for our little girl!!!  We are so proud of her and what an amazing person she is growing up to be.  She is so creative and is very caring, especially towards me while I was pregnant!!

She was so excited for this special day, both sets of grandparents were going to be there as well as her Aunt Susan and Uncle Wade and of course her cousins Wyatt and Tyson!!!  She also had so many of her friends come and watch her be baptized and celebrate with her!  Torrey felt so special!!!  We are so lucky to have her in our life!!!

Our awesome and amazing friend Megan took these pictures!!!  Doesn't she look just so beautiful!!!  She loved her baptism dress too.  We went shopping for one when we went to visit Uncle Drew and Aunt Lauren.  I was very surprised that she picked this dress.  I thought she would pick out a much fancier one, but she loved this elegant but simple linen dress!!!

We also had a great dinner at our house afterwards, yummy pulled pork sandwiches, fruit, baked beans and the good old fashion heat!!!  It was sooooo hot, but everyone seemed to still have a blast!!!

Torrey GIRL!!!

Eight years ago, I became a mom to the sweetest little girl in the world!!!  My heart melts every time I see you.  The best part of my day is when you walk in the front door from school hopping around because you have to go to the bathroom!!!  You truly were the best baby in the entire world: sleeping through the night at 5 weeks, eating whatever I put in front of you, and you were always happy!  You nickname at my work was smiley!!!  You loved when dad would come home because he always had food and you would follow him around making him share with you!!!

Torrey, this year you have grown sooo much.  You have become on of the best readers in you class, you love math, and you especially love you art class.  You are probably one of the most creative girls in the world.  I can hand you a couple pieces of paper, tape and scissors and before you know it you have built a doll house.  Each practice you are becoming better and better at soccer!  You are skiing so well and basketball was super fun to watch.  Last summer was your first time on the swim team and you were so good at it.  

I love you my princess,  you are caring and kind to those you are around.  You are patient with your brothers, especially since they always make you play Ninjago or star wars!  Thanks for being such a great big sister!  My life completely changed when I held you in my arms for the first time!  I was a holding a little piece of Heaven!  Thanks Torrey Girl!!!

Terrific

Optimistic

Radiant

Remarkable

Enthusiastic

Yummy (to my heart)

Colton!!!

I know I am way behind, but all you will get right now is my post about Colton!  I will eventually catch up, maybe not????  As I am writing this, my handsome guy is wondering around me using his imagination like no one else.  This kid has the best imagination!  Six years ago I was introduced to life with boys!  Growing up with 5 sisters did not prepare me for boys one bit!  But either way, it was love at first sight!  He was a good baby, but all my babies were good babies.  He never liked laying on his back, he was always trying to do V-ups, he had the strongest abs for a 4 month old!  But let's start talking about his year!!!  He really started to like swimming and I think he can hold his breath pretty long under water too, at least me and his swim instructor were always impressed with how long he could ignore us!!!  He started Kindergarten, which he loves...he has really enjoyed  math.  He started 1st grade math a few weeks ago and he is always asking to do his worksheets!!!  He has really improved in soccer and is being more aggressive.  But I think he has improved the most in skiing!  He loved the tree trails this year.

I love my little man so much, my life is so much better when he his around.  He is the sweetest, most caring, crazy, wild little boy around.  He always makes sure I am okay, especially being pregnant!  He loves playing, most of the time, with his little brother.  Porter wants to be just like his big brother and they will become better friends as they continue  to grow up together.

Crazy
Optimistic
Loving
Terrific
Observant
Nourishing (to moms soul)

Thanks Colton for introducing me to the world of boys!!!!  I love how active, wild, and caring you are.  There never is a dull moment when you around, especially when we are outside playing!!!  

Happy 6th Birthday!!!

The SONG that is playing is Colton's favorite!!!  He is DYNAMITE!!!!

The Latest and Greatest!!!!

Well, I haven't been really good at taking pictures because my camera was lost for about 2 months and then my battery died when we went up to the mountains for during Christmas Vacation! Oh well, we have a few pictures!

Porter turned 3 on January 12th! I can't believe that he is three and he will not let you forget it. He woke up to streamers blocking his doorway, but he would not bust through them. He only crawled under them. Every time we said "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" he would say, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" right back. Gotta love this kid! What a huge difference from 2 to 3.

Changes/Accomplishments/Favorites for our Porter

He is talking soooo much better than when he was 2. We were thinking he may need a speech therapist, but not anymore. Still not potty trained, but we are working on that. Tried skiing and loves it. Going to preschool with 6 of his friends. Rides is strider. Loves Mickey, Cars 2, and the color BLUE! Loves pizza, and anything with sugar! He will always figure out a way to get to the cookies. He has learned to cut banana bread, not straight, but he will cut it himself! This year he was not afraid of the candles on his cupcake! He loves his mommy, such a mama's boy! He loves to smile and be around people. He can sometimes tolerate his brother and sister and other times he wants nothing to do with them. He loves for us to read to him! He is starting to like PB and Honey sandwiches! Wohoo, I can feed him something for lunch.....he actually eat more and more everyday. We have moved from the 10th percentile to the 25th percentile. Watch out!!!! He still loves his blanket and can always be found with a car or legos in his hands!!! He has an opinion and is not afraid to tell you. He loves to be outside and especially loves to play in the snow!!! Porter we love you, you are the best little 3 year old out there!!!!!

Trying to show that he is 3 years old now!

Mickey pancakes for BREAKFAST!!

Cars 2 cupcakes!

Mickey pizza for dinner!

Life at the Browns!!

My Beautiful Children all dressed for church! I have to add that Colton did his hair! He normally wants it to be all messed up and spiky, but today he wanted to look like a missionary! Notice Clint's missionary tags.

Porter's preschool. A few moms and I do a co-op preschool every Wednesday's. Porter LOVES it! I might add that if you look real close you will notice no girls. YUP, 7 boys! Lots of fun and they are sooo good. This one was at my house. I had the letter "D". DOG, DRUMS, DIG, DINOSAUR, DOG BONES, DONUTS! Lots of fun!

Preschool field trip to the pumpkin patch! Torrey is realizing that she is getting older. SHe did not get to go to a field trip to the pumpkin patch this year and was little sad. We let her pick out a pumpkin later though.

Corn Maze

Kissing the pumpkin. How cute is he!

Dylan and Porter! Those two are best buds. They always want to play with one another.

Colton's soccer!

Porter messing around at his soccer games!

Halloween! This year we were not going to dress up because Torrey was supposed to have a soccer game right before our Ward Party, but it got cancelled due to snow. Thankfully, our friends loaned us some costumes! The party was great, I spent the entire time face painting! Colton is a Ninja, Torrey is a vampire candy-corn, she wanted to be something scary and we already had her costume, and Porter is BATMAN!!!

Our good friends Hannah and Kiely that live down the street. Torrey and Colton invited them to our Ward Party!

A REALLY LONG POST!!!!

YOU MIGHT WANT TO SIT DOWN FOR THIS ONE!

It is a long post, so enjoy! Maybe take it in chunks!!!!

I just had to take some pictures of these cute little men in my life. Porter is growing up so fast now. He tries to be just like Colton. He loves legos!!! He calls them, my guys, my guys! They love to wrestle and yes it usually ends with someone crying, but oh well. Hopefully, it will toughen them up!

HIKING FOURTH OF JULY WEEKEND!!!

Our kids love to hike and were super excited to go hike to the falls by Horsetooth rock! The summer has been super wet so the falls were still running, YAY!!! The kids had a great time and it is always nice to see them working hard!

My beauty and her friend, Devree...she is a beauty too!

My boys!!! I love them. The make me smile everytime I see them!!

Yes, I know I don't really have any photography skills, but a girl can hope right???

Me and my tiger!!!

Waterfalls by horsetooth rock!

Devree fit right into our family. Everyone was admiring how cute our family was. I think it was because we had some cute little girls, Devree and Torrey with us!!

This picture was taking from on top of the falls. Highly recommend taking the extra 5 minutes to go to it!!!
Colton really wanted to take this picture because he is now 5!

FOURTH OF JULY!!!!

We love fourth of July in Fort Collins. We usually always get together with our friends and have a BBQ and go watch the fireworks down in Loveland. This year lots of our friends were here and it was some good times!!!

Dylan, one of Porter's best buds!!

Gavin is also one of Porters buddies...but he was super scared of the fire works, so he hung out with his grandpa all night.

CALIFORNIA!!!!

We arrived in San Diego super late Thursday night. My kids were so excited and could not wait to get there. I had them cleaning the basement all afternoon on Thursday. I told them they needed to get it done before we left to San Diego or we would not go to Sea World. Yes, I threaten my children and I don't care!!! They got the basement cleaned, I got the rest of the house cleaned, packed and of course all the sheets were washed. There is nothing better then coming home to nice clean sheets! We got to the airport in plenty of time and thank heavens we were traveling with grandma and grandpa!!!! We boarded the plane and waited, waited, waited.....we de-boarded the plane and waited, waited, and waited...we boarded another plane and finally took off! We landed just in time to get our rental car and went to Sharon's house. There were 13 people in her 3 bedroom condo and it was super fun and on the last night we added 4 more! There defiantly was chaos, but who doesn't love a little chaos???? The cousins loved being together and playing in the garage and driveway!!!! Little Avery even decided that the garage was her house and tried to go potty in a bucket. Yup, she is a mischievous one! There was so much food, but I think we went through most of it! It is such a bummer that I did not have my camera for the most important part of the trip, THE BAPTISM!!! I will have to get some pictures from my sister. We are so proud of Maddie and her decision on being baptised. She has such a sweet spirit and will be such a great example to those around her, especially her sister.

Sea World

Friday we went to Sea World and had a blast, but don't ask Clint because he will tell you different. We waited in line twice for this one ride and still never was able to go on it so that ruined it for him. Oh well!!! The kids favorite part was getting all wet from Shampoo, a.k.a Shamu! Colton's quote, "That was totally AWESOME!"

Anticipating the awesome seal show. The kiddos were super excited to be at sea world!

Torrey and Maddie being the best of friends, they were sure missing their cousin Nicole though!

Avery and Andrew!!! Those two are a handful, but so cute!!!

Andrew, Grandpa, Avery, Tammy!

The boys going on the spinning ride, yup glad I am the one taking pictures!!!

Maddie, Torrey and Abby

Maddie and Torrey all wet!

Torrey Pine's Hike

Clint and I love this hike and we really wanted to take our kiddos and the rest of the family too!! The kids were super excited to get to the beach, but I am pretty sure the enjoyed the hike too!

Look at the beautiful ocean in the background. I think Clint and I have decided that we will just have condos when we retire. One on the beach and one in the mountains. Great plan, huh???!!!

Our little friend!

Avery and the BOYS!!!

What a view, the sun peaking through the clouds and reflecting on the ocean. I love seeing all of our Heavenly Father's creations. Each with its on unique beauty!

THE COUSINS!!!

BEACH TIME!!!

Porter did not like the beach!

Sharon keeping a watchful eye!

LEGO LAND!!!

Colton was talking about this for weeks. Everyday he would ask if we were going to lego land that day. It was perfect for all the kids and it was especially nice that Wyatt could go on some of the rides with the younger kids. I think this also made him feel especially cool. They loved all of it. The water area, the lego village, the roller coaster!

Four of us together!

Daddy trying to feed Colton to the shark!!!

Colton's favorite part. Seeing Darth Vader!

Grandpa hanging on during the robot ride. Somehow, I got to go on the extreme level with Wyatt!!! It was fun, but made me feel a little sick! But after that I was the COOL Aunt so it was worth it!

The TAGG family!!! Wouldn't this make a great Christmas photo!???

Volvo test track!

Look at my handsome little man! He is so stinkin cute. I loved seeing their smiling faces!

I think this was one of their most favorite ride. It was closing time so we were running around crazy to get to all the rides. We even skipped dinner!!! SOOO fun, Maddie and I actually were able to get one last ride on the roller coaster. The rest of the family was already in line and when Maddie and I got there the ride was closed. But the employee was so nice to us that they let us wait until it was their turn and we then could join them. Maddie was so excited to do it one last time!

I have so many pictures of the lego village, but I did not want to put them all up because, you know this post is already long enough. Colton thought this whole area was the greatest! I have to say that it was really cool.

New York City

Ground Zero
The boys after a long day! Don't they look so cute!

BACK TO SCHOOL!!!!!

Torrey is starting 2nd grade and Colton is starting Kindergarten. That's right!!! He finally gets to ride the bus to school. Torrey's teacher is Mrs. Lukkes and Colton's is Mrs. Thomas. Torrey had Mrs. Thomas. so we already know that we like her. And I am sure we will like Mrs. Lukkes as well. Colton is only going half day, so I pick him up at 11:50 everyday! When I told him this, he was not happy that he was not eating lunch at school, (last year he did)!!! So kindergarten is kind of a step down for him. But I wanted my buddy to hand out with me for one more year. So I told him he could go to school day if he wanted or he could eat lunch with mommy and play with his friends in the afternoon. He quickly responded and said, "Okay mom, I will eat lunch with you!" Makes a mom feel special, huh! But really, I am so happy that he is home with me for the afternoon. This is his last year with me and they grow up WAY TOO fast and I think school makes it go by faster.

Torrey on her first day of SCHOOL!! Colton started 2 days later!

Walking to the bus! I love taking their pictures walking away from me! It just gives you another perspective on how fast they are growing!

He great friend, Hannah, from the neighborhood and they will also be in the same class this year!!

The BUS STOP CLAN!!!

Daddy and his big girl!

Leaving me!

In front of Kruse elementary!

Colton met his teaching on Monday and went to check out his classroom! He was so excited!

Colton on his first day! Love the first picture, it is totally Colton! Doesn't he look sharp??? He went to school with a black eye and is right index finger nail all black. He got the black eye from Porter and him colliding and his black finger nail, which will fall off, from slamming it in the car door. I think he wanted to make sure that he looked super tough for his first day of school!

Walking away!!

A few if the kids!

He finally gets to get on the bus. He has waited two years to ride the bus. I think he was a little hesitant getting on the bus. "AM I really allowed to ride the bus?"

Standing in front of his classroom! He now knows where it is so he get's off all by himself, with a little help from Torrey, and goes to his classroom! He loves it and loves his teacher. He has informed me that she is really nice and he loves Kindergarten!!!! Well, the first week of excitement is over, I guess it will be time to get down and really do some work!!!! Poor kids!!!