The Brown Chronicle: 2013

Benson's birthday fell in the middle of a very busy week- right in between relief society activities, ward Halloween parties, school Halloween parties, etc. So rather than scheduling another party on top of everything already going on, we decided to do a party at volleyball.

It turned out really well. We just had cupcakes and a really ghetto piñata. It was great. Benson loved it.

Birthday party at volleyball.

Opening presents at home

Here are a few of his favorites-

New to-mater car from Grandma Brown

Truck from Grandma Carol

Spider-man jammies from Granny Ginny

Our main present to Benson was this new bike. Thanks to his old strider (balance) bike, he learned to ride this one the first time we went out! I was one proud parent!!! Even though he can ride it, he still is intimidated by the new pedal bike though, and asks for his "little" bike back.

We went to L.A. to visit James' family for Labor Day weekend. Jeff and Polly were in town doing not one, but two Disney races. John ran them as well. They all did great. It was so fun to see them again and to let the cousins play together. We wish we lived closer to them!

Beach time- Corona Del Mar

We went on the Sat. afternoon before Labor Day and it was packed. Vicki worked her magic though, and got some people to lend us their fire pit for an hour so we could cook our dinner.

Eden loved the sand

Benson was terrified of the waves and refused to get near the water. Not only did he not want himself near the water though, he didn't want Eden by it either. He almost had a meltdown when Eden started crawling toward the shore. Without thinking, he courageously ran after her to save her, then saw he waves and quickly came back. :) He really loves her and is such a good brother to her (when he wants to be).

You cannot tell from the picture, but before we went to the beach this day, Benson fell off a chair and broke his collar bone. We didn't realize anything was wrong at first, but he wouldn't stop crying. So James examined it, and it didn't quite match the other side. We decided to take him in to the hospital, and gave him some children's ibuprofen on the way there. Suddenly, he was as happy as a lark. At the ER, no one believed the bone was broken because he was so calm. James even had to point out the break on the x ray to the doctors. The recommend treatment...? A child's size sling (they didn't have one his size), which we never bothered to get. Maybe we should have though, because now he has a crooked collar bone on one side.

Back to the beach though, here is Jeff and Polly and family, after their 10k run and the day before their half marathon.

My good looking guy roasting his dinner like a true outdoors-man:)

The party animals

The kids enjoying their dinner in spite of the fact that it was dusted over with sand

Eden loves her grandpa!

I had planned to only stay in L.A. until Labor Day, then head back with James. Plans changed when I found out that John and Vicki had a condo available all week, which would be sitting vacant. I invited some of my friends to come use it, and use it we did! It was a miracle that Collin, Annie, and Meredith were all able to come hang out for the week with less than a day's notice.

Four adults and eight kids (with not enough places to sleep) doing Disney Land, Corona Del Mar, Downtown Disney, swimming, etc. It was a ton of work! We had such a blast, but by the end of the week, we were all ready to go into a sleep induced coma.

Here are the 4 crazy moms that willingly took this on.Sure do love these girls!

I loved Corona Del Mar so much that I talked the girls into going while they were in town. It was the perfect time to go, and the most beautiful day! I felt like I was in paradise!

Party at the beach!

Cutest bum ever!

Vicki and John came and met up with us at the beach. Vicki was so nice to babysit the kids while John and I went boogie boarding. John gave me some tips and I finally got the hang of it. I have never gotten thrashed that much by beach waves, though!