IT'S BEEN A WHILE

So I haven't blogged for a while.  It kind of lost it's appeal after a few years but I thought I should start back up again.
A lot has happened in the past 3 or 4 years since I last blogged.  The girls started High School, SnapChat has taken off like a firecracker, Pokemon Go craze has come and gone, Ash got her license and sadly Mike Brown passed away from cancer (brain tumour - Glioblastoma).

The reason for this post is because I had a thought and decided I should document it in my blog.  I had a neighbour come to my door this morning to show me her new puppy (it's a maltese/chihuahua cross - adorable!)  Anyway, she was saying that her mother was at the bus stop the other day and apparently Ash started talking to her on her walk home from school.  Navi said that her mum thought it was lovely that Ash would go up to her and talk to her - considering Ash has never formally met her and barely knows her - just that she's a neighbour.  It got me thinking about how, as a toddler/child, Ash would go up to any random person and start a conversation with them.  She has always been comfortable talking to complete strangers - in particular, adults.  I used to worry about it A LOT when she was little.  I tried teaching her stranger danger but she just didn't see the harm in being nice to people and talking to them.  She must have a guardian angel or 10 looking out for her because her conversations never lead to any danger (sigh of relief).  She is a very social girl.  Now as a 16 year old my friends absolutely love her.  They love coming to visit us as they love seeing how Ash and I interact with one another and have such a good relationship.  She's a good kid and I love her to bits (most of the time).

A home of our very own!

I haven't blogged for a while.  I've been keeping everyone updated via Facebook and forgotten about my poor old blog.

2013 has been a fantastic year – much better than last year.


This year has been a “Year of independence” for the Brown family.

Lauren has become a lot more independent this year. She buys things from the shops on her own, takes the dogs for a walk on her own and has walked up to school on her own without Ashleigh (in preparation for next year when Ashleigh won’t be there).

I got a “part-time” job in May this year working at a company called Fluke. It’s located in Castle Hill so is nice and close to the girl’s school. I started out working school hours but since the end of September my hours have increased to 4pm. Thank goodness Mum has been able to get the girls for me in the afternoon.

But the best news of all …. we bought this:

A home of our own. It’s so exciting. We move in 3 weeks – just before Christmas.

What an amazing Christmas present!

I have so many plans for it but of course this will happen over time and not straight away.

This is going to be difficult for me because I want it all done NOW!

I can’t wait to transform it into our “Forever Home”.

But for now, I have to start packing.

Ash's B'Day

This week Ash turned 11.  I can't believe it!
She got: a SIM card for her iPhone (pre-paid of course), a necklace with Eiffel Tower pendant, Thomas Sabo bracelet (imitation from Thailand), some more Littlest Pets and underwear.
As you can see by her gifts of choice, she is slowly outgrowing toys.  The highlight was the SIM card for her phone.  I got a $15 credit for her so hopefully she will be responsible and not waste it.
She had a quiet birthday this year.  We had the family over for a BBQ lunch as her birthday fell on a Saturday this year.  It has been raining constantly so I was a little worried it would be raining on her birthday AGAIN!  It rains every year on her birthday!  BUT, this year it was brilliant sunshine!  It was a gorgeous day so we were lucky.  As usual, her birthday landed on the Queens Birthday long weekend so it was extra nice for her!

 She went to her first out of school disco this week.  The dance studio she attends had their yearly disco and she was so excited.  She is growing up so fast. I sent her off with her own mobile phone to call me if there was an emergency. 

We are currently dog sitting a chihuahua (Midget).  She's a gorgeous little thing - a little bit skiddish but only around strangers, kids and other dogs.  She has really become part of our family - we will miss her when it's time for her to go but the girls are well aware that we have to give her back.  The hard thing is we're dogsitting for 6 months which is a really long time - plenty long enough for us to become attached but we'll cross that bridge when it comes!  Here she is fast asleep on my lap:

Aaron's away on a fishing trip this weekend.  He's gone for 4 days - out in the middle of the ocean on really choppy seas!  Glad it's him and not me!  He left on Thursday night and I only just got an email from him today (Saturday).  He hasn't had much mobile phone coverage out in the middle of the ocean (understandable).  He said that the other guys have been "feeding the fish" over the side of the boat!  I'm not surprised I would be too!  I get incredibly sea sick!  Not my cup of tea but he's having a blast!  He said that he can just see land wayyyy off in the distance!  I swear it's his imagination, I can't see anything. 

The girls and I took a drive to Wollongong (in the rain) to visit with Deb and Trev.  One of their chihuahua's had puppies.  Here is Ash holding all 3 puppies:

The girls had a blast playing with these gorgeous little things!  They are so playful and cute!
They also had a Ward Carnival today so we went along to that.  It was such a great day!  The kids had a blast.  Here are some photos:

The hot dog stand and milk bar:

The Can Knockdown:

Target practice with a nerf gun:

And the ping pong ball toss:

School 2012

The girls went back to school this year pretty much without a hitch!

Of course, Lauren was upset about returning to school - she'd much rather be home with Mummy.
I had the same problem with Ashleigh - in fact, Ash was still crying when I dropped her to school throughout Year 2 so hopefully this will be the last year of tears - fingers crossed!

I was a little disorganised this year so I didn't get around to taking a photo of them until their 2nd week back at school.  And of course they had to clown around!!

We were lucky to have had a visit from Poppy Brown last week.  It was lovely having him stay with us and spending time with the girls.

Lauren Turns 8!

On Saturday our baby turned 8.
I can't believe it!
How time flies.
We will be getting her baptised on 3rd March (hopefully).
She was a little apprehensive about getting baptised in the lead up to her 8th birthday so our bishop suggested we have a "wet run" for her.  So last weekend they filled the font and she went dressed in her swimmers to do a practice run.  They had the font filled for another little boy in Lauren's class, Levi McCormack as he is very sick and has only been given a few weeks to live but he really wanted to get baptised (his birthday is the day before Lauren's) but they had to do a practice run for him as he is very frail.
Lauren did so well.  In fact, she enjoyed it and now can't wait to get baptised!
After the practice she didn't walk back to the stairs to get out - she swam!  I hope she doesn't do that on the day - dressed in her white dress and all!

We got some photos taken of Lauren in her baptism dress as a momento of the day.
Here are some of the photos:

We had the family over for lunch on Saturday for her birthday and she had such a good time.
She loves it when the family gets together!  Here are some photos:

Of course she had to taste the icing to see if it was OK!!

Happy Birthday my little angel!

Gerringong

A couple of weeks ago we decided to take some time off our usual busy life and go down to Gerringong for the weekend.  A weekend is never long enough, but we managed to enjoy ourselves regardless.

We stayed with friends who have a family holiday home there!  It's a massive house that sleeps around 10 people so there was plenty of room for everyone!

It was great catching up with friends and discussing everything from life to politics and spiritual experiences we've had over the years!  We're so lucky to have such great friends!  The only problem is we've had about 4 different couples say to us "we need to go organise a weekend away" and we can barely get time to do this on our own let alone with everyone else!  It's nice to be loved!  :)

Here are some photos of our weekend away:

The drive down to Gerringong - such a pretty view!

Walking down to the beach:

One of the many rock pools at the beach!  They are full of fish and crabs!

Pelicans sunning themselves

And of course, no trip to Gerringong is complete without a visit to my favourite shop in Berry:

Christmas 2011

Once again Christmas has snuck up on me this year!
And it doesn't even feel like Christmas!
The weather has been terrible the last few weeks leading upto Christmas.
It has been rainy and cold!  This photo was taken 23rd December:

We had one nice weekend in the second week of December and there quite a few people putting up Christmas lights on their homes but there aren't too many homes decorated this year.  I think it's because the weather has been so miserable!

We managed to get a few outdoor decorations up this year.  I accidentally put outdoor lights on our Christmas tree this year but didn't realise until the tree was completely decorated so we didn't have lights to put up in the conifer trees out the front unfortunately.  I did however manage to buy a rope light tree this year.  I LOVE it - even though Aaron and Ash don't think it matchs the lights on the gutters!

Here's this year's attempt at outdoor decorating:

We kept up the tradition of making a Christmas card tree on our wall.

I much prefer displaying the cards this way!  It doesn't look as cluttered as cards on a table.

Here are some photos of our home at Christmas:

And finally, here's a picture of Lauren's masterpiece.  

I think I'll use it as our Christmas cards next year!

What a Blessing ...

I was driving the girls home from school this afternoon and I went over Ashleigh's line for the Primary Presentation with her which is "The Priesthood is the power of God.  I am blessed by this power when my Father gives me a blessing when I am sick". 

I then took the opportunity to explain to her what this means.
And then at the end I said "That's what happens when Daddy gives you a blessing"

Then a little voice from the back seat said "or Poppy". 
Lauren had obviously remembered when she was really sick with a vomiting bug last year her "Poppy" had come over to give her a blessing as Aaron was away. 

I think of how lucky my kids are to have experienced getting a blessing from their poppy. 
I never had that experience and I am so happy that they got to experience it.

Precious.