VACATION!!!!!

It's vacation time!! As I think back over family vacations I am reminded of lots of great memories that have gotten better over the years. At the time they were moments that I thought would never end, but now I look back and laugh with tears in my eyes! Let's take a short walk down memory lane.

The first vacation memory is from when I was 10. We went to Galveston to see the ocean for the first time. We had an awesome time at nasty, stinky Astro World, then it was on to the beach! We got there and it was awesome! The waves were huge (for kids) and we were having a blast. While we were in the ocean my dad realizes that he can't find his keys (yes we were in the ocean). Somewhere in the bottom of the Galveston Bay are my dad's keys, to this day.

The second great vacation memory I have was from when I was probably 12. Every time we had a chance we went to Arkansas to visit family. My Granny and Pappaw are both from the most beautiful part of Arkansas, the Ozarks. I believe it was over spring break one year when we decided to take a small hike up B Mountain in Cox Valley. We have a cousin that lives at the base of the mountain so we began at his house. The adventure began at about 10am. We looked at beautiful trees, saw lots of fossil rocks, lots of moss, and beautiful scenery! We saw some cave dwellings and felt like true outdoorsmen (and women). As we were on our way back down the mountain, a tree limb caught my dads keys and ripped them off his keychain. As he started looking for the keys we kept walking because we didn't realize that he wasn't with us. As we kept going we realized that he wasn't with us and we weren't sure how to get back. Needless to say, we made it back down the mountain 4 hours later wet and starving!!

The last vacation memory I will share with you was when I was 14. We went on a trip to Biloxi, Mississippi and to this day we still say it smells like a big stink bomb. We were going to the beach one day to have lots of fun in the sun. Little did we know that dad was once again planning on making lots of memories. As we got closer to the beach we saw a jeep driving on the sand. I'm not sure what my dad was thinking at this point, in our Astro minivan, but as we drove past the sign that said, "NO DRIVING ON THE BEACH," I'm sure he wasn't thinking at all! Not long after we passed the sign we were no longer moving. Yes, we were stuck, on the beach, with no way of getting unstuck. As soon as my mom realized what was happening her and Noey got out of the van. Stacey and I got out of our seats and layed on the floor of the van so no one could see us. I still remember the policeman asking my dad what he was thinking. I'm not sure of the answer, but I'm sure it sounded something like, "I'm a Brown and we know everything!"

As I said before, we have had many memorable vacations! I'm sure this vacation will be no different than any other. Especially since the back windshield of Noey and Jennifer's Trailblazer has already busted out and we haven't even left our house yet!!

Stay tuned to find out what our next adventure holds!!!

Boomer Kisses!

One of my favorite things is hugs and kisses from my babies! Before Boomer passed away he had started giving me "big lip" kisses. He would grab my cheeks and stick his lips out as far as he could and then give me a kiss. That was one of the things I missed so much after his accident! I longed to hear his voice, hold him in my arms, and get big lip kisses. Well, this week, Ashby has started giving Boomer Kisses! She can't quite pucker up like he did but she has started grabbing my face and giving me kisses! I love it!!! I just tell her to give me a Boomer kiss and she grabs my face with those precious little hands and pulls my face to hers and it is the best feeling in my world right now!! She has no idea what she is doing to me when she does things like that. Isn't it awesome how God knows just how to take care of you? I don't know why he had to take Boomer so early, but I do know why he gave Ashby to us when he did. He knew that she was exactly what we needed for just a time as this!
I hope everyone finds something this week that God is doing just for you!

Good Friends!

There are not many things that are better than hanging out with friends that you haven't seen in a long time. We went to Shreveport for my sisters surgery yesterday (which went really well) and then stopped through Marshall on the way home to surprise some friends. Mike and Becca Roberts are two friends that we have both known for a really long time. When I was a little girl at Arp First Baptist church they went to church with us. When I met Josh he was going to TBI in Henderson. Before we went on a date one night he had to go talk to a guy that he was going to school with so we stopped by there before we left. When he came to the door I realized it was Mike! Isn't it weird how small the world really is! Well anyway, at about 5 o'clock we stopped by their house for just a minute, and ended up eating dinner with them and leaving at about 10. We reminised about seminary and when I was little going to their house riding horses and making monkey bread. Their boys are all grown up (Josh 18, Kasey 15, Brett 13). They are such an awesome family. When I think of them I think of what an awesome minister Mike is and what a loving mother and wife Becca is. My prayer is that when people think of us they feel the same way that we feel about the Roberts...They are really good friends and even though we don't see each other often, we know we could count on them for anything!

And just a side note:
Ashby is just like her Boomer! While we were waiting on my sister to get out of surgery she was the star of the waiting room. She crawled up between two women on a couch, she played cards with two teenage girls, and she made friends with an older man who was visiting with his family!


I love my daughter and I am glad that she is a social butterfly! And it makes me smile to think of how friendly my son was too! I love my family!!

No More Pacifier!!!

Well today is the second day of Miss Ashby with no pacifier! It has been kind of tough but we are definitely not turning back now. I really thought bed time would be the worst but it is actually nap time when she wants it the most. I thought I would share a few pics of how cute she looked with it in her mouth so we can all remember the days! Enjoy :)

Church Camp

Reading Books

Hanging out on the back porch!

I will have to admit that I am a little sad about the pacifier being gone. I don't know if it's that she's growing up a little bit or if it just means that we are entering a new phase in our lives or what but it does make me a little sad. On the other hand it makes me really happy!! No more crawling around on my hands and knees trying to find a pacifier so that she will stop screaming in the middle of the night, no more searching the car, searching the backpack, and no more wasting money on new ones because none of the searching turned up a pacifier!
Thank you God for giving us two beautiful babies that we love more than anything!!

Grandma Brown

For any of you that don't know my Grandma Brown passed away a couple of weeks ago. I have written about her before on my blog but I just want to tell you about what it was like right before she met Jesus face to face.
As I said in my last post about her, she was one of the most awesome Christian women I have ever known. She had 12 children whom she loved very much and lots of grandchildren and great grandchildren that she also loved.
My mom would call and give me updates on her because Josh and I were at church camp and we couldn't go and see her. The first night she called she said that Grandma had been seeing Grandpa all day and then there was something else. She also said that she kept asking him, "Who is that little boy with you?" Mom asked her if it was Boomer and she said yes but we also think that it could have been a baby that she had premature that was stillborn. Who knows who it was....that's just awesome no matter how you look at it!
The next night as we were walking out of the evening worship time mom called back to let me know that my Grandma had passed away. As she began telling me about what happened the day of her death I was amazed at her once again. As people were coming into her room to visit her or care for her or clean up she would ask them, "do you know Jesus?" What a legacy!! Even until the end she was witnessing to people and trying to win souls for the Lord. Oh if I could only be like my Grandma Brown!


This is almost the whole family. When there are this many people it is hard to get everyone to look at the camera and be still so this is the best picture I could get!