Yesterday, February 24
th, our little brother Chris turned 19! I can remember when he was born. We lived in Garland and had a foreign exchange student, Adriana, living with us. It was a Sunday evening and Tiffany and I were sharing a room. Dad came in after we went to bed, without even being told by dad to "GO TO BED"
repeatedly like normal, and told us that Mom's water had broke and we need to get ready to go to the hospital. It was planned that all of us kids would be there for Christopher's birth. It was a neat experience! I remember calling him
Bugsaboo as a nickname. We had so much fun growing up with this little brother that was YEARS younger than the rest of us. We always say he turned out so good because of us amazing sisters and brother who raised him! :) And here he is turning 19 and getting ready to go on a mission. We couldn't be prouder of him! He is such a great example to his nieces and nephews and we all adore him when he is around!
To celebrate his birthday we had a Birthday Dinner party at our house in Woods Cross. Chris brought 2 of his friends, his
roommate Jeff and his teammate from
UVU, Seth. Don't they all look like wonderful future Missionaries?
Carson spent some time yesterday making Chris a Birthday Card....this is what he came up with! He insisted on hanging it up somewhere in the house. They are pictures of trees. I thought it was pretty funny!
Nick did a wonderful job grilling some steaks and chicken for dinner! It was yummy!!!!
Mom, Dad, Matt, Nat, & Hallie were also there. Of course we all took our chance to give Hallie Loves!! She rolled from her tummy to her back for the first time yesterday! It is amazing how much she is growing!!! I can't get over her pretty blue eyes!!!
I couldn't get Matt & Dad to smile at the same time for a picture, so after a few failed attempts they were laughing at each other thinking they were pretty funny....but I caught them both smiling at the same time, just not looking at the camera!
Chris requested his favorite type of cake for his
bday, the "
Brower" cake as Natalie calls it. The chocolate cake, pudding, and whipped cream cake.
After dinner we made it to Logan for the 6 O'clock session. It was such an amazing experience to go through the Temple when Chris took out his endowments. My whole family was there, my Parents, older sisters and younger brothers. All of us. What a feeling it was to stand in the celestial room at the Temple and be surrounded by your WHOLE family. I had to stand there and soak it all in. I feel so grateful to be raised by such wonderful parents and their example they showed us growing up. I am so proud of my siblings and the great examples they are for me. I don't know how often we will be able to pull that off since 2 siblings live out of state and one is now leaving on a mission, but I can't wait to do it again!!! And I can't wait for the day I can go to the temple and all of my children are there with me and Nick. Seriously, that experience ranks as part of my top 5!! After the session we grabbed a bite to eat at Panda Express (Chris's Favorite) and then Ice Cream at Coldstone! Yum!!!! Then to make the long day even longer, we drove up to Idaho Falls at 11 PM and got to Marisa's house around 1 AM. The next morning, Chris and I got up early and ran 7 miles (which was a good run, but I was tired since I didn't get a ton of sleep!). I was so glad Chris was there to run with me. It made it a lot easier!!! After I got back and took of my running gear Kaylee had to try it on. She thought she was pretty cute, and I agree with her!!!
We all went to my niece Madison's baptism at 11. It was a great program and wonderful day. I can't believe how big she is getting. I remember after Nick and I were first married watching her when she was only a few months old. And now she is getting baptized!!! She sure is getting big! While we were all together, I made everyone take some pictures.....and after a few eye rolls they agreed. You will thank me for this someday! :) We were only missing my brother Matt who headed down to southern Utah after the Temple Session to be with Natalie and Hallie.
Madison and McKenzie were so cute with Kaylee. I think it helps that their little sister Mayci is the same age!!!
Chris, Tiffany, Mom and me. We had yummy taco salad and lots of other yummy food! I could have eaten all day it was so good!
Kaylee totally enjoyed herself....doing her own thing....playing with all the kids......and just having fun!!!
With all that was going on, we were all tired, but of course the guys figured out how to take a nap in the middle of the party!
Kaylee loves her Grandpa!!! (And I am pretty sure he loves her!!)
Silly Sisters...
We made it home Saturday night, unloaded the kids and the van, and went straight to bed. We were pooped!! I was not feeling well on Sunday, so Nick took Carson to church and Kaylee and I stayed home and slept. I went to the instacare later that afternoon to see if I had strep, but the Rapid Test was negative, but they put me on antibiotics anyway since the kids had it. It went from a soar throat to a head cold, but I am slowly getting better! I think with the busy weekend my body is trying to tell me to SLOW DOWN!!! But of course, my week was just beginning!! But that is another post!!!!
