draw me a ..... fish

That's what I said to Katy and then she did THIS!! I can't believe it. I know parents go overboard when their kids do something for the first time but this is pretty cool. Up until now, all they've done is scribble but she very deliberately and meticulously drew this. Wow!!

Christmas videos

We have lots of pictures to go through but I thought I'd start off with a couple of videos we took last night and this morning.
The Goldfish song by Laurie Berkner. Lisa (with Terri's help) made the tutus and the rings and bought the wings.

Pop Fly song by Justin Roberts. Lisa (and Terri) made these tutus also.

Quick video of the girls riding their new ponies. Please ignore the mess...we're still recovering from Christmas.

Christmas Eve Gift!!

Merry Christmas from the Browns!! All of the presents are wrapped...well, at least the ones that I bought...and everybody is in bed...well, this guy will be soon. Unfortunately, I have to work tomorrow morning so there won't be any running out to presents first thing in the morning BUT...I will get home before they wake up from their nap so the plan is to have Christmas morning right after their nap in the afternoon (so it's the same effect).

So here are a few pics of dinner and the girls tonight. Dinner was an amazing crown pork roast. Wow! Lisa's dad can COOK!! And then they opened up a present that was a little Santa ornament that lit up. It was hard pealing them away from those to go to bed tonight. I bet tomorrow's going to be infinitely worse!





Merry Christmas again everybody!! I can't wait until tomorrow. The girls are going to be so much fun!

Katy is doing better

Thanks for all of the well-wishes. Katy is doing much better. That night, her fever finally broke around 4am. She ended up in bed with Lisa while I slept on the couch. Last night wasn't any better eventhough they stayed in their beds all night, Lisa was up sniffing and sneezing so she only got a couple hours of sleep. I'll post some pictures when I get a chance. Lisa's Dad and stepmom (Terri) are here for Christmas. We had a GREAT first day and are looking forward to celebrating Christmas with them.

Now stay with me...I was watching the A&M basketball game tonight. They were playing University of Washington at UDub so it was actually televised up here. Please say a prayer for A&M player Derrick Roland. He broke his leg tonight during the game and likely ended his collegiate career. It was pretty gruesome.

I only bring it up because unlike football or baseball, you get to know the basketball team. There are 10 players or less that really contribute so you get to watch them and get to know them...and route for them their whole career like they are part of your family. It broke my heart to see him lying on the floor in pain like that and especially to see his teammates (somehow apart of my extended family) also in tears...crying for him, for his suffering, for his future as a basketball player. I saw the true family on the court today and it made me want to give each one of them a hug. That's the sensitive guy in me, I'm sorry, but I really wanted to reach out tonight.

Anyway...say a prayer for D-Ro.

Seriously sick baby...

So sad. Both girls started showing signs of getting sick late Thursday night and had low grade fevers Friday. Saturday, it was bad enough that we cancelled our plans and stayed home to take care of them. Then, last night was pretty bad. Katy's fever wouldn't go down even with Motrin. She was up and down most of the night so we made an appointment first thing this morning.

At 1, we got in to see our doctor and he was unimpressed. The fever thing didn't concern him...even if she had been throwing up he said it was just a thing going around...so he sent us home with little ammo except to ride out the storm.

Well, that's when things got ugly. As we were getting in the car at the hospital, I noticed one of the tires was a little low. I stopped at the first gas station I could but of course "Air Pump Out of Service". So we continued on as planned to Sears to run in and pick up something real fast. As I turned into the parking lot, we both heard the sound of a true flat tire. I stopped and looked out to see the tire was coming OFF THE RIM!!!

Here's when we realized somebody was looking out for us...we got a flat tire going all of 5 mph as we were pulling into the one automotive place that happened to be open on a Sunday afternoon! Also fortuitous, I forgot to put the car jack and tire iron back in the car so I couldn't just change the tire myself which would have been the natural thing to do. Sears informed me that since my spare is a different size than my winter tires that I have on right now, I could have done serious damage to the 4 wheel drive system!

SO...we just had to wait a while for our neighbor to come pick us up while the girls took their nap and simply left the car at Sears to be fixed. I got a call this evening (to the surprise of the mechanic) that said the tire and the rim were in good shape and I can pick it up in the morning. A Festivus Miracle!!!

Well...at least I'm trying to look on the bright side. We still have a very sick baby. Katy's fever spiked this evening up to 104.3 (although the under arm thermometer only read 102.6...she was definitely acting and felt like 104.3). Then she started having a hard time breathing after we gave her a tepid bath. So we debated on whether or not to take her back to the ER this evening. After our awesome nurse neighbor came over and listened to her for a while, we decided to let her sleep tonight.

Problem is...she can't breath and her fever is still up in the 101 to 102 range. So now she is out here with me on the recliner so she can be propped up a little. Lisa is trying to sleep in case I need to tap out later tonight. I'm also feeling like I'm on the edge of getting sick. I've avoided it all season so far...but this isn't looking good.

Well....so much for our grand anniversary plans. I did go overboard and promised Lisa ballroom dancing lessons. Yeah, that's right. I can dance.

And there was some talk about how the 10 year anniversary is the diamond anniversary...wink wink. Give Lisa a call or email, I've overheard her tell the story 3 times already. I think she liked her anniversary present.

Let the Fro-mance begin!!!

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10 YEARS!!!!

Do you know what happened 10 years ago today?!?! Lisa and I got together in front of our family and friends in Huntsville, TX to devote our lives to one another. We've come a long way in 10 years. We've had some amazing adventures and even managed to have two amazing additions to our family.

We have been so blessed in the first 10 years of our marriage. So many friendships, memories, and adventures...I can't wait to see what the next 10 years holds for us.

Unfortunately, I'm working an evening shift Friday so we can't celebrate our anniversary tomorrow...but we are taking advantage of our babysitters both Saturday and Sunday so we can get away and have some alone time.

Today, we took the girls to dance class and were treated to some of the cutest outfits yet! And thankfully, I think I have finally dialed in on perfect settings on the camera. I am SO happy with how these turned out!






















Hope you enjoyed...

Happy Anniversary to us!!!! I love you, Lisa!!!

Christmas cards are coming...

Sam came over the last 2 nights and took pictures of us for the Christmas cards. I just ordered them so they will be in the mail on Monday. Sam took over 200 pictures so we had tons to choose from...and we had several that didn't quite make the cut but were still good.











Great face by Lyssa


I was going to save this for Christmas morning but I couldn't resist sharing my naughty Santa.

OH!! I downloaded a couple videos today too!

This second one is very similar but still pretty cute and worth showing.

one more time

I went up real fast for sunset again and took. Tonight, Mount Redoubt was steaming a little.

Amazing sunset...

We are going to have a great week of sunsets. Since the lower 48 is getting some nasty weather, we have the opposite...a big high pressure. After missing yesterday's awesome sunset, today I ran home after work and grabbed the camera and headed up to our favorite spot to view sunsets. I didn't have to wait long since sunset is around 4pm.




Same picture...but a different ISO



There's always time for a self portrait...

Now, time for a little "fata morgana".