Lizzy's 10th Birthday.

Lizzy wanted a "cooking" birthday party this year. How fun! We started by decorating chef hats and aprons. The girls were very creative, and colorful. Once we were dressed to cook, my friend Si Foster taught them how to make Calzones. Si is one of the best cooks I know. After each girl made their very own calzone, I had them decorate Lizzy's birthday cake that I had made. What a party! We managed with very few mishaps.. smoke alarms raging, permanent marker on clothes ...but had a great time. The party favor was a roll of cookie dough with a cute cookie cutter attached. Phew!

Lizzy 10 years old

Happy birthday!

Lizzy busy at work making her calzone.

Si instructing 11 girls.

Party girls.

The cutest of them all.

The final stage.

Cutest toes!

Ticklish Lizzy.

The actual day of Lizzy's birthday (December 3rd), I let her miss a half day of school to get pampered. She chose to get a professional pedicure and manicure. She was so fun to watch, and had a great time. After that our family went to dinner at Firehouse Pizza. We met Jodi, Jon, and girls there. It was a real party!

Festival of Trees

The employees at The Summit Group did an incredible job on Steve's tree at the Festival of Trees. Many thanks to the kind employees who put a lot of time, effort, money, and thought into his tree. The theme was, "Let Heaven and Nature Sing". The note on the back talked about how they wanted to honor one of their hero's in the Festival of Trees. It was a great tribute to Steve.

It was a bitter sweet for our family. We loved the treee, and we loved the way in which it represented Steve. However, it was really difficult to walk through isles of trees reading the stories of men, women, husband, wives, and children that have died. It did make me realize that there are other people out there with similiar situation like mine that are mourning the loss of a loved one. Sometimes you feel like no one understands your emotions, and feelings. I am sure there are others that do.

Jodi and Jon Fulks and their cute girls came with us. We tried to make it a more pleasant adventure by letting the little kids do crafts, and get in the "bubble machine". The bubble machine was probably the greatest hit.

A niece of mine sent me a poem that sums up a lot of my feelings. It is as follows:

Please be gentle with me for I am grieving,
The sea I swim in is a lonely one,
And the shore seems miles away,
Waves of despair numb my soul,
As I struggle through each day,
My heart is heavy with sorrow,
I want to shout and scream,
And repeatedly ask why?
At times, my grief overwhelms me,
And I weep bitterly,
So great is my loss,
Please don't turn away or tell me to move on with my life,
I must embrace my pain before I can begin to heal,
Companion me through tears,
And sit with me in loving silence,
Honor where I am in my journey,
Not where you think I should be,
Listen patiently to my story,
I may need to tell it over and over again,
It's how I begin to grasp the enormity of my loss,
Nuture me through the weeks and months ahead,
Forgive me when I seem distant and inconsolable,
A small flame still burns within my heart,
And shared memories may trigger both laughter and tears,
I need your support and understanding,
There is no right or wrong way to grieve,
I must find my own path,
Please will you walk beside me? By: Jill B. Englar

Thanksgiving at Aunt Michelle's 2008

Aunts, uncles, and lots of cousins.

The Ping Pong Tourney

Even mom got involved.

The two kindgergartener's in a play off.

Cousin time.

Games, homemade candy, and treats, a Thanksgiving must.

Sarah and Noah.

Lovin' babies!

The Brown table.

Jordan and Ben. Cute cousins!

Thanksgiving is a time of gratitute and thankfulness. This year the holidays are especially hard for our family. We have struggled with the loss of Steve. It is very noticeable at every holiday, party, or event, that he is not here anymore. Steve was the type of person that added a spark to the party. He loved life, and with his quick wit, and great sense of humor, made everything we did a lot more fun. We miss him so much. At times it seems unbearable.

We are grateful for the memories we have with him. We are grateful that we got to spend as much time with him as we did. Steve did everything fast paced, so we feel we really got double time with him.

We are also grateful for our wonderful friends and family. We are blessed to have such great love and support by all. We know we can't do this alone, so we depend on our great friends and family.

I am grateful to have 6 wonderful children. What a blessing and strength they are in my life. They are amazing children with strong testimonies. I am grateful for the Savior who comforts us, buoys us up, and eases our burdens. Our family is especially gratiful for the Plan of Salvation. That brings us great peace.

Pumpkin Carving Party

Meagan and Lizzy loving the feel of it.


Ben busy at work.


Lizzy decided her pumpkin was dirty and gave it a good washing.


Team work.


Loving every minute of it.

The coolest pumpkins ever!

The proud pumpkin carvers!


Jodi, Jon, Madi, and Tyli, came over the night before Halloween to carve pumpkins. They brought dinner and made a real party out of it. I thought we were just carving your "regular" pumpkins, but to my surprise they had a different idea. Ben (with help) carved the skeleton head, Michael the bat, Lizzy the jack-o-latern, and Meagan the spider. The were the best pumpkins that we have ever carved, thanks to the help of Jon and Jodi.

Max Brown October 2001 - October 2008

Max was hit by a car and killed on Wednesday, October 29, 2008. It was a very sad day for all of us. Katelyn text several neighbors and friends to come to a candlelight vigil for Max. We told stories about Max, and after you told your story you put a dog biscuit on his grave. Ben sang the song that he had made up for Max quite some time ago that he sang to him daily. Ben doesn't remember life without Max, because we got Max before Ben was born. Ben carried around Maxs' collar for days after he died. He, like all of us, loved little Max. Max was buried under the tree that was planted in memory of Steve.

Family Home Evening

The kids decorated pumpkins for their dad. They wrote messages on the back of the pumpkins to take to his grave. This year Lizzy was a U of U cheerleader and Ben and U of U football player for their dad. We miss him so much!

We left Steve's favorite candy (Reese's peanut butter cup) with the pumpkins. We all got in the car to go home and Ben had a different idea. He got out took the candy and ran. He said, "Dad can't eat it anyway."

Ben caught in action!

Susie Davis' Halloween Party

Diving for candy.


Ben playing bingo.

Lizzy playing games.



Madonna



Lizzy goes fishing.

The gang.

Arod and Madona.

Becky's mom Susie invited us to their family Halloween party. The kids a great time playing games, eating pasta, and came home with lots of loot. Thanks Davis Family!

Grandma Brown's Halloween Party

The Brown clan.

Bradley, the adorable bumble bee.

Noah, the cutest pumpkin.

Ben having fun.

The cutest cheerleader!

The trailer park mom with her uptown kids.

Meagan took Katelyn, Lizzy, and Ben to Grandma Brown's Halloween party. They had a great time dressing up, playing games, eating soup and scones, and bonding with their cousins. This is a tradition that the kids always look forward to. Grandma and Grandpa put on a pretty awesome party!