GO COURGARS!!!

By some miracle, we were able to get tickets to the BYU vs. UCLA football game this weekend. We traveled to North Ogden Friday evening and stayed with Michael’s grandparents. Michael’s dad also met us there. We had a very nice visit together that night. Saturday morning, we drove to Provo for what we were hoping would be a total BYU domination. Once in Provo, we went to Michael’s brother Drew’s house where we donned our official BYU gear. Aren’t we a good looking group? My brother Joel also came over and we were ready to go cheer on our beloved Cougars.

We had to split up the group, as our seats were not together, so Michael and his dad sat together and kept Annabelle with them the whole game (they sat in the shade for ¾ of the game and had some very nice older couples that adored Annabelle), while Joel and I got to sit together in the blistering sun.

The first quarter of the game started out well. We managed to score and keep UCLA off the board. In the second quarter, we exploded. UCLA had three fumbles or interceptions in a row and within 5 minutes of the 2^nd quarter, it was 28-0. We were playing extremely well and capitalizing on any mistakes by the Bruins. The final score was 59-0 BYU. I couldn’t believe we had shut UCLA out. It was as if the BYU team knew we, the Browns, were traveling far and wide to make it to this game and they wanted to play well for us.

Annabelle had a great time cheering for BYU. Michael said that although she didn't understand football, she knew what to do when everyone else cheered. She would clap and yell as loudly as she could. She would wave her arms and was one of the greatest 18 month-old cheerleader BYU has ever seen. Thankfully, she was not in the sun most of the game and didn’t get sun burned. I, on the other hand, was not so lucky and totally forgot to put on sunscreen. Don’t worry, I don’t need any scolding. I definitely learned my lesson.

GO COUGARS!

HE PASSED!!

As some of you know, today is a very important day. Finally, after waiting 6 weeks, we received the results of the Idaho bar exam that Michael took in July. I am happy to announce that Michael's name appeared on the list of those who passed! YEA!!!! All of his hard work and long hours of studying paid off. He will be sworn in at the end of this month.

Thank you for all of the prayers and thoughts for us. Studying for the bar exam was a long and stressful time and we are so glad that it is over and that the results are what we hoped they would be.

Fashon Designer in Our Midst

We still have the borrowed helmets and Annabelle cannot stop playing with them. She is constantly trying to put them on or buckle them up. Today, I found her lining up some balls against the couch and putting the helmets on them.



Here is a video of her playing with the helmets.


She is such a smart kid. I'm so lucky that she knows how to make things look good.

Free time

Yesterday, Michael was invited to play tennis with some of the other attorneys in his firm. They met in Idaho Falls, about 30 miles from we live, at 7 am. Needless to say, Michael got up pretty early in order to get there on time. After playing for several hours and since he was in town, he headed to Sam's Club to get some diapers and other things. By the time he got home, it was 11:30. It felt like a weekday to me just because Michael leaves early in the morning to go to work and I'm home with Annabelle. Now before you think I'm complaining, let me finish the rest of the story. Once Michael was home, I fed Annabelle some lunch and put her down for a nap about an hour later, then tidied the house because there was a possibility we would be having company over to watch the BYU/Washington football game. It was a difficult game to watch, but thankfully, BYU pulled out a win. Soon after the game finished, the guy who had come over to watch the game at our house asked if Michael wanted to throw the football around. Of course, how could he turn down such an enticing proposition? So once again, I found myself watching Annabelle by myself. A couple of other guys ended up joining the game and I know Michael enjoyed himself. I, on the other hand, was struggling to keep my fearless and curious daughter out of trouble. She has been throwing tantrums every time she doesn't get her way and has learned the words, "No", "Don't", and "Stop" and likes to say them to me a lot. In addition, I have found that for some reason my patience is not where it should be. I think Annabelle has already entered the terrible 2's and that stage of life requires tons of patience from the parents, so this is not a good time for me to be losing it. But, I've also found that I'm not as patient with Michael, either. I have no idea why this is suddenly happening, but I'm trying to work on it.

Anyway, the point of this article is not to talk about my issues with being impatient. Michael could tell from my telling him and also from pure observation that I'm struggling a little bit and could use some time away from Annabelle. So last night, after coming in from the football, he offered to watch Annabelle for the rest of the night and let me go do whatever I wanted. And again, tonight he offered to take Annabelle on a walk and let me be by myself. I thought about having some me-time. It's been a while. Of course, I have some time when Annabelle takes a nap, but I never know how long it will last. Last night, I turned down the offer, although I was touched. And tonight, while I was alone, I spent the time cleaning the floor (I know, you're not supposed to do chores on the Sabbath, but Annabelle had spilled some milk and other substances on the floor and you couldn't walk on it without your feet sticking to the floor). I got a little but of piano playing, but not much.

So, here's my problem. I am constantly busy, whether it's cleaning the house, doing laundry, making dinner, taking care of Annabelle (which she needs A LOT of active attention), etc. Long gone are the days when I could go out and do anything I wanted. But now, when I'm given a chance to do just that, I can't think of what I want to do. Do I read or spend a night on the town (I'd have to drive to Idaho Falls to really be able to do something wild) or maybe just a nice refreshing walk around the street of town homes I live on? There are things that I enjoy but they all involve the family. I mean, really, what do women do when they have free time? This is just something I will have to relearn as time goes by.

Biker girls

So, today was just another ho-hum day for Annabelle and me, that is until the late afternoon. I took Annabelle to the swing set just outside our place and happened to see one of our neighbors come riding up on her bike with her 1 year-old son sitting in back of her on a baby seat. We did the obligatory small talk and eventually got around to talking about her bike. She offered to let Annabelle and me use it and I took her up on it right then and there.

So, we strapped on the helmets we also borrowed from them and took off. I have been wishing that I had something like this because it seemed like it would be something that Annabelle would love. I thought that maybe the helmet would be a problem and she wouldn't want to keep it on, but surprisingly, it didn't seem to bother her.






As we were getting ready to depart for our first bike riding adventure, I noticed that the our neighbor's horse was right next the fence, so I rode up along side it and got a picture of Annabelle and the horse (which by the way, she now knows what sound a horse makes. Isn't she so smart?).



Once we got back and got off the bike, Annabelle wouldn't let go of the helmets. She had to carry both of them by herself back to our house. And ever since we've been in the house, she has been constantly putting them on and carrying them around everywhere.



We had a great ride and I plan on going on many more rides. Here is a short video I had my neighbor take of us cute biker girls.

"Hockey moms 4 Palin"

I don't know how many of you got to watch the Republican National Convention tonight, but everyone, no matter what party, was anxious to hear from the VP nominee Sarah Palin. Michael and I watched some of the speeches by other well-known names, such as Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani, off and on, while also keeping an eye on the women's quarter-finals of the US Open. But once Sarah Palin entered the stage, we were all about the politics.

Her appearance on stage was well received and she tried to begin her speech probably about 3 times, but the crowd was not going to have their standing ovation shortened. It was very obvious why Palin's high school nickname was barracuda. She stated the facts why Obama would not be the best president for our country. She listed off her own qualifications. She spoke of John's McCain's patriotism and desire to help our country be a better country. She spoke elegantly, but with strong conviction about the direction our country needs to go and how to get it there. And although her name has been dragged through the mud during the last several days, she said what she wanted to say and did a great job of exciting the crowd.

People were wondering what made Sarah Palin so special, and her speech tonight answered that question. I am very confident that she and McCain are a great team and I hope we see them make it to the White House.

Annabelle, The Builder

Tonight as I was making dinner, Annabelle was in her usual place, perched on a chair next me to me at the counter. I gave her some spices and cans to play with and this is what she did with them:




After I videotaped the above clip, I was at the stove cooking and after a few minutes, I realized that Annabelle had been very quiet on her chair. I looked over at her and she had somehow stacked the spices on top of each other. How she balanced them, I'll never know, but I had to get it on camera.




I know this entry has a lot of videos in it, but I can't help but show off how adorable my daughter is. In this clip, it's not what you see, but what you hear. I was taking Annabelle's shirt halfway off so that her arms and head were stuck inside the shirt. She thought it was hilarious and giggled uncontrollably. I needed both hands to do this, so I put the camera on the couch and tried to get Annabelle in in the picture, but it didn't work very well. Oh well. It's the laughing that makes this video worth it.