Girl's Night Out

For most of you it is no surprise that if I'm ever given the choice as to where I want to eat, it's just about always Sushi Town. Sushi Town is the local sushi restaurant and lucky for me it is the BEST sushi restaurant around. Lots of people drive the 45 minutes down from Seattle to go for sushi here in Bonney Lake, and their rolls are the best! I crave sushi on almost a weekly basis, but due to financial drawbacks I only indulge monthly.

Well about two weeks ago, our stake had the Father's and Son's Camp Out, so what did Brooke and I do . . . got a babysitter for the twins and headed to Sushi Town. Now what five year old little girl wants sushi . . . MINE!, and I love it. She was almost as excited about the sushi as she was about going on a date just the two of us. After dinner we came home, put the twins to bed, watched a movie together in my bed, and then fell asleep together. It was really a great night.

On our plate we have four pieces of Salmon, two pieces of Tuna, squid salad, and two long rolls. The only thing Brooke wasn't such a fan of was the crab on top of the one roll; she thought it was a little spicy. Oh ya, and the wasabi. She tried to talk a big bite of that, but fortunately I stopped her before she got it in her mouth and simply let her smell it. After that, she was okay leaving that one alone.

Finally . . . We only need ONE!

When you're having twins, they always tell you, make sure you have two. Two cribs, two car seats, two high chairs, two pacifiers, you get the point. Ahh, but for now, we only need one.

Other Updates

1. Luke is crawling. They've been army crawling for a while, but Luke finally figured out how to do it on his knees.

2. Brooke is learning how to read. About a week ago she read her own bedtime stories. It was amazing to watch. She sounds words out very well, and I love listening to her.

3. Josh is Mister helpful. He loves to vacuum, sweep and do the dishes. I only hope it lasts through the years.

4. Last weekend we went to the Oregon Coast to check things out for our summer vacation. Despite the bad weather, we had a great time and the coast is super gorgeous. We are really looking forward to spending a full week there in the summer.

5. Brooke and Josh love playing together.

57:45

What do those numbers mean to you? Could it be a scriptural reference? Well, let me give you a hint, it's a time. Fifty seven minutes, forty five seconds. So, what can you do in 57:45? Get ready for the day (ie. shower, blow dry, make up)? Do a load of laundry? Vacuum the house? Well, on March 20, I did something I've never been able to do in only fifty seven minutes and forty five seconds, I ran a 10k, or 6.2 miles! Now for some that time isn't all that exciting, but for me it was amazing. I'm still impressed with myself for doing it so fast. My real goal however, is to run the Bolder Boulder (Denver, CO) in less than 55 minutes. I have another 7 and a half weeks to train, and three minutes to shave off. I have no idea if I'll be able to do it, but I'm gonna try.

A Few Recent Photos

Brooke's first day of gymnastics

My cute little Zach causing mischief

Zach's first haircut, really just s trim to get rid of the "bald spot"

Luke

Luke figuring out Josh's power tools, dad loved it!

Another boring Update

I want to post something, and I've had time recently, but I'm big on having pictures with every post, since at least for me that's about all I do at other people's blogs. Sometimes I read, if it 's not too long, but not very often! And now that the holiday's are over, I haven't taken many pictures, and although fun things continue to happen, I'm out of it.

So the recap for now is . . .

1. Luke and Zach can both crawl, although it is only an army crawl. However, they can get around and it's time to buy a gate for the stairs. Sadly they've both tumbled down once! The good news is they fell gracefully and neither had any battle wounds.

2. Luke and Zach each have a tooth. It's funny though because for both of them it's a lower central, but Zach's is his right and Luke's is his left. Luke also is just starting to poke another one through.

3. Brooke is READING!!! She can sound out simple words and I'm so impressed by how much she has learned.

4. Brooke started gymnastics. I finally feel like I have it together enough to get her to and from ONE activity a week. She's been going for two weeks and yesterday when she was done she was so mad because other girls still got to be there.

5. Josh, is Josh. Nothing really new, although I think he's grown two inches since Halloween, nothing fits him anymore.

Just an Old Fashion Update

For those of you who didn't get a Christmas card, oh wait that would be all of you since we didn't send one out!, this is the family photo we would have included. Things are good at our house. The boys have been eating solids for a couple of months and although life is busy and hard, it is getting easier. I feel like my life is spent in the kitchen, and from what I hear, it only gets worse! Luke can army crawl, but we are still waiting for the day when they both take off to disappear for hours while they happily entertain each other. (Does that ever really happen?)

Below is the newest addition to our family!, well, the larger Bown family. Katie, Ruston's sister, had the most beautiful little girl on December 19, and we got to meet her last week.

And lastly, Brooke thought she looked so cute with the curlers in her hair, that she made me post this picture. Sadly though, the curlers mostly fell out while she was sleeping, so we had to start from scratch the next morning. Does anyone have any tips for keeping these super old fashion sponge curlers in?

Our Christmas

I don't have a lot of time, so here are some pics from Christmas. Mom and Dad and David came and we all had a really good time. Luke and Zach had a good time playing with the wrapping paper and bows, and I loved watching Brooke and Josh open their presents and exclaim (every time) "This is my most favorite thing ever!"
Christmas is a million times better with kids.

(Luke above, Zachary below)

All of my Boys

First of all, I think it's GREAT that all three boys were playing happily with the same toy. I can't wait until they can all really play together.

And I love Zach's face here. He's not really mobile yet, but he has managed to roll his way under the changing table and now he's not quite sure what to do.

And Josh and Luke just look so cute together, all snuggled up, just waking up from a good night's sleep.

I do love my boys; all of them. And I can finally say that I'm grateful I have twins. It's still really hard sometimes, but it's only sometimes instead of all the time, and that is a huge accomplishment.

My Little Girl is Five

She made it! and so did we; Brooke is now a five year old. Her birthday was a "few" days ago for those of you in the know, but hey, we do the best we can to get things posted, whenever it may be that that actually happens.

This was her birthday cake, and although I was kind of disappointed with it, she loved it!

Then a couple of days later we had her party, and did ice cream cone cupcakes.

In the end, Brooke had a blast, and is loving all of her new toys.

Richard G. Scott

On Sunday, our stake got lucky, and Elder Scott came for a visit. Everyone speculated as to why a member of the twelve would come and visit our small and seemingly insignificant stake. Was there going to be a new stake president? Maybe the stake boundaries were going to be changed? In the end, I still don’t really know why he was here, but at our house we made a big deal about it. Last Monday night our FHE lesson was on prophets, and we specifically talked about Elder Scott coming. Brooke, without any prompting on my part, decided that she wanted to shake his hand. I think there was a story in the Friend a while back about the primary kids shaking an apostle’s hand; she might have gotten the idea there. She prayed every night and every other time it was her turn to say the prayer that she would get to shake his hand, and I have to admit I was worried that I might not have enough faith to see her goal through.

Sunday came, and we were out the door by 8:30 for a 10:00 meeting . . . well, me and Brooke and Josh. There was no way on Earth we were going to make the twins sit there for that long too! (They showed up at 9:45.) Fifteen minutes later we were at the stake center, and upon walking into the chapel, we found that it was already 80% full, and some people were already sitting in the cultural hall. But after hearing Brooke pray all week, I was NOT sitting in the cultural hall. I walked into the chapel determined to find a seat when a kind usher stated that he had been instructed to fill the chapel (i.e. you couldn’t save seats) and so we sat down in someone else’s saved seat, about 2/3 of the way back, but in the chapel!

The meeting started early, and was really rather uneventful. Several of the local leaders bore their testimonies and then Elder Scott spoke for the last hour. When he started his talk he told a joke, “If you always want to wake up with a smile on your face, go to bed with a coat hanger in your mouth”.




I guess Brooke and Josh took him seriously!

The rest of the hour was spent talking about teaching your children, dressing modestly, the other side of the veil and then he bore his testimony, and the meeting was over. Towards the end of his talk Brooke asked when we could go home (I can’t really blame her since she had been sitting there for three hours), and I told her it was almost over, to which she replied, “Mom, I haven’t shaken his hand yet!”

The meeting ended, people got up slowly, lingering in case there was more, and while they lingered, Brooke booked it to the stand. Josh wanted to go with her, but in the end he was too scared.

She got up there as only a child can, weaving her way around people’s knees, and yes, shook Elder Scott’s hand! He asked her for her name and talked to her for a minute and then went on to the other people on the stand, and then left. Apparently his flight home made it so he really couldn’t stay long after the meeting ended.

I have to admit I cried. She was so determined and had so much faith, and I was so proud of her. She’ll be five in two weeks, she’s old enough to remember some of the things that happen to her now, and I KNOW she’ll remember this event for a long time. I will too.

And Now a Sad One

Josh was walking on the sidewalk last week with his hands in his pockets when he tripped and landed FLAT on his face. His face looked sooooo bad and I felt soooooo bad for him. He was super brave! We let him eat all the Popsicles he wanted, but since it hurt so bad to eat, he really didn't want them. It's been five days now, and aside from a few scabs, he's back to normal.