Older and Wiser

Justin is officially 27! Holy cow, that's almost 30! hee hee...last night we had a cake and candles and we are going out to eat tonight. It is always fun to have birthdays, even though Justin had to go to school today. :( He woke up to the Birthday bucket full of all kinds of suprises, and we drove hm to school since he dreads riding his bike everyday.

Make a wish!!

We didn't have 27 candles so he had it easy with just 8. He blew them all out on the first try!

Jack was super excited to see the fire on the candles. It doesn't take much to get him excited.

A couple of weeks ago, Justin was able to go to Guatemala on a dental humanitarian trip which technically qualifies as one awesome Birthday present! He was lucky to have some of his good friends with him this year. This is on top of a volcano they hiked. How pretty is that?!

I'm always so proud of Justin. He is the best husband and an even better dad. Thanks for everything babe!!

We love you and hope you have a great Birthday!!!

Scott and Kelli - Aug. 21, 2009

Don't they make cute couple? :) We are so happy for Scott that he has found someone as awesome as Kelli. She fits right into our family and we are excited for them to start their new life together!! Congrats you two!

Angie took these super cute pictures!

The Brownell side at the Portland temple.

Jack giving hugs right after they walked out of the temple.

Cutest Grandma ever! I love this picture of my Grandma Gorrell.

Jack was not happy right after the wedding. He was hungry and tired and wanted to make sure everyone knew it. Pictures were not going to happen for him.

Justin had just got there the night before after not seeing us for a month! Jack was ecstatic to have him back. The whole next day at the wedding, he would not let go of Justin. I think he was making sure he wasn't going to leave him again! He was hooked to him all day, which was a nice break for me! :)

He even fell asleep in his arms at the luncheon.

Feeling much better after some food and a nap!

The next day they had their reception at Kelli's parents house. It is a beautiful home right on Lake Tapps. The weather was perfect and everything turned out so pretty!!

Steph, Matt and Hayden at the reception. We wish we lived closer to them!!! They were nice enough to keep Hayden up way past his bed time so we could spend as much time as possible together. Hopefully we get to see them again soon!

My mom and dad.

I love this picture. My mom looked so pretty that night! I think they were very happy that all the planning and preparing is over and now they can just relax and get back to a normal life. :)

Riley and Jack showing off their ridiculously huge suckers. It kept them happy for a long time!

Me, Angie, Dad, Mom, Scott, Whitney, and Stephanie

Sibling love...hee hee!

Wow...he's actually smiling in a picture! How did that happen?

Us at the reception...too bad I'm 8 months pregnant in all of these pictures!!

Our family just keeps getting bigger and there are 2 more on the way! Now it is Scott and Kelli's turn to add to the numbers!! :) You guys better work on that!

I LOVE Washington!!

Here is a very LONG recap of things we did besides the wedding...

Even after being in Washington for so long, it seems the time flew by extra fast!! Thankfully we were able to do most of the things I wanted to do while we were there. We went up to Mt. Rainier for family night and had a picnic. It would have been perfect except there were a million bugs attacking us! It made us cut our trip a little short, but it is always fun to be up in the mountains. That is one thing I miss in Ohio. There are no mountains, just hills.

Mt. Rainier in the background. It is amazingly beautiful there.

It's harder than it looks to jump when you're 8 months pregnant!! Maybe I should have lifted up my legs like Angie and it would look like I jumped higher.

Us being our normal weirdee selves! :) Mom...you jumped too late! Hee hee! Really though...this is my family. We are all so silly and I love it!!

Whitney enjoying our traditional drink... Capri Suns.

I love being in the mountains!!

Jack had SO much fun playing at my mom and dad's house. He was non-stop running around and enjoying every second. One day he was having fun in a laundry basket and fell out of it onto their brick fireplace. It was a pretty nasty cut. In all the life of that super dangerous brick fireplace, Riley and Jack are the only ones to get hurt on it! I have no idea how that is possible.

He felt much better after a band-aid, some chips and a drink. :)

We were also able to go to the Ballard Locks. It is just north of Seattle where the boats go from the salt water of the Puget Sound, to the fresh water of Lake Union and Lake Washington.

All the boys checking out the Seattle police boat.

A perfect day in Seattle...

Tanner, Mckay, Riley, Jack

Down at the fish ladder. All of these boys look way too old in this picture!!

After the locks we went straight to the beach! It was cold water, but so fun to sit on the sand and watch all the sail boats go by.

"Uh-oh! Mom! Help me!! I have seaweed on my foot!!!"

Jack, and Tanner, were not a fan of the seaweed. :)

Erica invited us to go the the Point Defiance Zoo. It was the perfect day to go...not too hot.

They have a bird exhibit where you take a popsicle stick with food on the end and all the birds come and land right on your stick and eat off of it!! It was our favorite part of the day by far.

Jack was a little unsure about having the bird on his stick. After it sat and ate for a minute, Jack shook his stick while the bird was holding on strong to try and get it off. It was hilarious to see the bird flop back and forth while holding on for dear life!

Riley had those binoculars through the whole zoo making sure he didn't miss anything. :)

We even got to ride the carousel...twice. The first time was fun, the second time, Whitney, Angie and I were all sick! The boys though, of course...loved it.

Tyson Gamblin got married and it was fun to see so many people I grew up with at the reception. Here are my two favorite girls in front of the Gamblin's beautiful view of Enumclaw and the mountains. It was a little cloudy that night but it was still very pretty.

My dad and Jack dancing at the reception. Jack was LOVING it! He did not want to stop dancing. It was so cute! I think that's the first time I've ever seen my dad dance as well. He's been doing a lot of things I've never seen him do before. :) He wears shorts now for heaven's sakes! I never thought I would see the day. Who is this guy?! I kind of like it! :)

Here is Jack jumping on the Champ's trampoline. Jack is in love with Jared and Shelby so it was fun to go over to their house a couple times and take advantage of the trampoline.

I feel bad taking Jack back to our house in the city where we have no back yard, no tramp, no cousins, no mountains, no favorite babysitters like Jared and Shelby, etc. etc. We had SO MUCH FUN but we also missed Justin way too much! It is so nice to be back with him. I don't like to be a single mom!!

Thank you Mom and Dad for letting us stay so long! I'm sure you are ready to have your house back. Thank you Angie and Will for helping me with Jack so much and letting him hang out at your house as well.

We miss you guys! Now it is your turn to come here! 5 weeks left!!

Kelli's Bridal Shower

We had a bridal shower for Kelli last night at my mom's house. I love having parties and I love decorating for them! We had a lot of fun, even though we spent ALL day getting ready for it. It was well worth all the work!

Love the pom poms and the table looked super cute! The food was even better :) We at WAY too much, as usual.

Kelli opening gifts... she got a lot of cute things.

Traditional picture of Stephanie and I :) I love this girl!!! I am super sad because she is leaving for Canada on Sunday for a week. How dare she leave while I am here in Washington!! :) It's a good thing I will still be here when she gets back.

Sisters... we were missing Stephanie!!

Me and Erica. I love that I get to see her every time I come to Washington!! We have known each other since we were born!

We are super happy to have Kelli join our family. She fits in so well and I think she is perfect for Scott. We only get one sister-in-law and I couldn't have made a better choice myself!!