Here comes the bride!!!

Well, now three of my four daughters are married. It was a wild few weeks around here, getting ready for the wedding. Then it was even a wilder few days with everyone here (except Tommy - picture me frowning here). The wedding went well and we appreciate all who came (and missed those who couldn't - but understand how busy life is). Hillary (Grace's former roommate from Provo) left on Sunday. Laura, Josh and Harrison left on Tuesday morning and my niece, Ruth-Anne, left on Tuesday night. After a fun - if short - honeymoon in Gatlinburg, Grace and Aaron returned very late Tuesday night and were back and work and school on Wednesday.

So now I'm trying to get back to regular life and not miss everyone too much. Christmas will be here before we know it!!

Anziano Brannon/family update

I know it has been awhile since I updated our family. Jonathan is still in Trieste. It is possible he will get transferred next week. He really is enjoying himself and working very hard. He was a long way from the train explosion last week. It is summer now and they don't do much air conditioning over there. His apartment is on the seventh floor and they don't have an elevator. His current companion is Anziano Bosco. He is Italian. Jonathan's Italian is improving. He is even learning some cooking tips. He recently informed us of an important lesson he learned. He forgot to buy hamburger to go with his "pasta and red sauce" (that's spaghetti to you and me.) In looking for a substitute he learned that hot dogs are not a good replacement for hamburger. Please note that in your recipe books for future reference. He is my son! Emma has had a busy summer with cheerleading practices and cheer camp, as well as girls camp and youth conference at church. She thinks she is ready to start high school. I hope I am! Pam enjoyed her summer off by going to AMSTI training and handling her duties as the new Young Women's President in our ward. I'm enjoying a cool summer at the ice rink. I teach the 9 year-olds in Primary. We have 11 on the roll and 10 show up almost every week. It is a challenge, but I am frequently reminded of the old adage about paying for your raising. We hope everyone is well and we look forward to seeing some if not all of you next weekend. Much love, James

Welcome Kalai Lydia Brown!!!

Hey this is Julie and I am excited to announce the arrival of my first grandchild.......Welcome Kalai Lydia Brown!!! I copied and pasted the announcement from Michael and Carissa's blog.


We just wanted to pass on the good news that we had our baby!!! We successfully kept our baby's gender a secret for 9 whole months! On June 24, 2009 I gave birth to a beautiful baby..............GIRL! Her name is Kalai Lydia Brown! She was born on Wednesday, her due date, at 8:58am. She weighed six pounds and 5 ounces and is 19 inches long. She is so tiny and beautiful and we just love being with her. We are so happy that she has joined our family! We love you Kalai!





Kalai's Birth Story
In my Daughter's eyes.....

This is when our family members found out it was a girl! Most of our family thought for sure she was a he.....oh, and if I look a little out of it, it's cause I was.






Okay, I had to make one more, I couldn't help myself. This one has no music so you can hear better what is going on.