The JKLTM Brown Family News

Christmas 2010 Celebrations Begin!

2010-12-06T15:43:00.001-08:00

The Christmas Season 2010 has begun and we are trying our best to take it all in as we begin preparing the way of the Lord's birth! We are thankful for our first Christmas to be in our new home and our first Christmas with our precious family of 5! Miriah will be nine months by Christmas Day! It will be great to watch her experience this time with her big sisters. So far, we have enjoyed experiences such as a horsedrawn wagonride at a local lavender farm, seeing Santa at a friend's school Winterfest, sledding in our own backyard on Thanksgiving Day with a yard filled with snow, and enjoying a smalltown Coupeville Christmas Parade with our friends Janelle, Cooper, and Connor. The girls have had their first Choir performance at church too! Lydia also gets to have her acting debut as Mary in the school play. Needless to say, life is busy and wonderful with 3 sweet girls. Here are some pics to get a glimpse of some of these experiences of the season! Enjoy!

The girls built their first snowman with Dad!

We took a little drive to Greenbank Farm for some lunch.

Cooper, Lydia, Tabitha and Connor at the Coupeville parade!

Our family Christmas photo taken after the church concert.

The three sweeties together!

Our Future American Idols!

2010-10-02T18:22:00.000-07:00

Miriah's 6 month picture! So cute! So sweet!

Our sweet princess sisters!

Well, life has flown by the last few months and we now have a six month old and a 2 1/2 year old and a 4 1/2 year old. Life is busy and very fun! The girls love to play dress up together and sing songs together. Here is a video of a recent "Performance"!

Miriah Elizabeth Brown is Here!

2010-05-05T15:36:00.000-07:00

All the sisters together in bed.

Our sweet baby girl!

Our family together for the first time!

The beautiful view from our new home! We can see
the mountains and the water!

The front of our home before the transformation has begun!

What a joy it is to introduce our newest bundle of love:
Miriah Elizabeth Brown. She was born on March 23rd, 2010 (Grandma Opland's birthday) at 12:48 pm. She was 8.8lbs. and 21 1/4 inches long. She is such a sweet baby! She sleeps often and hardly ever cries. Her sisters love her so much! Just days before she came by means of induction, we had moved into our new house on Sunrise Blvd. Nothing like doing it all at once!

JANUARY 2010! A New Year of Brown Family Memories!

2010-01-17T14:14:00.000-08:00

What an eventful year we had in 2009! Welcome to 2010 in the Brown Family! By the end of January we will have a two and four year old in our home and by the end of March we are hoping to welcome little Miriah Brown in to our family! Before we start recording the experiences to come in 2010, let's look at the Special Holiday Memories we shared with family!

We had a great visit to Holland, Michigan after Christmas! It included fun times with Mema and Papa, Grandma and Bumpa, and cousins! It also was fun to enjoy the snow of the midwest that we rarely see out in Washington!

Lydia with Cousins Zeke and Miah!

Mema and Papa's Snow Pile!

Jon and I enjoyed a night out with friends to see the Nutcracker in Seattle. As you can see, baby Miriah is getting bigger and bigger each week!

Tabitha loves to give us her silly face! She is our little funny girl!

Grandma and Bumpa Brown came to visit and we had a great time celebrating with them!

Lydia was a big helper this Christmas season in the kitchen when we made cookies together!

Lydia's First Preschool Field Trip: October 27, 2009

2009-10-27T14:41:00.000-07:00

Lydia had her first field trip to the Pumpkin Patch today. She saw turkeys, peacocks, kittens, and cows that liked to eat pumpkins. She also got to walk through the pumpkin patch and got to pick out her own pumpkin to take home. It was a chilly day, but it was a lot of fun!

The Brown Family has Grown!

2009-07-27T15:49:00.000-07:00

We have added two little bunnies to our family as of last week!
Their names are Max and Ruby. Since they are not siblings and they are a boy and a girl, you can guess what we might anticipate in a few months! Let us know if you want a bunny!
Lydia loves her new buddy Max. She takes good care of him and he loves her too!

Tabby loves her bunny, Ruby! She enjoys chasing her and trying to pick her up by the fur on her back. Both of the bunnies lived temporarily in this lovely cage, but now they enjoy the beautiful hutch that Jon built from scratch in our side yard! It is awesome! Pictures will come later! So we love our new pets!

SUMMER FIRSTS

2009-07-23T09:14:00.001-07:00

Tabitha just has been growing so much this summer. She enjoyed a day of strawberry picking or shall we say strawberry eating!

Here is Tabby on our new backyard deck sporting her Hope College hat! It is never too early to get her thinking about college!

Here is Tabby after enjoying a yummy something! She does love to eat and she wears her food quite beautifully! We love this girl! She is our little comedian and so sweet hearted. she loves her big sister so much!

We have had a wonderful summer so far! It has been a summer of many firsts for our girls and our family! We began the summer with a great trip back to Michigan to visit family and friends. We ended our time with a trip to Orlando to visit Disney World. Lydia got to meet Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty for the first time! It was so special for her!

We were able to take a little trip with our friends to the Cascade Mountains and Lake Chelan! It is such a breathtaking place, as you can see in this picture. This shot was taken in Steheken, a remote mountain village that you can only get to by boat or plane. We took our friend's boat and rented bikes to go to lunch at this great little place there. What a fun first for our family!

Jon and I got to go tubing on Lake Chelan! What a surrounding to go tubing at!

Lydia experienced her first short haircut this summer. She and mom could not handle the painful brushing that needed to take place to maintain long hair. So after a few tears and wanting to put her hair back on, and mom continuously tweeking this hair cut after finding stray hairs, Lydia loves her new look and we are all happy! We think it looks darling!

Lydia got to stay up late for her first 4th of July fireworks display! She enjoyed the time with her good friends Cooper and Connor Barton! She had a blast and did not get sleepy at all!

Kristyn got to experience her first time clam-digging on our beautiful Whidbey Island. Jon and Lydia did their part too! It was a lot a fun! The highlight for Kristyn was seeing hundreds of tiny crabs crawling around the tide pools.

As you can see, it has been a fun summer of many firsts! We look forward to what's in store as the summer continues!

We celebrate Palm Sunday with Singing!

2009-04-05T13:02:00.000-07:00

Lydia did a beautiful job singing at our Palm Sunday Service with her Kids' Choir. We were so proud of her and thought everyone needed to hear her singing too! Enjoy the video! The pics above are from Palm Sunday too! The girls were sporting their dresses from Grandma Brown! So cute! We loved the great weather we got to enjoy too!

TABITHA is WALKING & SPRING has SPRUNG!

2009-04-03T14:32:00.000-07:00

These girls are really sweet to eachother and Lydia is a great big sister!

Here are some photos from our time at the sheep farm!

Tabby loved the baby lamb!

Lydia too!

Tabs was not afraid to cuddle right up!

Spring is really trying to show up on Whidbey Island. My tulips are just about to bloom, usually perfect for Easter Sunday. Lydia and Tabitha had the chance recently to go to see some baby sheep at a farm of some folks from church. It was so sweet to see Tabitha cuddle up with the lambs and Lydia showed little fear as well. The man was telling us how the sheep he has would die if one were left on its own. They are made to be in community. It reminded me of the parable of the lost sheep and how the shepherd will seek it out to bring it back to the fold. It made me think of how Christ has created us to be in communion with Him and with each other and we need one another to thrive in our faith! I am thankful for the community of people Christ has put in our lives to encourage and care for us!

Here are our brave girls feeding the sheep and llamas at the farm!

Here is a glimpse of some of Tabby's first attempts at walking!

Another Year to Share!

2009-02-08T16:21:00.000-08:00

A visit from Gramma and Bumpa Brown!

The Brown family picture taken
with the "automatic" timer!

Lydia with her "castle cake" that
mom did her best to make.

Tabby is on the move now!

Tabby got a "Bitty Baby" just like
her big sister!

Lydia and her Princess friends!

Well, 2009 is here! We welcomed the New Year with some January birthday girls! Lydia turned 3 on the 28th and Tabitha turned 1 on the 30th. We celebrated with a nice visit from Gramma and Bumpa Brown. We took a little trip to Seattle to swim and eat cake and go to dinner. It was great. Our girls are so fabulous. Lydia is quite the big sister and so sweet to Tabitha. She endearingly calls her "Tabbers". She loves to sing and draw and color and dance around the house. Let's just say is our little princess. We celebrated her birthday with some of her friends and another Princess party! So much fun! We also got her a bunk bed for her bedroom. She sleeps on the top each night and we're saving the bottom for Tabitha.

Tabitha is now crawling and pulling up all over the house and starting to say more words. Her favorite word at the time is "Dada!" She says it with a big smile whenever daddy is in the room. She flashes her 8 front teeth as she grins! She is such a sweetheart and we love her tons too!

Mom and her girls!

These girls are going to be great friends!

Fun times playing outside in the winter with no snow!

Lydia's Christmas Songs

2008-12-22T16:22:00.000-08:00

Lydia sings in the Children's choir at church. They had practiced some Christmas songs, but did not get to sing them on Sunday due to the bad weather. I thought it would be great for Lydia to do a mini-concert for us! It is another day of cold and snow, but we ventured out to walk to church to take lunch to Jon. It was sunny and beautiful out!

Snowy Winter Week in Oak Harbor!

2008-12-21T10:34:00.000-08:00

Lydia and her friend Tina made a gingerbread house.

Lydia (Almost 3) and Tabitha (almost 1) in their Chrismas picture.

Our Family Photo in front of Christmas Tree.

Mema and Papa Fox came to visit for Thanksgiving!

This week has been crazy weather in Oak Harbor. We have had lasting snow for several days now. The roads have been so icy and slick. We have been home most days staying warm from the freezing cold temperatures. We even had to cancel church today. School was closed for three days straight. It has been fun to see the snow, and I would love to have a white Christmas, but we are feeling a bit couped up from not driving anywhere! It has allowed me to start and finish some wanted projects like scrapbooking and Christmas Cards, etc.. For that I am grateful!

As we anticipate the celebration of our Savior's birth, I think that this weather has allowed us to be more calm and relaxed this season. We have not been too caught up in the hustle and bustle of buying presents and worrying about last minute stuff. It has forced us to enjoy time as a family and just "be" at home. I am thankful for that. Here are some pictures of recent times and snow pictures will come soon too! Merry Christmas to all!

Long Time No Blog! Glad to be back!

2008-11-16T21:51:00.000-08:00

Tabby sits like such a big girl!

Bumpa is not going anywhere!

Lydia and cousin Libby LOVE eachother!

Lydia and Libby and Miah having girl fun!

Gramma's Girls!

Our little Halloween Bunny!

The Princess and the bunny!

Precious Tabby Girl!

Tabby's first trip to the Pumpkin Patch!

Sweet Sisters!

Lydia on our boat this summer!

Summer time giggles in August!

A late summer visit from Mema!

A day at the Pumpkin Patch!

Well, it has been a while since I have updated this blog! Many wonderful days with the girls have come and gone. They are both growing so much - most visibly, Tabitha! She is now 9 months old and has undergone lots of new changes: 4 new teeth, almost 20 lbs., lots of smiles, and cheeks still chubby as ever! Lydia is still the best big sister ever to her! Lydia's new love is drawing. She is really good at faces and rainbows! She is so creative and continues to amaze us daily with her articulation and vocabulary! She attends "Mother's Day Out" on Mondays at church. This is a preschool-like class that gives her fun time of interaction with other kids and she has now mastered her colors and shapes! We are so proud of her! I keep busy with these amazing girls and we have thoroughly enjoyed our Fall in the Pacific Northwest so far! More updates to come later! Hopefully sooner than later!

Summer Fun in the Northwest

2008-07-31T15:14:00.000-07:00

We are enjoying a fun summer on Whidbey Island! We took a great trip to Holland in June and enjoyed seeing family and friends. We also bought a boat this summer with some friends and are enjoying the Puget Sound waters. We catch our own crab and Jon is quite the boater! It is a fun new hobby for us.

Our girls are growing so fast. We have 6 month old Tabitha and 2 1/2 year old Lydia! Lydia is the big helper and her sister adores her. She is also finally potty trained! Yeah! We are all rejoicing for this accomplishment! Tabitha is so sweet and almost sitting up and starting to eat big girl food! She is so smiley and her chubby cheeks are great for kissing! Here are some recent photos of the girls and a video of Tabitha in her favorite bouncy seat! Jon and I are totally blessed with our beautiful girls! Thanks for sharing in our joy!

Spring Days in Oak Harbor

2008-05-26T11:02:00.000-07:00

Tabitha's Huge Smile @ 3 1/2 months

The Brown Family is doing well! I just read our friend's blog, the Boersmas, and got inspired to update my blog! Oak Harbor is not known for its stretches of sunny days, but we have had two great weekends of sunshine and spring weather! We tried our best to soak up the sun as a family! Lydia, 28 months, loves wearing her swimsuit and playing in the water and Tabitha, 4 months, loves to babble and talk to us as well as offer huge smiles! We are loving life with our girls and are eager to head to Michigan in a few weeks to "introduce" our girls to friends and family back there! We just enjoyed a great weekend with Doug and Christen Fox! We had great weather and enjoyed hikes, golfing, a ferry ride to Port Townsend, good food, and a few rounds of ladderball. It was great to be with family! We love you all!

It's A Girl!

2008-03-12T14:53:00.000-07:00

Tabitha's First Day!

January 30, 2008

It snowed on Lydia's 2nd Birthday and we had to make a snowman!

Friends Forever!

It has been a while since I have accessed this blog! A lot has happened in our family! The most excitng thing is the addition of Tabitha Joy Brown! Last May, we found out we were pregnant and I realized that I was due the same time Lydia was born! I was sure that my motherly instincts were right as I predicted we were going to have a boy! I almost was tempted to start buying boy clothes! However, when we asked to be surprised with the gender, we got what we asked for! It was a girl- a precious 8lb 9oz., 20 inch baby girl! Tabitha Joy has been just what her name says- JOY! She is such a sweet thing and we love her so much! Lydia has adjusted very well to her new sister! She is so gentle and kind to her, always wanting to hold and kiss her! She calls her names like "Girly-Girl" and "Beautiful" and is the first to tell mom to hold her when she cries. I am so happy for Lydia to have a sister in her life! I hope and pray they grow up to be best friends! Jon and I are adjusting to parenthood of two and we are actually getting some sleep, due to Tabitha's mellow nature! We are so grateful to God for giving us another healthy baby girl and we are eager to begin our new stage of life with two darling daughters!

Fall 2007 Updates

2007-11-09T12:42:00.000-08:00

Lydia had a face plant in the mud.

Lydia in her new kitty boots.

Lydia sporting her pigtails.

Lydia is a cute little Halloween puppy!

Lydia is now 21 months old. She is a big talker and is starting to be potty trained. She loves to talk and play with other kids. She is such a fun girl! She will be a big sister in a few more months! We are eager to meet the new baby soon!

Lydia is Officially Walking!

2007-04-25T13:30:00.000-07:00

Our special girl officially started walking on her own on Saturday, April 21. She has been building her confidence ever since. It is very exciting! Her personality comes to life more and more each day too! She is jibber-jabbering new words all the time. What a wonderful joy it is to watch her grow into the girl God intends her to be!

This is Lydia with her cousins, Raegan and Cade, in Palm Springs,CA over Spring Break!

We have a 1 Year Old on our hands!

2007-03-29T22:16:00.000-07:00

March 29, 2007

Lydia tried to help mom with the laundry! She knows how big she is! SO BIG!!!

Lydia is so much fun as a 1 year old! She is saying so many words. As of now, she says the following vocabulary: mom, dad, more, bible, Jesus, God, Hi , bye, quack, woof, cup, cheese, grapes, no, yes, gamma, and bumpa, and many more good attempts at other words!

We love our sweet girl so much. We are heading down to Palm Springs to see the Fox family for a week and it will be Lydia's first time meeting cousins and Uncle Jeff and Aunt Heather. She has been practicing swimming at the pool with a month of lessons. She is ready to go!

Halloween 2006

2006-11-06T15:05:00.000-08:00

November 6, 2006

Lydia is now 9 months old! She is clapping her hands, taking steps with our help, and loves to eat cheerios and bananas! She is so precious. On Halloween, she wore the cutest bunny costume that I found at the thrift store! Some friends also loaned us a cute flower costume. It didn't matter what she wore, she was so sweet!