Trip Down Memory Lane

It's Saturday afternoon, and I have a big to-do list waiting for me to tackle. Gabe and I are leaving tomorrow afternoon for Gatlinburg, Tennessee! We are going on a six day getaway with two of our favorite people, Phil and Kylee. This is our third spring break trip with them, and we are looking forward to the time away from home with good friends. We're staying in a sweet resort in the mountains, going to do some hiking, eat at some great places, play a lot of Phase 10, and fill ourselves with rest and relaxation. Gabe and are pumped to go!

Like I said, this is our third spring trip with the Larsons. We have also been camping with them every fall since we have been married. I think we are so blessed to have friends like them who want to travel with us and be with us for a week! Thursday after school I looked through my folders of pictures and pulled out 20 pictures from our different trips with P&K. I have such great memories from these trips and wanted to share with all of you!

Enjoy the trip down memory lane...

October 2008

Camping trip to Summit Lake

(no dogs yet...)

I didn't take very many pictures on this trip.

I didn't know it would be the first adventure of many!

Hello, Larsons!

March 2009

Spring Break trip to Myrtle Beach, SC

They love each other.

Notice the overcast weather...it was like this almost all week on this trip.

It didn't stop us from having a great time!

We had to get our pictures at every one of these.

I just noticed I am the little boy in this weird painting thing. Ha!

The fearsome four....I LOVE this picture.

It's in a frame in our house. As embarrassing as it is asking

someone to take a picture, I'm always glad I do!

We made a picnic lunch and ate it at this little park one cloudy afternoon....

Another fun pic from this trip!

We rented one of these four-seaters for an hour and got a workout!

It was no easy task pedaling through the streets of Myrtle Beach.

But we laughed and laughed!

October 2009

Camping trip to Turkey Run

Look how little Sadie was! She was only four months old and this was her first trip.

Sweet hubby Gabriel....he's so good with our hyper dog!!

This is another picture up in our house!

Turkey Run is one of my all-time favorite state parks to hike and camp.

The trails and canyons make you feel like you're not in Indiana!

The Larsons.

Gabe, Phil, and little Sadie.

I like that they're in the middle of laughing about who knows what.

This is what they do....make fun of each other and laugh about it!

March 2010

Spring Break trip to Kissimmee, Florida

This picture just shows you that Phil and Kylee are FUN.

We were walking back from CiCis Pizza and took crazy pictures like we were models.

Oh, Florida, how I miss you and your palm trees.

We went to the coast one day so we could see the ocean...Cocoa Beach I think.

We were very close to Orlando and so we visited Downtown Disney.

It had a ton of fun places to eat and walk around.

We ate at Rainforest Cafe, and we were ecstatic!

Oh, the men...

We love getting away together!

October 2010

Camping trip to Brown County

(Now, there's two dogs: Sadie and Hashbrown!)

I didn't take get a picture of Hashbrown on this trip though...

Our little family....soooo happy!

We LOVE camping trips.

Our new tent...

Kylee and the Larson tent.

March 2011

Spring Break trip to Gatlinburg, Tennessee

Pictures coming soon....

So there you have it. Three years of trips with our friends. I will take many pictures this coming week in Tennessee and try to post them on here when we get back. Looking forward to making more memories starting tomorrow when we take off for the south. Until then, I need to get going on that to-do list. :)

Happy Spring Break everyone!

31 days of beauty. day one

Hi friends. Most of you know that I really enjoy reading other people's blogs during free time. I love to search for blogs that revolve around cooking, home decor/nesting/renovations, teaching, and just creative and unique writing about everyday stuff. I came across this blog last night, She Breathes Deeply, and this young wife, soon-to-be mom had this great idea to celebrate beauty in 31 different days/blog posts. There is a list of 31 questions she encourages other writers to blog about. Well, I was inspired to try and complete those 31 questions. I am promising myself to keep the posts short and concise and not let my rambling get out of control. And I will try to keep updating about our little life right now.

Day 1: What does beauty mean to you?

beauty is the grace and mercy christ gives me everyday. beauty is unconditional love. beauty is having God's Word come alive to me. beauty is the sound of my second graders laughing their guts out. beauty is worship moments at my church. beauty is crying over a student of mine. beauty is encouraging a friend. beauty is letting a friend encourage me and believing what she says. beauty is communicating with my husband without having to talk. beauty is feeling beautiful. beauty is being secure in who God made me. beauty is being completely alive!

I hope you all have a great start to a new week. Guess what? Spring is coming because Tuesday starts the month of March. Woo hoo! Let's be happy about that.

Mother Dearest....

Happy Birthday to you!

You are so loved.

pictures of "peanut-man"

This is the woman who started calling him "peanut-man".....thanks, Grandma!

A very proud grandpa....

His amazing mommy!!

Have a great day, everyone! (I have ANOTHER snow day today.....woo hoo!!)

(Thanks to Daddy Joe who took these pictures, which I ripped off of Facebook.)

He's here!

Andrew Thomas Hughes is here! Katie had her sweet son on Thursday morning at 7:50. She did an AWESOME job delivering him with the help of her hubby, Joe!! I know what you are thinking, where are the pictures, Auntie Libby?!? Well, I don't have any right now. Boo! The Hughes live out in Columbus Ohio, so we have not been out to see them.....yet! We're going to head out there in the next couple of weeks, so we can let the happy family get a little more settled. Grandma and Grandpa (my parents) are visiting right now; holding, cooing, and reading with little Andrew.

Welcome to the world, Andrew! Here is a picture of how your parents normally act. You are going to have a GOOD life filled with fun, silliness, laughter, and a whole lotta LOVE, boy!

Katie Jane....

Most of you know already, but just in case you don't, my sister is about to have her first baby! I talk to everybody I know about Kate being pregnant, so this is not new news. But hey, this is my blog and I can talk about whatever I want! I want to celebrate how awesome Katie is and

dedicate this blog post to her!!

If you know me at all, you know that I adore my family. I feel blessed to have grown up in the Brown household. I think my parents did an amazing job as Mom and Dad. (They still do!) They taught Ben, Katie, and I to play, create, use our imaginations, and love to be together. That is why being together now is a JOY, and I feel pretty lucky to have that. As much as I love Ben (or Tootie, his nickname.....Gabe STILL calls him that!), this blog is going to be about Katie because, holy cow she is about to bring another life into this world!!

Here she is at 39 weeks!! I think this was just taken on Sunday.... I hope I look half as great as she does when I am about to have a baby! She's had an awesome pregnancy; everything has been healthy and on track. See the little pictures in the background. I helped her make the one with the little turtle and birdie.....it's just torn paper, modge-podged onto canvas! She made the other two pictures, and they look sa-weet!

We arethe original three Brown girls.....three peas in a pod, if you will. We are all very similar, yet God has designed us uniquely. Mom is a go-getter and makes things happen. She's a great decorator, and will be one heck of a grandma! She is also a woman of wisdom and of God. She's one of the biggest cheerleaders in my life! I am bubbly and like all things girly. I don't have an ounce of musical talent, but I am creative at times. Katie has a gentle spirit and a huge heart. She sees the best in people and that's why everyone likes being around her. She's an outdoors woman and loves Montana, fly fishing, hiking, and rock climbing. See, we're different. :)

These last two pictures were taken at my parents' house in Milford at her baby shower. I don't know how many weeks along she is at this picture, but isn't she just beautiful?? She's always been this pretty. She has always had freckles and I love them! She gets a ton during the summer, and my mom always jokes that she'll turn into one big freckle! I wonder if Baby Hughie (her last name is Hughes and this is our name for the sweet pea) will have her freckles.....we shall see!!

So, folks, this could have been a little too sentimental and "gaggy", but again I don't care because it's my blog and she's my prego sister. She's awesome and everyone should know! And don't you worry, I will be back shortly to announce the birth of my new niece or nephew and to post pictures. Until then, me and my hubby are praying for a quick and smooth delivery for the Hughes family!

We love you Katie, Joe, and baby H!

2011....

I've been thinking about making some resolutions for 2011. I don't know if I have EVER made any resolutions throughout my life. This is the year! I will try my best to reach them.....like I tell my second graders: just try your best!

Here's the list:

1. Write on our blog. Woohoo!! (Now, some of you may be laughing or saying, "Yeah right!" but I am really going to try this time!)

2. Eat more fresh vegetables and drink more H2O.

3. Try new recipes each month.

4. Do a Bible study (or studies) at church and get into the Word consistently.

So, today I am already reaching towards resolution number one and am quite proud of myself. I promise to start posting some pictures about our life and update you all on what's been happening. I know that pictures are really what people want to see on a blog.....well, maybe that's just me.

Have a happy first day of 2011!

Libby