Family Pictures 2017

Back in October, we went to Emily's house and had our annual family pictures made.  Lily wasn't in the best mood but we still managed to get some great pictures.

My favorite picture was one that we recreated from the very first year we ever had pictures made.  It was fun to compare them and see how the kids have grown and changed over the years!

At the very end of the session, we got all the grandkids together for a picture so we could surprise Granna with a canvas for Christmas.  They surprisingly all cooperated and we got a couple of great shots!

I love this wonderful family that I've been blessed with!  I feel so lucky to be able to call the mine!

December Little Things

December was a crazy, busy month!  Since Cory couldn't drive because of his broken ankle, it seemed like I was constantly on the move, especially trying to get all three kids to basketball practices and games.

Our kids have the best teachers!  Mrs. Brightwell was so sweet to come watch one of Lily's basketball games!

Charlie the Elf found some crazy places to hide this month!

Eden's class just finished reading The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe together.  It just so happened that the local theater was performing it this month so her whole class met up on a Sunday afternoon and watched the play together.

Bella, Tai, and Eden all got matching shirts at the program and enjoyed wearing them to school the next day.

Parker's class decorated Christmas cookies the last week of school so I popped in for a few minutes to watch and take some pictures for Mrs. Holland.

I can't believe 2017 is over!  Cory finally got his boot off this week so we are ready to start the new year healthy and happy!  Bring on 2018! The Browns are ready for you!

Christmas Pajamas

Because of all the sickness in the family this year, we didn't get our annual pajama pictures on Christmas Eve.  We ended up taking them almost two weeks after Christmas but the kids didn't seem to mind!

The girls

The boys

The "bigs"

The "middles"

The "littles"

The Browns

The Rowlands

All the grandkids with Granna and Granstan

 It won't be long before we add three more!! Next year's pictures should be fun!!

Christmas with Granna and Granstan

We didn't get to celebrate Christmas with Granna and Granstan until New Year's Eve.  We had already taken down our Christmas tree so the kids decided to draw one to make the house seem more festive!

The girls loved their new monogrammed water bottles from Aunt MerMer.

And the new journals were a big hit too!

Granna had a lot of fun games planned for the kids!

The best part of the day was when we surprised Granna with a canvas that we had made with a picture of all the grandkids!

Christmas did not happen the way we had originally planned but it ended up being a fun day even though it was a week late!  It was definitely a Christmas we will always remember!

Christmas 2017

Christmas with Granna and Granstan didn't go as expected this year.  Several of The Rowlands got the flu and strep throat so we had to postpone all of our activities.  We ended up spending Christmas Day at home with just the five of us.    Apparently Maggie wasn't phased by the change of plans- ha!

On Christmas Eve, the kids woke up to a goodbye letter from our elf Charlie.  He had left them a fun magic trick with Skittles that was very impressive!  He told them to pour hot water in the center of the plate and watch what happened.

The kids were fascinated with the results!

Since Christmas Eve was on Sunday, we went to the early Christmas Eve service at church.

That night, the kids spread their reindeer food on the front lawn to make sure Santa knew where to go.

And then they got to unwrap one present- their yearly Christmas ornament.

The kids were up bright and early on Christmas morning.

The girls were excited about their new chairs and Parker loved his new video game!

We took our time and enjoyed leisurely opening our presents since we didn't have anywhere to go.

Maggie loved the girl's new chairs too!  She's always a fan of a comfortable place to take a nap!

It wasn't the Christmas Day that we had planned but it was still a fun, relaxing day with just the five of us!