Wandering Browns

The boys love Uncle Zach and Aunt Mariah! While we were staying with the Browns in Colorado, my sister Mariah and her husband Zach drove over from Utah to see us for a weekend! It had been over a year since we were last together, so it was a joyful reunion. It was even more fun because Mariah is expecting her first baby, and so we got to talk motherhood and baby stuff. I'm SO EXCITED to be an aunt for the first time! The boys had a great time playing dinosaur fight with Mariah and Zach, and reading tons of stories! We had a great time sledding and hanging out. It was sad when they had to leave, but we're excited to reunite several more times this year, and to meet their new baby girl in July! Sisters!

Celebrating Austin and Owen's birthdays... very late! Just because we are THAT crazy and love traveling THAT much, we visited my family in California for two weeks on our way back to Chicago, then made it to Denver for Christmas . At this point, we had a few pieces of fall clothing from our fall in Korea, but most of the clothing we had with us was not suitable for the weather in Chicago or Denver. So, as soon as we landed in Chicago, we headed over to our storage unit to go "shopping" for the things we needed in Denver. Because we were so tired of flying, we decided to DRIVE to Denver. We spent one night in Chicago, loaded up our stuff, and rolled out toward Denver around noon the next day. Owen took an epic nap, we met up with our old BYU swimming pal Zach for dinner in Lincoln, Nebraska, where we had planned on stopping and resting for the night. We decided to continue driving, though, so the boys would not have to spend another full day in the car. I drove durin...

Once Owen got his two month vaccinations, I felt better about flying to see family. Owen took his first flight at 2.5 months old, and did OK. There is definite room for improvement, but I think part of it will be me timing feedings correctly so that he is hungry and will eat when we are going up and coming down so that his ears feel better. On the way to Denver, the only thing that made him stop crying was to take off his pants and socks, so he hung out in a onesie for most of the flight! On the way back, he ate and fell asleep quickly on the airplane, but screamed while we were boarding and getting off the plane. We'll see what our next flights to California in April bring! Digging in the dirt and playing monster trucks... We flew in from the bitter cold of Chicago winter to balmy, lovely temperatures in the 50s and 60s. What a blessing to get outside without being hugely bundled, soak in the sunshine, and run around! We met up with Austin's cousins and their kids at...

Playing at the beach... the water was COLD Although this is partially so I can remember what we did in April when we came back to the U.S. to see family, I also thought others might be slightly entertained by our crazy lives and the amount of travel this toddler of ours can handle. My sister, Mariah, was graduating from BYU at the end of April. Austin had a week left of work in the Netherlands so he dropped us off at the Amsterdam airport on Sunday, April 19th. Landon and I flew to Chicago, where I had a midwife appointment scheduled for Monday, April 20th.  We had to pay for the hotel because Austin and I were separating by choice and so Austin booked me at a hotel close to the storage unit. It was not one that we typically stay at, and it was dirty and gross. On top of that, Landon and I were super jet-lagged so we fell asleep early and woke up around 2, went back to sleep at 3 and slept until 5. A grab and go breakfast was set to start at 6. We went downstairs right ...

The biscuits and gravy master! Looking through my pictures from this past holiday season, I noticed a whole batch that I had not shared yet! Before we left Colorado, we did one last visit around to all Landon's great-grandparents. First, we had the legendary biscuits and gravy with Grandma Helen. Man, her biscuits and gravy are amazing! She is also a very sweet lady and enjoys visiting with us when we come to Colorado. Grandma Ev and Landon. Precious. Grandma Helen and Auntie Em. They have similar personalities. Grandma Helen and two of her grandchildren. Austin adores this woman. Now everyone squeezes in! After Grandma Helen, Austin and I took Landon over to Grandpa and Grandma Lish's house to visit with them. Landon was obsessed with their glass Christmas houses and we had to rescue them from his grasp several times. It was wonderful to visit more with all of the grandparents! Landon and Great-Grandpa Lish Landon and Auntie Em had to take ...

Landon opening Auntie Em's present We flew into Colorado in the nick of time for Christmas! We tried our best to get into the Christmas spirit in Indonesia, but we were elated to be able to be in the United States with family for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Landon with his Christmas jammies! Christmas Eve, Austin's family has a traditional holiday dinner with his grandparents, and aunt. We had ham, mashed potatoes, rolls, etc. I made sugar cookies with Landon for dessert. I love baking and was happy to be back in a real kitchen. Familiar food was wonderful as well. Landon has changed quite a bit since our last visit so it was fun to see him interacting with all of his great-grandparents. Landon opened his Christmas jammies from Auntie Em. By the end of our time in CO, Landon was calling her "E Bim" and I think that might be her name now. We will see.  Landon in his Christmas PJs and Grandma Ev helping open Christmas morning was wonderful. ...

Grandma, Landon and the tree We landed in Colorado early in the morning on December 23rd. We really wanted to get haircuts, make sugar cookies for Santa, and visit Santa before Christmas. I'm happy to say that we accomplished all of our goals, despite being very jet-lagged. We heard Bass Pro Shops had the best Santa around. We called to see how late Santa would be there the 23rd, and learned that all the passes had been given out for the day. So Christmas Eve, we ventured out in the morning to find Santa! We arrived around 10:00 and learned that the first available time slot was 12:00 pm. Thankfully, there were lots of activities to do and things to see so we took our ticket for 12:00 and walked around. I was surprised so many people were there to see Santa on Christmas Eve! If we weren't flying in from Jakarta with only a few days to spare, we would have visited Santa in early December!  We decided that we could be in the very front of the 12:00 line if we had an ...