LOTOJA

So my brother-in-law is amazing. He did LOTOJA (Logan To Jackson) last year and wanted to do it again this year. I think we were out of town last year because they didn't stay with us, but this year we were here so they came to hang out.

They showed up around 10:30 pm the night before the race. Dave went off to bed first and they rest of us didn't go to bed until after midnight! I am way to old to stay up late, but I had a great time talking to my sister, Wendy, my nephew, Jason, and my niece, Lexie.


We all went to bed for a few hours. Wendy and Jason were driving to Dave's check points and would be meeting him in Jackson. Lexie would stay to hang out with us for the day. Dave had to be at the starting line at 5:45am and so they were awake around 4:00am that morning. CRAZY! Well my little Bailey decided to join them that early. Apparently she woke up, walked into the guest room, looked at Dave and asked him "Where's Mommy?" He told her I was still in bed. She looked at him again and asked "Who are you?" He told her he was Lexie's daddy, she seemed ok with that and kept them company until about 4:45am when I heard her little voice and FLEW out of bed. I was so embarrassed that I hadn't heard her sooner! They left around 5:00am and Bailey went back to sleep after that, thank heavens.

The next day Lexie and I went shopping! Ben had the girls and I had so much fun with Lexie. I don't get to see her much and it is always great to have a shopping buddy. We went to the Shade Shirt sale, Old Navy, the mall, Hobby Lobby, and had a great time. I love hats and Bailey has always been really good at wearing them and I bought this hat while we were shopping.


We had a great day and another late night. Dave finished the race and beat his time from last year and than they headed back to Utah. They got to Logan at 1:00am Sunday morning and left! They headed back home which is about another 2 hour drive! I'm way to old to stay up late 2 nights in a row, but I had a wonderful time and loved seeing them!

Thanks for staying with us, hopefully we can make it a yearly tradition! Also thanks for the pajamas, teddy bear, and little bunny Aunt Wendy!

A bike for Bailey

All summer long I have been trying to get Ben to buy Bailey a bike. But either we weren't together to look for one or he didn't like the ones we found. When it was finally his idea he started looking on line and found one he liked. He showed me and I ordered it about 10 minutes later before he could change his mind.

It came the day we headed to Idaho for Labor day and of course we didn't have time to pick it up. So I went to pick it up the day we got back into town. I took Bailey with me to get it and she was so excited it was the cutest thing! She kept smiling and saying "My bike?"


I tried to put the bike together on Tuesday, but I was struggling so Ben put it together that night and we hid it in the bathroom for the whole day so Ben could be here when we gave it to her.

She loves it and rides it in the house, the garage, and outside. She picked up on the pedals, but unless she has her tennis shoes on has a hard time reaching them! She is so excited and has to tell everyone I talk to on the phone about her new bike.

The Brown Reunion

For Labor Day we were in Burley for Ben's immediate family reunion. It was only with Ben's brothers and sisters, but because there are 10 kids, who most are married, and most have kids there are a lot of us when we get together! Because there are too many of us to stay in one place we stayed with my brother Todd and his wife.

We started the reunion out at the Declo Highschool football game. Ben's baby brother Nic is a senior this year so we went to watch him play. His baby sister Jana is also on the dance team so we were able to watch her dance.


The girls did really well. Bailey loved the dance team and the cheerleaders. Hinkley was really good and just hung out in her car seat for the 1st quarter and with Grandma Brown for the 2nd quarter. It got pretty chilly after the half so the girls and I took off.


On Saturday we all headed to the church for the Traditional Brown flag football game. I hung out on the side lines with the girls and the rest of the little kids. Bailey just loved the open space and ran, and ran, and ran. Hinkley and I didn't stay for the whole game they were there for 3 hours. And of course we had to leave the reunion early for the BYU game.

On Sunday Ben's big brother blessed their new baby and two boys they just adopted. So we headed to Oakley for the blessings. On the way home the girls fell asleep so we had a little rest before heading back for lunch and games. Brenda, my sister-in-law, took Hinkley for the afternoon while we played games it was just a little to windy for her to be outside.


On Monday we were able to hang out a little bit before heading home. It was great to be able to see everyone. There were 34 of us there all together and we were still missing April's husband Cody! We always have a lot of fun and Bailey loves playing with all of her cousins

New Experiences

Well its been a crazy week and a half! I took Hinkley to her 4 month check and she is doing really well. She is healthy and a little taller and heavier than Bailey was at this point. She is also what the doctor calls advanced socially, which means she does not like him! Bailey was the same way, I think its just his nice way of calling her a mamma's girl! Bailey had a really hard time again, Hinkley was crying when the doctor was looking at her and so it made Bailey really nervous and she started to cry too. That was fun trying to console both of them at the same time!


This check up caused a lot of stress because we don't immunize the girls until they are older and the doctor told me that whooping cough is a growing concern and the number of children that have it are higher this year than last year. So after A LOT of stress, counsel, and tears, we got her immunized for whooping cough. I was re-immunized when I had her and Bailey is current but it was so hard to do that to her!

But on a happy note Hinkley is starting to roll over more and more and is still her cute self with lots of smiles! She is so cute when she talks and sometimes gets really loud! I love her cute personality and honestly I can't imagine life without her. I know that I used the word "cute" a lot in that paragraph but she is just that cute!

Ben got me a gift certificate for an hour massage at K salon and spas, where I get my hair cut. Which I was so excited to use and did a few days after Hinkley's appointment. It was awesome, when she got to my shoulders she kept saying how tight they were! It was a great gift and so relaxing. Thanks Ben


I decided that Bailey's hair was getting a little to long. My mom has cut and trimmed Bailey's hair since she was about 6 months old, but since we won't be seeing her for awhile I had to figure out where to take her now. I started growing out her bangs awhile ago, because they are just to curly and get out of control! Anyway I was talking to a friend of mine and she mentioned that a little shop called Cookie cutters had opened that was just for kids. I was so excited because that's exactly what I was looking for. I was still a little nervous and Ben didn't help. While I was sitting there waiting for Bailey's turn I get a text from Ben saying that he loves her hair and doesn't think we should cut it. All things that would have been useful to know 30 minutes earlier! Bailey did really well, she didn't have any issues at all and they did a good job and I will be going back as needed until my mom gets back! Hinkley was a little trooper to hang out in her car seat the whole time!


Also my friend Angie came to see Hinkley and the new house. I see her about once a year and even though the visit was short and sweet it was great to see her! Hope to see you again soon!