Mackenzie's 10th Birthday Party

Even Cosmo enjoyed the festivities! He's happy when he's by the food!

This Saturday we celebrated Mackenzie's 10th birthday! We hosted a party at a local sailing center on the bay. Mackenzie invited her friends & our friends also were able to join in the fun. It was a blast! The kids were able to go kayaking, canoeing and sailing. The sailing center employees were awesome & took great care of the kids while the adults were able to relax on the beach and enjoy the perfect weather - 92 degrees!

Jacob's Thoughts

Well evidently I started a Blue Wallet response to a picture that I posted of Jacob. I received a call from Jake last night requesting that I be careful of what I post on our blog. I of course, had no idea what he was talking about until he explained a picture that Shawn created which portrayed what Shawn believed Jake was really thinking about while standing on the pier! It is such a great picture that I had to post it on our blog. Thank you Shawn! And of course once again - I have fallen into the trap & provided an easy target for Blue Wallet! Enjoy!! Make sure you click on the picture so you can see all of the details. For those of you who are not Harry Potter fans - sorry, but you won't understand this picture....

Spring Time

Blake recently started baseball again & is on the Giants this year. He is having a blast! He is doing very well. He is one of the team's main pitchers & loves to throw his "heaters". I've also included some pictures of the kids at one of the local parks.

Lake Arrowhead

We all had a great time playing guitar hero. Watching those of us

who are not gifted with coordination (myself included) was very entertaining.

Although Mahk is pictured here - Joanne takes the prize for her

Guitar playing skills!

The guys played poker - but with penalites to the loser.
Jacob's Penalty - He had to sit like this for over an hour!Mark's Penalty - 2 Minutes Penalty Box


Jacob the kids and I, Andy & Allison, Mark & Joanne, Shawn, Ryan & Jeff drove up to Lake Arrowhead for the weekend. We stayed at this awesome cabin that was walking distance from the lake. We had such a great time!! The kids (big kids included) really enjoyed sledding & playing in the snow. We plan to make this an anual Blue Wallet event & also hope to return this summer.

Happy New Year!!!

This picture was taken after Allison & I kept the Brown name strong & won the movie trivia Scene It game!! I'd like to claim skill on this one - but we lucked out with questions from Planes, Trains & Automobiles & Notting Hill!!

We spent New Years Eve & Day at Mark & Joanne's house. We had a great time - but unfortunately did not take very many pictures!! There were about (4) other couples there - plus our two munchkins. There was one very grumpy picture of the kids - but we decided it was best not to start off the new year with that!! Thank you Mark & Joanne for hosting this fun night!!

Christmas in Palm Springs

view from the main hotel
Mackenzie & her cousin Megan



The hotel lobby
Noelle & sister Kris

Jake beat all of us with 4 of a kind!

view from our condo
The Browns & the Highbaughs

Griswald officially hates us!
Cosmo still has a little leftover "holiday weight".
The Christmas Chair


This Christmas we spent the week in Palm Springs with the Highbaughs, my mom, Gary & Chad Helton. My grandmother Mimi, Aunt Barb & cousin Jonathan also came up for a couple days to visit. We had an awesome time! We stayed at the Marriot Palm Dessert Resort. Our condo was right on the golf course, so not only did we have a beautiful view, but the kids were also able to skateboard along the course.

The weather was perfect - cold at night - but warm enough during the day to swim & skateboard. There was a hill right outside our condo that the kids were able to ride down. Mackenzie had a great time with her cousin Megan & Blake enjoyed hanging around with K.C & playing his new DS. Kevin, Jake & K.C. were able to play poker at the clubhouse everyday - while Kris & I relaxed in the sun or explored the resort w/ the kids.

I know you're probably wondering why we decorated a chair - and also took a picture of it. Well we had a tough time finding a Christmas tree lot in Palm Springs, so Jake decided to create the "Christmas Chair". We put all of the Christmas presents under the chair Chrismas morning. Not as good as the real thing - but still a great memory!

Anyways - we had a great time!! Enjoy the pictures.