CREATE

Joe and I often check out the "Mormon Messages" channel on YouTube (found here). They post some very positive, uplifting and interesting videos. I just wanted to share one that I found inspiring. I am feeling grateful for the things that I have and especially for the opportunities that my Heavenly Father has given me.

Here is another one. When I watched this one, I thought of Joe and the amazing father that he is. Joe is the most loving, caring and selfless father that I know (like Bill, in this video). Because I didn't have the opportunity to be with my biological father in this life for very long, it makes me even more grateful for Joe and the father he is and will be for our children.

Breaking News!!

Norah can WALK! I say "can walk" and not "is walking" because she still prefers to crawl (so much easier). Yesterday she took her first substantial number of steps (across the living room) for the first time! OK, so not that breaking in news but we were pretty thrilled. It is soo cute.

Terrible picture quality, I know.
So I put her on the other side of the room and this is what I got:

Nice.

Oh and I finally got a good shot of her first teethies:

OK two more just because she's cute:

Just woke up and as happy as a clam.
(is that even a phrase?)

Really happy about her new shoes Daddy bought her.

Welcome Home

We welcomed Joe's parent's home from India a week ago today. If you have ever flown into Salt Lake City you have probably seen a few swarms of people gathered at the bottom of the escalator holding up signs such as "Welcome Home Elder" or "Return With Honor" or "We Love You" written in one or more languages. If you are not LDS that may seem odd. Every day there are missionaries returning home from 18 month or two year missions to all over the world, for our Church. We were privileged to have Joe's parents serve their second mission in India. I got to read a letter from their mission president last night and actually found out that they hold the record for the longest time spent on a mission in India ("India overload"). They have grown what was an 8 person meeting to an 83 person branch. We know that they have made a huge difference in the lives of the Indian people and are so grateful to have them. What great examples they are for not only us but our children. We love you Grandpa and Grandma!

We also got to welcome Joe's sister Vivian and her family home from Australia last night. They have lived in Canberra Australia for the past six months and will now be living in Utah. We are so excited to have them close! We're looking forward to the rest of Joe's family coming into town in a week for the Brown Family Reunion. I am also counting down the days until my family comes to visit for Norah's birthday next month. Gosh, we love our families.

I just have to laugh at Sara's face.

Poor thing had just gotten home from India a few hours earlier and had not had a decent sleep in days.

Meeting Grandpa for the first time

Oquirrh Mountain

Two Friday's ago we went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house with our friends Shar (who happened to be almost 40 weeks pregnant) and Travis and their little girl, Kapria. They are in our new Ward and we are so glad, we really enjoy hanging out with them. This is the second new temple in our area since we moved here to Utah. We are so blessed to have them so close. You can actually stand on the Oquirrh Temple's grounds and see the Draper temple and the Jordan River temple. It's amazing. It was fun to watch Norah's reaction as we walked through. She was very animated and would point at all the pictures and babble. It's almost like she is comfortable there. Not only did I love the temple but I fell in love with the surrounding neighborhood. If you are in the market for a house, check it out here. It's awesome because the houses are so different (not a cookie-cutter-box-home village), they each have character and they are designed after older homes which I love. It's only missing one thing; trees - but I guess the lake in the middle of the development can account for that. Here are some pictures!

It was windy, ok?

Travis insisted on not taking this picture because of the sun. Shar won.

Sharing fishies and strollers.