My favorite ornament, Cowboy Group, and tennis

Here is a picture of my favorite Christmas tree ornament. Mother hand-made this little gingerbread man in 1972, and it has always hung on our tree. A few years ago, she let me pick some of my favorite ornaments from the family tree and place them on the Brown family tree. This was the first one I chose.

I've got pictures of some of my other favorite ornaments and will share them over the next couple of weeks. Last year, a friend of mine posted a picture every day in December of a different ornament on their tree. I'm partially borrowing that idea here (thanks, Chris!) EXCEPT, I know I won't be posting every day. I'm just not that disciplined.

And speaking of friends, the Cowboy Group celebrated Christmas together last night. We enjoyed a savory steak dinner at the Club, and then a fun gift exchange. Here is our group picture for the year.

2009 Christmas picture. Love this group of friends! Love, love, love them!

And just for fun, below is the picture from last year's Christmas party. Tiffany was pregnant, very pregnant, in the picture and you can see the product of that in the picture (above) from this year. Funny thing... she's pregnant again this Christmas. Just not showing like she was last year. Congrats, Tiff!

2008 Christmas picture (with funny faces)

Ok... We are heading out to spend the night in Dallas tonight. Collin is playing at 8am in a tennis tournament, and thanks to mom's rewards points, we'll not have to drive from Athens EARLY in the morning. (Thanks mom...)  Really looking forward to watching Collin play tomorrow. He's really great!

Recap of last weekend.

It's Wednesday, but feels like Friday because of Thanksgiving tomorrow. I'm looking forward to time with family and friends over the next couple of  days.

Thought I'd share a few pictures from last weekend. 

We helped with the monthly meal and activities in a local neighborhood. Our church participates with several groups in bringing a presence of hope and love to this neighborhood.

This picture shows some of the clothes available for anyone who could use them.

Here are the ladies dishing up a homemade Thanksgiving meal.

Rick, below, has a helper handing out hygiene kits.

This is Larry Partridge and me on the porch of a house in the neighborhood that we are going to turn into a kids afterschool clubhouse, and in the evenings have it available for adult programs. It's a longtime dream coming to fruition for our church to have a presence in this neighborhood.

The house needs ALOT of work. I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed at this point! Good thing youth groups like to do demolition, becasue we are going to have to start from scratch!

It's hot outside, and other stuff

Here's an update on life at the Brown household: 1. It's hot outside. I came home from work yesterday to see that Rick and Taylor melted, leaving only their clothes behind.

Truth be told...we had a water leak that both Taylor and Rick were involved in working. And I guess I've trained them well enough to leave all dirty clothes outside.

2. Our Cowboy Group (and here) threw Rick a birthday party. (#50 if anyone is counting... but none of us are!) Below is a group picture. We had so much fun! Thanks, everyone, for making it happen!

3. We uncovered another foot of patio that was hiding underneath the overgrowth. Yes!

4. A cute little kitty adopted us. Here is a picture of him on Craig's lap. Craig is on the phone trying to convince Carolyn that they needed another kitty. 18 hours later (and a trip to Dallas and back)... kitty returned. A bit road-weary, but ready to keep searching for his new home. After a bit of work, we found it a purrfect home! I don't have a picture (Allison, need pics!) but little Halle named him "KC" after Kristen/Collin, since Collin and I delivered him to Halle.

5. Father's Day. Collin and Taylor gave their dad a new Craftsman tool set. They did good!

I tried to give Dad a kitty for Father's Day... it didn't work.

6. We're driving to Tulsa (ohhhhh, ahhhhh) Wednesday evening for a business presentation on Thursday. Then, to celebrate Rick's birthday on Thursday, we're returning to the place of his birth. Cowtown - historic Fort Worth - for an overnight celebration! Pictures to follow... maybe.

It's a Boy!

Our dear friends, Tim and Tiffany, brought home their new toy today. Cade Christian Lilly joined this crazy world Monday.

He's absolutely perfect, and we are thrilled for our friends. They are so cute, doting over their perfect, sweet, innocent son.

And here is Aunt Kristen and Uncle Rick

Battle of the Bands!

Our dear friends, Tim and Tiffany (aka backporch pals) stopped in for a friendly chat on Sunday evening. Before they left, we talked them into a friendly contest of Guitar Hero. Little did they know that Rick had been playing all weekend with Collin! I may be wrong here, but I'm thinking Rick was tired of being whipped up on by our 15 year old. It was time for the tide to turn. So perhaps luring in an unsuspecting pregnant woman and her husband to the Game felt really good! Postscript: Little Cade Lilly has an appointment to come into the world next Monday, 2/23! We can't wait to meet him!

House, Sport, and 2009!

Well, the house showing went well last night. I feel much better about everything. Now, we just wait and let them work through the details they need for a mortgage, etc. All signs point to an offer coming our way. Big sigh.... I just have to keep reminding myself to not get worked up about it. It will happen when it's time. Below are the 2 pictures I was trying to post yesterday. The Cemetery and the Water Company went in together for a new purchase! We've affectionately named it "Sport." Of course, the entire family had to test drive Sport before we turned it over to our Shop Foreman. This will be used for meter reads with the water company and for maintenance duties in the Cemetery. We're hoping to cut down on the use of gas... and save wear on the old truck that seems to be getting older every day. Finally, tonight is New Year's Ever. We have repeat plans every year with our Cowboy Group, and a few other dear friends, to celebrate the new year. Dinner at Tim & Tiffany's house (Tim's famous lasagna) and then we'll take the party to the Clubhouse for live music, dancing, and midnight breakfast. Here is the picture from last year. I can't wait to spend the evening with them again!

It's Christmas with the Cowboy Group

Our Cowboy-watching group gathered Thursday night for a fun Christmas party!

This group of friends is quite unique - I can't even recall how we formed, but it's always fun to watch 'da Boys with a group of friends.

In the picture below, we are holding our gifts from a lively gift exchange. We're each supposed to be making a goofy face or pose. I think Charles and Twina (far left) are just so goofy normally that they didn't need to enhance it for the photo! Jan looks really mean, and Tiffany's using her pregnant belly as a shelf for her new fondue tray. And, of course, Rick and I are smooching!

As our second season together draws to a close (boo-hoo), I know that we've developed meaningful friendships that will continue on. Each of these couples brings joy to our lives, and I am blessed to have them as friends!

Has it really been 16 years?

I had a wonderful email from a friend in high-school, Amanda. We haven't seen each other in years, and haven't really corresponded since graduation.

She's going to kill me when she sees this post, but hey - it's incriminating to ALL of us, not just her. Amanda is the pretty one on the front row with the light colored dress. I'm not telling which one I am.

We've exchanged a few e-mails, catching each other up on all that's happened in our life. I was amazed to hear she had 3 little boys... and I was excited to know all the various details about her life.

It made me wish that I had done better at keeping the friendships up from that era. I have to admit that sometimes I feel jealous when I hear that some people are still best friends with the same person from childhood. Perhaps we're all made a bit differently, and life experiences take us different places where we develop new friends and spend our time maintaining those relationships....

...But I still wish I had not been so selfish and had worked harder at keeping those dear friendships close.

As of late, I've gotten to connect with a few of those friends via facebook. It's been neat to see where we all are 16 years later. And I can really see the grace of God evident in our lives. Well, I guess I'm talking mainly about my own. I shudder to think where I might be without His Grace. I want to let go of the busy-ness of my life. I want to spend more time with my friends (old and new) instead of rushing from one place to the next. After all, isn't it all about relationships in this life? And not all the meetings and to-do-lists that seem to bog us down?

So... Hey friends! Let's get together soon. I'd love to see you.

Can't BELIEVE it's Tuesday already

Not sure what happened to yesterday... It's Tuesday already and lunch time, at that. Well, here's a picture of the Cowboy Game Sunday:

What's the matter? Don't recognize those famous players on the field? Just in case you're not into the Cowboys, the team pictured above is: Rick 'the Bruiser' Brown making the catch. Stan 'the Man' Wiens backing him up. Tim 'aka Bob Lilly' and Sean 'DonJuan' Wiens moving in to assist. Charles 'the Heff ' Hetmer was off camera, no doubt showing off for the cheerleaders!

We enjoyed the Cowboy Season opener and their WIN on Sunday at Charles and Twina's house. The half-time show was presented by the men as they exhibited their God-given talents on the football field. Good friends, good food, good ball. Made for a great day!

We really enjoy our Cowboy Friends. Watching the game on Sundays without them just wouldn't be the same.

What in the world?

We think it was a tiny, fried monkey-hand mixed in with our calamari at dinner. Rick and I enjoyed a date-night at Landry's in West End. We hadn't seen each other much during the weekend (due to Women of Faith) so it was nice relaxing outside on the patio and catching up on everything. Aside from the invasion of the monkey hand, our dinner was delicious. Although I'm sure our waitress thought we were freaks since we were snapping pictures and making poses with the suspicious little paw. Previous to dinner, we visited with Dick and Barbara Ivey and said our goodbye's to them. They're moving to Arizona for a new phase in life/work. Rick made a pretty powerful statement after we left the party. He said:

"I wouldn't be where I am in my life - career, spiritual, emotional - without having known Dick Ivey."

That's pretty powerful. I'm so glad Rick has known the Ivey's. We will be praying for them in this new phase of their life.