dudes on the beach

are you kidding me dad?

We have been swimming all summer long...

Happy Birthday Dad!

I just want to say Happy Birthday Daddy, we love you so much. Thank you for being the best. No one knows how to celebrate birthdays quite like you. I love the twinkle you get in your eyes when it is time to celebrate someones birthday. The excitement you have while putting up the birthday poster, streamers, and baloons. We will make a non-chocolate cake and eat a piece on your special day. Wish we could be with you. Make a wish, you deserve it. With all our love,Jason, Camila, Sully, Owen, and Finn

The last couple of months...

We have been a very busy family the last couple of months. My parents have officially put the house up for sale. I admit I had tears in my eyes when I drove up and saw a For Sale sign out front. It still is not real they are moving to Las Cruces, New Mexico, even though my Dad has been there for months. I like to think he is just on a long business trip. On a fun note, Heather and I threw my Mom a fun 6oth birthday party. All of her close friends came and her sweet cousin Sherri Lyn from the Brown side of the family, and if you know my mom, she loves when she has Brown relatives there to represent. She looked beautiful and it was so fun watching her open presents. She hasn't been spoiled like that for a while. The boys and I have been busy playing, cleaning, playing, cleaning, etc. I sometimes feel like I am living in the movie Groundhog's Day. We were able to go to the Puyallup Daffodil Parade, it was a beautiful sunny day and of course the boys favorite part of the parade were the Princesses. They are so girl crazy. I also had a birthday, which makes Sully really happy, because he knows that his birthday comes after mine, and they get to eat cake. Jason made a great poster with my favorite treats on it, and my mom and the boys got me flowers, doughnuts and they each picked out a card for me. So sweet. I went out with my girlfriends Sat night, and had a big dinner with family and friends on Sun. Heather made a beautiful cake. Thank you so much everyone, you made turning 29 a lot easier. So here are pictures of it all, plus a few of Findlay for those who have been asking to see some updated pics of him.

I don't do this that often...

...and it is fairly easy to tell the difference from when Cam posts something and when I do (hers are always happy, upbeat photos and stories and mine just, well, are not...)But I have been reading two fairly different, yet similar books lately:

Living Next Door to the Death House by Virginia and David Owens


and

The Autobiography of an Execution by David Dow


The reasons why I am reading these two titles are not profound, but what is - is the fact that Texas leads the country in death-row executions (almost beating out the combined total of every other state in our blessed union!). The interesting access point that these two titles combined presents goes far beyond the personal and looks at all angles allowing you, as the reader, to exercise your opinion in a judicious manner about what is going on in this peculiar part of our country. Personally - I have never been opposed to letting them form their own country, but that is a post for another thread.