Erika overnight with Stake YCL's & Leaders

Erika had to opportunity to go overnight to the neighbors cabin in Fairview with the Stake YCL's (Youth Camp Leader) and the Stake Leaders.  There was 7 leaders and 13 girls.  They are planning the next year Stake Camp Theme and other activities.  She arrived home around 2:30 pm  on Saturday and was so excited for girls camp next year.  She also said that they didn't get to sleep until around 1 am and then got up at 6 am.  Crazy girls, but you know how teenagers can be.  She wouldn't tell us the new Stake Camp Theme, so we will have to wait until October 22 at the Stake Auxiliary Training for all the Young Women Leaders.  Hopefully, it goes with the 2010 mutual theme which is in Joshua 1:9.  We are also hoping to have the value be Integrity, because the color is purple, and you all know how Sharri likes purple.  She will be spend alot of time this next year planning with ther other YCL's and then she will be with the Stake when we are at girls camp.  She is becoming a great leader.

Email from MTC

We received an email late last night from the Missionary Training Center.

Dear Family of Cameron Brian Brown,

We are pleased to inform you that your missionary has been safely checked in at the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah.  We thank you for supporting your missionary and know that your family will be blessed as a result.

Your missionaries mailing address while at the MTC is:

Cameron Brian Brown

MTC Mailbox #204

TX-FTW 1027

2005 N 900 E

Provo, Utah 84604-1793

Please note the following items:

1.  Your missionaries service begins today,  Please do not arrange or request visits with your missionary, including meetings at the temple or in the proximity of the MTC.

2.  All missionary mail must come through the US Mail or commerical delivery services.  Hand delivered items will NOT be accepted.  Do not send pizzas, fast food, ice cream or any items that will spoil if they are not refrigerated within 24 hours.  Missionaries are not called out of class to receive packages, nor do they have access to a refrigerator.

3.  Communicate with your missionary weekly through letters sent to the above address or through the email account that he missionary will set up within the first two weeks.  This account is to be used by immediate family only.  Telephone calls for missionaries cannot be accepted.  Your missionary will correspond with you on his first preparation day.

4.  Families and Friends should not plan to visit missionaries departing to their field of labor at the airport or MTC.

Sincerely,

Provo MTC Presidency

Cameron to MTC

Cameron was to report to the MTC today at 12:45 pm.  We helped him pack all morning from 8:30 until 11:00 am.  Erika and Riley went to school for the morning and then we checked them out before lunch.  We went to lunch with Cameron at Brick Oven, and they gave him a MTC snack, 2 cookies and 2 suckers to take with him for later.  We then went up the temple to take some pictures and had family prayer together.  We then drove up the MTC with our Auto Pass in the window and the have Elders everywhere to direct you where to drive to and where to stop.  We stopped where 3 Elders where standing, and got Cameron's 3 Luggage bags out, then gave us all a big hug and then he was off with one of the Elders to check in.  That was it, 5 minutes at the very most, if that.  We only cried a little bit and then we went home.  Today was a very emotional day for all of us, especially his mom.  She was doing okay, until we came back home and went down to his room.  We should be receiving his MTC address tonight by email, so we will all let you know as soon as we can.  Please keep Cameron (Elder Brown now) in your prayers.  We know we will all be blessed by his service as a Full Time Missionary.  WE LOVE YOU CAMERON!!!

Cameron set apart

Well, it is finally here.  Cameron was set apart tonight by our stake president, Pres. Ouderkirk at 7:00 pm.  Both grandparents and neices came to support him as well as all of us.  President Ouderkirk was sweet, love and kind and gave some good instruction and well as some scriptures to help us all.  Cameron has been preparing for this for the 4 months, and how has the time flown by.  He has become a great young man and we will all miss him greatly, but we know that he is doing the right thing and serving the Lord for two years.  I think this is the hardest for me, being his mother, giving my son away for two years. I am so glad that I have 7 years before Riley gets to go on his mission, maybe it will be easier then.  We wish Cameron all the best and hope that we can send you all some emails soon.

THE HOMECOMING PICTURE - finally

Erika & Thomas

PHS Homecoming

Sept 19, 2009

A blast from the Past

As we have been cleaning out rooms, we have come across some great family vacation pictures.  This picture was taken at Disneyland in July 2003,  Cameron was 13 years old, Erika was 11 years old and Riley was 6 years old.  This was Riley's first visit to Disneyland.  We all have different facial expressions on this ride of Splash Mountain.  How funny can we be?  I think Erika purposely made a face like she was going to throw up and who knows what the rest of us were doing.  Anyway, since my sister just went to Disneyland and posted a Splash Mountain picture, I figured that she might get a kick out of this one of us 6 years ago.  This one is for you Jenn!!

Riley makes us laugh

We went to dinner at the Grandma Holly and Grandpa Gary and then stopped by the other grandparents house to visit.  Riley loves to play with his cousins, which are all girls on the Brown side.  He does whatever they ask him to, which makes us all laugh.  This time, he put on Lindsee's high heeled shoes, just to make us laugh and let the girls know that he would do anything to get them to laugh.  What are we going to do with him, except laugh with him.  He has done this before, but not in front of everyone so we can see him.  Thanks for the laughs Riley...!!!

Brian, Cameron & Riley @ Priesthood Session

Grandpa Doug was able to get tickets to the Priesthood session of General Conference at the conference center.  Brian, Cameron, Riley, Grandpa Doug, Grandpa Gary, Uncle Doug and Brandon all were able to go with the tickets.  They left at around 4:00 pm and picked up Grandpa Doug and then went and picked up Grandpa Gary, Uncle Doug and Brandon.  Afterwards they went to Italian Village for Pizza Benders.  While they were gone, Erika and Sharri went to the Training Table for dinner and then went shopping at the mall.  We stopped at Bath and Body Works.  That was a big mistake, after leaving with 10 bottles of smelly stuff.  Brian, Cameron and Riley got home at around 11:00 pm that night.  When Cameron was first ordained a Deacon, he was able to go to the Conference Center Priesthood Session for 2 years.  This was Riley's first time since he has been ordained a Deacon and Cameron's last time for 2 years.  What a great experience for all our Priesthood holders!

Erika collecting Bugs

Erika and her friend, Heather, are in the Zoology Honors Science class this year.  They have to collect 100 bugs of 17 different orders, pin them and label thems by October 13.  They have been trying to collect bugs since school started.  We are not sure how many bugs they have, but hopefully 100 soon.  Heather and her and being doing it together.  They went to Vivian Park a month ago at night to collect water bugs and night bugs.  When they catch them, they either have to put them in a jar and soak a cotton ball with acetone to kill them, or they have to put them in the freezer.  So far, they have 13 different order.  The hardest ones to find are termites and head lice.  Yeah, you heard right, LICE!!  Not sure how they are doing to collect lice, but we have asked the school nurses if they can help us out.  The bugs have to be pinned the correct way and be labeled correctly, or they will lose points.  We wish that we had known in the summer time when the bugs were more previlant.  We can't find the Junebugs now that it is cold, nor can we find the squash bugs.  We went to the BYU Gardens today during General Conference sessions to find somemore bugs.  We found some, but not very many.  Of course, the bees are really out right now.  So, if you have any cool bugs (that have to be six legged), please help us out and bring them to us.

Riley Science Project

Riley had to do another Science Project for his Science Honors class.  He chose to drill holes in 3 golf balls and fill them with something else, like lead, water and air.  He did the experiment all by himself and calculated the average.  He then wrote up what he needed for his Science Board and presented today in his class.  Many students asked questions on how he did it and where he came up with the idea.  He loves science and all the in's and out's of it.  It makes us all a little bit crazy with all his inventions and creations with many different materials, especially when he leaves a big mess for us all to clean up.

Went Private on Blog

We had to go private on our blog today.  We found out that Brian's dad was scammed on Monday with a phone call telling him that Cameron was in a car accident in Vancouver, WA and he needed to wire $3500 to him.  Grandpa Doug said that it sounded like Cameron on the phone, so he believed him.  We are not sure how someone was able to connect Cameron with Grandpa Doug on the phone, but they knew that Cam was going on a mission and many other things.  Unfortunately, Grandpa hurried out and withdrew the money on monday and western unioned the money immediately.  He called Cameron today and asked him if he was in Vancouver and if he was in a car accident.  Of course, Cameron told him no to both questions.  We are upset that someone would impersonate Cameron and get money at Grandpa's expense.  We can't believe that Grandpa didn't call us and make an attempt to find out the real truth.  Why do people have to be so deceiving and make others lives miserable.  We all feel violated with this.  Grandpa called the police, but they said that they would not investigate it, so he didn't make a report.  So, to say the least we have had to make our blog private now.

Cameron @Draper & Salt Lake Temples

Cameron finished up going to all the temples in the valley today.  He first went to the Draper Temple with his grandparents at 11:00 am session.  They finished up at 3:00 pm and then went to get some Dinch at Training Table.  He then went to their house until 4:30 pm and then went to his other grandparetns house.  Brian & Sharri picked up Grandma Bette and Cameron and headed up to Salt Lake Temple.  We barely missed the 6:00 session, so we took our time finding parking, get dressed and waitng in the Assembly Room.  We were the first ones to wait for the 7:00 pm session.  We asked one of the temple workers if we could go and see the Baptismal font while we are waiting.  He told us that we couldn't since we have our new names.  We told him that Cameron had been going to all the temples before he would go into the MTC, and this was his last ones to visit and wanted to see the difference between other temple baptismal fonts and Salt Lakes.  The worker went and asked permission and he said if we left our packets and new names in the assembly room, that he would take us over to the baptismal font.  The Salt Lake Baptismal Font is the only one with Gold Oxen and the only one that you sit below the font to wait for your turn.  We went back and waited until the session started.  Cameron said that Salt Lake Temple is very different and interesting.  He wondered how the workers could memorize all the words correctly.  We decided to do some sealings after the session, but he sealer would not allow Cameron as a future missionary to do then.  He said it was against policy.  We had never heard that, but it makes sense.  We dropped off Grandma and drove him in two cars and got home around 11:00 pm.  What a day Cameron had, two temple sessions in the same day, but worth it.

Erika - Inducted into National Honor Society

Erika applied to be in the National Honor Society at Provo High.  She was sent an invitation to the Induction Ceremony, so that meant that she was accepted into the membership.  There are about 100 students involved in the club.  She has been wanting to join a club to get more familiar with different people and get some activities that might help her for a scholarship to BYU.  The members of NHS have to earn 2.5 credits per year, participate in Leadership activities, do 15 hours of community service and do 5 hours of Individual Service hours.  Erika signed up to do Valentines cards for the Elderly & Care centers and help with the Sub for Santa.  Many of her friends also were inducted tonight. (Karen, Peggy, Rachel, etc, etc, etc...)  To top it all off tonight, Erika has been very sick.  She came home from school today feeling hot and cold and had a upset stomach.  She also has a sore throat, cough and sinus cold.  She was determined to go to the NHS induction tonight, but she wasn't feeling well at all, so we didn't stay long.  Hopefully she doesn't have the swine flu or bronchitis, like her friend, Heather.  We are so proud of Erika for wanting to do extra cirricular activities and joining the NHS Club.

Letter for Cameron from MTC

Cameron received a letter today in the mail from the Missionary Training Center.  The arrival times have changed since he received his call.  He was supposed to come in at 11:30 am, but now the web site says 12:45 pm on October 7th.  They only allow one vehicle per missionary to enter the MTC with the auto pass displayed on the dashboard.  It also says that he will only be able to spend a brief moment with those who drop him off as his luggage is unloaded by the host missionaries.  They said there is not time to take photos or long farewells, so to do them before hand. We will be receiving an email late that day of his MTC address.  Only 11 days until departure.

Erika & Rachel - Nertz

Erika & Rachel decided to play Nertz outside on the driveway.  When we went outside we saw them putting down the blanket and sitting on it.  They said that they were having a picnic and playing Nertz.  Sometimes we wonder what goes through these teenage girls heads.  They can be so silly at times, but at least they are having fun and they are being creative.  We can't wait to see what they come up with tomorrow!!

Cameron @ Bountiful Temple

Cameron was able to go to the Bountiful Temple today with his Grandparents again.  His Grandma Bette also came with them.  He left about 10 am and meet them at their house and then headed to the Temple.  They went through a session and then had lunch in the temple cafeteria.  He called around 3:00 pm and said he was on his way home.  He has been doing family names for the McGriff family.  It has been so good for him to be able to go every week to a different temple with his grandparents.  Next week, we are going with him to the Salt Lake Temple after work.

Cameron Sacrament Meeting Farewell

Today was Cameron's Farewell meeting at church at 1:00 pm.  Riley was the youth speaker and spoke for 10 minutes.  He was so good and spoke so clearly and slow.  He got a little bit emoitonal when he talked about his older brother leaving on a mission.  The ward choir sang a musical number, then another young man in our ward spoke.  Erika and her violin teacher, Bonnie Wilson, played a violin duet "I know my redeemer lives" by Larry Bebee with Sheri Libutti accompaning on the piano.  They did a great job and it was very spiritual and moving number.  Then Cameron spoke.  He was told he had to speak for 20 minutes, but he only had 15 minutes left.  While he was speaking, we were overwhelmed at how well he had prepared for his talk and know that he will be a great missionary.  We had many family members and friends come and support Cameron.  We had a luncheon after Sacrament Meeting at our home in the carport.  We served Cafe Rio Salad bar.  It was so good and everyone enjoyed being there and mingling with each other.  We had an open house from 5 - 8 pm that evening for anyone else that wanted to come and support Cameron.  It was a great day for all of us.  Thanks to all the family and friends who came and helped with food.  Now we have two weeks to get Cameron ready for the MTC on October 7th.

Erika & Thomas @ Provo High Homecoming Dance

Erika went to the Provo High Homecoming Dance with Thomas Elder.  They started out their all day date at 6:00 am.  They hiked "Y" Mountain and watched the sunrise.  Then they went to Thomas house for German Pancakes for Breakfast.  After that they went Bowling at Fat Cats and then toTrafalga for some minature golfing. After the bowling and golf they went to Macey's to get some drinks and then back to Thomas house to play ping pong.  She arrived back at home at 5:30 pm to get ready for the dance and have her hair done by her friends, Heather, Rachel and Peggy.  They were so funny to listen to and watch as they laughed and giggled together while they curled her hair. They closed the door on the bathroom so we would not bother the hair stylists. Thomas came back to pick up Erika up at 7:30 pm and then she went back to Thomas' house for dinner with his family.  She didn't put her dress on, because she always spills something on her clothes when she eats somewhere other than home.  She took her dress with her and they both changed at Thomas' house.  Thomas' parents took their pictures and then they came to our house to get the corsage and boutineere and let us take their picutres.  They arrived to the dance at PHS at 9:30 pm, had their pictures taken and danced and socialized until 11:00 pm.  Then they went to Thomas' for ice cream and she came home at 12:30 am.  They are so cute together.  We were so excited for Erika to go to her first school dance.  We like Thomas too.  He is a nice young man and is very pollite and always asks for permission to take Erika or do things with her.

Erika corsage & Thomas boutonniere

Since Erika is going to homecoming this Saturday, her friend, Heather, volunteered to make her corsage and boutonniere for the dance.  We went and purchased pink roses and other pink flowers that would match.  Heather has a Floral Design class at school, so she took them to school and made these beautiful flower arrangements.  On the left is Erika's wrist corsage and on the right is the boutonniere for Thomas.  We were so excited to see them when Heather was done with them.  We asked Thomas what color flowers he wanted, and he said Pink, because that is Erika's favorite color.  Stay tuned in for the next post, where Erika and Thomas dress up and go to the Homecoming Dance. (hopefully Erika will let us take pictures)

Riley School Pictures

Riley

Dixon School Picture - Aug 19, 2009

Cameron @ Oquirrh Mountain Temple

Cameron went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple today with his grandparents.  He has been able to go to a different temple every week with them.  It has been such a great experience for him to go to the temple after his first time before his mission.  Most missionaries go to the temple right before the enter the MTC, but Cameron was anxious to get his recommend and go a few times before he enters the MTC.  He has had lunch with his grandparents at the last temples at the temple cafeterias, but Oquirrh Moutanin does not have a cafeteria, so they went to Paradise Bakery and Sandwichs.  He was gone from 11:45 am until 5:00 pm.  We told Cameron that he should have his picture taken after he goes to each temple, so he has been obedient and done this so you all can read about it.  Although, we need to teach Grandpa Gary some photo shooting techniques or something.  Good thing he takes more than 1 picture, because some of them Cam has his eyes closed or we can't see the temple or Cameron.  Thanks for Grandma Holly and Grandpa Gary for being willing to take Cameron while the rest of us work and go to school.  Next week, there are off to Bountiful Temple.

Sharri School Picture

Sharri

taken Sept 2, 2009

The Dress

Now Erika needed a dress for the Homecoming Dance.  We stopped at a store in Lehi while we were taking one of her friends home and she tried some on, but nothing was that impressive.  The lady at the shop told us to go to the one in Provo.  Since we live in Provo, we decided to try it, but we decided to start at the mall first, since the dress shop in Provo was closed.  We went to Alyssa's bridal in the University Mall in Orem.  They had just finished a fashion show and so the store was crazy busy with girls and moms.  They had many dresses for Semi-formal to Prom dresses.  We had told Erika that the dance was probably Semi-formal, so a short dress would be fine.  Little did we know that we would pay as much for a short dress as well as a long Prom dress.  She tried on 3 to 4 dresses with her friend Rachel.  The last one she tried on was the Cream with black ribbon around the waist and black netting on the bottom.  She looked so cute and we all loved it.  The price was not so great, but what the heck it is once in a lifetime, right.  Anyways, the dance is on saturday, so now we have to find shoes and jewelry too.  HOORAY!!

Happy Birthday Erika

Erika turns 17 years old today.  Her friends called the night before to ask if we could unlock one of her car doors so they could decorate it for her Birthday.  They made a card and put balloons and hearts all over in her car.  It looked so cute.  When she went out to her car, so just had a big smile on her face.  She was sung to at school by many of her friends and that made her birthday fun.  She invited 5 of her friends to go to dinner wtih at TGI Fridays.  We had a great time laughing and singing to her.  After dinner, her and her friends came over to the house and played some games until 9 pm.  The day before, her friend, Thomas asked if he could steal her for the evening of her birthday.  He was very anxious to take her to his house, he had plans to ask her to the Homecoming Dance.  He gave her some flowers and asked her.  She came home at Midnight.  She has to be up early on Saturday morning for Stake YCL baptisms, so getting home that late was so not smart, but she had fun anyways.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY ERIKA...We Love you!!!

Cameron @ Mount Timpanogos Temple

Cameron and his grandparents went to the Mount Timpanogos Temple in American Fork today.  They went to the 1:00 pm session.  His grandparents haven't been there for a while and didn't remember that it was so big inside, especially the Celestial Room.  Cameron came home and told us all about it and that the room was twice the size of the Provo Temple.  Then afterwards they couldn't find the cafeteria in the Temple, but they just smelled the food and it lead them to it.  Cameron said as usual, his grandpa wouldn't let him pay for his own meal.  We told Cameron that he has to be quick and smarter than his grandpa to be able to pay for it.  Next week they are going to Oquirrh Mountain Temple in South Jordan.  We are so glad that he has the time to be able to go every week with his grandparents.  What a great experience for him and them before his mission.

NERTZ...Crazy card game!!!

In May at the Girls Camp Retreat, we learned how to play Nertz.  It is a card game and you can have as many players as you want.  The Autrey's, McGriff's and Brown families have joined forces and have been playing this card usually every Monday night.  We trade off house to play at.  We decided since it was Labor Day today, that we would have a BBQ at the McGriff's and then play Nertz.  We had so many people playing, that we had to go over to the church and use a round table.  It is much easier and fair if we use a round table instead of a long table.  There were 8 of us playing at the church from 8:30 to 10:30 pm.  We played two rounds and had many good laughs as well.  Brian does like to get us all laughing and rolling in our seats.  Why does he do that?  We had a great time as usual, and then we decided we better to home to bed, because Tuesday was a school day and work for all of us.  Thanks for the fun!!

BYU vs Oklahoma

Today was the first football game for BYU.  Like last year, we have the neighbors over to our house for the game to watch on the big screen.  There was 11+ people watching the game with us.  We all bring our favorite snacks to eat during the game.  We had little smokies, spinach dip, cookies, peanut m&m's, salsa, cinnamon bears, laffy taffy, etc, etc, etc...  The game had it's ups and downs.  Way to many penalties, but BYU pulled it out in the last quarter, winning 14 to 13.  Why do they always have to wait until the end?  I think they do it to keep people watching the game until the bitter end.  The game was played at the Dallas Cowboys new stadium in Texas.  Brian and our neighbor, Rob, wanted to go to the game, but the nose bleed tickets were $200, so they decided to not spend the money and spend it with all of us. So this has become a weekly event for us and the Autrey's and the McGriff's families.  GO COUGARS!!!

Erika School Pictures

Erika

School Pictures - Aug 19, 2009

Erika and friends

Erika, Rachel and Peggy all went to Katie Ostler sisters wedding tonight.  They really just wanted to go and see Katie.  Katie and her family moved to Salem this past May.  Salem is about a half an hour drive from Provo.  They don't get to see Katie very much, so they thought this would be a good opportunity for them to go and see her.  Katie was so excited to see them, she gave them all a big hug.  Sharri had to go with them, because Erika wanted to drive and she can't drive her friends until after she has had her driver's license for 6 months.  The things parents do for their kids to have a little bit of fun.  They stayed for about an hour just talking with Katie and catching up.  It was good for them, even though the party was for Katie's sister.  They are hoping to get together again for Erika's birthday in a couple of weeks.

Cameron @ Jordan River Temple

Cameron decided to go to the Jordan River Temple with his Grandpa Gary & Grandma Holly today.  He meet them at noon and then they rode over to the temple together.  Cameron received some names from our neighbors to do endowments for.  He was so excited to go again and learn more, because the first time was brain overload.  The session was half full which was good for him.  Then they decided to stay and have Lunch/Dinner at the temple cafeteria.  Last week when we went the temple served Chicken Cordon Blue.  Cameron really liked it, so he was hoping that Jordan River Temple served it too.  Well he was in luck, he was able to get the Chicken Cordon Blue again.  He was gone most of the day, but had a great experience with his Grandparents before he leaves on mission in 5 weeks.  He is going next Tuesday with them again, but this time to Mt. Timpanogos Temple.