The Brough's

There have been a few things that have happened in the past few months that I want to bring attention to. One is that my hunny finally made it to the thirty-something club! James turned 30 years OLD! Since I'm a few months older than him, I don't think I should make any old jokes. But I do have to say he's been through the ringer this year physically. Since he's had a bad knee he looks like he's an old man when he walks. But at least people won't think I'm a cradle robber now! He works really hard and maybe, just MAYBE he'll get a desk job this year to ease his aching joints. We sure love him!


Speaking of Brough's bad knees, James' dad had to come home from his Baton Rouge Temple assignment to get a total knee replacement. He had the other one done last year. And since his mother has already had both of her knees replaced, we know they won't be coming back for knee surgery again. But it has been really nice for us to see them again!
My grandmother had her 98th birthday this year. She's nearly a centurion! We have a lot we could learn from her. My mom is starting to write her history and I'm excited to help her with it. I get my kicks from scanning pictures and reading old letters and documents. I know, I'm a history geek. But I appreciate her more as I find out more about her past.
With a big gulp and a big sigh, James decided it was time to sell his Jeep. He built this Jeep with his dad when he was 15 years old so it has a lot of sentimental value to it. When we got married he said he would never part from it, but hard times have pressed him to sacrifice. I'm sorry you had to do it James.
And finally I just want to say that I LOVE MY BOYS! Danny's picked up dad's love of music and golf. He "jams" on his little guitar and keyboard and it's so cute! J.J. is learning to read and it's so fun to see him progress. I often over hear J.J. teaching Danny the alphabet or things he's learned at school that day. They get excited about wearing their matching Sonic or Pokemon shirts. Since they want to wear the same thing most of the time, they look like they're trying to be twins! I know it's common for kids to do this kind of thing, but I find my boys to be particularly adorable.

Yeah, I know it's been a while since we've posted anything. I have no excuse besides general busy life. Last fall my dad had his 70th birthday and my sisters and I threw him a surprise party. It was AWESOME. Not only was it amazing that all of my five sisters and I were in the same location, but 200 or so of his friends came to celebrate with him.
Then the holidays came and went. Happy Halloween, Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and Happy Valentines Day! James did a GREAT job making the turkeys for all the parties on both sides of the family. (He burned his finger and I caught the moment)Twenty minutes after we had Thanksgiving dinner, James and three of his brothers piled into the mini to go get drinks at the local gas station. How on EARTH they were thirsty for 32 oz-ers was beyond me. It was funny watching them try to get out.

I didn't have any awesome Christmas pictures this year. I guess because I was too involved. But it WAS nice to see my sister Heather and her family. They live in California and got to spend about 2 weeks here over Christmas!

And I didn't take any Valentines pictures this year for some reason! Although I want to point out that I have an awesome husband. Beforehand I was thinking that Valentines Day is a commercial holiday where stores try to get boys to buy stuff to woo a girl with. It's kind of dumb. Once you've been married a while, how do you express your love for your spouse with a teddy bear? A teddy bear is good when you're dating and you can't think of anything else to give the girl so you get her a soft stuffed animal. But once you've given it to her, what is she supposed to do with it then? Stick it on a shelf to collect dust? Granted, James gave me a teddy bear once and while the sentiment of giving me something was nice, I STILL have that bear and I don't dare throw it away because I wouldn't want to hurt his feelings. But I don't want to put it on my bed either. Dinner or chocolate would be more practical to give because she could ENJOY it and then be done with it. But then, that's a continuation of holiday weight gain with the massive amount of candy we get from Halloween and the Christmas season.

Anyway, back to my awesome husband. I was trying to think of SOMETHING to get for him for Valentines Day and having a terrible time. Golf stuff? A new video game? New shoes? What does any of that have to do my LOVE for him? Well, HE got me things that I would actually like. And a card with a nice note in it.

That was a long way of saying, I believe in the value of Valentines Day again. Happy Holidays everyone.

so it has been a long time since we posted. We are busy and will post all the holiday madness soon.

Every year on my birthday someone asks, "So do you feel older?". And usually I say, "no". But THIS year when James called me from work and asked, "So do you feel older?", I said "YES". J.J. had come in to wake me up and I was dead tired. I felt like I'd been hit by a truck. Then I went into the bathroom and looked in the mirror and I wondered, "when did I get all those wrinkles?" My brother-in-law, Dave, declared in the middle of Sunday school a few weeks ago that I have a few gray hairs showing. (If I wasn't so short maybe he wouldn't have seen them) So, yes, I feel older. Would I want to be 16 again? Young and feeling good even after a sleepless night? No, I wouldn't trade my husband and two boys and being their 30 year OLD mom for anything. I've got 3 boys that love me unconditionally and I KNOW I didn't have that at 16. I'm pretty lucky.

I can hardly believe J.J. is going to Kindergarten. Sigh.... the school years begin. It's as much as an adjustment for him as it is for me and Danny. Actually, J.J. was really excited to start and has loved going! It's DANNY that we have to worry about! The first day, J.J. put on his back pack so Danny found his to put on. Then we went to the school and J.J. lined up so Danny did too. Then the class was going inside and Danny started screaming and crying that he couldn't go in too! With both arms stretched out to J.J. walking away he screamed, "J.J.!!!!! NO!!!!!!!" He cried and cried and the other moms thought it was cute that he was so upset that he couldn't go in with his brother. They are two peas in a pod.

It's been a few days now and as long as Danny gets to wear his back pack too, he's okay with saying goodbye to J.J. at the door. But as soon as we get home he says he wants to go get J.J.! I guess this is just one of those growing pains that we'll get past eventually. One good thing is that when J.J. comes home and has to trace his letters for homework, Danny wants to too! Since Danny has some speech delay, we figure he may not be able to speak understandably by the time he starts school but at least he'll be able to write!

(Sorry, only 2/3rds of us are in the picture)

Every year James' siblings and families all get together for a vacation of some kind. This year we went camping! (well, sort of. We had a cabin.) We went 4-wheeling, had a paddle boat, the men went shooting, played games (Bananagrams!), ATE, and of course did the s'mores around the campfire. Oh and James killed a baby rattle snake with a shovel! This Brough Bunch knows how to have a good time...

When J.J. turned 1, I wanted to make him a cute cake but didn't really know how to decorate one. My mom had decorated cakes back in the day but I never learned how. (nor did I learn how to sew, quilt, crochet, play piano, and a slew of other things I should have) Then when we were in North Dakota, a friend of mine and I decided to take classes together. It got us out of the house to do something fun and now I'm still experimenting. So if you wonder what I've been up to lately, this is it... Happy Fathers Day! I made one for my dad and one for James and his dad.


Yoshi... (Mario character) for J.J.'s b-day