The Brough's

So our first days of school weren't quite like Nemo's. First of all, my kids won't put their faces in the water so swimming to school was out of the question. And, they were quite nervous for their first days, not excited. Anyhow, J.J. started first grade at Kaysville Elem. and I'm so proud of him! The long day is tough for him to get used to. And first grade doesn't do nearly as many fun crafty activities as Kindergarten but he's learning a lot! He gets a good amount of homework every night, which means I do too. When we were going over vowels, I discovered that they've added "y" to the "a-e-i-o-u". When did that happen?
Danny, my Danny. Started Pre-school. I was surprised how nervous he was when we got to the school. I thought he'd be running into class! Once I finally convinced him that I was "going to talk to a lady and that I'd be right back", he let go of me and I was FREE!!!!! Free for 2 hours to do anything I wanted ALL BY MYSELF! I even called James to announce the news! I went to the mall to get a new watch battery and didn't even have to stop by the quarter rides for a few minutes of "pretend" rides. So the time came to go get Danny and when I got there he had big eyes and shouted, "Mom! I had FUN!" sigh.... what a relief.... now he wants to go every day but only gets to go 2 times a week. We have a speech therapist that will be working with him in his class so I hope to see some new improvement soon. He talked NON STOP to me ALL DAY and I understood about a third of all this exciting stuff he had to say. When he gets all excited he talks loud and fast and sometimes it's hard to follow. (I know..... he's just like me.)So I'm thrilled that my boys are getting adjusted to school and happy about their schools and their teachers. Now if they can make new friends and learn how to confront the bullies. (Yes, there are "mean" boys already.)

We were able to go boating a bit this summer. We wish we could have done more of it, but we were so happy for the time we DID get on the water! Boating and waterskiing/wakeboarding is one of James' passions as his family grew up doing it. We're TRYING to get myself and the boys into it a bit more. I haven't achieved waterskiing yet so I'm thinking I might try wakeboarding instead. Although I do get into the water to swim around, I'm always nervous that a fish is going to nibble on my toes!

Every year the young women in our church go camping for a few days. They call it Girls Camp. They learn survival skills and have a lot of fun together. Besides the leaders that the young women normally have, they call a few more to organize the camp. I was called to be the Youth Camp Leader Advisor. While at camp, the older girls are to help run things and I got to work with them doing that. I haven't been to a girls camp since I was 13 or 14 years old so I was a little nervous about doing this. But in the end it was a wonderful experience and it turned out better than I thought it would! The girls were able to have experiences where they could feel their Heavenly Father's love for them and recommit to being more virtuous women. Thanks to my nephew, my mother, and my husband, I was able to leave my boys home and in good hands for 5 days!

I can't BELIEVE summer is almost over. While I'm excited for the boys to start school, I'd really like one more month of summer. "Why?" you ask? Well even if you didn't ask, I'll tell you why. Because I still want to go camping with my boys, go swimming more, go boating more, more lazy mornings, go on another vacation, more time at the parks, etc.
I can't turn back time so I guess I'll just tell you what we DID do this summer. Even if you don't want to know, I'm going to tell you. Besides, you're reading MY blog so there you go. On JJ's birthday he gave out candy at school, went bowling, and.... I can't remember what we did next... did we go to a movie??? Well after whatever it was that I've forgotten, we asked him where he wanted to go to dinner. He said he wanted to stay HOME. "Mom, can't you make some fries in the oven or something?" That's JJ for you, always wants to be home. So we compromised and did Winger's take-out. That way mom didn't have to cook, it was something different, AND he got to stay home to eat. Oh, and he got another Nintendo cake...which he didn't eat. I made it special for him so he could eat the whole thing. But neither of my boys like cake. So they licked a little frosting off of the top and then poked it with their fingers. Whatever makes him happy, right?Then we had the Big Brough Family vacation at Uncle Monte's Cabin. (Kinda sound's like 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' huh?) We had a blast 4 wheeling and hangin' with each other. "Who likes Heidi?" (hmmm. Only half of them raised their hands.) The following picture is some of the guys 'shootin' the breeze'. Actually, they were shooting clay pigeons but a good number of the shots only got the breeze. The 4th of July came and went and then it was Danny's birthday! We went swimming at Grandma Pincock's pool, went to Red Robin, and went to the theater to see Madagascar 3! "How old are you Danny?"...

To be continued......

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.