June = Wedding = Wedding reception!!

There was a wedding reception Saturday!  This young man, Russell Updike, is an incredible young man, who has waited a very long time to find the "right" person to take the the Temple and be married for Time and All Eternity!!  After he could no longer be apart of the singles ward due to age....he became a member of our ward, and immediately became the Elders Quorum President, then an early morning seminary teacher.....and my personal favorite, my substitute in Gospel Doctrine class!  He has endured much ribbing about "When are you going to get married" to which he always handle good naturedly and also responded with "Believe me I'm trying".  And we are so pleased that he found someone perfect for him and that they are still in our Ward!

When meeting with the Relief Society President to see how the Ward could help with the reception here in Texas, Russell gave a list of names of people they would like to ask to help and I was one of them, which I was thrilled to do, and thrilled that I would be on the list of who he considers his friends and people he felt would be willing to and want to help!  Yes, that is me!  The reception was very well attended, as Alan and I knew it would be, because I think everyone in the whole Stake was excited to hear the news that he was engaged, because he really is just that amazing of a person, that everyone would be glad to see him married, happy, and would want to help CELEBRATE!

 

Scout Camp....it's been awhile....

It's been a while since Alan has gone to Scout Camp so he was excited this year to get to go again....and he had such a great time, it's all he can talk about!!  He really feels like he had a Scoutmaster's dream come true of a troop!  They participated in everything!  They were where they were supposed to be, doing what they were suppose to be doing, and then add to that they won the Camp Dodge ball tournament for the whole camp, and they were awarded the "Wrangler" award for the whole camp, which means they did a lot of extra things, like a service project, volunteer to serve lunch, dinner and breakfast, they had to participate in all camp activities, participate in a Flag Ceremony, and about 18 other things...and you have a very happy Alan Brown!  He was thrilled with these boys and their attitudes and desire to be at camp and have the true Boy Scout Camp experience!  Good for them!  Troop 23, Fort Worth, Tx.

Boys: Tanner, Rayvion, Zach, Jesse, David, and Cardelous.
Leaders:  Alan Brown and Rick Fry.

Week 21 - Biggest Loser - Charlotte Edition

So hey, I'm down 2 more lbs.  Which makes my total weight loss to date 70 lbs!!  Our patients at work that come on a regular basis are all noticing and asking what my secret is.....to which I always say, nothing new, just counting calories and walking!!  But it is fun to have people notice at work.  And I'm also noticing that people (strangers) treat me different now, which I think is sad, but a fact of life and one that Alan told me would happen when we both started losing weight.  But mainly I feel better about myself and that's the most important thing I've typed in this post!  I went to buy something to wear for Sunday, and I bought the smallest size I've purchased in many a moon!  It was a great and exciting feeling!

I am also excited because one of the young women in our Ward/Church asked me to help her with one of her value projects for her YW Personal Progress award!  The value was Knowledge and her project is to become healthy....so I helped her figure out her calories, and how to keep track of them, or figure out how many calories are in the dinner her mom just made.....and then gave her a work out plan etc...All I did was pass on what John (my son-in-law) taught me...but it is good and really fun to see each other and know that we have this little project together!!  And I did tell her I would walk with her anytime if she needed me to help stay on track with that!!  I'm happy and honored to be apart of it!!

Charlotte, the reason we are in this little contest, is in Utah, and I have to say I really miss her and I am sad that I'm missing all the new things that she is doing....but we look forward to their return in July!!

John has lost 60 lbs, and as far as total body weight loss he is a little ahead of me so he would be winning right now, so I need to get busy and get back in the lead!!  He's keeping me on my toes!!

Aileen's hair is so long....

Usually we keep Aileen's hair short!  Its easier, and she is happier because with her tight naturally curly hair she sometimes cries when I brush it in the mornings when it is longer!!  But we have grown it out recently and it is finally long enough to do some fun hiardo's!  So while Alan is gone to Boy Scout Camp, Aileen and I are batching it, and having fun trying new hair styles!  It is reminding of having to do 3 little girls hair everyday for school!  Oh, the good ole days!!

Pigtails

With her MITS Driver

With French Braids!
 

Anne Marie got into Nursing School!! Wahoo!!

I got the best news yesterday!  My beautiful daughter, Anne Marie, who has diligently and basically with no help from anyone, who has been going to school part time while working full time....just got accepted into Nursing School!  And the best part, the hospital she works at is paying for the schooling!! What an incredible blessing!  And so deserved for Anne Marie who has kept her goal in sight and never gave up and just continually worked towards becoming a Nurse!  We are so proud of her and all that she has accomplished!  Keep moving forward sweetheart and soon it will all come true!!  Love you!!

Missionary Farewell - Monica Tillman

Sunday, we had a missionary speak before leaving to serve a mission for the church in Brazil!!  Bishop Tillman and his family moved in October of 2012, which was a really sad time for our Ward and for Alan in particular because he is such good friends with and admires Ben Tillman so much, but luckily, since she grew up in our Ward (her family moved while she was away at BYU) she did speak in our Ward!

It really was an amazing talk.  I mean she has always been very spiritual and mature (with 6 younger siblings that kind of comes with the territory, the mature part anyway) but wow, oh wow, was her talk amazing.  She has become even more intuned with the spirit and gifted mature speaker in the couple of years that she has been away at school!  It was very plain to everyone, that she is more than prepared to take on this great service she is about to partake in!

It was a little emotional for me (yes, I did cry) as I listened to her speak and for her to be so impressive, and I will tell you why.....

My mother who passed away 4 yrs ago, several months before she passed away, she looked at me one Sunday in church and said as we were sitting near Monica Tillman, "What do you think of Monica?"  to which I said, "I think she is an amazing young woman, who helps her mother with her younger siblings and is making right choices in her life, and is a very spiritual young lady."  My mother smiled and nodded her head in agreement and she said...."That's how I have always felt about you...."

I too, had several younger siblings that I had to help with when I was a teenager, and even though I always made correct choices, because I was kind of outspoken not all my church leaders, I think, thought I was very spiritual, but I was, and my mother knew it and to find out that she always thought of me like a "Monica Tillman" was a wonderful compliment from my mother, who would always brag about me to others....but not to me!!  This was one of the times that she bragged to me!  So it was a tender memory for me and made me think of my mom and miss her very much as I listened to this incredible young woman speak in Sacrament meeting.

She will be amazing missionary!  God Be With You as you go forward in this great service to the Lord....

Fun Bridal Shower....

A young woman in our Ward/Church is getting married, so last Saturday, a couple of the ladies from our church had a Bridal Shower for her!  This young woman (Aleigh Denti) is getting married in the San Antonio Temple July 6th with a Reception later that day at our church bldg.  (I'm in charge of the Photo Booth that night so I wrangled my friends Caitlin and MaryAnn to help me with this big project.  I'm sure pictures will be forthcoming of how we decorated it.)  Anyway, Saturday afternoon we got to celebrate her forthcoming marriage and it was a lot of fun!  Aleigh is a beautiful young woman inside and out and it was fun to celebrate this time with her.  Yensy Willden and Pamela Dennison gave the shower and I loved, loved loved, the refreshments they served.....they had all kinds of fruit and vegetables and some yummy punch, but the really cool thing they did, was they had Yamilla Pruit in our Ward, who is the best baker I've ever met, make these really fancy big cookies and then there was a yogurt and frosting concoction that you were suppose to frost the cookie with then you topped it with the cut fruit and they called them mini fruit pizza's and oh, my they were so good.  I told my friends not to let me have 2 cookies, only one, so when I went back for another one, they did grab it out of my hand and wouldn't let me eat it!!  You really have to have good friends!! lol!!  Because I really am a little tired of dieting all the time.  But I want to remain strong!

Aleigh is the beautiful one on the left with long blond hair

The picked winner of this silly game!!

My teams submission....

We really liked the back...

 

The other game we played everyone had to tell 2 truths and 1 lie about Aleigh....then we had to guess which was the lie.....and then Aleigh told us which was the lie......this game was a little hard for me because I don't like to lie.......but it was fun hearing funny stories about Aleigh growing up and wondering which was true and which were lies!!  So even though I hate playing party games, these were fun and I got in the spirit of the party and just enjoyed and participated!!

World War Z......

Thursday night at midnight (last week) I went with my girlfriends (Shawna & Becky) to see World War Z and even having watched the previews for months now, I really had no idea it was a scary zombie movie!  We only knew that Brad Pitt was in it and so of course we wanted to see it!!

But we got a really bad feeling as we watched the movie previews before the actual movie started when every preview was a scary scary movie....so much so I was afraid that I was going to have nightmares after words....there was not one movie that they previewed that I thought, "I want to see that".  I knew we were in trouble then.  Fortunately even though World War Z was scary and it was Zombies, it was still a good show and not so outrageous that you couldn't buy the storyline, nor was it so scary that you had to close you eyes all the time so you didn't have nightmares....so as far as scary movies go, I would say its a good one to see.....however Alan won't be going anytime soon, he said, he hates scary movies!!

Photo by: IMDb

Week 20 - Biggest Loser - Charlotte Edition

It's been pretty exciting around our house as Alan is getting ready for Scout camp and really cannot wear his old jeans, so we had to buy new jeans and this the first time we have gone out to buy him new clothes instead of just wearing the "too big" ones that we both have been wearing.  It's really hard to go out and buy new clothes when you know this is not the stopping point, that you still have lots more to go....but on the other hand, it is very exciting to see the sizes disappear as you have to keep going to a smaller size than even you thought it would be....For some reason I'm not seeing my sizes drop as fast, but I think that is just women, unfortunately!!

Alan thinks that people will not be interested in seeing his picture because he still has so much more to go...but I beg to differ and I think it was fun and exciting to see the difference already!!  So in order not to spoil my fun, he let me take a picture, because that is just the kind of husband he is!!  Love him!

from size 60 to size 50!!!

68 lbs lighter!!

Because Alan started losing weight last July just from a change in his job, we are not sure how many lbs he has lost to date, but it has to be at least 75-80 we are thinking if not more (I really think its more) but me, we know for sure.....Week 20 I'm down 68 lbs!

For those who still wonder how we are doing it see (this post.)

And for those who want to know what diet I'm on, I'm not, its just counting calories and walking every day.  I eat whatever I want but I have to count the calories and make sure I don't go over my calorie allowance for that day and I am religious about it!!  And of course when your calorie allowance per day goes down each week because you are losing weight you start to be smart about what calories you eat.....things that are healthy and filling like vegetables, and fruits, chicken, etc......

Friday night at Concerts in the Garden

Last month was Becky Wangler's birthday, who is one of the ladies that MaryAnn and I visit teach.  We always try to celebrate birthday's with our gals, but because of schedule conflicts with Becky and us and MaryAnn having to go out of town we were not able to get together to celebrate in May, so we told her that we would celebrate this month, which also happens to be my birthday so we decided to combine our birthdays and do something really fun.......like, Concerts in the Gardens!!

MaryAnn went to a lot of work to make it special for us and we had such a good time and I am not going to lie, it was pretty spectacular to have fireworks for our birthday!!  Thanks MaryAnn!!



We got there early to get good seats on the lawn....

 

 MaryAnn made us a great meal to enjoy before hand and we exchanged presents .....

 

 Lettuce Chicken wraps and Chinese coleslaw....

 

 And some really yummy fruit thing that had to be very high in calories (it tasted like ice cream) so I told her no matter how much I begged I could not have more...and it was really good I wanted to beg, but I didn't.

Then we played Canasta waiting for it to get dark and the concert to start.....

The band this night was "Green River Ordinance"

 

 And then fireworks......it was a great night and a great way to celebrate birthdays!!

Biggest loser - week 19 - Charlotte Edition

I lost 3 lbs this week for a grand total of 66 lbs!  And that was even with it being my birthday and Logan's graduation party!!  I did eat some goodies at the Graduation party but didn't go crazy and no one made me a cake for my birthday, thank you very much, and I made sure to exercise really good....and I have to admit that when I weighed myself Saturday was I excited!!  Yay for me!  I might be getting the hang of all this!!

One year older.....

So, I had a birthday....but it was the same day as Logan's graduation...so Alan and I will be celebrating over the weekend, but I had some friends help me celebrate my birthday early on Tuesday!!  It was such a surprise and I have to say, I really do have wonderful people in my life, I feel very blessed every day!!

First, came my cute walking buddies with their Mom, Caitlin, bringing me flowers, pictures they made for me, and fresh fruits and vegetables from Central Market - what a treat!! And I have been enjoying the food very much and yes, I have been sharing with Alan and Aileen....but it was a close thing....I was tempted to hide it and keep it all for myself it has been so good!!

 



Then my visiting Teachers came by with flowers and a basket of fruit!!  Everyone wants me to keep on my diet....so thoughtful...and very much appreciated!!  Thanks Phoebe and Dhezi you are the best!!

Last, but by no means least....Dr. Malofsky (the doctor I work for) and his wife Marcia gave me a new bag, with matching wallet, key chain, make-up carrier, eye glasses case by Vera Bradley.  A couple of years ago they gave me a piece of Vera Bradley luggage and every time I use it I always get compliments, so I'm excited about this new summer bag and accessories!!  Thank you Doctor, you always do thoughtful and amazing things!

 

So even though the actual day was filled with other things namely Logan's graduation, all my children in Utah called and sang to me and talked with me and that really is the best present and all I need to say that I've had an awesome birthday!  But I also got my Card and Money from my Mother-in-law plus a phone call and Barbara and Dad always remember with a card, text message, and hugs in person so it was pretty much a perfect birthday! Thanks everyone!!

Let's Party....

Elizabeth has been so instrumental in helping out our brother George as a single father and has totally been there to help Logan graduate from High School!  So of course she was instrumental in making the party afterward happen as well!  I tried to be there in planning/making/setting up every step of the way so she didn't have the whole load herself....but she really is an amazing woman, sister, aunt, wife, daughter, friend!!  She is a wonder!!  In an earlier post I showed you pictures of the preparations that we were making for the party so now you shall see the results!!  Everyone was impressed with our food and decorations etc....even George!  And if George notices you know its something to see!  So thanks for the compliment George, and Logan was pleased and excited with the whole night!  So it was all worth it!!

 

The Guests:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, I'm missing Charlotte!!  So of course I'm

holding the baby!!

I love this young man so much!