Weather Channel, Minnesota Style...

When it hits negative 20 with windchill, 

Minnesotans finally don the gloves...

 ... and fire up the boot warmers (Julie - aren't you jealous??!  Yes, they DO work, and yes, we DO love them!!)

 ... and put the gloves in the fridge to warm up...

... and still beg to go outback on the porch and play... with a smile on our face :)

When it hits zero...


the "why do we have to wear our coats, it's WARM outside" whines begin...

... and capes become the cover of choice...



When it actually breaks 32,


We can finally chip off enough snow to build the annual mammoth snow man

And in the rare instance that it actually reads 50 degrees,


Shoes suddenly become 'optional equipment'
And shorts actually make their yearly debut...

It's the little things...

That made me fall in love with this amazing man.

All of my life, I was waiting for the fan fair,

the fire works

the neon sign

that this was THE ONE.

And then I met Jerry...

... on my first Sunday home from my mission, to be exact.

He was my brothers roommate, and I went to church with my brother.

And sat in between my brother and Jerry

And about passed out with the fact that I was sitting within 'arms length' of an unrelated male.

Totally freaked me out

In fact, I think I about jumped into my brothers lap through the course of the Sacrament meeting.  (A fact that Jerry has since taunted me with...).

All of that was 3 years before we even thought about dating.

Yep, that right.  THREE YEARS.

We lived right across a little walkway from each other.  

Seriously, you could look out my window and look right into his window.

3 Years.

In fact, we sat in Early morning meetings together almost every Sunday.

... and I spent many of those meetings setting him up with all of the RS women who just had to go out with Jerry Brewer.

And then, suddenly, it happened.

... but then again, not so suddenly.

more like little by little it snuck up on me, until one morning (after being told the "L" word by him the previous night), I realized that Love had come.

I loved him all along.

And I hadn't even realized.

I had loved him from the beginning.

Only it was so simple and sweet that I almost missed it entirely (I could go into all sorts of sordid details about break-ups and freak-outs and such, but this post is long enough as it is!).  

I realized that it was the little things that one by one

Made this guy wholly and completely my knight in shining armor, without a shadow of doubt.

And I fell.

Hard.

Over my head, 100 percent, in complete unabashed loved with this man. (And then there was a little bit of freak out on his end... but again, a post for another day... )

Fast forward 11 Valentine's Days spent together, and 5 children added to the pack

And it's still the little things

That he does

Day in and day out

Most of which he probably doesn't even realize

(because they are such an ingrained part of him)

That keep me standing in awe of this man that I am lucky enough to call mine.

Yep, the little things...

-- like reading the bedtime story to the kids every night, and tucking them in

-- and taking each child on special daddy/child dates, and infuses service into each one (creates a special service project for them to do together, and then go to dinner of their choice, followed by a trip to toys R us for a 'special' present)

-- or even the way he is so meticulous in every facet of what he does...

     ... even down to specifically placing each and every stamp on our wedding announcements in the exact right spot on the envelop, completely straight and everything (something that I have kind of sort of mocked him for through the years... i mean, c'mon, who looks at the stamps on envelops that they get in the mail?  Well, if you looked at our wedding announcements, the stamps were perfect!  ... at least on jerry's pile...)

-- and the quiet way in which he simply does what needs to be done

    ... like turning the pancakes over when I get pre-occupied with something else in the kitchen while cooking breakfast

-- and stays up late making special Valentines cards for each of the kids so it's the first thing each child sees on Valentine's Day morning (we're talking designing, printing, and even laminated personal cards for each of them!)

-- and the way that he is so simply sentimental - and thinks of all of the tiny things that make my heart melt - all with no fan fare whatsoever on his part

   ... like the fact that during each pregnancy he wore the same tie to church every single week, and for the baby blessing, and then for the baptism, for each father's blessing, and then plans on giving the tie to each boy when they leave on their mission (how cool is that?!). 

   ... or the single rose that he gave me on our first anniversary with a card that simply said, "one rose for one year" (... and yes, we are now up to 11 roses ;) ).

   

... and the way that he is so rock solid in his goals. 

... he is a great finisher.     

(which is good for me, because I'm a great starter...)

Seriously, when he sets a goal, there is not a shadow of doubt that he will get the goal.  

... like reading the Book of Mormon in different languages, which I have seen him do every single day for the entire 11 years that we have been married.

... or when he decides he needs to keep a journal a few months after we got married, I haven't seen a Sunday go by that he hasn't written (which is so much more than I can say for my own sketchy record of keeping records...)

Yes, I am truly amazed by this man.  

By the little things.

Day in and day out.

That truly light up the fireworks, flash the neon signs, and play the fan fare in my life.

Thanks, honey,

for taking the family leap with me

Happy Valentine's Day.

Here's to Eternity!

Our Version...

Of the answers to the Christmas letter :)
** if you didn't get the original you-fill-in-the-blanks-card, that means we don't have your address, or I am just plain brainless :)  (If you do want one, shoot me your address and I can still pop it in the mail!)

Merry Christmas 2010!!

It has been quite an eventful year in the Brewer household.  We moved to a new house and put down roots in Rochester.  We've done much working, playing, and general frolicking.

We didn't add any new members to the family, but our children keep growing faster and faster every day!

Seth, our oldest by a whopping 3 minutes, turned 8, got Baptized, and is in 3rd grade.  He loves spies, ninjas, and anything to do with light sabers, especially those from Star Wars.

Sarah, also 8, like Seth got baptized at our family reunion in Wyoming.  She is a very talented artist and loves to play with her friends.  She and Seth play the violin, although they don't like to practice.

Ben, age 5, just started kindergarten and has discovered a whole new world now that he can read.  He recently started playing the cello.

Joshua age 3, is extremely active, and keeps mom on her toes with his various antics.

Elizabeth just turned 1, started walking, can scream like a pterodactyl, and loves to snuggle with her blanket in mom or dads arms.

Jerry has been working at Mayo Clinic for over a year, and is loving it!  He cuts out skin cancer, and has been known to slice off a mole or two on the side.

Jen is still teaching aerobics, writing a book, and most of all tending to her kiddos.

As this Holiday Season approaches, we are most importantly grateful for the Gift of our Savior, Jesus Christ, and hope that this Christmas Season finds you all healthy and happy!

Happy Holidays!

The Brewer Bunch

We have never been accused...

... of doing things the easy way.

And Today was no exception.
Well, let's back up a bit first:
-- We have been in the house since April
-- With a 3 car driveway, we have said probably every month, "we should really get a snow blower before winter"
-- After our first storm last week and shoveling aforementioned driveway, again statement of, "ya know, we should really get a snow blower"

Fast forward to today:
-- Blizzard warning turns into a full fledged blizzard
-- we decide it's a great day for making some deliveries
-- only get stuck twice - one of those in front of our own house trying to get back into our (already shoveled twice and now showing no signs of shoveling) driveway

-- dig out, get the car in to have hubby say he is going to go finish up some more errands
-- me ask if he can just stay and do the errands on Monday (this statement did come back to haunt him)
-- me offer to help take the seats out of the van so he can get a snowblower (hint hint ;)  ).
-- hubby still unsure that we need one, says he's going to take the smaller car
-- me say probably not such a good idea, it's lower than the van and can get stuck easier

-- a few minutes later I look out the window to see hubby... in his car... right by our driveway... stuck

-- walk out to shovel out again and say, "the thing I want more than anything in the world for our anniversary is a snow blower"
-- we get the car unstuck and he's on his way
-- get a call a while later and hear, "I think I should have brought the van, this car is too low and gets stuck easy..."
-- starts getting dark - learned that all snowplows for the county have been called off due to the wind and blizzard
-- get another call:  hubby stuck at the base of hill
     (side note:  our house is at the top of quite a big hill - 2 ways to get here - both have quite a steep incline... so I guess you could say it really is "uphill both ways"... )
--- the good news is that he has a snowblower!
--- bad news - there is no way that the truck he got from home depot to bring it home is going to make it up the hill.
--- he tries the other hill.  Nothing.
--- we deliberate and decide to have me walk down the hill, walk the snow blower home while he takes the truck back to get his car.

--- tell kids I'm heading down the hill and will be right back.
--- walking down hill and into the wind and freezing snow gives me a whole new respect for the pioneers.
--- get to the truck to have both of us realize there is no way either one of us can lug the 100+ pound snow blower up the hill.  load it back in the truck, Jerry heads back to home depot.
--- I walk back up hill to home, only to find that within the time frame I stepped out, Joshy has clogged the toilet and water has flooded the bathroom, hallway, and halfway into the kitchen.  (seriously??!  Enough with the water issues already!!!)
--- clean up water (and kind of sort of lose it with the kids, who all just stood there watching the water getting spread farther and farther without putting down a single towel), get another call...
--- hubby tried a different plan (other than the one discussed about parking at gas station at bottom of hill and walking up, because the car wouldn't make it over the drifts, which now reached about knee height in the middle of the road)... and was stuck half way up hill.
--- after trying for quite a while, finally unloaded the groceries he had in the car, and walked the rest of the way - kids all bundled up and run out to meet him and help carry bags.
--- we all head back to car (yes, even 3 yo and baby are bundled up.
--- all kids in stuck car, us trying to shovel, push, rock and move car any which way.
--- sweet soul with snowblower comes and blows us a tire path up rest of the hill - we make it to the entrance of cul de sac.
--- get stuck.  again.
--- shovel.  again. thinking, 'wow, this would go so much faster with a snow blower... which we now own... that at one point in time was oh so close to our house... but is now sitting back at the store...'
--- another sweet neighbor takes pity and comes out with another shovel in hand to help dig path through the road and into driveway... then helps us push and shove and maneuver the car sliding and slipping
--- finally getting it into our driveway and garage
--- backwards and crooked
---  but in.

Nope - never accused of the simple, logical way of doing things.


...P.S. as I got in, defrosted, and opened the mail, this picture pours out of one of the envelopes...


Yep, true story.  Irony at it's best.  (Doncha just miss Minnesota like crazy, Marissa??!)

The Law of Natural Consequences...

... are beautiful when it helps to teach the children a lesson...

... like this morning, for instance, when I sent the boys up to shower

     (after Seth whined about having to take once, since 'we took one yesterday!')

... and they asked if they could take a tubo tub

... and I relented (something I would live to regret)

... and as I sat emailing friends trying to work out a babysitting swap to volunteer in the kids classrooms

     (see?!  that's what I get for trying to volunteer!)

... Sarah brought down Elizabeth, who was sopping from head to toe in her pj's after just walking by the bathroom

... apparently from the 'tidal wave' that was coming from the bathtub of the boys...

... and I walked up to find not simply a turbo tub... but a whole bathroom sized swimming pool

   (are you feeling a little de ja vou-ish about now... wasn't my last post about something to do with waters and bathrooms??!!)

... instead of ranting and raving, this time I simply had the boys get towels and clean up their own mess, every nook and cranny of their mess

    (okay, so I still ranted and raved a smidge while they were cleaning up their own mess... )

... but that's not the law that really sunk in with Seth.

... nope, the beauty of it came back in the way that because of the extra clean up time, we were late getting to school    (okay, true confession, I took my time a wee bit getting the little ones ready to make sure that we would be a little late, just to drive home the lesson... hey, I never said the law of natural consequences couldn't use a little help every now and then!!)

... and this child HATES to be late, especially to school. 

... as in, he would rather stay in the car and hide all day then have to walk in late to school 

   (... those of you know know me, know for sure that this trait came straight from his dad!!!)

So as we pulled up late to school, I simply said, "well, the extra clean up time made us late for school... I guess you'll think twice about making such a big mess in the tub next time."

   

Judging from the look of horror on his face as he made the walk of shame to the school door, I think for once he maybe kinda sorta learned the lesson :).

Child mess: a little inconvenient  

Motherhood moment of triumph: priceless!

My ensign moment...

All through my mission, when I would read the things that ubber creative moms did with their families, I would pull out the pages of their stories and began painting this utopia picture of my future husband and myself surrounded by our little perfectly-dressed-not-a-hair-out-of-place children as the Heavenly Angels sang in the background and we participated in all of the cutesy little enriching family activities.

... Fast forward 5 kids and 8 years of still trying to get my footing in the whole family/home/church/social/work/cooking/cleaning/teaching/crying/laughing/and just plain surviving...

... and, well, those 'ensign' moments kinds of flew by the wayside. 

This year, I finally decided to take a little step and in the spirit of Thanksgiving, we had a Family Home Evening Lesson on being thankful, and started a thankful jar:

... along with 100 strips of paper that we get to write what we are thankful for each day, with a goal to fill in all 100 strips before thanksgiving.  (with a reward of a family outing once all 100 are filled...c'mon you know that I'm not above a little bribery :)  ).

... and I did have to laugh at the way that the kiddos dove right in... thankful for everything from family, to Santa, to  the TV...  

  I realize that for most of you, this is old news and you probably have huge elaborate activities that you do with your kiddos, but just this once, give me my ensign moment... a little late in the making, but here nonetheless :).

Guatemalan bicycle caravans have nothen on us!!

Meet:

The Brewer Bicycle Caravan...

Yes, that is Jerry...
   Carting Ben...
        Who is carting Josh and Liz...

Rochester is a land of many trails
     Most of which have gone unexplored by us in our 5+ years of living here.
So for date night last night, we decided to explore one.
Jerry was instantly hooked
   (I've been hooked for a few years and dying to get some bikes for us so we could go on rides with the kiddos)

So after our little walk and yummy Panera dinner (another first for us... I know, I know we are WAY behind on the 'hip' soup and sandwich shops!),
We saw that we still had about 45 minutes to spare, so we decided to do a quick 'browsing of bikes'...

... which lasted about 1 1/2 hours...
... and had us walking out of the store with not one, but TWO bikes, a bike trailer, a bike pump, and some bike water bottles (ya know, for our extra long bike trips we are sure to take...).

... THANK GOODNESS for end of summer clearance sales!! (seriously cheap, folks!)

We were so giddy, we put everything together right when we got home last night, and could hardly wait to show the kiddos (in fact, Jerry had them out in the garage at 6:30 in the morning showing them!).

... and we spent most of the morning

going on ride

after ride

after ride

Now, if someone could just order a little extra side of summer, we would much appreciate it, thanks!

Back Then...

Ya know, back in the Olden Days...
... like when I was on my mission
... a whopping 16 years ago...

I have now reached the age of 'stone age' living in my child's eyes.
Here was the line pulled from our dinner conversation last night as we were telling mission stories to the kids...
Seth, "Mom, back then, there was no electricity, right?!"
Me:  Completely dumbfounded as I turn to my hubby, who is about to fall off his chair from laughter...
"I just got 'Back Then-ed'!!!"
Hubby:  Still rolling with laughter... until I remind him that his back then was even backer-thenner then my back then!

... and I was instantly transformed to a moment in time from my childhood, when upon my mom telling me about some things from her childhood, I asked, "Mom, back in the olden days, did you feel bad that you were living in the olden days?"

 I have now officially eaten my words.
... and they taste... well... pretty old.

Who pushed fast forward??

For some reason, this summer zoomed by more quickly then most

Remember my big post about white space??  

Well, I found it.

I found it in a lack of ANY scheduled activity for the kiddos 

(except for one swimming lesson session, which about killed us after so much fun-unstructured time)

I found it in mornings spent lounging around the house reading books and playing games

I found it in crazy swimming pool afternoons

I found it in listening to the squeals and giggle from the yard as the sprinklers found their targets

I found it in late night family movies, complete with popcorn and snuggling

I found it in mini-getaways to the dells, parks, and libraries.

This summer was like one big Ahhhh.

And now, we are on our way back to the books

Back to the schedules

Back to early bed times

And early violin lessons

And crazy drop off and pick up routines

And homework assignments

And test stress-studying

And new friend finding...

But we did get to take one last moment,

thanks to super-uber talented friend (that would be YOU, Jolene!)

To relish in the final mix of summer and school...

Yes, she did lug this fun desk out into the beautiful green field

 to get some back to school shots of the kiddos.

And when I got the disk, I almost had to do a double take at how old my little ones have become.

... Where was I when they suddenly zoomed from toddling twos

to fun fashionistas??

Seriously, folks, who stole my little boy Ben...

... and replaced him with this suddenly too-grown-up-look-alike??

Joshy has been doing the pre-school-potty chant for a month now...

as in, "I want to go to preschool, so I go potty in my potty!"
... yes, this mama has resorted to threats ("Joshy, if you want to go to school like a big boy, you HAVE to go pee in the potty!!"), and treats (hey, in this household, three treats before breakfast is a GOOD thing... it means less mess for mom to clean up in places other than the toilet!)

And little Lizzy?...

... well, at the rate she's going, I wouldn't be surprised to see her follow 

the kiddos right into their classrooms come the first day of school!

As they gear up for the fun adventure of a brand new school year, I find myself already choked up a wee bit at the prospect of seeing this barrage of backpacks work its way out of our front door.

... so c'mon, fess up... which one of you ordered the super speedy summer to go this year??!

We LOVE gramma and grampa time!!

I don't know how time does it... 

the week gramma and grampa were here literally felt like a day.

We had such a blast with them!

Joshy loved his snuggle time

Sarah loved the trip time 

(Nauvoo trip - viewing the site where the saints crossed the river on that cold February day)

Seth loved challenging grampa to a game of 'guitar hero'

(and Ben 'helping' grampa through "The Eye of the Tiger")

Lizzy Really,

REALLY

Loved cookie time

(which with Grampa, was plentiful!)

Jerry loved the building time

(we put Grampa to work!  Three projects in three days...

He's going to need a vacation from his vacation!

Thank you so much Grampa!!

We now have:

Steps to the trampoline,

Shelves in the basement (that were filled up about 5 minutes after completion... when did you say you were coming back out?!)

and a ski rack in the garage...

(now we just need 'Santa' to fill the ski rack this Christmas...)

One of the Nauvoo highlights was definitely the horse ride by Gramma and Grampa's friend, President Hill.  He kept us spell bound for the entire hour as we toured less-known sectors of Nauvoo.

Our trip to Carthage - this one is the one that gets

me the most on the Nauvoo trip... the feeling there

can't really be described in mere words...

Grampa showing some of his 'magic' for the family home evening activity - the kids were in awe!!

What a rare treat to be able to go to the Newly restored Nauvoo temple.
Mom and dad did a session, then graciously watched the kiddos so we could do a session together
It was amazing!!

More on the 4th...

We had an inaugural bbq to kick off the summer season.  I think 4th of July is one of my favorite holidays to do fun food creations.   It's right up there with Christmas.  And Halloween.  And Valentine's Day... and Easter... okay so pretty much every holiday is my favorite to have fun with food... :)

Seriously, I think it's against the law to hold a July BBQ without the traditional "flag cake"...

Daddy and Elizabeth at the 2nd ward 4th of July Breakfast


What, we aren't in 2nd ward, you say??

Well, they did say we could come back anytime we wanted...

and they were serving yummy breakfast in the morning...

How could we refuse??!

In all reality, this was one of Sarah's concerns about moving out of the ward... that we wouldn't be able to go to the 'parade'.  After breakfast, there is always a parade by the primary, and she made sure that attendance in the parade was part of the 'moving clause,' so we did make the trek back to let her shine :)

Here is Elizabeth doing her "I will not actually snuggle to let you know I'm sleepy... I'm merely 'resting my eyes' "  stance...

and this was how excited Seth was to be in the 'parade'... refusing to decorate a bike, or even bring one for that matter, and as I was snapping this picture, he is in the process of turning away... truly they are twins by birth only... :)

Now you see it...

... now you don't...

... now you see it...

err, kind of...

... in pieces...

at our neighbors house...
... Yep, during our vacation, it seems our trampoline also decided to take a vacation...

... helped out by the tornado that swept through minnesota while we were gone.

... we got a call from one neighbor telling us that our trampoline was no more... getting demolished in the huge storm.

... some other sweet neighbors gathered all the pieces and had them sitting on their back porch, and when we came back, we found every piece except for one spring...

can you believe it?

yea, me neither!

Some pieces had been put through the ringer, and we scouted out a welding guy who did a little magic melding and put some of the pieces back together,

... and after a lotta gathering and jerry-rigging (literally!)...

... and self proclaimed 'parents of the year' awarding...

The tramp is BACK in action!!!

much to the joy of the children.

and the parents.

The squeals of summer...

... are some of my favorite sounds in the world.

I love to have the doors and windows open and hear the kids outside.

especially when they are running through the sprinklers...

... yes, they ARE running through the sprinklers... in my jackets...

(before we learned how to turn on our sprinklers on demand, they were programmed to come on at 6:00 in the morning.)

... the kiddos really wanted to run through the sprinklers...

... once we learned how to turn them on, the kids have been going at it nonstop in the afternoons :)

... jumping on the tramp...

... yes it is dark in this picture - we set up the tramp after fhe one night, and they couldn't wait to test it out...

... and then within 24 hours one of them poked a hole in it with his action figures...

... so it got sent into the shop for the whole next week...

... which to the kiddos seemed like the longest week in the world (even though I reminded them that they had successfully lived their entire lives up to this point without a trampoline...)

... and even some of both...

... which is the latest top activity on the kiddos list.

ahhhh...

Bring on the squeals!!