Perfection!!!

Our daughter, Emma, is seriously perfect...

...okay, before you throw up, I was just kidding!!  I'm obviously referring to the "Big Girl Bed" that my dad made for Emma (and a special thanks to mom for the curtains)...

Oh, and Ammon painted the entire bed and the E M M A are courtesy of my cousin, Lindsey (thanks again)...man, have I done anything to Emma's room??

Before the bed, Emma's room never looked this clean!!

It has a "tent" where I hide all Emma's big toys, but Emma thinks that she's just super cool for having a clubhouse in her room.

Behind the shopping cart is a little scooter and baby stroller...the thing is deep!  The top shelf has all of her purses, kitchen items, and playdough/crafts!

The cubbies under the stairs are also hiding tons of blankets and books.

The bottom three drawers house the rest of her toys, leaving the top one empty!

Clothes (notice the one empty drawer again) that I know she won't try on all day long.  I'm a mean mom and try to enforce the one-outfit-a-day rule.

I mean, come on, is that not the coolest bed??  Utter perfection!  :)

So I realized that we haven't updated this dang thing for a while...here's what we've been up to lately...

We went on a hike to Cathedral Rock in Sedona a few weeks ago.  The drive is a beautiful one, and only 45 min from our house.  It was a gorgeous day, and exactly what we all needed!  Here we are having an Oreo break!  :)

Emma loves being outdoors like her Daddy.  During the steep hike, she was reminding her Daddy that she was climbing rocks just like him.  :)  Ammon actually climbed to the top of Cathedral Rock in the background on a different trip.

We were in the valley during President's Day weekend so Ammon could paint Emma's bed.  We went to Sakana, a teppenyaki restaurant for Ammon's birthday (which is on the 28th, if you need a reminder :)).  After a fabulous meal, they brought out this cat, a sugarless ice cream, and sang a Japanese-ish Happy Birthday.  The night was a success!  :)  Natsukashii!

Even Madi and her friend Stef parted from their boyfriends long enough to join the family dinner.  :)

Isn't this the CUTEST picture EVER???

So this pic is random, but I thought it was amazing!  This was dinner on Valentine's Day.  A heart-shaped pizza from Papa Murphy's!  YUMMY!  We are doing this every year!  :)

Sledding...on her face...

Emma has discovered sledding.  She loves loves loves it!  She's so hard core that even after a nasty battle wound, she's willing to get right back up and say "I do it again" through her tears...

New Year's Day on a hill right off Milton by NAU.

Emma takes a much needed break getting pulled back up the hill each time.  It's hard to be such a professional sledder!

We thought it was a good idea to let her try it by herself.  In powder, it is a good idea...

In ice, it's not.  We went again on January 8th to a different hill because the hill on Milton was pretty torn up from all the sledders.  The only problem was that the new hill was a little icier than before.  She rolled off the sled at the end of the run like she did in the video above, but this time, she didn't think it was really fun.  This is her pondering how that brutal run could have gone much better.  Maybe we won't take her when it's icy.  :)

let it snow!!

After 3 forecasted and failed snowstorms, we finally got snow!!

I know what you may be thinking... "Jes, you hate the snow!  What changed your mind?"

Answer is three-fold:
1)  I don't have to go out in the snow if I don't want to.  No walking 100 miles in a storm uphill both ways!
2)  I have a 2-year-old who loves to play in it...instant and free entertainment!
3)  It's sunny right after the storm (no inversion) and we have a beautiful view of rocky hills by our apartment!

Our little pink marshmallow couldn't be happier!  This is even right before her nap time, which is usually the time I give myself time-outs so I don't lose it!  Now if only there's a painless solution to getting that lion mane outta her face!  :)

busy month for the browns!

Jessica, my brother Logan's wife, decided to be baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints!  We couldn't be more thrilled of her decision!  Have you seen these three look any happier!  :)

I know I am beyond excited!!  There were SOO many people who came to support Jess!! She is so loved!  Everyone felt the spirit (well maybe except for my crazy daughter that didn't want to sit still and was totally distracting).

Because Jess got baptized on Veteran's Day, Ammon got to take a long weekend off work, which meant that Emma got some awesome cousin time!!  Here all 4 of them are in the infamous train at the Chandler Mall!

  Miss Melly in the swings...

 Emma "going down" the slide!

 Emma being a good older cousin and holding Mel as they go down the slide together.

 Melody also turned 1 that weekend!  She had a fun little tea-party-themed extravaganza.  I have never seen a 1-year-old get so many gifts!  I'm pretty sure she got more than the other 3 cousins got combined...times 5!

Emma in her tea party attire...loving every second of it!