Happy 13th Birthday, Emily!

Simon would call all of these pictures "indulgent," but I had a good time looking at all of them!

Way to Go Girl!

Bailey with Emily and Allison.

Name that Princess!?

Seventeen!

Play Ball!

Opening Ceremonies at Mid-Cities. We were trying for the tough look but Josh couldn't quite hold the pose. Go Texas League Cardinals and National League Rangers!

Let it Snow!

I love this picture! Great way to start our ski vacation...P.F. Changs and snow in Colorado Springs.

Cousin Dance-Off

This picture of the brothers has such special meaning to them - please ask them about it.

Very....VERY...entertaining.

Happy Birthday Connor!

I don't really know what to say or do today to properly celebrate the life of our Connor Boy. I have posted some of my favorite pictures as a way to just remember. We are in Naples, Florida overlooking the ocean--very appropriate place to remember Connor I think. We will eat pasta tonight and this afternoon we will walk on the beach looking for sea creatures. We will laugh and we will cry and we will celebrate and we will anticipate our grand reunion in heaven. And most of all we will thank God for the privilege of having Connor in our lives, even though by my standards it was entirely too short.

We love you, Tod and Lee Ann and Bailey and Hutton and Reagan. We are thinking about you and will be praying for you all day today.

Happy Birthday, precious Connor. We will always love you.

Grandma and Grandpa

John Connor Brown--Happy Birthday!

Here is one of the finest young men this world has ever known. We will all cherish our memories of him until the day we get to be with him again for the grandest family reunion heaven has ever known. Happy Birthday, Connor.

The Brown Family 9/06

I will always love this picture taken at the lake Labor Day 06. Everyone hates family pictures, but they all cooperated for Grandma's sake in a "come-as-you-are" photo op.

One of My Favorite Connor Pictures

This is one of my favorite pictures. Connor loved the ocean. We were at Newport, RI and it was rather cool this day. We were walking by the ocean and occasionally the waves would break over the walkway. Connor hated having his picture taken, but I asked him to stand there until a wave hit him. He patiently complied so that Grandma could get her shot. He was a bit cold after this, but I will never forget the moment.

Football Cousins

We LOVED watching these two play football together. What memories we have!

Grandparents' Day

On my refrigerator at home is one of my favorite Connor momentos--a essay he wrote for us on this Grandparents' Day entitled, "My Heroes." He says such sweet things about us that I will treasure it forever.

Reagan and Connor and Piper I

These two were pretty excited when Piper was their Christmas surprise.

Connor all dressed up!

My memory of this night is that it was up to Bailey to get him all dressed up. The tie presented a challenge, so they looked up how to tie a tie on the internet. Looks like it worked. Good looking young man.

Finding Maddie

This is the Sunday when we found Maddie on the corner of Blockbuster after church one Sunday. It was a really fun day. I also love this picture because it was Connor's standard Sunday outfit and I can always picture him coming up the aisle after church saying, "Where are we going to eat, Grandma?"

Connor Loved Adventure

Charles likes to tell about the time he pulled Connor out after he turned the go-cart over. He loved anything adventurous.

Connor Always Excelled

Connor always made the straight A honor roll, Bible Bee, etc. He and Allison making us proud in this photo.

Connor and Cousins

Connor loved his cousins and was always in the middle of whatever was going on.

Connor LOVED Sea Creatures

Connor located every aquarium in the northeast for his 12 year old trip. He LOVED sea creatures. Today I am sitting in Naples, Florida looking out over the ocean. We will walk on the beach and look for shells and think about our Connor and his love of anything to do with sea life.

Pasta at Carmines NYC

Tonight we will all dine on pasta in Connor's memory. No one loved pasta more than Connor. We had a great time at Carmines--one of his favorite restaurants.

At the Philadelphia Zoo

One of my favorite memories of our 12 year old trip with Connor was the afternoon that just Connor and I went to the Philadelphia Zoo. He had asked to go because it was the oldest zoo in America. Grandpa had to take car of something with our rental car, so he dropped us off to "do the zoo." We had a delightful afternoon--just the two of us.