Eight years ago, July 19th, it was a hot summer afternoon in Rexburg and I stepped into my doctor's office and said to him it was time to have this baby. Sure, it was two weeks before my due date, but Dr. Lovell said he'd check the hospital to see if there was any open beds, and if there was he'd be happy to start me. And five hours later, Ashlyn Paige Brown was brought into the world, and the world hasn't been the same since. I can't imagine life without my little girl. So, in true Brown fashion, we had a great family birthday party. Of course she got spoiled. We gave her a boom box, and I swear she shed a tear.
Look, I even decorated!
Allen had to show off his mad BBQ skills. Yummo!
Her lovely birthday cake, chocolate, with fudge filling.
Kelly had to help light the candles in the garage because the wind was so strong.
All the family who came.
Jarod and Sherry gave Ashlyn this cool chair that Tommy claims every chance he gets.
And turning 8 means a pending baptism. So invites were made after a quick trip to the Idaho Falls Temple.
This past weekend, I had the honor and privilege of participating in Relay for Life. What a great experience. My team was called "Scrapping for Life" and there were 17 of us. Each member was to earn a minimum of $100, all going to the American Cancer Society. With the Photoshop classes that I taught, I raised $300 for our team. We also had a team yard sale where we made more money and the night of the Relay, we sold walking tacos and cobbler. Our grand total for our team was around $3,200, doubling our goal. The overall Relay event fundraising total was about $141,000. AMAZING!
We each had team jackets in teal, which represented ovarian cancer. Our team logo was on the back and then on the sleeve it said "I Relay For" and then we listed the those who lost the battle with cancer or the survivors of cancer that we know personally. The names on my jacket are Kay Bowen, Roy Brown, Delpha Miner, and Christina Brown. We also had a banner with everyone's names written on it.
Here are a few pictures from the event.
This is from the Survivor Lap. Christina is in there somewhere.
This little cutie is a survivor. Sad, I know
These are our team luminaries. The last 4 are mine, for my mom, grandma, Roy and Christina.
This is our tent site. (Tent courtesy of my dad, THANKS!) People sincerely asked us if we were the first aid tent because of all the cool lounge chairs. We looked like we were just waiting to donate blood. Kind of funny because the the Fire department and real first aid station was just next door.
This gentleman's name is Vern Van Every, and let me tell you, he's pretty neat. I noticed him early on in the relay walking with his two braces around the track. He wasn't walking fast, just slow and steady. Every time he passed our camp, I would watch in awe and admire his dedication. I didn't think much of him after awhile, but he was soon brought to our attention during my 2:30 am walking time when we passed him on the track. The thought came to me that he's an all nighter relayer. So, with the assistance from Marilee and Connie we slowed our pace to walk a little with him. So Vern has been walking with the local Civitans for 6 years. He is one dedicated guy.
This is the Century Drum Line that led off our closing ceremony at about 6:30 am. Our neighbor Nate is in the center front.
We each had jackets, and here's a great shot of us at closing ceremony. You could see our team from the freeway, no fooling.
So my experience with Relay for Life was awesome. But our community didn't stop there. On the other side of Century High School, at 7am, nearly 2000 people showed up to help with the clean up efforts from the Charlotte fire, organized by the LDS church, but it included people from all different faiths. Watch this little video to learn more about that event.
It truly is amazing what happens when a community comes together.
Thank you Pinterest, for bringing this yummy recipe into my family's life. It was awesome and definitely a keeper. Ashlyn even finished her plate, well and so did Tommy which is an accomplishment. Kenny had seconds, and there are a few leftovers for Allen to take to work tomorrow.
So here's the recipe for your future eating pleasure, and it's being added to our favorite family recipes. I even think that it would be good as a freezer meal.
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I purchased 4 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts and cut them into chicken tender size. (Mostly because Albertson's was all out of chicken tenders, our family preference) I then put them in a bowl and poured milk over them until and set them in the fridge for 20 minutes or so.
Meanwhile, I mixed in a bowl the following:
1/2 tsp. Salt1 T Lowery's Seasoning Salt3/4 tsp Pepper1 c. Flour2 tsp. Paprika Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut 1/2 stick of butter into a few pieces and place in a 9x13 pan. Melt butter in pre-heated oven. Spread melted butter around the bottom of the pan. Lightly spray the pan, if needed, to make sure that there are no dry spots. Shake excess milk off of chicken and completely coat each piece with the seasoning mix. You can either shake the chicken in the bag, until coated, or dip each piece in the bowl until coated. Place each piece of chicken in the pan. Cook for 20 min. Turn each piece of chicken and continue cooking for 20 more minutes, or until cooked through. The chicken was so tender and the the crust was so yummy, I almost licked the plate clean. And best of all, it's baked, not fried. So better for you. If I was making this as a freezer meal, I would melt the butter and pour it in the bottom instead of preheating it in the pan. I'd do the chicken the same and then pack it for the freezer. Remember to thaw out the freezer meal before actually baking it.
Fix it for your family this weekend, trust me. You'll thank me later!
