New Blog

Hello there! We have a new blog. We will no longer be using this blog due to some difficulties we have been having with it. Check out our new blog at www.militaryfamilyof5.blogspot.com! Hope to see you over there :) Blessings, The Browns

Update!

Hello all!!! The weather here in NC has been mighty beautiful... The Brown Family has been sick pretty much for the last four weeks! Yuck, no fun. However we have still managed to make the best of things. Joshua had five days off. We were suppose to go on a little get away to Charleston SC for our ten year wedding anniversary. We had to post pone that trip of course do to the illness that has been circulating our home. We are chugging away with school and the kids are doing great. Tatum and Elyssa are still taking piano and getting better and better by the week. Titus is really looking forward to starting, we will proably do that soon. Tatum and Elyssa will also be picking up an extra music lesson soon with Violin... They are super excited! Joshua will be in the Marines 11 years in August. My how the time flies. We are planning a trip back to MN at the end of Summer. We can not wait, we have been longing to make it back home for some time now! And of course we can not wait to stop and see all of our dear friends in the Fargo area!!! We recently got a puppy. He is a Basset hound/Golden Retriever mix. He is so sweet. I was dreading getting a dog. I kept thinking oh my sould do we really want an animal. However we took our time and adopted from a local rescue! We love him. He is the most mellow puppy I have ever met! Tatum and Elyssa worked very hard to raise money for their dog. His name is Jack! The kids are loving him and he is loving them. Well I just wanted to pop in and give a quick update to anyone who may stop by! Hope all is well wherever you may be! In Christ, The Brown Family

Green Clean

Good Day to y'all... Well all of you who know me know that I am kind of crazy. LOL... I love green products. I have been making my own green cleaner for a while now. I love it. And YES is it actually works. Oh and did I mention that it is way cheaper than buying any other organinc or natural cleaner and oh yes that I love it. This is super easy and very quick to make. You can use it to clean anything from your kitchen to your bathroom. So without further adue, here it is :) You will need, -2 Cups of warm water (does not need to be boiling) -4 TBSP White Vinegar -1/2 tsp Borax -1/2 tsp Washing Crystals or Washing soda -1/2 tsp Castile soap (Peppermint) -25 drops of tea tree oil -Spray bottle (can be found at your local dollar store) -small funel to make Place your funel on top of the open spray bottle, place your Borax and Washing soda in first (This way it will not get caked together when you place in the wet ingredents) Add all other ingredents and shake well. And Wa La... A wonderful chemical free green cleaner.... note... your most expensive ingredents are going to be your tea tree oil and your castile soap. Howvere pleas know that I have been making this for probably a little under a year and have not re purchased any of the ingredents. It is pennys on the dollar for purchasing cleaning products. Hope you enjoy!!! Happy Cleaning... Because of Christ, Brittany Elizabeth

Hello There....

It has been such a long time since I even looked at our blog. I think I almost forgot it exsisted. Any how. I am back. Life has been busy. We are in our Third year of homeschooling and enjoying it more and more as we chug along. It has been such a blessing to teach our girls to read and to watch them grow, not only physically but intelectually and spirtually. This past August we purchased a house on a very small lake here in North Carolina. It is a well known lake around these parts, however compared to our Minnesota lakes it is a pond. We are so blessed that Joshua will be home this year for the Holidays and that we will not be needing skype for present opening :) I just wanted to drop a quick line and say hello... And that we are back online. I will post again soon. With much love from NC, The Browns

Merry Christmas to All....

Some where today there is laughter and joy. There is that special feeling in the air that Christmas brings. The smells, the sounds of families gathered together and the Love that fills many homes. Yet there is also a child that is lonely there is a mother that is crying, and there is a family that is broken. We all have things that bring us joy during this season for giving and thankfulness and we all have those things that bring us to despair and sadness. Yet through it all God is still good. He is there in the darkness and he is there in the light. I have had plenty of time to reflect on what is truly important this Christmas season as have my precious children.

During a time of separation from a deployment seems to always be the worst thing in the world. However the Bible says that "ALL things work together for good." That means yes, even this deployment was no surprise to the Lord and that yes, he meant it for good for our family. I will be honest. There have been many a times when I have cryed and asked the LORD "How, and why" Yet I am always comforted through the inner peace that he brings. There will be many things that come my way that I will not always understand, yet I must embrace them, good and bad as a blessing from the Lord.

Tatum, Elyssa and Titus have all learned a valuable lesson this year on what it means when we say Christmas is not all about the gifts. To hear a sweet 7 and 6 year old say that all they want for Christmas is to have their Daddy home, and that they would give back all of their gifts just to have that, makes your heart melt and break. They have learned as well as I that us as Americans place so much emphasis on the material. And yes even us as Christians do also. We live in such a fast pace society where we are consistently trying to keep up with everything and everyone.

The Lord has shown me much through this deployment about what it really means to love and to trust and to have strength and faith. He has consistently shown me that even when I want to break down because I feel so alone that He is ever beside me.

I am praying that all of our family and friends have a wonderful Christmas and that no matter where you are look around you and see how blessed you are. There is always something to be thankful for and there is always someone that has things much worse then we think we have them.

Luke 2:1-11
Merry Christmas dear readers.
Love,
Mrs. Brittany Brown

Congrats GYSGT BROWN!!!

Yesterday Joshua was meritoriously promoted to the rank of E7 Gunnery Sergeant! We are so excited for him and this huge achievement. The following are pictures from the promotion ceremony. Happy New Year!

Love,
The Brown Family

Joshua being presented the Promotion certificate and swearing the oath, given by
MAJ GWRONSKI





The pinning on of the new rank! Done by SGTMAJ KIRKLAND AND MSGT ALLEN.




Tatum, Elyssa and Titus sat so nice through the ceremony... They really did not know what to think of what was going on... They were excited because we told them that Daddy won the board. So they thought he was great because he won =) So cute!


Presenting GYSGT BROWN!!!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

Merry Christmas to all! We pray that your Holiday was as splendid as ours. We were able to spend much time with family this year. We were with Joshua's side on Christmas Eve at his Brother and Sister-in-laws home. It was a wonderful time with a great meal. And so much fun with our niece and nephew. Elyssa found a new buddy in her cousin Gavin, The kids really enjoyed the evening as did Joshua and I. Many thanks to them for hosting such a wonderful evening. Christmas day we were with my Mom and family. It was so much fun and the kids were very spoiled as were Joshua and I. There was so much food, and yummy food at that. I think if I did not eat for the rest of the month that I would still be fine. LOL. Also many thanks to them for hosting Christmas Day! It was so nice to spend this Christmas with so much family. We are truly blessed beyond measure!

This Christmas was extra special to us because on December 20Th Tatum accepted the LORD Jesus Christ as her personal savior. No words can express the Joy that our family has shared through this Christmas and how much more dear the birth of our Saviour has been to us!

We found out that Joshua will be meritoriously promoted to Gunny on Jan 2, 2011. He was up on a board for 9Th Marine Corp District and was selected. Congrats to him and this huge accomplishment! We were suprised and so excited to hear this news!

We have received our move dates and will be leaving North Dakota on the 18Th of February to start our journey to Jacksonville, North Carolina! We will officially be leaving the mid~west on the 25Th of February after we spend a few days with friends and family. It is coming upon us so quickly. I can not believe that our tour of duty here is almost to it's end. It has been an amazing experience and a real blessing to be so close to our family for the few years that we have been in Fargo.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to Y'all!!!!!!

Love, In Christ
Brittany and the family
ps. YAY!!! I finally got some pictures to load =) The pictures of the Girl's with the sweet little blonde girls, those are my dear friend Beth's girl's, they were taken after the Christmas program at our Church.