Sunday, May 13, 2012

Billy the Kid's Big 5-0

If you are fortunate enough to know the great Bill Brown, you know that he is all about the "wow" factor. Perhaps this is the reason for his incredible passion for life, which may sometimes be confused for extreme intensity. It should come as no surprise then, that Dad's hero would be the infamous Billy the Kid. While Dad may not always be out to please every single person that he encounters, he sure does care and love like no other when it comes to his friends, family and role models. I am so thankful that God blessed me with this man as my daddy, and for all of the life lessons that he has taught me about fighting until the end, winning and the importance of unconditional love. I couldn't wait to put together a celebration to show him just how great an impact he has had on the people that he has encountered over the past 50 years of his life. With lots of help from Mom, Kirby and some very special family members, we did just that-- and threw one heck of a party, if I do say so myself.

 I was so excited to see Mima and Charlie. Thank you both so much for making the journey to SA to help us celebrate!

 Aunt Mel, Uncle Steve and Dad-- pre-party

 The fam just chillin' before the festivities began

 Mom and Mona Tumlinson, long-time friends. Mona's husband Mike coached with Dad in Early, TX, and we became great friends with their family. So thankful they were able to be at the party, too!

The traditional sister pic

Dixie, Pepper and Daicee--precious gals!


The crowd enjoying Bill stories...



Coach Kotzur was Dad's first head coach to work for in Pleasanton, TX. He had lots of stories to share about Dad's intensity and passion for the job at an early age. He even presented Dad with a "sledgehammer" in honor of the story.




Coach Mayfield, Dad's head coach in Comfort, was there to confirm that even at this point in his coaching career, he's still full of the same passion and intensity that he had when he started.





Dad's high school football coach, Coach Peschel, was able to make it to the celebration. How cool is that?

So happy that my sweet bestie could make it. Love you, Christina!


Christina, Britt, me and Morgan. Love these sweet girlfriends so much and had so much fun spending some quality time with them!

Aunt Kathy listening intently to stories about her little bro

Coach Mike Tumlinson, who coached with Dad in Early, TX. They have lots of stories!

Little Daicee bug!


Mrs. Carole Dean, who still thinks of Dad as her "baby". She is my mima's very close friend and has been in Dad's life for many years.

Stephen Donley giving the player's perspective on 'ole Coach.

Uncle Steve telling a few tales about life with his big bro...

... and Aunt Melody continuing them. Pretty sure hers involved something about fork throwing, baseball card collection destroying and Donny Osmond poster vandalizing. :)

Thank you Dad for the impact that you've had on mine and so many other lives. We love you, man!

Birthdays, Babies and More Birthdays

After the events of last weekend's trip to San Antonio, Cody and I have officially decided that we are blessed beyond belief. Sure, we were pretty certain of this before the weekend's celebrations, but we always welcome a solid reminder of all of the love, faithfulness and amazing people in our lives. We knew the weekend would fly, but we were super excited to celebrate our good friend Duncan's 25th birthday and housewarming, the soon-to-be arrival of Miss Hadley Grace Toudouze and a bundle of family birthdays, including my dad's big 5-0. We were able to see so many of our close friends and family during this visit, and we are incredibly thankful that all of the celebrations just happened to fall within one weekend! We missed the ones that were unable to make it down, but can't wait for the next big family get together, which we're sure will be soon.

 Bring on the birthday and housewarming gifts!

Our sweet friends Duncan and Ashley bought their first house at the end of March. We were so excited to see it, and Ashley has really done a fantastic job putting everything together!

The birthday crew, just like the old days.

It was wonderful to catch up with Mr. and Mrs. Morrow, Duncan's amazing parents.

After the 9 hour haul from New Mexico, we were ready to party!

Clint and Cody

Our friends Clint and Shane were the realtors that helped Duncan and Ashley buy their house, so they put the rebate money from the sale into a birthday card for Duncan. What a great gift!

College buddies- Matt, Clint and Cody

Ash & me

Ash, Roxie and me. Love these girls!

We woke up early on Saturday morning in anticipation of our next set of celebrations. Lynn, Tami and Cale came into town, so Cody golfed with them while I attended a baby shower for my good friend Nicole. Nicole married Wes Toudouze, one of my best friends from high school, and they are expecting their first precious princess at the end of June. I had so much fun having (another) excuse to buy headbands and funky onesies!
 Cody, Cale and Lynn--they assured me that the green color scheme was not planned, but I'm not so sure... :)


Isn't she gorgeous? Can't wait to see her mama skills in action. She will be a natural! 
On another note, Cody informed me that Nicole was "glowing" and looked absolutely beautiful. How sweet is my hubby? Hopefully he'll remember that when my time comes... 

Another of my sweet high school friends, Morgan, with Jax Best. He's a sweetheart!

Morgan and me-- from cheerleading, to weddings to babies. Wow, time has flown!

On Saturday night, we had a birthday celebration for Daicee, Aunt Stacey, Cale and Dad at Alamo Cafe. I was so excited to eat tortillas and queso, and am pretty sure I got my fill. It was wonderful to eat Mexican food that wasn't filled with chiles-- sorry New Mexico, but this girl will always prefer Tex-Mex.

 I'm pretty sure this was the point in the evening at which Dad insisted that the Alamo Cafe wait staff create a unique rendition of the birthday song. They weren't able to meet his high expectations, sadly...

 Cale the birthday stud!
 Aunt Stacey, Daicee, Cale and Dad doing some weird hand move in honor of his birthday

 Brothers for life

 I was so happy my sweet grandparents were able to make the trek to south TX for all of the birthday celebrations. These two are amazing!

 My incredible in-laws were able to join in on the fun, too. I was so glad to spend some extra time with them, too!

It was an extra special treat to have Aunt Julie in all the way from Cali. Family festivities are always more fun when she's around.
My beautiful mother-in-law, me and Mom. I am one lucky girl to have such wonderful women in my life!

For the sake of space, I'm going to carry the remainder of the birthday photos onto the next post. Stay tuned!