Wowsers, it's 103 in the shade. Jenny and kids rollerbladed (babes in stroller) down to the Glenview Parade this morning, while Carlton marched in the Highland Park parade with NBGL. Caroline adopted the nice couple sitting next to us and sat on the Grandpa's lap the whole parade! We were right at the train track so she enjoyed the passing Metra and Amtrak cars. Carlton joined us halfway, and we got to ride home in comfort for lunch and naps...ah AC is so nice. Now we're off to the Hunters for cookout, and have decided to skip live fireworks and record the ones on TV instead, Boston and DC!
Dad (Dave Brown) flew out to Chicago, teamed up with sister Molly and the six of us enjoyed a five day trip to Michigan's Upper Peninsula. As the story goes, in 1909 a spot of land on Lake Huron was homesteaded by ancestor Virginia Burrous, and generations of Browns have played on the same shore ever since...
Carlton and Joey made their debut this year, and we especially enjoyed the mild weather and spring charms early June had to offer. Here are a few photos, I have yet to make an album - but Dad did! (link below)
Caroline grew in wisdom and stature, not so much in speech (quiet girl)
First fleet week with a baby back in Foster with Grandparents - special time, May 2010
Summer Leave trip to Memphis, 2010 Stayed with fun Gilfillan family.
I decide to leave the Navy after my first term (July 2011)... was on my heart for a while, hard to do.
Caroline turned one, and we moved cross-town to different housing right behind base.
Christmas in new home, and trip to San Diego for New Years
PREGNANT again - and it's a boy. I am shocked - what do I do with a BOY!
Second Fleet week for Caroline in Foster - so sweet
I go on terminal leave, June 2011
Camping with Shippee Grandparents in Vermont - beautiful
Julie's wonderful wedding in Evanston, IL - Caroline and I fly alone (and baby in belly makes three...)
Busy summer for Carlton in NBNE Brass Quintet, his third year in the group.
Lubsens visit! Good times at the beach and Shippee Farm.
Fly with Caroline to IL again, for big trip with my family in Burrous Bay, our ancestral destination in Michigan's UP - so great, except 8 months pregnant and no husband. Caroline loved it.
Carlton gets orders to GREAT LAKES band, while I was in Illinois! I got to go pick out some housing here in Glenview with my Dad. Excited to move back to my roots... and to make a Midwesterner out of my New England husband :)
JOSEPH CARLTON SHIPPEE is born! Sept 29, 2011 at 3:29AM. He shot out like a cannon. Seriously, my midwife was hurried into catching him. Big, healthy, post term baby. Once again we are amazed at God's creation and grace, and I am so honored to be his Momma. Nana (my mom, Mary) got to be with us, and saw her sixth grandchild born. And, our little family is complete. Praise God.
That fall is a blur. Newborn, toddler, and preparing for a move. Enough said.
Thanksgiving in North Branford with Gramps - a family tradition we'll miss deeply.
Last Christmas with Newport Community Church family, and our dear friends. Christmas Eve with the Gilpins, Christmas Day in Foster. Lovely.
MOVE! December 29, 2011. We drove the van with two babies...yikes. Respite for New Years in Findlay, Ohio with the Reasners, shipmates from Carlton's time in Italy.
Arrive in Illinois on Carlton's 30th birthday, and now we are settled in Glenview.
Caroline and Grandparents after her first Fleet Week stay, May 2010
Camping in Vermont, June 2011
So that's the big stuff! We have found a great church home in Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church of Glenview, and Carlton is thriving at his new command. He did some serious studying for the rating exam this cycle, so we are praying for a promotion soon, be it in God's will. He needs to make 1st class within the next couple years in order to stay in the Navy, so this exam is a big part of that happening and he's dedicated to doing well. We find out results in May.
Caroline and Joseph, February 2012
I enjoy being at home, managing the house and loving on the babies - the weeks are going by fast! Everyday I stop and thank God we get to live here, comfortable and familiar as it is for me, and yet in a whole new way. I'm loving it.
Below is a video we put together to celebrate Caroline's 2nd birthday in November 2011.
