OUR RANDY CELEBRATES HIS BIRTHDAY TODAY

Our Randy celebrates his birthday today and we wanted to share some special things about him with you all. He is our fourth born son and the other boys always said we spoiled him. Actually, they had a great part in that as well, he never lacked for their attention. We had four sons in 5 1/2 years, so they were super close and were and are great friends as well as brothers. Then the Lord brought our Angie into our lives when Randy was 9 years old, so he was no longer the youngest in the family. And now the four became five!! 

We are so proud of the man that Randy has become. He is an incredible husband to Angela and an amazing father to Aniston. The two sweethearts in his life. Angela works
week-ends as a RN, so Randy took on the diaper change and feeding duties plus everything else, every week-end since Aniston was about six weeks old and still does (she will be 4 years old in December). One of the things they love to do on Saturdays together, is go through the Chick-Fal A, drive thru, and have a "picnic" in a park or a "picnic" in the back seat of the truck. Don't you know that you can picnic anywhere that there are a father and a daughter who love just being together. Such as special tradition, along with so many others. They also love going out on the jet ski together, pictured below, with Aniston yelling "faster Daddy faster". He loves Angela so deeply and always wants the best for her. He has a wonderfully creative mind, a very special gift from the Lord. He is real perfectionist and has built some fantastic pieces and done so many creative things for their townhouse. He works until he gets it "just right". I do believe that you could eat off of his garage floor.

Randy has always been a champion of the underdog. He never likes for anyone to be mistreated or looked down on--so he developed this very special heart of compassion and caring for people. He is very observant along with an amazing gift of discernment. He is fairly quiet around people but takes in more than you can imagine in a matter of minutes.
If you ever want a friend, Randy is  one of the most loyal ones that you could ask for--he never gives up on anyone. He is real encourager and supporter. He is hard worker and keeps at a task until he sees it through. He is an outstanding athlete, it just seems to come natural for him.
We do want to add a very special member of their family, Gunnar, their silver Lab--he is so devoted to Randy (Angela and now Aniston). Gunnar has separation anxiety when he is away from Randy and is a very special part of the Randy Brown Family. 

This is a picture of Gunnar, jumping off the dock at the lake house to try and follow Randy on the jet ski--he would just about drown if we did not call him and make him come back. Loyal, faithful, buddy friend!!!

As we said in the beginning of this post, we are so proud to call him our son, he is precious  treasure in our hearts and we are

so grateful he belongs to us.

We love you dearly Randy and ask the Lord's richest blessing, provision, mercy, grace and love on all the years ahead of you. Always Mom and Dad

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JENNY

                     
Today, is a very special day for one of our daughter-in-loves, Jenny--she is celebrating her birthday. She and Chris are enjoying a well needed, happily welcomed get-a-away!! By the way, Jenny is a twin, so she celebrates a birthday with her sister Jessie as well. There are five girls in her family, including two sets of twins--"high fives", to Mickey and Wayne, Jenny's mom and dad.

What an incredible wife and mother Jenny is--she has done such a wonderful job raising Kayleigh and Jacob, along with Chris. She and Chris were high school sweethearts, so it seems like these two have always been One. What an example they have been to other couples and a source of real inspiration and encouragement. Jenny has a real heart of compassion for others.

When we have family gatherings, Jenny is always part of our "entertainment"--she loves to have fun. One of her great feats, to the delight of all of the kids, was her ability to wear clear plastic spoons over her eyes for glasses--we have pictures, but do not attempt this at home, at great risk to your laughter level. She taught Aniston, down at the lake house, on this past 4th of July, first of all how to squeal/scream at the top of her lungs (they were down on the dock at the time-outside, thank the Lord). They had a squealing contest--not sure who won!! Then Jenny proceeded to teach Aniston how to curl her tongue into a "U". Randy and Angela were so grateful for Aniston's newly acquired skills, taught by Aunt Jenny. These are just two of her many talents passed to the generations of her nieces and nephews through the years. Again, we have pictures!!!

Jenny has a beautiful voice and has been a very vital part of the praise team, at church, for years now. She loves to praise and worship her Lord. Psalm 95:1-2  reads "Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol Him with music and song." Jenny has been so faithful to do this and we are so proud of her. What a blessing she has been to so many through this wonderful gift the Lord has given her.

She works for Gaston County helping clients through difficult times. She is good with these folks and is well respected at her job, by bosses and co-workers.

We love you Jenny and ask the Lord to give you many, many more years of His joy, mercy, love and peace and the fullness of all His blessings--may your cup overflow, again and again.
Blessings and birthday hugs, Lynne and Charles

HEATHER HAS A BIRTHDAY

                     
This is a "belated" birthday blog for Heather. I had done one for her birthday, which was
July 14th--I had finished the blog, but was looking for a picture to put with it. So Heather's Birthday Blog from us ended up in my draft and never got posted. So sorry--but like Popo always said, he liked to celebrate birthdays for at least a month or so--much more fun. So here is a Popo kind of birthday greeting. This is what I had written back in July.

Heather, one of our daughter-in-loves, Charlie's wife, celebrates her birthday today. We wanted her to know how much we love her and appreciate her. She is one of the most organized young ladies we have ever know--always ahead of herself. If she knows something is coming up on her calendar, all pre-preparations are done right away. She is like the master juggler--always keeping up with three, four or five things at a time.

She is a wonderful wife and mother. She stands right beside Charlie, encouraging him and praising his endeavors, trying to lighten the load where she can. As a mother, she excels in so many ways--she wants the very best for Conlan and Keegan and constantly reminds them "you can do it, I know you can". She is very involved in all of their school activities and extra curricular activities, mostly sports--right on the side lines cheering them on.

A little over 9 years ago, Charlie's job transferred him to Hong Kong, where he and the family spent 3 years. It was our great joy when they gave us a very special gift to come and visit them for three weeks. The day after we arrived, we were off with the whole family to spend Easter in Thailand--how incredible that was--enjoying the people and culture of such a beautiful place. Then Charlie and Heather arranged for us, just Charles and me, to go to Beijing, China for three days with our own guide, we were able to see the Forbidden City, the Great Wall of China and so much more over there. Then back to Hong Kong, to explore this amazing city with them. Our last trip was to Cambodia, just Charlie, Heather, Charles and I, the experience of a life time. We had such a fabulous time together. That whole trip was "priceless" for us--a once in a life time dream fulfilled and we are so grateful for them blessing us with that time with them.

Heather loves to take pictures--one very special pleasure that we share together. We love to "Make Memories" through our photography--activities, events and family times that cannot not be forgotten with our love for seeing it through the eye of a camera. Charlie, Heather, Conlan and Keegan have had the joy of traveling to many countries around the world--some of the best education they can give their children--experiencing the sights, sounds and beauty of these countries. And once again, Heather, with camera in tow.

Friends are very important to Heather--she is a constant encourager and a faithful prayer buddette (a girl buddy) to many of these friends. She remembers those things that matter and the Lord has blessed her with this gift--the overflow of this has covered many homes of these friends as well as the home of our families.

We love the thoughtful, giving hearts that Heather and Charlie, as well as the boys have--they never forget a birthday or special event. During my journey through breast cancer, they were always finding special ways to celebrate life in the middle of all of our hard times. Thank you notes are forever a part of their lives. We have always gotten a thank you note, all these years, for things done for them or gifts given. Heather is so good about making us feel appreciated by teaching the boys this "lost art" of thank you notes, mostly hand written, sent through the mail with a real stamp on them--another "lost art". Thank you Heather for being such a loving, caring daughter-in-love.

We love you and pray continued blessings over you during the coming years,
Lynne and Charles, also known as Meme and Granddad