Where the White Things Are: Brown Family Gathering 2026

Our annual Brown family reunion was from June 27-July 4, 2026 in Denver, Colorado. This was the first time in nearly 10 years that we were missing people from our family. The last time we were missing a someone at our family gathering was when my youngest sister Melody was serving her mission in Cambodia 9 or 10 years ago! As the oldest grandchild, Steve was the first of the next generation to go. He began his mission on June 24th with two weeks of home MTC, so Steve stayed home in Missouri with his dad/mission companion Jesse while the rest of us gathered together in Colorado. We missed them, but Steve was in the right place and it was cool being able to see him wearing his missionary nametag on video calls a few times during the week!

Our first Steve-less cousin picture in 18 years!

Steve gave his missionary "farewell talk" in church in Missouri the same day that his twin cousins Connor and Christine were baptized in Colorado. Steve's family stayed in MO to see him speak, then joined us in CO later Sunday night. The rest of us got to be there for Connor and Christine's baptism. It was a sweet and special way to start our family gathering!

Activities at our Brown Family gathering:

Connor and Christine's baptism!
My sister Melody announced her second pregnancy and spent the week trying not to throw up!
Lots of swimming in the pool.
Playing and biking in Grama and Grampa's fun yard and driveway (mostly the younger kids).
Uncle Brad rented a boat for a day and pulled anyone who wanted to around the lake at high speeds.
Dungeons and Dragons games for the older kids, with Jay as dungeon master.
Card games late at night.
The Third Annual Cousin Olympics at the local middle school track!
Our annual girls' shopping trip to Athleta!
Lots of running by the White family.
Stellar salads made by Dani.
Empanadas made by Braxton.
Decadent desserts made by Em.
We took turns holding adorable little 4 month old Mariner, the youngest grandchild.
Annual cousin temple trip to the Denver temple!
Lots of World Cup soccer games on TV.
And of course, Emily Broadbent Photography took on her angelic annual pro bono headache of taking family pictures!

Here's a photo album of the week. Blogger was finicky so they aren't organized as well as I'd like. Think of it as a collage of photo memories:

My brother Brad and his twin kids, Connor and Christine. I loved watching my brother baptize his kids!

Brad and Dani, with their four kids.

The cousins sang "Gethsemane" at the baptism. Is there any better way to invite the Spirit into a room than having a group of kids sing a hymn? I don't think so!

All of the family members who attended the baptism, including from Dani's side of the family as well.

Running in the Denver altitude under the Denver sun was a big challenge, like always.

Just an everyday snapshot of the kitchen during family reunion time.

All the little girls wanted to pat baby Mariner's soft sweet head. This made me laugh.

Dani: creator of colorful healthy salads!

The Kid Table.

After a run one morning, I got to hold the baby while my brother played tennis. Thankfully my sweat had dried enough so I didn't get this sweet guy all wet and salty!

Rose took a turn holding Mariner. He was very calm, being passed around the family.

I think we were friends by the end of the week.

Lake day at the reservoir! I didn't go this year. In fact, Amber was the only one of my kids who went to the lake! That's her in the background, bent over by the water's edge. Amber has always been content to do her own thing outdoors.

There she is, standing up for a brief second. Em took these pictures, since I wasn't there. It is always slightly disorienting seeing pictures of my own kids that I didn't take!

Brad the boat master, on his throne. It was a very windy day, so the lake was pretty choppy and not the best for tubing.

Cute cousins in a boat: Derek, Amber, Ezra, AmyJane, Della, Christine, and Connor.

Amber and AJ on the tube!

Braxton, explaining the various empanada fillings.

The kitchen crowd at dinnertime on empanada night!

My parents' house has this unique little room off the master suite, with a stained glass cross and praying hands on the door. They call it the prayer room. I called it the chamber of secret prayer. That's where I slept this year, on a foam mat, since Jeff and I really don't sleep well in the same room. I feel so high maintenance, getting my own bedroom in a house full of 25 people, but it was a makeshift bedroom and nobody else was using it...and I slept great in there!

I went on a few runs with Rose! We gasped in the thin air together.

Cousin Olympics began with a stack of kids.

The four contested events at Cousin Olympics are: long jump, tennis ball throw, 60-ish meter dash, and 400 meter dash.

Tennis ball throw!

Girls' 60-ish meter dash!

Boys' 60 meter dash.

The kids' 400m race: Rose won, since Jay didn't do this race (he had already run 7 miles with Jeff beforehand).

Not pictured: the big kid/adult 400 meter race. My Dad and I raced each other. He beat me last year, but I got him by 4 seconds this year. I think his 1:25 at age 67 in the mile high altitude was way more impressive than my 1:21 at age 39, even if I was only 40% adjusted to the altitude at that point.

Gasping for air in the shade.

I found a picture of the cousin olympics with me in it!

Traditional post-cousin-olympics picture, lined up from oldest to youngest (with parents helping stubborn reluctant toddlers stay in place).

Go girls!

Strong boys! And one strong Grampa!

Me and my Dad, after our 400 meter showdown: we started running together 28 years ago, when I was 11 years old. I love how my Dad, who doesn't fully consider himself "a runner" gave me the gift of running.

Annual mother-sister shopping trip to Athleta! These are the only people I've ever actually enjoyed mall shopping with.

The family room from above. I'm pretty sure a world cup soccer game was on.

Even Uncle Jeff took a turn with sweet baby Mariner.

Pool time.

These cute kids made up a "horror play" and performed it for me. It was basically a bunch of murdered people coming back to life as zombies to get revenge on their murderer, with lots of screaming and lights on/lights off scenes. It was pretty funny. Amber took a video of it.

Watching the video of their performance.

Cousin temple trip! This was Amber's and AJ's first time going on this temple trip.

With Grama and Grampa at the Denver Temple.

I love being at the temple with my family.

Family picture time! These are not the official pictures--I just snapped a few while Em worked her magic.

15 out of the 16 grandkids. And grandkid #17 is on the way!

Little Tal was NOT in the mood to take a boy cousin picture. Someone tried throwing a stuffed alligator to cheer him up, but it made it look like Tal is scared of the alligator in this picture! We realized later that Dan had failed to materialize for this boy picture anyways, so it was even less than complete since both Steve and Dan were missing.

Here's the official Em-approved girl cousin picture. Amber's hair was still in a French braid after our visit to to baptisms at the temple, so she had a shining halo of cute curly frizzies.