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!

36 Hours at Home

When we got home from our trip to Virginia and Pennsylvania, we had almost exactly 36 hours at home before our next trip: we got home at 1am on Friday morning (June 26th) and left again at 1pm on Saturday afternoon (June 27th). The next trip was to Denver for the Brown family reunion. But before  that, let's talk about our 36 hours at home. It was productive.

Piano hug: 9 days was the second longest I've ever spent away from my piano baby, and it was good to be reunited.

Family trip part 3: central PA and DC

Part 3 of 3: After Virginia, our family adventure continued in central Pennsylvania and Washington, DC! Journal excerpts, edited for coherency and interspersed with pictures:

Sunday, June 21, 2026

We left BV after sacrament meeting (plus 20 minutes of talking), and headed towards Pennsylvania. We stopped for food at Buc-ee's for the cultural experience and barely made it out alive. The massive gas station was packed with people! The food was mediocre, but the bathrooms were clean and nice. Jay was happy to finally experience Buc-ee's. Jeff summed it up: "this is everything that's wrong with our country." HAH. We had to go across the street to McDonald's for some nuggets for Jeff because all the Buc-ee's foods were imbued with nightshades. This drive ended up taking over six hours with all of our stops and detours. 

Family trip part 2: BV Running

Let's be honest: aside from showing our kids where we met and went to college, one of the main draws of this trip was the gorgeous nostalgic running routes! I went on 3 memorable morning runs in Buena Vista, Virginia and felt all of the nostalgia and love of that Appalachian beauty in my soul. This place will always have a piece of my heart. I took almost as many pictures during my runs as I did during the rest of the trip, so I organized the running pictures separately here.

Family trip part 1: SVU and BV

Long post alert! Even though I already hit the highlights of the trip, I'm doing the special blog extended edition of our family trip to Virginia and Pennsylvania because I like keeping track of my memories. The 3 parts of this extended edition are: 

• SVU and BV
• BV running
• Central PA and DC

This post will have a journal entry followed by pictures from that day, for each day we were in Virginia.

VA/PA Highlights

Our family roots are deep in Pennsylvania, where Jeff grew up, and Virginia, where we met and went to college. We took our kids back east on a family trip during the first week of summer break. It was so much fun showing our kids our beloved Southern Virginia University! And the rich rolling greenery of central Pennsylvania! We wore ourselves out running, driving, hiking, and exploring this cherished pocket of the country.

Yardwork

Yardwork is exhausting hard work, but so satisfying when it's done-- just like running! Speaking of running, on the first day of summer break, we did a cross country team 5k time trial down Scoon Road: we drove the kids 3.1 miles up the 1% grade of Scoon Road, dropped them off, and they ran all the way back to our mailbox to see how fast they could run a 5k with a small downhill boost.

My makeshift starting line, carved into the dirt orchard road with a stick and marked with a few rocks and an old tuna can that I found nearby.

The end of the school year

Concerts, recitals, performances, speeches, projects, celebrations, activities, birthdays: the end of the school year is always full to bursting! Here is a photo album of the end of the school year, with captions for details.

Jay, playing the bass at the high school orchestra concert.

Missouri: a visit

Jay's one and only birthday present was a trip to visit his cousin Steve before Steve leaves on his mission to Mexico City in a few weeks. The last time Steve and Jay saw each other was last summer at our family reunion, so without this trip they would not have seen each other for four or more years, thanks to overlapping missions! Since Steve is 18 months older than Jay, they won't see each other for three or more years after this visit. It was a sweet "last visit of childhood" for these cousin friends. I feel a little nostalgic thinking about it all, because my sister Em and I used to get our kids together every year when the kids were little. Visiting when our oldest sons were on the verge of leaving the nest was bittersweet! 

17 year old Jay

Jay turned 17 on Thursday! He was also born on Thursday, May 21st so it felt extra birthday-ish, to me at least. I can and can't believe my firstborn is 17 years old. Jay summed it up when asked the question "what is scary?" on his birthday interview. Jay answered, "The future."

A fine mist of horchata

We hosted the high school track awards "banquet" (potluck) in our backyard on Tuesday, May 19th. Jeff and the 7 other coaches presented certificates and awards to the track athletes and we feasted on the potluck. The team brought mountains of food and beverages, including a 4 gallon clear plastic barrel of horchata (a sweet creamy vanilla Mexican beverage), and another plastic barrel of agua de pepino (cucumber agua fresca, or cucumber water--a divinely refreshing sweet green cucumber limeade). Cucumber agua fresca is my favorite! There was also a large assortment of sodas (not my favorite). The abundance of beverages led to lots of leftovers--mostly in cups that were tossed half full into the trash bags we set out.

Weekly Album

I spent the whole week recovering from last week, and the week before that, and the weeks before that. My body felt dully, heavy, and lethargic. My brain wasn't much sharper. The end-of-season slump is a phenomenon that we experience after each sports season, but it hits a little differently each time. This time it hit me harder than it has in the past. My motivation plummeted. My energy was nonexistent. Even though my middle school track season was over, high school track was still in full force! So I couldn't just completely surrender to the fatigue. I managed to get a good amount of recovery in anyways, and by Saturday I had a bit more spring in my step.