October and the Church Family

Hello to the world!! Why haven't I posted in a month? Again, another sob story about cheap, yet expensive, electronics and unreliable Internet connections. Sob, Sob, Sob.

So what else is going on in the Church Family?? Isabella is cooing and cute as a little button. Brennan is still a bundle of energy. Every thought that he has appears on his face. Jaden just received a catcher's mitt and ball from his dad last night. He is very conscientious about everything he does. Siena is focusing on reading, and still uses every birthday and wishing well wish towards her own puppy. India recently placed in a mini karate tournament at her dojo. She and her room are always swimming in the art, craft, reading, etc. project of the moment.

I am busy busy working on school with the kids this year. Our "Quest for Quetzalcoatl" has already taken us to Tijuana, Mexico, and to the rainforest in my grandpa's backyard. No kidding. We are having a blast. The hard part is keeping up with all the fun things I want to do. Unfortunately, I don't yet have a private maid to keep my house clean. So the kids and I spend a lot of time trying to pick up when we would prefer to be doing other things. Please let me know how if anyone has overcome this dilemma.

Jeremy is busy studying to keep his #1 ranking in his evening Emergency Medical Technician class. Unfortunately, he is not as busy working as he would like to be. We are currently making alternate living arrangements until he is.

In the mean time, life is beautiful. Fall is such a great time of year. The air begins to crisp, and--every where but where I live--the leaves turn colors. Excitement--and creeping anxiety about the up-coming Holidays--grows every day. We have so much to be thankful for and so much to look forward to.

This has ended up being longer then I planned. Maybe I can label it my "Christmas letter" and relieve a little bit of that previously mentioned anxiety by crossing "Christmas letter" off my list two months early .

With all of my Love and Merry Christmas,
Bridey

Our little "Isabelwa" is getting bigger everyday. She smiles, coos, and is gaining more control over her limbs. Her favorite toy is the ceiling fan in my bedroom and her pacifyers. She has stolen her daddy's heart.

Isabella Fiore

2 months old

Mama's Big Helper

With five children, one of them a newborn and one of them potty training, everyone has to help to have a clean home. A couple of weeks ago I was sitting in the living room nursing Isabella, when I heard the sounds of someone washing dishes in the kitchen. With a sigh of satisfaction and a smile on my face, I revelled in the thought that someone was doing their job without me even asking. A long while later, maybe 20 minutes, I went in the thank the angel who was still slaving away at the dishes. And who was it? Not Siena or India, or even Jaden. It was Brennan!! He had dragged over a chair, turned on the sink, and was washing each dish by hand. The dishes to his right is the stack that he had already finished. I tried to get him down and tell him he was "all done", but we had several more dish washing incidences over the next couple of days. I can only pray that he is this enthusiastic in a few years!

A Sea of Pink

Everything at our house is now pink. There are pink blankets, pink onesies, pink sleepers, pink gowns, pink pacifyers, pink car seats, and even a pink diaper bag!!

Isabella at one week

Squishy Lips, Squishy Cheeks
About 2 1/2 weeks.

Our Beautiful Girl
About two weeks

Where in the World is Baby Isabella??

Why haven't I updated more pictures? Aren't I taking them? Has the novelty of baby 5 already worn off? Don't I have any feelings at all for the dear aunts, uncles, and friends scattered throughout the world????

I currently do not have the ability to get the pictures off the camara that Mom is so graciously letting me use. All of the pictures that I have taken are waiting to be put on disk and mailed since her computer was having technical difficulties on Sunday, when we were there.

Stay calm.. . . they are coming!

Parting is such sweet sorrow. . .

I am having mixed feelings about the upcoming Harry Potter Book release--the final book in the series. This series has been such a fun part of our family. Most particulary, I associate it with listening to all the books on tape driving back and forth between Cedar City and California. I guess it is appropriate that the series end now that we have moved back to California.

If you haven't read or listened to them on tape--get to it. They are very charming, albeit highly addictive. You may want to read first before sharing with children; everyone has their own opinion on it's appropriateness for kids. From an adult perspective, It's fabulous.