The Holiday Season Begins



Gingerbread houses we made on Thanksgiving.

(You can see that her eczema hasn't improved.)

Matchie matchie cuteness squared.

I love to grab my toes.

Riding bikes on a cold, wet, pretty day.

Wendell sings "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam."  (You'll notice he says "beep" instead of beam.  :)

Happy December!  Hope all enjoyed a delightful Thanksgiving.  We have a real Christmas tree!  (My first one- not counting the little real one my high school friends surprised me with when they heard I'd only ever had an artificial one... :)

Happy Birthday to my mom too!  I love you, Mom!  I hope my card gets there tomorrow!

X0, Amy

Have You Seen Trees?

Here's our home in Graham, Washington.  We like living in this house.  We feel very blessed.
Washington is very beautiful.  We love the trees!

Here is our Mary. She's almost 4 months now. A couple days ago she rolled over for the first time! (Front to back.)
Today she rolled over back to front for the first time. She's wanting to crawl. She's a sweetie!





Ice cream treat at DQ. 

Their new bunkbed. 
They love each other.  And they love Mary.

Isabelle is starting to read.  Wendell is learning to use the potty. 
Mom and Dad have been called as ward missionaries and Mom as RS teacher. 
We're meeting lots of nice people here in WA. 

Welcome to Washington

A principal reason I have not updated in so long is because I don't have a bunch of pictures. I think people generally prefer pictures over a bunch of reading.As avid a journal keeper I am, I don't really expect my ramblings to be delightfully devoured. Who has time or really cares much?I write more for me than for anyone else.So, when it’s a blog, posted for all to see, I feel less inclined to spill those thoughts.But here I am anyway, writing despite my lack of pictures.Why?Maybe it’s because our moving boxes are finally removed from our living spaces and I feel allowed to relax and write.Or maybe it’s because I finished another journal before I had the next one to start on (and I’m currently filling the blank front and back and title pages as I anxiously await my journal in the mail…) Maybe it’s because I miss my friends and I miss Manhattan and blogging (despite whether it’s read or not) feels a little bit like connecting back again.

Probably all of the above.

Our camera wasn’t working.I bought new rechargeable batteries, but then couldn’t find the charger.
When we finally found it, I couldn’t find the batteries.Then- where’s the camera?And where’s the time to actually charge the batteries and take pictures?!I can’t believe for the whole move, we’ve been without a camera.We’re finally starting to get a little more settled.And -yes!- I have the camera
ready to take pictures.It’s still temperamental, but I do believe it will work enough for me to take a decent amount for updating our picture collection.I know Grandma Brooksby and Brittney and others (Christina, Debbie,…?) took some pictures we’ll have to try and get those.

So, Washington.Here we are. It’s nice.I think pretty much most places are nice if you have the right attitude.In the RS Broadcast last Sat., Pres. Uchtdorf talked about not waiting for your golden ticked, rather making the most of your current situation.So instead of feeling sorry for myself for the lack of parks here (the nearest is 15 MIN away:( ), I need to suck it up and look at the bright side.At least it gives me another reason to like the rain.And I realized, the pioneers didn’t have parks.They turned out splendidly.The lack of parks for the kiddos was the least of their worries!  What do I have to complain about?! Not only do I have all my needs taken care of, but I have so many of my wants as well.Most importantly, Richard is here with me.We have 3 wonderful children.“Heaven is where you are,” I can say to them.

Well, Wendell is coughing and up from his nap.Right on time- 3:20.I don’t know why, but he’s pretty much had a cough for the past month.I’ll write more later, but post this now, or it won’t happen for another who knows how long!

Grrrr!Apparently I didn’t get to him soon enough.I went upstairs only to find him in Mary’s room –where she had been sleeping!  OK.Everyone’s up now.At least it’s not 5:30am- I won’t even go into my night last night.


Never a dull moment.

Amy

Mary Diane Brooksby

Born June 14, 2011 at 1:54 pm

7 lb 9 oz

20 inches

Just born.

Mother and baby. Amy did amazing during the delivery.

Proud sister and brother.

They both love to hold her.

Aren't they all so beautiful.

Getting ready to come home. She is so small.

Three kids in a row.