Emily-I love to go swimming. I got to go with my friend Chloe and eat dinner at the swimming pool. I love to play with friends. I am a Girl Scout. I really like being a Girl Scout and I get to sell cookies. It is fun and I like to be a part of my country. My goal is to sell 100 boxes of cookie. My goal is also to make the world a better place. I had 100 day at school. I glues 100 puzzle pieces on a cardboard "E". I got to put it in the hall so everyone could see it. Monday we celebrated Chineese New Year's. I got to eat rice with chop sticks. It was really fun. We got to make dragon masks. It was really fun because I put it over my face. This morning I made breakfast for my dad but he couldn't eat it because it was fast Sunday.

Tubes

Janey went in this morning for tubes in her ears. We have been putting it off for 3 months because she is so little. She came through like a trooper. The doctor said she cleaned out a lot of scar tissue and infections and puss. I was thankful we went ahead and got the tubes. Hopefully now her hearing won't be effected and she won't get as many ear infections. She has such a high tolerance of pain it amazes me what a good baby she has been through all the infections over the past 7 months.
Our grass is growing and we are so excited. Every day it grows a little taller. It still pretty sparce but filling in nicely. I even got a few bushes planted yesterday. Love the end of season sales. You can pick up bushes and trees for practically nothing.

Back to School

Week one of school went great! We are on the early track this year which means the kids start at 8:00am and are out by 2:15pm. I wasn't sure I was going to like it but I actually love it. The kids just get up, eat, get dressed and off to school they go but I love how we have all afternoon together. As winter sets in I may not like getting them off so early but right now I love it. Emily is in first grade and it is so odd to just have Aly and Janey at home. Aly is a good little helper and it is nice to focus on pre-school play again. Janey is walking around furniture like a champ and has given up the baby food for the good stuff with texture and taste. She still puts everything in her mouth which is a challenge at times. Last night she crawled into our shower and sucked on soap. I guess I'll have to come up with a new consequence for her when she gets older and says a bad word because the taste didn't bother her one bit. I wonder sometimes if the girl has taste buds. Aly misses her playmates all day but I will be starting a little playgroup once a week with 3 other moms that will be fun for her. She is growing up fast and is quick as a whip I tell ya. The girl is full of humorous one liners.

The four older kids all love their teachers which I am so happy about. Katy has a male teacher for the first time and is not in with her best friend Ivy but seems so love her teacher and his sense of humor and interesting lectures. Jacob and Hunter are in the same class this year, the first time since kindergarten. Their teacher is very supportive in helping them with their dyslexia and is even interested in becoming a certified tutor. She has taught 15 years, loves BYU, and loves to teach. The boys were thrilled that she is cougar fan. Emily has a substitute for the first couple of weeks while her teacher recovers from her new baby. She is in the same class as her cousin Chauncey and seems to love eating lunch in the lunch room and being with the big kids.

I'm adjusting to having more time on my hands and somehow still filling it all. I was just called as cub master today which I am really excited. We have a great cub scout program in our ward and I love that I get to work with my boys. They both high fived me after I was sustained in church. I was called just five minutes before the meeting so it was news to them when I stood up. Jonathan starts at his new school tomorrow and is looking forward to meeting his new students.

Yesterday we planted seed in our front yard. A project that was much harder work than I had suspected. The backs of my legs are very sore today from bending up and down a hundred times. Now we just pray it will grow. The kids are so excited to have grass. I would hate for it to fail.

Camping at Currant Creek!

On July 27 we headed out on the long awaited and anxiously anticipated annual camping trip. Jonathan worked his magic and actually packed all the paraphernalia it takes to go camping with a family of 8 for 3 days. As we drove out of the driveway we still were undecided on our camping location. We headed up Provo canyon and somewhere along the way decided to try Currant Creek (a campground we had seen rated highly online). It is located just East of Heber and North of Strawberry Reservoir. We pulled off the paved road and ventured off road for close to an hour on a very bumpy road. Our brains were all a bit joggled by the time we arrived. We pulled into the campsites and found plenty to choose from. We settled on one that had a nice veiw of the lake through the pine and aspen trees and was right across the road from a great pioneer park also surrounded by trees. It took just under 3 hours to make our little campsite feel like home. The kids were begging to get wet so we headed down to the lake. There were very few other campers and we felt like we had our own private shore (mostly rocks with a little sand here and there.) The water was cold but refreshing and the kids had a great time splashing and trying to stay untangled from the lakeweed (as opposed to seaweed).

After a dinner of taco salad and homemade cookies we headed out for a little evening hike. There was a one mile hike up through the Aspen trees. It looped around the top of the mountain and gave a great view of the dam and lake. The sun was just setting as we arrived back at camp. We sat around the campfire for a while and then called it a day. The first night camping is always interesting. We didn't sleep a whole lot between kids that were cold, a baby who wouldn't sleep, sore legs, headaches, and kids rolling on top of each other. Finally about 4am everyone fell into a deep sleep which only lasted 3 hours but at least it was something. We broke in our new campstove that morning with eggs, sausage, and hashbrowns. That morning we took another little hike around to the top of the dam at the head of the lake and the kids played on the playground that included a log home and a covered wagon. They have such great imaginations. There were no other campers in sight so they had the whole place to play on their own. We spent all afternoon at the lake trying out our borrowed blow up kayak, dodging or catching fish (depending on the child), and skipping rocks. It was perfect! We had a weenie roast and smores that night and fully saturated our clothing and tent in the smell of camp smoke. We did some major rearranging of sleeping conditions that night and we all got a lot more rest. Being extra tired helped too!

The next morning the kids discovered pioneer sidewalk chalk. They would burn the ends of their sticks then write and draw on the concrete pad the picnic table was on. It came off with water and they loved it. We took one last dip in the lake where Emily made a friend with a leech and Hunter spotted a water snake that all the kids took turns holding (much braver than their mother). We packed up and headed home with dirty clothes, smelly hair, sunburned cheeks and wonderful memories!

Enough of the babbles now for the blessings: We have been greatly blessed this summer. We feel as though angels have been watching over our children especially Alyssa. She locked herself in a hot car, ran away from us at the city fireworks show, tried taking a solo stroll around the block, and fell inches from the firepit. Since we can't lock the girl in a room we are thankful for angels and promptings of the Spirit

Dear Family,
Wow, so much has happened in our lives in the last few months. I am happy to be writing this blog from our new office. Thanks to everyone who helped us move, especially mom and dad. We miss seeing you everyday and being with you. It is great to be neighbors with MaryAnn and Tracy. I am excited that the kids will have cousins to grow up with. Thanks also to everyone who came to Janey’s blessing. I know it was a rough week to be gone from your own wards. It was so neat to see her encircled by the priesthood. I am so thankful for her daddy, grandpas, and uncles who live worthy to exercise their priesthood in her behalf.
A new year has begun and once again my mind reels with all the things I hope to change, accomplish, conquer and begin. The trick is weeding through all the lofty goals to find those that are most important and fall into the best category rather then the good or better categories. I am loving the fact that it only takes 5 min. to get to and from school instead of 30 min. I am trying to make good use of that time in the morning with the kids and help them get into some better work habits. We’ll see how it goes. They are all doing really good in school thanks to great teachers. Emily loves going to the same school as the rest of the kids and loves her new teacher which makes me very happy. I love the quiet afternoons when the babies are sleeping to regroup.
Here is a little up date on each of the kids. Katy has decided to stop dancing and take piano lessons. I am thrilled. Piano is such a timeless talent and I think she will do great. She also really wants her dad to teach her tennis. Hopefully they can find some courts close by when things warm up a bit. Hunter had a great time singing in the Lehi Children’s choir. They had a great Christmas show and he even had a solo which he did great on. He got new glasses along with Jake, too many new pairs to count. They actually stay on his nose. He looks very handsome. His and Jakes favorite part of Christmas was that they got a game cube with Mario Doubledash. They have some pretty strict rules about when they can play but they love racing and playing together. Jacob will start playing basketball next week and is very excited to get on the court. He has a pretty good shot so we will see how it goes. Their favorite thing to do is play football indoors or out. Hopefully we won’t have any broken bones. Emily is the life of the house. She loves to have a friend and usually Alyssa plays the part. They love to dress up together and Emily is great to entertain and help out with things. She loves to set the table and help with dinner which I love. She is still in dance and enjoys sharing a room with Katy. Alyssa continues to make us laugh with her growing knowledge of the English language. She can now climb out of her crib at leisure so the toddler bed will be going up soon. She is showing all the signs of wanting to be potty trained I just have to get up the courage to do it. Janey is sweet as can be. She sleeps through the night and loves her new swing. She has rubbed quite a bald spot on the back of her head. She has found her smile which steals our hearts.
Jonathan and I just love being together. It is so nice not to be a single parent. There are still lots of little projects on our home but no rush to get them done. We are loving just being together as a family. Hope you all have a happy month.
Love,
The Brinley Bunch

Dear Family,
I am happy to say that all is well here in the Brinley home. We are surviving each day and even thriving on a few. Janey is growing and looking chubbier everyday. We had an oxygen test this past Thursday. She did better then the two weeks previous but her levels were still a little low. We will test her again in 2 more weeks and hopefully we will be able to have her off the oxygen. I am getting pretty good at transporting her with her tank and monitor around the house. She is so sweet and is a great little eater and sleeper. She is giving me 6 to 7 hour stretches at night which I am so thankful for.
Jonathan continues to amaze me with his ability to work on our home. He has done the tile work and finish carpentry and is now laying the wood floors. I was able to go out and spend all Saturday helping him lay the floors. Janey slept in the pantry closet in her carseat and didn't seem to mind all the noise. It is fun to work together and I wish I could be out helping him more. He is putting in 17 hour days and I am so appreciative of his hard work. I am trying to hold things together on the home front. Thanks to mom an dad we somehow get to all the doctor appointments, school programs, and dance lessons. The Lord has blessed us so much with the timing of everything the last 3 months and I am so thankful.
We had a happy and haunting Halloween. Katy was a scary witch with moles and green hair, Hunter was a motorcross driver who had crashed(he was really excited about getting to put the fake blood on his face), Jacob was a skeleton with full face makeup(a little tricky with glasses),
Emily was a white fairy (thanks to Aunt Mary Ann's costume box), and Alyssa was a little indian girl. Alyssa had a great time trick or teating for the first time. She would enthusiastically run to each door with her siblings, get the candy, say "thank you", and then run back and say, "Daddy, candy". Each door was like a first experience. It was so funny. Poor Katy had an allergic reaction to some cheese she had at lunch and only made it half way through the houses before I walked her home in pain. Not a fun night to be sick on as a kid, especially when your eligable years to go trick or treating are quickly drawing to an end.
WE love you and hope you have a thankful and blessed month. We look forward to the holidays and hopefully introducing you all to our little Janey.
Love,
the Brinley Bunch

Dear Family,

Here are some pictures of Elizabeth Jane. She continues to respond well to every new step in her development. We want to thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. We look forward to bringing her home in the next few weeks.

Here she is on her birthday...

Here she is later that same day...

Here is the most recent picture we have of her...

And here is Denise's very competent medical staff...