Face-first on the treat!

Aidan and Timothy

Abram and Nana

Opening presents (and some finger-licking, too)

"I can't get it out!"

That's our Boo!

Encouragement From All Sides

Thanks for all your prayers and thoughts as we battle through this hard season of sickness. We've been encouraged by many of you; offering meals, offering to drive up and nurse us back to health, offering any help needed. I can't help but be reminded that my friend Tonya had an unbelievably hard situation just over a month ago, as her daughter found her youngest son (18 months) at the bottom of a swimming pool. They were able to resuscitate him and he is completely fine, Thank you Jesus! As she processes through what happened, she sent me the words to this song yesterday and I bought it from amazon.com today. It's beautiful and exactly what I needed. I am sure I will be listening to it often. I am hoping that you will be encouraged as well. If you don't have it already, you really ought to buy it.

"If You Want Me To" by Ginny Owens.
"The pathway is broken and signs are unclear
and I don't know the reason why You brought me here
But just because You love me the way that You do
I'm gonna walk through the valley if You want me to

Cause I'm not who I was when I took my first step
and I'm clinging to the promise You're not through with me yet
So if all of these trials bring me closer to You
then I will go through the fire if You want me to

It may not be the way I would have chosen
when You lead me through a world that's not my home
But You never said it would be easy
You only said I'd never go alone

So when the whole world turns against me and I'm all by myself
and I can't hear You answer my cries for help
Then I'll remember the suffering Your love put You through
and I will go through the valley if You want me to."

Halloween?

You might be wondering where the elusive Halloween pictures are. Well, so are we! We all got super sick (minus Jon and Abram-thankfully!) the day before Halloween and despite our best homeopathic, vitamin-taking, water-drinking methods remained that way. Most of us to this day. And Halloween waits for no one, evidently. I could have posted some truly scary photos of the day (think pale faces and green noses) but thought I'd spare my readership (all 5 of you *wink*). Jon went to the grocery store and bought our kiddos some candy to ease their depression and despite it all Jonah said it was one of the best days of his life. That was after eating his allotted two pieces. That's optimism for ya!

Sissys

Each morning Brynne climbs onto Ava's top bunk and says, "I nuggo yoooooooouuu," which, evidently is the cutest thing in the world to her newly awakened sibling, who laughs and replies, "Okay!"
Parenting is hard. Having a family, hard. Keeping the house clean, yup, hard. But I love this part.

Wook at my Minnie's Mama

This is how Brynne rolls these days. She would wear that dress everyday (and sometimes does--I have no idea where she got that from). And despite the blister-inducing stiff-as-a-board Minnie Mouse shoes I got her (at the Goodwill, thank you very much) she would wear this combo to bed if she could.

Baby Marcus has a twin!!

Oh my! My nephew Seth will be happy to know that BABY MARCUS' long-lost twin sister has been found...in Portland! Baby Matilda was uncovered in a dark closet (poor girl) and the trauma has left her with a few screws loose...we found her on top of the lamp this morning.

We were able to coax her down with a nice cup of tea. Hopefully she won't be as wild and wacky as Marcus! They even gave him his own blog to document all his adventures. We heard he was found on the roof of their house and even took the car out without permission! Maybe Matilda will be heading into that closet again soon. . .

7 weeks

Abram is 7 weeks in these photos. The time passes so quickly; we are taking every opportunity to enjoy him!

This picture makes me laugh--it's like he's trying to figure out what the heck Daddy is doing!

Accurate Acrostics?

The kids worked on these acrostics for Language Arts the other day. You gotta love the misspellings!
Jonah first:

F-faster at eating
A-and he's dashing
T-the best dad
H-halarios
E-everything good at
R-really awesome!

A-awesome
V-very cute
A-a great girl

M-marvelous!
O-olimpic (he explained that this means I am competitive!)
T-the butifalist
H-happy
E-exellent
R-rather pretty

Ava made these:

J-jam lover
O-OK but nice
N-nice and wunderful
A-akshin (action) goooooooood
H-he always has a hand

B-big but difrent (different)
L-loving
O-olwaes (always) comes when we cry
S-sweet
S-shes like a sister
U-un fer getubl (unforgettable)
M-marvuliss

P-plays stufd anumals
A-awesome
G-graet frend
E-extra fun
A-always plays with me
(this is supposed to spell Paige, her best friend and also a Durias).

Brynney or Boo-Boo?

A little name game. . .
If you show Brynne a picture of herself she says, "Thas Brynney!"
But if you ask her what her name is, she says, "Boo-Boo!"

Joe the Writer

I know he's only 8. And I know he's only in 3rd grade. But this got me so excited today that I had to share!
Jonah took this paragraph:
"On a morning in 1609, a man made his way over a bridge. He wore a jacket and a cap. His clothes were splashed with mud, and mud sucked at his shoes. He could hardly see for the rain in his face."
and turned it into this:
"On a foggy morning in 1609, a mysterious man made his way over a muddy bridge. He wore a damp jacket and a cap. His clothes were splashed with mud, and mud sucked at his shoes. He could hardly see for the cold rain in his face."
Much better, right?!
His teacher thinks he's destined for greatness. ;)

Annual Beach Trip!

Thanks to Ian, I don't even have to come up with an original post about this. :)
Click here to view!
(thank you Ian!)

Baby Abey

Abram's first music video. Music provided by Jonah and background screaming fit, I mean singing by Brynne. Enjoy!

Gammie and Papa Visit

Abram met his Gammie and Papa Mel for the first time last week. It was wonderful to have the help my mom provided--she cooked and cleaned the whole time! Papa Mel wrestled with the older three kiddos and got them all riled up just in time for dinner and bedtime every night. Guess it's a Grandpa's privilege. And while it sounds like I'm complaining, might I also say that it's a parents dream...to have them making great memories for the little ones--even while I shout in the midst of the chaos: "Go wrestle in the basement!!!"

Thoughts of a 2 Week Old

"Hey, that girl keeps sticking that baby-doll in my face!"

"I wonder when I can eat again. . . and what the square root of 591 is."

"Oh well, I may as well fill this diaper, too."

The Price of Beauty

Poor Abram learned right away what a nice warm bath can turn into. . .

He went from calm and relaxed to screaming in just a few seconds.

But he sure smelled great after!

Some Random Pics of Some Cuties

Ava in her permanent silly-face
















The kids love to play on what Brynne calls the "Swing-Slide" (and for good reason, I mean, that's what you do on it).
Joe and Ava really wanted Brynney in this picture with them.






Brynne lays her dollie next to Abram all the time, so I thought I'd better get a picture of it. Ava went and got one, too.
I think Boo is moving in for a kiss on that doll...

Welcome Abram Jonathan!

Abram Jonathan Brawley was born on Wednesday, August 19, 2009 at 12:59am. He is healthy and happy and cute! He was 8lbs 1 oz and 20 3/4 inches long. I was so stoked to not have to be induced and we are all recovering nicely. Stay tuned for more pictures. . .

Bubble Bubble!!

Oh. My. Word.
Jon and I are so thrilled!!
We figured out how to make our favorite treat right at home:
The Japanese school-girl obsession that is Bubble Tea (to quote my friend Steve).
There is an Asian Supermarket right down the street from our house, so after doing a bit of online research we figured out our list and headed down to "Fubon". When we walked in it reeked of fish--I think our kids thought they had just stepped into a foreign country!
We quickly found what we needed: the tapioca "pearls" (called Boba--this is what makes it Bubble Tea), the flavoring we wanted (Mango!), and of course, big fat straws to drink it with.

We got home, I made some sweet iced tea, mixed in some half & half (it has to be milk tea for me to drink it),

cooked up some delicious Boba (10 minutes boiling time, 10 minutes to steep with the lid on),

stirred in a little mango flavoring and voila! (oops, can I use French to describe this Asian delight??) it was ready. For the price of 3 bubble teas at a tea shop, we can enjoy about 50.
Now the only drawback is all the calories involved...

Pizza, Disc Golf, & Friends

I grew up going to the same church in Redlands, California, where I also met Aimee and Jeff Walnofer. They still live in Yucaipa (right outside Redlands) and every summer Aimee plans a surprise vacation for her family (Jeff and two kids: Tobias and Delaney). This year they returned to Oregon and we got to see them for Flying Pie Pizza, disc golf (where Jeff got a hole-in-one and has the pictures to prove it), and some good catching-up time for me and Aimee. We had a great time!!

Ava and Delaney share a love of drawing

They kind of look like they could be sisters!

Jeff & Aimee

The four of us (well, 5 if you count that big belly)

More Teeth (or lack there of)

Ava has lost three of her teeth in only a few weeks! These last two were just within a couple days of each other...I guess one couldn't live without the other.