Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!!!

Feliz Navidad!

Dancing & Performing

Brianna loves dancing and singing. And when there's an audience she gets even more excited! She has been learning these moves with Mommy and at the kids time at the local library.

These videos were taken just after she turned 22 months. Enjoy!

Counting 10 blueberries

Last night our princess, out of the blue, counted from 1-10!

Jeremy was with her at the table, and she started to count her blueberries without making one mistake! Bibi has been teaching her numbers for a while but Brianna never said two in a row before! It goes to prove that babies learn so much even when they don't show evidence of the process itself. We're beyong proud of her! We'll grab the first chance we get to video her counting again!

Ron Paul for President 2008

I don't want to turn our blog into a political message board, however I do want to let you know that we are very excited about Congressman Ron Paul for President in 2008.

It's a breath of fresh air to have someone in politics who's voting record matches what he says he stands for and has espoused for many years (www.RonPaul2008.com). Dr. Paul is a dedicated defender of the United States Constitution and believes in Freedom, Prosperity & Peace.

Brief Overview of Congressman Paul’s Record:

He has never voted to raise taxes.
He has never voted for an unbalanced budget.
He has never voted for a federal restriction on gun ownership.
He has never voted to raise congressional pay.
He has never taken a government-paid junket.
He has never voted to increase the power of the executive branch.
He voted against the Patriot Act.
He voted against regulating the Internet.
He voted against the Iraq war.
He does not participate in the lucrative congressional pension program.
He returns a portion of his annual congressional office budget to the U.S. treasury every year.
Congressman Paul introduces numerous pieces of substantive legislation each year, probably more than any single member of Congress.

He's not popular in the media, but he has a grassroots support network that is growing fast as more and more people hear what he stands for and learn that he is the real deal.

Do your own research. Come to your own conclusions. I think you'll like what you find out.

• Ron Paul and the Issues (www.ronpaul2008.com/issues)
  
• Ron Paul's YouTube Channel (www.youtube.com/RonPaul2008DotCom)
• The Ron Paul Revolution (www.ronpauldvdproject.com/themovie.php) (This is an hour-long video introduction to Ron Paul and his freedom message)
• Compare where all the candidates stand on the Issues (www.ontheissues.org)
  

Yesterday, on the 234th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party, Ron Paul's campaign received over $6 million in a 24 hr period to protest the hidden Inflation Tax imposed on us. (www.teaparty07.com)

Even Brianna is excited about Ron Paul!!

Brianna knows her ABCs

Mommy has been working with Brianna on her ABCs and Bri is learning so well!!

Here is a video of Brianna practicing with Daddy. This video is from the end of October, so Bri would have been about 20 months old. She knows all the letters now and yells out the letters wherever she sees them: in the store, driving down the road or any other place she sees big letters.

Enjoy!!

Videos to warm your heart...

Well, I am very behind on editing and posting videos of little Bri and all the new things she's doing... so sorry.

Anyway, here are two cute videos of living life.

On Thanksgiving day we went to the park to work off some of the huge meal we had! Bri was showing some of her skills.



Here is a video of us just hanging out on Friday evening. She's a few days shy of turning 22 months.

Christmas Season in full gear

Bri at sabbath school playing with the turtle

she's having a lot of fun "camping" this trimester and learning all about squirrels, turtles, beavers, camping gear, etc.

Bri just got her very own "kiddie living room" to entertain friends in. She's got two new kiddie chairs and a "coffee table," surrounded by baskets of different toys and books. There is also an easel where she practices her ABCs and keeps learning numbers.

We finally added a few new pieces to our living room and had an "interesting" night of playing Christmas music and trying to decorate the Christmas tree and mantel. Our tree and many of the ornaments are very special to us, since they came from Jeremy's late Grandma Tym. They have been with us for 8 1/2 years, unharmed, but this year, somehow they got irreparably damaged thanks to our precious toddler's curiosity ...

So far our tree keeps standing tall. It'll be a real accomplishment if it makes it through the Christmas season with most lights and ornaments still attached!!!

Candycane Parade

Brianna went to her first Christmas Parade! It was great hanging out with Gramee and Bri's good friend Leah and her Daddy. As you can see we were all bundled up for the cold evening in downtown Visalia.

The parade was pretty well done and both girls loved watching all the different floats go bay. They especially loved the highschool bands and would dance to the music. It was a great evening.

Thanksgiving dinner

We topped off our day by having dinner with Ken & Gloria, Uncle Bill & Auntie Bettie and their son Brian, wife Donna and kids, Courtney and Chandler. Here is everybody ready to have dinner and thankful, especially, to still have Ken at the head of the table

Chandler winning at domino
Courtney, concentrating on her next move, and failing to avoid the camera (at least this time!).

This year, Jeremy, Bibi & Brianna are so thankful for God's guidance and blessing through our move to Visalia, Jeremy's new job, great new friends and a wonderful church community. We are especially thankful that Bri continues to grow and learn and thrive in great health . Thank YOU for all your prayers, support and encouraging comments. We love you!!!

A day of giving ...

We got Thanksgiving day started early by running a "Run Against Hunger" 5 K (3.1 miles). We had a blast, and also met an old friend from PUC days, Naomi Roman, and her boyfriend. It was great to have Brianna, Ken & Gloria cheering us on at the finish line! Our time was 30 min, an average of about a 10 min mile. We also got interviewed for the Fresno Bee article (click here) about the race and the charity that puts it on.

Then for lunch we volunteered at the Visalia Rescue Mission. Bibi's task was to serve mashed potatoes and gravy, while Jeremy and Brianna helped with dessert and other miscellaneous tasks. We hope to involve Brianna in as many service type activities as possible so she grows up loving to bless others in our community.

Here are Daddy and Bri ready to get to work...

Bibi's team in action...

The tables were all set up outside and we served about 75 people a Thanksgiving lunch between 1-2pm. Lunch consisted of roasted turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, vegetables, dinner rolls and butter and different kinds of pie for dessert. The Rescue Mission is a great ministry! They serve 3 meals a day every day of the year. They are a true blessing to the community.

It's a small town...

Well, it's Saturday night... and our big activity with Brianna this evening was to go to check out the new Super Target that recently opened in the next town over. Yes, you might think there are more interesting things to do around here, but it's a small town. And we chose Target over cow tipping :-)

Actually it's a very nice store and the first SUPER Target we've ever seen. We hope you're weekend is going well!

Models in the making ...

All dressed up for church and posing for Daddy

Cascade is not so sure pictures are a good idea right now ... the dolly looks way more fun right now

Haven is striking a pose, Cascade is thinking "what is she doing?" and Bri is altogether somewhere else!

Bri and Cascade are learning the ropes from older cousin Haven

Thank you Uncle Ken and Auntie Crystal

I love to learn with my new art easel!

Everyday I practice my ABCs and Mommy & Daddy are teaching me shapes and numbers now. I can say "1 and 2" (in Spanish, of course) and "oval" and something that sounds like "circle." I'm also learning colors and can say a word that resembles "blanco" ("white" in Spanish). I'm having so much fun! Thank you Auntie & Uncle for this great early Christmas gift!!!

I also love to learn the names and sounds of animals. Mommy has been teaching me all about "Noah's Ark" and I can say just about all the names of my little book except ostrich, hippopotamus and crocodile (those are kind of hard, don't you think?). For November and December, Mommy and Daddy are focusing on the most important story of all time, Baby Jesus' Birth. I'm learning new words such as "angels," "donkey," and "Mary and Joseph." That's what Christmas is all about. I can't wait to celebrate Christmas with Uncle & Auntie and meet Cousin Nolan! THAT will be a special time!

Veteran's Day at the Fresno Zoo

Today we went to the Fresno Zoo and Bri was happy to see two Indian Elephants ...

a big "afa" (aka giraffe) ...


a familiar animal: sese (aka zebra). She's been singin "giddy up zebra" at Sabbath School (and during the week at home) since she was about 6 months old. She LOVED looking at the "seses"...

After two hours of walking around the zoo, Daddy and Bri took a ride in the Carousel. Bri, an adrenaline junkie at heart, begged to go on the horse but was surprinsingly serious during the whole ride. Maybe she was thinking: "this little horse sure runs fast..." Fun times!

First ponytails and playing with Leah

Adorable ponytails!
Looking serious for just a second ...

playing with Leah on Tuesday afternoon

King David

Argentine tennis sensation, David Nalbandian, now at the top of his game, won the Paris Masters and Rafael Nadal (#2 player in the world) came second. Nadal's words after the game: "David is one of the best tennis players in the world. I've never seen him play like this. I have no excuses." King David, as he is called in Argentina, is coming back big time and has recently beat Roger Federer (#1 player in the world) TWICE. Aguante, Rey David!!! We love you!!!

More Halloween fun

Fun times in the bouncy house

A little "furry" chicken resting after jumping all around ...


Cascade having her hands full of popcorn

Our little angel getting a handful of healthy snacks. Luckily, she didn't have candy this year!!!

Halloween Fun

Here is our little angel (wings included) all dressed up and playing with her other friends at a church gathering on wednesday night

there were fun games for kids and parents ... here's Brianna checking her friends out and trying to figure out this game

Bri and best bud Cascade, dressed up as "A little stinker" skunk ... they looked TOOO CUTE!!!

Bri getting acquainted with "Queen Esther"

Brianna The Photographer

This is one of many shots Bri took of her Daddy, ALL by herself. Bravo Bri!

Two weeks ago, Daddy & Bri went on a date to the Springville Apple Festival and Fair and had lots of fun eating yummy food (Bri ate a whole apple by herself!), feeding a pony and seeing many other animals Bri already knows and loves

On the way back from the mountains, Daddy had to stop so that Bri could play with Cascade, her best buddy

These two really like each other! Cascade is two weeks younger than Brianna. Her parents, Jaison & Laurienne as our really good friends here. We get together whenever we can and the girls love it!

Because I'm The Mom...

This video was too good to not share!

Enjoy!

Learning with Brianna

Well, it's been a while since these videos were taken, but it's taken me a while to edit them down to the highlights.

Here's some footage of Brianna learning words and reading at almost 19 months.

New Look for our Blog

Technology has changed so much in the past 2 years with what you can do in blogging we decided to update the look and features of our blog. Let us know what you think.

Debido a que la tecnología mejoró tanto para los sitos web en los últimos 2 años, decidimos cambiar el estilo de nuestro blog. Esperamos que les guste más.

San Francisco Weekend

Last weekend we went to San Francisco for the ADA and NASDAD conventions and had an absolute blast. Jeremy attended some ADA management classes and Bibi enjoyed learning more about nutrition and health.

We also made time to go to the San Francisco Zoo and Brianna loved learning about all the different animals she'd only seen in picture books up to this point. She especially enjoyed the gorilla, the bears, lions and a roaring tiger (he was not a happy camper that day!)

Bri also enjoyed "playing" with the lion and lion cubs.

Enjoying a treat ... Bri's favorite snack

Going to the zoo was such a neat experience, but what our princess enjoyed the most (still to this day) was watching the sea lions on Pier 39. She learned all about "las focas" and asks about them everyday now. Luckily, Daddy made a little video of them and we watch it almost daily. Auntie Anne also gave Bri a "Frosty Friends" book with a sea lion on the cover. She's having fun reading it!