Autumn Fun

Christmas Preview, Downtown Chico

Madison on the slide!

And the swing

Kisses for Daddy

Madison's shopping cart

Life is anything but dull these days, and for that we are thankful. Yes, there have been some challenging moments for us as a family. We are still in the process of replacing everything that was stolen from our car a month ago. Thanks to Brian's handy-man talents and his dedication to quality, our car is back in service, so for that we are thankful. I'm (Jaime) learning to process the difficult issues I deal with at work in a healthy way, and discovering the balance of strength and embarrassing the emotions involved. If I had it my way, I would adopt about 6 of my students right now.

The blessings in these challenges are sometimes overlooked, but Brian and I have grown to trust the Lord together so much more. We are also learning to savor the little pieces of heaven on earth. Our time with friends and family is becoming more and more precious. Just last night we enjoyed our first of three thanksgivings. Our young marrieds group go together for turkey, Christmas preview downtown, and of course...the season premier of "24."

As the things of this world challenge us to keep our hearts focused on the eternal, we are encouraged by the daily discoveries and accomplishments made by Madison. She is currently walking all around the house with her shopping cart, and only holding one hand as she walks with her parents' aid. We are pretty optimistic that she will walk before her first birthday.

She is also rapidly increasing her vocabulary. Here are her favorite words and the way she pronounces them: Down, Up (dup), dog, daddy (da ee), mom (mmum), shoes (shzz...this is used for both socks and shoes), and ...monkey (unky).

Sorry this is so long, it's just Madison has done so many new things in the past few weeks. She also experience the slide for the first time. after about the third time on her back, she decided to sit up and go down the real way.

That's all I can think of for now...aren't you glad!