Our fun trip to the cabin

We had a great time just hanging out together.

Aaron and Jennifer's cute family

The weather was absolutely beautiful. It was sunny and warm the first two days and then cold and snowy on Sunday when we left.

Amy and Darren

More sledding fun

Darren and Kenta.

Bradley chillin.

Aaron thinks he's pretty cool.

Carri and Emily

Wheeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!

Spencer trying to capture his run down the slope.

Mark does pretty well on his little snowboard

This is my favorite sledding picture. Notice the terror on Kenta's face.

Isn't Emily cute!

Update

We just wanted to let everyone know that there was a hearing today to change the case plan for the boys. The judge approved it and instead of family reunification the plan is now severance and adoption. We're one step closer to the end! We appreciate everyone's prayers for us and the boys!

Spring has sprung. The grass is riz...

...I wonder where the flowers iz? Yes it is true that we had a tremendous snowfall just Friday morning. It was cold and wet. But by noon, it was raining, and today only small patches of snow litter the lawn, it is sunny and breezey, and in the upper 40's. What does a groundhod know about weather anyway? Some of you may remember a certain three-year-old who had little "pistolas" (his hands in pistol shape) that he would take with him everywhere he went. We had to put a stop to shooting people during sacrament meeting, so we told him no pistolas in church. He would put his little hands in his pockets and pull them out again, no longer in the shape of pistols. Well, today, in sacrament meeting, the younger brother of that certain three-year-old was shooting at the little boy two rows back. I told him to put away his "pistola", and he put it in his shirt pocket. I had to stifle a laugh as I saw the repetition of such a classic moment in the raising of a little boy.

Thanks to all!

First of all we'd like to say thank you to everyone who fasted and prayed for us and the boys. We really appreciate it! And secondly we'd like to let everyone know that the people in New Mexico did fail their back ground check and can not be considered as a placement for the boys. This has been another testament to us of the power of prayer and fasting. Also we found out today that CPS and DDD are both planning to recommend severance at the court hearing next Thursday. We'd like to ask everyone to keep us and the boys in your prayers for the hearing next week.

Peter, Lindsay, Manny and Angel

A family in need...

Peter and I have a favor to ask of anyone and everyone who reads this in time. We don't know that everyone knows this but we are wanting to adopt Manny and Angel. But we recently found out that we might not be able to. There is a possibility that they might be placed with a woman in New Mexico pending their back ground check. Our hope is that they will fail their back ground check as aniticipated.(Her fiancee has a shady back ground). But we want only the best for the boys. We are hoping that we can join together for a family fast for the boys on Thursday February 21st. Anyone who would like to participate is more than welcome to. We would like to thank everyone for your faith and prayers.

Peter, Lindsay, Manny and Angel

and finally..

Granny sent me thesepictures to post, so here they are

A few more now...

More fun with pictures

more pictures

pictures from Granny

The winter blahs...

There has been more snow in Boise this year than there has been in years. We are not way ahead of average, but the whole week has seen inches of snow fall, and Miriam learned that Boise is notorious for not plowing. In fact, the day after we got dumped on and Miriam was complaining about the lack of plowing, the headline in the paper was explaining why they don't plow because it is so rare that there is enough snow to make it necessary. Well, the one year I convince my wife, the Arizona sun lover, to move to Boise, and this is what we get. Anyway, today, it all melted off as we approached 45 and there was a lot of wind and rain.

As if the weather isn't enough to be depressing, Miriam agreed to work 11 straight graveyard shifts, so even when there was sun, she didn't see it. No wonder she hates Idaho. Well, she can survive for just 6 more months, so we are half-way through. We try to make her have some fun. For example, yesterday, we made her go sledding with us. It was a beautiful morning full of up and down fun. My nephew gave Mateo a white-wash, so I really let him have it.

Nothing else too exciting is happening, but I will keep you posted!

A new member of our family

So we were sick of kids and decided to adopt a dog instead. Does anyone want two terribly adorable boys ages 2-3? We have to make room for Daisy. She is wonderful with the boys, a little dirty, and a little sweetheart. She is a Lhasa apso, and yes she does have Marilyn Manson eyes(one blue and one brown). We tried to get a boyfriend for Abbey, but we accidently fell in love with her first.

Peter, Lindsay, and the boys.

Christmas

Hi Gang,
I have been talking with a few of you and this is this decision for Christmas. Seems like at Thanksgiving we were too busy talking Picture to talk Christmas. So here goes, if you don't like it please call me and we will talk. First we all feel the Family Picture is the best present we could give each other and since it costs $40 plus clothes we would like that to be our only presents to each other. However we all loved the white elephant gift exchange last year so would like to continue with that. So look around your house or favorite yard sale and try to bring a funny gift on Christmas Eve for after Mary and Joseph dinner. Also we would still like to do a family service project and Mindy has a friend she visiting teaches who needs help. She lives in a group home because of mental problems and would like to get her four kids gifts. Mindy says she is very sweet and would appreciate our help. So on Fast Sunday in Dec. I thought we would stand up and explain what the money was for and collect from everyone who wanted to donate (no more than $20 please). That way the children would see that we are helping someone this Christmas. I would then send it to Mindy who would take her shopping. I would love some feed back on this plan.
We love having Amy and Alan and kids living here for awhile. My only regret is how short their stay will be. Thomas has announced that he is used to all the noise now so we ought to have a great time at Christmas when we will be buldging at the seems. Just know that to my family every Christmas was spent at Grandma's house with all the cousins sleeping all over the house. So I will finally feel all is right when the floors and beds are covered with sleeping bodies. Lets raise the roof with our snoring.
Love, MOM

Not as Cute as Dawn's picture...

but I will post it anyway. Congratulations on another beautiful boy. Just a note to show you how much my wife is missing Arizona. Last week, Mateo woke me up early to say that it had snowed. I told him it was probably just frost, to which he replied "You don't even know, Dad!" He was right...more than two inches, and the perfect consistancy for a snowball fight and a snow man. Mateo even insisted on a carrot nose.

We are all a little sick with the cold, so Thanksgiving was a bit subdued, and there was a lot of leftover pie...Not like at the Vanderpools'.

We are really looking forward to a great visit at Christmas.

Love Miriam and Matt

So, I got on the right computer finally. Here are the pictures of Steven Day, and one of Joey and Steven 'cause it's just too darn cute!

Dawn

No pictures, I'm on the wrong computer, but I'd like to welcome Steven Day Brimhall to the blog. He was born Nov. 10th, 2007 at 5:38 pm. It was a very interesting time bringing him here to greet everyone, and mom and baby are both doing very well. He was 8lbs 3oz and 20" long. A beautiful baby boy. The spitting image of his brothers. No doubt which family he comes from!! Anyway, when I get on my other computer, I'll get a picture or two of him up here. Love you all, and look forward to Thanksgiving!!!

Dawn

Beeville Texas

Today I finally got registered again for the blog. Stacie and I have several things going here. We are both still sane (although half the people in this little town aren’t). I have tried my best to pick up a Texan accent and have only succeeded in mocking them. I am earning my living by selling catering for my in-laws. We make regular (once a month) trips to Houston for a head ache study I am in and my head aches which have been reduced significantly. Houston is huge and very green, we love it, we go to the temple each time we go and it is wonderful. One of our favorite things is the last mile of neighborhood you drive through getting to the Temple; it is full of these monster houses (9,000sf plus) you would think they belong in Beverly Hills. We also make regular trips to the Fullers (my best friend from high school) house in San Antonio. They have a beautiful house on a lake and we have enjoyed many great Saturdays on the lake. Stacie is doing well in Hygiene school; it is very difficult and the only thing she does is study, go to class, cook and sleep but it’s what is takes to pass. My classes are really easy and I am going to school full time. I also have recently joined the Coastal Bend College basketball team. It is my way of dropping a few extra pounds and reliving the glory days. We are a division two college so we play division one and division three teams. My knee is acting up so we will see if my poor aching body can keep it up, it was five years and fifty pounds ago that I played the way I have to play to be competitive. In one week I have already lost ten pounds. At church we have a small branch of like 70 and Stacie is a Relief Society teacher and librarian and I am a branch missionary and councilor in the Elders quorum presidency again. Were happy and expecting…..just kidding were not pregnant but we are expecting to come home at Christmas. We can’t wait to see every one then. Love, Cory and Stacie

Final word on picture attire?

Has there been a final decision made about clothing for pictures? I need to know so that we can start looking for clothes. Has there been a location picked that anyone knows about??
Jennifer

Just a friendly reminder.....

Just a friendly reminder to visit the temple this month.

My sister sent this to me today. If you are having trouble placing them head back to the temple TODAY! :)

Trunk-Or-Treat

I am almost ashamed to post because it has been so long. We had a fun trunk or treat last night with the ward and I thought I would put up a few pictures. It was a beautiful chilly crisp fall night and everyone had a great time. (This is not a common thing at our ward activities) We really are going to miss a lot of things about St. Louis like the couple of weeks of a gorgeous fall. The leaves are so beautiful right now and the weather is great. It is nice to wear a jacket (not a winter coat).

We had a little scare with Eleanor's makeup. After I put it on her I washed my hands and and it left them stained red. I thought for sure she was going to go to church this morning with a very red face but luckily it all washed off just fine.

I forgot to bring Darren's costume and Alan had to go chaperone the stake dance so I was there by myself. I didn't get any pictures of him. Here is a picture from earlier in the day at the boys last soccer game. He was loving crawling around in the grass except he kept rolling down the hill.

We only have 19 more days left. There is a ton to do but I am on schedule for packing and feeling rather good about moving. Alan is giddy. He walks around with a permanent grin on his face. He is looking good these days. He has lost 30 pounds doing Atkins again. He needs to get to his ideal weight for insurance purposes and he is well on his way.

ROCKY POINT!

We had a meeten and made some decisions. Hope everyone can work this out but we had to pick the best time for the most people. We are planning to go to Rocky Point (San Carlos was thoroughly researched and nothing large enough for all of us to fit in one villa was found-maybe next year). We pared the week down to four nights and five days the last of May. It will be Tues. May 27th to check in and head for home Sat. May 31. We are considering two different homes. One is Villa De Ensueno which we can rent up to ten bedrooms and the price depends on how many rooms we rent. It is the largest home and we will rent it if everyone comes and costs &7027 for all ten bedrooms and ten bathrooms. You can see it at www.seasidemexico.com. This is a beautiful location but has a rocky beach when the tide is out. The other house is called Nirvanna and has seven bedrooms, six baths. It costs $4800 for four nights. It is four miles into Los Conchos subdivision, therefor we might run out of water if we are not careful in the afternoon. It looks like beautiful home and has a perfect beach. You can see it at www.oceano-rentals.com. If everyone goes there will be 50 people and we will need as much room as possible but there will be more people to share the cost. If not very many people go we could fit in a smaller, cheaper home but just as nice. We think we should charge per person if we divide the bedrooms up evenly, but if you want to save money maybe you could double up with another family. And we would rent less room. For example If 33 people come and we stay at Nirvanna then it will cost $145 per person(seven families) and each family will have its own room. We want everyone to be comfortable financially and physically. Any where we rent requires 50 percent down and we need to make a reservation soon, right now both places are available. Therefore we would like to know what your plans are by Nov. 1st. so we can collect the needed deposit money. Right now everyone needs a passport to go to Mexico (which costs $100 per person) but we were told by Senator John Kyle's office this will probably change and children under 14 won't need one. If everyone has to have a passport we probably won't afford the trip. Therefore we are asking for guanantee of deposit refund if the law doesn't change. We need an alternative vacation spot for those four days if we have to cancel Mexico. Your input would be lovely. This is going to be a great vacation, we are going to have a great time, we want everyone to be comfortable and give our children a gift of a lovely memory with their whole family, and grandpa too.

What is the worst thing that can happen to a hunter who doesn't get a deer? How about hitting a deer on the way home? The driver in front of me very nearly this small herd as they were trying to cross the road. I had to take a picture to sho my father and brothers who hunted all week with no success. One of these, though you can't qute make it, actually does have antlers.

We had a great visit last week with Andrew and Shannon, Jonathan and Carrie, Mom, Dad, Tara and Colin. We did not see very much of conference, but we did see quite a bit of snow, and rain, and more rain. We were so glad that everyone could make the drive up to Salt Lake. It did make Miriam more homesick than before, but she has recovered nicely with some antibiotics.

I almost forgot. The boys were invited to a Trunk-or-treat for their cousins' ward. We weren't going to go, but then one of the cousins came over and was talking about it, so my boys begged to go. Because I am such a good Dad, I let them go with their aunt (good homework time for me), so I had to get costumes in about 5 minutes. Mateo was Spiderman, and Michael was Batman. Good times, good times.

New Post

We decided that we were tired of seeing Jared's pretty face when we looked at the blog so we put up this picture just for a change! No offense to Jared or Dawn or anyone else but honestly, it's a kind of scary picture! :)