New Way of Communicating

Since Brian, Emilie and Matthew are far away from many friends and family, they decided to try a new way of communicating. (Matthew is still working on word communication, so this blog is more a parental endeavor than a family one.)

Brian is doing well in Texas. He just completed his National Registry Exam and will be starting the trauma/combat portion of his training this week. He misses the family, but feels that this is where he should be right now.

Emilie is enjoying her time with her sister Mary. Four children under the age of four in one house make the days busy and the nights highly anticipated child-free times. Emilie started learning to racewalk last week, partially to get out of the house and partially to become more physically fit. It may look weird, but racewalking is quite a workout--she has sore shins, quads and hips. Hooray! Emilie has also been helping the missionaries teach a Brazilian family the gospel. Practicing Portuguese has been great, and helping the missionaries is a testimony building experience. She is also helping the family learn English.

Matthew is so cute! He is working very hard at running, in order to keep up with his cousins. He is trying out words and sounds, but has a particular fascination with trucks, cars, horses and dogs. He still hasn't said "Mom," instead preferring the word "aaaaah" to indicate all things relating to Emilie. He is quite stubborn and seems to think that using words with mom is unnecessary, since she is supposed to read his mind. Emilie is continually amazed at how quickly he learns and how expressive he is--he definitely knows what he wants.