Family Mission Statement

I recently decided we should write a family mission statement. I introduced it in Family Home Evening with a basic structure in mind. I should have known better! In about 5 minutes it was total chaos as the kids shouted the things they thought were special about our family. I kind of thought it would be an ideal of how we wished we were while they thought it was a statement about who we already are. In the end, I gave in and learned a lot. I love how it turned out and we'll soon make a vinyl cutting of it for our hallway.

In this house...
We ride for the brand.
We have fun.
We play games.
We are not at our best in the morning.
We can do hard things.
We depend on each other.
We are determined.
We are LOUD.
We like to hear the truth.
We live by the spirit.
We love.

The Hair

I don't know if I've given Tucker a blessing or a curse. EVERYONE comments on his hair and I hadn't realized until recently that he was already sensitive about it. They had "crazy hair day" (dia de pelo loco) at his school last week. We talked about it and he told me he did NOT want to do it. I explained that it would be so fun and just in case he changed his mind when he saw his classmates with crazy hair, we brought along a clown wig. By the time we got to school, he was in tears. He didn't want to leave the car until I promised we wouldn't bring in the clown wig. Poor thing! Maybe he's just heard enough laughing after stunts from his older sister like this:

I wouldn't do crazy hair either!

The Fish

Recently Emmaline went to an "Intro to Scuba" class. She was, of course, the youngest and smallest in the class- but she did great! After class her teacher said, "You are a fish!" She loved it and is really looking forward to saving enough money to take the full certification class.

Top 10 of 2011

In keeping with our family tradition, here are the top 10 events for us in 2011 in no particular order....

1. Savannah made the JV soccer team.
2. Tyler got to begin installation on his second temple.
3. Emmaline got a starring role in her school's Gala.
4. Oliver got his orange belt in karate.
5. Tucker learned to speak Spanish at his Spanish preschool.
6. Charlotte ran another marathon (her 3rd).
7. Megan made it another year!
8. Emmaline joined High School Cross Country and ran 6 miles for the first time.
9. Savannah learned to do the hurdles and did really well.
10. Oliver got his first set of stitches.

Merry Christmas!!

The Ugly Sweater

Emmaline and her friends had their own "Ugly Christmas Sweater" day at school. One of her friend's mom has a whole collection. We searched everywhere and this was the ugliest we could find. Of course, she is so cute, she can make any sweater look good. There is a teacher at the school that Emmaline doesn't like so much. She happened to wear a particularly ugly sweater the same day as the girls. Emmaline couldn't help but whisper to her friend, "I guess Miss ______ got the memo!" Silly girl!

O Christmas Tree!

We have such a hard time in our family choosing a tree.

Some of us like Charlie Brown trees.

Others like trees that are a little more full.

Some just like to hide in the trees.

Others just want to choose any old tree and get out of the cold!

We decided to let Tyler choose the tree.

I think he did pretty well. This is the first time I can remember a tree that we bought making the whole house smell like evergreen. Guess we've been buying the wrong kind because that's the thing that I always loved about Christmas when we were growing up... the whole house smelling like a tree. Now to find time to decorate it!