A year in 6 lives -2008

(we don’t use names on our blog so look to the right and you will see our pictures and our nicknames so you know who I am talking about in my letter) .

Let’s just say our year started out with a BANG literally. My prince charming (okay so he is mom’s but he is my first one too) was in a car accident and if you don’t believe in miracles if you see my dad he is one! If you have any doubt God Our Eternal Father hears and answers prayers with the whisperings from the Holy Ghost or miracles occur in our day, you should talk to him he has quite a testimony to bare. He works hard and plays hard and that is one of my favorite things about my daddy. He might come home exhausted but he ALWAYS …ALWAYS takes time for us. Playing legos or games with the Brain, star wars with the Laid Back One, chess or sports with the Teen, and what do you play with a Princess….princesses of course!!! Before all of the fun mentioned above begins he ALWAYS…ALWAYS walks in the door and says, “Where is the most important girl in the world?“ and he goes and finds Mom and gives her a hug and kiss! They are best friends you know and I can tell you from experience that once they become a united front on something there is NOTHING that can tear them apart -NOTHING!
I have a best friend too…The Brain! We however can become easily divided but we always come back together to go on grand adventures together! He started kindergarten this year and is learning so much. He loves his teacher and quotes her frequently. He has also been teaching me how to write my letters and spell some words like CAT and BOOK too! He is one smart boy and Mom is great at channeling that mind of his toward good. Mom is used to him building things with legos or kinex. She even has gotten used to him creating birds our of sticks, rocks, pinecones and found feathers or creating other flying devices. She has gotten used to him making droids out of twist ties and turning his hands into robots, transformers, spiderman or any other thing his mind can imagine. Kindergarten however has brought a whole new world to his imaginings. He has found that the construction paper and large rolls of paper with tape, crayons, markers, staples, glue and other miscellaneous craft items can become anything and our home has become crafting central. If any of you know my parents you know where he gets his imagination from but in the department of crafting items you can look straight to Mom. She loves crafting with kids and has always had an abundance of materials available for when inspiration strikes. With Mom the inspiration is occasional this however is not the case with the Brain it is daily and if you don’t believe me come over sometime around 4pm it looks like a craft store exploded in our home. We have hats, solar systems bigger than our table, he makes books-boy do we have books , to name a few The Life Cycle of a Pumpkin, How to make a Snowman, the Solar System, Seasons, On the Go the list can go on and on all hand crafted by him, we have pictures lining his bedroom walls large and small. He is ALWAYS thinking…ALWAYS!
The Brain is ALWAYS thinking well we have a teen in our house and he is going through that not thinking phase this year and the growing thing too! He has grown not just up as in height this year but as a young man. It is amazing how trials can shape you and this fall was a shaping moment. When faced with a trial he was awe inspiring. He went from a goofy 14 year old to someone who showed great maturity, compassion, empathy in face of tragedy. Mom truly enjoyed watching the touching moments with him and his soccer teammates/friends as they rallied around each other, to lift each other up, to strengthen each other. I am sure it is something none of the boys will ever forget. They might have gotten a low blow early in their soccer season but that strength , the unity that came from tragedy lead to triumph. They went undefeated 13-0-0 scored 69 goals with 4 goals allowed. Mom also scored 3 new sons out of the deal and for them she is grateful! It is always nice to hear, “Mommy!” and now she has 3 new voices to hear it from whenever they see her. The Teen is still goofy, the joker in the family and a freshman this year. As I said earlier he played on the JV team soccer team but he also had the opportunity to help out the freshman team. It was one busy soccer season for him and us but we love it. He is enjoying high school with the pep rallies, off campus lunches, Friday night football, and all the other happenings of high school life and to help make right choices when there are plenty of opportunities for wrong he goes to early morning seminary(scripture study at church) at 6:20 am for an hour before school. It has been nice to see his commitment to going and enjoying his time there and the knowledge he receives. Mom says it is like putting the Armor of God on everyday before school. I am not the early morning type but I am sure my other brothers and myself will do the same thing. The Joker also enjoys young men’s(he has the best leaders and daddy is one of them) at church and is working on his Eagle Scout. He is a lot like daddy he works hard but he plays harder and he ALWAYS takes time for family activities ALWAYS (usually being the biggest kid of all)!
I have talked about the biggest brother and the brainy brother and now I will tell you about my littlest brother. He is mom’s Laid Back Boy. He goes with the flow around here and is mine and the Brains shadow except for when Mom goes hunting for him and he is ALWAYS snuggled up in her bed ,blankie in hand, thumb in mouth rubbing his silkie on his nose, sleeping- ALWAYS. I think he sleeps as much as the teen does these days. When he is awake we have fun playing together when the Brain is gone at school. And when I am gone to preschool(except when Mommy herself teaches me) Mom has the unusual treat of having fun with him all on his own. He likes to play with blocks and his dinosaurs(they even used to be the teens) With me the Princess he plays kitchen, we cook ourselves into a frenzy(even borrowing mom’s stuff sometimes). He is very smart my little brother, do you know he can read even the same stuff the Brain reads. He has known what all of the ABC’s look like and sound like since he was 2. If you think kids do not pay attention he is a perfect example of someone who takes everything in without you even realizing he is doing it. The Laid Back Boy has also become very funny always doing crazy faces and stunts to get us to laugh and we do. Our most favorite thing for him to do is his silly face but besides that he is quite the little break dancer. He is so strong for his size and Mom is always surprised of his new moves he does right in the middle of any open floor and I mean any(think grocery store, restaurant, the school)UGH! With all that dancing going on like I said he gets tired and yes if Mom is busy it is her bed he goes to for sleeping but if Mom happens to be sitting down it is her he finds and so do we all to be quite honest. You don’t think that someone has four sides until you have seen my Mom cuddle us all at movie night. I don’t know how she does it but she does and we all love it!!! Mom has helped me to this point of the letter and now it is Daddy’s turn to help.
If I am the princess, Mommy’s the Queen! She decides to let Daddy get up first most mornings, and you know why? She keeps her bed warm for us! That’s right, we ALWAYS come downstairs and head straight for her, whether it’s for a cuddle or a tickle, or maybe just to talk (sometimes we let her know that we are ready for breakfast, NOW J). Warming beds isn’t Mommy’s only trick! Sometimes we have so much energy around here that we don’t know what to do with it and it starts to spill out all over the place (the Joker calls that wrestling). When it does, Mom is right there to help us do something better with that energy, whether she’s teaching us to work together to get a job done or she’s helping us learn a new craft to make, she is ALWAYS ready to engage our minds and hearts ALWAYS. When we’re sad, she ALWAYS finds that special thing that makes us laugh and laugh, whether it’s making fun of us (when she knows we’re faking) or tickling and playing with us, Mom can make anything feel better! Ya know, it’s funny, she always says she can’t sing and Dad is the real musician in the house, but she is ALWAYS at the piano, plucking away at a church Hymn until she knows it, and NOTHING can stop her until she’s got it NOTHING except blood or fire. Then comes the best part, she’ll sit us down with her and teach us the words to sing next to her! I think I’m going to be just like Mom when I grow up, and Dad seems to be fine with that!
NOTHING in our life comes before the love of our Savior. We are ALWAYS trying our hardest to follow His teachings and His example ALWAYS! In this Holiday Season this is our wish for you as well find your Saviors love for you ,discover the path Heavenly Father has laid before you and wants you to take, and as you are walking down that path ALWAYS listen to the whisperings of the Holy Ghost ALWAYS(I hear it can come in handy sometimes) !!!

Love, The Princess and the rest of my family too!