Dear Family and Friends:
I don’t know if a year has ever flown by as fast as this one has for me. Our neighbor showed up on our doorstep a few
weeks ago with a pinewood derby car kit in hand for Hayden to build with his
dad. When I saw what he had dropped off,
I asked Cameron why on earth his troop had decided to have ANOTHER pinewood
derby this year (for heaven’s sakes… when you consider all the stress and
anxiety this event causes for the competitive dad’s in our neighborhood, isn’t
once a year enough already?) Cameron
informed me that it had actually been a year since the last derby, and while I
stopped short of accusing him of lying to me, I just knew that he was wrong.
However, further investigation on my part left me humbled and him proven
right. An entire year has somehow passed
me by in what feels like a few short months, and here we are again, building
yet another pinewood derby car and praying (as we do every year) that it, at
least, falls in the middle of the pack.
We are realists at our house, and when it comes to this annual event, we
are more than happy to celebrate an average finish.
Austin is huge!
The boy is 6’3”. He towers over
me and, while this makes it a little awkward when I have to discipline him, he
is thankfully a really good kid and doesn’t give me much grief. One of his life goals right now is to be
taller than his dad and he is so frustrated that they have been locked in a tie
for the past several months. He desperately
wants just one little half of one little inch.
So close… and yet so far away. He
is dating and driving and currently looking for a job to support his new
lifestyle. He washed windows with his
friends all summer and earned enough money to convince himself that he was
rich. Then, he discovered what it really
costs to fill a tank with gas and take a date to dinner. Hence, the job hunt (and if you need your
windows washed, I know four teenage boys that would love to help you out). Austin is doing great in school. He especially loves language and
history. He decided to take early
morning seminary this year so he would have room in his schedule for French AND Chinese. He also opted to take AP World History as one
of his electives because AP US History was his favorite class last year and he
didn’t want to miss out on another fun-filled history class (did I really just
describe a history class as fun-filled?).
He loves to ski and is hoping a new job won’t keep him from hitting the
slopes most Saturdays this winter (real life can be such a bummer
sometimes). He is still playing lacrosse
and is now a long pole defender. This
has been a great position for him, and he is having fun pushing the other teams
around a bit.
Ashleigh is a full-fledged teenager and her room
screams this at me every time I dare to enter.
Clothes and makeup and jewelry and shoes and lotions and polishes fill
every square inch. Sometimes, I get to
missing her floor, and on those days, I pile everything on her bed so I can
remember how the carpet looks and feels (and ensure that she has to deal with
all of her “stuff” before she goes to sleep that night). This does not endear me to her, but what is a
mother to do? I have even tried to motivate
her with some subtle (and some not so subtle) references to the TV series, “Hoarders,”
and somehow still, she is not inspired.
Thank goodness she is such a gem in so many ways that more than make up
for the clutter in her bedroom (and thank goodness that she can’t opt out of me
being her mom). Ashleigh is thoughtful
and kind and has a great heart. She is a
dedicated student and works so hard to always do her best in school. She loves to sing. All the time.
In her bedroom, in the car, in the kitchen… this girl is always singing. So, I can’t
figure out why she gets embarrassed when a song from my teenage years comes on the radio (i.e. “I Wanna Dance With
Somebody” by Whitney Houston), and I roll the windows down and turn the radio
up. Why, when she loves to sing SO much,
does this consistently lead to her melting into her seat and hiding her face in
shame? I like to pretend that I don’t
know why (and again… I’m so glad she can’t opt out of the mom she got stuck
with). She is still clogging and sewing
and pinning things on Pinterest. She is
growing desperate for a cell phone, but not quite desperate enough to finish
her Personal Progress, which is what is required for her to have a cell phone
in our home.
Hayden is growing like a weed. He is in fifth grade and, while I honestly
can’t imagine sending him to junior high in a year-and-a-half, it will be here
before I know it. Hayden is our in-house
worrier, especially when it comes to things like robbers, earthquakes,
tornadoes and fires. Not a night goes by
that he does not ask us if we have locked all the doors. Even when I tell him that we always check the doors and he doesn’t
need to worry about it, he still insists on asking us every single night. He has a large double bed of his own, but his
favorite place to sleep is on Hadley’s floor because it is right across the
hall from Mom and Dad. Even then, he is
very particular about where he sleeps on her floor, and when I asked him why,
he told me he thought that exact spot would be the safest place to be if an
earthquake happened during the night.
Poor kid! His friends are
probably worried about what they are going to eat for lunch tomorrow, and he is
wondering if a Hurricane can reach us this far inland. Hayden also worries about doing what is right
and works really hard to please Cameron and me. As a result of this, he earns more “golden buffalos”
than the rest of our kids combined. If
you are wondering what a golden buffalo is, it is an award that children in our
home earn if they go above and beyond what is expected of them. It usually consists of a can of soda from Mom
and Dad’s stash, and lots and lots of praise for the recipient child. If you are wondering why it is called a golden buffalo, I can only say that I was in a
goofy mood one night last year when this award was presented for the first time
in our home. Enough said. Hayden is still nuts for BYU and all sports
in general. He broke his thumb two weeks
into fall lacrosse and had to miss most of the season. He was so sad about this, but has since
recovered and been given the green light to ski this winter, so life goes
on. He is our most daring skier (which
is ironic, considering the fears he has of other things) and is not intimidated
by any hill (even a double black diamond!).
I think it boils down to bragging rights for him. He is also working hard to become a future
American Ninja Warrior. This means that
he is constantly scaling fences and swing-sets and brick walls (with his shirt
off, whenever possible). If you haven’t
seen the TV show, then you will just have to use your imagination.
Ellie is as strong-willed as ever. She has such an independent and determined
spirit. She is one of those people that
might just change the world if she can channel her gifts, talents and
determination in the right direction.
She is also one of those people that might just make her mom’s hair turn
gray and fall out if she channels all of that gusto in another direction. We are working on channeling. One of
the things I love about Ellie is that she gives very little heed to the
opinions of others and is not easily swayed by peer pressure. She makes up her mind about something and
sets out to do it her way every time.
She is not afraid to voice her opinion and be herself. She is very particular about what she wears
(careful to make sure it is modest but insistent that it be comfortable) and
often struggles with the “I have nothing to wear even though my closet is full
of clothes” syndrome. She makes her own
lunches for school and I have never seen anything quite like what she comes up
with day after day. Most days, she chops
her own lettuce and tomatoes and cucumbers (and whatever else she can find in
the garden or fridge), and makes herself a green salad with ranch dressing. If she has time, she fills a small Tupperware
with carrots or a chopped bell pepper as a side dish and is good to go. I wonder what the other 7-year-olds at the
lunch table think of her meal every day, and I doubt that she is getting a lot
of offers to trade. But, as I already
stated, that wouldn’t matter to Ellie, and she probably wouldn’t be interested
in trading anyway. Ellie will turn
eight next summer and have the opportunity to be baptized. This topic came up recently and Cameron asked
her if she was ready for this big step in her life. She responded, “Yep! I’m ready.
I have been practicing holding my breath.” I’m pretty sure we are more interested in her
practicing choosing the right, but holding your breath is good too, I guess.
Hadley is our little peanut and she is doted on by
pretty much everyone in this house. As
much as I don’t want her to be spoiled, she melts my heart almost every day
with her sweetness. She comes into my
room early most mornings and wants to snuggle.
If she has her blanket, her favorite stuffed animal and her mom, she is
a happy girl (and, if I am being honest, I love that she is a mama’s girl, even
though I sometimes wish she would let someone else be of service to her… she really
has been so good for my heart these last few years). A few days ago, she came to me in a panic and
exclaimed, “Something is REALLY
wrong, Mom! My thumb is ALL red!” After taking a look, I pointed out to her
that she had been drinking Kool-Aid and that this was the thumb she generally liked
to suck. Relief washed over her face as
she put the pieces together and realized that she did not have a terminal
illness, just an affinity for Kool-Aid and thumb-sucking. She loves her preschool and playgroup and
little dance class every week. As sweet
as she can be, Hadley can throw a fit and pout with the best of them. A few months ago, she was complaining that
she had no shoes to wear to church (never mind that she probably has ten pairs
of shoes at any given time). When I told her to find her silver sandals,
she got upset and said that they would not match her pink
dress. I told her that they would be fine because silver goes with
everything. Through her tears, and in complete disgust, she cried,
"What do they even match? My zipper?!?" Wow.
What was I even thinking?
Two weeks ago, I was driving down the freeway
listening to Christmas music on the radio (don’t tell Cameron; he is opposed to
Christmas music before Thanksgiving). My
heart was heavy as I was thinking about so many of our friends and loved ones
that are carrying seemingly impossible burdens right now. My heart was heavy with some of my own
burdens as well. In the midst of the
heaviness, a familiar song came on the radio and the words of that song pierced
my heavy heart and filled me with gladness; gladness that I desperately needed
to feel that day; gladness that I hope to feel every day. These are the words I heard:
“Joy to the World; the Lord is Come!”
Words of exclamation;
Words of celebration that Jesus had finally come to
a world that so desperately needed Him to come;
Words that reminded my heart to be glad and to
celebrate because He came then,
And He will come again.
Joy to the World!
The Lord will come.
Merry
Christmas,
Cameron,
Amy, Austin, Ashleigh, Hayden, Ellie and Hadley
