Bring on the holidays.

December was a rough month.  After hosting a million people for Thanksgiving (plus the fact that I was still getting my feet under me in a new and demanding church calling), we were all feeling a bit overwhelmed.  Every Christmas my kids get a new ornament to add to their collection - usually each daughter gets her own version of the same type of ornament.  For example, one year they each got an ornament of the first letter of their name, another year they got a girl ice-skating.  Some years it is obvious which ornament belongs to which child - like the year they each got an angel ornament bearing the month of their birth.  Other years, I buy four similar ornaments and assign them (not arbitrarily) to the daughter of my choice.  This year I made the mistake of letting them express their opinions on which ornament they would prefer.  I had purchased four handmade wooden girl ornaments, two blonds and two brunettes.  Of course, they didn't catch the hair color hint and all wanted the one with the green dress.  Or the purple one.  I can't remember.  All I remember is that what had become a tender tradition turned into an all-out brawl(BYU bowl style).  At least we squeezed a few smiles out of a couple of the girls.  Mostly Eve.

 Even our traditional family pose in front of freshly decorated tree picture ended up with just Eve.  What a sport.
Next, Anna had an orchestra/choir concert where she performed a solo.  Initially, when she came home from school to tell me about it, I couldn't help but slip in a "Wow, Anna, that's pretty great!  Especially considering you've only practiced one time this whole semester."  She got the joke and chuckled with me.  It's rough when you can be awesome without even trying.

  Lily had a music program, too.  It was pretty entertaining, but Tim and I couldn't help but notice that not a single song even mentioned Jesus.  So much for a well-rounded holiday program.

                                             What a smile this girl has - I love her spirit.