Hello Everyone!
I’m in charge of the Christmas Newsletter this year. Mostly this is because I keep Mommy too busy, work keeps Daddy too busy, and Ellie is too busy telling everybody what to do. Yep! This is Ben.
I’m still in my rookie year in this tabernacle of clay, but at 9 months, I’m getting pretty good at crawling, standing, taking a couple of steps, (and a few unmentionables). I hear Mommy saying something about having 2 walking kids. She says something about being outnumbered. Personally, I don’t think she needs to worry. All she has to do is hold me all day. I’d be totally okay with that! Daddy and Mommy call me their “Koala Kid”. They say this because I hang on to them like the cute little marsupials (yes Mommy’s in charge of my vocabulary gain). Of course I do! With all the times I make them pick up what I drop, I’d better be good at hanging on! One of my other great talents is being sweet and snuggly. Everyone tells me what a good-natured boy I am! I’m pretty much always happy and smiling (except when I don’t get fed fast enough or Mommy puts me down when I don’t want to be!)! I’ve also learned a great new phrase: “Uh-oh!” This little word comes in handy when I see my sister coming, I drop something, or I see something new happening!
Ellie is my favorite big sister (she told me I had to say that). She is starting to break the “baby code of communication” which states that we babies are not allowed to answer questions in a way that makes sense to grown ups. Dad seems to be enjoying this. He still tries to get her to make more sense. In her efforts to completely control Dad’s sensibilities, Ellie is teasing him enough without breaking the code too much. Ellie’s favorite way of controlling Dad is singing with him. Dad gets so silly about her singing that he can’t stay mad at her for long (even when she pushes me down—that really bugs Mommy and Dad).
Ellie is presently fascinated with movies and her toy dinosaur and alligator. Everyone still is waiting for her hair to get longer than Daddy’s was at her age (2 1/2), but everyone loves her curls. She is constantly cracking everyone up with the funny things she says and does. She does pick on me a little, and steal toys from me; but she does treat me well, too. She gives me hugs and kisses and plays with me. Her favorite game is to dress me up. The game goes this way: I sit on the floor and Ellie pulls all the clothes out of the laundry and puts them on me. Once, Mommy didn’t know I was under the clothes and almost picked me up with the laundry and put me in the basket.
She really is a great big sister, though. With all she does to terrify Mommy, I have got it made! The best way she scares Mommy is by jumping to people. She started this in the swimming pool jumping off the edge to anyone who held out arms to her. Then she started jumping off the couch, then chairs, then the stage. The higher the precipice, the more Mommy freaks!
Speaking of Mommy—boy! is she great! She feeds me, like, all the time!! I know she thinks I eat from her too much, but I only eat from her a little at a time. That way I can keep her from getting to all those annoying, daily chores and stay in bed with her and Dad all night long. Now isn’t that what mommies want? Mommy really wants a house. She says that Dad has till the lease is up in July to find a new job for next year, or we move into a house here in Salt Lake.
Mommy is having fun with her hair now that it’s short. She’s also being more active with her art stuff than she’s been in a while. We have a beautiful stained-glass picture painted on our windows that Mommy made. She also made all the cards we sent out. I think she’s got this mommying thing down. She takes us for walks every day and plays with us. One thing she doesn’t get to do much is work out. She especially loves yoga. With all her yoga videos and the yoga catalog she gets, Dad calls her “Yogi Sarah.” Mommy was also called into our ward’s Relief Society presidency. She is having fun with this calling.
Dad spends way too much time at work. He loves teaching but this year, with 27-30 kids, his patience is being tried. He still rides his bike to work and has found a new joy while riding—books on disk! He listens to all the books that he wouldn’t have or take the time to read. He finished The Silmarillion, The Two Towers, The Return of the King, The Great Train Robbery, Eaters of the Dead, and The Bear and the Dragon just to name a few. He is having lots of fun.
Dad finally is getting his window washing business going. He has now purchased a ladder and has made the money to cover all his costs. It’s nice for him to get to do some physical labor and get profit from it. He hopes that his business will keep picking up. Dad is still the Young Men’s president (presently over 4 boys) and loves the boys. They are good examples to me, and they like to play with me.
Well, that pretty well sums up the year. The best part for me was definitely the part where I was born. But this is the part when we celebrate another baby’s birth. Mommy and Dad try to teach me about Him. We know that He lives! We know that He loves us! We know that through the Atonement and Resurrection, the Baby whose birth we celebrate made possible our eternal lives. Let’s live so that we can live eternally as family and friends!
Sincerely,
Marc, Sarah, Elisabeth, and Benjamin
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