I tried to get each of the kids to pick their
single favorite event from this past year for this card, but I found that each
of them created lists of no less than 12 all-time favorites—Cousins’ Camp, the
Mormon Battalion (San Diego), any of our seemingly 4000 trips to Disneyland and
finally, finding the courage to ride CALIFORNIA SCREAMIN! (Tower of Terror is
still at LEAST a couple years away). They love the beach and are starting to
“hit the waves”. The drive-in movies were a big hit as was our trip to Utah
complete with tubing on Utah Lake and hiking the “Y”. But even after trips to
Yellowstone and Sea World, they all had a twinkle in their eyes as they talked
about their Mommy/Daddy dates.
Carson (8) got baptized and spent time in Cub
Scouts, soccer, basketball, tennis, karate and piano. He is definitely a
Mortensen-jack of all trades. He has worked very hard this year at learning all
the different types of clouds. No one has ever eaten a hot fudge brownie a la
mode as fast as Carson-not even Amy! He also loves going on any water ride
anywhere, as long as I am there to sit in front of him. If you need someone to
play a game of chess with, he’s your man.
Emma (6) loves her dance studio and also gets to
sing with their choir from time to time. Her favorite is definitely having her
nails painted. It should be noted that she has an odd fascination with sporks
from Costco. Her proudest moment this year had to be while trick or treating
dressed up as Hermione Grainger. As we were making the rounds, the kids would
shy away from any house that was remotely dark or had a scary “thing” in the
yard. One particular house had a single person dressed up as a monster,
standing statuesque in the yard. After some coaxing we ushered the kids slowly
up the driveway. When the monster turned his head and looked at Wyatt, he cut
and ran! Emma however held her ground and when the monster started for her, she
whipped out her wand and cast her finest spell. The monster shot backwards and
ended up on his back, frozen solid. She was sooo proud. Well done my dear, well
done!
Wyatt (6) spends his time with soccer, basketball,
tennis and karate. When Amy asks him to
do something, he often responds, “Ay Sensai”. I was hoping that this year he
would learn to not yell out his movie critiques in the theater. Oh well, maybe
next year. What time is left over he likes to say things to people that are usually
100% true, and totally embarrassing. Gotta love that kid!
Owen is two and definitely acts the part. We are hoping
that he is ready to be potty trained as every time he needs to go, he hides
under the table. He is always finding owies that need band aids, his favorite
color is pink (much to my chagrin), and he loves to have his feet tickled when
he is tired. He is completely convinced that he can and should be doing
everything that anyone else does. He is a little bit (grossly understated!) of
a daddy’s boy which makes me super happy in the middle of the night!
Amy started teaching again this year (twice!). Her
job hunt was one of the little miracles that we were blessed with this year. It
is fun to see how much she loves being in the classroom with the kids. Teaching
is definitely her thing. I don’t know where she gets the energy to do all she
does. She is spectacular!
I spend most of my free time explaining to Wyatt
why we shouldn’t do something and answering Carson’s endless trivia questions. Maybe
the best part of being Dad is that I usually have a front row seat to the
circus.
All of this reflection really helps make it the
“Most Wonderful Time of the Year”. Looking back I am amazed at the changes and
growth that we don’t always see in the day to day whirlwind. It helps us to
count our blessings and recognize the miracles that happen more frequently that
we notice. May you have a Merry Christmas and a wonderful new year!
The
Mortensen’s amyminette.blogspot.com
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
