2. GOOD year for fashion-- on those special occasions when Brooke can choose her own ensembles and shoes.
3. GOOD year for big birthdays. Brooke turned 6 (which makes her a big girl & no longer a toddler). Claire turned 10 (double-digits, baby!), Jack turned 13 and Sonja celebrated the big 4-0!
4. BAD year for big birthday parties. Brookie chose to have a small family party in Oklahoma City, Claire chose to celebrate her birthday by going rock climbing, and Jack celebrated his birthday by meeting his favorite photographer. Sonja decided things are crazy enough without adding a birthday party 10 days before Christmas.
5. GOOD year for being a man: Jack and David used a chain saw for the first time to cut down a tree in our yard.
6. BAD year for common sense: Jack and David used a chain saw. What??
7. GOOD year for answered prayers. When we found a stray miniature poodle, we didn’t know that Claire had been praying for a dog. Leave it to God to answer her prayers with a flea-infested, one-eyed poodle with bad breath! He was also already house-trained, crate-trained, & very affectionate. Most importantly, we are not allergic to him!
8. BAD year for playing indoor hide and seek because even if our dog is not with Sonja when she hides, he will lead the children straight to her. He has an amazing sense of smell!
9. BAD year for seeing celebrities: even though George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, & Juliette Lewis were in Bartlesville filming a movie, the closest we got to them was hearing about them from our plumbers who helped install 1950’s appliances in one of the houses where the movie (August: Osage County) was filmed.
10. GOOD year for water activities: Claire was baptized in June, Brookie learned to swim in July, & we got to spend a few days at Lake Murray in Ardmore where Sonja grew up.
Merry Christmas, Everyone!
