What do John the Baptist and the 80's have in common?

Written by Ben: Family Home Evening at our house is a fairly unpredictable. We go from a lesson to sometimes random spurts of dancing, songs with no meaning or melody, dog piles on a family member, or games where we make up rules on the fly. This lesson was about John the Baptist and what his role was in preparing the way for Christ. It was a good lesson and the kids did a good job at paying attention. We explained a few points and asked the kids a few questions. We gave a few stories about when we were younger. This led to more questions about when we were younger. That led to a discussion around challenges we saw in the 80s. That led to the music and fashions of the age and the crazy things the local girls would do with their hair. Remember the bangs that went straight up in the air? We ended family night and started cleaning up thinking the kids were getting ready for bed. After about 30 minutes this is what came down stairs.

I remember the weird hair but not so much black lipstick. Tiffany insisted that she just had to let them experience the big hair of the 80's.

They smelled of hair spray and attitude. We have explained the "Me Generation" to them a few times. This was their interpretation.

Obviously, I was not very excited about this. A Dad has enough to worry about without his tween daughters wearing the Cindy Lauper makeup and oozing with attitude. I was surprised at how easily Tiffany reverted back to her teens days. I don't remember the attitude or dark make up but love can do some crazy things with the memory over time. I always think of Tiffany wearing summer dresses and teasing the boys into thinking they had a chance.

Here is to hoping these looks are fake and are many years off of being a reality.

Emma's Valentines Dance

Key: Purple=Emma, Red=Mom

Emma's 6th grade dance was quite an event. They prepared for many months for this one special day...learning dances and signing dance cards.
At the last minute, they invited parents to come and "watch" the dance. I gave Emma the choice, telling her that I would only come if she wanted me to. (I was REALLY hoping she wouldn't mind me there). Emma was very sweet, with her great attitude, she said, "I want you to be there...you don't embarrass me at all!" YIPPEE!!!

VERY strange pic! Lots of CRAZY FUN and JUMPING that day!

YMCA! (I got to choreograph this one!)
Emma made up a very cute dance to YMCA. Her teacher liked it and she was asked to teach it to the entire 6th grade. At the dance, when YMCA song began, Emma ran right up to the front of the line to lead her dance. It was very cute choreography!

Me and some of my AWESOME friends, from right: Kaylie,Torrie, Me, Morgan, Abby, and at the top, Maddie
Emma has friends wherever she goes, boys and girls, young and old.

Hairflip, and POSE!

As I was helping to decorate for the dance, a few of the 6th grade girls sneaked into the gym to help us set up. One of the girls told me that this was the best day of her whole life. Many of the girls dressed up really special for this dance. The boys, on the other hand, did not. Most of them were trying to act as if they wanted to be anywhere BUT at that dance.

I'm not sure what line dance this is but it was fun!

My favorite moment of the dance was when Emma was dancing "The Cotton-Eyed Joe". It was Emma and about 5 other boys all dancing in a circle. I got a picture, but they were dancing so fast that the picture came out as a big blur. Emma can have fun with anyone!

Refreshments were donuts and soda pop. One poor boy was overwhelmed by the amount and variety of donuts. He ate and ate and ate. Halfway through the dance I saw him behind the refreshment table, lying on the floor in fetal position....moaning and holding his stomach. I was trying to feel sorry for him, until he told me he lost count after 8 donuts. His teacher found him and kicked him back out on the dance floor. Poor kid. I felt sorry for his dance partner. No one likes to dance with someone who's green.

I had a special part in the dance too. A few weeks earlier, I was invited in to teach "The Electric Slide" to the 6th grade. It was more fun than I should admit. I could dance for hours and not get tired of it. I kept telling myself, "This is Emma's dance, not yours." As I watched the dance, I DID NOT dance.....but I really wanted to.

I was glad to be there. Many of my orchestra kids were in attendance. It was fun to have them come up and talk to me during the dance. (I wasn't expecting this because I'm just an adult). One boy (not in orchestra) tried to strike up a conversation with me...asking me about how long I've played in an orchestra, how he played the bass guitar, what he was going to register for in middle school....and on and on. His partner finally dragged him away. Poor guy just loved to chat. He was quite the conversationalist. He even got up on a step to talk to me eye-to-eye. Cute kids. I hope middle school doesn't ruin any of their niceness.

The Dance was so................. Fun. I'm super excited for future dances! We did the "box-step waltz" the "boot scooin' boogie", "Good times" The "snowball game" , "limbo" ,"macarana" "chicken dance", the "hokey pokey" "and a lot of free dances. in my top three highlights of Elementary School!

Happy Sunshine

Because winter can be so cold and dreary, the days of sunshine are a treasure! Mari (true to my own heart) has a favorite place on a sunny day.

Any sunny day you will find Mari relaxing on the floor in the sun. She stays there until the sun moves. Any of you that know Mari, know that Mari doesn't stay still for long...unless she's sitting in the sun.

Mari is solar-powered (just like me). My favorite place is this very spot on the floor. I especially love it when we both lie in the sun and soak up the rays together. It's easy to close my eyes, feel the rays, and imagine I'm on a beach somewhere. The other kids love this sunny spot too. Sometimes they all try to squeeze into this spot. I'm thankful they all love the simple, beautiful, free things of life.

BYU Basketball game

Every year Ben tries to take us to BYU basketball game. We thought we'd open it up to the family to see if anyone would like to come. We had quite a crowd!

Kade and Jaron brought really cool Cougar hats...perfect for photo-opps!

Poor Jacob was really nervous most of the game...we were just too high. He was sure that he was going to fall. He kept showing us the court-side seats (the folding chairs) and telling us that THAT is where he should be sitting.

Nate and Eliza started the game sitting together, but it wasn't long before the kids worked their way in between them. Who could blame them: Really cool Uncle Nate and Super Sweet Eliza...

I think Nate has a "Where did all these kids come from?" look. Christie and I just laughed and told him, (looking at our husbands) "We ask ourselves that every day!" Actually, Nate and Eliza were really good sports. Whenever a kid would climb on their lap or sit by them, Eliza would squeeze them and say, "I LOVE this!" and Nate would smile as if saying "what happened to my date?".

True Blue and Happy Too!

Mari looking very much like her cousin AJ

Wonderful Keith and Christie!

Ben looks great. I look weird! I don't think BYU blue would be a good haircolor choice for me...

After the game, Eliza and Jennie suggested JDogs hotdogs. The food was so delicious that I forgot to take pictures.

After dinner, we took a tour of Jennies apartment. Jennie is a good housekeeper!

I love family. It is so much fun to spend time together. To all of our family that was not able to come, we missed you. Please come with us next year!

Dedicated to Ben

Make-Up

For Emma's 12th Birthday, Ben sponsored a makeup session for both of us at the Dillards (Lancome) makeup counter. (I don't have pictures because it's not cool to take pictures of this process in the middle of the mall) Just picture 2 very stylish ladies fussing over this adorable 12 year old girl. Emma loved every minute of it. (I had my makeup done too but it's old stuff to me...I just loved watching Emma!)

Because these makeup artists are salesman, I recognized all their tricks. Emma, on the other hand, did not. In fact, she told them, "Wow! You guys are being so nice to us...giving us all this free stuff and all". (All the free stuff they offered was only when they thought we were going to buy all $600 worth of makeup they were showing us.) When I told them that we were only going to buy a few things, their attitude towards us changed instantly and the free things disappeared (imagine that!).

Nevertheless, we did what we came to do (Makeup), and ended up with some really nice products. It was fun and informative. I learned some new makeup techniques that I hadn't known before, and Emma learned that "less is more" when it comes to makeup. She doesn't need makeup to be beautiful....but it sure is fun to put it on! She is beautiful either way!
I'm thankful for my Emma! We have fun together!