Merry Christmas 2013

 BRADSHAW FAMILY TOP TEN FROM 2013:

10) Sign seen on a Phoenix, AZ freeway in October: “Winter Driving Conditions: Drive with Care!”  Outside temperature noted: 86 degrees.  I know people acclimatize in AZ, but that’s just ridiculous.  (Other 2013 travels: Redwoods, Oregon Coast, Bear Lake, Caribbean cruise [sans children], Idaho-sers, and Bryce Canyon.  We live in a beautiful world!)

9) Adam: How old will I be when I’m an uncle?  Will I be 16?  6?  7?

Sarah: Definitely no on the 6 or 7.  Maybe on the 16.

Adam: Argh!  I want to be young!

Sarah: Adam, 16 is still young.  You will be a young uncle.

Adam: A young uncle?  Will that make me a yuncle?

8) Lucy (while trying to list all my siblings in order as fast as she could): Matt, Micah, Becca, Sarah, Katie, Camille, Uncle Shark-Bait Ooh,Ah,Ah, Seth, and David.  (Long story short, when the kids saw Jacob’s massive shark-bite-looking scar on his leg, he told them they could call him Uncle Shark-Bait [ala Finding Nemo].  I guess the name stuck.)

7) Despite my best attempts to stop it, Slugbug, Out of State License Plates, and Twinkie (yellow school bus) sightings all warrant a punch in our family.  And if the kids aren’t near enough to punch someone, they save them up.  I had to laugh one morning when the kids flew out of the van like bats out of you-know-where, trying to avoid Kye and the Twinkie-sighting punching rights he’d gotten on the drive to school.  (He saw 17.  Truth.)

6) Eli (running excitedly into the bathroom one evening): IWANNABRUSHMYTEEF!!  IWANNA BRUSH MY TEEF!!

Lucy: Sheesh!  I’ve never seen a 2 year old so excited about personal hygiene before.

5) Baptism day for Zeeky boy.  Biggest smile I’ve seen on that kid ever.

4) Sarah (On the freeway en route to AZ, looking vainly for a place to stop and eat):  We could stop at Kelly’s Taxidermy.

Zach: Naaaaa.  That’d just make us stuffed.

3) From Isaac's 2nd grade vocab book:
Word: Affection
Meaning: to show feelings of love and caring
His sentence: My mom shows affection on Christmas.
Awesome.

2) Eli (to Zach this morning while waiting for his morning cup of almond milk): Dat’s just MESSED up.

1) Zach: Can you just sit down like normal children?!?!

Sarah: That’s an oxymoron.

Lucy (laughing): Mom just said that “normal children” is an oxymoron!

Actually, I meant “sitting children,” but if the shoe fits . . .

In other news, life seems to be accelerating the older our children get!  Zach’s travel has cut back significantly and he’s only gone 1-2 times a month.  It’s pretty much awesome having him around.  I’m at that stage of life where everything feels busy, yet I’d be hard pressed to tell you what it is I do every day.  Lucy is involved in choir, play rehearsals, piano practice and her ASL classes.  Kye has repeatedly told us just how much he loves math.  He’s recently discovered chess and started city bball as the shortest kid on his team.  (Ummm, you’re welcome for those short genes, kidJ)  Isaac loves to build, create, and serve others.  Adam keeps us laughing (and sometimes crying) with his nonstop chatter.  Eli is Eli (or, as we call him, “Schmeety.”)  And that about sums it up!  As we come to the close of the year, we want you to know how much we love you.  We are blessed to have friends and family like you.  We are also so thankful that we can remember and celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  He lives!

Love, The Bradshaws