Dancing Kings

Jumping into parenting with teenagers is an interesting thing.  I will admit that I am used to uninterrupted sleep, it is a glorious thing.  I hadn't been plunged into sleepless nights with a baby, or years of little feet finding you in the middle of the night.  In fact, I kind of thought starting with teenagers might be an advantage as I skipped that stage.  Instead, I have learned that what it really means is that their best thoughts and desire to connect come between the hours of 11:00 pm and 1:00 am.   Interestingly enough, it doesn't bother me at all, I have found that during these times is when the best entertainment comes out.

It is not unusual for us to hear the knock, and the door immediately opens to "Dad, guess what!  I just got 10,000 points on Tetris."  (or some other game).  Once when David was travelling, I got a call at 11:00 pm that went like this.  "Hi, Kimberly, can you come outside?"  "Why Harrison?"  "Just come out to the porch" "I'm looking out the door and can't see anything."  "No, you have to come outside."  Open door, "I don't see anything."  "No, you have to come out on the porch."  "Okay Harrison, I'm outside."  "Turn around"  I turn around to see Harrison on the roof, window open, waving at me and smiling like he just robbed a bank.  Yes, their best entertainment comes at night.

A few nights ago we were watching TV when we heard a knock on the door.  In comes Harrison and his friend, Sam.  Without saying a word, they do the following dance and then leave:

If you wonder where Harrison got his dance moves from, Brandon and his friends performed this skit at their ward's Christmas party.  We laughed pretty hard.

Brandon Christmas Skit

BTW: David and I didn't think we could dance nearly as well as the two boys, so we chose not to put our own video on the blog.  You can thank me later.

Thank you Santa!

Santa brought us a King size bed for Christmas.  We learned the hard way that we are not compatible sleepers.  Kimberly needs a firm bed, David soft.  So, at least one of us has had a miserable sleeping experience for the past 7 months (usually that translates to both being miserable).  Memory foam is now our friend, and Santa has saved our sleep.

(The added bonus is that our new comforter matches our wall, so no need to repaint. Wahoo!)

Eggnog Shakes

Chris spent the month of December with us and we had a blast.  This guy is so full of energy, you can't help but get caught up in it just being around him.  Since he was with us in December, we were glad that we got to spend his 21st birthday with him.  Here are a few of my favorite memories of Chris over the past year.

• We came home one day to find this message on a bottle of eggnog.  We laughed pretty hard.  He wanted to make sure he got an eggnog shake.  I learned that eggnog shakes are one of his favorite things.
• Priscilla and Chris really bonded over the month of December.  Prior to December, Chris was not a fan.  Chris was so determined to win her over that she got a LOT of treats.  She got walks, a lot of belly rubs, and was even invited to sleep in his room a few nights.  It worked, Chris was one of Priscilla's favorites by the time he left (he may even be a competitor with Kimberly).  Since he left she has really missed all of the attention.
• Chris has been really big into vinyls recently.  When coming home for only a month he brought his vinyl player and about 30 vinyls.  He even got more for Christmas and was in heaven.  According to Chris, music in its true form can only be listened to in vinyl.
• We got regular clothing guidance from Chris while he was here.  As two engineers, it was probably needed.  He even claimed he needed to submit our names to the TV show "What not to wear".   I'm sure we are better dressed and better coordinated since the visit. 
• Chris bought his first car this December.  He ended up buying it the day before he went back to school.  Unfortunately, the car that he found was a stick, and he did not know how to drive stick.  Chris and his friends, and Chris and his Dad spent hours the night before trying to teach him how to drive.  We were both relieved when we heard that Chris and Brenna had made it back to Provo with no disasters.  He stalled a number of times, but thankfully the only thing that was hurt was their pride.

P.S. We are going to pretend that this entry occurred back in December when it was Chris' birthday. 
P.P.S. Trish, thanks for letting me copy your birthday blog idea.