To Sum Up . . .

Alright, it's my favorite time... LIST TIME! I am going to try to sum up why I love my awesome family and nutty friends in one experience each. Keep in mind, this experience is not the REASON I love them, but an EXAMPLE of our relationship and why I adore them.

Mom: That one time when I first started Geometry and my teacher decided that assigning us homework before she explained the material was a good idea. I stayed up past midnight (in a time when I rarely stayed up past eleven, and my homework was always done by eight)trying to figure out what the crap A squared + B squared = C squared meant. I was getting increasingly frustrated and started crying. Mom stayed up with me until I finished every problem, not so much because I needed her help with the math (I figured it out halfway through with her help), but because she wanted to keep me company.

Dad: The time we were at Old Navy and I saw the cutest teddy bear ever created. It had a giant head and teeny little arms and was very soft. I gazed at it longingly, but resisted. That Christmas, there was a present under the tree to me from just Dad. That almost never happens; Mom does the shopping. On Christmas day, there he was... My perfectly misshapen teddy bear. Dad had noticed, and gone back to buy it for me.

Cara: One brillig day in Canada, we decided to skip rocks in the lake (our favorite past time). One of the ones I'd thrown hadn't skipped at all and was pretty close by, so I rolled up my pant legs and went after it. The first time I slipped on the mossy rocks it was surprising. My flip flop fell off and commenced drifting away in the wake I had made from falling in. By the third time I slipped, it was hilarious. Cara took pity on me and tried to go after my flip flop, for some reason believing she had superior skills in the not-slipping category than me. My flip flop giggled to itself as the wave Cara made when she also slipped carried it progressively further away. By this time we were laughing so hard we could hardly stand. A man eventually came and fished it out with a long stick and told us, "Do that again! My wife and I were having fun watching you guys."

Andrew: Every summer our family would go to the Shakespeare Festival in Cedar City. I've always had a hard time shutting up during movies, but I try to restrain myself a bit more during plays because I know you can't rewind it or anything. But I still can't stop myself asking questions when I'm confused. One such case was when we saw The Tempest (at least, I think that was it). Normally I can figure out the plot because the actors are so expressive (most of the time I would never know it was a dirty joke if it weren't for their mannerisms--and trust me, there are a lot of 'em! Good ol' Shakespeare...), but that night I was completely lost. I couldn't help it, and whispered for some clarification from Andrew. I know a lot of people who would tell me to wait and see (like that would help in that play), but Andrew patiently whispered back and during the intermission he went over the whole plot with me so I would understand the second half, too.

Nicole: Nicole is the most thoughtful of my siblings (not to diss my brothers, who're great). She may laugh when she reads that (she used to make me cry every time she visited, it became sort of an unintentional game--let's see if Julia cries! Haha, love you, Cole), but really, it is true. For my sixteenth birthday she made me a scrapbook full of things to cheer me up when I was sad in my teenage years. For my eighteenth birthday she bought me Nightmare Before Christmas on DVD because she knew I loved it and Mom would never buy it for me in a million years (sometimes I watch it when it's neither around Halloween or Christmas :) ) She remembers everyone's birthday and always gives them great gifts that shows she really thought about them. She also had enough compassion for my pet mouse that escaped and lived in the toaster for few days to throw a wet washcloth on it when it's ear caught fire after an unfortunate toast incident. And I'm pretty sure she's never been that crazy about mice. But, then, I suppose that could've been to ensure the house didn't catch fire. But I'm-a give her the benefit of the doubt.

Brooke: One time in seventh grade I got hit in the face with a basketball (You could see the 'N' from NBA on my face from all the dirt). Everyone crowded around asking if I was ok, which I hate. The attention always makes me cry for some stupid reason. Brooke knew me well enough to tell everyone to lay off me and drag me to the bathroom so she could help wash off my face and so I could leak tears in private. She's always been great like that.

James: One time Dad got mad at me and was curt with me (I told a stupid joke which he thought was serious I guess), which resulted in me hiding in my room, crying. James came in and talked to me and hugged me. I'm actually tearing up just thinking about that time. It meant a lot.

Kellie: The fact that she didn't cry when I told her I was leaving school because she was disappointed in me, but because she wished we'd hung out more and was going to miss me. And the fact she helped me pack. Thanks.

McKay: I can't choose just one. I'm going to do a plethora of memories! ("do you know what a 'plethora' is?") The conspiracy blanket, running away from Nazi's, fingerpainting each other's faces more than the actual paintings (and the fact you complimented mine, despite the fact it looked like a third grader did it), dancing in the kitchen, LOTS of noodles, that weird first date, the way you look at me, you BEATING me at Disney quote-offs, DOMINATION, you being so patient tutoring me while I get more and more frustrated, and a million more.

Okay, there are many more people I could include here, but frankly, this takes a lot longer than I anticipated. Just know I love you even if you aren't included on this list! Looking over these, many of them involve me crying, which is annoying. Sorry, my bad. You can deal, right?