A Year in Review

We did this last year, and I loved it. So nice to recap the year in one short post. (Bella does not get an entry this year, considering her tastes run very much to: milk, attention, more milk, and a nap. Not very interesting.)

(Editor's note: John still needs to fill in some of the categories for this post, but I'm posting it anyway, in hopes that public embarrassment is still good motivation.)

Favorite Book:
John: Undaunted Courage (Much more interesting than Cope's Diagnosis of the Acute Abdomen)
Em: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Olivia: Rumpelstiltskin (as told by her Grammy)
Naomi: That's Good, That's Bad by Margery Cuyler

Favorite Movie or TV Show:
John:
Em: Pushing Daisies (I heard a rumor it will be cancelled---sob, sob!)
Olivia: Signing Time or Presto! (The short film before Wall-E)
Naomi: Sleeping Beauty (The girl hasn't changed a whit in an entire year.)

Most Exciting Event:
John: Graduating from Medical School
Em: Delivering my third healthy child
Olivia:First day of kindergarten
Naomi: Not being the baby sister anymore--followed closely by a 4th birthday ("I'm 'fo' now!")

Biggest Disappointment:
John: Going from the high life of a 4th year medical student to the crazy life of an intern. Rediscovering my lack of knowledge.
Em: Missing my brother Mike's wedding, due to the lateness of my delightful and healthy third child
Olivia: Leaving all her best friends from Toledo
Naomi: Watching her big sister go away to kindergarten. On a bus. Every single day. All the excitement of life is simply passing that child by.

Best gift received:
John:
Em: A house! Of my own! With a laundry room! And a bathroom I only share with one other person!
Olivia: Some zip-up footed pajamas. (And to think, her mom had told her for over a year that they no longer made them in her size. Score: Olivia: 1, Mom's omnipotence: 0)
Naomi: Make-up. Loads and loads of make-up.

Most valuable lesson learned:
John:
Em: Signing up to be the room mother for the kindergarten class doesn't mean you are volunteering to help with a party. It means you are signing up to be in charge of every single party for the entire year. This, plus new baby, equals stress.
Olivia: Swimming isn't scary. In fact, it might be the most fun thing EVER.


Naomi: Even when your entire life falls apart in a very short time (new town, new house, new baby, dad gone all the time, sister leaves you), there is no trial so large that some lip gloss and a dress-up can't make better.

Greatest Success:
John:
Em: Sobbed, whimpered, and made enough of a pathetic mess of myself to ensure an induction of labor 5 days earlier than usually done. (And to think my favorite phrase to the girls is "Crying doesn't make it any better.")
Olivia: Reading books all by herself. (Is there anything more fun? All of a sudden those little black marks on the page have something to say. It's absolutely amazing.)
Naomi: Saving herself from drowning after accidentally falling into a pool. (It happened 5 months ago, she was never in any danger, and she is still occasionally giving herself pats on the back over this act of heroism.)

Wells Family Best of 2007

We are back in Toledo, and to celebrate, are posting the Wells Family "Best of" List for 2007. I wanted to add pictures, but the internets would not cooperate, leaving me without photographic proof of our accomplishments. I am posting anyway.
Best Movie:
John: Star Trek: Voyager (Season 4) What a marathon we had at Fish Lake and almost completely on a 6" screen.
Em: Amazing Grace
Liv: She says "Peter Pan," but she asks to watch "Thumbelina" every single day
Mimi: Sleeping Beauty. I'm beginning to think the Sleeping Beauty Polly Pocket is growing permanently into the skin on the palm of her hand

Best Book:
John: Undaunted Courage (Editor's Note: We would have been really proud of him if he could have branched out into some fiction for his favorite, but since "At the Villa of Reduced Circumstances" comes in second, we are still moderately proud)
Em: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Dumbledore disappointments excepted)
Liv: The Rainbabies
Mimi: Sleeping Beauty (big surprise)
Best Part of the Interview/Holiday Trip:
John: Hiking all over the desert with my girls
Em: Sledding up on the Blue Mountains and at the cabin
Liv: Playing in the cubbyholes at the "cavin" at Fish Lake and climbing on the rocks when we went hiking
Mimi: Playing flashlight tag at Grandma Anderson's house for Family Home Evening

Most Exciting Event:
John: Honduras with Pops
Em: Washington D.C. -- both times
Liv: First Day of Preschool
Mimi: Trick-or-treating as Sleeping Beauty--especially when accompanied by Prince Phillip

Best Gift Received:
John: Sony H-9 camera
Em: The green corduroy jacket that I picked out for myself, wrapped for myself, and tagged "To Em from John."
Liv: Mini Barbies (and I must add that the snap-on clothes are a huge improvement from the eensy-beensy snaps and velcro strips of normal Barbies)
Mimi: The trunk full of dress-ups from Grandma

Most Valuable Lesson Learned:
John: Life is good, help others, be happy for others, don't waste time. (Editor's Note: This seems like a life lesson, not a year's lesson. I'm pointing that out mostly because it makes my valuable lesson look like petty and insignificant.)
Em: Don't put off buying a pair of shoes for an important event then compensate by buying two pairs of "not-quite-right" shoes. Furthermore, expecting a stressed husband with no previous expressed interest in fashion to help pick out which shoes are more appropriate simply compounds the problem.
Liv: Learned her address and phone number
Mimi: Also learned the address and phone number, plus learned that "Mom needs exercise to make her not grouchy."

Biggest Disappointment:
John: Calling Palm Tech Support (1.5 hrs) having them walk me through deleting everything on my palm and computer then telling me to try a different cable and hanging up. A little cable wiggle later and it works....too bad all my contacts and other programs are gone. (Editor's note: This is a recent disappointment, and so it weighs heavier than any other disappointments. However, if this really is the biggest disappointment of the year--doesn't he live well?)
Em: I couldn't go home for my Grandpa's funeral.
Liv: Ella was lost in Chicago. :(
Mimi: Mom, on occasion, refuses to put a long-sleeved dress on a Polly Pocket, citing the difficulty of doing so, and instead requests a short-sleeved dress. This can be devastating.

Greatest Success:
John: Thrived during 3rd/4th year and actually felt like I was helping people a little.
Em: Made it through seven interviews without really cracking--to imagine punching a smug smiler is not the same thing as actually punching him
Liv: Prevailed over mom in getting her desired haircut
Mimi: Now makes it through three sacrament meetings per month without having to be removed because of disruptive activity

Favorite Project:

John: Fixing my father-in-law's Cobalt after Em ran it into the little truck

Em: Little girls' dresses for brother Dave's wedding

Liv: Painting page after page at the Art Museum and making a scarecrow at preschool.

Mimi: Arranging and rearranging all of Grandma Wells's (how do you show Wells possessive?) collection of nativities, sorting by character within the nativity story. (All the Marys together, all the Josephs together, and especially all the babies Jesus together in a basket.)