We are blessed!

                                       
                                         Merry Christmas from Kevin, Emily, Brooke and Will

              ( Thank you Grandma Pack for waking up early to snap some Christmas pics of us! )

Will Proclaims God's Laws

When Christmas shopping Brooke and Will found a twenty dollar bill on the ground. Brooke asked me, ( perhaps in curiosity as to what I would say? ) , in her soft sweet voice, " What should we do with this Mommy? We found it on the ground." Will on the other hand seemed to have a twinge of disappointment as he said with a bold passion in his voice, " I KNOW WHAT TO DO AND I WANT TO FOLLOW JESUS'S LAW AND NOT STEAL! BECAUSE THAT'S NOT OURS AND I LEARNED GOD'S LAW TO NOT STEAL AT CHURCH!" I am so glad that Will had such passion in following the commandments! As those were his exact words. I felt thankful that at church we have so much help teaching our children what is right. Thanks to all those awesome Primary teachers out there and especially for the amazing teachers that Will has now - The Doyles. 

Our American Idol Entertainer

                              Will was belting out Christmas carols all day on the day of his
                     Preschool Christmas concert!

                    Will's teachers told us as we arrived at the chapel of the church -  that we were in for a surprise because suddenly on the last day of practice Will sang like he was an entertainer on American Idol.

       He for sure was having fun! It was a very sweet memory to add to our last year of Will in                                                                                        preschool.

Interrogating Santa

Well, I should have considered more carefully about how smart Will is before I allowed him to visit with three different Santas this year at different events. First we saw a Santa Clause at the mall, second we saw the Santa at the ward Christmas Party ( church party ), and last we saw another Santa Clause at my work Christmas Party( for children at Baylor Hospital ).

Will's  interrogations for the first Santa encounter were acceptable and funny as he said to Santa boldly, " Did you know that you are famous? Did you know that they wrote a book about you where you are on the roof of a house? Have you read that book? "

Santa was surprised, but said, " Oh, yes. I have read that book."

He probably was used to children jumping on his lap and telling him what they want. I doubt he  is acquainted with being interviewed by a five-year old?

The second Santa Clause that Will saw at the church Christmas Party is featured in these pictures. Will said to him, " Did you know that I saw another one of you at another place? Are you the real Santa or was the other one the real Santa? How does the real Santa know what I would like if you aren't the real Santa?"

Brooke tried to be helpful and deflected the questions to get Will to think of something else as she asked Santa, " How many reindeer do you have? "

Santa handled the questions nicely as he told Will, " Don't you know that Santa knows and knows if  you have been bad or good?  Have you been a good boy this year? "

I think next year we better only allow Will to see one Santa Clause, otherwise we may be put on Santa's naughty list as Will might spill the beans to all the other children in line?

Making the tree together

Brooke and Will had a really special and fun time helping Grandma Turano put up and decorate her tree this year! It was a wonderful family gathering at Grandma Turano's house. Grandma Turano had a story to tell about each of her ornaments, where she got them and what they meant to her. 

Although Grandpa Turano was not with us in body, he sure was with us through Kevin. 

Kevin remembered and missed Grandpa Turano as he played Christmas songs the best he could on the piano while the children sang and took their turn putting on ornaments. 

Grandma Turano said she this would be the last year she put up her Christmas tree but I sure hope we can do this again as a family ( help her put up and decorate her tree ) , since it was a special memory for Brooke and Will to have with their Grandma Tuano. 

Thanksgiving Moments

Thanksgiving Moments

Daddy's Game Giving

Leave it to Daddy to get the fun going for the youngsters at family gatherings!

Kevin has always been the favorite uncle and with good cause. When Kevin sees his children and others, he gathers them around and plays games with them.

Kevin was challenging Brooke and Will to race their cousins Brittany and Cameron down the block. Following races they played hot potato with one the dog's fetch balls! Who cares the dog has slobbered on it, Uncle Leonard and I watched in awe as Kevin made our children laugh!

Giving Thanks the Thanksgiving Drive to MO

This Thanksgiving we visited with the Turano side of the family. It was a great time with each other.
On our eight hour drive to KC, Missouri I asked the kids to write a list of all the things that they are thankful for. Here is Brooke's list. Although she hand wrote it and numbered it in exactly this order, I will type it out now :

1. Atonement
2. God
3.Jesus
4.Brooke
5.Emily
6.William
7.Kevin
8.family
9.toys
10.books
11.trees
12.air
13.cats
14.bunnys
15.grass
16.cars
17.electronics
18.carseats
19.tools
20.prayers

Brooke had fun playing with her adopted cousin (Uncle Leonard's adopted daughter ) Brittany!

calming after the storm

I was not surprised, but yet still deeply thankful for whom Will showed he was ( a child 

of great faith ) when

last week the tornado alarms went off at 4am in the morning. 

Will ( and Brooke ) said first thing after I rushed them into my arms and carried them into the closet, 

" Mommy, shouldn't we pray ." 

Will could never go back to sleep all night, but he knew just what would help calm him. 

After awhile of trying to get Will back to sleep he said, " I think we should watch scripture videos Mommy. They make me feel better." 

Will knows where and whom to turn to in his time of need, and for that I am extremely thankful. 

A couple nights ago when putting Will to bed and he said, " Mommy scriptures are the best. I love them." I felt really really happy that He has been blessed by the Lord with the spirit that helps him desire more and more to feast upon and seek that which is light. 

If Will continues in his desires, he will be happy no matter what, and that is all a Mother could want for her child. 

Possibility

   My little princess Brooke almost always has a book in her hand, or right in front of her nose. Brooke has read the whole Harry Potter series, Percy Jackson series, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Peter Pan and the Starcatchers series, Lemony Snicket Series, Little House on the Prairie series and more.... and multiple times! When the Friend Magazine comes to the house the whole thing is read by Brooke within twenty-min, and I don't even have time to sit down and read it with her before she's let it all sink in on her own....

When I catch Brooke playing with her dolls and pretending I bask in delight. It calms me that she isn't as old as she acts most of the time, and that she is still my little princess, no matter how deep and intellectual she becomes!

I couldn't believe it when Brooke told me that she had a new favorite book. Grandpa Pack took her shopping for at the school book fair and Brooke was excited to get some new books! Brooke has been talking about and loving about Harry Potter everything for years and suddenly she has found a new favorite book!? I had to re-state her words to make sure I heard correct?

 She began reading me her favorite page in the book too fast for me to even understand her words.

Before I could get a word in she told me, " I really like to try and comprehend what the author was thinking we should think of while we read this." I think Brooke likes to " Ponderize" like me!

When I re-read the page through her eyes, I could see why she loved the book. It is just like her!
The Brooke I know believes in possibilities, likes to discover, explore and believes in looking outside the box to find answers unfound and create new ideas, and turn them into reality.

Here is her favorite paragraph in the entire book ( as she reiterated this many times to me ), " The Lost Track of Time" by Paige Britt:

"The great moodler was known far and wide for being exactly that- A great moodler. She came up with real possibilities. First she would moodle on the smallest faintest notion, Soon it would blossom into an idea, With constant moodling her ideas took flight, soaring overhead and colliding with one another until sparks flew. From the sparks her ideas caught fire, streaking into the sky and exploding with possibilities."

I love the way that Brooke went and found her favorite paragraph in the book to " moodle " on herself as she considered what all the ideas the Great Moodler had, might have been?

RR For Kevin's Birthday!

                                                    HAPPY BIRTHDAY AGELESS KEVIN!
  Kevin and I celebrated his birthday on an extra long date about an hour away, at the Hilton Lake Ray Hubbard. We had wonderful time relaxing, eating dinner and sleeping in! I am so blessed to be married to Kevin Turano. I have learned so very much from him, we have tons of fun together and he is one of the most patient, loyal and hardworking people's I have ever known.

The Stripling Warriors - Soccer Team

Will's soccer team  is " THE STRIPLING WARRIORS " ! Coincidentally Will's jersey is number 2 . It is a coincidence because Will really ranks second best on his team in amount of goals put in every game! 

Based on what you see Will do when he is off the field, you would think that he was just a pain kind of player to have on the team. 

Will literally lays down to go to sleep sometimes when he is off the field, and there is a reason why he gets so tired! Will goes wild on the field to get the ball. He is the one running the ball to their goal every moment of every game!  Will's very patient Coach whom happens to pick all the little boys up each week from his ward, and take them to a field to practice, said of Will , " It's like Will has no fear for anything! He's awesome!" 

I agree that Will has no fear, and he also is determined to have things his way. This can be a good and a bad thing. On occasion Will has actually sat down on the ball so that no one can get it from him! I guess he thought it would be okay to sit on the ball since the only thing he was told not to do was pick the ball up with his hands.

Will is going to continue to play on the " Stripling Warriors" team as long as they keep it going, which will probably be a while since, 

THEY HAVE NEVER LOST A GAME. 

My only concern is that Will is getting used to scoring many goals a game....

We will see what happens when they finally come across some teams with some competition?   

The coolest thing that happens every practice and game is hearing the little boys put their hands in and pulling them out with the words, " Stripling Warriors." 

Hopefully the other boys know on the team why this name is special? Will surely knows it is because they stood for " God, Freedom, Family and  Their Religion." 

And most of all - They did not doubt their Mother's knew it / believed in God.