Merry Christmas from the Madsens

Merry Christmas, family and friends, it’s Christmas ’09.
As for the Madsens, we’re all doing fine!

Paul and Kerri enjoy parenting our crew.
At church, we are teachers: gospel doctrine, young women, too.
At work, Paul plugs away in HR.
Kerri runs the house and hauls kids in the car.

Rachel, age twelve, keeps us running like crazy!
She’s an academic genius; she certainly isn’t lazy.
She strokes hard on swim team, scores goals in soccer,
Shoots hoops, bows a beautiful violin, on piano she’s a rock star!

Spencer, age seven, began first grade this year.
He is learning his three R’s and gives us reasons to cheer.
This summer was his first year racing in the pool.
He also played soccer and thinks Legos are cool!

Caitlin and Courtney are preschoolers at age four.
They are cherished by all, their cuteness we adore.
They love swimming, dancing, swinging as high as the trees.
They are darling, energetic girls and are sure to please!

Now here are a few cute quotes by our kiddies this year
As you can see, we’re not the only funny ones around here.

When Spencer saw his new cousin Sam, he said, "Mom, he has no teeth." I mumbled something like "That's right, babies don't have teeth." Obviously he continued to be puzzled by this because later, he asked my sister, "How can he cry without any teeth?"

Spencer: "Last night, Daddy and I were watching baseball. It was the New York Hankies and they won.”

Caitlin dropped her English muffin on the floor. She picked it up, took a bite and said, "Mmm. The floor made it yummy!"

Paul: “Who's your favorite Book of Mormon prophet? Is it Nephi, Alma, Moroni?”Courtney: “It's Elmo.”

Paul: I wonder what Yoda's last name is. Makumoto? Hiroshima? Spencer: No, his last name is Duh. Yo-Duh!

Paul: "What are you going to name your dolly? How about Becky? Susan? (and on and on)" Courtney: Repeatedly answers "no, no, no" to each suggestion. Finally, she blurts out: "Her name is Healthy."

The week of Obama’s inauguration, Rachel asked, "Isn't it the ingration this week or something?" A few days later, I overheard Rachel tell her friend about the school assembly where they watched the "integration." I started giggling and she said, "What? I still can't remember the name of that thing!"

While playing house, Courtney came up to me and said, "You're Kerri, okay? That means Mommy in Spanish."

On the way to Utah, we had a layover in Minneapolis, Minnesota. During our final approach, Spencer asked, "Do they give you mini apples and mini soda there?"