Orange

I asked Ava last night what she was hoping santa would bring. She crinkled up her nose and squealed with delight. "I hope I get another orange." Precious!

Beautiful

A friend called me the other day and said you have to read Paris Facebook status and comments.

I rarely go on and I was so touched by the sweet comments from her classmates. She just finished her last day at her old high school and is moving to a new one. She is so well loved and so well respected. I could not be more proud of her. This is the essay she wrote for English. The assignment: Write about something you are passionate about, but it can't be religion.

Here it is:

“This I Believe”

Paris Allred

Period 3

In this modern time, how does society define beauty? Is a girl beautiful because she weighs less than 100 pounds, or has a perfectly sloped nose? Or can beauty be something that isn’t visible? I believe every girl is beautiful. Beauty comes from the way a girl treats those she interacts with, the way she always wears a smile, or because she has seen more in her 16 years than most people will have to endure their whole lives. There is so much more to beauty than what we see on the TV screen.

All around me I see girls who are insecure about the way they look. I see them constantly worry about their weight, chest size, or skin. I will never forget my best friend in 4^th grade for the lessons she taught me. I remember the way she put me and everyone else down. She would treat everyone like they are less important, and she tried to convince everyone she interacted with that they were ugly. I remember coming home from school one day crying because she had looked me in the eye and said, “Paris, you will never be pretty like me.” It was that day that I decided no matter what anyone told me; I was going to be beautiful. Not on the outside, but by the way I made others feel. I realized what beauty is truly all about. And since then, I have always made a conscious effort to go out of my way to let others know how amazing I believe they are. Enough of this mentality that we will never be good enough. We should stop comparing ourselves to others, especially those who have been starved and photo shopped. We are trying to achieve the impossible, perfection.

Inner beauty says so much more about you than outer beauty. I believe girls are beautiful when they are humble and kind. I also believe they are beautiful when they are confident. And most beautiful of all is the girl with no hair, yet she lets nothing hold her back. She lives by the words, “You are only limited by the limitations you place on yourself.” I admire girls that care more about others than themselves. I also admire the girls that walk tall with confidence and nothing anyone can say will bring them down. I look up to those who will stop anything they are doing to help a friend in need. I believe these are the qualities that truly make someone beautiful.

Every girl should walk a little taller with the knowledge that she is beautiful. It makes me so happy when I see happy girls. However I believe that EVERY girl is beautiful, not just the happy ones. I think sometimes we overlook the bullies, the snotty girls, and the mean ones. Even though they may not appear to be beautiful, we should never judge them because we don’t know their whole stories. The girl we see as a cruel person could really be abused at home. Everyone has a reason they are the way they are, and we will never be able to understand that. Even though we may have to dig a little deeper to find out why they are beautiful, I believe they still are. That could be because they protect their youngest sibling from an angry parent, or act as a mother because theirs doesn’t care, or because they are simply trying to cope with their situations. I have seen girls that are beautiful because they are humble and don’t realize their amazing potential.

In my opinion, Audrey Hepburn best described beauty when she said, “For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone.” I love this because it says so much about inner beauty. We should always strive to be beautiful in this manner. And I believe that every girl is beautiful in this way, even if we can’t see it immediately. Forget boys, weight, and the media, because that is what holds girls back from seeing how beautiful they truly are.

Madeline Get's Baptized

Hawaii

We just got back from Hawaii aka paradise! It is so fun to just be together. We kayaked, ran, walked, sat, ate,read and just enjoyed being away! It sounds like we did more than we did. We did a lot of talking and sitting on the beach! Heaven!!

We ate at some super nice restaurants, but I think this mobile car was my fave!

Daddy Daughter Dance

There could not be a girl in all the land more excited than these two to attend the school "Daddy Daughter Ball." Clothes were laid out for the girls and for their daddy days in advance. They made a chart to mark the passing days leading up to the big event. They were not disappointed! They both came home blissfully asleep in their Dad's arms, proclaiming it was the best night of their lives. They hit the "dad lottery" and I think they already know it!!

He treated them like little princesses, complete with flowers and dinner after the ball!

Savanna claimed she was the only "middle schooler" at the event! She may have not been checking off the dates on a handmade calendar, but she made it an unforgettable night for the girls. She is such a great big sister!