My eleven-year-old sister

wrote this essay for an essay contest at school, as was one of three finalists. She didn't win the grand prize of reading it on the radio, but now she's being published on the internet, so that's just as good, yes? She's always been the one in the family that we think of as "most likely to be a serial killer", but I it's a good essay, and she probably won't turn out all that bad. And she describes our family quite nicely. Enjoy:

“What My Family Means To Me”

My parents mean a lot to me. They buy food for me and just all and all love me. Every night as I go to sleep, mom or dad will come in to kiss me goodnight. Every day when my brother and I get home from school, my mom is always there to welcome us home. My Dad works most of the day to support our large family.

My brothers and sisters are really important to me. We do a lot of stuff together, even though not all of it is appreciated by mom and dad. For example, we like to take empty silly string bottles and explode them. We also like to put make-up on my younger brother Thomas who is 2 years old. Not only do I have a good time with my siblings, but also I learn a lot from them. They help me understand math and other homework that I don’t understand.

Every Monday evening our family will get together and have a family home evening. During this, we have a lesson about a church related topic, an activity of some sort that might be outside, and a treat. We also sing some songs. Some of the things that we do for activity are Frisbee golf, a game called “All in the family”, the name game, a game called “fruit basket”, the animal game, soccer and other games. Sometimes the kids in our family come up with odd games. One is TT-Ball (tackle, trampoline basketball). To play this game you put a basketball hoop by a trampoline and divide the people playing into 2 teams. One person from either of the teams will stand at the edge of the trampoline right across from the hoop and throw the ball to a team. The goal is to make a hoop and you are allowed to tackle a person on the other team if they have the ball. Another game that we came up with is called Sumo. The name came from Sumo wrestling. To play this game you have 2 to 4 people sit on a bed. The goal is to push all the other people off the bed.

I often have fun with individual members of my family. For example, my sister Jenny and I share a room and we often will read books together and talk late at night. My little brother Kevin and I enjoy talking as we walk home from school each day. We also often race each other to certain landmarks we have established on the way home. Often on summer mornings, Kevin and I will lie out on our trampoline and sing at the top of our lungs some annoying songs such as “John Jacob Jingleheimer Smith”. Sometimes my older sister Marsha and/or my older sister Melissa and I will experiment certain hairstyles on family member’s hair. Sometimes at night my baby brother, Tommy, will not want to go to bed. He tries to hide from mom and dad in my bed where I sometimes already am. He likes to play with my dolls. We also often make train tracks together.

My extended family also means a lot to me, even though I don’t see them very often because most of them live in Utah. Sometimes we get together for special occasions such as Thanksgiving and family reunions. My Grandpa Davenport usually makes Dutch-oven potatoes when we have reunions at the Lions Lodge in Pine Valley. Usually when we have reunions in Pine Valley, Aunt Gina and Uncle Doug bring a Karaoke machine. We have fun singing with it. I really enjoy my visits to Grandpa and Grandma Wonnacott because Grandma is a really good cook and it is fun to be with them. Their back yard has a large garden in it which I like to look at. I like the toys in the basement. I like Grandma Wonnacott’s style of decorating.

It is good to be in a family. Even though sometimes I get angry with them, I’m still glad that I have a family. They care about me and I care about them.