Borrowing the idea from our friends James and Julie, a few years back we decided to start including humorous "kid quips" with our annual Christmas letter.  Here, we’ve set out some of our favorites from 2016.  Special thanks to Aunt Brenna, who captured several of this year's quotables.

• Ella, when asked what she would do if Aunt Brenna moved to a place that required a plane ride: “I'd just bring my house with me on the plane.”
• Tru, when informed by Andie that the car battery was dead: “Mom, you could connect your phone battery to the car?”
• After expressing excitement at the new ability to fly in Minecraft, Dad asked August “But can’t you already fly?”  August, exasperated: “No, Dad, that’s just walking on air.”
• August, when asked by Dad what you should do first if you ever get lost in the woods: “Find civilization?”
• Ella, working on her spelling skills: “LSU starts with Ella, and August starts with August!” 
• Ella, in church, when asked if she planned to join the prayer: “No thank you.”
• Truman, yelling at the TV while trying to get his Minecraft chickens to behave: "Chickens Assemble!"
• Ella, in response to Aaron's suggestion that he should dress up as the "World's Best Dad" for Halloween: "No, you should be a banana."
• Finally, though not the spoken word, we had to share this Truman gem.  After learning about the thumbs up, thumbs down feature in Pandora, Truman began walking into the room every time a new song started and, without saying a word, and in true emperor style, signaling his approval - or lack thereof.  He would then silently exit, confident that his judgment had been duly registered.  

Carpool to Hogwarts (Saint Louis, 2016)