From Santa with Love
By Michelle Davis
A long time ago in a land far away,
A child was born on a cold winter’s day
He wasn’t the baby you’re thinking about
But another small lad, he stood short and stout
He grew up to be quite a caring old man
He loved little children, everyone in the land
He found the “Good Book” and studied its pages
It was the story of Jesus passed down through the ages
His heart overflowed as he read, could it be?
A love so divine that he died just for me?
A twinkle appeared in his eye on that day
He found a road straight to Heaven and Christ was the way
As Christmas came closer, his heart filled with joy
He’d show God’s people he loved them – every girl, every boy
He made lots of goodies and stocked up his shelves
Yes, Santa was busy and so were his elves
He was filled with such love, that he wanted to share
So he handed out gifts to kids everywhere
Praise be to God, let the Angels sing
For this jolly old man spreads love for the King
As he steps into the chimney, he looks high above
And whispers, “Happy Birthday Dear Jesus, from Santa with Love”
Last Tuesday was our Joy School Christmas party. We had a pot luck dinner with all the parents and kids. After dinner we got the kids changed into their costumes and they performed the Christmas skit they had been practicing for a couple weeks. I think it went really well! I was beaming as I watched Ethan sing his songs and play his little part. If I can figure out how to get the video I took of it from the tape to the computer than I'll put some on here. I can't believe we are half way through with Joy School already. It has been a lot of fun and I know Ethan has really benefitted from it.
Sunday we went for a walk and checked out this house down the street that gets all decked out for Christmas. The boys are sitting on the fake snow.
We are on our way in to Small World. I have to say that this is my favorite ride at Disneyland during Christmas time. I get excited about it just looking at this picture!
This is our first family picture at Disneyland. It was about time!
We are definitely a bunch of monkeys.
The cousins strike a pose: Luke (2), Ethan (3), Adam (3), Jake (1)
I think I'm going to change my blog settings and only allow invited readers to the blog. I don't mean to be paranoid but some people have pointed out that having personal information on a blog without limiting access can be unsafe. So I don't want to leave anyone out. I think I have a pretty good idea of who reads this blog and I have those email addresses. If you want continued access to this blog than post a comment so I can be sure to include you when I send out my invitations in a few days. For those of you who aren't aware, what this would mean is that in order to view our blog you'd have to sign in using your email address that I permitted. Thank you!
My sister Mae made my family some BEAUTIFUL stockings this weekend. Our Grandma Jeanne made all of us stockings when we were little. Every Christmas we've used them and they are gorgeous stockings. Well, Mae made some last year for Ev so that James and Ellie could match hers. This is my year! I'm soooooo excited about these stockings. She did such a great job! All I have left to do is sew the names at the top and a ribbon so I can hang them on the mantle. Thank you Mae! You're the best.
Steve's is almost completed.
Steve, Ethan and Luke's stockings.This Saturday was our Primary's breakfast with Santa. The boys had a great time visiting Santa, getting treats from him, eating breakfast, and doing the activities. We had a really good turn out from the church members. I wrangled Steve into the kitchen to help us out with serving food so he and I were stuck back there most of the time (my mom had the honors of bringing Ethan and Luke). It went well though and we were home sooner than we thought we would be.
Ethan and Luke approach Santa
I was surprised Luke was this comfortable on
Smile for the camera!
Ellie wasn't so sure about this SantaLast week my sister Evelyn came over with her girls and she had done Ellie's hair in two pigtails. I thought it was so adorable that I had to take some pictures. My camera was giving me attitude so they didn't come out as good as I wanted but here they are. Of course, other kids crept into the photos too.
Ellie and Luke
Ellie and Amerie are both looking somewhere else but
Ellie got sick of my camera too so it was hard1. Ethan is doing really well with potty training. He only wears a diaper for bed time. He wakes up pretty wet in his diaper so I don't think we'll be pushing that one quite yet. But he's come a long way. I'm so happy for him and I am one happy momma! 2. Ethan and Luke actually let me leave them with someone other than family today. I had to go out with the Primary pres. to get all our food for tomorrow's breakfast with Santa. She has three older children and one that is in the boys' ballpark so I left them there. I was really nervous but they didn't even whine when I left! It was great to know that I can branch out....whenever we can afford it. 3. I think I'll abandon the idea of running the half in January. (sigh) Its crunch time and I'm still in injuryland. I can't be nursing injuries this far into training. I think its time to put it on hold. Next year's training has GOT to start in September. 4. I love the rain we are having. It feels like winter. 5. Finally got the Christmas decorations up and I've seen our Christmas cards in people's houses, its so fun! I haven't gotten any cards yet....bummer. 6. Clay starts finals today....Good Luck Clay! We're all praying for you. 7. Sharing time lesson? Hello? I haven't found you yet!!! I need inspiration already. 8. A Thousand Splendid Suns, book I'm reading right now, I wonder how it will end. 9. Ethan is in love....sort of. Yesterday at Joy School Ethan was playing the part of Joseph in the practice for their Christmas presentation. Amelia Sheldon was Mary. Ethan was calling Amelia "my Mary." Cheryl, Amelia's mom, told me that they were playing together the rest of the day. At one point Ethan called Amelia -oops, Mary-for help with something and she told her mom...I have to go help my husband!! Hahaha...this cracks me up! What's even better is that he's been saying, "where's my Mary mamae?" "I miss my Mary." I keep telling him that he'll see her on Sunday at church or next week at Joy School but he just sighs....puppy love, what can I say? Its so cute.
I just found a great new site! I'm really excited about it. Its called "Sugardoodle.net" I was looking for ideas to use for Sharing time this month and I found so many great ideas for all kinds of activities for all ages and a cooking blog. I just wanted to pass along the info. Check it out! http://www.sugardoodle.net/index.shtml
the living room again. Steve finished drywalling the kitchen window and drywalling the hall so we've moved on to painting. I'm sooooooooo glad we are done with the dust (until Steve works on the other five windows, ugh). Thank you Mae and Clay for all your help yesterday! Here are some pictures of the progress.
One wall done! It looks really blue. I'm feeling the beach vibe here. We had to get the wall behind the t.v. done before the BYU basketball game started so we could plug the DVR back in. Priorities people!
She was adorable flying around the tent by the balloons. It must be so fun to do that!
All of the acrobats are incredible and I can only imagine their physical strength but this Paradise act really blew my mind. Underneath them was a trampoline stretching the entire length of the stage! We highly recommend the show.
This isn't the most attractive picture but, hey, I was running and its off of Steve's Blackberry.
What's even more fun is that I burned close to 800 calories....show me the food!!! Hahahaha.....The rest of Thanksgiving went by too quickly. We got together and had dinner with my family and even my Grandparents came! It was so good to see them again. The food was all delicious and I ate my little heart out, I think we all did. It was a great Thanksgiving. I have so much to be thankful for.
And today we're back to life as usual. Steve is making a huge mess of my kitchen as he finishes our window by casing it out. It already looks so great I just wish we could avoid the mess....
I won't spell your name wrong again. But you really should get on Steve's case that he didn't even notice his brother's name was spelled wrong....that's a little fishy eh?
1. Decided to train for 10k Turkey trot so I've been running three miles at the track and my times are 2 minutes faster than last year's....so cool! 2. Went for my long run, 5 miles, yesterday and ended up with moderately severe dehydration. I felt dead all day long. Mental note: stock Gatorade at home. Steve really stepped up to the plate and was superdad and superhusband! I want to be like him when I grow up. 3. I'm going to do the OC half marathon too...no more dehydration episodes. I want to beat my 2:37 of last year. 4. Ethan was doing really well with #2 in the potty....until this morning. I guess we're not through the woods yet. 5. Luke and Ethan miss their Grandma Powers who has been in Brasil since last Monday but they had a blast hanging out with Grandpa Powers on Friday night while we went to celebrate Clay's birthday. Still jumpy Clay? :) 6. I think we're all finally adjusting to the time change. 7. We (or I) are still going strong with our use of Deceptively Delicious recipes. Our favorite Deceptively Delicious recipes so far are: 1. Pasta with Bolognese sauce 2. Spaghetti Pie 3. Chicken Nuggets 4. Macaroni and Cheese 5. Brownies 8. We are trying two new ones tonight: Beef stew and Mozzarella sticks....I'm excited!!
I know you all have been anxiously awaiting the post with the pictures of the birthday party...haha. They all turned out so well. The photographer did a great job. I'm so glad I have these pictures. Of course, these are only a few of them and yet I think its the longest slideshow I've ever made.
One of my old friends from college emailed me this video today. I watched it and was really touched. If you know me, that means I was crying. :) I wanted any of you who are interested to have a chance to see it too. Its message is powerful. It filled my heart with gratitude and humility. Check it out, you won't be sorry you did. http://www.ignitermedia.com/products/iv/singles/570/99-Balloons
We had a great Halloween! The festivities started out early at the Joy School Halloween party. All the kids had fun dressing in their costumes, trick-or-treating inside my house, making witches, and having their pictures taken. Then we jetted off to WSA for the office party. I know I might be biased but I think Steve had the BEST costume! I was so glad he wore it. He even won the office contest. After nap time we had the family over for the traditional chili and breadsticks. I was so relieved that Ethan and Luke ate all their dinner (it was a requirement if they were going to go trick-or-treating). Steve, James, Mae and Clay took the little ones door to door and I got to spend some quality time with my favorite Amerie....she's a cutie patootie. Ethan and Luke topped off the night with a sleep over at Vovo's house! Lucky boys.
My parents with their grandkids: Amerie (2 mos.), Ellie (2), Luke (2), and Ethan (3)
Our family!
Gramma Jeanne and I
That's me walking infront of Gramma Jeanne, who is carrying baby Evelyn.
Now that I've been thinking about my Gramma Jeanne it got me thinking about my maternal grandma. We've always used the Portuguese title; Vovozinha. I love my Vovozinha too. She has always showered us with love. She used to live in Brazil and I fondly recall the many trips to Brazil we made to visit her and all our other family members. She would buy us bala de coco (coconut candy that melts in your mouth....mmmm). She drove my sisters and I crazy forcing us into dresses in order to be properly displayed to her friends. She has always been a hard worker. I can hear her voice in my head saying "I love you, Milla" in her thick Portuguese accent. I was the first grandchild therefore the most spoiled for a time. Vovozinha was baptized and temple ready by the time Steve and I were married. I even got to witness her getting sealed to her husband, Jerry, a few years later. Te amo, Vovozinha.
Mom, Dad, Vovozinha and Jerry at their wedding.
Yesterday we had fun getting ready for Halloween (its about time huh?). We cut out construction paper bats and ghosts and taped them to our walls and windows. Then we carved our pumpkins. Luke would not put his hand inside the pumpkin but Ethan dug right in! I bet you're wondering why my boys are pantless? Well, its been pretty warm down here because of the Santa Ana winds and fires so when we're just at home I let them cool off a bit. That's the beauty of being a kid huh?
Today we got a very special package in the mail. Grandma Rasmussen mailed the Batman and Superman capes to us. She worked so hard making them and I have to say they look better than ANYTHING I have seen in the stores. Ethan was so excited he went to sleep with his on. And I can't forget to mention that as soon as the capes went on I could only refer to the boys by their super hero names thus it was "Good night Superman Ethan and goodnight Batman Luke." Thankgoodness for Grandmas, she's the real super hero today.
Phase 1: Steve cuts my hair.
Phase two: Ona at the Lab re-cuts my hair and I dye it myself.
I liked this article about what we can do to help the environment. Playing your part to help the environment doesn’t have to be difficult, time-consuming, or sweeping. You can help out in little ways, making gradual changes, baby steps. Starting today. Yes, you can do some of these tips today. You can probably do a dozen today, if you put an effort into it. But all you have to do is one of these tips. Just one.
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I have a great story about how I got to my current hair length. I let Steve cut my hair two weeks ago during Conference weekend. I was feeling adventurous and Steve has told me a few times that he thinks he could cut my hair - I think he was trying to save some money. So this certain week I decided to let him see. Hair can always grow back right? I told him I wanted it shoulder length with a few layers at the bottom. He went about cutting it and did a pretty good job. I ended up going to the salon to get it layered and styled. The girl I usually see even said he did a pretty good job and that she hardly had to fix it. So now my hair is pretty short. All in all I think I cut off about 9 inches. I was in shock because I wasn't planning for it to be this short but, like I said, hair grows back. I don't regret letting Steve cut it, just let that be known. :)
Yesterday we had such a good day, I felt it was perfect. The local firefighters, police and other emergency officers put on a "Emergency Expo" and Steve and I took the boys. Ethan and Luke just loved it! They got to go inside firetrucks and emergency helicopters. We saw presentations from the K9 unit, about fire safety, rescuing a man from a burning building, rescuing a man from a car. Ethan said to us during one presentation. Ethan: Mommy, when I grow bigger and bigger and bigger (his arms raise above his head with each bigger to indicate growing tall) I can put on a jacket and boots and hat and help the firefighers? Me: Sure, Ethan. You have to go learn how to be a firefighter and then you can help them. Ethan: I want to help, Mom. Me: Ok It was so cute! Luke was a little more cautious and frightened but he finally warmed up and would go see things without me. They also had fun getting spiders painted on their faces and taking home their "gifts" that were handed out. So we were already off to a great start.
The second reason it was a perfect day, I got to go be creative and make some cards. I'm really happy with how they turned out.
Third reason, I didn't have to a change a single diaper all day! Steve did all the dirty work without being asked. He's such a marvelous husband.
Fourth reason, I tried two recipes from Deceptively Delicious - the chicken nuggets and mac n cheese - and I thought they were pretty good. The boys even cleaned their plates! They ate broccoli and butternut squash and didn't even know it. Its incredible!
So you may think I'm weird, I probably am, but all those things added up to make a perfect family day for me. I love my family. I wouldn't trade any of them.
