Merry Christmas!

Our family had a great Christmas morning yesterday. Ethan woke up bright and early but he patiently waited for Luke and his Dad to wake up before opening presents. Each present was a new thrill! The first stage was opening our presents at home. Then my family came over and we all made a delicious breakfast! It was a feast to behold. I think my favorite was James' German pancakes and Clay's sausage balls. Then we had the second stage of opening presents. Everyone left for naps and we didn't even bother giving Ethan a nap. He played with all toys and I think he enjoyed having free reign while Luke was asleep. After naps we went over to my parent's home for dinner of Christmas Eve leftovers (yum!) and the third and final phase of present opening. Phew! We also dressed Ellie and Ethan up and read Luke 2 and they acted it out. Luke wanted to be a photographer instead of a shepherd. Go figure.

Thanks to all our family that made it such a great day for everyone! Thanks for all the Christmas cards, email included.

Here's a special poem a friend of mine shared with me.

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”

Joy School Christmas party

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.

Visit from the Vegas Rasmussens

A few weeks ago our favorite Vegas Rasmussens came down for a visit. We had too much fun. Allen brought his Rockband game and immediately began setting it up upon arrival. Ethan and Luke were thrilled to see their cousins, Adam and Jake. Saturday we got a babysitter for the four boys (what a brave girl she was to do this!) and took Allen and Anna with us to the Seegmiller Attorneys Christmas party. They have a beautiful house and the entertainment of the night was free Botox injections (none of us partook) and massages. Anna and I ended up being able to squeeze in for a massage before we left. My favorite part was getting Steve to sing "Sound of Silence" with me on Karoake and then hearing Ev and James to "Papa don't Preach." On Monday we all packed up and headed to Disneyland. We tried to make sure they didn't miss anything they wanted to experience, I think everyone had a grand ol' time. Then Tuesday was a full day of Rockband!! We're thinking of going pro....hahaha.... We also went to Ethan's Joy School Christmas party. I'll talk about that in the next post though.

Here are some pictures of the weekend...

We started things off on a sweet note by eating the Gingerbread house I had made with the boys earlier.

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)

Movie Review

I know Michael Moore is really controversial. I also know that whenever someone tells a story they usually tell it from their point of view, so it tends to be one sided. Having said all this, I recently watched Michael Moore's documentary "Sicko" which investigates American Insurance and Healthcare and compares it to that of Cuba, France, Great Britain and Canada. I thought it was "thought provoking." Michael Moore makes a good point, and that is that we need to make some changes in our Insurance Bearaucracy and Health care management. Usually people have bad things to tell me when they hear that I've watched Michael Moore's movie. I'm trying to think beyond the man. He has a point when he says that we are supposed to be the richest nation in the world and yet we can't provide good healthcare to our citizens. Is it too idealistic to think that there's got to be a better way? And how do we find that "better way?"

Changes

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!

Stockings

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.

Breakfast with Santa

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
Santa's lap! Way to go Santa!

Smile for the camera!

Ellie wasn't so sure about this Santa

dude. She was all about the treats and

get out of there!

My cute nieces

Last 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
can you believe Ethan is holding Amerie? These kids are adorable
(I know I'm biased but what can I say?).



Ellie got sick of my camera too so it was hard

to get her to stay still for a picture. Sorry for the blurriness.

This is the best one of her adorable hair do.

On my mind right now....

1. 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.

Run, Forrest, Run!!

7 miles in 1:13....I'm dead but its done.