Snow White

 Merry Christmas and Happy New Year friends and family!  We had a marvelous Christmas with so many fun activities and happy memories.  Christmas Eve is my favorite day of the year, we spent the morning together as a family and did some tiding up around the house.  I couldn't believe it, but I actually didn't have any last minute gifts to wrap or finish making.

We headed to my parent's house for our traditional Mexican food extravaganza and gift opening.  I was disappointed that my grandparents didn't come this year, but we had a nice time anyway, and ate way too much!  We had to wait for my brother's family to arrive and then the kids got to open presents.  They were spoiled beyond all reason, new ponies and PJs, and new ornaments and candy.  Art supplies and crafting kits (yeah!).  Arlo got a Hallmark interactive book and ornament, which I think was my favorite gift.  Arlo started to get cranky as it was way past his bedtime, so we headed home around 8:30.  The girls fell asleep in the car and Jeff and I spent the rest of the evening putting together some of the gifts the kids got from Nana.  We figured this way they would have something to play with upstairs and let us sleep in and not get into the gifts yet unopened under the tree. 

We went to bed around 11 and I waited for Jeff to fall asleep so I could sneak downstairs and recover the brand new acoustic guitar that I got him for Christmas.  I put a bow around the neck and set it up on a stand in front of the tree.  I felt so sly!  He really needed a new one, we have one acoustic that is more of student model/toy and one that is very old and has problems.  The one I bought is very nice and has the electronics in it so that it can be plugged into an amp. 

The girls woke us up around 7AM and we had to go in and wake Arlo up, as he was still peacefully slumbering.  The kids had been playing with the toys they opened the night before and patiently waited for us to get Arlo up and changed.  Daddy read the Luke account of the Christmas story and I took a picture of them at the top of the stairs.  They came down and the kids were more excited about Daddy's toy then theirs!  We opened gifts and I was happy that the kids were so excited about their new things.  Gift giving is one of the ways I show love best, so its always a treat for me to see them enjoy their gifts on Christmas morning.  We had cinnamon rolls and hot cocoa for breakfast, Arlo loved the cinnamon rolls.  We had a pretty quiet morning, everyone enjoying their new things and just spending time together.  We made some rolls and green beans and went over to the Bryson's house for Christmas dinner.  We had dinner, played games, and chatted the night away. 

On Wednesday we had Jeff's sister Rachel and her family and his brother Richard and his family over for an early lunch.  We played a game while the kids enjoyed playing together.  After everyone left we cleaned up a bit and played with the new Wii game we got the girls.  We drove into Tucson in the evening to see about picking up some snow clothes for the kids.  We bought a few things at the thrift, and borrowed a few things from friends.  After getting home and putting the kids to bed, we packed for our trip to Williams, Arizona.

We packed the last few things we needed for our trip Thursday morning, and picked up my mom at about 9AM.  Jeff drove and the kids were pretty good.  We got into Flagstaff around 3PM after lunch in Phoenix.  It was snowing and was pretty cold, we stopped at WalMart to get one more pair of snow gloves.  It was only 30 more miles to Williams, but we drove relatively slowly as it was snowing quite a bit.  We checked into the Grand Canyon Railway hotel and had dinner.  The kids were so excited to have a buffet dinner.  At 7PM we put on our PJs and robes, and bundled up to head to the train station.  We boarded the Polar Express where it was nice and toasty.  Helen was a little nervous when the train started out of the station, but settled in pretty quickly.  We had cookies and hot cocoa, there was music and a reading of the Polar Express while we waited to arrive in the North Pole.  Arlo stayed awake the whole time and excitedly looked out the frosty windows with the girls when we arrived.  We started back toward the train station and sang Christmas carols until Santa arrived in our car with a silver bell for each of the kids.  So Jeff and I don't do the whole Santa Claus thing, but my kids were still pretty excited to see Santa and receive their gifts.

We had breakfast in the morning and it was -2 degrees out when we left the hotel.  Our plan was to have breakfast, check out, and then take the kids to play in the snow.  We checked out of the hotel after breakfast and loaded the truck up.  It was making some terrible metal on metal grinding noises when we pulled out.  We didn't get very far before parking the truck so Jeff could take a look.  He thought the brake had ice on it and went to chip some ice off the parts under the driver's side wheel when several bearings fell out into his hand.  We called a tow truck and spent the next three hours in a gas station/service station.  We were very fortunate that they were able to get a part and repair the wheel hub assembly, evidently the part had just worn out, it was not related to the cold and ice.  We tried to make the best of the situation and dressed the kids in their snow gear and let them play in the snow in the field behind the service station.  They didn't care where they played in the snow, they had a great time.  Once the truck was fixed we started the drive home stopping in Flagstaff for a late lunch.

It was almost sundown when we got into Phoenix, so I convinced Jeff to drive us to the Mesa temple to see the temple lights.  It was perfect.  We were able to let the kids out of the car and stretch their legs, use the bathroom, and see the lights at the temple.  I had wanted to go, but we just didn't seem to be able to find the time to make the drive to Mesa.  It was only an hour detour and we were home by 8PM.  It was a great short trip, and the kids loved the train ride on the Polar Express and the snow was fun too.  We decided that the cold and snow isn't so bad if you have the right clothing.

I've had a Christmas cold for the past week and just tried to ignore it and keep going, but on Saturday morning, I couldn't ignore it anymore.  It has settled in my chest and I have developed my signature cough.  I slept in on Saturday morning and took a nap in the afternoon.  We did manage to get our lights down and the Christmas decorations put away for the year, but that was about it as I spent most of the day on the couch!  I stayed home from Church on Sunday with Arlo since we were both not feeling well.  I'm hoping to feel better as I have to be back at work on Wednesday and I'd like to get some projects around the house done.

I feel so much gratitude for all we've been blessed with.  I'm grateful for the gift of our Savior and the Christmas season to help remind us to be a little kinder, a little more charitable.  We'll be sitting down this afternoon to review our year, reassess our budget and schedule, and make personal and family goals for the coming year.  I love the new year, it'll be a year of possibilities and adventures.  We hope that everyone had a very Merry Christmas and will have a safe and happy New Year!

Wintergreen

 I love the holidays and have found some peace and quiet at the end of this week, believe it or not.  We had a full and exciting week.  I only had to work Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of this week, but it was a busy three days.   In the evening I tried to get in my gift wrapping and finishing up last minute projects and goodies for gift baskets.

Jeff met his sister who was in town at the zoo on Tuesday morning and Arlo loved the animals and had a great time.  Felicity was in school, so she missed out, but Helen had a fun too.  Wednesday night was our annual gingerbread and caroling family home evening.  We had the Newswander's, the Bryson's and the Richard Davidson's over.  My kids were very excited to have so many cousins to play with.

We had a short lesson on the importance of Christ's life and ministry and then we turned the kids loose on the gingerbread.  We had three houses and three Christmas trees and they seemed to enjoy themselves.  I made hot cocoa in the crock pot with marshmallows, peppermint sticks, and whipped cream on the side and it must have been a big hit because by the time I went to get some it was gone!  Caroling was especially fun, this year I put together caroling books with Christmas songs from the Children's Song Book, the Hymn book, and various other traditional and fun songs and carols.  I put a large page number at the bottom of each page and this way we could simply call out the page number we wanted and have the lyrics and music in front of us.  A big thanks to my mom and dad as I borrowed their laser printer for the massive task.  The caroling only held the kids attention for so long, and then it was time for bed as it was technically still a school night.

I slept in on Thursday morning.  Yay, the first day of  holiday vacation.  I put together the candy baskets I have been feverishly baking for and we delivered those.  In the afternoon, we went to the primary school for the quarterly assembly as Felicity was honored with the Owl of the Month award.  We are of course very proud of her.  Thursday evening we bundled up and headed into Tucson for the Winter Haven Festival of Lights.  We went a few times when I was a kid on the drive through nights.  We walked through with some of Jeff's family and it was a pretty pleasant night for it.  We had a lost pair of gloves 6 minutes in and I would say it was about 40 minutes in that my kids started to complain of being tired and needing to go to the bathroom.  I really enjoyed myself and think next year maybe we'll go on one horse drawn hayrides, I think the kids will love that.

On Friday morning we braved the mall to get family photos taken.  The kids were pretty good with the promise of lunch out and time at the play area (germ fest) although I don't think we got a golden shot.  It's hard to get five people to look in the right direction, smile in a non-creepy or forced way, and manage to hide at least one of my extra chins.  We came out with a passable shot and that is good enough!  We treated the kids to lunch out and they enjoyed playing on the foam virus spreaders.  There was a heavy handed hand sanitizing and then we were on our way home.  We had an appointment in the afternoon with a representative from the foster care agency that we spoke to a few weeks ago.  He said he wanted to come by and meet the rest of the family and bring us some paperwork.  I was really happy that the house was clean because by the end it turned into a home tour, including the backyard, upstairs, and in the garage (where it was a mess).  The kids were well behaved and Helen chatted his ear off about her ponies and strawberry shortcake dolls, by the end she was practically sitting in his lap.  We ventured out to run some errands and pick up some gifts for a white elephant party and with such a hectic Friday, I forgot all about the fact I was suppose to watch Gabrielle.  When I got her mom's message later that night I felt terrible!  We did have a fun time at the party and Arlo especially liked all the little kids there, or maybe more accurately the plates of food the little kids left on the floor for him to thieve from.  Felicity was staying over at Nana's so she missed the excitement.

Saturday morning I went out with my mom and grandma to celebrate my grandmother's 86th birthday.  We went to The Good Egg, and her favorite, the thrift store, after.  I made it to the post office to finally send off my Christmas cards, and on my way home made a quick stop at WalMart to spend the rest of the funds in our flexible spending account.  I had about $50 left and spent all but $0.19 on a digital baby thermometer, and character band-aide's for the kids' stockings.  Jeff made dinner and we watched a Christmas movie together on the couch as a family.  After the kids went to bed Jeff helped me finish wrapping up the gifts.

I really enjoyed the Christmas themed sacrament meeting today, the music was great and I was really impressed with all the musical numbers.  I found two pairs of the most adorable shoes for little Arlo at the thrift yesterday, they were $2 and in brand new condition, so he got to wear one of the pair today.  He was angry with me at first for putting him in shoes, but once he got used to walking in them, he got over it.  The kids came home with candy and treats from their primary teachers and were bouncing off the walls.  In the afternoon, the girls made Christmas ornaments for Nana, Grandma, and Daddy.  They had the best time, and in the evening I let them decorate their own gingerbread men (because I won't let them decorate the ones I give to other people).  It was a busy week, but with a quiet house tonight, I am finding I don't have any last minute projects to work on or un-wrapped gifts to attend to, so I'm thinking that I'll get to enjoy my favorite day of the year, Christmas eve!

We here at Casa de Davidson hope that all our friends, family, and loved ones have a happy and safe holiday, and find time to reflect on how we can more fully love and serve those around us.  Merry Christmas from our home to yours!

Evergreen

We had kind of an oddball week.  First there was the weather; winter has finally arrived in the dessert!  It pretty much rained, constantly, from Thursday afternoon until Sunday morning.  It was just sort of weird.  Jeff had the last of his finals this week and is now free until January 9.  I worked from home on Monday and Thursday while he had tests.

We went out and bought our Christmas tree on Monday evening as is our tradition. We went to Home Depot; we’ve had good luck with getting really nice and decently priced trees there the last couple of years.  I wanted a noble fir, they’re my favorite, but they were twice as much as the Douglas firs.  As a compromise, Jeff said I could pick out the biggest Douglas fir that would fit in our house.  I did precisely that, we picked an 8 foot beauty!  We got it all set up in the living room (after cutting off a few inches at the top to get it to stand straight) and decorated it for Family Home Evening.  We had a lesson on the blessings we receive because our Savior’s birth and brought out all the family ornaments.  I love this Christmas tradition, and I don’t.  I love bringing out all the personal ornaments.  Some of mine are older than Jeff, some are sentimental.  There’s the little U of A squirrel with ‘99’ on its sweater that I received the year I started college.  The pink stuffed ice cream cone that has been on every Christmas tree I can remember.  “Our first Christmas” ornament that we got as a gift the year we married.  Each of the children’s first Christmas ornaments were pulled from the ornament tote.  There’s the little Hallmark toy shop ornament with the tiny little toys on tiny little shelves that I got from my Nana in 1984; I know because my mom wrote the date and the giver on each box.  There are a couple dozen of these dated, worn boxes of precious memories.  Jeff has only one ornament from his childhood, I repaired it the first year we were married.  It’s a little mouse in a stocking with his initials; his late aunt had made it for him many years ago.  I sewed the little bow back on the front, re-glued its nose and whiskers back on, and added a new hanger.  Typically Jeff puts the lights on the tree while I un-wrap the ornaments.  He watches from the corner of his eye for his ornament to appear from the tissue paper wrapping, and loving picks the best place for it.  He’s not a very sentimental person, but I’ve seen him do it, not noticing I’m noticing, each year.  I love opening the ornaments we got last year, the ones too new to remember, it’s like opening them on Christmas morning again.  I hate having to ask the children 546 times to be more careful, to not play with them, to ask for help with the heavy or breakable ones.  I hate that I become anxious and the event stops being fun because my children want to handle and poke and prod each ornament.   Arlo was so precious.  He seemed to understand right away and took the ornaments he picked up to the tree and tried to place them in the branches.   We played Christmas music, read a couple of the Christmas books that came out of the decoration totes and then we scooted the kids off to bed.  Jeff and I finished hanging the rest of the ornaments and rearranging the ornaments already on the tree.

On Tuesday, Jeff and I had what you can almost consider a date night.  Jan and Victor watched the kids for us as we went into Tucson for an orientation.  We are starting the process of becoming licensed to be foster parents.  We went over general information and then talked to a couple of the foster/adoption agencies.  We had a lot of our questions answered and it felt good that some of our concerns were met with acceptance and affirmation.  They asked our reasons for being interested in foster care and we talked about our inability to have any more of our own children, but still feeling that our family wasn’t complete.  We let them know that we were looking to work with younger children as our own children are young and they said that was completely understandable.  I was happy to hear that, as I know the need for foster parents is the greatest for older children that will otherwise live in group homes and “age out of the system”.  The different agency representatives asked a lot of questions, by the end we felt like the golden investigators.  We now have to select an agency, we think we will be going with one we met on Tuesday, and then taking the appropriate classes, background checks, and home inspections to be considered to have children placed with us.  There are, from what I gathered at the orientation, three types of children in need.  Those who are in need of  temporary foster placement, they will most likely be reunited with their families when the home issues are resolved or made better.  Children who are foster to adopt, those who are not free to adopt, but will most likely have their parent’s rights severed eventually and become eligible for adoption.  Lastly are children who are free to adopt, their parent’s rights have already been severed and are ready for adoption.  We intend on doing foster placement while we are becoming acquainted with the system and then intend to move toward trying to adopt.  While most of the children needing homes are older (11+), there are younger children, and even babies.  They typically don’t become eligible for adoption until after the lengthy process of working toward reunification fails.  The agency representative showed us a list of children they are currently looking to place and there were several young children and babies, their only stipulation was they are placed along with older siblings.  We walked away from the orientation with a great feeling of charity and hope.  Perhaps the limitations that we have faced have been placed on us by a kind Heavenly Father so that we can become the loving forever family that someone else desperately needs and deserves.

We attended  a holiday party for the estate sale company Jeff sometimes works for on Thursday night and that was fun.  The kids had a nice time, I love having so many events to go to.  I got back into the kitchen to continue my holiday baking this week.  I feel so behind.  I put a backing on a quilt that I made for Helen.   On Friday morning Arlo had a doctor’s appointment so with Helen staying over at my Mom’s I drove into Tucson, just he and I.  Jeff had an appointment with the optometrist.  Arlo is doing very well.  She was impressed with his vocabulary and his pointing, gesturing, and clapping.  He was sitting on my lap, and she asked “is he clapping yet?” and he took his cue and clapped for her.  “What about pointing?” and sure enough, he points to the picture on the wall over her head.  He’s in the 30% for weight, which is good as it’s an improvement from the last check up, and 60% for height.  He did, however, have to have 6 inoculations.  He got a flu shot and TB test on top of the other boosters.  I brought his Sippy cup with juice in it, he enjoyed that treat and calmed pretty quickly after.   Jeff met me in Tucson shortly after the appointment and we did our Christmas shopping for the kids.  I went back out with my mom Friday evening to finish my shopping for Jeff.  I think I’m finished, now to get everything wrapped!

We had game night on Friday night with the Bryson’s and I stayed up far too late dipping my own almond joy knock off candies, for the gift baskets I’m trying to get together before everyone I want to give them to leaves town for the holidays!  Saturday we cleaned the house and I baked, we finished decorating the house.  Jeff participated in a community Christmas concert Saturday night at our new Stake Center.  He played guitar and sang Silent Night.  The concert was great and the participants did a wonderful job.  I love to see Jeff sharing his talents, he did a great job.  He was slightly annoyed that his take at sound check early in the afternoon was better than his performance, but I thought he did well.   11AM church, how I love not getting up at 6AM on Sunday, how I hate that it falls right at nap time!  Only 5 ½ more months until Arlo can go to nursery for the second and third hour of church.  I got to interpret on Sunday for two hours, which I wasn’t expecting, but was happy to do.  My fingers were not ready, I felt a little sluggish and awkward, but I hope I have more opportunities to sign in the coming weeks.  I enjoyed teaching my primary class.  We did a review of what we learned this year as I found that I was one lesson ahead, and wanted to save the Christmas lesson for next week.  I will honestly miss my class next year, but I’m sure the next group of kids will be just as great.  I decorated Christmas cut out cookies on Sunday night while we watched a Christmas movie together as a family.  It's moments like those that I cherish.

In the wake of events in Newtown, CT this week I have been thinking about the profound gift that my children are to me.  There have been tears in the past few days as I’ve contemplated the grief of the parents and families of those innocent little ones and their teachers; the grief of the family of the perpetrator.  I’ve thought of the failings of the behavioral health system in our country, of gun culture, gun control, and a myriad of other things as I, like the rest of our nation, try to make sense of how and why something like this could happen and if there is anything we can do.  I held my children a little tighter Friday night.  I told them I loved them a little more frequently this weekend.  My husband and I am contemplating having a home evening lesson on what to do in a situation like the one those first graders faced, like the mall patrons faced, the group in a dark movie theater faced, the crowd at a political event faced.  We asked why we live in a world where those conversations are necessary.  And while I haven’t processed all my feelings, the one that comes out on top is faith.  I don’t want to live in fear.  I don’t want to be afraid to send my child to school or go to the movies.   I’m going to choose not to live in fear, for fear is the absence of faith.  I’m going to have faith in humanity, faith in our country and its people.  I’m going to believe the world really is a great and beautiful place.   I pray that what happened Friday will never happen to our family, or anyone else’s ever again.  I’m going to teach my children to love and serve their fellow beings; I’m going to teach them that by example.  At Christmas time, more than ever, we reflect on the birth of our dear Savior.  He wasn’t just a babe in a manger; it was what He did after that that made all the difference.  In the way he loved and served, in the way He sacrificed.  His love changed the world; I want to do what I can to be but a reflection of His light and love.  I choose faith, love and hope.

Caterpillar Green

What a great week!  The highlight of the week was obviously Arlo's first birthday.  I can not believe that it's been a year since our little angle was born.  Jeff had his last week of classes; he was done by Wednesday afternoon.  He had Thursday off to study and had his first exam on Friday afternoon.  He felt he did well and is hoping to do well in the class overall.

I worked in the office all day on Thursday which was different as I've been working in the afternoon from home.  With Jeff at home again for the holidays I'll be in the office all day, which in reality I'm looking forward to, when I get home after being at work all day, I'm done.  I can relax and be at home and enjoy my family, instead of having to stay in the work mind frame after arriving home.  It was the first Friday in a long time that I've worked.  As it turned out, I didn't work a single Friday in November.  After coming home from work, we went shopping for Arlo's party and I started baking cake.  In the evening, the Bryson's came over for game night and Jan graciously helped me decorate Arlo's cake.  We played Trivial Pursuit and played with fondant and got done around midnight.  The cake turned out wonderfully, I was very proud of it when it was done.  Jeff's younger brother and his wife stayed the night with us and the kid enjoyed having them over.

We cleaned on Saturday and decorated.  Arlo had a Very Hungry Caterpillar book party and it was such a great theme.  Arlo already has a lot of toys seeing as he's gotten toys from Nana and the hand me downs of two sisters, we didn't want him to get more new toys, especially with Christmas right around the corner.  By doing a book party Arlo tripled his library of books, it was a wonderful idea.  We had a 2PM party so I provided mostly just snack foods, all from the book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar.  We did a "pin the antenna on the caterpillar" game, coloring, and a butterfly pinata.  There were a ton of kids in our house!  One of my favorite things from the party was the birthday wishes.  I printed up a sheet with some prompts and had everyone write 1st birthday wishes to Arlo, I stapled them into his baby book as a keepake. I think it went very well, everyone seemed to have an enjoyable time.

 At one year Arlo is walking and waving, he loves to clap and uses the sign "more".  His favorite people are Mom & Dad, his Sisters, Nana, and Sister Mawson his babysitter.  Zeus is his favorite pet, he loves to pet and pull at Zeus.  He's not saying much.  Mama, Dada, Ok, and yeah.  He loves the school bus and excitedly points when it comes up the street to pick up or drop off Felicity.  He has a pair of moraccas that he really loves, but his favorite toy is a train that has little balls you drop into the smoke stack and they come back up through the engine.  The Bear Snores On is his favorite book.  He's adapted to the cup well and can drain his sippy in about a minute.  He loves food in all it's varieties.  He particulary loves green veggies, peas, brocolli, and green beans being his favorite.  He still sucks his thumb, but only when he's tired.  We can always tell when he's ready for bed because he'll start sucking his thumb and pull a blanky or other cloth items (sometimes a shirt someone has left on the floor) up to his face.  Recently when he's tired he lifts up his arms indicating he wants me to pick him up and he pulls my hair up to his face and sucks his thumb.  He's such a sweet boy and we love him so much.

My first birthday wishes for Arlo:
I hope you learn to love to serve others.
I hope you aren't afraid to fail.
I hope you enjoy new experiences frequently.
I hope you have lots of friends.
I hope you experience all the wonderful thing life has to offer.
I hope you never forget that your Heavenly Father loves you.
I hope you become all the great things you have the capacity to become.
I hope you grow in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man.
I hope you love your family as much as we love you.

Now that Arlo's birthday is over, we're going to decorate for Christmas.  It's our tradition to decorate our Christmas tree for Family Home Evening, so I'm looking forward to that on Monday.  I feel so much gratitude for all the things I've been blessed with and hope that everyone else finds joy and happiness in the remainder of the holiday season.

Crimson

 I don’t know that our week was very eventful. Arlo is walking pretty well now and loving it. He’s at the stage where he is into everything and super wiggly. We took him off the bottle this week which made for some pretty cranky evenings. He is doing better with the sippy cup and eats just about anything. We’ll be moving him onto whole milk next week; I can’t believe my baby has gotten so big!  He has a few "dress up" clothes (aka old Halloween costumes) the girls like to dress him up in.  Here is Darth Arlo having one of his last bottles.

 Work was less hectic this week and I’m glad that things are winding down for the year. Jeff has his last week of classes next week and then four days of finals and he’ll be done for the semester. I’m grateful I have a job that gives me a gracious paid holiday vacation; we’re looking forward to spending a couple of weeks off together as a family.  Did I mention that Felicity lost another tooth?  One of her upper front teeth.  I took the girls to the dentist on Friday and they did great.  They did x-rays and cleanings on both.  We love musicals around here, and one of the girls' favorites is The Little Shop of Horrors.  Needless to say, their only experience with dentists up until this point has been the sadistic dentist character from the movie adaptation. Yeah, sometimes I feel like a bad mom!  Helen was frightened at first, but was brave and by the end they couldn't stop talking about it and were anxious to go back again.  They both were cavity free, so I was a happy mama.

I’m busily preparing for the holidays. First on the list is Arlo’s birthday party, then our 5th annual Gingerbread FHE. I haven’t done any Christmas shopping for the kids yet, although this week I finished making 12 pairs of PJ pants and three baby blankets for nieces and nephews. I got quite a bit of baking done this week as well, I love feeling productive.

We had our first week of 11AM church. It was nice not having to get up so early, but I don’t think it matters what time church is, we can’t seem to make it there more than 5 minutes before it starts! The kids did pretty well, although we had to feed them a snack just before we left and Helen got peanut butter all over her dress and had to change. After church we went to my parents and picked them up and then we drove to our first Holiday party of the season. A friend of my mother’s has a sing-a-long party and the kids had an enjoyable time.