The Gifts of Christmas-time!!

"Candy cane, counting days, kids who still believe. Falling snow, mistletoe, tramming the tree. and laying underneath the glow of colored strings of light, dreaming of Christmas Eve night. Popcorn chains, china plates, the smell of pumpkin pie. wrapping gifts, ornaments, stockings hung high. Baking cookies and reading stories, a different tale each night. Seeing it again through a child's eyes.

It's the hope that one day the world will know peace, its the love that we feel helping others in need. It's shepherds who follow the star in the night, all wrapped up in the gift of Christmas time.

Holy night, a gift divine, unto us has come. A perfect child, baby mild, and holding her son. Mary sings a lullaby as peacefully he sleeps, and she marvels at what this miracle will mean.

It's the son of heaven as angels sing, its the grace that only the Savior could bring. It's wise men who follow him each day of their lives. All wrapped up in the gift of Christmas time.

It's wise men who follow him each day of their lives, it's love and hope. It's joy and light..

It's Christmas time!!" -Hilary Weeks

(This is my absolute favorite Christmas song, by Hilary Weeks.)

A Favorite!

Jeseppi is IN LOVE with the new Utah Museum of Natural History. We have gone 4 times I think in the last 2 months! He is learning so much!

His favorite part of the whole place is the DINOSAURS!! Shocker right? ha ha.

Jeseppi absolutely loves dinosaurs, they are a BIG part of his life. If we are trying to discipline his for whatever reason, He tries to change the subject by talking about dinosaurs. Sometimes if he is mad, he responds with a big dinosaur ROAAAR, its lovely. He knows several dinosaur songs and usually says "the Bracciosaurous (SP?) is my favorite because he's so cool." He really is so cool!!

It's Christmas time again.

We have all been pretty busy these last few weeks. Mike has been gone for most of the last week and a half studying for his last set of finals!!! Come Wednesday evening we will be jumping full force into the Christmas festivities!!! I can not wait.

We have done a few things already, we decorated our teeny tiny tree (which I think looks pretty darn cute!) we wrapped all our presents, we made goodies for a bunch of our neighbors, we've been singing a lot of Christmas songs, and watched a few Christmas movies. Seppi and I have read a Christmas book every day in December (thanks to the library!). Seppi is so stinking cute, everytime he sees a baby he says "its the baby Jesus." and he says "they brought gifts for the baby, gold deblunes (courtesy of Jake and the never land pirate show)and myrrh" and I always help him say frankincense!! I love that he is getting into the true spirit of Christmas. We are trying hard to teach him that Christmas is not all about presents and St. Nick, even though those things are a lot of fun!

Seppi is so expressive and fun right now, he is full of energy! Everytime he sees Christmas lights he says, with a huge amount of enthusiasm "it's Christmas!!!" I can not wait to take him to see the lights on Temple Square (after Wednesday! ha ha)

Mike has been such a great student, he is so smart, and he has been working so hard, we have been so blessed while we have been in school. It has truly been a LONG haul and we are so excited to start a new chapter in our lives, although the unknown and change is a little scary. He still has 2- 8 week internships and they are all set up, but the class work and all the final exams are just about done!
Finals weeks have always been a little stressful for the whole family but we seem to make it through every time. Seppi and I have been able to keep busy with playing with friends (Seppi is quite a little social butterfly, he is such a good friend and he makes me so proud, he is not afraid to reach out and play with new little friends, in our court). I started reading again during nap time and bed time, which it such a wonderful outlet for me! and have been making a few things for Christmas, I really enjoy making things.
We have been truly blessed, I have to say it has not been an easy year for us (truthfully one of the harder ones), but I can see the Lords hand in our lives and so I feel like I can not complain, we have all been healthy, fed, clothed, blessed with warmth, and wonderful family members willing to step in at any time. We have had the blessing of the Spirit in our home, which has truly been a blessing.
We are excited to welcome a new year, ready to let this one come to a close- knowing that this next year will be full of adventure and change.

Seppi Tales...

1st story- 2 weeks ago Jeseppi and I slept over at my mom's house with Kris Kris (my sister) and Hailee (her daughter). In the morning I was getting ready for the day in the bathroom and Seppi comes around the corner holding a dead mouse in his hand saying "look mommy a mousy" I didn't know how else to respond except by SCREAMING!! I grabbed his arm and flung the mouse out of his hand, right as Kristi turned the other corner and we almost hit her with the dead mouse. The next thing I know Seppi and Hailee are crying and Kristi and I are Screaming still. I had to explain to Seppi that the mouse was dead, which made him cry even harder, and he said "No he's sleeping." It was TRAGIC. Now Seppi walks around saying (sometimes to complete strangers). "and mommy SCREAMED the mouse, but it was dead." and then he laughs.

2- In August Jeseppi and I went with Sabrina (my sister) and her two kids Alex and Ben to the Dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point. We all had a fantastic time and Seppi absolutely loves his cousins. Well, it is now December and just about everyday I still hear "But, we went to the Dinosaur Museum with Alex and Ben, and the Super-Soraus was GIGANGIC." (Gigantic). He will even tell the cashiers at the grocery store. It has made a lasting impression on him. One night I was helping him say his prayers and it was around General Conference time and I tried to have him say "We're thankful for the Apostles" but instead he said "Thankful for the Fossils, at the dinosaur museum, with Alex and Ben." HA HA HA HA

3- Last week Mike needed a little space to get ready for a big test so Seppi and I went up to Bear Lake, where my other sister lives, Jami, we went up with Kristi and Hailee, and Jami has 4 kids. Well, the whole 3 days we were there, we literally vegged out and watched TV.. (totally a little vacation that we needed). So, one day while we 3 sisters were vegging on the couch and totally being the greatest mom's that we are (ha ha). The 3 toddlers were having the best time playing together. Seppi found a fisher price shopping cart and decided to RIDE it down her stairs, Probably seemed like a fun idea at the time, right? So, we hear the BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM, just like you would hear if they just shoved the shopping cart down the stairs and thinking that's exactly what happened, none of us even really budged from our cozy locations. UNTIL... We heard the CRASH and the CRY that came later at the bottom of the stairs. YUP, that would be my little man! ha ha. I couldn't figure it out, so I asked him, "Did you get into the cart and ride it down the stairs?" he just said "YA, I did, I went BOOM BOOM BOOM- CRASH- and bumped my head, OUCH." Now he tells everyone this story as well.. and laughs and laughs about it.

4- Seppi and I sing pretty much all day long! He loves the Tangled songs and lately he really loves church songs too. He'll sing almost all the words of "I am a Child of God", "I Hope They Call Me on a Mission", "I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home", "Give Said the Little Stream", and "I Love to See the Temple".. So, the other day I was driving us home, and we pass the Capital building all lit up at night and Seppi says, "Mom look the Temple, The Temple is the Holy Ghost" (because the song goes "The Temple is a Holy Place", but he's learning about the Holy Ghost too and so He got a little confused." Any way just down the street we saw the actual Temple and I told him that that was the Temple.. He's so observant and learning SO MUCH.

5- So the other night Mike taught the FHE lesson on the first Article of Faith, he did a great job, he had pictures to explain and teach about each person in the God Head and we all repeated it several times, He really is an excellent Daddy. So, then a couple of days later, Seppi and I were at the Dollar store picking out Christmas Wrapping paper (they had all the Christmas stuff out, just like every other store..) and Seppi see's an angel and says, "mom, You're an angel" and I said "oh, thanks, you're an angel too!" then he got this thoughtful look on his face and says, "but, you're not a God." and I said "no I'm not a God" and he said "and, I'm not a God" (speaking about himself) and I said "nope, you're not a God." He's really picking up on the things that we are teaching him and it is so fun and rewarding to see!

THERE ARE BILLIONS MORE STORIES.. But, I think I've written enough for one day. Seppi is such a fun Kid, I am such a lucky lady to have him as my little buddy. I Love every ounce of him and am So thankful that I get to be his Momma and teach him something new every day.
We really do have a great family and despite the hard days, we are all really happy because he have each other and because we have a firm foundation in the gospel to build upon. THIS HAS GOT TO BE A GOOD LIFE!!