Christmases Past...these are in no particular order. Enjoy!

in our pj's Grandma and Grandpa Davis sent us...Christmas '05




angels in the Christmas Eve pageant...'05





Joseph, Mary, and the baby '05?





Joseph--sobered, perhaps, by the weight of his calling?






my best friend Maggie sent me this shirt from her mission in San Diego. I was in Puerto Rico. Christmas '07






Christmas '03. Santa brought me a guitar!








in Puerto Rico on my mission with Hermana Obando. Christmas morning, '07. I kinda look like a boy with that short hair, huh. Yuck

Christmas before going to BYU. '02

Hmmmm...maybe Christmas of '01 or '02? Joseph looks a lot happier than he does in '05, doesn't he. Little cuties.

I love Mexicans

I love Mexicans. On Friday night I went to the Christmas party for the Spanish branch of my church--the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I have a friend there; her name is Mari and she is married with 4 kids. Our conversations have probably totalled about 2 hours, including a couple of encounters at my sparse visits to the Spanish worship services, my translating for her at a Cub Scouts' Pack Meeting, and a few phone calls back and forth while I've been away at school in Utah.

I guess I love Mexicans because they are so quick to love. Our American gestures of warmth and caring (a friendly wave, a firm handshake) pale in comparison with how some of the Mexicans I know just sort of overflow with love. Somehow with Mexicans I feel like you can skip right past the "casual acquaintances" stage; a few minutes together and you can reach Anne Shirley's "bosom friends" stage. It makes me happy.

Mari invited my little sister and I over for dinner tonight...I'm stoked for the food and the Spanish and the love. :)

Christmas Break

I'm new to the world of blogging, but my 10 year-old brother created a blog today and inspired me to do the same.

I've come home for Christmas. A few funny things have been done/said.

Yesterday, my little sister Mary, who is 5, was overheard to threaten 7 year-old Mckay with something close to the following phrase: "If you _____, I will kick your butt." It was one of those unfortunate moments where the big people in the room stop talking just in time to hear or see the little people do something that will get them into trouble. My mom was fired up. (We don't like the 'b' word at my house). She said, "C'mon Mary, let's go wash your mouth out with soap." But before my mom could carry Mary off to the bathroom sink, she got distracted by something McKay was doing. Mary recognized her getaway. I saw her walk away quickly and call over her shoulder, "Don't worry, Mom, I'll wash my own mouth out with soap." That made me laugh. I'm pretty sure she wasn't really going to wash her own mouth out with soap. It must have seemed like a pretty logical way to get herself out of the punishment though--assuring Mom that the mouth-washing would be taken care of, that she could just rest easy and save herself a trip because Mary would do it herself. On the other hand, would she really wash her own mouth out with soap? Also a funny thought. Maybe she really believed it was dirty and felt compelled to wash it out. Imagine that.

Another funny thing was this morning as we crammed into the van to drive to church. We don't quite all fit in the van anymore. Emma (14) was sitting on Elise's (18) lap. Emma started whining and moving around and when told to calm herself down, she said in her whiniest voice, "But Mom, Elise just dug her knuckles into my ticklish spot!" to which Elise replied calmly, "That's because you just sat your ticklish spot on my knuckles." I thought it was a quick and witty rebuttal on Elise's part.