Foto Friday

Random pictures of Mercy. Mercy bundled up @ June Lake, Oct. 2006

The Angels must have been losing, Sept. 2006

Mercy in piggy-tails, June 2006

Mercy making faces at her 2nd birthday party, May 2006

More face making, June 2005

In this picture she is wearing a dress that was mine when I was a toddler.

She wanted a bigger pumpkin, Oct. 2008

Keeping out of the sun, May 2007

Catherine Lucille Davis

Baby Lucy has arrived!

She was born February 22, 2009 at 8:21 pm.

She weighed 7 pounds 2 ounces, & was 20 inches long.

Getting ready to leave the hospital.

Our new family photo!

Introducing Foto Friday!

As I was looking through my Picasa pictures, I decided that I would start posting random photos of the family & our happenings. We have so many pictures, and we rarely share them. So here it is, the first Foto Friday!

A few weeks ago we went to John's Incredible Pizza Co. I asked Jason to take a picture of Mercy and me. Mercy insisted we had to be eating our pizza for the picture.

Joshua & Jason playing air hockey.

This is a poster that was up at Jason's grandmother Marge's 80th birthday brunch.

Jason takes champagne brunches very seriously.

My family threw me a Baby Shower. The children helped to open all the gifts. I sure do hope that the doctor is correct and we will be having a girl, with all the pretty pink gifts we received.

A Year With Frog and Toad

A couple of weeks ago, we went to the playhouse at the Victoria Garden's Cultural Center to see a play. The play was A Year With Frog and Toad, based on the book by Arnold Lobel. We attended the play with our home school group.Joshua waiting to go in.A shot of the home school group.

Joshua and Mercy ready for the play to begin.

We had read the book together before we went. The play was very entertaining. I highly recommend their family plays. We have attended at least four and we have never been disappointed. I like that they usually have live music, and the actors are very talented.

After the play we had lunch at Victoria Gardens. It was a very enjoyable outing.

Valentine's Sweetheart Dinner

This past Saturday, Jason & I attended a Sweetheart Dinner which was hosted by our homeschool group. The dinner was held at the McCoy Equestrian Center in Chino Hills.

The tables were beautifully decorated, and the food was delicious! We had an Italian dinner which consisted of lasagna, chicken fetuccini alfredo, penne, salad, and garlic bread. For dessert we had a choice of chocolate cake or cheesecake.

The night was set up to be a celebration of the love God has given to us in our marriages. We took pictures together (like in high school!). And we heard a talk encouraging us in our marriages by a couple, Lin and Barb Wells, who were celebrating their 35th wedding anniversary that night. The talk was a real blessing.

Overall, the night was very enjoyable. I was able to spend a romantic night with my wonderful husband, and at the same time hear about how God works in our marriage.

Rock Star Mercy

This is for you Uncle Alex!



I took this video this morning. Mercy is wearing what she calls a rock star outfit while singing and playing her "electric" guitar. The guitar was a Christmas gift from her Aunt Cathy and Uncle Isaac. I can't wait until they have children and I can buy loud obnoxious toys for them. But really, Mercy loves her guitar and often plays it and makes us lovely songs to go along.

Preparing For Baby

As we are counting down the days until we bring a newborn into our home for the third time, I have been re-reading some of my trusted baby books.

For pregnancy and delivery I have two favorite books. The first is What to Expect When You’re Expecting, it has been called a must-have book for parents to be, and I have found it very helpful through all of my pregnancies. The second book is The Whole Pregnancy Handbook, which is a guide that combines both conventional and alternative medicine. I just found this book during this pregnancy, and I have been very thankful for the advice on how to have a healthy pregnancy and delivery. The only thing that I don't like is that the spiritual or mind/body advice & testimonials in the the book are in no way Christian, but overall I recommend the book.

I have also re-read On Becoming Baby Wise by Gary Ezzo, & Robert Bucknam. When Joshua was about 8 months old & still not sleeping through the night, a friend recommended Baby Wise to us. I read the book and immediately started using the techiniques in the book. That night Joshua slept through the night, it was hard at first, but it worked. With Mercy we started scheduling her from the beginning and she was sleeping for 7-8 hrs. through the night at about 8 weeks. Again, I don't agree with everything in the book, but it has worked for us. Also note that Gary Ezzo has some controversial teachings (parent-directed feeding) and many people disagree with his work and organization (Growing Kid's International).

I also have taken out my dog-eared and falling apart copy of The Baby Book: Everything You Need to Know About Your Baby From Birth to Age Two by William & Martha Sears. I have used this book with both Joshua & Mercy. Again, Dr. Sears is a follower of attachment parenting (which can be considered the opposite of Gary Ezzo's methods) and I am not an adherent to that style of child rearing. I like to think that by using both Baby Wise and the Baby Book I get a good mix, and it has really worked for our family.

Disneyland Trip

Last week, the children & I took a two-day trip to the Disneyland Resort with a stay at the Disneyland Hotel. We went with my sister Marina. We spent all the first day at Disneyland. It was a beautiful, clear day and the park was not too crowded.

After the park closed we went back to our hotel room. The children were so excited! The hotel has a lot of cute little Disney touches which made our stay special for the children. In the evenings, the hotel has a TV channel with a Disney Princess telling bedtime stories. Mercy loved that!The headboards and bedspreads had scenes from Disneyland.

The TV armiore had a map of Disneyland, the walls had a Tinkerbell fairy dust pattern that was glow-in-the-dark.

The bathroom had Disney character wallpaper, the lights were held up with Mickey hands, & the toiletry bottle caps were Mickey shaped.

The next morning we went to the Grand Californian's Storyteller Cafe for the Chip & Dale Character Breakfast. The food was yummy and the service was excellent.

After breakfast, we headed over to California Adventure. We got on a few rides, toured the tortilla and bread factories, and visited the Hollywood area. The children rode & enjoyed the new Toy Story ride for the first time.

I did not ride most of the rides on our trip. I did do a lot of walking, especially the first day. I actually overdid myself on the trip and was not feeling well when we arrived home after the second day and also the next day. But overall our spur of the moment trip went well. I know the children will remember it for a long time.

Grammy Betty

Tomorrow our family will be heading out to Victorville to attend the memorial service for Jason’s grandmother. Betty passed away suddenly on December 12th after a short hospital stay.

Betty was a beautiful, 81 year-old woman who stayed active through volunteer work and club memberships. She was a voracious reader who passed that love along in her volunteer work teaching literacy. She got around Victorville in her hip, green, Ford Mustang; going to chat group meetings and visiting friends.

Betty was a joy to converse with. I enjoyed chats at family gatherings, she always had a smile and would intersperse Yiddish words or sayings into the conversation.

I will never forget one of the first times I met her when Jason and I were still dating. We were eating dinner, and my meal came with a large piece of broccoli. I don’t eat broccoli. She kept raving about my broccoli. “What a beautiful piece of broccoli!” “Look at that piece of broccoli!” “I hope you are going to eat that broccoli.” Needless to say I choked down that broccoli! Jason and I still joke about that every time broccoli is served.

Betty had 5 children, six grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. Her loving spirit is missed by the many lives she touched.

Betty at her 80th Birthday Party, 2007

Eddie and Betty Simon, circa 1967

Portrait Sitting

Before Christmas, I took the children to JC Penney's to have their pictures taken. The last time I took them in for a professional portrait sitting was probably at least two years ago! I wanted to give the grandparents a framed portrait of their grandchildren as a Christmas present, which went over very well.

Here are some of my favorite poses.

Merry Christmas!

We pray you have a joyous Christmas!

"For he that is mighty hath done to me great
things: and holy is his name.

And his mercy is on them that fear him from
generation to generation."

-Luke 1:49-50

Thanksgiving Cooking

This past Thanksgiving, we spent with Jason's mother's family. It was nice in that we didn't have to travel far, they live just 5 minutes away. We enjoyed a nice quiet dinner.

The children, my sister Marina, and I had made pumpkin pies, cranberry sauce, and cranberry-apple pie with a crumb topping. Everything was delicious! I also made Yams with Ginger and Scallions. I made these last year as well and they were a big hit. The recipe is from last year's Thanksgiving issue of Saveur Magazine. It is a simple yam recipe, with all fresh ingredients. The mix of flavors is amazing!

Happy 8th Birthday Joshua!

Today is Joshua's eighth birthday. It really is amazing how quickly they grow!

We will be celebrating with a quiet dinner at home. I am making Joshua's favorite dinner - corned beef! We will have it with leek champ, carrots, turnips, cabbage, horseradish cream, & corn bread. For dessert: chocolate cupcakes & chocolate chip cookies.

I am thankful to God for His giving us Joshua. He is a loving, adventurous, thoughtful, and mischievous child! I pray that the Lord will give Jason and I wisdom and grace to raise a God-honoring son.

Cider Pressing!

This year, was the first time that we tried pressing our own cider. We think the cider tasted better, because we had to work so hard before we enjoyed it.

Joshua and Jason had the hard work of turning the wheel to smash the apples through the grinder.

Mercy and I had the easy job of putting the apple in the grinder.

After the apples were grinded, we had to turn the press to squeeze all the juice out of the apples. And then the cider is poured into a gallon bottle after going through a filter to take out any large pieces and bees that fell into the vat.

We had a wonderful morning in Oak Glen. Breakfast, apple picking, and cider pressing! We can't wait until next year!

Oak Glen

Last month we took our annual trip to Oak Glen. We woke up early to get there in time for breakfast. We ate at Law's Cafe, where they serve a buffet breakfast. It was delicious! I highly recommend it, but if you go get there early. We got there a couple of minutes before the buffet started, and the dining room was almost full of people waiting to eat. By the time we got up to get in line at the buffet, there was a line of people waiting outside to get in. But it is worth it! Yummy!

After breakfast, we headed over to Willowbrook Apple Farm for apple picking and cider pressing. It is a small family run farm. The children were able to feed and pet Duke, the horse, again. This year they had a new pot bellied pig, she was so cute and excited to meet us.

Cute little apple pickers!

It was a beautiful, crisp, clear morning.

I tried to get Jason to take a picture with the children. It is almost impossible to get that man to smile!

But after some work, I was able to coax a smile out of him!

I had to help Mercy pick apples. It was only the second weekend that Willowbrook was open, so there were plenty of apples that were low for the children to pick.