Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Beams Family Christmas

We had the Beams Family Christmas on December 23rd at Aunt Marcia' and Uncle Bruce's house. While it is wonderful to have everyone together, this year was extra special as we had Aunt Jan, Uncle Randy and Keanu here from Hawaii! Keanu and Evelyn hit it off right away and have become great friends. He even gave Evelyn the first gift she has ever opened in her life! It took Evelyn a few moments to figure out what was going on, but once she did...ooooh, boy! Even her eyes got big as she started to tear at the paper. Of course, she is still more interested in the paper than in what the actual present is, but it is good fun. Christmas day should be a good time!




Evelyn posing with a bow she got as a gift from Emmye (see video above of her opening gift!)


Evelyn with ALL of the bows in her hair!


Back view of ALL the bows!

Grandpa Beams, Randy and Jan Maxedon



Grandma Beams and Evelyn


Emmye and Evelyn



Evelyn and her new buddy, Keanu!
(Notice that Keanu shared one of his favorite gifts of the night with Evelyn! In the first picture, you can see his Webkins Eagle behind his back. In the second picture, Evelyn is holding it. We didn't realize this until after we posted these pictures on the site. Thank you Keanu for helping teach Evelyn about sharing and the true meaning of Christmas!)




Monday, December 22, 2008

Santa's Coming! I KNOW him!


Although she may not always let on, Evelyn is waiting to hear reindeer dancing on our roof in a few nights. We know there is no way that Santa will pass by our house, not with such a wonderful girl living here. Evelyn has been turning into quite a Santa groupie having gone to see him TWICE! But even better than Santa is knowing that she will be spending the next weeks with family and friends who mean so much to all of us.
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Thursday, December 11, 2008

The Next Step...

Tonight we got some good news...

The court hearing went well today, as Evelyn's birthmother agreed to terminate her parental rights and our petition for adoption was filed with the court. While this blog is normally about Evelyn, we would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank Evelyn's birthmother, even though she may not ever read this.

You don't know what a gift you have given us. Every day we wake up so thankful for the fact that of all the people in the world, you chose us to raise Evelyn. The love you showed by making a decision that put her above all else is a love that some may not understand, but is known so well by us. Please know that we hold a special place in our hearts for you, and will be sure to instill this love in Evelyn. You have done so much more than give us a child, you have made us a family. And for that, we are forever grateful.

"I thank my God every time I remember you." -Philippians 1:3

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Nil Lara

The great thing about having an iPod is the fact that you can shuffle songs and find some lost gem you never knew was in your collection. I was listening the other night, and the song, "My First Child" by Nil Lara came on. First of all, what an interesting name for a band (at least in our house!) and secondly, what great lyrics on the week of Evelyn's 5 month birthday. Not all the lyrics fit into our life, but here are the words that had an impact on me.




I've seen the response of God in me
Coming to life
Kicking me strong
Draining my blood

You're my first child
I'll show you no harm
I'll teach you my love
















Waking at night
Wanting caress
I'll keep you warm beside my bed
Together we'll rest
Deep in your sleep
My body's your glove






You're my first child
I'll show you no harm
I'll teach you my love





Smelling my skin
Feeling my face
I'll feed you each and every time
You cry into space
Holding my hands
Clutching my heart

You're my first child
I'll show you no harm
I'll teach you my love


We have had a lot of requests to hear this song...if you go to
http://www.ilike.com/artist/Nil+Lara
(You will need to copy and paste the above address)
under "Popular Songs" you will find "My First Child". It was written for a son, but is a wonderful song for any parent.

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Santa!


Evelyn got to meet Santa tonight!

Grandma & Grandpa Rice took Daddy & Evelyn to Marquette to meet up with Mommy when she got done with work. We went out to celebrate Lara's birthday at The Border Grill and then headed back to NMU for the "Lighting of the Holidays" celebration.

Evelyn was VERY interested in all the people at the University Center. A dance school was performing to entertain the crowd waiting to see Mr. Kringle. What held Evelyn's attention the longest, of course, were the basic fluorescent lights in the ceiling, but at least she was entertained the whole time.

So, after waiting in line for a long time, we finally got up to see Santa Claus. As Murphy's Law would have it, as soon as Evelyn sat on Santa's lap, the battery in our digital camera ran out. NMU students were on hand to take Polaroid pictures, but the picture looked like they were about 3 miles away when they snapped the shot.

When we got out of line, we stopped by a table being run by the Golden Z club who were giving out books to all the children at the event. We picked out a cute story book that has a toy Santa for a cover.



Back at the stroller, we looked in our camera bag, and sure enough, there was another battery! After a quick check to see if it was charged, we got back in line to see Santa again. Lara got these shots of our little girl with the big guy. Thankfully, it was all grins both times. We are sure that Evelyn is on the top of Santa's good list.