The Davis Family

November: A Month of Giving Thanks

2009-11-18T21:04:00.030-07:00

I decided that since Thanksgiving is coming up soon, and I often speed through this month so quickly that I often forget to stop and be thankful. What is this life all about unless we can pause and be thankful for all that we have....? It doesn't mean much, if it doesn't mean much, right? (Profound, huh?) Anyway... I wanted to be in a more grateful state of mind this month, so I came up with one thing every day until Turkey Day that I am really and truly thankful for in my life. So, here they all are, my month of THANKSGIVING....

November 1: Today I am thankful for daylight savings. I am so grateful for that extra hour of sleep, and for a really good excuse to put my darling babies in bed an hour early. "Look, the clock says it's bedtime." seems to go a lot further than "It's bedtime because mom needs it to be so."

November 2: I am thankful for my free Monday Mornings. Twice a month I volunteer at the kids school on Monday mornngs and the other mornings of the week I teach preschool, and on Fridays I make all my appointments, so these wonderfully quiet mornings only come the other two Mondays. They are my only big block of quiet time throughout the week to do whatever I need to do. I get from 8:30-11:30 ( while Brooklyn is at kindergarten) to go grocery shopping, clean house, laundry, OR climb back in bed and read a good book for an hour or two. Not very often does that happen, but it doesn't matter. I can have time to think and ponder even on quiet laundry days, or while grocery shopping all by myself. Love those rare Monday mornings!

November 3: Election Day... I love that we have the right to vote. I love that we live in a country that has that freedom. I LOVE OUR COUNTRY! I'm so grateful for all of the people who have made those rights and freedoms possible.

November 4: I'm thankful for the "buy 9, get the 10th lunch free"punch card at Cafe Rio. FREE LUNCH Day. I'm thankful for Brooklyn as my lunch date out about once a month, even if it did take us about a year to get a free lunch. Yummmmmmmy -- that Pork Barbacoa Salad! Even if Brooklyn eats all my black beans.

November 5: I'm thankful for Utah's four seasons. I love to watch them change. From summer to fall is one of my favorite (one of my four favorites). Brooklyn and I went in the backyard today and played in the leaves. We love to rake them up at the bottom of the slide and then watch the kids slide down and disappear in a huge pile of foliage. Canyon had fun climbing trees tonight. I love the smell, and the sound, and the sight of fall leaves!!!!

November 6: Today I am thankful for simple pleasures. We built a campfire in our firepit in the backyard. Invited the neighborhood kids over. Cooked hotdogs over the fire, added a little Jello and Kool-Aid and Cheetos (3 foods we rarely eat because mom hardly never buys them -- overload at boy scout camp for so many years I suppose) and played hide-and-seek in the twilight. LOVE the smell of a campfire, and the magic it has on me, and the mezmorizing effect it has on all who look into the light.

November 7: I'm thankful for the Ensign magazine and for the gospel pricipals it teaches us. It came in the mail today. I've been anxious to read it because of the lack of info I actually gathered from conference. Something to do with "Mom, she's breathing on me" and "Mom, he's in my space" and "Mom, I was there first" and "Mom, I'm hungry" and "Mom..........". The written word read in quiet moments somehow sinks into my brain a little bit deeper. WOW! Do you know how lucky we are to have these wonderul words of wisdom in writing delivered to our front door? And while I'm thinking of it.... I am truly thankful for the Postal System. I really marvel at what a miracle it really is to put a letter in an envelope, and it gets to where it's going, along with 500 million other pieces of mail, within a day or two! WOW!!!! Somehow it amazes me even more so than e-mail. Does that date me?????

November 8: I'm thankful for a patient big brother teaching a not so patient litttle sister to ride her two wheeler bike without training wheels. Jaxon took on the duty for about 15 minutes today. Brooklyn ran out of patience before he did. Way to go, buddy.

I'm also thankful for a rogue rose on my rose bush today -- in NOVEMBER! The last lingering flower in my garden. An absolutely beautiful one, too. WOW!!!!! It made my day. It smells even prettier than it looks!

November 9: I'm thankful for my Canyon and his ability to make my day with love notes on my pillow when I climb into bed. They usually have drawings of sharks biting a swimmer's leg off, or a lion eating his zebraesque dinner, but nevertheless, they always express his love for his parents, and sometimes, they make it to our pillow to surprise us as we climb into bed. LOVE THAT CANYON BOY!

November 10: I'm thankful for late night conversations. It's amazing how when life gets quiet, the lights go out, recollections of the day start to come out, and good talks happen between parents and children, and between grownups too. These quiet little moments are so special. These are the times when important questions are asked, and hopefully answered with care and meaning. These are the moments when thoughts are racing and things are remembered, random and funny and truly meaningful. These are moments when love is declared and tenderness is shown. These are the moments when prayers are said. These are the moments when we hold each other and giggle and snuggle and really feel. I love the moments right before we all are drifting off to sleep. Today I'm thankful for those moments.

November 11: Veteran's Day: Once again I am so thankful for all who gave so much for this country and all the freedoms we have. But I am also so very thankful for good teachers who teach my children about things like Veteran's Day. Brooklyn came home today singing "Oh Beautiful For Spacious Skies" at the top of her lungs, complete with sign language and a thank you note to a veteran. (We'll give it to Grandpa.) Thanks to her teacher, and all the others who pause to teach really important things, even if they aren't necessarily on the SAT test or in the state 's curriculum. Thanks Mrs. Martin!

November 12: I'm thankful for Early Out Week once in a while. I miss my kids when they are at school all day. It's nice to see them come home early once in a while. I love them popping their little heads into my preschool class so I can introduce them to my preschool students. They never get to see each other except on early out days. I had a student that said "I didn't know that you were a mom and already had babies and they grew up!" Yup, my babies are all growing up. :( AND... I'm thankful for having a job that I love. I'm a lucky lady to be able to teach preschool and make a little living at it too!

November 13: I'm thankful for the magic of Disney. Disney has provided us with many magical moments. We were able to go to Disney on Ice with my sister the Painter cousins tonight. Pure magic, once again. The talent these people have to create something so entertaining is really amazing. (If only those darling Disney Princesses could sew sleeves into their dresses to make them more modest. Brooklyn is very concerned about that.) Thanks LaDawn for taking us, and thanks Walt for your talent and your lasting imagination.

November 14: I'm thankful for my children's cousins. We swapped Jaxon for my sister's Brittany for the weekend. I'm so glad my children have cousins around their ages to enjoy and play with make chocolate chilp cookies with and make giant forts with in the basement on stormy and cold November afternoons.

November 15: I'm thankful for good Sunday School teachers who taught me just what I needed to hear today.

November 16: I'm thankful for the wisdom of Family Home Evening and the power it has to bring us all together in one room for 45 minutes every Monday night to talk about important stuff...even if nothing seems to be sinking in when it comes to real life on Tuesday through Sunday...

November 17: I'm thankful for the medical profession, and that there are people out there that dedicate their whole lives to figuring out how to make us healthy when we are sick or hurt. I'm thankful that we can go to a doctor, and get help when we need it . I'm thankful for modern medicine and the miracles it assists. I'm thankful that Sid could go to the doctor today and get some medicine for this ongoing and never ending cold and sinus problems these last three weeks. Hopefully this helps, honey!

November 18: I'm thankful for long lost college friends who accidentally call my number by mistake and make my day by talking with me for 1/2 hour. Thanks Valerie. So good to hear your voice! What a great thing to be thankful for, the ability to make friends. Do you think animals make friends in the wild, or are we just the lucky ones? What a neat thing that is... to have a really good friend.

November 19: Today I'm thankful for clean, running, cold, and SOFT water. It's so nice to be able to turn on the water from a tap and count on it coming out every time. I think I take that for granted, especially since so many people in the world do not have that. And it's clean and won't make us sick. And this time of year it's so cold and satisfying. AND now we have SOFT water to shower with and to wash dishes and clothes with!!!! Sid bought me a water softener this week, and boy is it making a difference in so many things....clean glasses, soft hair, not so dry skin, etc. WOWIE!

November 20: I'm grateful for good neighbors and great friends for my kids. It's Friday afternoon, and that means early out day at school, and PLAY day with friends. Right now, Brooklyn is headed to a friends birthday party, and Canyon and Jaxon are all playing outside with their friends. There are 11 boys under the age of 10 at my house at the moment.... all making sweet happy boy sounds. LOVE THAT!!!!

November 21: Today I had lots to be thankful for. First of all....MY SISTER IS GETTING MARRIED!!!! Don't tell anyone. She's not officially engaged yet. She asked me to go help her pick out a wedding dress today. What a wonderful thing to do! We had so much fun. She picked one out that is absolutely BEAUTIFUL! She is beaming. She is GORGEOUS! I love her. I had so much fun helping her do that today. Thanks for asking, Cindy!

This is a cute picture of Cindy rejoicing as she is coming out of David's Bridal Shop after she found the perfect dress.

I am also thankful for my High School group of friends. All six of us got together tonight with husbands and kids for dinner. We haven't seen each other all together in quite a few years. It was so fun to visit and catch up. We left a little early because Jaxon had that look on his face, a look that says "I'm not feeling too well, Mom." So we rushed home. Which brings me to my third thankful thing today. I'm thankful for Ziploc bags, and that we are wise enough (from years of experience) to keep some handy at all times in the car, and that we could find one in time for Jaxon to use it. Enough said.

November 22: I'm thankful for Christmas and family and traditions. We put our Christmas tree up tonight. It was so fun to all hunker down with the Polar Express DVD and unwrapping each ornament and remember the meaning behind it, and fighting over who gets to put the star on the top of the tree and who gets to put the train around the tree. We had fun making a gingerbread house, some of the candies even made it to the frosting! We even had a beautiful snow storm blow in tonight just for us.

I'm also very thankful for such great parents who are married 54 years TODAY!!! Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad! I'm so glad you found each other and got married! I'm also thankful for Paul and Carmen. Happy Anniversary to you too! Thanks so much for being a part of our lives and our children's lives. Our children are so lucky to have wonderful grandparents in their lives. Today I'm thankful for my children's grandparents!

November 23: I'm thankful for the first real snow of the season, and waking up to it all melted off the sidewalks so I don't have to shovel. Blue sky, bright sun, sparkling new snow=BEAUTIFUL!

November 24: Today I'm thankful for an unexpected day spent with my good hubby. He suddenly and unexpectedly stayed home from work today due to various reasons. And now we get to spend the day together! LOVE THAT! LOVE HIM! He's such a good man! I'm also thankful for my health as the stomache flu is going around the family. I think that's why we're sick, so that we can appreciate our health when we finally have it again, or when we are lucky enough not to get it.

I'm also thankful for good books and the ability to read. As I lugged my great big blue bin out of storage that was full of Christmas books, I excitedly opened it and anticipated reading them all to my children again this season. The Mitten, The Snowy Day, The Night Before Christmas, The Polar Express are a few oldies but goodies. And then the new generation of Christmas books that we are loving too: Santa's New Jet, and Who Will Guide My Sleigh?, and The Cricket's Song, not to mention a whole slew of creative Nativity stories. A book per child per night until Christmas, and we might get through a small portion of them. Good thing Christmas comes around every year. Children's books are weakness of mine. I guess there are worse things to be addicted to. Right?

November 25: Today on Thanksgiving Eve, I'm thankful for so MANY, MANY things to be thankful for. Here is our family's "WALL O' BLESSINGS". We decided to each think of 5 blessings every day at FHE last week and put them on sticky notes and put them on the wall in our kitchen every day so we could actually visualize just how blessed we are. Primitive, but nevertheless, effective. It was kind of fun to see it grow and grow every day. I hated to take them down, but everytime someone walked by, 10 more would fall off. So here is photographic evidence of just some of our blessings. We could do this every day for a year and still not run out of blessings( ... just sticky notes). I'm so thankful to be living MY life, blessings and challenges all wrapped up together. I've sure got a good one!

THANKSGIVING: Today, I am thankful for all that I have. It's been fun to think more about it this year. I have so much to be thankful for. I'm thankful for YOU in my life. Thanks for being part of my life.

November 27: Today I'm thankful for sisters to go shopping with, and for leftovers!

An Awesome October

2009-11-06T19:26:00.029-07:00

OOPS... I went backwards on this blog. Last is first and first is last (that almost sounds like scripture????) Anyway, maybe if you turn around when you read this it will make more sense.

I love warm November days. Today was one of the best ones in history. Brooklyn and I went outside and played in the leaves. She had fun throwing them up and then we made leaf angels. We raked a huge pile at the bottom of the slide. Tonight each of my darlings invited a friend over to play in the leaves, then we cooked hotdogs over the fire in the backyard firepit and played hide and go seek in the dark. What simple fun. I love beautiful fall days, the rustle of brown leaves, the smell of a campfire, the laughter of my children, and s'mores!!!! What a great day!

After the trick-or-treating, THE LOOT! (see note about the backwards thing)

And we're off to fill our bags with tooth decaying, diabetes causing, smile making "sugar pellets" (as Sid calls them). What fun! (Jaxon thinks he's big enough to trick-or-treat with friends in an alternate neighborhood! What! Then mom can't take cute pictures of you!)

We had a blast carving our pumpkins. Jaxon chose the biggest pumpkin at the store. He carved his at a party at a friends house.

Canyon and Brooklyn had a hard time touching the pumpkin guts, but had fun carving them. Small children with sharp knives???? Who ever thougth of this tradition anyway?

Canyon's teacher, Mrs. Pettit, is such an awesome teacher. She took the whole month of October and every Friday taught their entire class and a sixth grade class the dance of "Thriller", then she dressed up as Michael Jackson at the school carnival an danced with them. So funny.

Here is a video of Canyon's awesome dance, exept that one of his classmates is wearing a really BIG and ANNOYING chicken costume right in front of him the whole time. If you kind of move your head up and down to the beat while watching this, and look out the side of your eyes, you might actually see Canyon's face for a moment or two. He's the one right behind THAT DARN CHICKEN!!!!!

Here is also a small clip of Brooklyn. Her class did a darling Halloween program with all kinds of poems and songs. So sweet.

My beautiful birthday flowers from my sweet hubby and a neighbor. I LOVE getting flowers! And tulips in November? Who knew?

Brooklyn was invited to a very fun neighborhood party for everyone kindergarten age and younger. They had stories and games and big blowup slides and a pinata and pizza and juice and boiling cauldrons of witches brew...and....and....and about 50 little kids all dressed up. What FUN!

Hit that pinata girl!

Here are the kids in their costumes.... Jaxon was a self-made IPOD. Pretty darn cute.

Brooklyn was Rapunzel. Her wig(s) were purchased at Dollar Tree -- all five of them because one was way too sparse. 5 was way too sparse too, but I could only fit 5 headbands on her little head. Silly, but she was in heaven with long sparkly hair. She wore this outfit to all of her pre Halloween parties, but when it came right down to trick-or-treating, she chose a pink princess dress instead. Options are good. Who ever said you had to stick to one Halloween outfit???

Canyon was a little fickle too. He was this darling dragon for most of the festivities, but chose to be a karate man for his school carnival.

Jaxon and Canyon and I had fun going to Frightmares with the Stephenson and Painter cousins. This picture is our very last ride for the night. We were just getting off the white roller coaster and the workers were closing up shop. They agreed to take our picture before we left. We are screaming and holding our hands up, because that's what you do on the roller coaster, right? Even if your are not actually riding it anymore????

Brooklyn celebrated her summer birthday in October her kindergarten class. We took icecream to her whole class. She was so excited to celebrate her "special day" in school. We showed some pictures of her, and read her two favorite stories " Fancy Nancy" and "The Paper Bag Princess".

Jaxon and his best friend Eli just finished up this season of soccer. They will start again in the spring. He sure has a good time with socccer. His team name is the Golden Vikings.

Once again, so sorry that it's backwards. I guess that is a hazzard of only blogging once a month, once I get the hang of it, I forget how by the next time. Oh, well.

Before I leave you all for another month, I thought I would leave you with some awefully funnythings Brooklyn has said the last few weeks. They make me laugh, maybe they'll make you laugh too. It must be a 5 year old thing. Five year olds seem to say the funniest things.

Brooklyn heard Sid call me "dear". She looked at her dad and said "why don't you ever call her cupcake?"

Brooklyn was inspecting her legs the other day and said "Mom, look, I have man-hairs on my legs just like the brothers!"

"Mom, my bottom just burped!" (fart)

Brooklyn saying "Mom, I think I'm falling in love with Canyon.... he's my true love's prince."

Brooklyn spotted a squirrel run across the road. After pointed it out to me she said "Yup, I sure do have good looking eyes. (i.e. eyes that see small creatures well)

While watching Bambi, when Thumper and Flower get all "twitterpated", Brooklyn said, "When a boy and girl fall in love, why does the boy always act all silly and the girl has to do all the work?" (Well said, honey, well said. I didn't really have a good answer for that.)

Brooklyn's neverending questions start early in the morning and go until dark. Here are a few:

- How big is an elephants belly button?

- Does Heavenly Father have a grandma and grandpa?

- Do Jesus and Heavenly Father laugh?

- Snow White is coming on TV tonight at 15 o'clock. Can I watch it?

-When Canyon grows up, will he be a grown-up?

- When your gas tank in your car is empty, where did the gas go?

- Do we get birthdays in heaven?

-Do all animals have belly buttons? THINK ABOUT THAT ONE!

- What kind of home does a platypus live in?

- How do eggs get inside of chickens, and do they just QUACK to get them out?

-Do Chinese people know sign language?

Have a great day! I love to read your blogs!

Blogging is Blogging Me Down (August and September)

2009-09-30T21:05:00.023-06:00

AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER
I knew this blogging thing would eventually blog me down. I just honestly haven't found the time these last two months. It's amazing to me how much of life gets put on the back burner during the months of Aug and Sept. So sorry. I will try to do better. Here are some of our family's highlights for the past two months. Hang in there...

BASEMENT

Drumroll please.... here are the long awaited "AFTER" shots of our finished preschool room in our basement, before and after being furnished. I LOVE IT! I love having a little extra space downstairs. We still have a few things to finish up in the laundry room, but this room is done and I am using it for preschool now. YAHOO!

RASPBERRY DAYS

We had a great time at Raspberry days, as usual. We got there in time for the parade. Here are the kids eager to catch some candy.

Here's a self portrait of myself and my beautiful mother. A perfect summer evening on the beach watching my kids have a blast and visiting with my wonderful mom.... how could I be so lucky?

The boys had a blast with the giant trikes.

I was cooking a meal at the townhouse and caught this precious moment out on the deck with my mom and my daughter coloring and chatting together about all the things that were important to Brooklyn at that moment.

We love to make sandcastles!

BROOKLYN'S BIRTHDAY
Brooklyn had a wonderful 5th birthday party.... princess style (of course).

Here they all are "twirling". What could be a more important princess duty than twirling? We practiced for the majority of the party.

Brooklyn and her beeeutiful friends in their princess attire.

Playing pin the princess in the window of the castle.

A pretty darn darlin' cake, if I say so myself. It was fun to make. Brooklyn especially liked licking the frosting off of the feet of all of her princesses afterwards.

BEAR LAKE
We were able to go to Bear Lake with some friends of ours, the Bangerters. They borrowed a boat for an afternoon. We had a blast.

Davis and Bangerter kids!

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

Jaxon - 5th grade

Canyon - 2nd grade

Brooklyn- Kindergarten

ANTELOPE ISLAND

We went out to the hot air balloon festival at Antelope Island, but it was too windy for any hot air balloons. BUMMER! Jaxon had fun climbing the rock wall. He made it to the top both times! RING THAT BELL!

STATE FAIR

Mom and Dad came to see Canyon in a Grandparent Day Program at school, then took us to the State Fair. Brooklyn and Canyon had a great time riding on laps of very patient grandparents and not having to walk a lot of the way. (Why was I so tired that night?)

Canyon loved this great big bunny named Peek-A-Boo.

Brooklyn loved the piggies.

MIRROR LAKE

The weather man said that if you want to enjoy fall, you better enjoy it soon because it's going to snow. So we took his advice and took the day off of life and drove to Mirror Lake for a picnic. The leaves were absolutely perfect. It was fun to just relax and see the beauty of our very own mountains.

I loved this picture of our three little darlings.

And that does it for the very best of the best of the August and September.

Preschool and school have started. Life is back to a pretty strict schedule of teaching, piano lessons, soccer games, homework, scouts, church callings, etc. I love my busy life, even if blogging doesn't get done as often as I'd like.

Love to you all.

Karen and the Davis'

Jumpin' Jelly Beans... Where Did JULY Go?

2009-07-27T20:06:00.046-06:00

Here's our fast and furious month of JULY! I cannot believe it's almost over. I though I better get bloggin' now though, because August is always so very busy. We had a fun month. Here are some highlights.

Sid's cousin Kevin and his wife Krista gave us a whole bunch of yummy apricots off their tree, so we made apricot pie. We made two of them, one for them, and one for us. Canyon decorated the top of our pie. He made it look like a tiger, of course. The only apricot pie in the world with a tiger on the top....I would think.

Brooklyn, Canyon and I adventured off to the Aquarium one day. They had a blast seeing all the animals and fish. Here's even a video of Canyon petting a stingray!

Brooklyn as a mermaid, and Jaxon and Canyon had a blast pulling each other on the little trike.

We had a pajama party on the front lawn while our big brave daddy went and lit all of the fireworks for us. OOOOOH....AHHHHHH!

Four wheeling on the roads above Bear Lake....oh what a view!

The 4th of July was a BLAST, especially since the kids were all sick the week before. We were ready for some fun, and ready to get out of the house. We all went to the Centerville party in the park for a concert, some bounce houses, some rock wall climbing, and some pretty great fireworks, then we watched Centerville Parade the next morning. We headed up to Bear Lake that afternoon for some 4 wheeling, some swimming, some beaching, some canoeing. some walks on the boardwalk, and some more fireworks. I LOVE FIREWORKS! I LOVE PARADES! I LOVE THE USA. I LOVE PATRIOTISM! I LOVE THE 4th OF JULY! My family got sick of me saying that, but I DO!!!!!! My favorite picture is of my family gazing up into the sky watching the fireworks, all huddled together in each other's arms, and me not being able to take my eyes off of THEM. I am so blessed to have such a great family and live in such a wonderful country! What a neat time we had that weekend.

Sid's dad made that blue fiber glass canoe in their garage when Sid's dad was in scouts about 45 years ago. Sid was only a couple of years old but still remembers the fiber glass smell throughout the house. Thanks to grandpa Davis for getting it back out for us to use. It's getting a lot of use. It still floats. What a neat history it has.

We were able to go to the Oquirrah (sp?) Hills Temple Open House with my parents and two sisters and some of their kids. What a neat experience.

We had a marvelous time at the Ivie Family Reuinion. We spent one day sending off the boys to either go fishing with Grandpa or golfing while the girls all went to get manicures and icecream. The next day we all went canoeing at Tony Grove. Jaxon tried his skills at "gunnel jumping" for the first time. He was awesome! (see video, but turn the sound down or you'll just hear this obnoxious laugh... hmm, I'm not sure who it might be). The next day we went swimming at the aquatic center in Logan. What a party!

Jaxon spent the week at Grandma and Grandpa Ivie's house, and Canyon spent the week with his cousin, Brittany..... so Karen and Brooklyn went the the 24th of July festivities all by ourselves. (Dad was at work.) We had a fun time... Girl's Day Out. We had a snow cone and a creamie, then we were still hot and hungry, so we went back and got a creamie and a snowcone. Pony rides, fishing pond, ferris wheel, then we went home to get her dad so we could lug him to the parade. What a party. The boys had fun in their respective places as well.

Here are some remodeling updates. Sid putting in the insulation in our new room, and a picture of our new BIG window. Sheet rock is happening this week. Paint coming soon. :) Hopefully we'll be able to show you the completed AFTER pictures next time.

Hope all is well with you. Love to your all.

Here's to June!

2009-07-14T15:32:00.037-06:00

Here's our month of June in a nutshell. We were busy as ever, but that's what life is all about. Better busy than bored! Happy summer vacation. It's going fast!

We took Jaxon and 8 of his friends to Farmington Pond to go canoeing for his birthday party, then came back and cooked hotdogs and "shmarshmallows" (Canyonism). Then we decorated t-shirts with bleach (backwards tye dyeing!). It was such a fun (7 hour) party. I hope that they have good childhood memories...they BETTER!

My sister, Cindy, took one look at Brooklyn's twirly skirt and decided she had to have one too. So I made her one. It's so fun to make my sister and my daughter so very happy by such a simple act. And what a cute picture, too! Love to you both!

Of course we've been to Lagoon a few times this summer.... Canyon has decided that he is definately a BIG kid now... Colusses, Wicked, big rollar coaster... you name it. He's about 1/2 inch on the tall side of the marker, and he has left the baby boats and the whales behind now. How come my little boy grew up without asking me? They have been having so much fun going with their cousins a few times this summer, but I left my camera home those days.

Brooklyn went to the Princess Festival with her little cousin Brittany and her big "cousin friend" Kristi in Lindon. LaDawn and I went along for the ride. It was a great day and a fund raiser to boot! They had a blast meeting all the princes and princesses and doing all the fun activities.

Here is a cute picture of Brooklyn at her last dancing competition. She has since decided that she's moving on to other things in her life. She wants to try t-ball or soccer now. She also is interested in gymnastics. We'll see what her passion is in the fall. We'll take a break from it all for the rest of the summer. She was so happy to get a "trophy", a crystal glass block with a ballerina carved inside of it. She loves it, but couldn't have cared less what "place" her dance team took....as it should be. "Dance like nobody is looking" comes to mind. I can't seem to figure out how to get the video of her next to the picture of her, but search a little and somewhere in this blog is the very cute video of her dancing to "Lollipop, Lollipop". She's the one in black sleeves because she didn't feel modest enough in her dancing outfit without some sleeves. By golly, we found her some sleeves.... Yay, my daughter, way to stand up for modesty already in your own little 4 year old world.

We met some of the family and went to the Logan Rodeo, one of our very favorite summer activities. This is a picture of Brooklyn sporting her other new skirt, a fourth of July theme. It's been fun to get the sewing machine out a little bit again, especially when you're making something your daughter loves. Canyon just had to wear his cowboy shirt and hat again, but sadly, we could only find one boot right when we were leaving. A bootless cowboy? Yup, that's him. Gotta love him!

Jaxon went to Webelos day camp at Camp Tracey. They needed another parent volunteer and I was able to go capture these pictures of my boy. He had a blast, and I had a blast just watching him. I'm grateful for these small moments. What a great boy I have.

MIRACULOUS PROOF! To all those naysayers (including and especially myself) that ever said that I couldn't make bread! LOOK with your own eyes. I feel like I have conquered a huge demon on my back. And it even tastes good too! I've made about a dozen loaves in about 2 weeks. It's fun, and doesn't take all day. I have my friend JoAnne Jenkins to thanks. She is a pro, and heard of my bread woes, invited me over for private lessons, the secret to the yeast, and WHA LA! The proof is in the (bread) pudding! Thanks Friend!

Here are some BEFORE pictures of our basement remodeling job. We are turning a non finished storage room into a laundry room and preschool room/family room. Sid's brother, Scott is helping us with his abundance of skill and knowledge. He is doing a marvelous job. He's so patient with our wants and needs list as it pertains to this project.

Hopefully you'll see our beautiful AFTER pictures really soon. It's coming along! Yeah! It's amazing how remodeling one room can put your entire house into CHAOS!

Canyon went "swimming" in the front yard. This picture makes ma laugh. A little over preparation for 4 inches of water, maybe? Gotta love my Canyon!

We had fun at the Henrie Reunion in Tremonton. Here is a picture of Sid and his Aunt Teddy and cousins Wendy and Danni and sister Jayna. It was a great day.

This is the dancing video of Brooklyn. So sorry it's out of place. Someday I'll figure this thing out. P.S. the bald head that you see is NOT her dad! (Just in case you were wondering.)

So here it is. Sorry it's a little out of order. Hopefully you'll still get a good overview. I sure love keeping up on your events. Thanks for sharing. Until next time... Karen

My, oh my... there went MAY!

2009-06-01T21:02:00.043-06:00

I know....I know... it's been over a month. So sorry. I TOLD you this would be a monthly event. Here is a sampling of what our family has been up to lately. Maybe you'll understand why I haven't had time to sit down and blog after you read about our May.

Canyon had a great opportunity to be in Bountiful Jr. High's play during the first week of May. His best friend's mom was the director and asked him to play a small part acting as Cosmo as a young child for about 1 minute during their version of "Singing in the Rain". He didn't have to say any words, just do a little dance with little Don Lockwood (David Wadley, his best buddy), and then act like they were watching a movie. I'm so proud of Canyon. He did a marvelous job. He was a little nervous, but got up for 5 performances in front of about 400 people each time. He did a fabulous job. What a growth experience, honey! Way to go.

We spent several hours/ day working in our yard this month. Mom and dad came for a visit and Dad helped me trim my peach tree. Someday I'll get how to do that on my own. Thanks dad!

The next day, dad took mom to the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point for her Mother's Day gift. They invited Brooklyn and I to go along for the ride. It was MARVELOUS! Honestly and literally breathtaking. We were in our own little garden of Eden.

Brooklyn had a blast roaming around each garden and riding on the back of the golf cart that grandpa rented. What a way to see a huge garden in a short time!

Brooklyn had her very first dance recital in May as well. She's been taking a dance class from Monique Draper ("Miss Mo") at FLIPS since February. It's a combination dance class... a little ballet, a little jazz, and a little gymnastics. She loves it, but was little nervous for her first recital in a huge high school gym full of people. WOWIE what a brave girl I have! She did a fantastic job! Her little "mini" dance team won 1st place for their category. She didn't care... she just had fun. She was a little worried about showing her shoulders though. She was worried that her costume wasn't "modest" enough so we found her a black t-shirt to wear under it so she could feel comfortable dancing with sleeves. What a sweetheart I have.

I woke up on Mother's Day to BEEEEAUTIFUL flowers from my honey (CLUNK goes my beating heart!!), homemade cards and presents from my little sweeties (THE BEST!) and if that wasn't enough... I received my dream waffle iron for a present! It actually cooks 4 at a time. (How did we live 15 married years with a waffle iron that only cooks one at a time????) Wow, I'm spoiled!

I am so very lucky to be a mother. I thank Heavenly Father everyday for this opportunity to be entrusted with these three little souls. They have made my life so wonderful and busy and hectic and great and joyful and fun and happy and stressful and ..... and ... and ... and I wouldn't trade them for anything. Thanks Sid, for being the other half of my motherhood.

I went to Kennecott Copper Mine on a field trip with Jaxon's 4th grade class as a parent volunteer . I've always wanted to go there, and never have. So now I can cross that one off my bucket list. It was so interesting. The HUGE trucks looked like little tonka trucks in that big hole. FUN.

My nephew Russell married his true love, Lezlie-Ann, in the Logan Temple during the month of May. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of them (so sorry, I left that up to the many other cameras pointing at them that day), but I did get a great picture of Sid and I in front of the Logan Temple. It was a great wedding and reception afterward. What a neat example of really being prepared to spend the rest of their lives together. They are absolutely darling. I love them!

Jaxon has earned his Bear and is now a Webelo! What an amazing young man he is turning out to be. Jaxon has been lucky enough to have his dad be his scout leader for the last year or two. He's loved it. He's learned so much. Jaxon also finished this year's soccer season. They only lost one game the whole season. They are definately the team to beat! He made a goal during his last game.

Brooklyn had her Preschool Graduation Program, which also means that her mom was in charge! It was a great program. We had over 100 people ( plus 19 preschoolers) in attendance! What a party. This year we did it at the Centerville Library. Each preschooler had a speaking part during a song and dance program. We sang about 10 songs, then had a slideshow of all of the pictures I took of the kids the whole year. It was a blast! It was sure nice to do, but so nice to have over. I couldn't move the next day. I took a nap on the front lawn, watched a movie, read a book, took another nap, and just looked at the laundry and dishes for a whole day. A great day to start the summer. (Yes, I have since done the dishes and laundry.) Here is Brooklyn at her graduation with chocolate cake all over her face. As it should be!
The kids pooled their spending money last week and together bought a snow cone maker machine in hopes that they could charge 50 cents at a stand in our front yard several times this summer and earn enough money to eventually buy a cotton candy maker, and a hot dog maker, and a popcorn maker and then earn a million dollars with all of these money making devices. What a great idea! We've only been selling 2 days, about 3 total hours, and have already made $20.27 cents. Pretty good, huh? Now we are only in the hole about $39 more. (I know you're asking yourself how we ended up with 27 cents... well a neighbor kid has his own snow cone machine at home, so he came with a cup of shaved ice, but he ran out of flavoring at home. He thought 27 cents was a good trade to fill it up with flavor. So did my kids. DEAL! Now we are 1/2 way to paying for the snow cone machine itself ( not counting the flavors). Still in the red... but not for long.

Memorial Day was spent selling snow cones, going to a movie, the "Night in the Museum 2", and then we ran through the fountains at the Gateway. It was a fun afternoon. I loved this picture... pure joy!

HAPPY 10th BIRTHDAY MY LITTLE BOY JAXON! I can't believe it's been 10 entire years since you made me a mother. What wonder I had as I held your tiny body that first day. I remember thinking, now I've met you... but I can't wait to know you. What personality are you going to have, what will you look like after you are not a baby anymore. Well, now I have better idea of who this boy really is ... and I couldn't be prouder of you, young man. Jaxon is a very helpful, responsible person. He is very concerned about the well being of others. He quietly does small acts of service everyday, not expecting anything in return. He is such a marvelous helper and a kind leader. He is a great student and loves the adventure reading brings him. He is a great soccer player and loves to ride his bike. He is curious about how things work and will someday be my personal mechanic and cabinet maker. He yearns to someday be a pilot, and I know he can do anything he puts his mind to. He makes such good choices and I can't wait to see what the next 10 years will bring. But not too fast buddy. You're growing up way too fast! I love you sweetie! I love being your mom.
He requested mom's homemade apple pie instead of a birthday cake. Good choice!

Jaxon gathered all of his birthday money and all of his piggybank money and went and bought himself a brand new bike for his birthday. WOW! You should see him zip around.

Last week he had his spring piano recital. He's getting so good at the piano after 1 1/2 years of lessons. He played two songs " the Irish Dance" and "Angry Crocodile" , both memorized for over a month.

Jaxon also had a big 4th grade county report due this month. He was the only one in his class to get 100% and his teacher wanted to keep his report to show next year's class a good example of how it's done. Way to go friend! He also had to show what he learned about Washington county in a fun way to his class. He decided to make a parade float and put it on his remote control truck and drive it around the class. His float is below. It had a guy golfing, the tunnell in a mountain in Zion's Park, and a four wheeler going over the sand dunes. Well done!

During my free time this month, I made Brooklyn a new twirly skirt. We went to the fabric story together and she picked out the fabric all by herself. She loves it because it twirls so much. I think this was the first thing I've ever sewn for her. I was so glad she liked it. We went today to get 4th of July fabric.
I also read a great book -- "Goose Girl" by Shannon Hale. I loved it. It was a great way to start out the summer.

So there is my family's month of May. I honestly didn't have a spare second to blog about it until now. And even now, it's 12:15 AM. Until next month, or sooner if the occasion arises. Love to all!
(Even though I don't keep up my blog very well, I LOVE to read your blogs. Thanks for being more diligent than me!)

Kids Say the Funniest Things...

2009-04-17T17:04:00.002-06:00

I am always amazed what words come out of children's mouths. I keep a book here at home to write them all down in, but I just thought it would be fun to share a few.
Brooklyn: "Mom, you know how you always tell me that you are good at making mistakes? Well, I want to make one and I don't know how? What does a mistake look like? Can you teach me how to make one?"

"Mom, I'm all tangled up in my own tail!" (Canyon as he's flying his kite.)

Jaxon, as we are eating a baked chicken dinner "Mom, what part of the chicken's body am I eating?"
Mom: " The breast."
Jaxon: "Well this chicken sure had big ones!"

(Just thought you'd get a kick out of them too. I'll try to keep you posted on any others.)

Spring Break Fun

2009-04-14T21:45:00.026-06:00

We had a wonderful SPRING BREAK!

Here are a few photos of our family fun. I am not very good at putting them in order, but you'll figure it out. My goal with nine free days was to spend them wisely with a little hard work, a lot of family fun, and some relaxation thrown in there a little. I think we accomplished this very well.

Conference Saturday was spent cleaning out our basement getting ready to make our storage room a family room later this summer. We listened to conference as we worked, and got a lot done that day. A whole trailer full of goods went to the DI!

Sunday was spent listening to conference as we drove to a park to have a picnic and drove up to Sid's parents house for a great visit. Grandma brought out the basket full of Easter eggs for Brooklyn to play with. She was itching to fill them up and hide them for her "boys". The brothers were helping grandpa in the shed. Grandma graciously found a handful of coins and som m&m's. Brooklyn excitedly filled all the eggs and hid them for her brothers. They came in to an impromptu surprise! They were thrilled, but Brooklyn was even more excited to watch them find their good deed from her under couches and behind throw pillows. She was absolutely giddy while she watched Jaxon and Canyon find all of the goodies. Hmmm....something about "It's better to give than to receive" came to mind. Thanks for the help grandma!

Monday we went to Hogle Zoo with the Bangerters, our friends. Had picnic and a blast on a beautiful day.

Tuesday we hooked up with the Bangerters again and went on a hike up past their house in Centerville. We found a great little waterfall with lots of ladybugs and butterflies. We had fun wading in the water and climbing rocks.

Wednesday we flew kites! I had forgotton how fun that is. I recommend it to everyone, especially with a 4 year old girl and a 7 year old boy! (Jaxon was playing with his friend.)

Thursday Sid took a couple of days off of work and we went up to Cache Valley and shared some Maddox Raspberry Cream Pie with my parents and sister. The kids also made Easter sugar cookies.

On Friday we kidnapped grandma Ivie and took all the kids to Baby Animal Day in Wellsville at the Jenson Historical Farm. What a fun day! To watch little kids hold baby animals is a hoot! They had baby chicks and ducks and goats and piglets and bunnies, baby horses and cows and goat kids. We even held baby snakes, frogs, and turtles. And the cutest little puppies you ever did see. What a wonderful experience. A special treat was to get a personal autograph from Mark Walton, the voice of "Rhino" on the movie Bolt. He was their special guest. Jaxon thought that was the highlight of the day.

On Saturday colored 4 dozen easter eggs, and then we met my brother and two sisters and their families, and my mom and dad at Fredrico's Pizza for a ham and cheese salad... Sid's favorite thing on the planet. Then the kids had to have a bubble bath in grandma's jacuzzi tub....tradition!

On Easter Sunday we woke up to Easter Bunny fun, then got all dressed up in our Sunday best and went to sacrament meeting with my parents. What a neat day. It was a beatiful Easter Sunday. I love Easter, for all of its fun, but especially for the real reason we celebrate it.

When we got back from Cache Valley, we had a message on our answering machine from our local Dick's Grocery Store. A couple of weeks ago the kids entered a coloring contest. The winner won a year's worth of ice cream. They picked Brooklyn's picture. She won! Today we went to the store and got her picture taken and picked up her certificates. She picked her first month's flavors, chocolate moose tracks and mint chocoloate chip. Good choice, sweetie! We had to come home and have some right then, of course!

All in all, it was a perfect holiday from the routine of our daily lives. We got some work done, had some serious family bonding, and did a little relaxation. SCORE! We did what we set out to do. Now back to that blessed routine so we can get a good night's rest!

More Spring My Way!

2009-03-20T22:48:00.003-06:00

Not to brag at all, but I LOVE my spring flowers!!! Here are a few more shots of what's new in my yard this week. Just imagine smelling them too! Now I just need to get out and rake around them. Hmmm. Maybe tomorrow. Bulb flowers are such a miracle to me... plant them once, and then just about when you forget they are there, they just pop up without any effort at all! And beautiful? Spring flower are the BEST! They take the cake.

Brooklyn at Ballet

2009-03-20T22:37:00.007-06:00

Brooklyn is taking "balerina lessons". It's actually part ballet, part jazz, and part gymnastics at Flips Gym. She absolutely loves it. She dances her little heart out. She is such a great listener and tries very hard to do what the teacher says. She is my defintion of pure joy when she is dancing. I love to just watch her for an hour every week. I sit back and giggle and truly enjoy her while she's dancing. It's fun to just take a step back and watch sometimes, instead of being right in the middle of it all. One more precious experience Heavenly Father has sent my way. Thanks again!

Canyon's 7th Birthday

2009-03-20T21:00:00.011-06:00

Here I am back again, and no.... it has NOT been a month since I last wrote ( for those of you who are bettin' people.) I've been anxiously awaiting for some excitement to happen so that I could have something to say. That sounds really pathetic, doesn't it? Our lives are GREAT!!! Here is some of the latest.

Canyon is now my big 7 year old. I can't believe he's growing up. He didn't ask me. Sometimes I wish I could push the pause button. He decided to have a Rootin' Tootin' Cowboy party. We painted moustaches on 9 little boys with face paint, we decorated cowboy hats with western stickers, we played pin the moustache on Canyon's "WANTED" poster, we played pass the rasttlesnake (a version of hot potato), and he got all of his "Texas toys" to put on top of his cake. We could hardly see the cake for all the toys on top. Canyon decided to "invite" Ellie (his elephant) and he even made him a personalized cowboy hat. So cute. The wranglers left with a bandana full of a deck of cards, a toy horse, a toy snake, a harmonica, some golden coins, and some rattlesnake eggs (bubblegum eggs). They had a blast and so did mom planning and hosting the whole shin-dig. Here are some darling photos of the event. As much as it breaks my heart for my little boy to grow up, it is so fun to see him experience every little stage of his life. He might be done with his darling 6 year old experiences, but hold on 7... here he comes! I LOVE being this little boy's mother. I count it one of my biggest blessings in life. It has been such a pleasure to be a spectator and a participant in his grand little life. His such a mighty, mighty, little boy and a bundle of energy and wisdom and curiosity. He teaches me lessons everyday. We are so thankful for such a wonderful little boy in our lives.

2009-02-25T14:39:00.003-07:00

I was only going to update this once a month to keep it managable, but I have some new updates already, so what's a girl to do? Here are a few more pictures of our family. Canyon is loving his karate lessons. Brooklyn and mom went on a date to see Beauty and the Beast at Woodscross HS. They did a marvelous job. Brooklyn wore her Belle dress, and mom bought her a glowing rose. Here is a picture of Jaxon's infamous "OOPS" haircut. The DATC cosmotology school was doing free haircuts at the boy's school. I filled out the form for both of them to leave it longer on the top, but short around the ears and neck. Canyon came home with a great haircut. Jaxon came home just about bald. He hated it at first, but has since found the joy in NOT having to comb his hair every morning. He looks great, don't ya "Baldy".
See ya next month, if I can wait that long.

Let it SNOW!

2009-02-20T13:13:00.002-07:00

The Davis family loves to go sledding! We have the perfect hill about 6 blocks away. One day during the Christmas vacation we had a blast. We stayed for several hours. These pictures are from that day. Brooklyn is more of a snowman maker than a sledder, but the boys had an absolute blast going again and again. We decided to make a snowbunny so the tradition could continue for yet another generation. Thanks for the memories, dad!

2009-02-15T19:08:00.007-07:00

I have joined the troops and, with my neice's help, have now entered the world of blogging. Thanks, Carlee! I am new at this and don't know much about how to do this, so be patient with me. I hope to get the hang of this soon. In the meantime, here is a picture of our family taken at Christmas time. (Sid, Jaxon (9), Canyon (6), and Brooklyn (4), and Karen. ) I'll update soon. Until then, it is what it is.

Hello

2009-02-15T18:24:00.002-07:00

Welcome to my new blog!