What's a Girl to Do?

Here's some fun we've had with Avery's hair. One is from back in October before Halloween, and the other was last week for church. Not bad for an amateur... I LOVE HAVING A GIRL!!!

Thanksgiving Weekend in Utah

We drove up to Utah Thanksgiving Day and, although we missed dinner, we made it in time to attend the sealing of my brother and his wife to their adopted son in the Provo Temple on Friday morning. It was an awesome experience. We enjoyed 6 days of fun with family and friends. We stayed with my brother in Salem, who also has a daughter named Avery. She is 5 months younger than my Avery and the two were inseperable! I'm so grateful for these memory making trips. And, my Sister in Law whom we were staying with made us Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday night. How cool is that?

Uncles are so great! First we went 4 wheelin' with Uncle Chuck... yes, in his backyard...

...then we took Uncle Mark's out. If only I could have captured the grins on Avery's face... Stet on the otherhand was lulled to sleep. Zzzzzzzzzz.

Avery and Avery cowgirled up before heading off to dance class.

Tribute

A family that we love has recently lost a great man in their lives to Lou Gehrig's Disease, a man whom we were privileged to know, to admire, to love. We wish to pay tribute to him, and to his family. His passing has stirred reflection and brought to surface a wading pool of sorrow and gratitude. Sorrow for the loss of greatness at a time that we are so in need of such pillars of integrity and courage. Gratitude for all that we still have. We are given undeservedly so many blessings. Blessings that can be taken away in a moments notice, like our strength of body and mind that sustains us each day, or the loved ones we hold close each night, and blessings that are untouchable such as the purest form of peace that is borne of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the knowlege of eternal families. This is a moment that I am grateful for this blessing most of all... peace. How beautiful love is, how precious life is, how real our Savior is. Our prayers are continually with you. We love you.


"And I soon go to the place of my rest, which is with my Redeemer; for I know that in him I shall rest. And I rejoice in the day when my mortal shall put on immortality, and shall stand before him; then shall I see his face with pleasure, and he will say unto me: Come unto me, ye blessed, there is a place prepared for you in the mansions of my Father." -Enos 1:27


"We have reason to have the greatest hope and consolation for our dead of any people on the earth; for we have seen them walk worthily in our midst, and seen them sink asleep in the arms of Jesus." -Joseph Smith, Jr.

Kids' First flight to the Grand Canyon

Today was monumental for our family! It was our kiddos first flight to the Grand Canyon, and best of all, their first flight with their Daddy behind the controls. Danny booked all of us on his flight to the South Rim. It's taken a little while for the kids to build up their courage to actually leave the ground. We started with frequent visits to Danny's work to let them touch the plane and sit in the cockpit, until they were to the point that they'd ask us, "Is the plane going to fly with us today?" It was a total success!! All three of them did excellent on both the flights there and back. We were super cautious at the rim since some areas don't have a guard rail... talk about nerve racking! We brought along a professional photographer to take some portraits which is why you won't see any of the canyon posted here. We were so proud of them. Avery thought it was funny when we'd hit patches of turbulence, like she was on a carnival ride. What a great day!

Girls and Curls

Avery stayed home from church on Sunday because she was showing some signs of an impending sickness, meaning she was in the contagious stage. It turned out to be a false alarm but we had fun anyway. What do you expect two girls to do for three hours together???

A Trip to the Springs Preserve

We took a trip with Avery's pre-school group to the Springs Preserve -- so much fun. That place was so cool, I want to drop the kids off with a sitter and just go with Danny for a date. There was way too much to take in for the attention span of my toddlers. It's a well-spring of history and economics. Their favorite was the simulated Flash Flood, where we all gathered in a little room with rocky walls, and watched a short clip about thunderstorms in the desert when suddenly there was a flash flood warning on the video; you guessed it, next thing you know there's water pouring down the rocks on the walls and rushing under the platform we were all standing on, splashing us as it went by. Way cool.

Air Show at Nellis

The air show was a blast... a little crazy this time because Danny got called into work - lame. So I was flyin' solo with my three little ducklings. You should have seen the glances I got pushing two kids around in a double jogger while carrying an infant on my chest in a sling. The jogger wouldn't fit through security, they had to move the table that was to the side of the walk through security gates for us to go around, and then scan us with one of those wands. NICE! The kids spent almost the whole time with their ears covered, but it was an improvement from last year: no tears, and they stayed awake the whole time. They also rode a ferris wheel for the first time! As you can see, they thought it was exciting... riiiiiigggghhht.

Gage's Blessing

It was a beautiful day for a beautiful boy. We're so grateful that Grandma and Grandpa Davis could be here for this occasion.

Happy Halloween

After changing her mind about a hundred times, Avery finally decided that she wanted to be a "Cinderella Princess" for Halloween, ditching the "Pocahontas" costume that Grandma made to match Stetsons. Gage's was the easiest to decide... he was a constellation.