The Davis Family

Santa Claus really came to town!

2010-12-06T22:01:00.000-07:00

Checketts Family Santa Claus Party! Santa comes every year to see what the kids want for Christmas and to give them a present. Tonight was the night!

Jadon wants a snowboard.

Jacey wants a snowglobe.

Jax wants a robot.

Jadon got a racquetball racket tonight and Jax got a fun truck set.

Jacey got a friendship bracelet maker.

Lucky, lucky kids!

Santa Claus is coming to town!

2010-12-06T14:53:00.000-07:00

I think this is the last year that I'll be able to get matching pjs for the kids. Probably the last year that they'll tolerate it, too. Oh well. I always give them their pajamas from Cody and I early in the season so that they can wear them all through the season.

We got to go see the Rockettes in Salt Lake! We went shopping, had dinner and saw the show. What fun it was! This was Jacey's very first actual "Girls' Day" with the big girls. We all had a ball.

Abby and Jacey

Jacey, Nonna and Jess

Jacey and Tonya

That's all for now, but we have MANY more parties and fun things to do this season, so I'll be posting again soon.

Summer Vacation 2010

2010-08-28T14:45:00.000-06:00

For summer vacation this year we decided to stay local. On Thursday night we headed up Logan Canyon in search of a campsite. We ended up at Red Banks campground, which is a really nice campground.

On Friday, we went to Tony Grove and spent the day. Fishing and hiking around. I haven't been up there in so long that I forgot how gorgeous it is up there! I think we're going to have our family vacation up there next year. Wanna come?

Jax and his Daddy

A boy, his dog, and a fishin' pole

Happy family

Saturday we headed over to Bear Lake again.

The last day we split up. Jacey, Jax and I hiked the Limber Pine Trail while Cody and Jadon mountain biked. I can't remember the name of the trail they did. Oh well.

Sadly, we hiked the whole thing and never saw the old Limber Pine. I really don't know how
that happened. At least we got a little exercise in. :)

We are so lucky to live so close to all of these adventures and fun things to do! All within an hour of our home.

HAPPY SUMMER!

Summer's over... What have we been doing?

2010-08-28T14:29:00.000-06:00

This summer flew by and was super slow all at the same time. How does that happen? We did do a few fun things, so I thought I'd update a few things...

Since the good weather didn't really begin until July, that's where we'll start. 4th of July we had a backyard pool party, which is funny, since we don't have a pool, but we set up the slip-n-slide and even the adults joined in. (Abby we won't post your pic.)

Could be Jadon, but I'm not sure...

This looks like Tonya...

Later, we went up to Cody's Mom's house and had a bbq and watched fireworks. It's kind of a tradition. Sadly, the trees are getting big enough that it might have been our last year doing this. Fun times!

Jacey's baseball team, the Hyrum Diamonds, got to be in the Hyrum 4th of July parade. She had great coaches this year! She loved to play and their team did so good! They won every single game... Way to go DIAMONDS!

We spent a few days at Bear Lake, because you just have to. Every time we wonder what to do that day Jax suggests that we go to the lake. He loves it.

Jacey, Jadon and I spent a day at Lagoon. It was their first time ever going. It turns out that they are not as big of riders as they thought. They did have lots of fun, but they weren't disappointed to leave.

And finally, we did the Preston Night Rodeo. We always have tons of fun...

We're missing a couple of people in this pic. Cody, Kevin and Abby hadn't quite made it yet. But it gets pretty crowded in there. Also, I'm not sure where Jadon is.

Jacey is a true cowgirl. We had to go buy her a new hat before we went. She couldn't go to the rodeo without her hat.

We have truly had a super fun summer, but oh, how happy I am to have school back in again.

Miscellaneous stuff...

2010-06-25T19:54:00.000-06:00

Miscellaneous Pics of stuff we've been doing...

Camping at Bear Lake...

Jadon completed his Bear. He's now a Webelo. Hurray!!

Jadon ran the Wellsville Mile this year. It wasn't awesome, but he did it!

It was freezing cold raining and winding! We were all sopping wet and frozen

by the time he ran and we left.

Good Job, Jadon! Congratulations.

Summerfest.

Picnic up Prov with Dusty and Tonya. So fun!

What a fun week!

2010-06-25T19:45:00.000-06:00

First, let me just say that I truly didn't realize that it had been that long since I updated. Boo to me. However, this week has just been so much fun that I had to!

Cody has been at scout camp and finally gets back tomorrow. That is not why it has been so fun. Although, it is part of the reason, I guess. We tend to PLAY PLAY PLAY! while he's gone just to make the time go faster.

The week started out going to lunch with some great friends! Friends from high school. So much fun! It's a good thing Annilee comes to town every now and then to get us together. I wish I had a picture, but I'm waiting to scalp Annilee's picture. Maybe another time. Joni and Annilee, it was so fun to see you both. In person is much better than on-line. :)

Wednesday we went to see Toy Story 3 with fun friends and family: Dusty, Tonya, Wyatt, Jess, Jess's friend, Ashlynn and her niece and nephew. A really cute show! But, that darn monkey still gives me nightmares.

Thursday, we all went down to the zoo. It's a favorite thing of ours to do. I realize in my back blogs I have several blogs of it, but we like it and here's more pictures! Thanks to everybody for coming! We truly had so much fun. The bummer part is that my kids and I missed baby elephant, Zuri. BUMMER. We'll have to go again, I guess.

Lunch at Training Table, where else?

Nonna, Dusty, Jax, Jadon, Tonya, Wyatt, Dakota, Jacey and Jess

Cute kids.

I feel like I live in Forks!

2010-05-11T12:35:00.000-06:00

Ok, this weather is ridiculous. I've had it. But! It kind of makes me feel like I live in Forks, Washington. It makes me wonder if I ought to read these wonderful books again.

I love these books and with Eclipse and the Bree Tanner novella coming out soon, I wonder, should I read them yet again?

Jadon is 10!

2010-05-10T21:13:00.001-06:00

Happy Birthday to my oldest child, Jadon. Today he turned 10. I can't believe it. So many thoughts going through my head today. Most of all I'm grateful for that day 10 years ago that my child was born. I remember the feelings that I had when I found out that we were actually going to have a child. Terrified and excited and actually really silly, what does a baby even need? I guess we figured it out, because he's 10 now!

To start his morning off, Jadon wanted pancakes. Not just any pancake, but chocolate chip pancakes with dark chocolate chips in them. So, I made him this:

He even ate the whole thing, almost...

He has been spoiled all day long. Nonna came over to wish him happy birthday, followed by his Grandma and Grandpa Jensen.

After that we went to FHE and sang Happy Birthday to him around his birthday cake.

He got so much fun stuff for his birthday. Here he is in his new moto pants.

Jadon knows just how to push my buttons in every way possible, he knows how to hurt my feelings, and how to torment his sister and brother. (That's what brothers do, right?) But most of all, he knows how to make me laugh. He knows how to be the sweetest thing there is and play so good with his siblings and his cousins. He knows how to be caring about everybody around him. He loves animals of every kind, mostly dogs and when he grows up he wants to have lots and lots of puppies of every kind. He knows how to ride his motorcycle and his bicycle. He knows how to play any kind of video game and he loves spaghetti! He is a wonderful child and I am blessed to be his mother.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JADON!

Happy Mother's Day!

2010-05-09T17:59:00.000-06:00

Happy Mother's Day to all of the amazing mothers and future mothers that I know out there. There are so many of you who influence me and my family. I am so thankful for each one of you.

I am so blessed to be a mom. I have 3 beautiful, amazing children that I love with all my heart. They truly inspire me to be a better person in all that I do. Most days I honestly have no idea why my Heavenly Father felt that I should be a mother, since I barely slide by and am constantly seeking forgiveness for something, but I'm grateful that I am. This is the by far the greatest blessing of my life.

This year as we were pondering what we should do for our grandmas for mothers day, Jadon suggested chocolate covered strawberries. So, that's what we did! This morning the kids melted all the chocolate and dipped away. They had a ball doing it and it wasn't even as big of a mess or a production as I thought it would be. Wow! Here are some pics of them while dipping strawberries.

Happy Cinco De Mayo!

2010-05-05T13:36:00.003-06:00

Monday night for FHE, Sandy planned a super fun Cinco de Mayo party. We decorated sombreros before the party and had a sombrero contest. There are some seriously creative people in our family! So many cute hats.

After the sombrero parade, the kids had a chip tossing contest, then they had a contest to see who could guzzle a juice complete with a worm in the bottom the fastest! Some of the kids had a really hard time with this because apparently after a gummy worm has been sitting in a cup of juice for a while, it gets a bit slimy.

After this, the adults were able to participate in a nacho-eating contest. The wives stood behind their husband and shoved chips into their mouths. Funny stuff. Cody and I did not do well. I'm not sure why...

To end the festivities, there were 3 pinatas. One for the little kids, one for the bigger kids, and one for the biggest kids.

We had a great time! We are so blessed to be part of such a fun family!

Tea Party Time!

2010-04-12T21:29:00.000-06:00

Jacey, Abby, and Debbie planed a Tea Party for the girls last week! So fun. I haven't been to a tea party since I was a little girl. Jacey had so much fun helping Abby plan the party. She worked all week to make decorations for the party. Here's a picture of the cute table. We even got to use the best china!

The little girls at the party. All dressed up like princesses!

Jacey, Dakota, Mele, and Aubrey

The big girls at the party!

Tiffany, Abby, Me, Jess, and Tonya

Debbie was there too, but somehow managed to escape the pictures!

Thanks for such a fun party!!!

Spring Break!

2010-04-12T21:20:00.000-06:00

So, due to the weather being not that awesome over spring break, there was not much going on here.

Jadon and Dakota at lunch

Jax made a trip to the Instacare to have a lego removed from his nose. We went with Nonna to see "How to Train Your Dragon". (So cute. Not what I though it would be, but cute.) On Thursday, Tonya and I took the kids to Salt Lake. We went to lunch at the Training Table. Who can resist the cheesy fries? Then after that we went over the Living Planet Aquarium.

There are glow-in-the-dark (technical name) jellyfish in the background.

You just can't see them very well.

From the outside, this place is literally a deserted grocery store. I was really quite concerned. But once we got inside, it was really quite fun. The kids had a great time. There are a lot of fun sea animals to see. Right now there is an octopus who has eggs that she's protecting. I'm not really sure how the whole baby thing goes for an octopus, but she had eggs. Anyway, while we were standing there looking at the octopus, there were a lot of people as they were feeding it, Jax turns around and tells everybody, "I saw this octopus and it punched me in the eye!" How does a person even respond to that? He cracked us all up.

There is a pool where you can pet the stingrays. Jacey loved this.

She could have stayed here all day. I did pet one, but I didn't really enjoy it.

Weird.

Cute Family. Tonya and her kids.

Turkey Farmers...

2010-04-01T12:11:00.003-06:00

Those of you who know Cody, my husband, know that everyday I hold my breath in wonderment of what he may do. I should clarify that this is one of the reasons that I love him. He keeps me guessing...

Well, Tuesday he brought home TURKEYS! 3 of them. Today, 5 more are coming home.

Yes, we are turkey farmers. And turkeys aren't that cute, just so you know. The plan is to raise them for Thanksgiving. So, my kids have named a couple of them (even though I told them not to name them). Kentucky Fried, Sweet and Sour, and Tiny Spicy. Poor turkeys. But we will have a yummy thanksgiving with turkey to spare!

Water or Coke?

2010-03-29T14:00:00.000-06:00

This is a very interesting piece of information that my sister-in-law, Sandra, sent to me. A little bit scary. Will I stop drinking coke? Probably not...

Water or Coke?

1 - 75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated.

2 - In 37% of Americans their thirst mechanism it so weak that it is mistaken for hunger.

(These are the interesting ones.)

3 - Even MILD dehydration will slow down one's metabolism as much as 3%.

4 - One glass of water will shut down midnight hunger pangs for almost 100% of dieters in a University of Washington study.

5 - Lack of water. The number one trigger of daytime fatigue.

6 - Preliminary research indicates that 8-10 glasses of water a day could significantly ease back and joint pain by up to 80%.

7 - A mere 2% drop in body water can trigger fuzzy short-term memory, trouble with basic math, and difficulty focusing on a computer screen or printed out paper.

8 - Drinking 5 glasses of water daily decreases the risk of colon cancer by 45%. Plus it can slash the risk of breast cancer by 79%, and one is 50% less likely to develop bladder cancer.

COKE

1 - In many states the highway patrol carries 2 gallons of coke in their trunk to remove blood off the highway after an accident.

2 - You can put a t-bone steak in a bowl of Coke and it will be gone in two days.

3 - To clean a toilet: Pour a can of Coke into the toilet bowl and let "the real thing" sit for an hour, then flush clean. The citric acid in Coke cleans stains from virtreous china. (I have a toilet that I'm going to try this on. I'll let you know how it works.)

4 - To remove rust spots from chrome car bumpers: Rub the bumper with a rumpled up piece of Reynolds Aluminum foil dipped in Coca-Cola.

5 - To clean corrosion from car battery terminals: Pour a can of Coca-Cola over the terminals to bubble away the corrosion.

6 - To loosen a rusted bolt: Apply a cloth soaked in Coca-Cola for several minutes.

7 - To bake a moist ham: Empty a can of Coke in to the baking pan, wrap the ham in foil. Thirty minutes before ham is done, remove the foil, allowing the drippings to mix with the coke for a sumptuous brown gravy.

8 - To remove grease from clothes: Empty the can of Coke into the load of greasy clothes, add detergent, run through a regular cycle. The Coke will help loosen grease stains. It will also clean road haze from your windshield.

FOR YOUR INFORMATION:

#1. The active ingredient in coke is phosphoric acid. It will dissolve a nail in about 2 days. Phosphoric acid also leaches calcium from bones and is a major increase to the rise in osteoporosis.

#2. To carry Coca-Cola syrup, the truck drivers must use a hazardous materials place card reserved for highly corrosive materials.

#3. The distributors of Coke have been using it to clean engines of the trucks for about 20 years.

So, all this being said. I don't know if any of it is true or not. I do believe the few about water and anything that will boost my metabolism is great by me! I might test some of them out to see if it's true.

I wonder if this applies to Diet Coke as well? Hmmmmm.......

My kids rock!

2010-03-02T11:06:00.000-07:00

Jadon is doing an auto-biography in school right now. He brought home some of his rough-drafts to show me and this was my favorite one. Mostly because I can never get him to tell me what he wants to be when he grows up.

Jacey danced in her spring dance recital on Friday night and she was wonderful! She loves to dance.

Ballet - The Song of the Trees

Tap - Johnny Be Good

Jax is my funny man. He just makes me laugh all the time. Here is his mean, scary face and his very best smile.Can you tell which is which?

Wyatt and Dakota are not actually my kids, but if somebody passes me at the grocery store and says "Oh what cute kids you have!" I totally just say thank you so much and carry on my way, claiming them as my own.

So sweet!

There is nothing that makes Wyatt happier than having his picture taken with a great big cheesy "Cheese!" Well, except singing "Happy Birthday", maybe.

Life is so Precious...

2010-03-01T22:01:00.000-07:00

As I'm typing this tonight, I have a 3-year-old ball of fire sleeping soundly in bed next to me. It took me one hour and a half to get him in here, but all of 3 minutes for him to fall fast asleep. I'm watching him sleep and smiling because he's all dressed up in his "dude" hat, which consists of a green beanie with a star on it, a super-size t-shirt that he found, and a brand new pair of shorts that are 2 sizes too big for him. He's also grasping so tightly onto a roll of magnetic tape that he hasn't let go in two days. He definitely makes me laugh.

I'm also crying because as I look at him, I realize how fleeting these moments are. Soon he'll be too cool to snuggle with me. Soon he won't hold these little things like magnets quite so dear. Soon he'll go to school. And I will miss this. As crazy as my night was, I will miss this. I know that without a doubt.

My husband is out of town and my older two children said the best way to make them happy was if they could all sleep with me in my bed. Being selfish, but justifying it because they have school tomorrow, I said no. Now I'm wishing I had a bigger bed so we all could sleep in here together and cherish these fleeting moments... Let them be children just a little while longer.

A long, great summer.

2009-10-11T16:21:00.000-06:00

I am so far behind that I am not even going to try to catch up on what we've been doing this summer. I'll give you the highlights. We started summer with a bang and about 3 different summer camps. All of these were for me to keep my sanity, which completely backfired on me, since I was the one hauling all of the children everywhere that they needed to go. This is an important lesson that I've learned for next summer. We have been so busy and crazy in fact, that we did not even make it over to Bear Lake even ONCE!!!! This is something we absolutely love to do. Ahhhh, next year it is.

We did make it to Yellowstone for a quick and fun trip with Dusty and Tonya and kids. We had a lot of fun and did a lot of driving. Something I won't do again is go to Yellowstone again in July when everybody else in the world is there. Simply because there was nowhere to camp. We had a fabulous time anyway and can't wait to go back!

We also made a trip up to Sun Valley over Labor Day weekend with brothers and sisters-in-laws and kids. This was a very fun trip. We got to see the big non-motorized parade that they do and it was very cool. Cody, Dusty, and Kevin decided to take their mountain bikes down the ski-resort (not even sure which one) and had a great time! Except at the bottom, Kevin crashed hard and hasn't been the same since. I might get all of this wrong, but he tore his rotater cuff in his shoulder and hasn't been able to use it well since. Bummer.

I'm sure I mentioned Cody's new puppy, Gunner that we got when we were in Boise for the races. Part of the deal was that I would get a small puppy to go in our house. Our house just isn't big enough for a lab. He agreed. I was thinking somewhere along the lines of a year and started slowly doing research on different breeds that we might like. Cody and Jadon are both allergic to dogs. Cody came across the Bichon Frise (they are French) and totally fell in love. Without my knowledge he went and picked me out a puppy, which was very sweet! We brought Cooper home on the 24th of July and have loved him ever since. He just fits in with our family. Cutest little thing you've ever seen.

I had the opportunity to go to "Time Out For Women" with 6 wonderful women in September. We enjoyed a much needed break from the real world for a day and a night and had a great time. I was happy to be able to spend this time with them. Lara Erekson, Kayleen Wootton, Denise Seamons, Allison Chaffin and Jen Workman! Thanks girls!

Last night I made my first batch ever of salsa! It was so fun that I kept going and canned 19 pints of tomatoes. I didn't think it would be fun, but it feels so good when you're done and you look at those jars all filled.

Jacey got her tonsils removed last month as well. She's recovering well. She had her first BLT today since and she was thrilled! I'm very happy that she's doing well. It always makes me nervous to have this done to my kids.
My thoughts today are How does everybody keep track of their family stuff? Am I the only one that struggles? I can't seem to keep everything straight. Last week on Thursday alone, I failed to get Jadon up for orchestra AND forgot that Pack Meeting was starting 30 minutes early so that it would still be light outside. The worst part of that is that I am actually ON the scout committee and was at the meeting where it was decided to meet 30 minutes early. (I may have even suggested it.) I was in trouble on that day. Cody told me I had better start using my planner, but apparently it's not working for me. So, I really want to know! How do you guys keep track of everything that your family has to do? And make sure they get there!

2009-06-29T14:56:00.000-06:00

Gosh, where to start? I took Jacey to the eye doctor on Monday. She had been complaining of not seeing well. I had been trying to blow it off for a while, but to no success. Anyway, it's a good thing she's persistent, because it turns out she is quite near-sighted and did need glasses. Fortunately, she looks very cute in them! It's like her face was made for glasses... She has also been begging me for a very long time to get her hair cut. I think it's my responsibility as her mother to object so we've been holding off as long as possible. I guess I just couldn't listen to her beg anymore because she got it done. It also looks very cute and now we are twins. :) Aunt Abby did her hair in this picture for her Nonna's retirement party. How cute!! I could never do that. She's very lucky to have Aunt Abby...Jadon said our hair is almost exactly the same color! He's right.
And here he is, my very handsome boy! Do you notice how he's already almost as tall as me? Another year...
We took another trip to the zoo last week. This time with Tonya, Wyatt, and Dakota. We had so much fun! But it was quite warm. Jax was in seventh heaven and his favorite animal was the elephant. Every single animal we walked by he said, "Mom, I wanna buy one of those!" Even the cougars. I couldn't bring myself to do it...

Yes, that is a leash on my child. And if you've ever met my son you know why he wears it...

How cute is this little baby girl?

This is what happened 20 seconds BEFORE Wyatt actually got buckled in to his seat.
Jax wasn't far behind, but Jadon fortunately bought a bag a cotton candy before we left to keep him up on the way home.
Fun, fun day.

HAPPY RETIREMENT TO DEBBIE!

Last night we had a family party to celebrate Debbie's retirement (my mother-in-law). Lots of fun and good food. She was very sweet about indulging me. I made her sit by the dessert while we sang a lively version of "Happy Retirement to You". What a great sport! Love you tons, Debbie! And we hope you enjoy your time off.

Debbie, the guest of honor!Donnie, my father-in-law. An awesome guy!
Abby, the aunt with the magic fingers for doing hair.

Jess. I love your hair! It's so you!
Kevin in his punk pants and Tonya and beautiful baby Dakota!

Jacey and Abby were in charge of the decorations and they made this cute banner. It's a bad picture because of the sun, but it says Happy Retirement!

Dusty, playing with the kids. Debbie has the cutest grandkids ever!

That's it, I think. I should really do this more often, so my posts aren't so long and so it doesn't take me so long. Hmmmm..... Shoulda coulda woulda.

Wow! Time Flies!!!

2009-06-20T17:18:00.000-06:00

I'm back. The last two months have absolutely just flown by. Life has kicked up a notch here in the Davis Family. Jadon and Jacey are both playing baseball so that takes up at least 3 nights a week. I got put back in the Primary Presidency in our new ward and Cody is in the Young Men's Presidency, so that also keeps us very busy. But today it's raining as it has been for a while now, and I have a chance to update our blog! Yeah!!!

My brother, Clay and his girlfriend, Toni blessed their babies last month. Korr is 2 and 1/2 years old, he'll be three in September. He is SO his dad. It's pretty funny to watch. He's a child you can't take your eyes off of. Jessi just turned one and is so sweet. She has a sweet little face.

For Jadon's 9th birthday he wanted to go camping, so we did! It was very cold at night, but awesome during the day! We just zoomed up Blacksmith Canyon and it was very fun. Cody decided to hike to the top of the mountain across the road and headed up with Jax on his back. They did it while Jadon, Jacey and I sat at the camp and watched.

Jadon also earned his Wolf in Scouts. He was very proud of that, as were Cody and I. He's a great scouter, which is pretty amazing because neither of us are at all! Way to go, Jadon!For his birthday, Jadon got a new bike. It looks cool, but he never rides it. I think it's too big and he's not comfortable on it. Hopefully he'll grow into it. You'll notice that he's almost as tall as me, so I'm sure it's only a matter of time...Jax also got a new bike. He hasn't quite mastered the art of pedaling, but his dad felt that he needed a bigger bike.A while ago, when it was actually warm, we had a hair cutting festival in the backyard and shaved all the boys heads! It was very fun and they all feel much better with their hair a little shorter.

A couple of weeks ago Cody did a race in Idaho City. It was like a marathon but they had to ride 120 miles, I believe. The good part was that it was only 95-100 degrees in Idaho City on that day. So he sweated to death, but he placed 6th in his category!! We are so proud of him! I got no pictures because the kids and I didn't go to the race (there wasn't really spot to watch). Instead we hung out in Boise with our good friends the Ereksons! We had a great time playing and shopping! Gotta love the food court. It makes everybody happy! Jacey, Jax, Savannah and Jadon.All the kids got new sunglasses. Have you ever seen a sassier bunch of kids? Whitney (in stroller), Savannah (behind Whitney), then Jacey, Jadon and Jax.Playing at Lucky Peak. What a great place!!While we were in Boise, we decided to get a new addition to the family. It's been on Cody's mind for several months and I've managed to talk him out of it for a while, but here he is: Gunner Don.I am posting this picture simply because I think it's so funny. This is Cody's brother, Dusty and his son, Wyatt. The bike they are riding is a bike that Cody's step-dad is making. I believe it's called the "ExerFun" bike. Not sure about that, though. Anyway, he looks just like this little guy that rides around Logan on his bike, but his sombrero is much bigger than Dusty's.Today is "Old Mill Days" in Millville. It's only one day, so I'm not sure why it's "days", but anyway, they invite everybody to participate in the parade and Jadon and Jacey wanted to ride their motorcycles in it. Jadon was actually supposed to march with the scouts, but I totally forgot until I saw the rest of the scouts walking by. Ooops...

So, that is the very longest post and a brief update of what we've been up to. There is more to come with summer upon us! Can't wait for the sun to start shining!!!

I AM CAROL BRADY!

2009-04-26T20:08:00.000-06:00

Ok, this is a very weird mixed up post. I'll just let you know right up front. Many of you are familiar with the silly quizzes that circulate through the Facebook community. I don't usually take them because, well, they're silly. But for some reason a couple of days ago I took the "Which TV Mom are you?" quiz. The result came back Carol Brady. I laughed very hard at this because this is the description: You work from home to be close to the kids and love to take part in church functions. You love your husband and enjoy every minute you have with him alone (which is not often).

I felt that this was so not me, it was really quite funny.

We've known for a while that our ward was splitting and forming a new ward here in Millville, so as the Primary Presidency, my counselors and I decided to make cookies and do a little farewell to those that we were going to be losing to a different ward. Last night I was making all these cookies and for some reason started to think about my TV mom result and totally laughed out loud. I AM CAROL BRADY!!!!! Here I am making 137 cookies, wishing I could watch a movie with my sweetheart, and I babysit at my house just so I can be here when my kids get home from school. Why I didn't see it before I don't know. It's quite obvious.

I AM CAROL BRADY!

So, there you have it. This is my counter while I was baking these delicious yummies and the final product. I was curious how many cookies it would bake and how much of my table it would cover. It must have been a slow night. And there are 137 cookies. I counted. Just a friendly baking tip for you: When the recipe says to cream, do it. It really does make a difference. I don't know why.

The ending part of my ward splitting story is that I was very surprised by the way the ward split and I am in fact in the new ward. I've been released from my calling. I've had quite a hard with it today because I really love the kids in our ward and I have thoroughly loved my calling. But I also know that this is how it is supposed to be and I will just have to see what happens and trust in my Heavenly Father. I am fully attached to each and every child and I was so lucky to have the counselors I did, which is why I will miss it so much.

Las Vegas

2009-04-26T19:39:00.000-06:00

Last weekend Cody and I ventured back into the desert. Oh, I love the heat! It felt so good, but maybe that's because it was snowing here when I left. Anyway, Cody had a trade show "Sign Expo" to attend and I was supposed to be his helper. Really I didn't help much. I went to sit in the booth for a minute while he grabbed lunch. Then I just played the rest of the time. It felt so nice to get away! I got quite a bit of shopping in and just soaked up the sun. It was a pretty successful show for Cody selling the "Hitch Pitch".My cute husband in his "Hitch Pitch" booth.

This is the funniest thing I have seen in so long! Cody and I were heading out to the outlet shops and on our way we passed this guy. He had a Jack Russell Terrier riding on his motorcycle with him. He was all dressed up in a little helmet just like his owner and happy as can be. The best part is that from the collar of the owner to the collar of the dog was a chain. If one falls, they both fall! It was so funny! So I proceded to exclaim that I really needed a picture and our cab driver took off doing at least 100 mph down the freeway in the middle of Friday afternoon traffic! I got my picture and he got a good tip.

While we there we saw some good friends who live in Vegas, Cole and Annilee Griffin. As we were chatting we realized it has been over 4 years since we've seen each other! Crazy! We just keep missing each other. Anyway, for those of you who don't know, Annilee and I grew up together. As my aunt would say, we went through those ugly teenage years together. That's all I'll say. It was so fun to see them and their so cute kids! You guys are awesome! Thanks for everything!

After dinner they took us over to the Bass Pro Shop, which just so you know also has it's own casino. They have a giant aquarium and in it there are mermaids! Seriously. How often do you see mermaids? Never. Anyway, that was fun too. Jacey would have loved it.

We came home way too early on Sunday. Thanks to Cody's parents for watching the kids for us!

Easter 2009

2009-04-25T21:48:00.000-06:00

Ok, I'm a little bit behind in my blogging. So I'm going to do a quick thing on Easter. We celebrated for about a week. The week before Easter we went to an Easter Egg Hunt at Cody's parents house. It was very fun! We started off with the babies doing their little hunt in the pit. The bunny hid the baskets behind pillows for them. Here's Jax with his basket.He toted it everywhere. He loves baskets or bags. Anything he can carry things in.This is Dusty and Tonya and their son, Wyatt. Wyatt is the baby that I babysit each day. So, I kind of claim him as my own.This is my sister-in-law, Jess, holding Dusty and Tonya's new baby, Dakota. I babysit her, too and she also has a special place in my heart. I babsit Dakota, not Jess.

Jess, you have a special place in my heart, too. :)

After that the older kids were sent on a scavenger hunt by the bunny for their baskets. I followed them around for a while, but had to hurry back so that I would be there when they found their baskets. It was an awesome workout for them and a lot of fun!

I was lucky enough to be there when they all came running in and found their baskets!

It was so fun to see!

Jacey's basket.
Jadon's basket.

Since I'm trying to keep this short (I have other things to post) here are the kids on Easter morning. We struggled with our Easter clothes this year. Everybody is such an odd size that nothing fit the way it should. And Jacey's dress hasn't come yet. I'll post pictures of Easter dress when I get them. :) Here are there Easter morning baskets. One of my favorite things about Easter morning is that my kids are usually wearing their Christmas pjs. I don't know why.

Hogle Zoo

2009-04-11T20:51:00.000-06:00

It is Spring Break here in the Cache Valley. For some that means fun in the sun down south, for others it means unlimited time with friends and family!

We were needing something to do, so last night we packed up and headed down to Salt Lake. Me, Kayleen, Jadon and Jacey. Jax wanted to come but he came down with a fever on Friday morning and didn't feel so awesome. He stayed home with his Daddy. Don't feel too bad, though. He did get to go for rides in my new jeep! Which I will post pictures of later.

Anyway, we got there pretty late and checked in. All the kids wanted to do was swim, of course. So we headed to the pool and swam our hearts out. Well, okay. The kids swam their hearts out while Kayleen and I stayed warm in the jacuzzi.

This morning, we slept in as much as possible. Thank heaven for darkened shades at the Little America. Then we headed to the zoo. The weather wasn't fabulous, but we didn't get rained on! We met my friend, Tiffinie, down there with her daughter, Rio. We had a wonderful time! I'm not really sure what everybody's highlights were, but I definitely know that Rio likes the bats and Jadon loves the snakes. You'll see in the video a picture of a rattlesnake taking a drink of water. According to Jadon, this is a rare find. We had to immediately snap a picture of it. It was a little bit weird to see. Jacey loved all the animals, I think. She would love to work there.

We were tuckered by the time we got down with the zoo and headed straight home, just in time for the rain to start. Thanks so much for a very fun time today, girls! We surely had a great time. And now I'm going to bed.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Talent Show

2009-03-31T13:15:00.000-06:00

On Friday night our stake had a talent show. They asked the 8-9 year old Activity Days girls to be in it and perform their "Hookie Low" (really, how is that even spelled?) Anyway, so here they are! They did a great job, I think. Jacey was so nervous to perform in front of all those people that she almost passed out, she said. But thankfully, her drive to perform for all came through and she did wonderful! So, here for your viewing pleasure is the Hookie Low!

Pants...

2009-03-27T13:39:00.000-06:00

Jax wanted to put his own pants on yesterday, so of course I let him have a go at it. And guess what! He did it! (It was really hard to get a picture of him because he so desperately wanted to take MY picture.) But, look closely. They're on backwards. I didn't have the heart to tell him that they were on backwards because he had worked so hard to put them on and he was so proud, as was I. Ahhh, to be 2 again.

Finally....It's arrived!

2009-03-18T21:20:00.001-06:00

Here's the proof from our very own backyard that spring is fighting it's way through. These are always the first to come up. I probably take a picture of them every year, too. Sometimes winter seems so long!Jax, Wyatt and I could not stand another minute inside the house so we packed up and 10 minutes later we were outside. Truly, I have not seen either one of these little boys smile like this in the longest time.They both love their trucks and cars and bikes and

anything that makes noise and goes fast.

Wyatt is fascinated with our cat, Cleo. Cleo loved the attention.

I think it's been a long winter for her, too.

Jax had to get in one last dig in the snow.

HURRAY FOR SPRING!

Create

2009-03-11T21:15:00.000-06:00

I heard this talk last year at conference and I loved it. I had to share it. Sometimes we all need to hear this. They also did a beautiful job with the video. Enjoy!

Pinewood Derby 2009

2009-03-04T22:21:00.000-07:00

Tonight was Jadon's first Pinewood Derby. He took 3rd Place!!! Congratulations, Jadon! He worked very hard on his car. Actually it was an Army Truck.

This was his first official pinewood derby. He was so excited to go and race!

I have never before seen him so nervous over anything. He is extremely competetive, so I was a little bit nervous about the whole thing. He did very well and was a super good sport. These boys are the top 4 boys. Jadon and another boy tied for second place and the other car won the tie breaker. Jadon was really happy for him.

You can see how happy he is.

This is all the cars that were entered this year. They all did a lot of work on their cars and made it very fun! WAY TO GO JADON!

Hardware Ranch

2009-03-04T21:49:00.000-07:00

It's actually been about 2 weeks since we went to Hardware Ranch, but the pictures are cute and the sun was shining so I thought I'd better blog it.

Jacey is our horse girl. Cody's allergic to them and honestly I'm a bit scared of them, but she loves them! Thanks to her Uncle Dusty and Aunt Tonya. Dusty told her that if she'd give this horse a kiss he'd give her everything in his front pockets. So she did. Guess what she got? POCKET LINT! Oh well. She still thinks it was worth it.

Jax was so tired and the sun was so bright on the snow that his little eyes just started watering. I gave him my sunglasses to keep the sun out. He looks pretty cute and he actually fell asleep!

Tonya, Jadon, Dusty and Wyatt.

Jadon and Jacey. They look so happy, don't they?

There's my fam waiting for their turn.

Which one is Jax?

2009-02-17T21:16:00.000-07:00

Ok, this is just funny. Cody's Mom brought these pictures to us last night. Never in a million years would I have thought that Jax looks like Cody's brother, Kevin, but he does! It's weird! If they were babies side by side, I'm not sure I could tell them apart!

This is Kevin when he turned two.

This is Jax when he turned two!

Here they are again! Who would have thought? Love ya Uncle Kev!

Our anniversary!

2009-02-12T21:38:00.000-07:00

Sunday was our anniversary. 12 years. I can't believe it. Anyway, Cody planned a surprise trip for us to go to San Diego. How fun! However, anybody who knows my husband knows he's not that good at secrets or surprises. Although I do have to give him credit. I didn't actually know where we were going until one week before we left. That's good.

While we were there the weather was really rainy and very cold (especially for San Diego). The good news about that is that it made for excellent whale watching! We went on a little excursion out to watch the whales because the gray whales are migrating down to Baja, Mexico right now. This was so fun for me! Cody didn't have nearly as good of a time. He got quite seasick, even after the Dramamine. He always gets dragged along on these kind of expeditions with me. I'm sorry honey...

Anyway, the whales were actually really hard to get a picture of, but here's a couple that I got. I really wanted to show them to my kids. This whale is breeching, which apparently doesn't happen all that often, but we saw it at least 8-10 times.

I like this picture because of the gorgeous rainbow and if you look closely, you can see two gray whales playing in the ocean at the end of the rainbow.

Sea lions are just fun to watch.

Ok, against my better judgment, I am posting this picture. It's great of Cody, but terrible of me. I have no idea what happened. No sleep? Maybe. Anyway, the morning that we left it occured to me that we hadn't even had one picture taken together, so here's our self portrait. Try #4.

We did do a lot of other fun things while we were there and tried a few yummy restaurants. Like Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. YUMMY!!!! Best steak ever. Go if you can. There is one in Salt Lake, apparently. Anyway, Happy Anniversary to us.

Valentine's Day Mail Boxes

2009-02-04T13:27:00.000-07:00

I'm on a role with my blogging right now. Watch out!
Anyway, at Christmas time this year we bought these really cute gingerbread houses to decorate for Christmas. We never got a chance to do it, though. Christmas flew by before I even knew it.

So, we decided to make our Valentine's Day Mail Boxes with them. On Monday night, our family will have the annual Grandkids Valentine's Day Party at Grandpa Stan and Grandma Sandy's and everybody has to bring their own decorated box to receive their Valentines in. These are the kids.

Last night was the only night we had to do them, so they put them together. They had so much fun and ate a ton of Candy as you can see by looking at Jax. He really did pretty good considering how much Valentine candy there was around him.

Jacey's baptism

2009-02-04T12:58:00.000-07:00

Jacey was baptized the day after her birthday, on January 31, 2009. What an amazing day for her and for all of us. Jacey was very ready to get baptized. She was thrilled to receive the Holy Ghost and even I can feel a difference in our home since her baptism. She brought the extra little bit of the spirit in that we needed.

Cody baptized Jacey and confirmed her a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

This picture was taken before she went in to be confirmed. She really looked like a princess in her all white dress.

(These pictures were taken with my cell phone, because I'm an awesome Mom and forgot the camera in the hurry out the door. I'm really hoping that Jacey's Grandma has a better one than this.)

We are so proud of Jacey's decision to be baptized. She is a wonderful girl and we love her so much! We are truly blessed to have her in our family.

Jax's glasses

2009-02-03T22:31:00.000-07:00

Jax loves to wear his daddy's glasses around. Today they were not right where he could get them, so he found the Mr. Potatohead that he got for Christmas and started sporting the glasses. He wore them all day and has even taken them to bed now. I love to watch his funny personality come out.

P.S. Somebody please help me fix this dot problem!!!

Jacey is 8!

2009-02-02T14:27:00.000-07:00

Finally something to blog about! yeah!
Jacey turned 8 years old on Friday, January 30. Has it already been 8 years? We've been celebrating all week long!
First we started at Grandpa Stan and Grandma Sandy's at Family Home Evening. She got a beautiful High School Musical cake! All her cousins and aunts and uncles sang Happy Birthday to her.

In our family, the kids get to have a birthday party with all their friends every other year. I can't believe this was the year!
So, Friday afternoon we took Jacey and 11 of her closest friends to the Cache Valley Fun Park and went roller skating. How fun! They had a blast!
I love this picture! Girls are just fun!

Jacey had fallen one too many times when we took this picture. We were all doing our best to keep her going. She did get back out there!

Jadon also came and brought along a friend. I made them promise that they would not torment the girls and they did pretty good, but I think it's just too hard!

Here they all are waiting for cake!

Jacey finally blew out the candles and they all got their cake and ice cream. I think she had a great birthday. I hope so!

This is at home after the party. It's so fun to see Jacey and her brothers together. I have to treasure these pictures! They love each other no matter what they say! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JACEY!

Dakota Mae Davis

2009-01-20T20:02:00.000-07:00

This is our brand new baby niece, Dakota Mae. She was born on January 15, 2009. We think she's adorable! We're very excited for Tonya and Dusty. Good job guys! How fun!I love this picture because I wonder if it might be like this for a while.

2009-01-13T21:13:00.000-07:00

Jacey wrote this poem today in school. I thought it was very cute and it also helped me to remember to be happy. Even when I don't feel like it so much. I love how my kids are always teaching me things...

HAPPY by Jacey Davis

If happy were a color, it would red as a rose as a ladybug.

If happy were a taste, it would be just like warm sugar cookies.

If happy were a feeling, it would be as happy as a child.

If happy were a smell, it would smell like fresh air.

If happy were a sound, it would be as beautiful as music.

2009-01-10T21:09:00.000-07:00

My beautiful kids. That's all. Bedtime is a wonderful time.

Jax's Shiner

2009-01-10T21:02:00.000-07:00

This is Jax's first black eye. The picture is pretty bad because he was really not happy about my taking his picture, but at least you can see the eye. Thursday night he ran into the coffee table while I was off playing Bunko. Sad guy...

2009-01-09T22:32:00.000-07:00

Okay, I'll start with our new year! We snowmobiled (or "billed" as Jax would say) up to the cabin to celebrate. Wednesday was absolutely gorgeous! Jax fell right to sleep! Amazing that he can do that.

Jacey had a great time, too. But soon up on the hill she found that she was a little bit afraid of heights. She had a hard time looking down.

This is the snow at the cabin. LOTS AND LOTS! Hopefully it hasn't all melted away by now.

Up for a little R&R. Cody had a really hard time putting the book down. Exactly what he needed after having been gone for the better part of the year. Thanks honey!

We built a bed for the kids in the middle of the floor. Jax thought it was super fun to jump on and drive the bills on, but of course, he wouldn't sleep on it. For anybody who has had the opportunity to spend the night at the cabin with Jax (Kevin and Jess) you can imagine the night we had, which will explain the next couple of pictures...

Jacey also thought the bed was fantastic, but guess who ended up sleeping in it. Yep, Cody!

Is it time to get up, Mom?

Jadon had the time of his life. We love the cabin and we are so grateful that we get to go up there!

It was a little more breezy and cold on New Year's Day. We bundled up a little tighter before heading out. Jax still fell directly to sleep. Amazing.

We would like to take this opportunity to wish everybody a wonderful new year. We are so very grateful for each of you and the influence you have in our lives. Thank you for everything!

Love you all!

Welcome to our blog!

2009-01-09T21:58:00.001-07:00

Okay, I'm trying this whole blogging thing out. We have a family website, but I thought I'd give this a try and which I liked better. Let me know your thoughts!