Music! (By Laura)

My amazing big brother Larry gave us a wonderful Christmas present! He babysat Jamie and Nathan for about 5 hours on Saturday night so we could go to the Mormon Tabernacle Chior concert. We went with Dave's sisters Liz and Jen and had an awesome experience. For special guests the chior had Natalie Cole and David McCullough. It was so wonderful to be there in the Conference Center for a live performance. I've discovered that music is one of the most powerful conduits of the spirit for me. So at Christmastime it's the music that gets me in the mood and makes the season come alive. When I hear certain songs, memories of special Christmas's from my childhood flood my mind and help me feel the magic once again. Other songs take me to the stable and manger to remind me why this is a time for the greatest rejoicing and thanksgiving. It truely is the most wonderful time of the year and I'm so excited to get to spend it with family and friends. Thanks again Lar! We love you!

St. George and Zions (12-15 Nov 2009)

Our latest family trip was to visit Grandma and Grandpa McAllister in St George. Mom and Dad were already there. Anne, Norm and the kids came up from Pinon. And Larry and Jordan came down as well. It was great to be all together.

Nathan was happy to see Grandma and Grandpa and he even held still long enough for me to take some pictures... a rare occasion indeed! It rained a bit Thursday so Dad took us to Zion's on Friday so we could see the waterfalls and the fall colors.

 It was beautiful!

The trees didn't disappoint and the low clouds were amazing too.

Nathan went with us on a couple mile hike while Jamie stayed back in the car with Mom. He was such a good hiker and his slow pace kept Jordan from killing us with his super hiker speed! What a good boy.

It is always nice to get out of the big city and into the "wild" especialy with my beautiful girl!

The Patriarcs where shrouded in clouds and the colors were awesome. What an incredible place!

On Saturday some of us took a little walk to a small pond near G & G's house. Sera climbed out on a rock and promply fell in up to her neck. Dad took her back to the house where she warmed up by the fire.

The rest of us just hung out at the pond and stream while Evan worked on removing all the soggy leaves clogging up the stream.

Jordan and Dad took the kids to the sand dunes and as you can see they had a great time. Yeah, I know... kids and a mountin of sand, who would have thunked it!?

Aint she just too cute for her own good!

What a beautiful day too.

We also had a great time with Anne and the kids swiming at the hotel pool. It was great to see them again, we don't get together enough anymore! I guess it is our turn to go visit them down in Pinon!

Thanks! (by Laura)

Its Thanksgiving week and I just wanted to post a gratitude list.  It won't necessarily be in order but I will leave the most important at the end. It won't include everything either.  That would take too long.

Modern technology(even though I don't understand a lot of it), modern conveniences (i.e. central heat and AC, washer, dryer, dish washer, oven, stove, cars, etc), home, food (I could go on and on), my body (it's amazing the things it can do and survive!), flowers, trees, National Parks, mountains, ocean, sky and clouds, books (so much time and so little to read!  Wait!  Strike that, reverse it.), nap time, warm socks, sun glasses, Ziplocs, education, snow storms when I have no place to go, clean clothes, good movies, good smells, creative people, journals, holidays, friends and neighbors, seasons (I'll be ready for spring right after Christmas!), my country, my freedom, our President, forgiveness, my husbands talents (for those of you who know Dave, enough said), love, the Temple, the Prophet, the Church, siblings and parents, Jamie and Nathan, Dave, the Gospel, Jesus Christ.
I love you all!  Happy Thanksgiving!

A Davis Halloween

We all got dressed up for Halloween again this year... a few times as a mater of fact. Laura and I were the same old... young Nerd and Witch. This year Jamie wanted to be a Gypsy and Nathan got to be a Cowboy!

Our first dress rehersal was at the annual Halloween Trunk-or-Treat for the National Guard. Both of the kids fell fast asleep on the way to Camp Williams. Guess they needed to rest up for the party.

Unfortunatly the weather didn't cooperate with us very well. It was windy and cold. We stuck it out long enough to get a bunch of candy, a few hot dogs and some balloon creations. Nathan got a designer hat with a ghost hanging on it which he popped before we even got home. Jamie got a cute teddy bear with a big heart just like her daddy!

Pumpkin carving for Family Night was a big success.

Jamie decided that she wanted to just paint a face on her pumpkin. It was cute but the snow we had during the week wiped it's smirk right off.

It takes a pretty strong man to gut a pumpkin! So, I shortly gave up and had Laura take care of it.

Nathan couldn't decide if he wanted a scary or happy pumpkin so he got a cross between a pig and a vampire... I'm not really sure what one would call it... vampig... maybe pigpire... oh well, he liked it.

After the pumpkin carving we had donuts and listend to about 30 seconds of the Spooky Stories CD before the kids started freaking out. It was quite funny to see Nathan look around at us like we were nuts to be playing something so obviously horrifying not to mention the lights being off and the spooky glow flikering from the Jack-O-Lanterns. Maybe in a few more years.

Halloween night was a blast for the kids. Well, we did have fun too.

We were grateful that the weather warmed up and we had fun taking the kids around the block. They got tons of candy. After hitting our neighboehood we decided to crash Larry and Julie's party and get even more candy for Laura to hide away and dole out one peice at a time for the next year.

Gardner Village and the Witches! (09 Oct 2009)

We had a great time at Gardner Villiage this year. We went all out while we waited for the rest of the group to show up. Jamie and Nathan had a great time riding the ponies and visiting the petting zoo.

It was an exciting ride!

The animals were quite freindly and we all had fun petting all of them.

Nathan was all over the place! He wouldn't even hold still for two seconds.

Once the rest of the Family showed up we had lunch then started our tour of the Witches.

Do a little jig.

Aren't they cute?! The kids are too.

And of course the kid's (and Aunt Julie's) favorite is Witchy Poo... I hope she gets done soon because from the looks of things Emily can't wait much longer!

Fun times and noodle salad.

Bryce Canyon and Capital Reef (04-07 September 2009)

In September Jordan, Laura the kids and I all went camping. Our first destination was Bryce Canyon. We left our house early Friday morning and got to the park around 2:00. We were lucky enough to find a pretty nice camp spot right inside the park.

As we got camp setup Nathan wasted no time at all finding the fire pit and neatly spreading ash over his entire body! I guess getting dirty is what camping is all about, right!?

This was my first time visiting Bryce Canyon National Park. I was awed by the rock formations. It was simply amazing! I couldn't stop taking pictures... Between Jordan and I we have over 500 pics from a 4 day trip!

It was a bit chilly the first day there and we got some rain as well but it dried quick and the sun soon came out.
Jamie and Nathan had so much fun. Jamie got into a "picture" mood and wanted me to take a picture of her at every tree, rock, and overlook.

Nathan on the other hand just wanted to "Go on other hike!!!"

As we made our way down into the canyon it was a bit scary trying to keep the kids from getting too close to the edge. I guess we did all right as we still have two kids though Laura came away with some extra gray hairs as well.

 

At the bottom of the Navajo Loop Jordan volenteered for the daunting task of escorting the kids back to the top so that Laura and I could continue on to the Peek-a- Boo Loop trail.

The fomations and views were amazing... I'm surprized I made it back alive as hard as it was to watch where I was putting my feet. I couldn't keep my eyes on the ground surrounded with all this beauty! Wouldn't you agree that she is a stunninng sight!

Laura and I had a good... long hike. It was great to get some time together just the two of us. Thanks Jordan! The vistas were amazing as well.

Meanwhile, Jordan and the kids made thier way back to the top of the trail and back to camp. He had to play games with Jamie and Nathan to keep them from getting too close to the edge. It was a good thing he had plenty of treats to bribe them with.

We spent our last day at Bryce driving to all the lookouts and seeing everything we could. Of course Jordan found a nice big cliff to temp fate from.

What an amazing work of nature Bryce Canyon is; the work of Gods hands... Truely "all things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it"

Sunday we made our way to Capital Reef National Park. On the way we stopped in Escalante for Sacrament meeting.

After a few days of camping at Bryce we were glad for the chance to stay at the Best Western right at the enterance to the park.

It sure was nice to have a shower and nice soft bed. The pool and hot tub were great too and the view from the room was incredible! We had a nice evening swiming in the cold pool and soaking in the hot hot tub. It was pizza for dinner and a cozy bed.

We started out our day with a nice hike to the Hickman Natural Bridge, about a 2 mile round trip. I was impressed at how well the kids did. We only had to stop for drinks at the top and bottom of each hill. Luckly it was pretty flat and easy going.

 The views were great and everything was so vast!

 We had great weather and it wasn't too hot.

 Nathan was very independant during all of our hikes. He wanted to do everything by himself, even the big steps. I only got too impatient once or twice and picked him up, kicking and screaming, and ran him up or down a hard part.

We found the bridge just where it was supposed to be and yes indeed it was pretty big.

Jordan and I decided that the surounding cliffs were just too good and high to pass up. I found a way up and we took turns capturing our stupidity on film (if you can call digital pictures "film") for the whole world to see. All the while Laura was cursing us under her breathe as she prayed that she wouldn't have to take the kids home fatherless. Of course I didn't want to disappoint her so we made it down safe again.

Dave                                                           Jordan

After the hike we had lunch at a lovely park with a great view! Nathan, as usual had his mouth full of food.

Well, the trip was coming to an end. We had time to pick some apples from one of the orcards in Fruita and take a snenic drive through the back roads of the park.

It was a great trip and we were all tired. The kids finally had enough hiking and we took tons of pictures! All that we had left now was a 3 hour drive to get home.