Wrappin' Up Cali!

I am so excited for this weekend to come- My Mom and Dad were going to visit my Aunt Libbie and Uncle John in Utah but my mom got a little sick and all the parties involved agreed that it was better not to expose Libbie to the germs- thought they wish they could see her- but lucky for me that means they get to see us instead. We don't often get them here to visit. I don't really know why it's not like we live in the middle of nowhere with nothing to see or do . . . oh wait . . . that is exactly the problem!

We do get the occasional traveler passing through though and we love that! Just last week the Mauldin's stopped by on their way to the Vegas airport, we have also had visits from the Ah Loys and the Schmits and the Dyer's and the Gilson's . . .but not much family . . . we promise we'll be nice if you pass through:). We're a great place for a potty break and a fuel stop.
Now to the dilemma . . . what do I do with my Mom and Dad to keep them entertained . . .
-can't go horseback riding because Jodie will be induced on Friday
-can't borrow the rhino be/c Kai won't be here to drive it (scout camp out- I knew I should have practiced driving the thing!)
- maybe bowling or the Brigham Young House in St. George . . .hmmm, I might have to get creative!

The next cool thing is that my brother Chris will be returning home from his mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on Tuesday! We haven't seen him in two years and boy do we miss him. It has been so much fun to read his email and talk to him briefly on the phone here and there and discover what a great young man he has become. Truly he has grown by leaps and bounds and discovered who he can be. It seems that when you turn your life over to Heavenly Father, He can make more out of your life then you could on your own. Chris left a boy and is coming home a man. True Story.

Next-- only a little bit of Easter.
We died eggs at Grammies house on Thursday before we went home. The kids had a great time of course. The girls were trying to give me model poses but Cambria hit her back on the counter behind her:) It was funny. Oh- and they are wearing trash bags for aprons- I'm resourceful.


I love when I can get a picture of Kiera's real smile.

This was Bubba's first year of participation and boy was he messy- but hey you can still dye a cracked egg!

Friday was Cambria's birthday. My baby. My oldest. The girl who made me a mother in the first place . . .sigh. Getting older happens. I love this girl. We celebrated at Mimi's for breakfast before we hit the road towards home.

Cambria and her Grammy have a very special bond. I am sure Cambria would trade me in a heart beat!

Ryan . . . my silly brother, the biter. We were so glad to spend time with him on this trip. He usually is hanging out with his buddies so we never really spend time with him- this time was very different and we were very glad. We all love him! (right Mesquite girls!)

Cambria opening her apron skirt from Honeybear Lane- don't let the look on her face fool you! She loved it.

Kiera with her skirt (the one I won!) from Honeybear Lane. She said "Oh, I am so wearing this right now!"

This is Bubba's happy face- He hardly ever smiles for the camera!

Now onto the Davis Family Easter/February /March/April birthdays on Saturday. We don't get together very much as a whole family and the kids do love seeing their cousins. (see Bubba with his happy face)

I keep forgetting to introduce our newest baby Kekona- A.K.A Kona born to Ke'ala (aaron) and Candy! He is so tiny and cute and very special to his mommy and daddy who were waiting for him for a very long time. I am sure his big sister Malu sent him down from heaven to earth with a big kiss.

We celebrate all the birthdays quarterly . . . otherwise we'd be partying non- stop- which sounded good when I was in high school.

The birthday girls . . . Cambria, Kiera and Malia 7, 5, and 9! (Kiera has a number three plus two skinny candles to equal five:))

Now, thankfully we are done with Easter and birthdays . . . at least for a little while!

Part Three- Birthdays

I think that time speeds up once you have kids. Why is it that two years of Jr. High and four years of high school can seem like a whole life time while your kids can turn seven and five in the blink of an eye?
Family is everything to me. I had it really rough growing up and to have my little family whole and happy seems like a huge accomplishment. I adore my children with all my heart. It is always wonderful to celebrate birthdays- even if you do have two in one week. Cambria and Kiera are so special to me and I am thankful to have them in my family.
Bubba helped me make the Ariel birthday cake. We had Cambria and Kiera's joint birthday on Kiera's actual birthday. We had a wonderful time with Grammy, Papa, Uncle Ryan, Uncle Sean, Aunt Shannon, Lexi, Gigi, Candi and Jonathan and Sandy and Carl. Thank you for making their birthday special!

I spent a lot of time making the seaweed on the cake- it was addictive:)

So spoiled! I wish my birthdays were like that:)

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LA Zoo

For Kiera's 5TH Birthday, we went to the LA Zoo. It is well priced and not too big. The weather was on the chilly side but that is so much better than the hot side.

Can't believe she's 5.

Picture with new cousin Lexi.

The monkey on the bottom left hand an extra large rear end. He kept pressing it on the other monkeys and then he would take their food. The Monkey on the top of the rock threw his tomato at him.

Bubba had his finger in his nose for almost every picture.

The Hippo was almost as wide as our mini van. She was huge. Her name was Bella.

Uncle Ryan bit Cambria hard enough to leave a welt.

For some reason she still likes him.

Kai wanted me to take this picture to prove that he stayed happy the whole day. It was a fun little excursion, though I do wish the animals performed a little more like they do on Madagasgar.

California- Part One

Open House:
"A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person."
~ Germaine Greer~

Sean and Shannon

I only had one reception reception even thought Kai and I are from different states. Kai's family had moved from Idaho to Nevada while he was on his mission. He knew no one in their new residence and so having a reception catering to his location and side of the family was never even a thought.

Now that I think about it (though we would have scored on gifts and money) I am really glad that we didn't. It would have been really stressful to meet the people that Kai grew up with, putting on a smile and accepting congratulations, listening to old childhood stories from best buddies, maybe meeting old girlfriends who mourned the loss of your new husbands bachelorhood. Part of it would be fun, unless you wondered how they were sizing you up. Of course I am much to mature now to let anything like that bother me:) I love meeting new people, but when I was 21, it might have been a different story.

We had the last of a series of wedding events for my brother Sean and new sister in law Shannon this last weekend. For me it was a blast. I enjoyed visiting with family and long lost friends, for Shannon it was pretty stressful. One woman was even outright rude to her. Shannon braved it like a champion though. Her smile never faltered as she warmly greeted stranger after stranger- she even remembered names. I can't remember if they say you do marry families or you don't, but YOU DO.

My Aunt Lisa made all these decorative flowers by hand!

Matt and Katie

-next in line to tie the knott-
Aunt Wendy taking pictures for Aunt Libbie

My wonderful Grandma- I love her soooo much!

Not a flattering picture, but still nice to have the two of us together.

Sean says this picture in quite indicative of their relationship.

Refer to quote above you two!

Family

Cousins and spouses

My mom worked really hard to put this together. It was wonderful and I am so glad that so many of you came to support my brother and his new wife. We know some of you were there in spirit as well:)

I know I promised no more pictures of myself, so cover your eyes if you are sensitive- p.s. my nose is way bigger today.

Got Me A Workout Today!

"I will not sit down unless I can throw rocks at you!" This is his evil-happy face. Don't worry, I still love him.

Why do moms not have as much energy as their little tots? We really need too.
This little boy, whom my son lovingly refers to as "Yuh-Yuh" (Justus) is the very definition of motion. Most of the time I could hardly get him to stay in the frame of my lense, but if you look here, I did manage a few.

Big things happening next week:

1. A trip to California
2. My brother's wedding reception- open House
3. Kiera's Birthday
4. Cambria's Birthday.

I am tired already.

Chick in a nest

It was crazy hair day at school. I deal with a lot of crazy hair already so I prefer to get creative. It make for a much nicer clean up.

So we did a chick in a nest.