The Empty Nesters

This whole week, our 3 oldest were at "grandcamp" with some cousins and Tyler's parents. Once a year, Tyler's parents take cousins between 6-12 for a couple of days. They take them on adventures and show them lots of fun. I Can't wait to pick them up today. As much as we missed them, it was so nice to be with only 4 kids. Tyler took a few days off and we went to Big Bear at a little resort together. We had a blast but we forgot to take pictures until the way home.

This is Alex and Aaron worn out from a fun vacation of hiking and swimming in the mountains. The van's looking a little sparce.....missing the big kids.

Hook, Slice & Shank Classic

Every year, we get together with a bunch of buddies from the Orange Stake and have a guys adventure for a few days. Some years we have up to 50 depending on what we plan. This year, cousin Kurt threw the Hook, Slice and Shank Classic in Vegas. We had the sweetest weekend. A few of the guys, I haven't seen for almost 20 years. Always so great getting together for a few days while our poor wives hold down the fort.

Some of us after golfing.

They were extremely lucky that my knee was in healing, cause this tournament would have been mine.

Has anyone gone on the rides on top of the Stratosphere? Holy cow! They are out of control. Hanging over an 800 ft ledge. My favorite was "The Big Shot". It was a free fall ride on top of the Strat. Freaked me out.

Some of the survivors that conquered the Stratosphere.

The big Fathers and Sons outing was this weekend. Other than Aaron wandering off and a bunch of us searching for him for 1/2 hour, finding him alone in the woods a few hundred yards away, it went just great. Sheesh. Freaked me out!! It's a great time to camp when it's around 100 degrees and everyone is sticking to their sleeping bags. ha. The boys somehow just love it. ??

Alex's 4th birthday! Nice buddy.
Alex was so pumped to have Aunt Michelle all
the way from Portland to hang for the birthday.

A little wiener roast and smores in the back.

Man Down

Saturday Tyler left to go surf with his brother Jared. He left at 9:00 a.m. He should be returning around 11:00 a.m. Right? Wrong! Tyler was gone for less than 20 minutes when the phone rang. If Tyler calls me in the middle of a surf, it's never good. Turns out he biffed it pretty bad on a wave and lightly tore his MCL in his left knee. Looks like I will have 8 children instead of 7 for a bit, rats! By the way Tyler, the surf report said waves were 2-3 feet on Saturday, not 20 ft plus. Nice try!

Gizzards?

I'm at the store the other day looking for a deal on chicken, because chicken rules. Anyways, I see this big sign that says chicken gizzards and hearts. Huh? Okay, it sparked me a bit. I'm trying to figure out what the heck a gizz is. This old lady comes up and starts loading her cart with these packs of gizzies and a bunch of chicken liver. I'm watching her acting like a freak and I finally say "mam, I've never seen someone so hungry for gizzards. Will you teach me about them?". She tells me they're the best part of the chicken, and tells me how to fry em... hmm. Not a bad deal. What the heck? I start loading my cart like a freak.

I came home so stoked and gathered the kids around to tell them of my new wise and old friend and got them so excited for our new family find. Karen gives me that look, then starts busting up. I assured her that we will not share with those who mock.

Well, these things turned out to be a joke. They're like rubber. I finally googled what they are and that didn't help. I'm now thinking that old lady worked there and I got scammed. 1 pack down, 9 more left. Sheesh. These kids aren't helping a bit. It's all on my shoulders. I will finish the job and will not be defeated.

The Buxton Bag

It's been a while since this happened, but I was needing a new purse. I prepped everyone to start looking out for a good purse, a smaller one, that would help me keep my stuff organized. The girls were watching a show one day and called me in "Mom! Mom! You have to buy this purse, it is PERFECT for you!"

That's when it all started....The Buxton Bag. The Buxton bag can hold it all! It can even hold 2 full-sized water bottles after all your stuff is packed in there. It looks amazing, real leather and your hands are free to do all the great stuff that a mother of seven can only dream of. This purse lady is smooth too, you have to see how sleek she is with the Buxton, her hands, the shoulder strap, everything! I was totally sold, yet could not imagine buying anything from off the TV. I never have, Tyler never, never would.

The Buxton bag continued to haunt me. We watched the commercial about 10 times together and I finally decided to get it. I told all the kids to get the number for me if they happened to see the commercial and it never came on anymore. What a bummer.

One night Tyler and I were in our room watching a movie and I was feeding Trevor. The Buxton bag was back!! "Tyler run and get my credit card and the phone!" This was a big deal. Tyler flew through the hall as fast as he could and started rummaging through my ridiculous purse, normally he refuses to get anything out of there. Yeah, I was so excited to get my new Buxton bag and the kids knew it would be coming one of these days in the favored big brown UPS truck.

Then the day finally came, like 6 weeks later. We waited forever. The UPS truck arrived and we all sat around the kitchen table, opened the box and celebrated the new arrival. Thirty bucks for a piece of leather that looks like plastic! The inside is lined with nylon lining! And a tag that says made in China. What a joke. I could see these things hanging all over Wall-Mart. How could I hide my disappointment? After all the build-up, no one can know that I HATE the Buxton. I showed the whole family a great display of what the Buxton bag can hold and do. Inside my angry little heart I couldn't believe how deceiving the Buxton lady was. This purse is horrible. It looks like a belly bag with a shoulder strap. I don't even want to use it, ever!

I made Tyler believe I loved it without ever saying so. That night I went to enrichment night. I told the story to some friends and shared my deepest regrets for my foolish purchase. I imagined my true regrets getting back to my family, so I came home and spilled it all. It was a sad ending to the Buxton Bag. I think Sara is going to try to sell it at our next garage sell. She's gonna get big bucks for the Buxton. I will never fall for an info-mercial again. I hope.

Spring Break

We had the best time over Spring break. Tyler took the week off and we just played so hard everyday till we were shot. We spent a few days in San Diego at a resort and the rest of the week we just beached hopped. Tyler surfed everyday and the kids boogie boarded. Fun times.

One of the days, Paige got stung on the neck by a jelly fish (wasn't too bad), so Tyler swam out and caught it, to make her feel better.

Tyler took the kids alligator hunting with their spears at a place they called "Alligator Creek". No gators were spotted, but they had a nice long hike and I had a nice long nap at home.

Conquering the tide pools.

Late and Loud Night

I remember in the 4th grade, my oldest brother Craig brought home his first few records (yes, vinyl. I'm old.). Groups were Bad Religion and Social Distortion. Because it was punk, we hid it from our parents and listened to it like crazy knowing if we got caught we were toast. ha.

Tonight, a bunch of us just got in from seeing Bad Religion. Show was amazing. Thanks for the hookups Trounce! Crazy coincidence was that we just saw Social D a few weeks ago together.

Happy Easter!

Does anyone else feel like life is just flying by? Sheesh. One minute you're eating green food, then the next minute you are dying Easter eggs... Crazy. Well anyways, happy Easter to our friends and family!!

Youth Music Appreciation Night

For mutual, we just had a wonderful gathering with the youth, to teach them how to better appreciate the hymns of the church. One of the boys sent me over a short clip he shot from his phone, during one of his favorite hymns. As you can see, the spirit was strong and all were edified together.

The Whale(less) Watch

I took the 4 oldest screamers out whale watching today. The most beautiful day ever - calm, warm, sunny... Today, there was supposed to be whales all over the coast. On our way out to sea, a bunch of returning boats were raving at all the whales they saw. Liars. We cruised everywhere. No whales! We saw hundreds of dolphins and a bunch of sea lions, seals, etc.. Nothing like hanging out with a few buddies and a few crazy kids out at sea. Maybe next time kids!

Trevor's Big Day!

Trevor had his big baby blessing on Sunday. That's always a great experience for the family. Trevor cried during the whole blessing then fell asleep right when Tyler handed him off. So typical. It was still so special of course. So thankful for the family members that came. Way to go Trevor!

Go Mitt!

Mitt Romney stopped by OC about 1/2 mile from my office. Couldn't miss it. The warehouse was so packed with crowds outside. My buddy Russ and I worked our way in a back door and he snagged a chair to stand on. We scored on the view. It was great to see so many from the ward there.

Rally rocked. Go Romney!

Trip to SD

We just returned from spending most of the week in San Diego. We took the kids out of school and stayed at a little resort in Oceanside by the harbor. Had such a relaxing and sweet time. We're used to all cramming in a small hotel room together (that's always a blast too), but it was so nice to have some extra space at this little resort (parents time share).

We beach hopped and conquered the town. Always stinks to come back to reality and responsibilities again. Good times.

Tyler and Alex hangin out together.

The kids feeding the fat squirrels at View pt.

The $10 Dare

What can I say? It was a pretty good offer.

One "Shocking" Weekend

Last Thursday Tyler started getting the weirdest thing in his head. It was like electrical shocks that would zap his head every few minutes. It started out mild but by Saturday they were relentless and I was getting really worried. We researched head zaps on google and pretty much kept our anxieties to ourselves. We went to the doctor on Sunday. This guy never even heard of head zaps (not good). After his evaluation, (massaging Tyler's scalp and looking in his ear...what else is a doctor to do?) he practically forced the nurse to get him an apt with the neurologist for the next day hinting that it was probably something serious like an aneurysm or a tumor or some weird life threatening thing. I started trippin' worst case scenarios.......... then memories started flooding my mind. Tyler is my everything, he is my sunshine. He is the most unique person I have ever met. He is the truest friend and the best husband and father. I could never replace him. I wouldn't even try. Sunday was a long day. Monday came around and the neurologist diagnosed Tyler with this rare form of a headache (with some long medical term) related to migraines. YEAH!! No serious, life threatening problem. By the way, everything is great and his head is feeling perfectly better now. What a roller coaster that weekend was. The kids love to refer to their super-hero dad as "Shock".




Love you Tyler.

Traveling with my buddy

Clip of Rob and I flying to FL (taken from one of his infamous company Christmas videos). We were dying watching this lady try to fall asleep with these sweet eye shades.

Congrats Aaron, on your first....

"Just push it out little guy."

"What's that mommy? Is it a huge eel?"

A huge day for both of us! Yes!

The Red Beast

We finally just bit the bullet and got a monster. Vans are never very exciting to purchase but it's going to be nice to finally have a little elbow room.

When Tyler and I first got inside we just started busting up. This is going to be an adventure.

Yes, we both know that there is nothing cool about driving a van. ha. We gave that up a long time ago.

Christmas Time

For Christmas Eve we got together with all the local relatives at Tyler's parents. Too much food and fun (always the motto). For a clip go to Kim and Eric's post on December 27. This will show you Christmas fun Davis style. Christmas day was so fun. Sara was surprised to see that Santa brought her an electric guitar. I was too. It was so much fun to see her gasping for air in disbelief. Cora got roller blades and had a similar reaction. The younger kids reacted that way with all their gifts. I love the grateful innocent phase of life.