Hooked on a Feeling

a little update...

2011-05-24T08:53:00.000-07:00

... for anyone who cares and hasn't completely given up on me as a blogger. My blog is one of the many things I can't seem to find time for since munchkins number 3 and 4 arrived. I don't mind it though. I love my four little excuses for a hectic and crazy life. Some people are so amazingly together no matter how many kids they have (you know who you are). And even more impressive are those who are able to manage being on top of things without having a stick up their... you know what I mean. If I was amazingly together it would definitely because I was WAY too uptight. So sorry if I'm late, flaky, selfish with my time, forgot it was your birthday, etc. O.K, so I've always been a little flaky, late, and forgetful. At least I can blame it on someone else now :)

We'll start with Shayla. This girl is so full of life. She is hysterically funny and way smarter than she has any right to be at 8 years old. She's super into dance right now. I've discovered I'm kind of a prude and wish she would just be happy in ballet so I wouldn't have to worry about questionable costumes and borderline inappropriate dance moves. Not that we've gotten there yet, but I know what's coming! Here's a few pics of her at a recent competition.

Kyler is taking after his big sister and thinks he's a comedian as well. He loves his Nintendo DS, tee-ball, riding his quad, staying up late, and making baby Clara happy. Out of all the kids he has been the one most interested in our new addition.

Leah is utterly adorable. She is such a girly girl and wants to do everything "myself". She has to pick out her own clothes every day and insists on wearing a dress. She is a little princess for sure and is fully aware that she has us all wrapped around her little finger. As if she needed more attention in life, she broke her arm falling off the couch at Aunt Rachel's. Even though she got the cast off over a month ago, she still tells people about how she hurt her arm, had to go to the doctor, and wore a pink cast. It was too cute.

Clara is our little angel baby. We can't believe how good natured and sweet she is. It seems like I get nothing done because I'm too busy enjoying the little elf. She rolls over and loves being on her tummy. She giggles at everyone who pays attention to her.

There you have it. My four little excuses. Aren't they adorable?

P.S. Zach and I thought this was so funny. It was washable marker after all, no harm done. Not so amusing when Leah tied to be funny the next day using a highlighter. It was nearly IMPOSSIBLE to get off of her and her baby dolls.

Speaking of Zach, he hates when I brag about him online, so I'll refrain from telling the World Wide Web that he is the most amazing dad and hubby on planet earth. He is though. Just in case you were wondering.

baptism & blessing

2011-01-19T08:46:00.000-08:00

On New Years day we were able to have both Shayla's baptism and Clara's blessing. It was such a sweet experience. We are so proud of both our little gals! Here are a few pics.

Home.

2010-12-03T21:19:00.000-08:00

On Monday we were finally able to bring our little Clara home. She is doing really well and is back to her birth weight now! This was definitly a life changer for us. It was humbling not only because of what Clara went through, but seeing the struggles of her teeny tiny roommates as well. We thought we had some pretty hefty challenges and changes this year. Zach was actually closing on a dental practice the day they took out Clara's respirator. It should have been a big deal, but it seemed pretty insignificant in comparison to finally holding our little girl. Not much matters as long as we have eachother. And we're grateful to have all of you as well:) Thank you again to our inredible family and friends. We truly felt lifted by your service and thoughtfulness.

Thankful.

2010-11-25T07:11:00.000-08:00

Clara is breathing well without the respirator. She is just getting some oxygen through her little nose now. Hopefully some of the iv's and tubes will go today. We are working on eating now... she's a little confused. She peeks one eye open and stares at you when you put the tiny bottle in her mouth. For now at least her tummy is taking milk through her little feeding tube. We are a very thankful family today.

Baby Clara

2010-11-24T06:24:00.000-08:00

Hello all. I'm finally getting around to updating everyone. So sorry I have been slow, I know you all understand. Here's a quick rundown. Clara was born late Friday night at 37 weeks. I had a medical induction, but labor never progressed so after 30 hours it turned into a C-section. She had the cord wrapped twice around her neck and around her shoulder. She was officially born at 10:58 p.m. and weighed 6 pounds 10 ounces, 20 1/4 inches long. Everything seemed fine at first, but soon she was struggling to breathe. She spent the night in the NICU in Pocatello. She seemed to keep getting worse over the next day. Sunday morning things got very critical. I don't mind saying that I've never been so frightened in all my life. She was put on a respirator and they told me they were taking her to Primary Children's in Salt Lake. Thankfully they took a plane instead of a helicopter which meant Zach was able to ride with her (he calls it he and Clara's first Daddy-Daughter date). Zach's parents were able to meet him in Salt Lake to be with them. I was released shortly after that and spent the night at my house with the kids and my parents. The next morning my Mom drove me to Salt Lake and Poppy took our other three munchkins to Idaho Falls where my amazing sisters and brother-in-laws are taking care of them. Clara has definitely improved since she came here. She is still on her respirator and I still haven't been able to hold her, but I'm so grateful that she is with us. I know it will come. I will update as best I can to keep everyone in the know. Here are a few pictures... only from cell phones, for now. Zach and I are completely overwhelmed with all the love and support from our family and friends, near and far. Thank you so much for your prayers and concern. We wish we could talk to everyone on the phone, but for now I hope this will do. Know that we are grateful for all of you and have definitely been lifted up by you. Baby Clara is blessed to have so many people who care for her already.
Love,
The Davis Family

Getting ready for her trip to Salt Lake

She's being treated for jaundice and looks especially cute in her "sunglasses"

This is little Clara Alyse yesterday. Hopefully later today we'll have a picture without the respirator :)

by the way...

2010-07-31T15:03:00.000-07:00

...we have a baby girl coming in December!

Friends.

2010-06-18T21:38:00.000-07:00

Beware: I'm already crying, so this post could get sappy real fast. I've been blessed with great friendships in my life. These ladies are some of my best. I could go on for paragraphs about how much I love and miss them. About how real friends are the ones who see you for who you really are... the good, bad, and ugly... and love you just the same.

Thank you for the wonderful weekend ladies. I love, love, love you all.

mishap.

2010-04-22T09:47:00.000-07:00

Kyler's toe almost fell off...

... but don't worry. We got if put back on. Look how cute and brave he is (even though the doctor numbed the wrong toe at first?!?!). Much braver than Mom.

Lady

2010-02-10T19:51:00.000-08:00

It's a long story, but it ends with: and so we got a puppy.

Kyler is surprisingly attached...

Leah is not quite sure...

And Shayla is officially in love.

Shayla was the one who named her Lady. I was rooting for Jovie, but oh well. I'm trying to think of something a little more original for her on paper. Any famous ladies you can think of? Shayla said we can also call her Pigeon if we'd like (Tramp's nick name for Lady in the movie). Maybe she should officially be "Lady Bird".

perspective.

2010-01-16T20:59:00.000-08:00

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1243484/Haiti-earthquake-Miracle-baby-plucked-rubble.html?ITO=1490

nerd alert.

2010-01-07T20:47:00.001-08:00

Am I the only one who thinks this guy is a total geek? Oh well. Here's to wasting two hours of my life every week on cat-fighting women and unrealistic expectations. P.S. Is it just me or does Rozlyn look a lot like skinny Hillary Duff?

what we've been doing...lately.

2009-11-22T22:15:00.000-08:00

living it up...

packing it up...

partying it up...

finishing up...

saying goodbye...

crying our eyes out...

moving on...

fighting off the swine flu (I suppose it could have been the seasonal flu... in June)...

playing at Powell...

driving to Idaho (in one day, with 3 kids, because I was so homesick for my family)...

making memories in West Yellowstone...

starting first garde...

having a wedding...

having a VERY big birthday...

taking off the training wheels...

trying to take a picture...

trying to take a picture again...

trying to take yet another picture...

having her 1st birthday...

having her other 1st birthday...

going Trick-or-treating (without Dad because he was dressed up as a tree somewhere trying to shoot Bambi)

and finally, having her 7th birthday.

we've been busy lately.

Baby Jude

2009-11-19T13:29:00.000-08:00

This is my precious new nephew, Jude Ryan Olson.

I can't wait to meet you in person little man!

Happy Hero Day

2009-11-11T07:20:00.000-08:00

My handsome Grandpa (and favorite Veteran) served in the Air Force during WWII

I miss him.

back roads.

2009-10-14T21:37:00.000-07:00

So Zach and I went on our first overnight getaway together in almost 5 years. Wow. That's pathetic. We went to Sedona... one of my favorite places in the world (which I guess isn't saying much since I haven't been many places, but still). Most of the day was spent off-roading and hiking. So fun! I wish I had video of Zach's truck crawling up the rock. It was nuts. Zach had a lot of faith in his Chevy, but I was skeptical at first... can you blame me?

After that it was my turn to play. I made Zach hike in his flip flops so I could shoot some stream pics. They don't do the place justice.

come on now.

2009-09-14T12:52:00.000-07:00

I had to sign a permission slip in order for Shayla to see the address President Obama gave to the schools. I can only assume this is because so many parents complained about having their kids subjected to listening to him for all of 10 minutes. I would say I'm a fairly partisan person, but come on people. What are you afraid of? That your kids are going to come home flaming liberals? Ignorant. I think it was nice that he thought of kids... probably because he has young ones still. Ok, so maybe it was his advisers that thought of it. Maybe it was purely tactical. Who really cares and what on earth is the big deal?

The "mountains" in AZ

2009-09-09T11:13:00.001-07:00

Ok, so they're not like the mountains in the Northwest, but I'll take it! We got out of the blistering heat for labor day. Thank you Mom & Dad Davis for the fun weekend!

Our little critter friends.

As you can see, our little munchkin is cutting teeth
at an alarming rate.

I wonder where Leah got those blue eyes.

Playing with Grandpa

We didn't get to go on a trail ride because of the rain.
Shayla was extremely disappointed, but at least we got to pet them.

Cousins. Colter has killer brown eyes.

My third Great-Grandpa is buried in Show Low and I finally got to go see his grave. It was so awesome! There's also a monument there because he was the Captain of the first handcart company to head for the Salt Lake Valley. The picture below is of the monument (with his great great great great gandson standing by it).

This is his actual headstone.

Definitely the highlight of my trip.

The big 3-0

2009-09-08T09:18:00.000-07:00

Happy 30th hun! Wow. You're really old. Just kidding... sort of :)

We love you!

I have a very serious question

2009-07-14T20:23:00.000-07:00

What is with Ed's skimpy shorts? I'm watching last night's episode of the bachelorette right now and I can't even take him seriously with those tiny green... what are they supposed to be? Let him go Jillian! He may look like Denny Ducett, but he's just not. Also, I love how Jillian keeps talking about how thoughtful it was of him to fly his parents to Hawaii. As if it wasn't the producers idea, and on their dime. I sure hope the "very private" messages from the final three help her make the right choice.

Puttin' on the Ritz

2009-07-05T21:01:00.000-07:00

I'm going to start back blogging about our recent adventures (notice I refrained from using the sad word "final") in SF. Starting with... the awards banquet at the Ritz Carlton. The food was good, probably not 150 dollars a plate good, but it was worth it to make some last minute memories with people we dearly love.

The boys.

The girls.

UOP Golf Tournament Champs (all 3 years)

Joel & Reg

Cia & Mind

Sis-in-law Court

Dean Ferrillo

My Parents (thanks for forking out the big bucks to come listen to long
drawn out lists of people you don't know getting awards)

Handsome Hubby

Zach's proud parents

Cute ladies

The street we had to walk down to get to the car...

...I had to do it in bare feet... stupid cute high heels.

The next morning at "Thanks a bunch brunch". I don't know what I enjoyed more: getting thanked a bunch, or getting loads of good breakfast food. Just kidding hun.

Dr. Davis

2009-06-18T12:07:00.001-07:00

One cute Doctor

Three excited kidos

One very proud wife

More pictures to come...

So I'm depressed.

2009-06-08T23:10:00.000-07:00

Why can't I just enjoy milestones in our family? I don't know. I just get sad. Case in point: My hubby is graduating from dental school after many years of very hard work. You would think I'd be jumping for joy and instead I'm bawling my eyes out. Maybe if we'd been in dental school in Oklahoma or something I wouldn't be sad to leave. Last night Zach tried to cheer me up with a hefty dose of sarcasm. "Yah, I'm really gonna miss it here. I mean I just love this tiny apartment. The mold is really growing on me... literally. Who cares about parking, walking 3 miles to get somewhere is good for your health. I just love the beach too. It's always so sunny, never foggy or windy. It's fun to swim in freezing cold shark infested waters." He went on for quite some time. So, I decided to focus on the negative in the hopes that I'll stop crying my eyes out every other minute. Here's a few things I won't miss about our life in SF... in no particular order.

1) The almost always terrible service at restaraunts.
2) Not being able to enjoy a sunny Saturday because there are tourists EVERYWHERE.
3) Having such a small closet that Zach had to hang his pants on the treadmill.
4) No yard
5) Paper bags at the grocery store
6) Rude people at the grocery store
7) People who don't like kids at the grocery store
8) People who bring their dogs to the grocery store
9) People who don't like when my kids want to pet their dogs at the grocery store
10) Worrying incessantly that "the big one" is going to hit in the middle of the night
11) Having to wear layers... yuck
12) Snotty single people in the Marina
13) Getting asked if I'm the nanny
14) The horrible nightly news... no, I mean the anchors. They're annoying.
15) That it takes 35 minutes to go 7 miles
16) That Target is at least 20 minutes away
17) Two words: Gavin Newsom.
18) That there is such great shopping downtown but it's too much of a pain to go there.
19) That there is so much to do but we don't have money to do it.
20) That the museums cost so much money
21) That free day at the museum is too busy
22) bread costs 4 dollars
23) Zach being MIA much of the time. I hate night clinic!
24) All day kindergarten. Ok, that's not just a SF thing.
25) People who judge me for driving a "gas guzzling" tahoe.
26) Having no space to park my gas guzzling tahoe.
27) CASH ONLY
28) That stuff closes at 7... what's with that Laurel Village?
29) Driving through China town.

I'm sure there are more. I feel better already. When I need a boost over the next few days I'll just hop on here and add a few more.

tiny dancer

2009-05-24T21:02:00.001-07:00

Shayla has been taking ballet the past few months and just had her first recital. It was so adorable! Her class did the best by far... they're older than most the other kids, but still. She was so cute that I had to post a few pics. I with I had better ones of the performance but it was in the palace of fine arts and they were super strict about "no pictures/video". Of course those rules don't apply to me and I snapped a few inside.

Shayla's sweet friend Julia. Dance wouldn't been nearly as fun without this little gal.

I don't know what Shayla will miss more... dance class, or ice cream afterward.

mom.

2009-05-10T22:13:00.001-07:00

Happy to have one...

...happy to be one.

delightful.

2009-05-06T17:43:00.000-07:00

This makes counting calories a lot more tolerable.

Snow in Idaho

2009-04-27T11:57:00.001-07:00

We went home to Idaho earlier this month. When I go home around Christmas time I always seem to miss the snow (which is sad for me since I love snow). Lo and behold, I go home during the spring and it dumps! Hooray for me.
Kyler was hilarious. When he woke up in the morning and saw the snow outside he kept saying, "I can't beweive it's Christmas!" So funny. When it melted a few days later he informed everyone that the snow had died.

My parents house is so pretty in the snow.

A day at the bowling alley. Have you seen these things? They're nifty. I think the grown-ups should have used it too.
The scores had to be documented. I won... but I'm not too proud considering how bad my score was. Rachel was even more upset than me (for good reason).
Three sisters, three kids each... won't last long.

I loved my cousins growing up (love them still, actually). It's so fun to see my kids making memories with theirs.

Thanks for all the fun Nana and Poppy!

Well Said, Mitt

2009-04-21T07:12:00.000-07:00

I'm trying not to dislike our new President, but it was a little difficult this week. Anyone else follow politics? I thought this article was very well written. Maybe I have a little too much National pride, but I hate when people apologize for America.

AZ

2009-04-17T09:41:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we were in AZ and met our new niece Jaycie. She's so precious! I got to take a few pics of her with my Dad-in-law's amazing lens.

Leah and Jaycie in matching onsies
Trampoline face
Shayla found a lizard in the backyard (of course) and Grandpa helped her catch it and told her she could take it home. Naughty, naughty. It took a lot of convincing before she finally agreed to let it go.
This is her sad face right after she said goodbye to her new friend. This girl needs a pet.
A few more pictures with the awesome lens

That's Kyler's hand making her laugh
Thank you fun AZ family for a great time (as always)

This was in the hotel on the way home... I love staying in hotels with these 3 kids. It feels like a fun sleepover.

Happy Belated Easter

2009-04-13T22:11:00.001-07:00

April Fools!

2009-04-01T16:01:00.001-07:00

I couldn't think of a good April Fool's joke for my blog. I toyed with the idea having OCD (obsessive cullen disorder) but I didn't want anyone to actually believe I fantasized about a vampire licking my tear off his grubby finger. I did however have fun on the phone today... I was pregnant (Liza), got a $2,000 ticket for driving an unregistered vehicle without a driver's license (Zach), had a bad feeling about my trip to Idaho tomorrow so I couldn't come home (Mom and Rachel). The only one I didn't fool was Rachel. I think my little pranks have rubbed off on the kids. Kyler keeps saying things like, "Look, an airplane! April Pools!" and my favorite, "Look, poop on the floor! April Pools!". Anyhow, I enjoyed reading some all time great april fool's jokes here. I especially liked the taco/liberty bell one. Now I'm off to watch the Twilight on DVD for the 27th time. My favorite part is when Edward says, "Hold on Spider Monkey". Now why didn't Stephanie Meyer think of that impressive line for her book? April Fools!

Little Sis

2009-03-30T22:39:00.000-07:00

Thanks for coming Lizzy. It was too much fun... and my house is significantly more organized.

All Shook Up

2009-03-26T21:19:00.000-07:00

Was it just me or was Adam channeling Elvis last night (trying to anyhow). P.S. Ryan, I did have him pegged... theatre geek. His interview made me want to gag. To be fair, I'll admit I liked his version of the song. Shayla had an interesting view on him, "I like how he sings, I like how he looks, I just don't like his earings... and I don't like how his name is Adam because (as she literally picks up a book of mormon on the table) there's already someone in the scriptures named Adam and I don't like when people are named the same as people in the scriptures, or just named like other people then it's like "come here" and both of the people come." I didn't tell her that 3 out of 5 people in our family have "scripture" names.

Also, was anyone else wondering why Danny looks familiar? Here's your answer. Mine at least.

Is it weird that I like Robert Downy Jr.'s voice better than his long lost son's?

Thoughts on AI?

2009-03-19T16:45:00.000-07:00

Please tell me I'm not the only one that can't stand Adam. He's so over the top theatrical.. go back to broadway. My favorite people so far are Kris Allen, Alison, and Anoop. Anoop mostly for his personality. Kris Allen... I'm a sucker for anyone wielding a guitar. I love Alison vocally, but YEESH... when she's not singing I just want her to be quiet. I thought Danny was pretty hyped up. After his last performance I started to come around. I know this because he almost made me like that cheezy song. Michael and Scott (hey, sounds like Michael Scott hehehehe) are nice people but I won't get too attached since they'll be booted soon. Megan has to go too. Yes, she's unique and all, but let's get real. She doesn't have the chops to hang long. I get nervous when she starts singing... and then I get annoyed when she pronounces words like down "Dauuuooown". Who is she kidding; she's from Utah.

Justified

2009-03-15T22:20:00.000-07:00

So I got a new camera. For a few years now I've wanted a digital SLR, but I convinced myself to wait for numerous reasons: Right now I don't have the time to learn how to use it. I don't have the money to spend on it. I can't afford the one I really want. It's not very practical while we're going through school. I have too many hobbies. ect. ect. ect. But, more recently I came up with some really good reasons to invest in this fancy little toy: I'm not going to live in the most beautiful city in the world for very much longer. I need a hobby that's practical now that I have 3 kids. Maybe I don't have time to take a class right now, but it's not like there aren't books about photography. My kids are only this small once. And, finally, the most important reason... if I combine birthday moola from two fantastic sets of parents and one understanding spouse then I can buy a Canon Rebel XSI and even a few things to go with it. So that's what I did! I'm in love with it and can't learn things fast enough. Do I still feel guilty about this purchase? Occasionally... which is probably why I'm blogging about it (in the hopes that the blogging community will say, "It's ok! Great purchase! You'll never regret it!" ect.) For the most part though I'm really glad I bit the bullet. I've come up with the best reason of all for having a nice camera: you can't put a price on pictures like these.

beautiful yosemite

2009-03-02T12:03:00.000-08:00

Here are a few pictures of our recent trip to Yosemite. It was so incredibly beautiful. The only down side, if you can call it that, was that it was snowing really hard most of the time. It made it hard to take any decent pictures, but I wouldn't have traded it considering I haven't seen that much snow in too many years to count. I can't wait to go back in the spring and climb half dome! Or maybe just look at half dome since I still have a nursing baby :(

I actually took this picture from the car because it was snowing too hard to get out. It looked like the North Pole (the North Pole in my mind anyhow).

One of my favorite shots of the day... it was a stream just outside the park

Building a snowman is a lot more exciting for my Arizona native children than it was for me as a kid.

More deer... Shayla's favorite part of the trip

Last but not least... the kids are obsessed with the hotel swimming pool

hehehe

2009-02-21T17:47:00.001-08:00

blessed

2009-02-02T10:01:00.000-08:00

Over Christmas break Leah was given her sweet baby blessing. I thought I'd post a few pictures of her in her little white dress.

I love how we're all looking different places in this picture

The shall in this picture came across the plains with Zach's fourth Great Grandma. Zach and all of our kids were blessed in it.

I was soooo happy that my Dad flew down for the blessing... thanks David G!

Thank you to our wonderful friends for sharing the day with us...

Brandon, Emily and Dylan Stephens

Keith, Courtney, Scott, Britney, and little Allie

Baby Lolah

2009-01-22T21:47:00.000-08:00

I have a new little niece... and I mean little. My sister Liza had her baby girl this week. Lolah Mariah came early and weighed 4 lbs 14 oz. I can't wait to see her in person! It's times like this that I hate living away.

Turkey Day, Kyler turned 3, Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

2009-01-07T15:03:00.000-08:00

So I haven't blogged in a while. Here's a little (or not so little) update.

The day before Thanksgiving we decided to head to Idaho and surprise my family. It was a long drive but so worth it just to see the deer in the headlights look on my parents faces when we showed up at the movie theater with Rachel and Jason. I wish I had taken a picture; it was priceless. Leah was happy to meet her Poppy, cousins, aunts, and uncles (and I was happy to see my family who I miss like crazy). This is Aunt Rachel who Leah was middle named after.

Aunt Lala and Leah were pretty much inseparable and Leah loved it. Liza could get her to smile like crazy.

Shayla lost her first tooth while we were in Idaho. The toothfairy almost forgot to put money under her pillow, but remembered at about 5 in the morning (thank goodness).

Zach had to go back to school so he drove home while I stayed an extra week in Idaho. Which meant I had to fly on a plane with three little rascals. It actually turned out surprisingly well! This little angel slept the whole time. At one point all three were asleep and I thought, "I should have brought a book!"

Our little man turned 3 years old in December. Such a cute birthday boy.

The ward Christmas party... last one in SF :(

It was quite the fiasco trying to snap a picture of all three in their Christmas outfits.

These two are growing up way too fast.

How cute is she in this beanie. Practically edible.

Leah loves her bumbo. For those of you who don't know what that is then you probably don't care because I doubt you have kids.

Our crazy Christmas Eve... well, mock Christmas Eve. Santa was kind enough to come early so we wouldn't have to haul Christmas anywhere.

This was a fun new tradition (that's an oxymoron... I should say we're hoping to make it a tradition) that we tried this year. We lit a candle for each of the kids and told them the story of when they were born and why they're special to our family. Then we lit a candle for the Savior and Zach read Luke 2. I didn't know if the kids would dig it, but it was huge hit. I would highly recommend it (if you're not scared of your house burning down).

The glow bug was a success, Leah loves that thing.

Then it was off to AZ. It was nice to be away from our tiny apartment so we could do fun messy things like a gingerbread house... thanks to the kit from Costco.

This picture doesn't look posed at all does it.

Little Dear

For New Years we headed to the sand dunes. It was fun as usual and Leah got to go for her first ride on the rhino.

Thanks AZ family for an awesome holiday!

Photo Shoot

2008-11-24T17:10:00.000-08:00

My lovely friend Regan took these pictures a few days ago... her talent combined with Leah's adorableness made for some photos worth sharing. Thanks Reg! P.S. I do know how big the bow is.

Smile!

2008-11-18T17:52:00.001-08:00

Leah turned one month old yesterday!

Here's some video per Poppy's request:

Catch up

2008-11-07T17:15:00.000-08:00

It's hard to find time to shower lately, let alone blog, but for the sake of all you anxious Grandparents and Aunts, here's a little update.

Shayla turned a whopping 6 years old last week!

I was sick so we had to cancel her planned birthday bash, but she was a trooper. And I learned that as long as there's cake and presents it doesn't really matter how big the hoopla is.

She's such a big helper lately and loves to take care of Leah.

Kyler has done so much better with his new little sister than I expected. He's only had one melt down about her which happened yesterday, "Don't hold your baby! Put her down, put down Weah!" Other than that the only time he throws a fit lately is when he wants to hold her and has to wait until she's done eating or sleeping. He's not exactly gentle though. We're working on it.

Leah's busy getting bigger. Her little life is filled with first's.

This picture is so close up that it doesn't even look like her, but I was frantic to get a picture of her first smile!

First time meeting Great Grandma Mills

First day of church

Zach's so busy right now (he's listening to lectures on those headphones, not music). But of course he's doing a spectacular job being a Dad and dental student. I was reminded of this last night when I was saying prayers with Shayla. This is a little part of her prayer word for word, "I'm grateful for Daddy and that he's funny and he fills Kyler and my heart with laughter". So cute. Thank you Zach for being Super Dad.

Shayla also mentioned me in her prayer, "I'm grateful for Mom and all her hard work". Thanks for noticing Shayla! Although I'd rather fill your heart with laughter, someone has to do the dirty work. In all seriousness, 3 is definitely different than two. But, I have this coping mechanism for stress. It's called being even more irresponsible than usual. What I mean is that everything lower on the totem pole than the three munchkins gets... delayed. So, sorry for not answering my phone, not sending thank you cards or returning tuperware, and not doing any number or other things I'm supposed to be doing right now. I'll get around to it. But thank you again all you supportive wonderful people. We feel very loved.

Happy Halloween

2008-11-02T08:54:00.000-08:00

Feisty, isn't she.

Little Leah

2008-10-22T13:07:00.000-07:00

We're finally home and feeling settled with our new little one! Thank you friends and family for the well wishes. And big thank you's to Nana for coming to help, Uncle Ty and Aunt Courtney, and our wonderful friends for your help and support! Here are a few (or more than a few) pictures of little miss Leah.

leah rachel.

2008-10-17T10:22:00.001-07:00

leah rachel davis arrived this morning @ 6:07am weighing 7lbs & 5oz. happy birthday little leah, we love you.

I'm spoiled

2008-10-08T09:34:00.000-07:00

I was so lucky (and slightly embarrassed considering this is my third baby) that my wonderful friends threw me a baby shower. Leah and I were both extremely spoiled with incredibly cute gifts! Here's a few pics:

Rocia hand made these cute booties (among other things)

All the cute loot

Last (and most definitely least) the belly shot

Thank you Cia and Court for all your work and thank you everyone who came! I love the adorable gifts, but love you all so much more (sappy, but true).

All about Zach

2008-09-30T16:52:00.000-07:00

I don't usually participate in the tag thing, but it's always fun to brag about the hubby

1.Where did you meet? Up at Ricks… need I say more.

2.How long did you date before you got married? 5 months and 16 days.

3.How long have you been married? 7 years

4.What does he do that surprises you? Reads me like a book

5.What is your favorite feature of his? 3 way tie: His height, smile and baby blue eyes.

6.What's your favorite quality of his? He is the most genuine guy I know... a close second is how thoughtful he is.

7. Does he have a nickname for you? Love

8.What is his favorite color? Blue

9.What is his favorite food? Italian

10.What is his favorite sport? I don’t think he has a favorite… golfing, basketball, baseball, football, hunting

11.When and where was your first kiss? The day we got married. You don’t believe me? Well at least it wasn’t on our first date… technically.

12.Favorite thing to do as a couple? I plead the 5th… refer to next question.

13.Do you have any children? Shayla, Kyler and coming soon, baby Leah.

14.Does he have a hidden talent? I don’t consider it a talent because it scares the living daylights out of me, but one of these days his need for speed is going to pay off when he races in the Baja 1000.

15. How old is he? 29

16. Who said I love you first? Me. I couldn’t help myself.

17. What is his favorite type of music? country followed by alternative

18. What do you admire most about him? 1) He’s an incredible Dad and 2) he always manages to see the best in people and downplay the negative stuff... especially in his wife (which is really convenient).

19. Do you think he will read this? Yes

I tag Jocelyn... yes, you. Don't complain, just do it. And Rocia.

I'm not going to lie...

2008-09-26T22:51:00.000-07:00

I miss Mitt.

poor John is no great debater. And I'm not very optimistic about the upcoming VP debate either.
Scared is a good word for it.

Happy 29th Zach!

2008-09-08T16:11:00.000-07:00

Here's a few things I wish I could get you for your birthday (as opposed to the lame-o "we're STILL on a student budget" presents you did get)

This is actually what Shayla has wanted to get you for several birthdays now... If it were me, I would buy you a red truck.

It's the thought that counts, right?

Shayla's First Day

2008-08-27T07:55:00.001-07:00

Oh the drama. Shay's first day of school was, thankfully, a success. That morning she was raring to go. Think Nemo, "First day of school! First day of School!" Then there was me (Marlin), "Are you sure you wanna go to school this year? 'Cause there's no problem if you don't. You can wait 5 or 6 years." In reality I've tried really hard to put on a big show about how great school will be to get her excited. Here's a few pictures:
Kyler was about as excited as I was.

Showing off her new special bracelet from Mom and Dad.

I was so grateful that her sweet friend Julia was heading to first grade at the same school. When Shayla saw her there it was like Christmas morning.

Saying goodbye to Daddy. Mom wasn't the only sad one... Shayla cheered him up with, "now since I'm in school too we can do homework together tonight!"

When I finally got to pick her up I found her attached to a cute little girl named Rachel. Of course my friendly daughter (who likes to introduce herself to kids in the toy section of target)had no trouble making friends.

Kyler and I made a welcome home sign that she thinks should stay up until her last day of kindergarten.

As you can see from the giant smile on Shayla's face, kindergarten is nothing to be sad about. That didn't stop Mom from having a meltdown, but I did hold it together pretty well until she was safely in her classroom distracted by play-dough and I had to walk out the door. A big thank you to all my awesome friends and family who know me well and took the time to call (among other things) and console me.

What's so great about kindergarten

2008-08-24T22:26:00.001-07:00

This is how I feel about Shayla starting school tomorrow:

Seven year itch... only joking

2008-08-16T07:32:00.000-07:00

Happy Anniversary Hun! You're still the cutest boy I know ;)

Santa Cruz

2008-08-15T10:13:00.000-07:00

Once Daddy FINALLY came home from Tonga, we went on a day trip to Santa Cruz. It was so much fun! We got on a steam train and rode through the redwoods to the boardwalk. The kids had a blast and it was definitely one of our funnest trips in the Bay area so far.

"Choo Choo!"

We had just gone on a little roller coaster before the kids got on the whale ride. Zach taught Kyler to put his hands up in the air while we were on the roller coaster, so of course he thought that's what you were supposed to do on all the rides.

There was soooo much good food on the boardwalk. Maybe because it was all deep fried. The twinkies were (unfortunately) my favorite.

Catch up

2008-08-04T17:00:00.000-07:00

So I've been kind of a blog slacker lately. I'm going to make a quick attempt to catch up... the reason being I saw someone's "blurb" book they had made from their blog entries... so cute! And I found out you can choose which blog entries you want to include in your book... great news for me since I thought I said goodbye to having my blog scrapbooked when I started blogging about reality television.

Here's a few pics of 4th of July in Idaho (yah, I'm going way back)

The fire pit was a little hot apparently

"The best fireworks show west of the Mississippi"... and I totally believed it until I moved away. It was really fun though, just not as big as I remember.
Shayla didn't find it that exciting.

Hillcrest blogger reunion
Sooo many cute kids!

We came home to a new nephew in San Francisco, Colter Tyson Davis... he's so adorable!

Tonga

2008-07-13T14:19:00.000-07:00

Zach had the opportunity to go with a group of friends to Tonga and do some dental work on the people there. I loved the pictures and the stories about Tonga so I thought I would post a few.
On their way

This was the clinic they worked in. It's owned by the church ...almost half the population of Tonga is LDS!

A few of the patients

All the husbands insisted that they were going to Tonga to work, not play. The fact that it was a tropical island was just coincidence. Yah, right...
...I'm only joking. You guys deserved a little R&R.

Tonga still has a King; you can see his house in the background. The king lends the people the land they farm on.

I thought it was funny this guy was just riding down the road on the hood of the car. Apparently there were people in the trunk too.

Layover in Figi

All the cute kiddos waiting for their Dads

We missed our Dad! Next time we won't let you go unless we get to come too!

Lake Powell

2008-07-11T23:11:00.001-07:00

I'm not going to lie... I have great in-laws. One of the best things about marrying into the Davis family is spending a week on a houseboat at Lake Powell every year.

I couldn't do much on the water this year, but at least I got to jet ski. Kyler loves them because he thinks they're like quads.

Disgusting fish at Dangling Rope

Grandpa had to bribe the kids to get them to wakeboard

Doesn't Shay look happy in this picture? It's not because she went wakeboarding, it's because she "earned" 30 dollars.

Kyler was happy about none of it

Shayla the fisherman... all the live long day

A little too much of this going on

Wake Surfing... fun to do, boring to watch. No offense Hun.

How many "adults" can you fit on one tube? 5

Davis Family Debut

2008-06-13T10:08:00.000-07:00

So we were on Korean national television the other day. It's kind of a long story. We have this friend who works for this company who is contracted with yadayadayada. Anyhow, they did a telethon on national TV there to show people in Korea how great it is to be charitable people (like we American's are ;) Part of the telethon is on youtube. If you want to see me being a terrible actress and sounding like an idot click here.

And now, Deep thoughts by Jack Handey

2008-06-08T19:50:00.000-07:00

Remember when Saturday night live wasn't completely trashy? Those were the good ol' days. One of my favorite things back then was "Deep thoughts by Jack Handey". For a quick montage click here.

If you've never heard Deep thoughts before (because you lived in some sort of bio-dome during the 90's) then you are now a)laughing your head off or b) thinking I have a lame sense of humor. To each their own. If you were a) then here's a few more of my all time favorite Deep Thoughts.

Whenever I see an old lady slip and fall on a wet sidewalk, my first instinct is to laugh. But then I think, what if I was an ant, and she fell on me. Then it wouldn't seem quite so funny.

It takes a big man to cry, but it takes a bigger man to laugh at that man.

If you were a poor Indian with no weapons, and a bunch of conquistadors came up to you and asked where the gold was, I don't think it would be a good idea to say, "I swallowed it. So sue me."

Somebody told me how frightening it was how much topsoil we are losing each year, but I told that story around the campfire and nobody got scared.

To me, boxing is like a ballet, except there's no music, no choreography, and the dancers hit each other.

If a kid asks where rain comes from, I think a cute thing to tell him is "God is crying." And if he asks why God is crying, another cute thing to tell him is "Probably because of something you did."

If you saw two guys named Hambone and Flippy, which one would you think liked dolphins the most? I'd say Flippy, wouldn't you? You'd be wrong, though. It's Hambone.

Laurie got offended that I used the word "puke." But to me, that's what her dinner tasted like.

If you're ever stuck in some thick undergrowth, in your underwear, don't stop and think of what other words have 'under' in them, because that's probably the first sign of jungle madness.

Fear can sometimes be a useful emotion. For instance, let's say you're an astronaut on the moon and you fear that your partner nas been turned into Dracula. The next time he goes out for the moon pieces, wham!, you just slam the door behind him and blast off. He might call you on the radio and say he's not Dracula, but you just say, "Think again, bat man."

The face of a child can say it all, especially the mouth part of the face.

I can see why it would be prohibited to throw most things off the top of the Empire State Building, but what's wrong with little bits of cheese? They probably break down into their various gases before they even hit.

Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you’re a mile away and you have their shoes.

It’s easy to sit there and say you’d like to have more money. And I guess that’s what I like about it. It’s easy. Just sitting there, rocking back and forth, wanting that money.

If I ever get real rich, I hope I'm not real mean to poor people, like I am now

Instead of a trap door, what about a trap window? The guy looks out it, and if he leans too far, he falls out. Wait. I guess that's like a regular window.

Children need encouragement. So if a kid gets an answer right, tell him it was a lucky guess. That way, he develops a good, lucky feeling

If you're a cowboy, and you're dragging a guy behind your horse, I bet it would really make you mad if you looked back and the guy was reading a magazine.

If you think a weakness can be turned into a strength, I hate to tell you this, but that's another weakness.

Tag ...Shayla's it

2008-06-03T08:34:00.000-07:00

All about My Mommy: (These are Shayla’s exact answers)

1. What is something mom always says to you? “Go get your jamies on”

2. What makes Mommy happy? “When I make Kyler feel better”

3. What makes mom sad? “The exact question is I don’t know… wait yes I do… wait that’s when Mom gets mad… it’s when I don’t make Kyler feel better and I just do what I’m doing”

4. How does mom make you laugh? “When you copy Kyler like you did yesterday when he tells you to make a letter sound like Ah Ah “

5. What was Mom like when she was little? “That’s hard for me because I’m only a little girl… oh, this one is like a guessing game? Oh, ok. So I think you drink lots of little bottles”

6. How old is mom? “That’s too hard…15?”

7. How tall is Mom? “Small because Dad’s tall” (true story)

8. What is her favorite thing to do? “Ride horses! Oh wait that’s my favorite thing. Yours is doing crafts with me and play games with me! And mine is ride horses and do crafts with you.”

9.What does Mom do when you’re not around? “I don’t know because when I’m not around I don’t know what you’re doing. Sometimes you have sleepovers like last time we went camping and you stayed home.”

10. If Mom becomes famous what will it be for? “Singing with the guitar, maybe dancing too” (dancing? I think not)

11. What is Mom really good at? “Taking me to the park when you’re done cleaning up”

12. What is Mom not very good at? “Drawing” (ouch)

13. What does Mom do for her job? “Your job is taking care of us…. Or is it cleaning up the house?” (good question)

14. What is Mom’s favorite food? “Oatmeal” (maybe if it’s in some sort of cookie)

15. What makes you proud of your Mom “When you be happy to Daddy and lead the singing primary.”

16. If Mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? “A princess… Cinderella, your favorite princess” (actually it’s Sleeping Beauty).

17. What do you and Mom do together? “Crafts and art and adventures”

18. How are you and Mom the same? “When we’re doing a craft and I follow, oh wait… more the same because we have the same family to be together forever.”

19. How are you and Mom different? “When I don’t follow when we’re doing a craft” (apparently we’re crafty at our house)

20. How do you know Mom loves you? “You give me hugs, lay by me and sing songs and say “Hi honey!” in the morning.”

Shayla tags Emilia and Anna

Drumroll please ...

2008-05-30T15:54:00.000-07:00

It's a GIRL! We're so excited (No one is more than Shayla who has insisted since day one that she was going to have a little sister). I wasted a lot of energy having talks with her about how we would love the new baby no matter what, even if it was a boy (which by the way I thought it was). I had a talk with her this morning and said, "We're going to find out if we're getting a baby sister or a baby brother today, and we'll be happy no matter what, right?" She said, "Yes... but we'll be most happy if it's a girl!" We are definitely happy! The ultrasound they did was 4D. It was really cool. Here's my favorite picture of Little Miss Davis.

It looks like we're right on schedule so she should arrive around October 24th.

Forward

2008-05-24T23:13:00.000-07:00

I don't usually read forwards I get in my email (no offense people who forward things). It seems like they all start to sound the same, don't they? However, I got the funniest forward from my sister-in-law. It was so good that I was laughing out loud reading it, which I don't often do. I figured that was worth a blog post.

"A 3-year-old tells all from his mother's restroom stall"
By Shannon Popkin
My little guy, Cade, is quite a talker. He loves to communicate and does it quite well. He talks to people constantly, whether we're in the library, the grocery store or at a drive-thru window. People often comment on how clearly he speaks for a just-turned-3-year-old. And you never have to ask him to turn up the volume. It's always fully cranked. There've been several embarrassing times that I've wished the meaning of his words would have been masked by a not-so-audible voice, but never have I wished this more than last week at Costco. Halfway, through our shopping trip, nature called, so I took Cade with me into the restroom. If you'd been one of the ladies in the restroom that evening, this is what you would have heard coming from the second to the last stall:
'Mommy, are you gonna go potty?
Oh! Why are you putting toiwet paper on the potty, Mommy?
Oh! You gonna sit down on da toiwet paper now?
Mommy, what are you doing?
Mommy, are you gonna go stinkies on the potty?'
At this point I started mentally counting how many women had been in the bathroom when I walked in. Several stalls were full . 4? 5? Maybe we could wait until they all left before I had to make my debut out of this stall and reveal my identity. Cade continued:
'Mommy, you ARE going stinkies aren't you?
Oh, dats a good girl, Mommy!
Are you gonna get some candy for going stinkies on the potty?
Let me see doze stinkies, Mommy!
Oh ... Mommy! I'm trying to see In dere.
Oh! I see dem. Dat is a very good girl, Mommy. You are gonna get some candy!'
I heard a few faint chuckles coming from the stalls on either side of me. Where is a screaming new born when you need her?
Good grief. This was really getting embarrassing. I was definitely waiting a long time before exiting. Trying to divert him, I said, 'Why don't you look in Mommy's purse and see if you can find some candy. We'll both have some!'
'No, I'm trying to see doze more stinkies.
Oh! Mommy!'
He started to gag at this point.
'Uh - oh, Mommy. I fink I'm gonna frow up.
Mommy, doze stinkies are making me frow up!!
Dat is so gross!!'
As the gags became louder, so did the chuckles outside my stall. I quickly flushed the toilet in hopes of changing the subject. I began to reason with myself: OK. There are four other toilets. If I count four flushes, I can be reasonably assured that those who overheard this embarrassing monologue will be long gone.

'Mommy! Would you get off the potty, now? I want you to be done going stinkies! Get up! Get up!'

He grunted as he tried to pull me off. Now I could hear full-blown
laughter. I bent down to count the feet outside my door.

'Oh, are you wooking under dere, Mommy?
You wooking under da door?
What were you wooking at?
Mommy? You wooking at the wady's feet?'
More laughter. I stood inside the locked door and tried to assess the situation.

'Mommy, it's time to wash our hands, now. We have to go out now, Mommy.'
He started pounding on the door. 'Mommy, don't you want to wash your hands? I want to go out!!'

I saw that my 'wait 'em out' plan was unraveling. I sheepishly opened the door, and found standing outside my stall, twenty to thirty ladies crowded around the stall, all smiling and starting to applaud.
My first thought was complete embarrassment, then I thought, 'Where's the fine print on the 'motherhood contract' where I signed away every bit of my dignity and privacy?' But as my little boy gave me a big, cheeky grin while he rubbed bubbly soap between his chubby little hands, I thought, I'd sign it all away again, just to be known as Mommy to this little fellow.

(Shannon Popkin is a freelance writer and mother of three. She lives with her family in Grand Rapids , Michigan , where she no longer uses public restrooms.)

Early Mother's Day

2008-05-09T17:12:00.000-07:00

Shayla has actually been aware that Mother's Day is coming up (thanks to all the incessant and ridiculously cheesy jewelry commercials). She wasn't exactly sure when it was apparently because she thought it was yesterday. I woke up to her coming in my room with a breakfast tray (grapes and water). But that wasn't the best part. The best part was the card she brought with it. She is so adorable.

She actually does know how to spell her name correctly, but lately she has been working on sounding things out when she writes. She insists that her name is spelled with a "U" on the end and not an "A" because "U" says "Uh"

American Idol (last one I swear)

2008-04-30T08:54:00.001-07:00

I think this will be my last post on American Idol since it may as well just be over at this point. Who gets voted off tonight... Brooke probably deserves it, Sayesha is living on borrowed time, and Jason did some serious damage with a more boring rendition of September Morn than Neil Diamond himself (not easy to do). So does it even matter who goes? They should just skip right to the top 2. Cook and Archuleta will battle it out and Archuleta will probably win because, well, lets look at the actual "voting" audience. I'm fairly certain it's composed of teenage girls, women over forty and probably a couple weird old guys. I guess I shouldn't forget the votefortheworst.com faithful who will probably push Brooke into the top 3 (Just for the record Brooke, I don't think you're the worst... but please don't sing I'm a believer in your low register ever again). Added to the voting pool this year is of course every Mormon in Utah who is voting for David A numerous times. So, David Archuleta will win and it will be totally cute and make us all feel warm and fuzzy and be much easier to watch than David Cook winning with that smug look on his face like "of course I won". And then David Cook will sell more records despite being second place and everyone will be content. The End.

*Note to Paula: We don't mind when you're a little drunk on the show, it makes things more interesting. But when you start critiquing performances that didn't happen it gets a little awkward.

Kyler's first golf lesson

2008-04-16T11:45:00.000-07:00

American Idol... yet again

2008-04-16T08:21:00.000-07:00

Seriously though, how good did the two Davids do last night? Sooo good! David Cook finally won me over (anyone who can make "You'll Always Be My Baby" that good deserves it). Is anyone else wondering why Kristy Lee Cook is still around? And can we just eliminate Sayesha too this week? That would be lovely.

Bejing 2008

2008-04-10T13:53:00.000-07:00

There's been a fair amount of controversy about Bejing being chosen to host the Olympics this year. In San Francisco yesterday, the torch came through with lots of drama in tow. The protesters (who are trying to make people aware of the human rights violations committed by the Chinese in places like Tibet) have come out in mass. On Monday, a few people breeched security and climbed the Golden Gate Bridge to hang protest banners and Tibetan flags. The actual running of the torch was yesterday. I thought it would be great to go but it was supposed to start downtown and I wasn't interested in hauling my kids down there with all the demonstrations going on. Then all of the sudden the city opted to change to a secret route in the hopes it would keep the protesters away. Once I realized it was heading towards the marina (and no one knew where it would go which meant the traffic might be bearable) I hopped in the car and drove down to the Marina Green. There were cop cars all along Marina so I figured the procession would make it there eventually, which it did... right in front of me! And then it was total insanity when a mass of people caught up to it. I can't even describe to you how many cops came out of nowhere to line the streets and body barricade the torch.

This is what it looked like just before the procession got there:

Two minutes later it looked like this:

Here's my two cents (even though no one has asked for it and Zach wishes I would shut up about it). The Olympics should always be less about politics and more about the accomplishments of the athletes, but the honor to host them shouldn't be given to a country with a recent history of extreme oppression and disregard for human rights and lives. It would obviously be unfair for to the athletes to cancel them when they had no choice when it came to the venue, so the good that comes from it is that people are being made aware of what communist China is capable of. Most of the protesters yesterday were respectful (there were only a few idiots condemning the torch bearers and they probably couldn't tell you where Tibet was if they had a map in front of them). To make a very long story short, I totally support the athletes and think the Olympics should go forward, but I'm glad people aren't forgetting that less than 20 years ago Bejing hosted another even called the massacre at Tiananmen Square where the communist government killed and imprisoned it's own people who were peacefully calling for democracy and an end to oppression.

And the winner is...

2008-04-03T22:04:00.000-07:00

This was perhaps the best April Fools joke in recent history.

American Idol: Fast Forward

2008-03-19T17:22:00.000-07:00

I don't know about anyone else, but I found myself fast forwarding through the last half of several performances last night on American Idol. Thank you DVR; you are very convenient.

Amanda Overrated...Overmyer. Whatever. I don't think I missed anything because she sounds exactly the same no matter how many times she says "back in the U.S.S.R"

Kristy Lee Cook. I was literally going nuts because she was singing one note wrong in the chorus EVERY TIME. In her interview she said she didn't really know any Beatles songs. I don't trust people who don't know any Beatles songs.

David Cook. I didn't realize until just now that he and Kristi shared a last name. Confusing. Good thing Kristy will be gone tonight. Back to David. I want to get on board with him because I like his voice. But I CANNOT handle his personality and the fact that he thinks he's sooooo good. Also, I usually love when people take their guitars out with them. He didn't even play his last night. I doubt it was even plugged in and yet he was pretending that he was the one playing the great riffs. Not even.

Chikeze. I had my finger on the FF button before he even started singing. The harmonica pushed me over the edge. Done.

Ramiele. I barely remember that she's on there most of the time and I always get really bored when she's singing. Sorry Ramiele.

Farmer Clothes

2008-03-11T11:57:00.000-07:00

Of all the funny things that happened on our trip to Idaho, this was the funniest:
My Grandma and her husband came down from Rigby to see us while we were home. Shayla and her cousin Jozy were just getting out of the bathtub when they showed up. They heard some commotion down stairs so Shay tip toed out the door in her towel to see what was going on. She came back into the bathroom and said, "Jozy, you've GOT to see Grandma and Grandpa... they're dressed in FARMER clothes!" I immediately started cracking up as quietly as possible while Jozalin went to see for herself. She came back and said, "They're not wearing cowboy clothes Shayla." But Shay insisted, "Not cowboy clothes, FARMER clothes." Clearly Shayla didn't grow up in Idaho where Western Wear is commonplace.

Shayla in her element

Rachel made this ice cream cake and it was so much better than Baskin Robins (which isn't easily done).

I wonder how much Great Grandpa Madson was enjoying this. By the look on his face I'm thinking not so much, but he was a good sport.

Here is Shayla smothering yet another victim... poor Bella.

And finally... here is my niece Regan jamming while we're playing Rock Band.

American Idol

2008-02-28T10:28:00.000-08:00

Well, most of you heard quite enough commentary on American Idol from me the other night, but here I go again. We'll start with the girls.

I feel like Alaina looks a lot like Carrie Underwood, only she doesn't sing as well so I don't think things are going to pan out for her. There's only room for one generic blond girl in the top six, so she'll have to knock out Kady Malloy. Which might be possible if Kady continues to have bad nights like last night, but I really want to like her. Maybe next week.

Kristi Lee Cook... such a nice girl. How can you not root for her and yet she'll probably be gone this week. Next week at the lastest. I know this because I always get nervous for her when she is singing. It's alright though. With a name like that and some training she'll probably have a country album out in the near future. I don't know how well it will do, but she'll get her shot. *please don't squat during your whole song next week Kristi

Amanda Overmeyer. Wow. She was a real mess this week. As a person I like her, and as a contestant I think she's interesting so she'll be around for a while if she chooses better songs for her one track voice. She can't win, and I would never buy her album, but she might get a small following.

Carly Smithson. I don't know what to do with this girl. Obviously she's very talented and you never worry about her when she's singing. But I don't know what her genre is (bartender with tatoos sings like Celine Dion?).

Alexandrea Lushington. Sorry folks, I'm not a fan. And I think it's a little strange she started busting out a song randomly at ground zero.

Brooke White. I love her, and not just because she's a) Mormon or b) a friend of Kate's. She's unique... there's nothing generic about her voice at all, she plays her own instruments, and I'm willing to bet she writes her own stuff (Kate?). She won't win, but I hope she gets a good record deal because I would love her album. I think she'll make the top 6 girls for sure. Hopefully top 3.

Syesha... I love her as will most people. She's top 3 material.

Asia'h Epperson. This girl has got to go. Maybe this week. Maybe next.

Ramiele is too awkward. Her voice confuses me. Her haircut is awkward in general, but last night the piece of random hair in her eye made it even more awkward and her dancing was also awkward. Awkward. She'll be around for a little while maybe, but not for long.

The boys... hmmmmmm.

Chikeezie (I'm sure I spelled that wrong). Not a fan ...of the voice or the orange polyester suit.

Danny Noriega. Another wow. I hope he stays on for a while just for his entertainment value.

David Cook. I'm still deciding who I like better... David or Robbie. It's like Robbie has the rocker personality and the scarf toting David has the voice for it and the guitar chops. For now I like them both but I wish David was less arrogant (and didn't have a comb over). Also, the fact that there are too many David's might work in Robbie's favor.

David Archuletto. Ryan's clever little comment about only being able to vote for him, not adopt him about sums it up. He might take the whole thing with his totally pure voice and adorable personality. Again, not sure what the album would be like, but I hope it does well.

David Hernandez. Fortunately for him, not so much for me, I'm sure he'll be in the top 6. I can't get on board with his "sultry" gazes into the camera (and holy generic voice). Has anyone ever read the book "Too many Daves" by Dr. Seuss?

Goodbye Orlando Bloom... I mean Luke Mennard. Maybe you could go be a stunt double for Orlando's next action/adventure.

Michael Johns. I'm a fan. He's got a powerful clear voice and would do well fronting for a great band... sort of Switchfoot like. This guy is more than just good looks with an Australian Accent.

Jason Yeager. I hope no one is attached to him. He's going home this week... thank heavens.

Jason Castro. I like him and his dreadlocks and his freaky eyes and his awkward interviews and his uncomfortable laugh. He's headed to the top 3.

So with all that nonsense out of the way, here's who the top 6 should be in Random order:

Syesha, Brooke, & Carly for the girls and David Archuletto, Jason Castro, Michael Johns for the boys. Although I would let Robbie boot Jason or Michael if he really wanted to.

Elder Radford

2008-02-21T09:04:00.000-08:00

Family Home Evening

2008-02-20T08:34:00.000-08:00

FHE at our house always starts out well. It usually looks something like this:

After a few minutes it progresses to this:

And if it lasts longer than 10 minutes, chances are it will end up like this:

But as long as they're short and sweet (meaning there are actual treats at the end) the kids love FHE. And we love it as well and inevitably learn a few things from our 5 year old. For example: This week we had a family home evening about President George Washington (it was president's day after all). We told the story of the cherry tree, and I came armed with pictures of General Washington on horseback which was sure to win him favor in Shayla's horse loving eyes. It took quite some time to explain the difference between the president of the church, and the president of the country. I finally ended up saying something like, "the church takes care of the people in the church and the president helps take care of people in the country". She then asked, "how does the church take care of people if it doesn't have hands?" I corrected myself and said (since we were sticking with the president theme) that the president of the church helps take care of people in the church, and the president of the US takes care of people in the US. The next morning at breakfast she said, "Mom, there was something I wanted to say last night. The president of the church doesn't take care of the people in the church, Jesus does. And the president of the country doesn't take care of the people either, the police do." I stand corrected.

Friends in high places

2008-02-20T08:25:00.000-08:00

Old navy is having a great sale... this is not the reason for this post, however. The reason I bring it up is because Kyler's future wife (or one of them... I have chosen at least 3 for him) is modeling for the sale on old navy's web site. All of us San Franciscans are very proud of our famous little connection. We love Audrey! Thank you Michelle (and Dave I guess ;) for having such an adorable little child for us to brag about.

Some days I really miss the snow ...

2008-02-14T16:22:00.000-08:00

... and some days I don't

Two seconds after this picture Shayla fell into the water and was soaked head to toe

Here comes Megan... and BOB!

Over the Hump

2008-02-08T16:38:00.001-08:00

Just a little shout out to Zach for being officially half done with Dental School! Hurray! I'm super proud.

Not so super tuesday

2008-02-05T22:45:00.001-08:00

I don't want to talk about it.

And you know what? I don't want to talk about this either.

Happy Birthday!

2008-01-31T15:32:00.000-08:00

January is a great month to have a birthday. I share my birth month with so many people I love! So happy b-day all you January babies....

... especially to my sister Rachel because she turns 28 today, and let's face it; that's just depressing (just a little joke). AND my bro-in-law Taylor's is today too, but 27's not so bad! Happy Birthday!

Here's a few pics from my own little B-day celebration. Despite the terenchal downpour, we went out on the town. Or out on the bay rather, on a dinner cruise. This was the blurry, yet beautiful view inside the cabin (is that what it's called?)

The purpose of posting this particular picture is two fold: 1) to show how cute Jocelyn looks in her new bangs and 2) to prove that I actually attempted to do my hair that night, which is not obvious in the rest of the pictures...

...probably because I decided it would be a good idea to go outside into the wind and rain. At least I brought my coat out with me unlike some people I know

I like how my camera lens is foggy and wet because we were just taking pictures outsidein the freezing rain.

All the party goers... we were the only ones not drinking and the only ones acting like we were drunk on the dance floor. Ironic huh.

I also get to share my birthday with Brett and Joel. They share not only the same birthday, but also the same DNA (in case that wasn't obvious)

I couldn't leave out breakfast with Shayla. So much fun... and in case you haven't heard, the Monte Cristo at Mama's on Washington Square is literally to die for. I'm not joking. It's that good. In fact, for the very few of you non-san franciscans who read my blog, it's actually worth flying here just to go to Mama's for breakfast, and Trish's mini doughnuts for lunch. I'm such health nut, I know.

Per Rocia's request:

Yes I'm standing in the middle of the road and yes that car behind me is thinking, "stupid tourist, who do they think they are standing in the middle of the road for a picture." I always finding myself acting more the tourist than the local.

And here's another picture I love Cia... mostly because of Brady's face in the background

Asian Paparazzi

2008-01-21T09:32:00.000-08:00

The other day a few of us took the kids to feed the ducks at the palace of fine arts. It didn't work out so well in the beginning because the seagulls and pigeons were the only birds getting any bread (so disgusting... but don't tell Shayla that, she's under the impression that all birds are created equal). Eventually, after we were attacked by the sea gulls, we escaped and found some ducks and swans which were much friendlier foul... until one of the swans bit Rockwell. Then the kids started running around on the grass horsing around (no, literally acting like horses) and this cute Asian guy started taking pictures of the kids with his giant camera and then trying to show us how cute they were by flashing a thumbs up sign. All the sudden there were 5 photographers following us around... It was totally awkward! But I think If I were in a foreign country I would probably be snapping pictures of all the cute foreign kids. So we didn't mind so much until a guy with a video camera started following us wherever we went. As we were leaving Ladonna said, "maybe we should check on ebay the next few days and make sure our kids aren't for sale." No worries... no black market in SF for cute little munchkins.

Special Company

2008-01-17T15:02:00.000-08:00

Apparently Katherine Heigl is good inspiration for Josh Kelley because his new CD is really good. It's unique and has kind of a jazzy sound to it. It doesn't actually come out until February, but there's an early release on itunes. Stay Awake and Layline are my favorite tracks (I prefer the mellow stuff), but Hey Katie (which I'm assuming he wrote for his new wife) is super catchy and cute. Actually all the songs are good... don't you just love when an album comes out that you actually like to listen to all the way through? You just know something from this album is going to end up as background music on Grey's Anatomy this season... that is if this stupid writers strike ever comes to an end. I probably shouldn't knock the writers since I obviously need help in the writing department... I think I used the word actually a few too many times in this post.

Could someone please explain...

2008-01-09T08:12:00.000-08:00

San Francisco loves to be a trend-setting city... especially when it comes to the environment. The most recent "accomplishment" is a little piece of legislation that outlaws retailers from using plastic bags. I didn't think much of it until they started putting my groceries in paper bags. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought we went away from paper bags in the first place because we were killing all the trees (which of course was destroying all the forests which causes an increase in carbon dioxide which causes global warming which could melt polar icecaps which could cause coastal flooding or increased hurricanes or possibly even make large parts of the world uninhabitable which could cause mass migration and war which could be the end of the world as we know it). Now you can't tell me a little plastic bag is worse than all that even if they do pollute the ocean or kill a few seagulls. I hate seagulls anyhow. Everyone says paper is better because you can recycle them... well you can recycle the plastic bags too. If people aren't recycling plastic bags then why would they recycle the paper ones. In all seriousness, I miss plastic bags. For one, I didn't realize how much I reused them until I didn't have them anymore. And two, I break the handles on the paper bags and then I have to make 15 trips to carry in my groceries. AND last night at the grocery store they put my stuff in handleless paper bags! I HAVE KIDS! I can't carry 6 bags with no handles and my two year old at the same time. Could someone please explain to me why we can't just have plastic bags back? I think I'm doing my grocery shopping in marin from now on... which will be better anyhow since the marina safeway is full of snooty environmentalists who think I'm overpopulating the world by having too many kids and destroying the ozone with my SUV.

Santa Clause is coming...

2007-12-26T11:50:00.000-08:00

I practically forced the larger Davis family to come participate in our little family's excessive Christmas Eve singing and story telling traditions, but it turned out so fun! As you can see, somewhere between Silent Night and Zach's sweet Grandma reciting The Living Christ, Shayla fell asleep. Zach put her in bed and I thought she had stayed asleep until Santa was about to fill all the stockings around midnight and I heard her come down the stairs and ask what I was doing. Apparently she had been awake several hours because she was working on presents for Mom and Dad. So cute!

The Grinch is my favorite Christmas story... the kids act it out with their finger puppets.

Grandpa reading Luke 2 while Shayla "follows along" in her own book.

We had a VERY exciting visitor come. I was worried my fairly perceptive daughter would not be fooled... at the ward Christmas party she told everyone, including all the kids, that the man in the red suit was certainly NOT the real Santa. Luckily, she was sure that the real Santa stopped by on Christmas Eve (as opposed to Aunt Allie's boyfriend's Dad all decked out in a Santa suit).

I thought Kyler would be scared stiff, but once Shayla got her present by sitting on Santa's lap, he was all for it.

CHRISTMAS MORNING

hmmmmm... I wonder if these two are spoiled

Santa didn't have the easiest time finding this white horse, but it was well worth the effort. Shayla and her doll Sally played with it the entire day... I even overhead Shay apologizing to some of her other new toys because she wasn't playing with them very much.

This is what Shayla (with the help of Aunt Allie) stayed up working on the night before. Mom and Dad's favorite presents by far. My book was filled with pictures of my favorite things... like hearts, and my favorite food, which according to Shayla is chocolate. Zach's had lots of picture of trucks and motorcycles she had cut out from magazines. Totally priceless.

Shayla made all the girls in the family a felt mouse that holds a candy cane (I used to make them for my Aunts when I was little) and she made all the boys a candy cane reindeer.

The other highlight of my Christmas... talking to Elder Radford on the phone! I was a little worried that my family wouldn't be able to figure out 3 way calling (no offense family), but I totally underestimated them! It was so fun to talk to him and hear how well he is doing in Florida! I think I'd been talking to him for about 5 minutes when Zach took this picture and I'm already crying. I know, you're all totally shocked.

I hope everyone's Christmas was as Merry as ours! We miss you Nana & Poppie and the rest of the Idaho Family... can't wait till next year!

Christmas Card Fiasco

2007-12-17T09:59:00.000-08:00

I almost didn't do a Christmas card this year (I was going to opt for sanity instead). But apparently I like to make life more difficult all in the name of the holiday season, so I ended up doing them. It was quite the adventure. Why is it so impossible to get one decent picture of two adorable kids? I don't know, but it is. The card turned out pretty cute, but it's not perfect. You might get it in the mail and think, "Couldn't she get a better picture than this?" The answer is no and here are a few reasons why.

The Birthday Boy

2007-12-10T00:21:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Kyler! Even though Mom finds it a little depressing that her baby isn't really a baby any more...or a lot depressing. But we had a great day nonetheless. I kept calling him the birthday boy and he kept insisting, "I not birfday boy, I Kyler." Then I would tell him, "Happy Birthday Kyler!" And he would say, "Happy Birfday Mommy!"

Shayla was being incredibly "helpful"...

... a little too helpful...

...OK Shay, that's enough help

And this year the award for most beloved toy that makes the other toys seem mediocre at best goes too...

... Aunt Lala for the plastic Mickey Mouse in a talking convertible!

Every year it seems there is one present that captures their little heart and makes the other gifts almost obsolete. I've learned that this present is almost always A) not from Mom and Dad and B) under 10 dollars. Case in point: On Shayla's second birthday we got her a princess tricycle, a sand box, and who knows what else. What she loved the most was the little stuffed Barney (that sings the ghetto Barney song when you press hard enough) that Nana sent in the mail. You can actually see Barney in the picture above because I was telling everyone my favorite present theory and Shayla wanted to show everyone that she still had it. And of course, there's Kyler with his Mickey car.

I thought for sure the tricycle would be a big hit. I mean it's a Harley Davidson for crying out loud!

No such luck.

He did finally get interested in some other presents... none from Mom and Dad of course.

This is what the "men" were interested in the whole night (surprise surprise). I wish I had a picture of all the ladies crowded around the dinning room table chatting away. I think we make far better use of our time that way... and we can also actually hear when there are children yelling for help (unlike the Dads).

In Shayla's defense, he actually did need help on this one. He was pretty much just spitting on the cake when he was trying to do it alone. Incidentally, I came up with this cake on my own which I'm pretty proud of... the only big design flaw was trying to write Kyler's name in frosting on top of loose coconut. As you can see, it didn't exactly work out. I thought Kyler would LOVE the cake. All he really did was get a concerned look on his face and say, "Those a MY cars."

At least he liked the cupcakes!

Kyler was so done taking pictures at this point. But, all in all it was a great day. Thank you party-goers and gift-givers for sharing it with us!

A few pictures from his actual birthday...

I'm obsessed with this one

My Little Santa Baby

Christmas Play List

2007-12-04T12:39:00.000-08:00

Yep, it's that time of year again. Time to break out the Mo-tab and Mariah and listen to Christmas music 24/7. If you're crazy like me then this has already been going on for over a week now. The problem is that there is not an unlimited supply of great Christmas music out there...which becomes painfully obvious when you get in the car and turn on the "all Christmas" radio station to find that they're playing Mannheim Steamroller's "Deck the Halls" yet again. (Incidentally, what is with them...they play already overplayed Christmas songs on their casio keyboard with a disco beat and people buy millions of albums...am I only the only one doesn't get it?) And then there is the even more painful (and incredibly, even more overplayed) new "favorite" carol...The Christmas Shoes. I can't even think of it without cringing. If I hear this song blaring over the loud speaker in a store I will literally turn around and walk right back out. And I can say that in all honesty because it happened last year. Here are a few more songs I could do without:

Feliz Navidad by Jose Feliciano- If you wanna wish me a Merry Chirtmas then do it in English. For a real laugh, check out Celine Dion's version on her "These Are Special Times" album (no, that's not a Martha Stewart special on TV, it's actually the title of a song on Celine's album)...I'm pretty sure they speak French in Quebec, not Spanish.

Santa Can You Hear Me - No Britney, he cannot hear your nasaly whinny voice because he only listens to people who haven't been naughty.

Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas Time, Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas Time, Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas Time -AHHHHHHHHH! Not anymore thanks to that dumb song getting stuck in my head. I'm pretty sure this song is at least partly responsible for the increase in suicide rates during the holidays.

But, even though there are more than a few hiccups, there are still lots of great songs and albums out there, even if every album is mostly composed of new versions of the same old songs. Here are a few suggestions to break out of the Josh Groban and, heaven forbid, Clay Aiken mold.

1) Christmas Song by Dave Matthews band. Not exactly traditional, but I love it none the less.

2) Santa Baby by Everclear. This isn't the easiest song to find if you're into piracy, but for all you honest people out there you can buy it on itunes. I like the lyric change from a sable under the tree to a guitar...because fir was so 5 decades ago anyhow right. If you're not into rock band covers then at least let go of Madonna's disgusting version and go with Eartha Kitten or Marilyn.

3) Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas by Judy Garland. In this case, and many others, the original is the way to go. And by the way, the movie Meet Me in St. Louis that the song was written for is one that everyone should see.

4) Wintersong by Sarah Mclachlan. This album hasn't been around that long. The whole thing is to die for. I'm a big Sarah fan so I'm not exactly partial, but it's worth investing in. Wintersong is an original and isn't really about Christmas, but it's beautiful. My other favorite on the album is an old carol called In the Bleak Midwinter. So good.

5) God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen by Barenaked Ladies and Sarah Mclachlan- I know, I know, Sarah yet again. But this song is worth it, I promise.

6) Silent Night by Boys II Men. I know that it's kind of 1993 of me, but this is such a great acapella version.

7) Face of Love by Jewel. I love her whole album "Joy: A Holiday Collection" as well. It's fun and unique.

8) I Farted on Santa's Lap by The Little Stinkers. Probably one of the dumber songs I've ever heard, but I still love it...not as much as my sister Rachel. I know that you're thinking I'm a bad parent to be letting my kids listen to/sing a song like this, but just don't judge until you hear it. And it's not like I'm letting them listen to "Hanky the Christmas Poo"

9) River by Robert Downey Jr. Not really a Christmas song, but don't we all wish we had a river to skate away on once in a while. Like when we're standing in an hour long line at Target.

10) Cool Yule by Louis Armstrong. A seriously underrated Louis song.

There are too many more songs to list and so many more great albums: Christmas With the Rat Pack, Harry for the Holidays (an unfortunate title for Harry Connick's album, but some of the songs are great), Michael Buble's Let it Snow album, The Muppet Christmas Carol Soundtrack, Toby Keith's a Classic Christmas (just a little joke, I hate Toby Keith as much as the dixie chicks do). And although I joked about Josh Groban and Mariah Carey I really love their albums as well. If anyone wants to share their holiday music suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

Good Luck Elder Radford!

2007-11-29T15:42:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we took Dan (I mean Elder Radford) to the MTC in Provo. It was completely depressing but I'm like a proud mama and I know he'll be a fabulous missionary. Although, that doesn't make it any easier to let him go! Orlando is lucky to have him and hey, I'm going to Disney world in 2 years!

Dan found it really amusing that Mom was crying so hard she couldn't put the tag on

Liza told the kids that Uncle Dan was going to teach Mickey the gospel. It was all fun and games till they had to say goodbye. This picture is a pretty good indication of how we were all feeling.

Seriously un-fun. A few days before Dan left Shayla burst into tears and said, "It's just hard for me to understand why he wants to go!"

I'm Thankful for...(the shallow version)

2007-11-17T10:30:00.000-08:00

I'm thankful for...

...my red patent leather Guess high heels...and also my other 58 pairs of strappy dress shoes (clearly I have an problem).

...whoever had the bright idea to put television shows on DVD so that I could watch The Office while I'm folding laundry (season 2 is my favorite).

...all the people who, despite years of evidence to the contrary, still think it's a great idea to go on a reality TV show (so that I can laugh my head off at people embarrassing themselves on national television).

...disney movies, not just because I love them but because my kids do, and that means 85 minutes of time I get to spend messing around on my guitar (give or take).

...the website www.humorfeed.com, because sarcasm is my favorite form of humor and this web site is full of it (pun intended).

...my ipod (because other wise cleaning my house would be almost unbearable).

...those little mini doughnuts with cinnamon and sugar that you can buy on Pier 39...and that if you save the bags they will refill them for really cheap (because one bag full of fat calories is just not enough).

...the movie Tommy Boy because when I'm in a bad mood I can replay scenes of it in my head and it's an instant mood boost ("TOMMY: Hey, did you hear I finally graduated? RICHARD: Yah, and just a shade under a decade too, alright. TOMMY: You know, a lot of people go to college for 7 years. RICHARD: I know. They're called Doctors.")

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPLDCrwt1f4

Sweet Rims

2007-11-13T08:44:00.000-08:00

I know, it's like the baddest toyota on the planet. I'm not sure why you're flashing a peace sign, Jocelyn...I thought westside was more appropriate. You'd think we would have been nervous that the owners would come out and see us making fun of their car. We weren't, but only because we were worried about someone else coming after us. We were in line to pay for parking and Michelle was talking about the whole high school "most likely to" voting nonsense to which she rightfully added "IT WAS SO GAY!" Jocelyn started to squirm and shoot us that look like "please stop talking NOW" because the two women holding hands behind us were visably unimpressed with Michelle's comment. A few minutes after the car picture we heard someone yelling at us in the parking garage and were sure we were in for at least a verbal thrashing. Then we realized it was Rocia and Megan who were yelling about how Rocia's van had mysteriously disappeared on them and was definitely not where they left it...I really hate when vehicles up and move somewhere else on their own!

Thank you Garth

2007-11-09T11:56:00.000-08:00

I have issues with country music. Some of it I love, some of it I despise. Take this year for example: Taylor Swift? 17-year-old prodigy who writes her own music, plays her own guitar (the same one as mine by the way), and puts out a killer album with not one great song on it, but like 10 great songs. Love her. Brad Paisley? Overrated and far too twangy. His album was all about his obsession with 2 things: cars and his own adolescence. The single "Online" gets my vote for worst song of the year. Then there are those artists who ruin a good album with one bad song (Carrie Underwood)...any guesses on which song ruined the album? Maybe the one that belongs on a really bad evangelical broadcast. I know what some of you are thinking "but I loved that song"...I don't care; the title itself is cheesy enough make the rest of the song obsolete. And don't even get me started on Martina McBride who has a great voice, but insists on making each album a public service announcement that explores every depressing aspect of domestic violence (usually disguised by a catchy beat)...I love how on the 4th of July they play "Independence Day" over and over like it's some uplifting song about freedom. Anyhow, one person who I can honestly say I've always loved is good old Garth. I did wonder what the heck was going on during the Chris Gaines fiasco. And also, there was some weirdness when he and Tricia finally got together (like when they got married he had his daughters wear wedding dresses and veils too). Weird and also slightly creepy. But it seems every few years he has a random single that reminds everyone of how he became an icon in the first place. I'm in love with his most recent single "More than a Memory"...I love it almost as much as I love "She's Every Woman". Garth can pick a great song even if he can't really write them. The lyrics are simple but haunting "When you find the things to do not to fall asleep, cause you know she's waiting in your dreams." Thank you Garth for recharging my country batteries.

Gordo Taqueria vs. Nick's Crappy, I mean Crispy Tacos

2007-11-06T19:07:00.000-08:00

The more SF people I talk to about Mexican food the more I realize it all boils down to one thing...Gordo's vs Nick's Crispy Tacos. You are either a fan of Gordo or a fan of Nick, there is no room for fence sitting. I am a Gordo's person, which is really good news for me since it is only a few blocks away, while Nick's is a whole 3 miles away (it doesn't seem like a lot, but in the city that translates into 25 minutes at least by the time you find parking over there). I will give Nick props for the Guacamole and sour cream, and I will also admit that it is probably cleaner over there even if the decor is totally lame (it reminds me of some sort of indian strip club). However, I don't appreciate that Nick's charges like 5 bucks for chips and salsa. It's also very ironic that they actually put "crispy taco" in their name because their tacos are soggy. Just admit it Jocelyn, they totally are. The reality is that even though Gordo's looks a little less appealing, they actually sell Mexican food there...which is a really good thing when you want Mexican food. So go to Gordo's and get a Chicken Quesidilla with everything on it (which pretty much turns it into a burrito that has melted cheese and a crispy tortilla) and it will only cost you 5 dollars. I do have to say though, that there is no Mexican food in SF (or all of Califorina, Utah, and Idaho) that can compare to the hole-in-the wall places in AZ. If you're ever in Mesa, go to Tia Rosa's or Gecko Grill. Just be prepared to crave it for the rest of your life and never be able to have it because you don't live there.

Time Flies when you're having fun

2007-11-05T09:03:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, our little Shayla turned 5...

...I can't even wrap my brain around it because the time has gone by so fast!

Shayla really wanted to go to Chuck E. Cheese for her party which I was pumped about because it meant we weren't having the party at my house which meant I didn't have to clean a dang thing...I try and avoid that whenever possible. All morning I looked around the disaster area known as my living room and thought "It's so great! No one will ever know!" So we took Uncle Dan to the airport, ran some last minute errands, and ended up in San Bruno (which is where the nearest Chuck E. Cheese happened to be). I don't know if anyone else is aware of this, but apparently the Chuck E. Cheese in San Bruno is actually south of the border...who knew? I mean I was under the impression it was still in Northern California.

It was a gigantic nightmare. There wasn't even room to breath let alone play ghetto arcade games and eat overpriced (mediocre at best) pizza. I called all the party goers as fast as I could to warn them not to come clear down there, at least not without their passports, but I was too late for some of them (I'm really sorry about that...you know who you are). We stuck it out for about a half hour and then went back to my house.... you know, the disaster area that no one was supposed to see. Lucky for me I have good friends who love me anyway and even helped clear away some of the debris so we could actually have a party. It all turned out great in the end. Shayla had way too many presents as usual, and opened them in record time. I didn't make a cake this year, but I did Shaylaize the Costco sheet cake by putting plastic horses on the balloons...whatever works right? Thank you all you good sports who drove clear down only to turn right back around. And thank you Nana, Poppie, Grandma and Grandpa for all the presents...I have hardly any Shayla Christmas shopping to do because I saved a bunch of the presents we were going to give her!

I think this picture sums up the Chuck E. Cheese fiasco pretty well

Anyone who knows Shay very well knows she is obsessed with Animals. I swear she can understand them...it's totally bizarre. Anyhow, not a day goes by that she doesn't ask for a pet and I don't say "after dental school". But she got four gold fish from a birthday party two weeks ago and was ecstatic. Three died within 48 hours. One was very resilient, but bit the dust after Shayla gave it cinnamon and sugar to eat for breakfast (or maybe it was because Kyler thought it needed toys and put several small stuffed animals in the tiny fish bowl). She was pretty depressed so we got her a small aquarium for her birthday and Zach took her to Petco after her party to pick out the fish. Unfortunately, the fish in the picture are no longer with us. They only lasted a few hours. I realize you all think I must be the culprit here, but we did have some goldfish that lived for a couple years so I do know somewhat what I'm doing. Today we're off to the pet store again, and these ones had better survive.