Asian Paparazzi

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

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...

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...

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

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

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