The Davis Family

Beautiful Oregon

2011-07-03T14:52:00.001-07:00

After we got back from our trip to Houston for my Dad's sealing, the next day literally we packed up and drove to Salem, OR to tag along with Ryan for a week long orthodontic training he had at the IHS clinic in Salem. Salem holds a special place in my heart, because I grew up there from kindergarten through 7th grade. I haven't been back since I was 13. It was crazy driving around and recognizing landmarks, parks and restaurants that I remembering going to as a child. The public library, minto brown park, my elementary school Candelaria and of course my old house we lived in. It was actually shocking to see because its obvious that no on has lived there for sometime, of if they did they let it get really run down. But since we could tell no one was living there I took a few pictures and walked around. It brought back ALOT of memories, some good, some really bad. This is the house I lived in when my Dad and Mom divorced and I saw and heard alot of things that a kid probably shouldn't. It was a little sureal being there, because I have blocked alot of those memories and don't think about them much. I have hope for the house though, because there were ladders and tools laying around and I think someone maybe has bought it and is working to restore it. It was the coolest house ever! It felt like a tree house. Because it was perched at the top of a cul-de-sac, surrounded by trees and lush green plants with wrap around decks and sliding doors out of every room. It was a fun house to grow up in, I hope someone takes care of it.

The Crestview house

Oregon is so beautiful! Can't say that enough. We throughly enjoyed seeing some beautiful sites. These waterfalls are at the Silver Falls National Park. This is another place from my childhood. My dad would take me hiking here when I was little and I haven't been back since I was child. It was fun to take the girls there to see these amazing waterfalls and lush landscape. It feels like a rainforest. It rained the whole time we were hiking around and when you get close to the water falls (you walk around them), the spray plus the rain, means we were pretty wet. But so worth it!

Family pic at Silvers Falls

Us on the trail, it was so green!!

Of course we also took a day to visit the beach, but again it was a very rainy and cold day, so no sun bathing for us, but we had fun driving up the coast and jumping out for a few pics. And eating at Mo's clam chowder house was so worth it as well. Yummiest clam chowder ever!The Oregon coast is so dreamy looking, I love it.

Devil's Punch Bowl

One day after training we drove a little ways to Woodburn, Or where a beautiful Tulip festival was going on. It was unbelievable! Rows of tulips as far as the eye could see, in so many beautiful colors. Gorgeous!

Jules in the wooden shoes

One of my favorite pics of Jules and Claire, best friends!

We had a wonderful time in Oregon, it was nice to get away for a week and spend time together and see so many beautiful sites. Ryan and I both agree it wouldn't be a hard decision to move to Oregon someday, there are lots of IHS clinics there. Guess we will wait and see.....

A Beautiful Thing

2011-05-20T14:42:00.001-07:00

A few days after we got home from Utah, Ryan and I (alone), packed our bags and left on Friday afternoon and took a long flight down to humid, but beautiful Houston, Tx to see my Dad and his wife Brandee and their six beautiful children be sealed together for time and all eternity in the Houston Temple!!

This has been a long time coming, and when my Dad got the approval letter for the sealing there was no doubt that Ryan and I would be there. We left the girls behind because it was such a short trip and they couldn't go in anyways. It is amazing how much easier it is to travel without kids!!!!

My Dad got married to his sweetheart Brandee six years ago, a week actually after Ryan and I got married! I wasn't even there to see because we were on our honeymoon. They quickly got married by the bishop in his office, they were just to excited to wait any longer! In these six years they have worked so hard to both be ready and prepared for this moment. When they married, Brandee already had three boys from a previous relationship, Cole, Clay and Nathan. My Dad stepped right in as a much needed father figure and they completely see my Dad as their father in everyway. They had special Malachi shortly after getting married, he was born premature with Cerebal Palsy. He can't support his weight or have much control of his limbs, but he can talk and understands everything and his spirit is so sweet and happy, I love holding him and talking to him. Shortly after I found out I was pregnant with Juliet, Brandee was also expecting again, much to my surprise, they found out they were having twin girls!!!! Olivia and Ingrid (named after the nurses who helped deliver them), are energetic and strikingly beautiful with clear blue eyes and long curly hair. They are such a wonderful family and it is so fun to watch my Dad go through parenting again, since Matt and I are grown and he really relates to all my parenting issues, because our kids are the exact same age! Its crazy that I have sisters and a brother so much younger then me, but its awesome at the same time.

I am so unbeliveably proud of my Dad and where he is in life. I am so happy for him that he found a wonderful and kind person to spend his life with and has been blessed with amazing kids and have the opportunity to love them, teach them and raise them.

To explain how I felt in the sealing room, is almost impossible to do in words or writing. Simply to say it was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. To see Brandee and my Dad sealed and then be surrounded on the altar with all of their children and sealed as a family forever, it was just beautiful. It was an amazing testimony and witness to me of how families are the absolute core of the gospel and our purpose for being on earth. Families are everything and what a priceless gift from our Heavenly Father to allow us to be together forever. I know families are forever and am even more grateful for my own family and eternal companion. It was a beautiful day.

Ryan and I in front of the Houston Temple, it was gorgeous!!

Me with Ingrid and Olivia (I still can't tell them apart very well!)

The Newlyweds!!

The Bonner Family, together forever!

Graduation, Big 4 year old, Anniversary and Easter!!!!

2011-05-18T14:50:00.000-07:00

So alot has happened to the Davis family in the last two months! I will break it up so you won't fall asleep reading a long never ending post. I will start with our celebration weekend, as I call it, over Easter weekend in Utah. We flew into Utah to spend some time with my family the Thursday before Easter, the girls were great on the plane, they shared a seat together and watched a movie the whole time so eager to drink their special juice with a straw and eat bags of peanuts and pretzels. After we got our bags, and two carseats, which is pretty funny to watch us walk through the airport carrying all of this because Ryan refuses to pay for one of those carts! We make it down to the car rental station, which has a super duper long line, and they messed up our reservation, but we got everything figured out and started driving to Springville. We of course were starving so thankfully we see beloved IN and Out and stop for a cheeseburger and fries. But of course right before we get our food, I smell somthing stinky in the back. I get Claire out to change her, and her back and legs are covered in poo! GROSS!!! So we had to clean her up on the side of the road and bag up her pants till we got to a washing machine. Granted I wasn't feeling very hungry anymore after cleaning her up! We finally made it to Springville and dropped off the girls and zoomed back into crazy Provo to find a quick spot and rush into the Marriott Center for Bryn's graduation ceremony. Elder Scott spoke and it was wonderful! It was great to see Linda and George and also Ryan's sister Amber. We all went out to a nice dinner after at the Art City Trolley, which luckily there was a cancellation of a reservation so we were able to seat down right away. The Carrot Cake there is to die for!

The next day was Friday, Ryan and I's 6th anniversary! Wow time has gone by fast!! We spent the morning walking around BYU campus, the bookstore, eating lunch with my mom, Linda, George and Bryn. Claire was being really silly in the Wilkinson center while we were eating and she ran away so fast from us, she ran into a storage closet and shut the door, she was locked in!!! LUCKILY, the gal who had the key was only a few feet away and was able to open the door. Could you imagine if she was off duty or something??? It could have taken awhile to get the door open. Silly girl! That afternoon we left the girls with my Dad and drove up to the Bountiful Temple where my grandparents work. My grandfather is a sealer there and we decided it would be very cool to sit and do sealings in one of his sessions. It was beautiful and I saw a whole new side of my grandfather that I will never forget. He showed us around the temple and the celestial room was gorgeous. After leaving the temple we drove into downtown Salt Lake and went to dinner at the Roof at the Joseph Smith Memorial building. It was such a perfect dinner, so romantic and delicious! It was a big splurge, but so worth it. I wish we would have brought our camera, but Ryan did take a beautiful pic with her phone of the SLC temple when we went outside. Ryan proposed to me at Temple Square so it is a special place for us. We walked around, toured the visitors center, chatted with the sister missionaries, saw the Christus. Funny story to me at least, when Ryan and I were sitting in front of the Christus, I thought Ryan was in deep thought and would talk to me about it, but when I asked him what he was thinking about, in a duh kinda voice he said, "Jesus?" It made me laugh. It was a wonderful anniversary, for gifts I had an old watch Ryan received at the SLC olympics fixed and he had my UNLV degree put in a beautiful setting and frame. Thanks Babe!

Saturday was spent shopping with my Mama, which I love oh so much and wish I could do all time. I scored getting two new pairs of jeans at a consignment shop (a pair of seven's and gap jeans) and then a new pair of capris at Gap, and a darling dress and new shirts from Downeast Outfitter's which is my favorite store. Fun, Fun! Saturday was also Juliet's 4th Birthday!!!! We already celebrated back home in Yakima as a family and with her friends, but we made her another cake, (she wanted strawberries) and opened the gifts my mom, mimi and my grandma bought her. New dresses, sparkle light up shoes, new books and a kite!

Easter sunday, was wet and rainy and cold!!! We didn't get a single pic of the girls outside, we did a little egg hunt, which they still liked and we hid their easter baskets that morning. Sadly, didn't get any pics, I know very lame, I will try to make up for it next year. But had a lovely time at church and had my grandparents and aunts and unlces over for a big dinner after. It was great to see everyone!

Monday was spent packing up, cleaning, doing laundry before we left that afternoon. But I did squeeze in a lunch date with my high school and old roomie Jaime. It had been awhile since I had seen her so it was great to catch up and laugh like old times. She is my one and only friend from high school that I see regularly and talk too! So it meant alot to see her.

Monday afternoon we flew home, girls did pretty good, a little more whiny, but no serious meltdowns or anything. The drive home from Seattle was long, but we had to get home to get ready for out next advernture to start in a few days. Post about that coming soon. Here are a few pics from the trip, but again didn't take that many.

Salt Lake Temple

At our home celebrating Juliet's 4th Birthday

Little birthday party at Sarg Hubbard Park, friends in attendance were Chambray, Caroline, Evan, Riley, Marshall, Malec, Logan. It was very windy and kinda cold, but kids had fun!

Opening presents, her favorite part. She really got into her birthday this year, telling me what she wanted everyday etc...

Celebrating again at my Mom's house

Ryan and Bryn at Graduation! Congrats Bryn!! Going to graduation made me so thankful that Ryan and I are done with school. I can't believe its been two years since Ryan graduated dental school! It goes so fast!

In a routine

2011-03-23T15:19:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, I won't even get into how lame and guilty I feel for never updating my blog, but part of it is because I feel I don't have much to blog about! Life is definetely pretty routine around here, literally. I find that each day of the week we do the same thing, which is acutally fine with me, I like consistency and knowing what to expect. Typical week looks like this, Monday we go to storytime at the library and are usually there for awhile playing and picking out new books and DVD's for the next week, we LOVE the library system here! Then lunch, naps, dinner, FHE. bed. Tuesday goes like this, 6:20 am run, breakfast, get ready, drop off preschool, grocery shopping, errands, pick up preschool, lunch, naps, teach violin from 4-5, dinner, bed. Wednesday I watch two of my friends kids from 7am to 8:30, then two other kids from 10:40-Noon, ironing and chores inbetween, lunch, naps, bed, American idol. Thursday I teach community orchestra 7am-8:30, preschool, errands, pick up preschool, lunch, naps, teach violin from 4-6, dinner, bed. Friday, 6:20 am run, breakfast, get ready, playgroup and lunch, naps, dinner, movie?, bed. Saturday, long run, breakfast, chores, laundry, errands, maybe a date?, naps, dinner, bed. Sunday, church, lunch, naps, dinner, bed.

So, yea, that is my life in a nutshell. We also keep busy with occaional church callings and meetings, and there are alot of baby showers so I usually go to one of those ever other week it seems. The latest news is the Juliet did have to get glasses about a month or so ago. We noticed that her right eye would turn in wards, doctor said it is due to overfocusing in that eye and we are hopeful that these glasses will train her eyes to work together. It took her a little while to get used to them, but she is pretty good with them, and they are very durable. I tried to get a cute pic of her in them, but you know Juliet, very hard to take a good picture of!

Lets see what else is going on...oh, yeah, I did sign up for my next race. I am going to do the Seattle Rock and Roll Half marathon on June 25, so I am getting really excited for that. It is a huge race and runs into downtown Seattle. There is live music all along the race course, I think its going to be a cool experience.

Another thing I have been getting into lately is couponing. Not obessively, but I am pretty into price matching at walmart. Almost half of my groceries each week are price matched now and I usually have a few coupons on top of that. It feels soooo good to save money and I am always on bargain hunts and bargain store shopping. I just feel that if you look hard enough you can get something second hand or on really good clearance and pay so much less then just blindly paying full price for something!

Oh, we finally got our new home buyers tax credit back with our refund, so some new home projects will hopefully be in the works soon. I have a blinds consultant coming tomorrow to pick out blinds for our house. We are probably going to plant a few trees also in a back yard and hopefully build some shelves in our garage to make room for all the food storage I am starting to accumulate. So excited about that!

Next month we are planning an easter trip down to Utah. Its a fun packed weekend! Thursday we will arrive and go to Ryan's sister Bryn's graduation from BYU and celebrate with them, Friday we celebrate our 6th anniversary with a fun day together, maybe on overnighter, Saturday we will celebrate Juliet's 4th birthday and Sunday we will celebrate Easter with my Mom's family! Can't wait!

We are also in the works right now of planning a quick trip down to Austin, Tx to see my Dad and his sweetheart and all their kids be sealed in the temple together! They have been waiting for this for along time, and I can't wait to be there with them! It will probably just be me and Ryan or just myself going. We will see...

Well, thats about all I have, here are a couple cute photos of the girls, I literally haven't taken any pictures of them the last two months, kinda sad, but I think I am a live in the moment type person, I am horrible at taking pictures. They are so sweet though and doing really well. Can't believe I will have a 2 yr and 4 yr old soon. Why can't they just stay babies, then I don't have to start having baby cravings. Ryan is already chomping at the bit for #3, but I am still waiting for the right time.

Juliet in glasses
Claire in her chinese jammies

Playing in the rain

A big update

2011-01-10T09:17:00.000-08:00

WOW! I can't believe thats its been three months since I lasted posted, I feel pretty pathetic, not that anyone really reads this blog anyways, but I need to be better. Now that we are hunkered down in freezing Yakima for the rest of the winter I will have more time to blog! So anyways, here are just an array of our adventures the last three months, I have been pretty lame taking pics, I didn't take a single picture of Thanksgiving and only a few at Christmas and disneyland. I am the type of person that loves to live in the moment and enjoy what I am seeing right then, rather then seeing it through a camera, or it could be that I am just really lazy, probably the later. But we did get some cute pics including some great family pics in November. Enjoy!

I can never get tired of this grin, Claire since she was born has been so smiley and happy! Love my baby girl!

My Dad came to visit in October. We drove into Seattle and picked him up and then toured some areas around the Puget sound where my Dad actually served his mission almost 30 years ago! It was fun to see where he served and have us tell him stories from his mission.

We took the Bremerton ferry back to Seattle and the girls LOVED it! It was fun to park our car, then go up to the deck and see Seattle, it was a beautiful sunny day! We were lucky!

Juliet on the ferry

While my Dad was here we went to this charming family farm called Bill's Berry Farm, and had a fabulous time picking out pumpkins, taking a hay ride through the orchards and riding the animal train! Juliet had to ride on this like 5 times! It was darling!

Picking out pumpkins!

Theres that grin again!

For Halloween (yes it really has been a long time since I posted!), Juliet was Cinderella and Claire was a fairy.

I love her little pose in this picture!

Trying on wigs from our costume box

In November we had our good friend take some pics of us, we only got a few good family shots and one good one each of the girls, but thats all I ask for. Juliet is infamous for NEVER looking at a camera! Its so frusturating, but hopefully she will grow out of it!

LOVE this picture! So happy that we caught it!

Beautiful Juliet! Her hair is getting so long, to bad she screams at me whenever I come around with a brush! Update on Juliet, she is loving preschool and just started Sunbeams this last week in church and did really well! She loves to read and after hearing a book once or twice can pretty much read it back to me. She loves to sing and dance, we have dance parties daily. She loves her disney musicals, her favorite right now is Beauty and the Beast. She loves to play with Claire and is always concerned about where she is and if she is alright. She is a good big sister. Love her.

I've seen that grin before! Claire is at such a fun age right now, she just turned 19months and is growing up way to fast. She is in the 95th percentile for her height and weight, she is huge, she is already wearing 3T outfits! She loves to play and tease and is always super smiley and ready to give hugs and kisses on demand. She loves to dress up and loves her collection of bears. She feeds herself, undresses herself, loves to read and dance with her sister. She is already talking alot and is just a joy!

Another great shot!

I am so blessed to have such an amazing sweet family!

For Christmas and New Years we headed to Vegas, it was definetely a little warmer there and sunnier, but still kinda cold. We did all of our Christmas with the girls before we flew down, so the girls only had a few presents to open, but we had fun hanging out with all of Ryan's siblings and spouses and their families, it was a packed house but still really fun. My sense of taste came back just in time, after having a nasty cold the entire week before christmas, to enjoy Christmas dinner of Prime Rib and all the yummy salads and desserts. Then a day later I came down with 24hr flu bug and was confined to my room for a day. Not fun! I hate being sick on vacation! But we did lots of fun things in Vegas. Saw TrueGrit and Tron, ate at all our favorite restuarants, went bowling, shopping, saw old friends and most fun of all we went to Disneyland for a day!!!

Girls in matching Christams pjs, love it!

Jules crashed out on the couch on Christmas night! It was a fun day!

SPACE MOUNTAIN! Yes thats Juliet next to Ryan! Ryan was so excited to take Juliet on the "big" rides at Disneyland because she is so tall! I wasn't sure what she would think of Space Mountain, we walked right on because we had fast passes and just put her in it, she didn't know what was coming. But she liked it! She said, "that was really fun DAD!" I'm glad she liked it, I thought she might be tramatized! She also went on Big Thunder Mountain railroad and the Matterhorn! So proud of her!

Juliet on Autopia, I love her expression!

On the carousel! Juliet was really excited to go on this, though you can't tell from her face! She was actually not feeling very good this day, the night before she had a fever and was still warm in the morning so she was drugged up on tylenol all day and I think that made her a little out of it. Poor thing! But she still had fun!

While we were in Vegas we went out on the boat to Lake Mead. Yes it was cold while we were on the boat, but we found a beautiful beach and it was so sunny and clear, just an absolutely gorgeous day and we actually started getting hot and shed some of our layers. We had a yummy BBQ on the beach and took a little hike.

I think Claire looks like a boy in this pics, except for the pink sweatshirt, someday she will grow some hair!!!

I love this pic, she loved the boat and the water was like glass. We had a great time in Vegas but were glad to be home!

Oh, and here is a little video of the girls on Christmas at our house, its cute!

Domesticity

2010-10-20T15:16:00.000-07:00

Believe me, there is no other place I would rather be then being home with my kids and taking care of my family. But I do admit that I don't have a clue of what I am doing! I don't craft or scrapbook, I don't know how to decorate or even hang a picture, I don't know how to sew or knit, and the list of unknowns for me can continue on and on. When I quit work to stay at home with Juliet, I stuck to the basics, simple meals, keeping the house clean and orderly and take care of my sweet baby. I didn't really stray beyond what I knew how to do. Well, here we are 3 years later and I am finally tip toeing out into the daunting world of domesticity, as i like to call it and so far its been very rewarding. I learned how to can! Yes, I did!!! My mother dosen't even know how to do this! Yakima has a bounty to cheap and wonderful fresh fruits and veggies, sometimes even FREE! Everyone and their dog here knows how to can, so I decided to jump on the bandwagon and give it a try. Here is a list of yummy things I learned how to make!

Currant Jelly! This was my first effort at canning and pretty adventurous too I have to say. One of my lovely neighbors lives on a farm and has giant currant bushes she invited me to pick for free. So we picked (well Ryan picked) and brought me home two bags full of currants. Then I looked at these bags of currants and thought, what am I going to make with all of these?? So my neighbor suggested making currant jelly! I tried some she had made last year and it was VERY yummy! So I borrowed her jucier and juiced all the berries. Then combined the juice with sugar and pectin mixture then ladled into my hot jars and processed them in my friend's canner. At first they didn't seem to be setting up, but then after a few weeks on my shelf I have yummy currant jelly! After that I was hooked and wanted to try it again!

Canned Peaches and Peach Jam! With my friend Kara and peeled and chopped up two boxes of mouthwatering delicious peaches, made a light syrup, and make 24 quarts of canned peaches and a dozen cans of peach jam. SOOOOO good! A sticky gooey mess, but amazing!

Canned Pears and Pear Jam! Ok, have you ever heard of Pear jam? I hadn't, until the sweet lady I visit teach, who gives me all my canning advice, gave me a jar of her famous pear jam and I about died and went to heaven eating my toast the next morning. I had to have some of that! So I bought me a box of yummy cheap bartlett pears and scored a bonus free box from a friend and went to work by myself canning a dozen and a half quarts of Pears and two batches of amazing pear jam! It was a LONG day in the kitchen, but amazing results!

Strawberry and Raspberry Freezer jam! We were able to pick FREE strawberries and raspberries from a couple's garden in our ward and I made yummy strawberry and raspberry jam. Berry picking is so much fun! There is also a local bluberry farm near our house that we picked at this summer and I froze two giant bags of! So we can enjoy them through the winter!

Here is a picture of some of my work!
The whole freezer is full of these!

In addition to all my canned goodies, I have been baking and cooking up the wazoo! I have always liked to cook, but lately I am discovering how much I LOVE to cook and especially BAKE! I know this could be bad for my waistline, but I just can't help myself! Here is a list of yuumy things that have been cooking in my cozy kitchen! Most of these were new receipes...

Peach and Apple Pie

Peanut Butter Banana Bread

Apple Butter (Heaven!)

Homeade Rolls

Homeade Bread

Butternut Squash Soup

Apple and Cheddar Scones

Roasted Garlic and Cauliflower Pasta

Stuffed Turkey Meatloaf

I wish I had pictures of all of these but we eat everything up to fast, I will be better about taking pics and maybe posting receipes.

Another goal that I've been slowly working on and learning more about is Food Storage. I have been slowing learning to buy more everytime I go to the store and have a pretty good stock right now, we filled a 50gal barrel full of water, and I even have been grinding my own wheat flour! These last week I worked really hard and orgainized our entire 72hour kits for the whole family and have everything ready if something were to happen. It feels good to have at least that done, but I have a long way to go and alot to learn about!

So even though I am still not crafty and I can't sew, I try to celebrate the things I am learning and just go from there! Life is good!

Growing up, a long, long run, and pony rides

2010-10-01T09:06:00.000-07:00

Wow, the month of September just flew by! We have had some fun adventures and lots of good times.

We went to the Central Washington State Fair and the girls had such a great time! Ryan had the day off and we were able to get discount tickets since it was the opening day! Since it was in the middle of the day on a weekday, there were mainly alot of cute old couples walking around, it was sweet. The main attraction was the barns full of animals! Jules raced from each barn so excited to all the different types of animals. And when she saw this pony ride, it was over! She had to go for a ride!

Cutie pie Claire

The produce barn was fun to look at. Huge pumpkins, zucchini's, and squash.

Juliet started her first day of Preschool! She goes twice a week at a local preschool right down the street. She absolutely loves it and I love the free time to go shopping with just one! I am so proud of her and she is growing up so fast!

I got up the courage and decided to train for a half marathon! I haven't run super long distances for like four years, so it was great for me to train again! I ran the Indian Summer Half Marathon in Tri Cities. The course ran along the columbia river and was just beautiful!

My training partner Adrienne! She was such a great motivater! She smoked me in the race, I was so proud of her!

It was a great feeling to finish and I am so glad I did it! Still not motivated to run a marathon again, but I would definetely do a half marathon again!

Beautiful Oregon

2010-09-13T14:25:00.000-07:00

So two weeks ago we visited the beautiful coast of Oregon. Its was a special trip to me, because I grew up in Salem, OR and haven't been to Oregon or the coast since I was a young girl. I have really fond memories of my parents taking me to the coast, eating taffy and watching sunsets. (K, that sounds kinda sappy...but its true!) The main reason we went to Oregon was for Ryan to run the Hood to Coast race with his Dad and their team! The Hood to Coast is a long established team relay race that begins at Mt. Hood and ends in Seaside, OR. The runners take three legs each and run straight through the night. The Sin City Saints did an awesome job and Ryan had a blast! It was wonderful to see beautiful beaches and hang out with Ryan's parents. There are alot of pics on this posts because we saw so many things!!!

Seaside, OR
Seaside

Juliet running wild on the coast

Ryan's team coming in for the finish!

The Sin City Saints (They are all from Vegas and LDS...)

Ryan at the end! He wasn't even that tired!

On Sunday after church, we drove up north to Astoria. Astoria is is cute port town with alot of charm and.....the house where GOONIES was filmed is there! Of course we had to go visit. I myself am not a huge fan of GOONIES, but Ryan and his family practically worship it. So when his mom knew we were only 20 mins away from the Goonies house we had to go see it. But since I really didn't care for it, I didn't even take a pic of the famous house...But Astoria is a beautiful town and did not disappoint. We went down to the port where there were hundreds of loud sea lions laying around, and Juliet got a kick out of them!

Astoria has this awesome tower that you can walk up in and have amazing views from the top. Very beautiful!

This is from the top looking at the Columbia River

This is at the top looking at the Ocean

Us at the top

Always smiling for the camera!

My Babes

Cape Disappointment (thats really the name!, but it was not disappointing at all!)

Lighthouse at Cape Disappointment

Monday, at Cannon Beach. Behind us is Haystack Rock. This pic is not that great. It was really sunny!

After leaving the beaches behind, we drove into Portland and went to the Oregon Zoo! I also remember coming here when I was a kid, so I was excited to take Juliet and Claire there. They had this amazing anamatronic dinosaour exhibit that was way awesome! Juliet loved it, but Claire held on to Ryan for dear life! I wanted to watch Jurrassic Park after.

The lions, she saw real ones too! It seemed that alot of the big exciting animals were taking naps and had their backs and bums turned toward us. Oh well...

I think the best part of the day was the fun train ride we took around the zoo! We saw more on the train then we did walking around and the girls loved it of course!

After the zoo we walked through the International Rose garden which is right next to the zoo and walked through hundreds of varities of roses. Simply breathtaking!

We had a wonderful trip and I can't wait to go back. Next time I want to go the Salem and show Ryan where I grew up and went to school and visit the beaches I went to as a kid.

Summer's Over Already????

2010-08-25T10:05:00.000-07:00

Wow! I can't believe that summer is almost over! Juliet will start preschool in two weeks! Yikes! We have had a great summer! I love living here in Washington, there are so many beautiful places to see and visit and fun things to do. We have stayed home most of the summer, but we did manage to squeeze in a trip to Las Vegas and go to Lake Mohave with Ryan's family. Here are some pics of the last few months.

This was at Snoqulamie Falls, right outside of Seattle, we stopped there on our way back from the airport. These falls were amazing, so breathtaking!
Lake Mohave was a blast! Its become a Davis family tradition to spend a weekend down in Laughlin, stay at the infamous Aquarius hotel eat the seafood buffet till were sick and just enjoy some fun in the sun. It felt so good to be in really hot weather, Washington does not get hot and I kind of miss the desert heat. So it was nice to soak up the heat, I will try to remember it when its freezing cold and snowing in a few months. While in Vegas we saw some members from the wonderful Buffalo ward, it was great to see old friends, man I miss that ward!

We flew home on a Monday and spent the rest of the day in Seattle. We walked down by the Puget sound, it was a gorgeous day, so bright and sunny, blue skies! Ate at one of our favorite restuaratns, Bucca di Beppo, so yummy! They have this killer apple gorgonzola salad and fabulous pizza.

Claire loved playing on the plontoon boat

Mimi, Juliet and Ryan

On a random Saturday in July, we had nothing to do, so we decided to hop in the car and drive to Leavenworth, Wa. (About 1 1/2 hrs from our house). We had heard alot about this quaint German village and wanted to check it out. What a fun place! So many fun shops and great places to eat. We ate fresh taffy, german sausages with sauerkrat, ice cream cones, listened to german folk music, it was awesome! The girls really like it!

I loved their authentic german outfits!

I couldn't stop thinking about my brother the whole time we were there, since he is serving his mission in Germany right now. He would have loved it.

On another weekend, Ryan found a good asian market in the tri-cities, so we stocked up on some Korean stables and Ryan made me a fabulous dinner. It only took him 4 hours to make!!!!! I LOVE Korean food, and am so thankful my husband loves to cook and share with me the Korean culture.

Juliet took and passed her first swimming lessons! Her teacher's name was Ariel, so that helped alot to get her comfortable. Who wouldn't want to swim with Ariel? She loves the water and can now hold her breath under water and swim a little on her own without anyone holding her, I am so proud of her!

Claire Bears!!! My baby, is not such a baby anymore! She is now walking and running everywhere and is into everything!!! I weaned her off the bottle and pacifier at 13months! Very proud of myself! She is already trying to talk and her personality is just bursting out. She is very affectionate, but is also very sassy when she wants to be, and loves to smile and laugh. She is always giving me goofy grins and laughs. She is such a joy!

Other happenings this summer...I am training for a half marathon with a good friend in the end of September, so hopefully we will be ready in time! It helps to have a goal though and someone to run with, it feels good to run long distances again.

Ryan is training for the Hood to Coast relay race for next weekend! So we are driving down to Portland and then Seaside to watch him run and finish. I am excited to go to Oregon!

Juliet starts preschool in two weeks, I am so excited for her! Its only for fours hrs a week, but I know she will love it! She is still doing really great with her potty training, she even stays dry all night and rarely has accidents! She is talking more and more everyday, and loves to sing and dance. She loves watching musicals and learning all the songs. Her favorites right now are Aladdin and Mary Poppins.

I have been getting really involved with a youth strings class in my community that my friend is the director off. Its a free class, for anyone in the community who wants to learn a string instrument. We have about 35 kids and a few adults in the class right now. So I volunteer with that for a few hours each week, its awesome to see the kids learn and see what they can accomplish. I have even taken on a few students of my own, I have 6 students right now and so far its going really good. I love that I can use my talent to help others, its great to be playing again so much!

Well, thats all for now! Enjoy the last few weeks of warmth!

Potty Training Success!!!!!

2010-07-12T14:10:00.000-07:00

Sooo, potty training to me was this huge unknown territory that I was frankly very scared to enter, which is probably why Juliet wasn't potty trained sooner, but we all come to our breaking point and I was just plain tired of changing 2 kids in diapers, so I vowed that I would give it a try. Our first round was right after her 3rd birthday in April. I introduced the panties and gave it a try, but didn't have a real plan, yeah....it didn't catch on too great. After many accidents, I decided we would wait a few more weeks after we traveled and moved in our new home. So a week after being in our new home, I was more prepared. I read up on strategies, counseled with seasonend mothers on their experiences and I finally felt ready. There was no turning back, this was it, I was not going back to diapers!! I lined the family room and hallway to the bathroom with plastic and towels and spent three whole days in the house (including my birthday!) till she finally got it. I couldn't be prouder of her. After three days she was pretty much potty trained, #1 and #2. She even stays dry all night and has only had a few accidents this last month of being trained! I am thrilled!! I can't believe she caught on so fast and she is doing so well at night! Whew! What a relief! I can check that off my list now! Seriously, motherhood is alot of unknowns and half the time I don't know if I am doing it right or doing it well enough, but when your child learns something completely new, I feel so proud! Yeah Juliet!!!!

Our first Home!!

2010-06-17T14:41:00.000-07:00

Yep, we did it!! We purchased our first home and absoloutely love it! We contemplated buying the rental home we were in, but looked around and fell in love with this brand new home not far from where we were and we just had to go for it! We are still in the same ward and moving was a little easier, we took lots of small loads and one big load of all our funiture. We were lucky to be able to get out of our lease on our rental and a new LDS family is moving in next week! We feel so blessed to have this home, I still can't believe its ours! Its in a great family friendly neighborhood, we are in a cul-de-sac at the end of a small private drive. So, its great for the the girls and I think they will have alot of fun living here. There are several LDS families from our ward who live in this neighborhood, our very next door neighbors are even in our ward, so its awesome! I feel like I live in Utah sometimes, because there are so many LDS families that live in this area. Its awesome! We are very happy and feel so blessed to have this opportunity to live here and have a home of our own. Now its on to the endless lists of projects and things we want to buy to make the home cute! We at least need to get some blinds for the windows!
This is the back of the house, we have a HUGE yard, eventually we will get it fenced.

This is our bonus/office room

Juliet's room, my mother in law refinished the cute lighting fixture and princess mirror, its an adorable room, fit for a princess!

This is our breakfast nook, there so many windows in the house, it is so light and cheery! I love it!

This is my kitchen...I love it, I especially love the window over the sink, I can see when Ryan gets home.

This is the main family room, a little sparse right now, but eventually it will get fixed up...

Well, thats the tour, come and visit now!

Family Time

2010-06-15T14:55:00.000-07:00

So, after we got back from our trip to SD (see earlier post), we had four days to get ready before flying down to Vegas to see Ryan's little sister Bryn come home from her mission! Can you guess from this picture where she served?.......It was so great to see her and the entire Davis family, it was so fun to be all together, since that happens less and less now that we are spread out more. Bryn is doing great, she looks great and we are so happy and proud of her!!! Ryan flew home Sunday after her homecoming talk, but I stayed with the girls for a few more days and hung out, Juliet loved going swimming in Mimi's new pool, even though the water was cold. I was able to hang out with a few of my old friends and Juliet's long time play buddies, she was so excited to see Aria and Jackson. And of course playing with her cousins. We took the cousins to the Children's Discovery musuem one day, the kids had a blast! I had never been there before, but will definetely go back when we are in town. On Wednesday we loaded up a trailer with misc. funiture and items for our new home and drove up to Utah and meet my parents where I stayed for the rest of the week.

The Davis Family (man were getting big!)

Our cute family, I love matching clothes for the girls!

The Discovery museum. Juliet and her cousin Cru playing in the grocery store exhibit, sooooo stinkin cute!

Claire had fun at the museum too!

They had a hurricane tunnel, that blows wind at high speeds, Juliet loved it!!

Utah was a blast, it was so fun to hang with my family especially my brother Matt who is leaving in a week for his mission. We were able to hang out together, go the temple just the two of us and have some good talks. I will miss him sooooo much, but he will do awesome in Germany!
Ryan drove down after work on Friday and we all drove back together on Monday...fun, fun. Remind me: No more traveling for awhile!!

My family, Sam the dog even jumped in for the picture

My Mom and the girls

My handsome brother Matt! Miss you already!

When we got home it was moving time! I will do another post of our new home, which I am totally in love with!

My Birthday Girls!

2010-06-12T13:40:00.000-07:00

WOW! I can't believe I have a three year old and my baby is one! On April 23rd, Juliet turned three years old and was sooo excited for her birthday to arrive! She woke up at 5:30am and the first things she said with presents? We set up her presents and her new kitchen set in the family room so she would see them when she woke up, she was estatic! It was fun to have my mom here that weekend to celebrate and be with us.

That afternoon we headed to the park where we invited all her play group and church friends for cupcakes, I made these fun ladybug cupcakes, they didn't turn out at all like the picture, but they were still cute and the kids loved them.

The wind died down just enough for Juliet to blow out her birthday candle

Theres a smile! She wore her cool shades for the whole party, it was hilarious! It was a wonderful day, and we are so blessed to have Juliet in our lives. I love her more and more each day and love to watch her learn and grow, it blows me away how big she is getting, preschool here we come!! Love you Jules!

This cutie pie turned one on June 4th! Wow, the year went by so fast! Her spirit is so beautiful and happy in everyway, she brings so much sunshine and joy in our lives!

We celebrated with cake and presents at my mom's house a few days early, she really went to town on her cake, we couldn't stop laughing! It was a huge mess, but she enjoyed it!

WooHoo!

The first taste, I think her face is so sweet in this picture!

At one year Claire weighs 25lbs and is 32ins, 90% for her weight and off the charts for her height, she is really tall! She is crawling and pulling herself up on things and starting to take little steps holding onto furniture. Shes eating all types of food and loves drinking milk! She is always happy! Seriously, the girl is always smiling, unless she is hurt or tired. She has such a bright spirit and I can't wait to watch her personality grow! Happy Birthday Claire Bears!

Oh, yeah! And I turned 25 on the 9th! WooHoo! We didn't do much to celebrate, I was home all day potting training Juliet. Ryan brought home pizza after work and made me homeade angel food cake with fresh lemon frosting. We cuddled on the couch and watched so You Think you Can Dance. Not to exciting, but peaceful and perfect. Luckily I still have five more years in the 20's!

Catching up!

2010-06-10T13:37:00.000-07:00

So, its been forever since I last blogged, and I apologize, I have enough material for five posts, but I can't put it off anymore, I have to start somewhere. These last two and half months our little family has been so blessed with many adventures, travels, birthdays and a new home! Yep! We bought our first home and are officially moved in! But lets rewind and take it one thing at a time. In the first week of May, Ryan had to travel to Rapid City, SD for a five day training for his work, since his work would be funding almost the entire trip, we decided to make a family road trip and tag along with Ryan, I mean who could pass up Rapid City, South Dakota? Although it was a long drive the girls were awesome in the car, we broke up the trip in two days there and back so that helped alot. We stayed at a fun hotel with a pool and playground and had a full kitchen and two bedrooms so we could be seperate from the girls for the week. When we arrived to Rapid City, we took a 1880 locamotive train ride through the black hills. Juliet was estatic to go on a real train ride. We didn't realize the whole round trip would take 2hours! The excitement of the train wore off after about 15 mins and then it was a wrestling match for the rest of the time to keep them in their seats and quiet, but it was still worth it.

Us standing in front of the train

Claire was happy!

Getting ready to go!

The next day after going to church, we headed out for an afternoon at Mt. Rushmore! This is the main reason why I wanted to come, Mt. Rushmore is only 25mins from Rapid City and I have always wanted to see it, so we had to take this opportunity to see this amazing monument. We took a million pictures, but these ones turned out the best. They have a boardwalk that you can walk all around up right underneath it, it was so amazing to see it up close and the visitors musuem was very interesting and fun to walk through. I am so glad we took the time to go visit this, the girls probably won't remember it, but I always will.

Christmas card shot?

So, then after Mt. Rushmore, the rest of the week was rainy, cold and even snowy! So, me and girls mainly hung around the hotel, watched movies and went swimming. It was fun just to relax though and not have to worry about household stuff.

We took the girls to the Journey museum one evening when Ryan was done with his training, they had some awesome exhibits, thats a wooly mammoth behind us.

On the way home we took a slight detour and drove to Devil's monument, which is this amazing rock formation out in the middle of now where, how it got there, who knows, but its supposedly an ancient sacred monument to Indians, it was cool to see.

Well, that was our South Dakota trip, stay tuned for more posts for our trips to Vegas, Utah, Juliet and Claire's birthdays and our new home!

Some Good Reads

2010-04-14T14:44:00.000-07:00

So, I don't have alot of hobbies, but of the few I do have my absloute favorite is reading! Its been so refreshing to toss out the school text books and dive into some delicious and enlightening books. Here are a few of my favorites from the last three months:

Love Mitch Albom books! They are always short but pack a powerful punch of important life lessons and values. I love how he writes from the heart when he lays out his own imperfections and pride and how he learned the importance of faith in life.

This was one of those ignore your children and the rest of your life book until you find out the end. I read this book in two days and couldn't put it down. Although you'd think the concept was a little creepy and morbid, fascinating storytelling and absolutely loved it. Can't wait to gobble up the rest of the series.

This was a great read, although a little dark and depressing at times, I thought its was a wonderful depiction of the Salem witch trials and what life was like during early New England time.

Such a beautiful book, loved everything about it. I love historical fiction, and loved the WWII setting. Loved how the entire book is a series of letters between its many interwoven characters.

I normally never read diet and weightloss books, but this book caught my eye and I highly recommend it. Jillian knows her stuff, and she breaks down all the crap and chemicals we eat in our diet and how its negatively affecting our metabolisms and health. I threw out all the processed foods in our house after I read this book.

I love US history and I love David McCullough. This was a pleasant and wonderful read on the early life of Theodore Roosevelt and events in his early life that shaped him into the great man he would become later on. Took me a little longer to get through, but throughly enjoyed it.

Beautiful book about an uncommon story of rounded up Jews in Paris during WWII and connection of modern day characters to the past. Very good!

Loving the Journey

2010-03-30T08:21:00.000-07:00

So its been awhile...I love to read updated blogs, but failed to realize that my own little blog was long overdue for an update!

Spring is finally here and my spirits are lifted by all the beauty and joy around me! I love living in a place that has real changing of the seasons. We purchased our first lawn mower and Ryan loves to finally have a big yard that he can work in. The trees and flowers are blooming and its just beautiful!

We have been staying very busy with our ward, this ward is awesome and there is always something going on everyweek! Since the last post, we had a fun Summer themed party BBQ with our friends, ward fundraiser dinner, relief society volleyball, Activity days (I am the new valiant 8 teacher and activity days leader), RS enrichment service auction, Primary acitivity, playgroup, bookclub and a New Moon party. Since we don't have family near, I am grateful for such a friendly and involoved ward that we an associate with, it makes living here so fun!

My sweet baby Claire turned 9 months old, she is such a joy to have in our home. At her check up we learned we have the cutest chunk on the block, weighing in at 22.2 lbs (95%) and 30ins (97%) She is soooo close to crawling, but for now scoots and turns around everywhere, she loves trying lots of new food, is finding her voice, learned the word DADA and how to wave, and is just naturally good natured and happy everyday. Except when she was sick for a week, that was not fun!

This last weekend, Ryan's parents came for a visit and boy was it great to see family again! We haven't seen them since Thanksgiving! We took them into Seattle on Friday and walked around Pikes Market and done by the pier. There is this crazy alley near pikes market that is covered in gum! I know its gross but its actually kinda cool looking! We ate a yummy lunch at the Crab Pot and took the girls on a carousel ride! Perfect day! The rest of the weekend was spent relaxing, eating, shopping and some more relaxing.

Life is good and we are very blessed, looking forward to the next few months and the fun times ahead!

Thoughts on Green

2010-02-18T14:27:00.000-08:00

So I have never considered myself to be a health nut or fitness guru or a tree hugger, but lately I find myself more and more drawn to living a healthier lifestlye and giving the enviornment a little slack. It probably all started a year ago when Ryan and I started recycling! After that I was hooked, and I have been altering my life stlye a little at a time to be more eco friendly and reading up on creative ways we can preserve our beautiful plant and our bodies. I never fully realized what a wasteful and sometimes toxic world we live in. We are bombarded with the idea that we must consume more as fast as we can. And when we take a look back at our society, we have grown into an obese, living in debt, unhappy people. Its kinda sad. Now not everyone is like this, but the growing trends of obesity, dieseases etc. is skyrocketing! Now I am not about to turn in my car keys, only buy organic and stop eating meat. For me and my family this is just not plausible. We do have to be realistic of our family situations, needs and what we can afford. But I have found there are several easy ways to be eco friendly that can be easily adopted in our busy lives, here is what I have done so far:

1. Started shopping with cloth bags! (Now I don't have a thousand plastic bags spilling out from under my sink!)
2. Switched all my lightbulbs in my house to halogen bulbs. These bulbs are inexpensive and will save you lots of $$$ come your next energy bill.
3. In conjunction with switching our light bulbs, we keep our heat at 64, which to some may seem quite chilly, but put on a sweater and I don't even notice it anymore, and keeps our power bill below $100.
4. Recycling!!! Man I can't believe how much of our trash can be recycled, it makes me feel soooo good to know that I am not being wasteful and something can be used again.
5. Switched our shower heads to water efficiency heads. You can buy these at walmart for like $10 - $20 dollars, and saves a ton of water!
6. Buy a Brita water pitcher or use the purifier on your fridge! Buy a great water bottle that you can use when your running errands or on the go. I have Camelback water botttles for Ryan and I and they are the BOMB! I never buy bottled water!!
7. When it comes to buying food, make sure that most of the food in your cart is whole foods and not processed food! As a society we eat way too much processed food and it is really affecting our health and metabolisms. Although I can't afford to buy everything organic, free-range and cage free, I can watch the ingredients on the food I do buy. I closely watch for hydrogenated oils, high fructose corn syrup, and enriched flour products, they don't make it into my cart. I stick to whole fruits and veggies and whole wheat products and try to only have meat once or twice a week. Instead of ground beef I use ground turkey, so much healthier and can't really taste much of a difference.

Well, thats my two cents on healthy living, I don't know much and there is so much I have to learn to become more eco friendly, but my goal is to do the best I can with what I have right now in my life. There are many EASY and SIMPLE things we can do everyday to save a little energy and give our bodies some yummy and healthy food. Thanks for reading!

Cruisin Along

2010-02-08T08:46:00.000-08:00

Life is just cruisin along so fast, I can't believe its already February and Valentines Day is this week! The weeks are going by so fast and my little girls are growing and learning so much each day. Claire turned 8months old last week and is growing like a weed! She already wears size 12-18months, feeding herself cherrios and little snacks, trying new foods...and stopped nursing! I was a little sad to let nursing go, but she really wasn't interested anymore and she was ready. Juliet is turning into a little jabber mouth and mime, she mimcs everything we say and do and its so fun to watch her learn and understand things more. Still no interest in potty training yet, but I think it will click with her soon. Ryan is really enjoying his job and is so grateful for the great schedule and time he has to spend with us and not having to be on call or have to bring his work home. When he is home, hes home and we can play and really enjoy being together as a family. Washington is such a beautiful place and already since living here we have seen and done so many things. This last weekend we drove out to the Seattle area again and drove to the beach on the Puget Sound and had a picnic and explored the beach. The sun actually came out for awhile and we had a great time!

You can see the olympic mountain range in the distance, so beautiful!

We drove home from our trip with this new car!! That was the main purpose for going to Seattle, we have been searching for the right car now for the last two months, but the search is over! We ended up with an 04' Toyota Sequoia, our very first new car! We love it and feel so blessed!

Staying Cozy and Having Fun

2010-01-14T09:59:00.000-08:00

I can't believe the holidays have come and gone and we are already half way through January! We have had a blast these last few weeks and are doing are best to stay warm and cozy up here in Washington. We took Juliet to her first movie since she was a tiny baby, we saw the Princess and the Frog and she absolutely loved every minute of it, but at the end she didn't understand why she couldn't watch it again! We love our home and where we live. Its definetely country living out here and I still find myself shaking my head in disbelief when I go out jogging and hear roosters, cows, and horses. It is so quaint and quite here and we love it. Its dumped snow here about three or four times since we've lived here, so there has always been snow on the ground and its often cloudy and foggy outside. We stay inside alot, especially since we are down to one car, we are in the middle of car hunting right now, just trying to find the right car and deal for us.

For Christmas, we flew in to Utah late on Christmas eve and were able to spend Christmas morning and the week thereafter with my family. Juliet was spoiled with princess dolls, books and movies and loved opening up her presents, Claire was content chewing on paper and ribbons. There were both so cute and I was so grateful to spend this special time of the year with family and friends. I was able to meet up with my one and only close friend from high school, Jaime, and catch up with her over a tasty lunch. Was able to visit with my Grandparents, shop till I dropped with my Mom, eat at my two favorite restaurants (In and Out and Cafe Rio). New Years Eve was quiet, as I had to wake up at 5 am in order to get to the airport the next day. Yeah, flying home with a toddler and baby by myself, never again!

But we finally made it home and spent the day with Ryan and the kids at the Seattle Aquaruim and ate yummy bread bowls on the pier. Seattle is such a beautiful city and I can't wait to keep going back to visit.

We celebrated Ryan's 31st birthday with a yummy dinner and chocolate cake.

We both love our ward, I was called to be the CTR 4 teacher and Ryan's will be serving as the Elder's Q Service Coordinator. There are a total of 14 kids in my primary class, its insane! But there are all so cute and I am excited to finally experience primary and learn from these amazing children.

Life is beautiful and I am truly blessed!

Life Changing Move

2009-12-10T15:18:00.001-08:00

Sisters

Seriously, even though he is a Dr. now he still acts like he's 8 yrs old, look at the delight in his eyes, love it!

This picture captures her personality perfectly!

Absolutely beautiful!

Juliet's room

Kitchen

Family Room, the master bedroom is to the right

Our cute front porch, I can't wait to get some outdoor chairs and sit out here on summer nights, we have an awesome view from the front.

Home sweet Home

Well, since I last wrote, as some of you may have heard, we accepted a job with the government working for the Indian Health Services. We accepted a position in Yakima, Washington (Central WA). We have now been settled here for a little over a week and I still wake up every morning surprised to find that we really have moved here! Since I last posted, we have been very busy packing, spending time with family, moving, and getting settled. Packing was a breeze, since we just did it two months ago, so we had all the boxes labled and didn't even unpack everything because we had a hunch that we would end up moving again. We were sad to leave Las Vegas, but the last seven months has taught us that Las Vegas is not meant to be our home and I have not doubt in my mind that we were divenly lead to be here in this cute, quiet little town. Before leaving we spent lots of time with family, we went to see New Moon (totally, absolutely wonderful!), went to the Magical Forest, saw the lights at Ethel M Chocolates, and had a wonderful Thanksgiving with all of Ryan's family. We also made time to get some family photos done by a good friend, thanks Alexis! We packed up the huge truck and headed out, my mother in law Linda drove in the car with me and the girls, while Ryan drove the moving truck the whole way there. Three days later we arrived in Yakima. We have the cutest home! It was built 2 years ago and is in a really nice, established neighborhood. We have been really impressed with our ward, and there is a really good mix of young familes and established families in our ward. I feel so blessed that that we were given this opportunity to work with IHS and give us a head start in paying off our loans quickly and get some awesome experience. Ryan really likes it so far. Yakima is a really cute city. There are about 80,000 people who live here. So it is pretty good size, but compared to Las Vegas feels tiny. I am looking forward though to living in a small town and raising our kids here. We will miss all our family and friends in Las Vegas, but if your ever in the Northwest, come visit, we would be glad to have you!

My Girls

2009-10-22T20:30:00.000-07:00

Everyday I am amazed at how fast my girls are changing, growing and learning. Everyday I tell myself, "Oh! I need to write that they said this or did that", but of course I forget and get busy, but I thought why not write some of them here? Then I can have them to look back on and everyone can know what amazing sweet girls I am blessed to have as my daughters.

First is Juliet, what a firecracker! She was defeintely born with her Dad's high energy and zest for life! Juliet's favorite activities right now include going on runs with her Dad in the jogger, going to see the ducks, going to storytime at the library, playing outside, playing the piano with her Daddy, reading with Mommy, and of course watching her Disney movies! Juliet also loves to Sing! The girl hears a song once and can sing the melody and the words back to you! She knows a dozen or more primary songs, not to mention all the storytime and lullaby songs. The other day during Sacrament meeting she starting singing Reverently, Quitely for all to hear (at least it was a primary song!) She can sit for a very long time with Ryan at the piano while he plays and she just listens and sings along. She definetely has a knack for music and I can tell that is one of her many talents. Everyday she talks more and more and is excellent at recognition when I point things out and ask her the name, color or number of something. She can count to 10 and sing her ABC's and knows all her colors and shapes. She is learning to dress herself and is starting to be interested in the potty, but we have along way to go...Her favorite foods are apple juice, chocolate milk, fruit snacks, yogurt, goldfish, mac n' cheese, hotdogs, smoothies, queseadillas, cookies and any type of candy (when she can sneak it when her Dad isn't watching!) My favorite time with Juliet is first thing in the morning when she crawls in bed with me and gives me cuddles, its a great start to my day. Juliet challenges me everyday, but in everyway makes me a better person and teaches me so much!

My little pumpkin head! Claire is my little squishy right now and I am loving every moment (most of the time) having an infant again. Juliet got big so fast it is so fun to have a little one again, although I don't think she will be little for long. At her four month check up she already weighed 16lbs and was 27ins! 95% for her weight and off the charts for her height! She is already wearing 6-12 months clothes! Claire has been the perfect baby! She is a really good nurser, and I am learning to actually enjoy breastfeeding and will probably go for as long as I can with Claire. (Juliet was alot more difficult when it came to breastfeeding) Claire is very content and smiley, she loves to giggle and watch her big sister. She can already roll over from her back to her stomach and is working on rolling from stomach to back. She has been sleeping through the night for the past month, and I am loving it!! I couldn't ask for a better baby!

Busy, Busy and More Busy!!

2009-10-20T15:55:00.000-07:00

So Sweet!

The Beautiful Bride and Groom, we are so happy for you Tyler and Sarah!

Our little family picture, we took a dozen and this was the best we could get...oh well...someday my kids will be old enough to actually look at the camera and smile!

Our new home! It is so wonderful to live in a quite neighborhood and for Juliet to have a backyard!

Before we flew home from Missouri we checked out the St. Louis arch! We took these little pod elevators up to the top, Juilet loved it!

This was Big Springs, MO. Its the largest natural spring in the world, its alot bigger than in the picture and was so beautiful. Right after this picture we accidentally locked the girls in the car! We were pretty stressed since we didn't have any phone reception to call for help, but luckily a park ranger rescued us after only 15 mins. The girls didn't even cry or anything!

The Bonner family!

It was so wonderful to see my aunts and uncles on my Dad's side, we had a blast in Van Buren, MO where my Grandma grew up.

Juliet geting ready to float the river!

My Dad and his sister Anita

Before driving down to Missouri we took the opportunity to drive up to Nauvoo. It was my first trip up there and I will definetely have to go again because we only had one day there. Ryan and I were lucky to do a session the first night we got there and it was incredible. I can't believe that the pioneers built such an exquiste and beautiful building during those times. It really brought it home just how difficult it must have been for them to leave it all behind and head west. They truly had insurmountable faith that I can only dream to have someday.

Juleit with all her Kriger cousins in Idaho, she had so much fun at the cabins and playing with her cousins.

My sister Carolin and Juliet going for a boat ride

I am not even sure who follows my blog anymore, but for those few who still hold some interest in my little family's life, its been a busy last two months since I last blogged. I feel like I have been going 100mph for the last four months with no let up in sight! In the last two months our family has gone on five long road trips, flew to Missouri, moved to a new house, helped put a wedding together... on top of the normal chores and church callings. Whew! Since Ryan hasn't been working full time we have had the opportunity to travel and see family. We visited my family twice in Utah and also drove to Idaho for a family reunion. We flew to Missouri to attend another family reunion and had the chance to tour Nauvoo. Ryan and I drove to New Mexico and Arizona and interviewed at a potential job and then Ryan flew up to Washington for another job interview. And then last weekend we drove to California for my brother in law's wedding in LA! I am staying put until Christmas!! In the middle of all this traveling we also had to move from our condo, but we are now in our first house!! We stayed within our stake and our still close to our friends, but get the opportunity to meet new people. Ryan is working part time at two different dental offices, but we are crossing our fingers that we get an offer to work for Indian Health Services under the government. We have interviewed at two locations and feel good about an upcoming offer, so our lives will probably be changing again very soon (moving again!) Here are some pictures of the last few months and all our adventures! Even though its been crazy...we made alot of memories!

Unexpected Summer

2009-08-21T09:15:00.000-07:00

Where has the summer gone?? I can't believe its almost over! Life has definetely thrown us some bumps this summer, but we are hanging on and trying to just enjoy the ride. From the endless job search, a week of terrible horrible sickness, Ryan being called Elders Quorom President, traveling to California, AZ and New Mexico...it has been crazy and very humbling. Thank heavens for family and the gospel, I don't know what I would do without them. Life is good though and I try to find the joy in the little things each day.

I'm Alive...Life is so good!

2009-07-21T19:21:00.001-07:00

Yes, I am alive and doing well and my kids are just awesome! I think we are pretty much over the transition stage and are starting to move into a pattern of life now with two babies. But boy has it been a busy and emotional six weeks. Having a baby just flips your whole world upside down, but Claire is just doing so great and Juliet is finally getting adjusted. Claire is a really good baby and nurses really great, she is already getting so big! Juliet had a really hard time at first when we brought her home, she would scream and throw tantrums for no reason and then started waking up at 5am everymorning! We fixed that by putting a child safety lock on her door and now she is starting to sleep till 7am, woohoo! When Juliet was first born I took like a zillion pictures, but with Claire I am a little over the camera, but I have been trying to take more pictures of her...here are some cute pics of the girls over the last little while...

This is Claire at around four weeks old

Sisterly Love...Juliet is pretty soft with Claire, she has only taken a few swaps at her

This is at my Mom's house, she loves playing fetch my Mom's dog Sam...when she sees my Mom she automatically asks where her dog is, but she says it like "gog"

We were in Utah for the fourth and had a big family BBQ and fireworks (what else??) My Mom and my Grandma, my Grandma is so excited to have 2 great grandchildren now!

Jules trying out a sparkler, she loved it! She wasn't as fond of the bigger fireworks, we had to take her inside because she was so scared.

Juliet has become such a great swimmer this summer. The girl has no fear, literally! She jumps off high rocks with her dad, goes under water and opens her eyes, kicks all around, she is awesome!

Juliet in action

Claire is so sweet, here she is at almost 7 weeks...love that baby girl, it is so fun to have a little baby again...I am truly blessed to be a mom, I love it more and more everyday...even though it can be hard sometimes, I wouldn't trade it for anything!

Shes Here!!!

2009-06-07T16:18:00.000-07:00

Our sweet baby girl has finally arrived! Clarie Michelle was born on June 4th at 8:47pm weighing 8.8lbs, 21ins! My labor and delivery went really well and we are so blessed and happy to have her in our home! Here are some cute pictures of the little peanut...

p.s. I am a little freaked out that I have two kids now!!!

Graduation Highlights

2009-05-16T20:05:00.001-07:00

Well, we did it! This last weekend was so wonderful to be with our family and celebrate our graduations! It was a long three days of ceremonys, but we were so thrilled to have so many of our family there to support us. Thursday night was Ryan's Senior Gala, were he was honored as the AGD Senior Dental Student and received the Dean's award for top producer in clinic. Friday night was Ryan's class commencement celebration at the UNLV Ham Hall where just his class was honored and received their doctoral hoods for the next day. Saturday morning was my ceremony, my moment of walking across the stage was so brief, I am not sure it happened, but I tried to soak in the moment and enjoy it. Ryan's ceremony was that afternoon where he was offcially hooded a doctor! That night we enjoyed a BBQ and swimming with all our family.

We are so blessed to have the opportunity to receive an education and I am so thankful for the experiences and knowledge it has provided me and Ryan. We have grown so much together these past four years in dental school and I look forward to all the future has to hold. I can't offically say I am down with school forever, I still have a place in my heart that is yearning for more, so who knows... Here are some highlights of the weekend...

WooHoo Graduation!!!

2009-05-05T19:45:00.000-07:00

Yep, its finally here!! Ryan and I are finally graduating from school! Ryan offically today had his doctoral degree posted and will be hooded and walk on Saturday afternoon. I can't believe dental school is over! Its been a long hard four years, with alot of ups and downs, but he made it (we both made it!) I am so proud of him and how much he has improved and grown during these last four years.

After seven long years of going to school, I am also graduating with my Bachelors in Social Sciences! I will walk with Ryan on Saturday! I am so glad I made the decision to keep going to school, I wanted to throw the towel in lots of times, but I am glad that I endured to the end.

Thank you to all our friends and family for their love and support during these years, we are thankful for the examples we have had in our lives of the importance of education. We are truly blessed for the opportunities that we have been given.

Now its off to work, work, work! (We have some serious loans to repay!)

Someone's Trash...My new Treasure

2009-04-28T20:27:00.000-07:00

So, last weekend we attended our Stake Swapmeet and totally scored on winning this table. I put our name on the raffle, and after they called two other names (no shows) my name was the third one called and we were able to claim our prize! I was so excited to win (I never win anything!!) The table looked really dingy and worn and Ryan was at first mad at me that we had to take it home with us, but after three hours of deep cleaning (thanks Ryan) and some wood polish it looks like a brand new table! It also came with a leaf and can fit up to six people! I bet if the people who gave it away knew how nice it looked after scrubbing it down they wouldn't have gotten rid of it!

The Happiest Day of Our Lives!

2009-04-23T21:57:00.001-07:00

April 22nd, 2007 my waterbroke and I went into labor with Juliet a month earlier than expected! We were so excited and nervous to meet her! She was born almost 24hrs later weighing 5 lbs 14oz and was 19ins long! She was perfectly healthy! We took her home three days later and have not stopped smiling for joy and waking up everyday excited to see what she will learn or do next. She is the light and happiness of our lives. We are so blessed to have her sweet spirit in our home. I just only wish the growing and changing could slow down! They grow way to fast! Happy Birthday sweet baby girl!

Juliet didn't have that squished newborn look, her tiny head was so cute and round, I love the little peach fuzz on top!

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T21:03:00.001-07:00

Ryan and I just got back from Southern California where we celebrated Easter, surprised Ryan's Grammie for her 80th birthday and also fit in a trip to Sea World! It was a busy but fun packed weekend!

Juliet, Ryan and I and Grammie at her surprise party in Laguna Niguel

Happy Birthday Grammie!

Our little family, soon to add another, (as my botbelly stomach sticks out!)

The Shamu show, Juliet absolutely loved the animal shows, we were bummed we didn't get wet, even though we sat in the soak zone!

At the tide pools

Sweet baby Caliie, I can't wait for my squishy to get here!

Juliet and Uncle Tyler

Gathering up all the eggs

Eagerly awaiting to go out to the yard to hunt for eggs

It was so wonderful to spend Easter with all our family and celebrate the resurrection of our Savior Jesus Chirst. Happy Easter!

Happy Birthday!!!

2009-04-01T08:58:00.001-07:00

April is birthday month in our family, so I thought I would put together some photos of everyone we love who has a birthday this month...

My little sweetie, April 23rd

Juliet's best friend Aria, April 3rd

Ryan's sweet Grammie, April 19th

Ryan's sister Alyson, April 15th

My wonderful Dad, April 18th

My awesome brother Matt, April 11th

My adorable little brother Adam, April 2nd

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

MOVE THAT BUS!!!!!

2009-03-19T18:27:00.000-07:00

As most of you have probably heard, the Extreme Makeover Home Edition visited Las Vegas this past week and we were so excited to be apart of it! Brent Wright of Wright Engineers and Construction was selected as the builder of the home and is the bishop in one of the wards in our Stake. His oldest daughter Anjuli is my good friend and we were able to volunteer and help with the house.

Ryan went and volunteered his time doing whatever cleaning and odd jobs that were needed throughout the construction process and was able to see all the designers and Ty Pennington. On Tuesday we stood in the hot sun for four hours waiting for the family to come home. Although it was really hot, Juliet threw up on me because she wasn't feeling well and it was really crowded, it was such an awesome experience to say MOVE THAT BUS!!! and to see the family's reaction! The house is amazing and it was neat to be apart of the community and to help this family. The show will air on ABC on May 10th. Here are some photos of the day!

Ryan was really excited he got one of the cool blue shirts!

Here is the beautiful house, I can't believe they built it in less then a week!

Another shot of the house with all the volunteers in front, they said they had over 3,200 volunteers in all help on the house throughout the week!!!

Juliet after she threw up, the poor thing!!!

Ty waiting for the family to come

The family coming out of the Limo!

Waiting for the big reveal!

A wonderful Saturday

2009-02-28T19:49:00.000-08:00

I am so grateful for something as simple as a Saturday and today was just wonderful! The last four years I haven't seen much of Ryan on Saturdays because he would usually study and cram all day (Literally!) But since school is winding down and all his boards and tests are done (and sucessfully passed), it has been such a treat to have him home more on Saturdays and spend time together as a family. Today we slept in, went for a nature walk, made breakfast together, cleaned the house and cars, went for a drive to Red Rock, visited baby Callie and spent a cozy evening at home. I don't think you could ask for a better day. I love my little family and am so blessed!

2009-02-07T14:11:00.000-08:00

Drum Roll Please.........We're having another girl!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ryan and I are so excited to welcome another sweet lovable girl into our home! This is our little squishy at 21 weeks! We are about 99.9% sure that she is a girl. I just starting really officially feeling pregnant this week. My belly seemed to grow overnight, I am having a hard time bending over, I feel swollen...but other than that I feel great! Its just funny how it hits you all at once, now I just have to endure for another four months. Now we just have to think of a cute name...any suggestions??

Bonnie Springs!!

2009-01-27T10:00:00.001-08:00

What a fun day! This last Saturday my little brother and sister were in town and we decided to spend the afternoon at Bonnie Springs. The little Western Town, train and petting zoo were awesome! You can guess what Juliet's favorite part was...all the animals! She had a permanent smile plastered to her face the entire time we were there. She really loves animals and is learning all her animals sounds and names. It was a blast just seeing her have so much fun!

The Big 30!!!!!

2009-01-12T21:04:00.000-08:00

My sweet and sexy husband turned the big 30 today!!! Woohoo!! I am the luckiest girl to be married to Ryan! He has filled my life with so much joy and happiness! Here are just a few things that I love about Ryan (my top 30...)

Strong testimony of the gospel

Upholds his priesthood

Magnifys his callings and then some

Takes me to the temple often

Is incredibley attractive

Wonderful Father

Extremely dedicated

Smart and determined
A good provider

Very affectionate

Is my best friend

Loves life

Recognizes the beauty in all things

Loves music

Big movie fan

Loves Disneyland

Is a little kid at heart

Very sensitive (will cry in almost any movie!!)

Is kind and loving to his mother and grandmother

Likes to clean and help around the house

Wakes up early so I can sleep in

Is always anxoiusly engaged doing something

Can fix almost anything!
Served a faithful mission

Likes to run and exercise with me

Always makes the bed

Makes the best eggs benedict

Helps me to be a better person

Makes me laugh

30. Loves me and treats me like a princess!

I love you Ryan!!! Happy Birthday!!

A little pudgy??

2009-01-05T09:34:00.001-08:00

Well, many of you who have seen me lately have probably noticed I am looking a little pudgy and I am here to tell you that its not just the extra holiday pounds but that...WERE HAVING ANOTHER BABY!!!! Yep!!! We will be adding another sweet, loveable, squishy baby to our family on June 18, or somewhere around there. I am almost 17 weeks along and am already bursting out of my clothes! We will hopefully find out in the next few weeks what we are having! It will definetely make this next year wonderful (but also crazy!)

Happy New Year!!!

2009-01-01T19:52:00.000-08:00

Wow! What a fun and busy two weeks we've had! Here are some highlights of our adventures!

After a fun filled day at the beach we spent the night at my Great Uncle's home in 3 Arch Bay, which is a gorgeous community right on the oceanfront. His home was absolutely beautiful, here is the front of his house...and here is the view from the back! Breathtaking!! Imagine waking up to that view everymorning!

After our Disneyland adventure we headed to the beach at Aliso Beach in Laguna. Even though the water was freezing it was a beautiful and pleasantly warm day! Juliet of course loved the water and eating sand...will she ever grow out of eating sand and rocks????

Of course our Christmas break wouldn't have been complete without a trip to Disneyland! We drove down to Cali with my Dad and his family on Sunday afternoon and spent Monday at Disneyland! It was packed!! Ryan played host to my Dad and his boys, showing them a good time and teaching them the ropes of disneyland and the art of fast passes! Ryan loved being the tour guide!

We drove home on Christmas Eve morning and spent Christmas with Ryan's parents, sister and brother. We all went bowling on Christmas eve and had a blast, I think its going to be a new tradition! We opened up presents at Mimi and Papas and had our traditonal Christmas eggs benedict breakfast, so yummy! The day was spent lounging around and taking a drive through Red Rock.

Snow, Snow and more Snow! We spent the week before Christmas in Utah and it snowed literally everyday we were there! Juliet loved being outside despite the freezing conditions, thanks Ryan for taking her out so much! While in Utah we went shopping, made gingerbread men, played in the snow, Ryan went skiing, put together two puzzles, read alot and just hung out with family!

Happy New Years to all our friends and family! We wish you all the best in 2009!!!!

Snow Day in Las Vegas???

2008-12-16T13:33:00.000-08:00

Snow in Las Vegas???? Yep!!! Yesterday it snowed all day from 7am till 4pm! Big, beautiful snowflakes! It was incredible! We had to document the day and all the fun we had in the snow!

This is the intersection right by our house, its funny to see palm trees coated with snow!

We took Juliet to a nearby park and let her play in the snow. This was her first real experience with snow and I would have to say she really enjoyed, especially how it tasted!

Our house only got like 1-2ins of snow, but up in Summerlin it snowed at least 5in! The trees were so heavy with snow they were sinking into the streets

This is George and Linda's house, isn't it beautiful with all the snow and lights??

Ryan and Juliet made a big snowman with all the snow on the back balcony of George and Linda's house, it turned out really cute!

After making the snowman we ended the day with a yummy dinner of warm chicken noodle soup and hot rolls! It was such a memorable day that we will always remember, because it only snows here like everyother five years or so! I am glad we were home for the experience!! The cold weather and snow definetely puts you in the Christmas mood! Merry Christmas everyone!

Check out my Final Project

2008-12-10T15:06:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone,

For my final project for my Social Psychology class I put together a blog about a specific social phenomenon! Please check it out, make comments and tell me what you think! I will be turning it in on Friday! Thanks!!

http://gdavisfinalproject.blogspot.com/

Happy Late Thanksgving and Welcome Christmas!!!

2008-12-04T11:19:00.000-08:00

So, I decided to take a quick break from studying for my finals and write what our little family has been up to these last three weeks...

1. Ryan took the second half of his national boards and felt pretty good about his performance, even though we were both completely sick!! Poor Juliet...she watched a lot of TV for a few days!!

2. I went and saw Twilight (twice!!) Such an amazing movie, there were a few cheesy special effects, but I loved the actors and the how closely they followed the movie. The first time I went and saw it with all my sister-in-laws and my mother-in-law and the second time I went with Ryan. He actually really liked it. We got the soundtrack and its amazing!!! I can't wait until I can own it and watch it again and again!!

3. We went to Utah for a week and celebrated Thanksgiving with my family. My mom is the oldest of 8 children so our Thanksgiving is a giant party. Almost all of my aunts, uncles and cousins were there and of course my grandparents. We had a great time!

4. While in Utah I was able to attend my brother Matt's eagle court of honor, which was really great to see how far he has come, I can't believe he graduates this year!!

5. I was able to go the the Festival of Trees with my mom in Sandy, which was absoultely incredible!! If you ever get a chance to go to this, do it! They had hundreds of gorgeous trees and other Christmas decorations that blew my mind. They even had a tree made entirely out of blown glass! It was beautiful. All the money earned from the festival goes to the Primary Childrens Hospital.

6. Ryan's sister Bryn went in the MTC yesterday! Ryan had to come back to Vegas to go to school, but I stayed up a few extra days and went to the MTC with Bryn and my inlaws. It was so amazing to feel the spirit in the MTC, I have never been before. Bryn was so excited and ready to go, she is going to be awesome. She is going to the Rochester, NY Church History Sites Mission. (I know, what a cool mission!!) I would love to hang out in the Sacred Grove everyday!

Well, thats about all. Now we have to crack down on school work. I have finals and Ryan takes the first part of of licensing test this Saturday!! I am excited its finally Christmas time, even though we have had our decorations up since before Thanksgiving! Now I can really feel in the mood!

Long time no blog....

2008-11-12T19:56:00.000-08:00

Sorry I took a break from blogging, I have been reading everyone's blogs but have been neglecting my own, so heres what our little family as been up to this past month!

The weekend after we got back from Utah we jumped into Christmas mode and attended a pre-viewing event of Opportunity Village's Magical Forest before it opened to the public! We have always wanted to visit the magical forest and were excited to get to go for free. The trees were beautiful and the train and carousel were so fun! (Ryan especially loved the train!) I have been listening to Christmas music ever since we went!! I can't wait to set up my decorations!

We spent Halloween with my family in Utah! Here is my little brother Matt (He is actually not very little, hes taller than Ryan!) But he was such a good geek, I couldn't stop laughing! Juliet was a sweet little angel for Halloween. We took her around my neighborhood trick or treating and had a blast with my family!

Our ward trunk or treat was so fun! Our good friends Tony and Angela came with us, it was their first trunk or treat and they ended up somehow knowing alot of members in our ward! Juliet was a doll during the costume parade! She really is a little angel!

On other notes, Juliet is officially in Nursury now on Sundays and she loves it! It makes Sunday so much more enjoyable! She is growing up so fast, she loves to give kisses and is learning new words everyday. Her favorite words are Dadda, Dog, neigh and moo, apple, boat, duck and the list goes on and on. Ryan is crazy busy studying for the second half of his boards which he will take next week on Tuesday! My classes are keeping me very busy, we are coming into the homestretch and I have lots of projects and papers to write! Yuck! Life is wonderful though and I am really looking forward to the holidays and spending time with my family and finishing this crazy semester! Peace!!

Tagged by Anjuli!!

2008-10-15T12:03:00.000-07:00

8 TV shows I like to Watch:

Oprah
The Office
Lost
Makeover Home Edition
John and Kate plus 8
American Idol
So you Think you can dance
Nightly News

8 Things I like to eat:

Cafe Rio
Pei Wei
In n' Out
Olive Garden
Peanut Butter Cup Smoothies
Diet Coke!
Gandolfols Sandwiches
Cheesecake Factory

8 Things I did today:

Exercised
Made Pancakes for breakfast
Finished making a blanket for Juliet
Read books with Juliet
Studied
Took a little nap
Showered
Grocery Shopping

8 Things I am looking forward to:

Going to see my family in Ut for Halloween
The Holidays!!!
Cold Weather
Ryan and I finishing school!
Finishing my giant midterm thats tomorrow!
Juliet learning to talk
Having more children
Buying a house someday

8 Things I can't live without:

Ryan and Juliet
The gospel of Jesus Christ
My computer and internet
Carmax
My car
Music
Books
Sunglasses

Shakespeare, Pumpkin Patch & Conference

2008-10-06T20:06:00.000-07:00

This weekend Ryan and I headed out to Sonata Park in Henderson and enjoyed a Free production of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. It was a great performance and best of all it was free! It was fun to cozy up and be swept up in the romance and tragedy (Thanks Ryan for going with me!)

Then early Saturday morning we drove out to Gilcrease Orchard in N. Las Vegas and picked out pumpkins! It was so fun to be in a real pumpkin patch and it acually felt like fall! We picked out three small pumpkins and also bought fresh squeezed apple juice (so yummy!) I am thankful there is at leasetone pumpkin patch in all of Las Vegas, it reminds me of when I grew up and always went to a patch to pick my pumpkins, the store just isn't the same.

It was wonderful to just be home and watch conference, Pres. Monson's talk on Sunday morning was my favorite. It is so important to live in the moment and cherish each day. Don't live only for tomorrow or you will find that you have a whole bunch of empty yesterday's. I am so grateful for the true church on the earth today and to have a living prophet.

BalloonaPolooza!!!

2008-09-23T14:38:00.000-07:00

Early Saturday morning we headed out to North Las Vegas to the annual BalloonaPolooza! It was awesome to walk up close to dozens of balloons being blown up (Juliet was scared of the fire torch they use) but she had a blast running around the open fields. This was a really fun little festival. They have the balloons all morning, concerts and a carnival, plus all the junk food you could hope for. It was 7am when we were there, so we just didn't feel like a corn dog and cotton candy, but it was fun to see the Balloons and walk around. Plus it was free! I think we will definetely go back next year! Thats one thing I love about Las Vegas...there is always some fun carnival, festival or event you can go to as a family. You just can't get that in a small town! Next up....Summerlin Pumpkin Festival!

School and more school...

2008-09-15T20:54:00.001-07:00

Well, when I signed up this semester, I knew it would be busy...and would take up alot of my time...but honestly I feel so inspired and excited this semester! This may sound nerdy...but I truly love school!! After five years of going to school I am down to the last few classes I need to graduate and I am loving every minute of it! For along time school was a drudgery for me, it was something that needed to be accomplished, but after going for so long things are finally clicking for me and lightbulbs are going off in my head everyday. I am so thankful to have an education and the perspective it has given me in life. I thought I would never get used to UNLV, but this semester has opened my eyes! I am so gald I made the decision to keep going...and who knows, maybe I will keep going!!! Now if I could just get a degree on how to raise children I will be all set!!!

This is the pile of books I have to read this semester! Yikes!!

Family, Traveling, Reflection & FUN!

2008-08-31T20:37:00.000-07:00

These four words describe the last two weeks in the Davis family. Ryan had a two week break from school and boy did we live it up! Here are some highlights of our fun...

At the beginning of our break we found out that Ryan's Grandpa Sandy had passed away. We were so grateful to have time off to go to his beautiful funeral in Downey, CA. It was a wonderful celebration of his life and great legacy that he left us. He was such a unique and wonderful person, I am grateful that I got to know him, even if it was only for a short few years. He will be greatly missed, we love you Sandy!

Of course no trip to Downey would be complete without going to Disneyland (Ryan's playground!) This was Juliet's third time at Disneyland and actually did very well, she was an angel all day and loved the rides. I love her face in the first picture, she is pointing at the Dumbo ride and her face is just full of magic and wonder!! Thats what Disneyland is all about!

While in California we stayed with Ryan's sister Alyson at their beautiful home in San Clemente! In addition to going to Disneyland, we had a fun night on the town just adults and went to this fabulous pizza place and walked on the pier. The next day we took the kids down to the beach. This was Juliet's first time and from the pictures you can see that she loved it!

After leaving California, we drove back to Vegas, did some laundry and then the next day drove to Laughlin, NV and met up with Ryan's family again to spend three fun filled days at Lake Mohave and stuffing our faces at the Aquarius Buffet at night. When Ryan was little, his parents always took them to Laughlin and stayed at a little hotel, go to the lake all day and then eat all night. We had fun, except I got a nasty head cold on Friday and was a little miserable at the beach...That's a picture of Ryan jumping off a massive cliff and then almost hitting the rock at the bottom, I almost peeed my pants!!!

After leaving Laughlin in the morning, we left that very night and drove to Utah to spend some time with my family. Juliet loves playing with my Mom's lab "Sam." She spent hours outside throwing him his ball and chasing him around. We took her on Tuesday to the Thanksgiving point animal farm, she really enjoyed the cows and horses the best! (I have never seen so many toddlers and strollers at the same time, it was truly a zoo there!!!) On Wednesday, Ryan and I took Juliet hiking to the Timpanogoes caves! She was pretty good, it was hard taking her through the small narrow pathways in the cave, but all in all we had a blast! It was a beautiful hike! Thanks babe for hauling her up there!

When we got back from Utah we squeezed in another trip to the lake and had hot dogs and smore's (even though it was a little sandy!!!)

Well, now the break is over and the real work begins. I went back to school this last week, I am taking two classes online and one downtown at UNLV's campus. It is refreshing to be back in a classroom environment, I think I will really enjoy it. Ryan starts school on Tuesday and is offically in his last year of dental school! Only two more semesters to go! He has alot of work ahead of him though to finish on time, good luck sweetie! Now if we can just decide where we want to work and live....?? Anybody have any suggestions?

Which heroine are you?

2008-08-25T15:06:00.001-07:00

Take the Quiz here!

I love Jane Austen's books and when I saw this little quiz I had to take it! Give it a try!

Loved It!!!!!!!!!

2008-08-14T10:28:00.000-07:00

I finally finished! I was a little behind on getting Breaking Dawn, but wow...Stephanie Meyer is amazing! I loved this book more than any of the others! I couldn't keep my hands off of it! If there are any of you out there that have not read Stephanie's books, just give it a try, you won't be sorry! (I promise!)

Chicken Pox?!?!?

2008-08-05T09:47:00.001-07:00

So, yeah...I thought little kids didn't get this anymore, but nope! I got a big surprise when I took Juliet into the doctor for a mysterious rash and bumps on her legs. I was thinking maybe a yeast infection or a heat rash or some other form of allergy or something, I never in my dreams thought it was chicken pox! But despite getting pricked and pooked at all her checkups and the so called magic of vaccines, she still got it! From where...I have no idea! They don't seem to bother her much and the doctor said it was a mild case, but still! I felt so bad for her! I remember having the chicken pox when I was young and hoped to spare Juliet from the experience, but what can a mother do? I guess it could have been alot worse!

Besides chicken pox and major teething, we are doing good in the Davis household. Ryan is working through his finals and is looking forward to a break in a week. Last week we saw "The Dark Knight", very very good! Everyone said it was to dark for their taste, but I really enjoyed it above the other batman movies. Heath Ledger did an amazing job, it is so sad that he died so young, he had such talent. We also went to see the stage production of the sequel to "Saturday's Warrior" called "The White Star." Ryan grew up on Saturday's Warrior and the music so his parents surprised us with tickets. It was a good show and the CD recording is really great. Last night I was very proud of myself...I made my own Cafe Rio Salad at home! There were some slight differences, but Ryan had to agree with me that it was pretty close to the real deal. I am always craving their salads, but we can't afford to go there all the time, so I thought why not make my own. I found this great cilantro dressing and tortillas from Trader Joes, then made my own guacamole, pico de gallo, rice, add a can of beans, lettuce and some tortillas strips and wa la! It was alot of work, but definetely worth it.

Catching Up...

2008-07-20T20:36:00.001-07:00

Life is treating us good! We love our new home and are having a blast with Juliet. She is now walking everywhere and is non-stop on the go! She loves reading books, watching sesame street and is learning to feed herself with a spoon! Her main words are Mama, Dada and Baa Baa...(we are working on expanding her vocabulary). She is a total joy!

Here are some pictures from the last few weeks.

Since it was only a mild 90 degrees outside today...we decided to take Juliet for a walk around the lakes at Desert Shores. The lake was so peaceful and serene. We would love to own a home someday there, right on the water. I made a new healthy muffin receipe that no one in the family liked, we tried feeding them to the ducks, but even they didn't like them...Oh well. We did get some great shots of Juliet though!

We had a pretty quiet fourth of July this year. Ryan's parents and sister were both out of town and since gas costs an arm and a leg these days we decided to just stay at home. We took Juliet to the Summerlin Patriotic Parade and sat in the hot sun for two hours. Even though it was hot, we had fun looking at all the ballons, dancers and floats. That night we went out to eat at a new little mexican restaurant we found...El Burrito. It was pretty good, but a little over priced. We bought a few fireworks and sparklers and lit them with Juliet, she was fascinated. So that was our quiet holiday, I missed having family and friends around and having a big BBQ. We will have to make up for it next year. I am thankful to live in this blessed country and to have the freedoms we enjoy.

Share a Memory!

2008-07-14T11:27:00.000-07:00

I saw this on Becky's blog and thought it was super cute...

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

We've Moved....

2008-07-01T11:15:00.001-07:00

well...just up the street that is. We moved this last weekend from our tiny one bedroom apartment to what seems like a mansion of a three bedroom condo! We are mainly excited to stay close to our friends and stay in our wonderful ward. We love our new little condo but will miss our apartment and all the memories we shared there. Here are a few pictures, Juliet's room is mainly the only room completely decorated and done. I was so excited to finally decorate a room for her (thanks Amber for helping!!) It is so nice to have more space, we especially love having a garage...(no more stolen honda civics for us...ha,ha!) Moving was tough work though, Ryan and I are still recovering from all the lifting and endless cleaning! We look forward to making lots of great memories here! Cheers!

Ragnar Wasatch Back Relay

2008-06-24T07:17:00.000-07:00

This weekend I ran the Ragnar Relay with my family and friends!! 180 miles of sweat, dust, no sleep and lots of laughs!! This was my second time running this race and I can't wait for next year! The Ragnar Relay runs from Logan to Park City and has the most beautiful scenery you could ever imagine! It took our team just a little over 28 hours to finish! Go Spaceburgers!!!

Happy Birthday to Me!

2008-06-09T06:25:00.000-07:00

So I had such a fun birthday weekend!! Ryan surprised me with tickets to see High School Musical on tour! He took me downtown to eat and then as we were walking around we ended up at Planet Hollywood were the show was playing and he pulled out the tickets. I was totally surprised! Ryan and I have gotten into High School Musical these last few months and love the songs, so we had a blast at the show. Although I think we were like the only ones there without any giddy little girls with us! The night ended with a big scoop of chocolate brownie fudge ice cream from Ben and Jerry's. I couldn't ask for a better birthday! Thanks babe for making it sweet!

Ryan also gave me the full DVD Set of the Anne of Green Gables Series! This is one of the best movies ever! It makes me cry everytime! Now I can watch it whenever I want!

Summer Family Photos

2008-06-02T10:12:00.001-07:00

Thanks Nicole for taking these beautiful pictures of our family last weekend, they are amazing! Here a just a few of many great family shots. Juliet was an angel during all the photos, I was so proud of her.

Sun, Sand and Indiana Jones

2008-05-27T15:24:00.000-07:00

Memorial Day weekend was a blast! All of Ryan's family and Juliet's cousins were in town! On Monday we spent the whole day at Lake Mead! It was a perfect day! Juliet couldn't get enough of the sand, eventually we gave up trying to stop her from eating it. She loved every minute of it! That night we went as couples to see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Ryan and I are both big fans of Indiana and really enjoyed it, we can't wait to add it to our collection.

Other happenings...I am enjoying being out of school and just playing with Juliet, I got really sick last Thursday and Friday (not fun!!), Juliet is starting to walk a little or at least try to, Ryan is doing well in school and did well on his cleft-lip presentation to his class and my good friend Patrice had her cute little boy! (Yeah!!) Las Vegas is sunny and bright and we are enjoying the nice wheather before it gets blazing hot. Life is Good!

Finally a Break!!

2008-05-17T10:44:00.000-07:00

So, I am so happy this weekend, because I finally have a break from school! I just finished up Spring Semester and am looking forward to three solid weeks of good reading, movies and playing in the sun! This last semester was the busiest I have ever had! 11 credits, yikes! I don't know what I was thinking! But I got through it! Although school can be draining sometimes, I am so thankful for the opportunity to be educated and do it all online to stay home with Juliet. To all you out there who are preservering in school, keep up the good work! I honestly don't know what Ryan and I will do when we are done with school in a year, its been our whole life!

Other than my finals and Ryan going back to school, we have just been having a blast with Juliet. She is really coming into her cute personality and is so fun to play with. She has been trying lots of new food and loved eating spagetti with her hands!

I've Been Tagged!!!

2008-05-07T11:39:00.000-07:00

The day has finally come, I've been tagged by Anjuli! Here are some little tid-bits about myself...

I love to exercise!! Whether it's walking, running, yoga, or aerobics I love it! My day never really feels normal unless I've done something to get my heartrate up.
I love to cook and eat!! (Thats why I have to exercise so much, because I love to eat!) My favorite foods include: Cafe Rio salads, peanut butter cup smoothies, licorcie, diet coke, enchiladas, fruit and yogurt and yummy breads!
I am a total book nerd! I am always reading something! For the last five years I have had my nose stuck in textbooks for school, but I love to read for fun when I have time. Some of my favorite books are: Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, the Twilight Series, and Harry Potter.
I am sorta a clean freak (not as bad as Ryan though). But I love to have my house clean and tidy. So most of my days are spent doing dishes, laundry, and picking up after Juliet. These chores never seem to end, but I enjoy doing them.
So, I am kinda addicted to any related to Harry Potter. I never thought I would like Harry Potter, so I resisted reading them, even though Ryan was a big fan. Then this last summer when the seventh book came out and there was so my hype about them, I decided to just give them a try. I read all seven books in about six weeks! Then I asked for all the Harry Potter movies for Christmas. I watch the movies over and over when I am home alone with Juliet! I am counting down until the sixth movie comes out! Who would have thought I would go from anti-Harry Potter to Harry Potter Lover!
I love to Dance! You probably wouldn't guess it, but I love to shake and groove! I was crazy about high school dances and church dances, I never missed them. Now that I am married to a semi-professional dancer, when ever there is music on, we will dance around all silly in our apartment. One time, before Juliet came, Ryan and I were asked to chaperone a big youth dance. We danced our heads off! You couldn't really tell that we were supposed to be acting like mature adults, oh well! Poor Juliet, I hope her crazy parents won't affect her too terribly.

Thats a little bit about me...I think I'll tag...Amber, Aubrey, Stephanie and Mary.

Passing a Parental Milestone

2008-05-06T13:31:00.000-07:00

Juliet has seriously been the most heathly baby ever, she has never gotten sick once! No jaundice, no colds or coughs, nothing. So I knew when her time came to be sick, it would probably be pretty bad because she's never been sick. So, this last week has been full of high fevers, vomiting, diarrhea, pedialyte, and lots of calls to my mom on what to do! Not fun! Thankfully Ryan has been home so he helped alot! But she is finally feeling better! Still a little cautious about what she eats, but she is defeintely getting back to normal. It is so hard to see your child in pain and not feeling well. I count my blessings that Juliet is overall very healthy and dosen't have any serious illnesses.

Ryan and I are just enjoying hanging out during his break, he will go back on Monday. It is so nice to have him home. I have been really busy with school the last two weeks, getting ready for finals next week. I am looking forward to a small break in school to catch up on reading and household projects. I cannot wait to finish school, I officially have only ten more classes to take until I graduate! About three or four more semesters! It is so close I can taste it! I have been in college for five years now, I am ready to be done!!

One Year Old!!

2008-04-24T06:25:00.000-07:00

My little girl is one!!! It was Juliet's birthday yesterday and she wore her cute princess crown (thanks Aubrey for making it!) all day! She got alot of fun presents and darling clothes. I can't believe how fast this year has gone by. It has been the most fulfilling year of my life to be a mother. Juliet is the sunshine and joy of our lives! She has so much energy and exerburance for life (she takes after her Dad). We are so blessed to have her in our family and look forward to all the many years we get to share with her!

Happily Ever After!

2008-04-22T09:30:00.000-07:00

It is our Anniversary today! The best three years of my life! I can't believe how fast time has gone by! Since its our anniversary, I thought I would write about some of the reasons of why I love Ryan...

1. His incredible faithfulness and committment to the gospel, which inspires me everyday to be a better person.

2. His exerburance and zest for life. Ryan is always doing something and has so much energy. He helps me get off my lazy butt and to stay anxiously engaged.

3. I love Ryan's wonder and appreciation for the weather and the beautiful world around him. He is always pointing out the beauty and amazing world in which we live.

4. I love Ryan's youthfulness. Even though next year he will be the big 30! He has such a wonderful imgaination and still plays like a little kid. I know our children will have so much fun growing up with him.

5. Ryan is such a hardworker! He never finishes a project until its done and always helps me clean the bathroom (my least favorite chore!)

6. Ryan has such a yearning for learning. He loves school (most of the time) and loves learning new things and how to be better at what he does.

7. Ryan is such a wonderful Father! When he comes home he drops everything and plays with Juliet and gives her a bath (their nightly ritual). He is always willing to help me with anything when it comes to Juliet.

8. I love how Ryan is so attentive and loving to me. Everyday he has a compliment for me and always makes time in his schedule to spend time with me.

9. Ryan loves people. He can just connect with people, whether its his patients, at church or strangers he meets, Ryan is a friend to everyone.

10. I love Ryan because he is mine forever!

I love you sweetie!

The Happiest Place on Earth

2008-04-20T20:26:00.001-07:00

While Ryan was slaving away studying and taking his finals, I went to Cali with my family to the happiest place on earth...Disneyland!! We had such a great time and the wheather was beautiful! I was sad that Ryan was unable to come, but it was great to spend time with my family and siblings. We also went to Newport Beach and rented Beach Cruisers on the boardwalk and ate corn dogs, leamonade and cotton candy. Life is Good!

Grandpa Bonner Visits Vegas!!

2008-04-12T13:29:00.001-07:00

My Dad visted this weekend from Texas, I haven't seen him for over a year! It was so wonderful to see him and to have him meet Juliet for the first time. So my Dad is truly one of my heroes. He has over come so much throughout his life, I am so proud of him and where he is in his life today. After remarrying his beautiful wife Brandee three years ago, he is now the father to 6 children under the age of 11! He has twin baby girls only three weeks older than Juliet! I don't know how he does it, but he is a great Father and now Grandfather! We had a wonderful visit. We ate at In-n-Out 3 times while he was here (my Dad worships the Double-Double) he grew up in Southern Cali where it first opened. He remembers when it was just a tiny drive through, with only two guys making the burgers. We drove through beautiful Red Rock and just had alot of fun laughs. I love you Dad!!! (Juliet didn't want to look up for any of the pictures...!)

Spring Break!!!

2008-04-07T14:55:00.001-07:00

For Spring Break last week we headed to Utah to spend time with my family (my mom was dying to see Juliet!) Sunday morning we awoke to freezing wheather and four inches of snow! Sunday we visited my Mom's family in SLC and attended my cousin's baby blessing, my Grandmother was excited to see Juliet again. On Monday we saw Horton Hears a Who! (very cute movie, and not to long!!) Wednesday was my brother's birthday, Adam had his party at the Build A Bear Workshop, Juliet made a bear as well! So many options to choose from, that store is awesome. We didn't have fun stores like that when I was growing up. But I did remember one birthday my mom rented a pretty cool clown for entertainment. The rest of the week was spent hanging out, shopping, eating, going to the park and watching conference on the weekend. Conference was amazing!! I especially liked the last talk given by Elder Ballard on the roles of young mothers, just what I needed to hear! Its tough being a mom sometimes, it defeintely involves sacrifice and a lot of patience, but the small moments of appreciation and cuteness make it all worth it! Well...Juliet is dang cute all of the time, so I usually never stay frusturated or angry for very long! To all you mothers out there, live in the moment and enjoy the sweet times with your children, they grow way to fast!

Happy Easter Weekend!!

2008-03-23T19:34:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter!!!

This Easter weekend we went to Lake Mead on Papa and Mimi's boat with all our family! The water was really cold but it was really warm outside, we had such a great time. Juliet absolutely loved being on the water and beach! After a day at the lake, we had a BBQ at George and Linda's, it was nice to just visit with everyone. Tyler and Bryn were in town and it was fun to catch up with them. Easter morning we gave Juliet a little easter basket with a new sippy cup, utensils and bibs. My Mom bought her a sweet Easter dress that looked adorable on her, thanks Mom! After church we had an Easter feast at George and Lindas, it felt like Thanksgiving! I am thankful we live so close to Ryan's parents and sister, its great having family close. We hope all our family and friends had a wonderful Easter celebrating the resurrection of our Savior.

2008-03-20T18:07:00.000-07:00

Juliet is on the move! Her two favorite things are her sippy cup and crawling. She just recently starting getting around and loves to explore our little apartment. It is so fun to watch her discover the world around her. I definetely have to keep a closer eye on her now! She will be 11 months on Easter! I can't believe how fast time has gone by since she came into our lives. It only gets better each and everyday. I thank my Heavenly Father that he has blessed me with such a beautiful wonderful child, not to mention the greatest husband, who loves playing with her and giving her rides. Did I tell you that Ryan's dream one day is to build a roller coaster in our back yard? I told him we will have to move to the country and have lots of property, but I honestly feel if we had the resources he really will do it.

Tappy is Back!!

2008-03-16T19:50:00.000-07:00

Ryan was asked to perform a tap dance for our ward social last night, he was a hit!! If any of you don't know, Ryan has been dancing since he was nine years old and danced all through BYU with the Folk Enseamble group. Putting his tap shoes on after three years in the closet, he certainly hasn't lost the magic touch, great job babe!

2008-03-16T19:45:00.000-07:00

Harry Potter Finale!!

2008-03-09T16:09:00.000-07:00

Ryan and I have both loved reading Harry Potter! Ryan starting reading them when they first came out, but being so busy with graduate school and his callings and being a father to a busy 10 month old, he got a little behind in his reading. This past week he finally finished the 7th Harry Potter book! Now I need to talk him into reading the Twilight series...probably won't happen!

Presidents Day at Hoover Dam!

2008-02-20T10:11:00.000-08:00

We spent President's Day at Hoover Dam and had a blast just spending time with each other. We took a tour of the Dam and saw the generators and old tunnels. The by-pass bridge they are building there is amazing! You can see part of it in the back ground of this picture. Its going to be the largest concrete bridge in the US.

2008-02-15T21:16:00.000-08:00

For New Years we took Juliet to Disneyland. Her favorite ride was It's a Small World. She was mesmerized by all the colors and music. Disneyland holds a special place in our hearts. Ryan and I both grew up going there as children and now it is so neat to be able to take our children.

2008-02-15T21:10:00.000-08:00

Merry Chirstmas from Grandma Krieger's house! This Christmas break was so wonderful to spend time with family and not have to rush back to work or school. We spent a whole week with my folks in Utah and then went to California for new years.

2008-02-15T21:06:00.000-08:00

Every Holiday season we go walk through the lights at Ethel M chocolate factory. They are absolutey beautiful (and free to see). While there we stopped and visited Santa

8 months

2008-02-15T21:04:00.000-08:00

My first Halloween! Dadday was a dorky ice cream man and Mommy a cute cowgirl

I'm the cute little pumpkin

6 months

2008-02-15T21:02:00.000-08:00

First time eating real food, yummy!!!

5 months

2008-02-15T21:00:00.000-08:00

Taking a snooze while hiking with Daddy

3 months

2008-02-15T20:58:00.000-08:00

Juliet's special blessing day

2 months

2008-02-15T20:56:00.000-08:00

Juliet was a sweetie from the start, just look at that adorable face!

2008-02-15T20:51:00.000-08:00

Soon after our first anniversary were we blessed to find out we were expecting and on April 23, 2007 Juliet Nicole was born!! The happiest day of our lives! Look how tiny!!

2008-02-15T20:43:00.000-08:00

Happy 1st Anniversary!! For our first anniversary we took a trip to California and visted the Newport Beach temple, Disneyland and Hollywood! It was such a fun trip just the two of us and just enjoying being in love!