The Davis'

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

2012-01-25T12:52:00.000-08:00

Wordless Wednesday

2012-01-18T09:06:00.000-08:00

Mason Laughs!!

2012-01-15T18:33:00.000-08:00

Mason had only laughed 3 little laughs before this video and only for his daddy. I was lucky enough to catch this on video on 1/13 and of course once again he was laughing just for his daddy. I love this new milestone of his as it is one of the most precious sounds ever!

Mason's noises

2012-01-11T15:48:00.002-08:00

Mason has found his voice and is loving making noises. This was taken the other night and was the best I could get because whenever he sees the camera he stops whatever he is doing. He got a little crabby at the end but you get the idea. Also, he is the one who put the blanket in is face, he likes eating things.

Wordless Wednesday

2012-01-04T16:16:00.000-08:00

3 Months

2012-01-03T16:35:00.000-08:00

Oh my goodness how time has already flown by. I remember before Mason was born I made a few decisions about what I would start when he was 3 months old, thinking that was so far away, but here we are so soon. So this month we will be transitioning him to his crib in his room not the pack n' play in our room *tear*. We will also start using cloth diapers and see how we like those. Finally we will go from nursing and the bottle to just the bottle, but honestly he already started this transition himself. Not a day goes by that I am not thankful for this smiling bundle of joy in our lifes and I know his daddy feels the same!

Here are some things we want to remember!!!

-This month we packed away all of Mason's newborn clothes, it was so sad but we are moving on to bigger adventures.
- Mason is now in primarily 0-3 month clothes but some 3 month depending on the brand although they are pretty loose. He is long and skinny so it is hard getting clothes to fit right.
- He is in size 1 diapers.
- Your smiles are bigger and more contagious then ever, especially when you see mommy and daddy
- You went on a grand adventure this month and did wonderful!
- You also went on another road trip to visit your Mamaw and papaw in Washington for Christmas and I'm surprised we were able to take you back home with us ; )
- It has been fun watching you notice your cousin Grayson this month as well.
- You discovered your hands at 2 1/2 months and it has been funny watching you watch them and learning how to get them in your mouth. You also are drooling more so hand in mouth + drool = one HUGE mess.
-You are becoming more active which daddy loves.
- You still dislike tummy time so we are having to become creative with ways to strenghthen your head muscles.
- Your playmat "friends" are still your favorite and you can stare at them for quite some time.
- Sometimes you will sleep through a feeding if we are out and about but when we are home you eat every 3 hours and WILL LET US KNOW LOUDLY if we take too long getting you your food.
- You have consistently slept for the past few weeks from 10:30pm to about 6:00am sometimes even later!
-Your eyebrows are so expressive and will raise a lot in a "I'm not sure about this" kind of look.
-You are close to laughing and sometimes will let out a noise like you want to laugh but that is as far as you can get!

Merry Christmas (a few days late)

2011-12-27T10:34:00.000-08:00

Our Christmas was wonderful and we hope yours was too! A Christmas update will come soon but for now we are enjoying our vacation with the Davis'.

We Love this guy so much!!!

2011-12-21T09:17:00.000-08:00

How could you not love this smiling face??

2 Months Old

2011-12-16T09:16:00.000-08:00

So I am a little behind on this because Mason is now 2 1/2 months old but here are the stats leading up to his 2 months.

- At around 5-6 weeks old Mason started smiling, real genuine smiles. It is adorable!!

- We are finally getting this feeding thing figured out and we are supplementing with 3oz bottles ever feeding. You are growing steadily and at your 2 month appointment weigh 11lbs 4oz and are 23 3/4 inches long.

- You handled your 2 month shots like a champ!! I think that although they were screams of pain, you scream more in your carseat when the car has stopped. However, what made mommy sad was that you slept for the rest of the day and that night you screamed bloody murder when changing you.

- You went on you biggest trip so far to Washington for your first youth group event and did GREAT!!

-This month was exciting because I was finally able to put you down for more than 10 minutes. In fact, you love your jungle play mat and will "talk" and smile at the hanging animals that we call your friends for a long time, sometimes until you fall asleep.

- You have begun sleeping until around 3:30 in the morning which is wonderful! This mommy is loving getting more sleep.

- You also got to go to California for Thanksgiving this month and meet your Papa, and great grandparents as well as second cousins and great aunts and uncles. You also did wonderful on this trip and won the hearts of a few more people as well.

-On November 28th at McDonalds as we were coming back from California, Mommy looked at you in your carseat and you gave me the biggest smile. This was the first time I felt like you recognized me and you repeated it several times. Mommy's heart melted at this and I got sooooooo excited, I can't really put into words how wonderful it was!

We love our Mason so much and are enjoying seeing your little personality come out!

Turkey Day

2011-12-02T05:31:00.000-08:00

For Thanksgiving we went to visit my (Amber's) family in Northern California. We were able to spend a full week, Monday to Monday there which was great especially with this being Mason's first holiday season. It was wonderful having extra hands to give this mommy and daddy a break and we were even able to go on our very first date night since Mason was born!!

Mason got to meet a lot of people on this visit including my dad who was unable to make it up when he was born. This also included a trip to Santa Rosa for Thanksgiving where he met his great-grandparents and great aunt and uncle.

I also joined the craziness with my mom of Black Friday shopping by starting of at midnight at Kohls. I got some great steals and my wardrobe has now been refreshed, Carter's too of course.

Uncle Logan was always playing with Mason. He sure has come a long way from not even wanting to hold him.

Papa (my dad) holding Mason for the first time.

We saw one of Logan's soccer games.

Mason's great-grandma mema loving on him.

His popen loves him too.

Happy Thanksgiving, Shake your tailfeathers!

Mason loves his Gigi (my mom)

Mason also got to meet great grandma nanny.

Aunty Shannon was so helpful during this trip that she was pooped on, peed on, and spit up on. Gotta love that!!

Head Lifts

2011-11-16T22:27:00.000-08:00

Another video! Mason's head is getting stronger and this video taken on 11/15 shows how long he is holding it up for now. I can't believe how big he is getting already!!

Becoming Alert

2011-11-15T09:20:00.000-08:00

Within the past couple weeks Mason has become a smiler! I love when he flashes his little grin and thought I would share his alertness with you. I just melt when he "talks" and smiles!

Our Birth Story

2011-11-09T08:55:00.000-08:00

Just a warning that this is VERY long and probably has a lot of information in it that you might find to be TMI. However, I don't want to forget anything and this is the best way for me to document it. Please note that if you haven't had a baby before that not everybody's experience is as hard as mine was so don't let it scare you!

It started at 4:30am on Thursday the 29th. I was 4 days overdue at this point and extremely anxious for any sign Mason might be coming. During the night I had some light cramping but nothing different than what had been happening the past couple weeks. I had woken up to use the bathroom for the umpteenth time that night and as I started to climb back into bed I felt something leaking and stood straight up as I felt a gush of fluid start flowing. Carter asked his standard “Are you okay” when I get back in bed and this time I said “I think my water just broke”. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him get out of bed that fast = ). We spent the next half hour getting our stuff together and since contractions hadn’t started yet I only had to deal with the leaking fluid issue as I got myself sorda put together because I didn’t want to look like I just woke up since I already knew I’d look awful by the time things were done.

We checked into the hospital around 5:15ish and they got me hooked up with and IV site in my hand because I had to have a bag of penicillin ever 4 hours. Now this sounds easy enough but I highly dislike needles and was not excited to have one stuck in my arm and it didn’t help that I have TERRIBLE veins so it took them almost 30 minutes to get it set up and they tried a couple times to get it. At this point we were just waiting for contractions to start as it was our plan to have Mason naturally and I didn’t want pitocin because I knew it triggered horrible contractions. I did okay with the contractions breathing through them and utilizing the tub and shower while having Carter’s support even though they weren’t fun until around noonish when the midwife (not mine because she was on vacation) told me that I wasn’t dilating any more and that my contractions didn’t appear strong enough on their own. At this point we decided to go with the pitocin because they wanted to get the baby out sooner instead of later since my water had broken and apparently there is a time limit on these things for health reasons. The pitocin was NO fun for my contractions. The pitocin caused contractions that I could barely get through and the worst part was that they were back to back so I felt like I couldn’t have even a breather in between them. If they were farther apart I might have done better but at this point I was trying to be strong but when they told me that I had barely dilated further and they were going to need to up the pitocin once more I knew the time was ending for me to keep things natural. At this point they had realized that my iv site was blocked and they needed to redo it but they couldn’t find a good vein. They also noticed some minor distress in the baby so they had me temporarily breathing with an oxygen mask. It was at this point when I had both my arms out so they could find a good vein because they had already blown one, and carter was holding my oxygen mask in place while I was crying and moaning (I did a lot of moaning) through a contraction that I turned to Carter and said “I can’t do this anymore, I want the epidural.” The only thing was that they had to finish finding a vein and get me to clear a bag of fluids before they could call the anesthesiologist. However, the nurses were wonderful and realized the pain I was in so they called him in before I was ready and he being the great guy he was had me sign papers and explained the process until I was ready. Now I want to note that I hadn’t prepared myself for the possibility of an epidural because it wasn’t part of my birth plan, so therefore Carter wasn’t prepared. I knew the needle would be big but I honestly didn’t care because anything was better than the contractions I was going through. Carter however, looked and flinched while holding my hand (not the best thing to do) but it is a funny story to tell now though. Let me tell you what, the epidural was AMAZING although the dead leg feeling was really odd.!!

It was around 4:30pm by the time the epidural started so I had gone 12 hours naturally and I am proud of myself for that. The epidural though allowed me to feel human again and I even had our parents come in to chat and posted on face book. It was also nice because I got to “eat” a few more cups of broth and rest a little bit. Somewhere between 3-4am I kind lose track of time from here on I began to feel “holes” in my epidural where I could feel the pain in my lower left abdomen and back and the pain kept getting sronger and stronger and my blissful moments of no pain started sliding away. Even upping the epidural as far as they could for how far along I was wasn’t helping. Also sometime during this period they realized that since I was still barely progressing that maybe their monitors weren’t accurately depicting how strong the contractions were so they put an internal monitor onto his head. Around 5:30- 6:00am the on-call midwife checked me and had me push a few times and said that I was at a 9 1/2and had been for a while and she was worried that I might not hit a 10 soon so she briefly mentioned c-section. I had a breakdown at this point as I asked the nurse to explain to me what that would look like. Then my actual stand-in midwife came in and said that she thought I was at a 10 and she would give me a little longer and then would come in to start pushing. We felt hope at this point and excitement despite my pain because through the process they kept saying “you’ll have a baby by midnight, oh by 3am for sure, oh by 6am” but now the time to push was upon us. Sometime around 6:30am we started pushing and pushing and pushing and pushing. They had me moving around like a rotisserie chicken which is rather hard to do when you still can’t feel your legs (although I could feel plenty of my contractions again). The midwife told me that ideally they only want a person pushing for 2 hours and somewhere around the 2 ½ mark she said that they could see his head but that he couldn’t clear my cervix because his head was so big so she was going to call the OBGYN on call in and that I would have to push hard to prove to him that I could do it on my own.
The OBGYN came in and tried the vacuum and told us that this could very well work but that if it popped off twice than he was done trying that. It was so sad when I heard it pop of twice because Carter and I both knew that it really was our last chance at delivering vaginally. The OBGYN recommended a c-section at this point in time as we were about 29 hours in and it didn’t look like Mason was going to come on his own since I’d been pushing for around 3 hours by now. My midwife had me push a few more times which I was more than happy to do because believe it or not it was easier to push through the contractions (which I could feel since my epidural had pretty much worn off by now) than to sit and feel the contractions. At this point she asked us to decide what we wanted to do. Carter and I briefly discussed it and decided that although it was not part of our plan a c-section would probably be best. I was just too tired and had no energy left to keep up with the pushing that may or may not have produced a baby and the pain of the contractions was just too much and they couldn’t redo my epidural if I was going to continue pushing. The midwife was great though because she told me that she would get on the gurney and we could push all the way to the operating room which I turned down because I had already given in to the c-section and was EXHAUSTED! Carter was handed the cool scrubs to change into and they rolled me into the operating room.

As they set me up for the operation Carter wasn’t allowed to be in there but let me tell you when the redid my epidural for the surgery it was wonderful to feel that pain disappear. As they were poking my stomach to see if I could feel anything I was so afraid that I wouldn’t be numbed enough and I would feel them cutting me…however, it was the weirdest thing ever being able to feel the pressure of all they were doing without the pain, kinda creepy honestly. The “worst” part was that they had to back him out of the birth canal which was the most pressure I felt but when I heard his cry which was very loud and healthy sounding I was elated. They showed him to me over the separator but I couldn’t see him and Carter made sure they showed me again. Then Carter went with them to watch him be cleaned up and it was so cute because I could hear him talking to me saying “he has my eyes, but it looks like he has your ears” and commenting on other parts of his body. Then they brought him over to me and Carter held him on my chest for around 10 minutes as I stared at him and what I remember the most was his cute little mouth moving open and shut. He did great during that time and seemed perfectly content in his bright new world. Then it was time for Carter to go with the nurses to the nursery with Mason while I got stitched up and sent to recovery. Carter told me that it was great because they let his parents and my mom into the nursery too because there were no other babies in there while he was being weighed and measured. The worst part of the c-section process for me was being isolated in recovery for an hour while all I wanted to do was hold my baby and be with him and Carter. During recovery I got the shakes really bad and my legs started cramping but the recovery nurse was wonderful and as soon as I could feel my legs and the compressors on them she said it was “my ticket outta there” to go back to the room. Once I got back to the room I still wasn’t able to hold Mason for around another hour but it was enough just being in the room with him and Carter and our family. I was told that Mason was born at 10:05am and weight 8lbs 10oz and was 21 ½ inches long. His head circumference was 15 inches which was why he wouldn’t “fit” for vaginal delivery. It was such a joy watching Carter with Mason and when I finally got to hold him I couldn’t believe that we finally had this miracle in our arms to love forever and it made all the pain and everything else worth it because although my birth experience was traumatic for us, I would take those 30 hours of pain for a lifetime of happiness with our Mason Darrell Davis.

One Month

2011-10-28T17:05:00.001-07:00

Days Old

One Month Old 10/28/11

How is it that our sweet little Mason is already a month old? This month has been through many ups and downs, complete sleep deprivation, some frustration, and many happy content moments. Below are things that I want to remember about this first month.

- When we first brought Mason home I thought that I would be able to let him cry it out until he fell asleep. Yeah right. This mommy and daddy cave after him screaming for 2 minutes because it makes us so sad.

- Mason makes the cutest snoring noises when sleeping.

- Grumpy faces are his specialty.

- People say that he has been smiling since birth. This mommy chalks it up to gas but I can't wait until he smiles at us for real!!

- He hates to have his arms swaddled and will grunt and groan until he gets them free. The same is true for the blanket at the end of the pack n play, if he isn't swaddled he will wiggle around until he is no longer covered. This is no good since winter is coming and it is getting colder, his poor little hands are always SO cold.

- Mason always spits up on his daddy and Carter can't stand it. He sometimes goes through multiple shirts in one day.

- We knew he would be a pacifier from the beginning due to his love of sucking on his fingers and once we introduced it at two weeks it has been great at soothing him. Now if only he'll learn to keep it in himself = )

- Mason loves to have HUGE poops right after he gets bathed. So frustrating!!

- When he holds my hand during feeding times it melts my heart!

- We thought he was on a sleep schedule getting 5-7 hour stretches during week 3, only to completely change that week 4. Here's to hoping that we can get back to that routine!

-Although getting the feeding thing figured out has been a challenge, I think we finally have it figured out!

- His neck has been strong from the beginning and getting stronger daily.

I am probably forgetting other things and I may come back and add them later because I hope to turn this blog into a book one day and I don't want to forget the little things. Mason Darrell Davis we love you and are so thrilled to have you in our lives, lack of sleep and all!

2 Weeks and 6 days ago

2011-10-20T13:52:00.000-07:00

2 weeks and 6 days ago after a long ordeal we met this little guy for the first time:

Mason Darrell Davis was born September 30th, 2011 @ 10:05am. He weighed 8lbs 10oz and was 21 1/2 inches long.

I can't believe it has almost been 3 weeks. It feels as if time has flown by and yet gone so slow at the same time. I need to type up our birth story but it is long and I still don't have the energy to do it but it will be coming soon I promise!

Patience

2011-09-26T20:05:00.000-07:00

pa·tience

noun

1. the quality of being patient, as the bearing of provocation, annoyance, misfortune, or pain, without complaint, loss of temper, irritation, or the like.

2. an ability or willingness to suppress restlessness or annoyance when confronted with delay: to have patience with a slow learner.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Or when you are uberly pregnant:

1. The ability to wait minute by minute hour by hour not knowing when your baby will come without pulling all your hair out and going crazy.

2. The practice of trying not to get excited and then irritated whenever your body does something different that feels like progress and then stops.

________________________________________________________________________________

Isn't it funny though that this is just the beginning of our practicing our patience with Mason. Isn't that what being parents is all about?

39 Weeks

2011-09-19T20:01:00.000-07:00

Well ladies and gentlemen, we are in the home stretch. Although Mason may not come before or on his due date we now know that they will not let us go past October 9th, so I suppose that is the ultimate light at the end of the tunnel. We have been trying to keep ourselves busy so that we don't just sit around twiddling our thumbs waiting for him. Last week we went to a volleyball game of 2 of our youth group highschoolers, and then on Friday we went to a football game to watch two of our girls who cheer. On Saturday was a church picnic and then Sunday was spent relaxing. This is my last week of work until January and I'm hoping that it goes by fast (or maybe that I don't get to finish it!)

Here are some of our thoughts about pregnancy this week:

I think it makes it harder to wait for him when people see you and say "you haven't had him yet". Trust me, I know, and I feel the same way.
What was comfortable for sleeping last night may not apply tonight or tomorrow night.
I am tired 2 hours after waking up.
I am developing good habits of keeping the house picked up at all times.
Carter says that he is ready for it to be done.
We have been doing A LOT of walking.
I'm pretty sure we've tried almost every old wives tale about going into labor.
I always try to be by a bathroom, you never know when nature will call.
I'm pretty sure that Mason now takes up my entire stomach, doesn't he realize there is more room if he just comes out?
We are looking forward to hearing if he has made any progress at our midwives's tomorrow!!

Our Baby Game Poll

2011-09-12T10:21:00.001-07:00

We thought it would be interesting to see who wins a baby poll for when Mason is born. The winner will receive a fun little gift from us, so go to the link and enter in what you think. Will you be the winner???

http://www.expectnet.com/games/MasonD

Mason's Room

2011-09-08T10:02:00.000-07:00

I finished up Mason's room on Saturday and it is finished minus a few projects that will be added once he is here with us..is any room ever truly complete?? Now that it is finished the waiting game has truly begun! I love the way his room turned out and can't wait to do some of the little projects that require his help once he's here!!

36 Weeks

2011-09-03T17:10:00.000-07:00

36 Weeks

Tomorrow I will be 37 weeks and technically "full-term"
This week has come with a few braxton hicks contractions but nothing too bad
Friday was my last day of working full time!!
We finished Mason's Nursery!!
This week was also my first "full physical exam" and I now go back every week.
My energy levels are down but that is to be expected
Getting out of bed is much harder then it used to be with this big belly!
Carter keeps telling me that he is ready for me to be done being pregnant-mainly because he can't wait to meet Mason (which is too sweet)!
No crazy cravings still, but I have eaten an awful lot of licorice this week = )
I really wish that nesting would kick in...there are a few things I would like to accomplish before he makes his appearance!!!

36 Weeks

2011-08-30T20:33:00.000-07:00

Today we went in for our 36 week appointment and all is looking good. The highlights are

I am 1/2 a centimeter dialated (which is perfect because I don't want him coming this weekend while Carter's not around).
Mason is "sunny side up" or techinically in the "posterior position" so I am supposed to stay on my hands and knees for 30-40 minutes every day to help him turn as well as not being able to elevate my feet and a few other things. It's not bad if he doesn't turn, it will just mean a longer, harder labor for me...and who wants that??
I am going to start drinking 2-3 cups of Red Rasberry Leaf Tea to help my body prepare for the "big" day.
My midwife is going on vacation 2 days before my due date (YIKES) which is all the more reason why he should come a week or so early!

North Bend Church Baby Shower

2011-08-25T19:54:00.000-07:00

On Saturday 8/20 was my church shower put on by DeAnn Russell and Tammy Bishop and it was so lovely! They also went with the Mickey theme and had it at Tammy's home on the back deck and the weather was gourgeous for an outdoor baby shower. The women of the church and a few of my co-workers joined us for the shower and it was fun chatting and visiting with everyone. We received so many cute clothes and the talent of the ladies in quilting and crocheting is amazing! Thanks to all who joined us for a wonderful lovely baby shower, Mason sure will be one well dressed baby!

JoAnne is very gifted at cake making!

Carter got to enjoy the cake too!

My Mother-in-law Paula was able to join us!

My sister-in-law Sarah and nephew Grayson got to come too!

Sneak Peek

2011-08-18T19:40:00.000-07:00

I've been working hard with Carter's help at getting Mason's room put together. Here is a sneak peek at one of the decorations I made, but I am not yet ready for the big room reveal!!

California Baby Shower

2011-08-13T10:22:00.001-07:00

We drove down to Yuba City on Thursday the 28th and it was a pretty smooth ride despite Baby M hating the car and kicking me for over half of it. It was great getting to see my family as this is the first time that they had seen me pregnant in person and luckily Mason cooperated and they were all able to feel him move!

The baby shower was on Saturday, July 30th and my mom and sister did a STUPENDOUS job!! Everything was adorable, the games were fun, and there was a wonderful turnout of people from all parts of my life. The turnout included women who were the parents of my friends from elementary school, women who had seen me grow up at church, my kindergarten teacher, my old babysitter, and many close family friends, all who I haven't seen in years. It was also fun having everyone together because it was like a big reunion for those who hadn't seen each other in a long time! People were more than generous and we were definitely blessed with many things for Mason and our list of what we still need is much shorter now. One thing that I love was that my mom and sister asked for a book to be brought in lieu of a card so people brought all of their favorite books and now Mason's library is over 25 books larger with many classics!!

My clever talented sister making the cake!

Doesn't it look awesome!!!

My lovely hostesses and mom and sister.

A fun matching game!!!

There was this game where people would guess whos attribute we would want the baby to have.

My Aunt and 2nd cousin

Gotta love family!!!

My sister, me, mom, Nanny, Aunt, 2nd cousin, cousin all on the same family side.

The Long Update

2011-08-08T15:46:00.000-07:00

I am horrible at this thing and honestly who knows when I will get better, but until there I am going to attempt to update you on why I have been so MIA lately. I feel like this week is when our life can finally settle down and we can start thinking get ready for baby thoughts.

End of June beginning of July was our wonderful time at camp and baseball game which I already blogged about.

We were home for 4 days after camp and then moved into our 2 bedroom apartment which we are FINALLY all settled into. It is so nice having more space!!!!!!!

We finished moving on Saturday and on Sunday Carter went to Zorillo, Mexico with 6 youth joining the Vancouver Church of Christ. Carter shared that the trip was a success and a blessing for all involved. This is always a favorite trip for both Carter and the teens and the work they do there is great!

Carter got back on Sunday night and then on Monday we attended a Comfort measures for labor class sponsored by the hospital that helped us to feel more prepared for the laboring process...scared but prepared. Also, while Carter was in Mexico I attended a breastfeeding class and worked hard to unpack the apartment and get settled in.

On Tuesday night our VBS started which I am the director of and Carter helped out by teaching the 9,10,11 year olds for me which was wonderful and a huge step for him...however I think he prefers the teenage years better, not as wild!! VBS went until Friday night and was very successful with over 40 kids registered in all.

On Monday night we were able to relax, and on Tuesday was Carter's birthday followed by an infant care class that was semi-informational. Thursday night we headed to California for the weekend to spend time with my family and participate in the baby shower they threw for me which was FABULOUS!!!!!!! I was so blessed by old friends and family and my mom and sister did great but I will post more on that later.

The rest of this week was spent trying to organize Mason's room into less chaos and get everything a temporary home until his furniture gets put together. My brother Logan has also spent the week with us so it's been great getting to hang out with him, it's probably the most time we've spent together since I was home for the summer's during college.

Finally, this past weekend was Beachfest, the annual youth rally our church hosts which has kept Carter pretty busy. Saturday was spent at 3 different beaches and luckily for us the weather was great. Despite a low turnout the rally went fantastically. It was especially fun for us because Carter's long time friend Silas Fitzsimmons is who we brought in to be the guest speaker and he has stayed with us allowing them to catch up!!

We've been busy busy!!

2011-07-06T21:16:00.000-07:00

Life around the Davis home has been crazy busy! Summer means busy for youth group and our schedule too! Last week we were in the Puget Sound area as counselors at Delano Bay Christian camp. Then on Sunday we joined Carter's family for a Mariner's game. We had a few down days and hopefully tomorrow we will be moving in to our 2 bedroom apartment!!! This month also holds all of our child birth/care classes which we are looking forward to! We only have 12 more weeks left (give or take) until Mason joins our family and I am grateful for the time as we have SOOOOO much left to do!!!!!!

The Davis Clan at the Mariner's game!

Us at Camp

Mason's room Idea

2011-06-18T16:00:00.000-07:00

So we are hoping to move into the two bedroom apartment the first week of July. I am so excited for more space, and of course getting to finally start in on Mason's room!!! His growing stack of stuff is taking up a bit of space in our "dining area" currently.

Here is the idea we have for his room...We are doing the vintage Mickey sports theme, but are unable to paint the walls. Click on it for a better view!

The furniture will hopefully consist of the following...

This Crib Carter's parents have already gotten for us (THANKS!!) and is sitting in our dining area ready to put together.

I am dreaming of either of these Combo Changer/Dressers from JcPenney's in the color coffee as well...

And my hope is to use this in espresso for storage with baskets...

I CAN'T WAIT TO GET STARTED!!!!

6 Months and All is Well

2011-06-07T21:46:00.000-07:00

On Sunday we reached the 24th week of pregnancy which is 6 months!!! Hurray!!!

Random Pregnancy Thoughts so Far

No random cravings---yet that is
Meat is not as good as it used to be, would that be an un-craving???
I am so anxious to get started on his room!! Hopefully we will be in a 2 bedroom by the end of the month!
Both my baby showers are set. The Yuba City one is July 30th, and the church one here is the second or third Saturday in August. I can't wait!!!!
I love when Carter gets to feel him move!
Mason is getting stronger daily-I can tell by his movements
We're excited to see him again on the 16th.
Braxton-Hicks contractions have begun, luckily they don't hurt
The cloth diaper stash is almost complete
I am trying to be good with either walking or yoga daily, but it is tough when I'm tired
All of our childbirth education classes begin in July
I look bigger than I feel, it is actually a surprise when I see pictures of myself
I feel good most of the time, which I am incredibly greatful for

A few Details about the BIG appointment.

2011-05-18T21:56:00.001-07:00

So we went in for the 20 week ultrasound/gender ultrasound last Tuesday the 10th. I had to drink 4 large glasses of water 45 minutes before so I was a bit uncomfortable through the process but the technician was great and let me use the restroom halfway through. It was wonderful getting to see our baby for such a long period of time and all of his little movements. It is amazing how much he moves around considering that I can't feel him at all. Unfortunately he was being stubborn and we couldn't see his little face as well as we would have liked but it sounds as if he is looking healthy as can be, we will get the results at our next appointment on June 1st. He is measuring one week ahead so we'll see what that will do to his due date! About 15 minutes into the appointment was when he flashed us and as soon as our technician said "well there are the testicles" Carter started laughing his excited laugh because we had both convinced ourselves that baby was a girl. It took me a few minutes to change my frame of mind from girl to boy, and say bye to ideas of tutus and hair bows for now, but I love that we will have a boy. I love that our other kiddos will have a big brother, that Carter will have someone to roll around with. I love that I will get to experience that special bond that mother's and sons have and all that goes with that.

Mason Darrell Davis

2011-05-14T21:37:00.003-07:00

By the way, it's a boy.

Old Wives Tales about Predicting Gender

2011-05-07T19:11:00.002-07:00

I thought it would be fun to find as many old wives tales as possible regarding gender prediction and put them to the test. So below are the myths I have found and the gender prediction according to the myth. We will know how true they are on Tuesday at 1:00pm when I have the BIG ultrasound to found out if Baby Davis is gonna be sugar and spice, or snips and snails and puppy dog tales.

Fetal Heart Rate and Gender
Another popular gender prediction method is based on the baby's heart rate. If the baby's heart rate is over 140 beats per minute, then you are having a girl. If the baby's heart rate is under 140 beats per minute, you are having a boy.

Baby's heart rate has been in the 150-155 range every time, make that one for a Girl.

Wedding Ring Gender Test

One of the popular methods to predict the gender of your baby is using a needle or wedding ring band and a thread. Take a needle or wedding band and tie it to a thread. Hold it over your belly while you are lying down. If the needle or the band swings in a circular motion, then you are having a girl. If it moves back and forth, then are you having a boy.

This one was hard to tell which way the ring was moving, but ultimately we decided it was going back and forth. = 1 for a Boy

How you carry boy or girl

One of the popular myths is how you carry your baby can predict the gender. If you carry high, then it's a girl; and if you carry low, it's a boy. If most of your weight is in front, then you are having a boy; if your most of your weight is in the middle, then you should plan for a girl.

I don't know for myself on this one, but the girls at work have been telling me I am carrying high= girl
Carter says that most of my weight is in front= boy

Your cravings gender determination

Some myths propose that if you are craving sweets during your pregnancy, you are having a girl. If you are craving spicy and salty foods, then you are having a boy

Oh my goodness, sweets and candy have been my downfall. I used to tell myself that I wouldn't eat many sweets while pregnant for the baby. Whoops. = girl

Morning Sickness Gender Prediction

Another popular myth regarding baby gender prediction has to do with morning sickness. They say that if you are having a boy, you would not have as much morning sickness as you would if you were having a girl.

I was lucky enough to have no morning sickness, just some extreme nausea a few days a week. = Boy

Baking soda test

Take a small cup with baking soda in it, pee on it. If the baking soda fizzes (I've heard women describe it like the fizz on a soda or similar) it means a boy, no fizz means a girl. They say it is due to the acidity of your urine when you are pregnant with a boy.

No fizz= girl.

Chinese Lunar Calendar
One of the most interesting theories I found for gender prediction for babies was the use of the Chinese lunar calendar. According to a chart buried 700 years ago and discovered by a Chinese scientist in a Royal tomb in Peking, China, the sex of a baby is determined by the age and the month (according to lunar calendar) in which the baby is conceived. The woman’s age (18 to 45 years old) is on the horizontal line of the chart while the months 1 to 12 are on the vertical line. Therefore you can know the sex of the baby prior to birth just by following the chart. For instance if a woman is 32 years old and the baby was conceived during the month of July, the baby would be a girl. According to this source, thousands of people have proved the accuracy of this chart; it’s even believed to be 99% accurate.
http://www.holodeck.com/pregnancy/chinese-cal.html

This also pointed to baby Davis being a Girl

Sleep Position

Pay attention to which way you lay down in bed tonight. If you prefer sleeping on your left side, you'll have a boy. Right side? Your pregnant with a girl.

Ultimately, I wish I could lay on my back. However, I favor my right side over my left even though I know that my left is better due to blood flow. This result points to a Girl

Soft or dry hands

If your hands are dry during pregnancy, you are having a boy; soft -- expect a girl.

I have both depending on the day so I believe this is inconclusive.

Adult Acne

If altering hormones makes your skin break out, expect a girl.

Holy breakout batman, this has definitely been a HUGE symptom of pregnancy for me= Girl

Graceful or Clumsy Pregnancy

If you feel as though you're gliding through they day, you'll have a girl. Stumbling? It's a boy.

I feel as if this one too is inconclusive. I honestly have no idea, neither does Carter. Pregnancy brain sure has kicked in though, does that count?

Face Weight Gain

If your face gets fuller, it means you're having a girl.
Carter nicely informed me that "no" my face is not getting fuller. = Boy

Mood Changes

If you're experiencing pregnant mood-swings, expect a baby girl to arrive soon.

Carter also politely told me that I haven't had mood swings (maybe he's trying to stay on my good side) but I'll go with what he says = Boy

Eat Garlic

Guess the baby's sex by eating garlic. If the smell seeps out of your pores it's a boy. If there's no scent it's a little girl.

I honestly don't want to eat enough garlic to see about this one...I have been wanting garlic fries though...=Inconclusive

Even and Odd Numbers

If your age and year of conception are both even or odd, it's girl. One even, one odd means a boy.

2010 and 24= Girl

adding your age at conception to the month u conceived, odd # means boy even # means girl!

This might be TMI for you but 12 + 24= 36= Girl

The Penny Test
You lick a penny then try to stick it to the wall. If it sticks, it's a boy if not it's a girl. Saliva is thicker if you're having a boy so it says...

I could barely bring myself to do this, I can be a germ freak at times. However, after dishwashing my penny it didn't even attempt to stick to the wall= Girl

Red Cabbage Test

1.Go to the store and buy a red cabbage. The size of the cabbage does not matter at all.
2.Cut the cabbage into big chunks. The smaller you cut the chunks, the better your results will turn out.
3.Boil some water on the stove and put in the chunks of cabbage.
4.Let the water and cabbage boil for about 10 minutes or so. When the ten minutes is up, remove it from the heat.
5.Grab a cup and go to the bathroom! Pee into the cup.
6.In a separate cup, mix 1 part of your urine to 1 part of the water that the cabbage was boiled in.
7. If the urine/cabbage water turns pink or red then this indicates a boy result! If the urine/cabbage water turns purple, this indicates a girl result.

This one was very interesting, the water was Purple though= Girl

So at the end of my "testing" the final tally was

Boy= 5
Girl= 11

It appears that all signs are pointing to a precious little girl, it sure will be interesting to see if these old wives tales are true! Do you have a myth for me to test that isn't on here? I sure would love to hear it.

Also, I forgot to mention that both Carter (though he hates to admit it) and myself are feeling more Girl vibes...hmmm this could be interesting!

What do you think our baby will be??

Day 6: A picture of somewhere you've been

2011-05-02T21:22:00.001-07:00

During the summer of 2005 I spent 3 weeks in Warsaw, Poland teaching English through the Bible. That was a great time filled with experiencing a new culture and making new friends. I would love to go back someday.

Carter says that this (Japan) is the most exotic place he's ever been and that was when he was 5 years old.

A Baby Post

2011-04-24T20:52:00.000-07:00

I'm sure that some of you have been waiting for me to post some information about little baby Davis. I haven't put much on here about it because although we are excited, not too much has changed for us. Sure, things will change forever in 4 1/2 months and things will begin changing more soon but for the most part things have been the same. Luckily I have not had to be a "toilet hugger" for any moment of this pregnancy so I consider myself blessed in that matter because I hate throwing up! I have had a few days of nausea where I didn't want to eat anything but I haven't felt like that in quite some time. I would have to say my biggest complaint has been breaking out like a teenager all over again YIKES, it sure is embarrassing!!!

It is week 18 now and about 2 weeks ago my baby belly began to start showing, I'm expecting any time now for my belly to "pop" and for me to be obviously pregnant instead of the in between are you pregnant or just fat stage.

As far as cravings go I haven't had any, sure there are certain things that sound better to me than others, but nothing that I MUST HAVE NOW. I will say that the only difference I've noticed is that although I liked them before, red onions taste soooo much better to me now (weird I know).

Our BIG ultrasound where we get to find out the gender is May 10th and we cannot wait!!!!!! I think that finding out if it is a boy or girl will make it even more real to us. Plus, I sure can't wait to start shopping for cute little outfits and register for all the fun stuff, man I'm getting excited just thinking about it.

18 weeks today

Day 5- A photo of your favorite Memory

2011-04-18T20:32:00.000-07:00

Carter's favorite memory is one of the mission trips he took to New Orleans as an intern at the church he grew up at.

Amber's picture of a favorite memory isn't necessarily this moment, but it is this group of girls plus a few who aren't present who made my time at OC so fabulous. We became a tight knit group who would even meet together every Saturday our Sophomore year for a short prayer time and then rotate who got to choose where we ate lunch. I don't know how my college experience would have been without these lovely ladies and I wish we could get together now as we are scattered everywhere!

Day 04 - The meaning behind your most recent status.

2011-04-09T20:05:00.000-07:00

Well on facebook my most recent status is "Today we get to tour the hospital, fill out paperwork, and get information on all the classes they provide. It becomes more real everyday!!"

The meaning of this is that our hospital where we will deliver at has a MOMS program where they have you come in and take a tour of the labor and delivery suite, fill out all your admission paperwork, and get material to look over. The nurse helping us also informed us of all the upcoming classes being offered for parent education and the like.

Carter's most recent status is "Happy Opening Day, everybody!" which the meaning is obvious but it was for the opening day of baseball season.

Challenge Day 3- Favorite TV Show

2011-04-04T20:15:00.000-07:00

Carter's Is

Not a cast so much as a character, but one of the coolest characters I've seen.

Amber's Is...

I'm not really sure, I like a lot including Grey's Anatomy, Bones, Parenthood, and some older ones like Gilmore Girls and Lost. However, I think that my favorite to watch with Carter would have to be

This show is so stinkin' funny!!!

Challenge-Day 2

2011-03-29T20:24:00.001-07:00

Somebody you've been closest to the longest...

My sister and I have been friends since I can remember, sure we have had our ups and downs but what sisters don't. We've played house, mermaids, school, and barbies together. We enjoyed good ol' karaoke and fashion shows with our dress up clothes. As we got older we enjoyed youth group together as well as being fellow cheerleaders. Now that we are adults our relationship has totally changed but I love that although we may not talk all the time we can always pick up right where we left off!!

Carter chose his brother Clayton who I'm sure have spent many hours together wrestling around and breaking things.

Blog Challenge- Day 1

2011-03-22T20:25:00.000-07:00

Day 01 - A picture of yourself with fifteen facts.

1. I apparently don't have very many pictures of myself by myself so this one will have to do.
2. I like my job but don't like working.
3. I am a homebody.
4. I love reading as my "escape".
5. We watch more TV than anything and I don't feel too guilty about it.
6. I used to dream about living by the ocean. Now that I live 15 minutes from it I rarely visit it. Maybe it's because it is a cold ocean?
7. I am a closet "The Sims" player. Don't judge me k!
8. I miss coffee but the smell of it makes me feel not so hot.
9. I love to sleep!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
10. 8 is my favorite number.
11. If we have a little girl she is so totally going to rock the huge head bows!
12. I dream about going back to Europe and enjoying their bread and atmosphere!
13. I wish I knew what God had in store for the rest of our lives.
14. I am impatient.
15. I absolutely positively hate excercising (blah)

1. I consider myself a wallet connoisseur
2. I had to look up how to spell connoisseur
3. I think Super Smash Bros. is the best video game ever
4. I hate to read
5. I think huge head bows are stupid
6. I have no interest in leaving the country unless I'm on a mission trip
7. I only work out because I want to keep up in the mat room or the dojo
8. I am a judo sankyu (brown belt)
9. I'm not a fan of water
10. I do most of our family's laundry
11. I think 11 is close enough to 15

.

Gonna try this blog Challenge...

2011-03-20T20:12:00.000-07:00

I've seen a lot of people doing this 30-day challenge on facebook so I thought I would do it on the blog instead to encourage motivation with myself.

Day 01 - A picture of yourself with fifteen facts.

Day 02 - A picture of you and the person you have been closest with the longest.

Day 03 - A picture of the cast from your favorite show.

Day 04 - The meaning behind your most recent status.

Day 05 - A picture of your favorite memory.

Day 06 – A picture of somewhere you’ve been.

Day 07 – A picture of someone/something that has the biggest impact on you

Day 08 - A picture that makes you laugh.

Day 09 - A picture of the person who has gotten you through the most.

Day 10 - A picture of the person you do the craziest things with.

Day 11 - A picture of something you hate.

Day 12 - A picture of something you love.

Day 13 - A picture of your favorite band or artist.

Day 14 - A picture of someone you could never imagine your life without.

Day 15 - A picture of something you want to do before you die.

Day 16 - A picture of someone who inspires you.

Day 17 - A picture of something that has made a huge impact on your life recently.

Day 18 - A picture of your biggest insecurity.
Day 19 - A picture of you when you were little.
Day 20 - A picture of somewhere you'd love to travel.
Day 21 - A picture of something that makes you happy.
Day 22 - A picture of something you wish you were better at.

Day 23 - A picture of your favourite book.

Day 24 - A picture of someone you miss.

Day 25 - A picture of you last year and now, how have you changed since then?

Day 26 - A picture of something that means a lot to you.

Day 27 - A picture of yourself and a family member.

Day 28 - Nicknames you have and why you have them

Day 29 - A picture that can always make you smile.

Day 30 - Who are you?

.

Pig Pickin' Cake

2011-03-12T19:14:00.000-08:00

Lately I have been really wanting a Pig Pickin' Cake. Now if you've never heard of this before you are probably thinking that it sounds disgusting. However, it is not. It was one of my favorites growing up and frequently requested for birthdays and in particular my high school graduation if I remember correctly but I only know of the one bakery in yuba city that makes it. Right about now I would give an arm and a leg to have a piece of this deliciousness *hint hint (baby shower) hint hint*

Anyways, I went to the pioneer woman website today for the first time in a while and saw that one of her featured recipes was a "pig cake" so I thought I would click on it and see what I thought. Low and behold it is a at home version of the Pig Pickin' Cake that will just have to tide me over, but I'm super excited there is a recipe out there for it. You better believe I will be making this in the next couple of weeks!!

Here is the link if you want to see the step-by-step picture directions http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2011/01/pig-cake/

Ingredients

■FOR THE CAKE:

■1 box (18.25 Oz. Box) Yellow Cake Mix

■1 stick Margarine (softened)

■1 can (14 Oz. Can) Mandarin Oranges, Drained, 1/2 Cup Juice Reserved

■4 whole Eggs

■1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

■_____

■FOR THE TOPPING:

■1 package (4 Oz. Box) Vanilla Instant Pudding Mix

■1 can (20 Oz. Can) Crushed Pineapple, Juice Reserved

■½ cups Powdered Sugar

■4 ounces, fluid Frozen Whipped Topping (such As Cool Whip)

■Extra Mandarin Orange Slices, For Garnish

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. For the cake, combine cake mix, margarine, 1/2 cup juice from the mandarin oranges, eggs, and vanilla. Beat for four minutes on medium-high. Add drained oranges and beat again until pieces are broken up and small. Pour batter into greased and floured 9 x 13 inch baking pan and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden brown and set. Remove from oven and cool completely. If desired, turn out cake onto a large platter.

Once cake is cool, blend juice from drained pineapples with the vanilla pudding mix. Add powdered sugar and mix, then mix in whipped topping. Stir in drained pineapple. Spread on cooled cake and refrigerate several hours.
To serve, cut cake into squares and top each square with a mandarin orange slice.

First Comes Love...

2011-03-04T15:57:00.000-08:00

FIRST COMES LOVE,

THEN COMES MARRIAGE,

THEN COMES A BABY IN A BABY CARRIAGE!!!!!

LITTLE BABY CARTER AND AMBER IS DUE SEPTEMBER 25TH!!!

GET EXCITED!!!

Sanctus Real

2011-03-01T07:41:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday we got to go to a Sanctus Real concert which was great because they are a pretty well known Christian band and they came to our town!!! Our local Christian Radio station partnered with some local businesses to bring them to our town which is huge because normally we would have travel to Eugene a little over 2 hours away to experience entertainment that isn't local bands or theatre.

Anyways, it was fun and I enjoyed singing along to many of their different songs I love and listening to others.

Below is a clip from my favorite Christian song currently and it was ever better live and hearing the story that is associated with it. The name of the song is "Lead me" and I love the message of it!!

Wallets

2011-02-21T20:50:00.000-08:00

Guest Post by Carter

Some of you may know that I consider myself a wallet connoisseur. Amber will tell you that no matter where we go, if I've wandered off, I can be found looking at wallets. I've spent the last few years trying to find the slimmest, simplest, most minimalistic wallet available. I've always carried my wallet in my front pocket, and I figured the smaller the wallet the more comfortable it would be to carry. I began my search with a simple bi-fold wallet. It had three card slots on the left and a clear ID slot on the right. I was alright, but there were skinnier, shorter, slimmer wallets out there.

My current collection consists of

Fossil card case (that can't hold any cash)

small Fossil bi-fold wallet (it can carry cash, but it sticks out of the top)

Perry Ellis elastic money clip (probably my current favorite, but I'm starting to think that money clips look a bit arrogant)

I've finally come to a time in my life when I'd like to have one wallet to rule them all, if you will. I have a few bucks saved up from Christmas and I found a wallet I like, but I'm not sure I want to pay too much for a wallet. In my collection of wallets, money clips, and card cases I've never spent over $20, but I think I might have to if I want something good. The guy at saddleback leather does promise a 100 year warranty, so that means something. This is what I'm considering:

The Saddleback Leather narrow wallet

Well, Thats all for my first guest blog. Til next time.

Carter

New Book

2011-01-24T21:14:00.000-08:00

I have heard fantastic things about this series and I'm excited that it is now in from the library and currently in my possession. I'll let you know my opinion once done!!

We are Boring

2011-01-16T20:23:00.000-08:00

I feel bad that this blog doesn't get posted on more. I always think about it and feel the sense of dread that I haven't touched it for days...however, our life is boring. Our typical day consists of wakeup, work, dinner, tv, sleep, then repeat. Nothing terribly exciting happens at work and usually anything worth writing about at my work falls under the confidentiality thing so I can't post it and I do have some pretty interesting stories though.

So, maybe I'll find soemthing to keep my regular on here. Anybody have any blogging challenges???

I don't want to be sick....

2011-01-10T20:32:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Carter was complaining of a sore throat. Last night I felt it coming on. Today we are both sniffling and our throats are hurting (his worse than mine). We have held strong for almost a year, but could this be our downfall???

Is it bad that I secretly want to be sick so that I don't have to go to work and can spend all day cuddled in bed reading and watching movies????

Shore Acres

2011-01-05T23:10:00.000-08:00

A few weeks before Christmas we took some youth kids to our local Christmas Light Extravaganza! Our local botanical garden which sits right above the ocean puts on a gazillion lights during the holidays which is very pretty to go explore. The downer was that it had been dumping rain all day and everything was soaking wet. However, it stayed a light drizzle for the hour we were there.

The Christmas Post

2011-01-02T21:55:00.000-08:00

Christmas this year was spent with Amber's family in California. It was fun being with this side of the family for the Christmas holiday. The whole Russ clan was together and we got to meet with the Russ side family in Vacaville (the middle ground) for Christmas Eve dinner at Texas Roadhouse (yummy!! We miss this place from Oklahoma). It was nice being able to catch up with family who we don't get to see very often, Love you guys!!!

The family at Texas Roadhouse

Happy Christmas Eve!

Once we got back from the restaurant my sister and I both had to buy a few more presents so at 8:20pm we headed to walmart just to find out that Wal-Mart was closed...what??? When does Wal-Mart ever close? So somebody told us that K-Mart was open so off to K-Mart we went. Now I know remember why we don't ever go there, #1 there is no rhyme or reason to the store, and #2 their selection is pretty miserable. However, we got the stuff we needed (after a few compromises) and headed back to watch "The Santa Clause" with Tim Allen.

Once we all rolled out of bed on Christmas morning we opened our presents and were excited about all our good stuff! My fav gifts were a beautiful necklace from Carter!!, and a GPS from my mom and dad! From the Davis' my faves were some goodies from Bath and Bodyworks and some money to add towards my new laptop fund (which I'm posting from right now!). Carter's favorite gifts were his Jacket from his parents, a Swiss army backpack from my parents, and the Rock Em' Sock Em' robots from me.

Logan's License frame for his Jeep, he tests for his license on Tuesday the 4th!!

Even the dogs got presents!

My sister hooked Carter up with a Red Robin gift card. Of course we ate there during our trip.

For Christmas dinner it was prime rib(delicious) , mashed potatos, rolls, and salad.

Our 4th Christmas married!

The siblings. We never managed to get a complete family picture (whoops). And yes my sister realizes her sweater is ugly.

No trip is complete with lots of eating out which we managed to do with a trip to Texas Roadhouse, Red Robin, Sonic, and In-and-Out. Maybe it's a good thing I don't live close to these places!!

Present Unwrapping (Dog Version)

2010-12-30T19:56:00.001-08:00

At my California house Christmas is always for everybody...including the pets. This is our dog Kozmo who has always loved opening his presents. Once they are open he usually prances around and shows off his toy to everybody he can find, unfortunately he is too old to move around well enough to show his "family" but you could tell that he still enjoyed it!

Merry Christmas!!

2010-12-25T13:14:00.000-08:00

We wish you and your family a very merry Christmas!!!

I wanted to share these two things with you to help celebrate Christmas and the joyful event of the birth of Jesus. In bible class on Wednesday night Carter asked the teens to write out the Christmas story and these were two of my favorites that made both of us laugh. I wish I could have the teens read them for here because they were so dynamic as they read them but this will have to do!

From Ross 15 years old...

"Push Mary push, you can do it" then out popped Jesus. OMG he is the son of God, then rays of light shined down into the manure filled barn and the savior had been born."

From Jonathan 15 years old...

"Mary and Joseph were strutting through a town knocking on doors saying 'Rowg I NEED TO GIVE BIRTH!' but people wouldn't let them in until they came across this barn...I think, and Mary gave birth to Jesus. Afterward some Angel came over to three kings and they were freaked out but the angel said 'chill out guys, Jesus is born!' So the kings said awesome, let's go give him presents so they found Jesus and gave him gifts of awesomeness."

But now, I will leave you with the true Christmas story from Luke 2:1-20 (NIV). You can also find more information on the Christmas story in Matthew.

¹ In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. ² (This was the first census that took place while^[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria.) ³ And everyone went to their own town to register.

⁴ So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. ⁵ He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. ⁶ While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, ⁷ and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

⁸ And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹ An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. ¹¹Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

¹³ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

¹⁵ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

¹⁶ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. ¹⁷ When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, ¹⁸ and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. ¹⁹ But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰ The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

Tis' the Season

2010-12-21T22:18:00.000-08:00

The past week has been full of Christmas parties, I had mine at work, we had one at church for underprivileged children and their families, and then we had a progressive dinner last night with the youth group which is sorta like a Christmas party.

My work is split into 3 different sites in town and the girls in our office decided to wear "ugly Christmas sweaters" and surprise all of our co-workers with our awesomeness!! I found a sweater at goodwill that has over 50 tiny bells sewed on so that I jingled everywhere I went and I even found a mistletoe turtleneck to go underneath it (yep I'm that cool!) Our sweaters were a hit and we all had fun laughing at ourselves!

Christmas Presents

2010-12-12T20:29:00.000-08:00

Tis the season all right. The season to try and figure out gifts for everybody and who gets what and will they even like it?

However, something that Carter and I both had fun with was buying gifts for kids for the Christmas party our church hosts every year. The church invites selected underprivileged families and we serve them a turkey dinner and Santa comes and brings them all presents. Carter and myself both picked a child to provide something for and we both had fun doing the shopping.

Carter picked a 4 year old boy who loves trucks and things with wheels and he got them a Monster Jam track and some trucks like the ones below (but different types) along with a few other things.

I had tons of fun picking out clothes for a 5 year old girl who likes the color pink. I got 3 different outfits but my favorite is the one below. I hope I have a girl one day to buy tons of cute clothes like this for because shopping for her was too much fun.

Those are pink tights to go with the outfit!

Thanksgiving

2010-11-29T22:16:00.000-08:00

We drove up to Tacoma Wednesday in order to spend Thankgsiving with Carter's family. We came home Sunday night tired from a fantastic visit with his family full of eating, shopping, catching up, and some more shopping. Wednesday night after Church was spent with the guys prepping the turkey to be fried the next morning. Frying turkey's is Darrell's (carter's dad) specialty and he took pride in delegating the preparation to his boys so he can pass on the tradition.

How many men does it take to prep a turkey?

One turkey for us, another for family friends. Carter and Clay go the job of pulling out all the parts.

The frying process Thansgiving morning. (snow on thanksgiving is odd)

Don't worry, that's just apple cider on the table!

Gotta love the timer on the camera...hence the awkward angle.

Black Friday shopping was crazy. I joined Paula and her friend and friend's daughter for their traditional shopping by starting out at Fred Meyer for their socks. We ended up being out and about for 11 hours (ridiculous I know!!!) and we came home with a bunch of stuff. Here is my pile which got a little bigger after going out Saturday as well. I'm a sucker for a good deal and our wardrobes desperately needed updating!

Friday night Darrell and Paula took us to a Japanese Steakhouse where they prepare your food in front of you on a hibachi grill. The experience was incredibly entertaining and the food was delicious and we left stuffed!! I would recommend it to anybody!

I asked for the kid chopsticks so they were specially wrapped so I could use them properly. It was great!

There's gonna be a Davis baby!

2010-11-27T08:58:00.000-08:00

Carter and I are proud to announce.........

That we are going to be a Uncle and Aunt!!! (fooled ya didn't I)

Clayton (Carter's brother) and Sarah announced that they are 3 months pregnant the day before Thanksgiving. All I have to say is let the spoiling begin!!!!!!!!!!!

Family Visit

2010-11-16T20:58:00.000-08:00

My (Amber's) mom and sister came to visit on Thursday and left Monday morning. It was such a fun visit of just hanging out, playing games, and taking a day trip to Florence to visit their old town! Thanks mom and Shan for coming an hanging out with us!!!!!!!!

In Florence

Can you see the lighthouse? It is the Hacieta Head Lighthouse.

HP @ Midnight

2010-11-08T21:37:00.000-08:00

I am dragging Carter to the Midnight showing of this next Thursday (technically Friday) with some friends. We already have our tickets and I'm excited to do something out of the norm for us! However, the tough part will be going to work on Friday but I suppose that's what coffee is for!!

Carter has never read the books so we will be spending the next week and a half watching all the movies so he has a general idea of what is going on so he won't ask me every 2 seconds.

Let's try a Grapple!

2010-10-25T21:36:00.000-07:00

So I've seen these for a while at the grocery store but then they were featured on "Unwrapped" and Carter decided that it was a must try item. On one of my grocery runs I found them and we were super excited to try them and then we bit into them and we were utterly disappointed. The apples had a semi-grape flavor but they were soft which is not enjoyable in an apple. If you don't believe me, try one yourself and let us know what you think!

Funny things kids say.

2010-10-20T07:36:00.000-07:00

So the other day I was at a girls house doing skills training with her as part of my job and we were playing a game. I invited her brother (10) and his two neighborhood friends (7) and (5) to play with us as well. As we were playing the game the 10 year old kept saying inappropriate things and hitting himself in his privates with the skateboard and yelling "oh my nuts" and then the younger boys would say inappropriate things as well. I kept reminding the boys that the things they were saying were not okay and that they needed to change their words. The 10 year old said something else and I reminded him again and then the 7 year old looks at the 10 year old and says, "yeah, don't say those things while the girl is here. Wait until she leaves okay." I was fighting back laughter as I tried to tell them that it didn't matter if I was there or not, they needed to be careful of their words.

However, it was another example of how hard my job can be sometimes. It breaks my heart that these kids are running around the neighborhood, talking about inappropriate things, watching things that aren't okay for their age, and their parents don't care...I sometimes doubt that their parents even know where their kids are.

Today

2010-10-09T18:51:00.000-07:00

Today, Saturday, October 9th 2010 has been the perfect day!!

*We slept in!!!!
*While I was still in bed Carter went to our new bakery in town and got us some goodies for breakfast!
*We watched a movie together this morning and I started a puzzle
*Football and baseball have been switching back and forth as I continue the puzzle
*The house is now semi-clean
*Carter and I have gotten to spend all day together (so not the norm now-a-days)
*It is a dreary day outside, so spending it inside is very cozy.
*We had steak and sweet potatoes for dinner

Luckily today has been mellow, because tomorrow will be busy with obligations. But, for now I will take a deep breathe and appreciate today.

A new snake skin scarf!

2010-10-05T20:45:00.000-07:00

Oh did I not mention that it is a live snake skin????

One of our foster parents has 2 of these girl pythons at their home. The one I'm holding is 9ft long and the one at home is around 13 feet I believe. They were driving around town with the snake (in it's own purse mind you) and decided to stop by so we could see it and touch it. I've seen it before in it's cage but this is way up close and person.

I like this picture of our office manager because you get the feel of how big this snake actually is. It was ridiculous how mellow the snake was, even when it's owners were shoving their hands in his face and everything.

SHS @ Autzen Stadium

2010-09-30T18:32:00.000-07:00

SHS is Sutter High School, the high school that both myself and my sister graduated from and now my brother is a Junior there. My brother decided this year that he wanted to play football (basically his first time ever) and as soon as we looked at the schedule and saw that his football team (from nor cal) was coming to Eugene (a little over 2 hours away from us) we knew we would be there. The game was last weekend on Saturday the 28th and they played an Oregon team from Klamath Falls HS.

We met my mom, dad, and sister on Friday night for dinner in Eugene and all stayed in the same hotel room. Fun Right!?! Well it would have been except for the fact that my dad snores like a freight train and kept us all from sleeping most of the night.

Saturday we lounged around and then got to Autzen stadium (which is the home of the Oregon Ducks) where the big game was! It was so cool getting to go inside the stadium, but it was sooo empty!! Both teams sat on one side divided by a row up the middle but it was cool because the sound is so great in the stadium it still sounded as if it was full!!

After the game we met up with my brother and had lunch at Red Robin (yum) then walked the mall (YAY) and we said goodbye to come back home.

My sister and I were cheerleaders so we are posing like the old days with our Poms!It was fun remembering the cheers as the cheerleaders did them and cheering away from the stands!!

Had to get a pic together!!

#12 is my brother Logan! Since this is his first year playing ever he is second string cornerback so we knew we wouldn't get to see him play, but it was fun cheering him on anyways.

Wait...is that #12 on the field? IT IS!!!!! Sutter was beating the other team by so much that I got to watch my brother play around 6 plays and he rocked!! (~~I won't tell you the ball never came his way~~). Doesn't he look ready for action though?

Final Score!! "You wish you were a husky, Woof Woof"

Back in the Swing of things...

2010-09-15T22:00:00.000-07:00

With the close of Summer comes a new schedule for the two of us. Carter is slipping back into routine and my work schedule is getting a bit hectic but hopefully it will calm down soon.

Part of this new routine is trying to maintain a clean, organized home while sometimes working late days and being pooped upon return home. Luckily I have a husband who is completely understanding and pitches in around the apartment in the areas needed. I also have to work on picking up after myself daily to contain the mess (something I've always struggled with, right mom!?!). I don't know how career woman who are also moms do it so I'm giving them a big round of applause and lots of praise right now because I'm tired and we don't even have kids!!

Another part of this new schedule is both of us resuming working out. Carter has resumed an at home workout routine and I'm resuming Zumba on Tuesday and Thursday nights. As much as we both dislike working out we realize the importance, me especially since I have a sometimes stressful job it is nice to work some of it out and off!!

If you still don't know what Zumba is, here is a video taken from Coos Cardio Party where I Zumba at.

Click here to see Zumba Video!!!!

OCD Much

2010-09-08T22:07:00.000-07:00

So Carter does most of our laundry as his way to help out around the house. One day I came home from work and found this...

This picture doesn't exactly accurately portray the piles but do you see what's funny about it? Carter stacked each pile so they were all the same height, and then since I had 3 pairs of socks he had to put one pair of socks on each pile. I came in to put my clothes away and it cracked me up!! The funny thing about Carter is that he is only OCD about certain things such as the sheets and comforter lining up, his junk corner has to be just right, all his hangers have to be the same type, and his closet in general has a particular order. There are a few other things he is particular about but I can't think of them at the moment.

Minute to Win It- YG Style

2010-09-05T20:27:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday night Carter put together a youth group event based after the NBC t.v show "Minute to Win It". It was the most attended youth event of the ~~Summer~~ a long time. 14 Teens participated in this hour long event that was made up of a multitude of events where each teen kept track of how long it took them to do the event and then added up all their times to compare times for the prizes!

Breakfast Scramble
Assemble the front of a cereal box that has been cut into 16 even pieces.

BACKFLIP

1) Pencils are placed on playing surface in increments of 2, with all erasers facing the same direction.

2) When the clock starts, player picks up first set of 2 pencils and places them on the back of his/her hand.

3) Player must flip pencils into the air, then catch them together. Player adds two more pencils with each turn, building to a final set of 12.

4) Player cannot add the next set of 2 pencils until the previous set has been caught.

5) To complete the game, player must catch sets of 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and finally 12 pencils in succession within the 60-second time limit.

Elephant March

Knock over bottles with a baseball hanging from panty hose worn on the head.

Face the Cookie

Using only the face, move cookies from the forehead to the mouth.

Carter finished the night by tying in the sense of urgency the teens had to complete the task in a minute to the sense of urgency we need to feel as Christians. Carter shared that we need to have a sense of urgency to tell others about God and let as many people know about him as possible because we don't know when he will be returning. Short and sweet....

Life Lately

2010-08-30T19:17:00.000-07:00

I know there hasn't been much going on with the blog lately but we haven't been doing too much to report on. Let's see........

- Last week Carter took two youth group boys to meet up with a few youth group guys and his old Youth Minister from WA and they took a week long hike in the olympic mountains. I would have posted about this sooner but something scares me about letting the world know that I'm home alone for a week. Anyways, they survived and weren't eaten by bears or anything wild so that's good. It sounds like they had a fantastic time and I'm glad that Carter is home now!!!

-Speaking of Carter being home, that was his 3rd week away this summer and I'm selfishly happy that he isn't going anywhere anytime soon!!

- Work has been going well for me, I like some aspects of it more than others but isn't that life?

- We had our annual clothing drive at church on Sunday and in 5 hours around 560 people came in to get clothes.

- We are so ready for our fall shows to start back up again!!

- Nothing else new to report so take care for now readers!!!!

Fine day for a White Wedding

2010-08-19T19:30:00.000-07:00

Two Saturdays ago, August 7th to be exact I was honored to be in my best friend from high school's wedding. In high school we were always together and our cheerleading friends called us each others "other hip". We met sophomore year and our friendship just grew through the next 3 years. Unfortunately moving far apart from each other we didn't stay in touch as well as we could. 3 years ago she was in my wedding and to my delight she asked me to be one of her bridesmaids over a year and a half ago.

So, Noelle and Mike got married in Rocklin, CA in a beautiful ceremony and had a fantastic reception at a golf club nearby. It was so much fun getting to catch up with Noelle during my 3 days with her as well as getting to spend time with some of her family who I haven't seen in years! It is amazing how many stories a person can forget until they are reminded!!!

The Night of her Bachelorette Party

Her Gourgeous Dress

Had to get cute toes!!

Diana was having some "issues"

Noelle's bouquet was so pretty and the handerchief and pin on her bouquet were used during her grandma's wedding.

I was glad that my sister and mom were able to come to the wedding. It was so much fun dancing with my sister and all her "cool moves".

The Bandits

2010-08-15T20:13:00.000-07:00

Okay, maybe they aren't bandits, just raccoons... but they are always behind our apartment walking on our wall and the grassy area behind it. Last year around this time we had baby raccoons and we have been waiting for them to appear this year and alas they came out about a month ago. Carter likes to feed them bread and see how close they will come which freaks me out a bit because the mom starts growling when this happens. Anyways, they are adorable even though a tad bit scary because of all the diseases they carry.

Beach Fest Desert Auction 2010

2010-07-27T22:34:00.001-07:00

Sunday the 18th was the North Bend Church of Christ's annual Potato Bar and Dessert Auction in order to raise funds for the youth rally "Beach Fest" that we put on every year. This year we succesfully raise $1300 which is fantastic!

The Teens serving at the potato bar.

Look at all those yummy desserts!

One of the men in the church made this rocking horse out of myrtlewood to auction off!!

My contribution was two different types of cupcakes because I was wanting to auction them off in smaller amounts this year to make them more affordable to those who want to participate with their smaller budget.

The first set of cupcakes were called Black Hole Cupcakes and were made from scratch dark chocolate with rasberry preserve filling. The frosting was made from scratch chocolate rasberry.

The second cupcake batch was also made from scratch chocolate with a peanut butter ball center. The frosting was a Peanut Butter/Cool Whip/Cream cheese mix.

Busy Busy Week

2010-07-19T19:34:00.000-07:00

This past week was incredibly busy for both Me and Carter.

I was in charge of the Vacation Bible School (VBS) at our church and although it was successful it was exhausting!!! All I did all week long was was work, then go straight to do VBS stuff, but then I got home and worked on more stuff for the next days VBS. We had about 45 kids ages 3-11 enrolled total, and our highest night had 37 kids which may not seem like many but it is a ton and just the perfect amount for our church with a smaller VBS budget. Our theme was "Roundin up questions, and drivin' home answers" with a western/cowboy theme. We answered questions each day like "who am I" "does God care about me" and "what is God's plan for me?" Check out the video I made to show the parents on the last day which was awards/bbq night.

Carter was busy in Zorrillo, Mexico with 8 teenagers joining the Vancouver Church of Christ and building 5 homes for families there. He tells me that it was a fantastic time and that both he and the teens were touched by what they saw and had a great time bonding. Carter got to try fish tacos which he says are great and he also got Apple Gatorade, and Flaming hot tostitos which he wishes we had here in the USA! Carter also had a good time going to the mexican market on one of the days and got me pretty bracelets and got himself a mexican sweater and some cool masks.

The Girls who went from our church

Carter and Two boys from our church + 1

The house that the Team from our church was working on.

They stayed at a campground in Mexico.

This group built this house for the family in this picture in 3 days. Impressive huh!!

Oh To Be 9 Again...

2010-07-01T19:58:00.000-07:00

Last Friday I volunteered to help out at a birthday party for my friend Vicki's daughter. For Maddison's 9th birthday party she had a weenie roast at the beach and then her and 8 of her friends went and saw Toy Story 3. It was a blast helping out with this and I just loved watching how care free these girls were. One of my favorite moments was driving from one place to another with a car full of girls singing loudly to music (Taylor Swift & Justin Bieber) with all the windows down and sun roof open. This was a great moment for me because I remember my mom doing the same with us and our friends when we were young!

Vicki made these adorable cupcakes "oooooo the claw"

The birthday girl loved the sun roof!

We took up a whole row at the theatre. I also volunteered for bathroom duty since I'd already seen the movie and I think I made a total of 5 trips. My favorite one was when we got to the bathroom and I looked down and realized the girl was barefoot......ewwwwww grosss!!!!!

Wedding Shower

2010-06-26T22:12:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I made a quick trip to Yuba City, CA which is about an 8 hour trek. This fast trip was to attend the wedding shower of my Best Friend from high school Noelle. I am one of her bridesmaids too so it was even more important to me to make it for this special event for her.

Just look at all of those gifts! Her apartment will be set for sure!!

Opening up one of her many boxes from Crate & Barrell

When we were in high school they used to call us each other's other hip because we were always together. Unfortunately neither of us have been doing great at keeping in touch with each other but when we do talk we love it!!

Me, Noelle and Diana, her bridesmaids.

Her lovely bouquet of all the bows and ribbons off of her presents that I put together for her. It was super hard to fit them all on cuz she had so many!!!

NEW JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-06-23T18:38:00.000-07:00

Thursday June 10th I was offered a position as Case Manager/Skills Coach at SOASTC. After some deliberation (this happened faster then I thought and I can't go to church camp) I decided that a full time position was obviously more important so I accepted. Right now I am primarily the Treatment Foster Care Case Manager because the person I will be working under as of today is on vacation for 3 weeks. So the past couple weeks have been full of franticly trying to fit my old 2 jobs in at the same times as training as much as possible for the new one. I have been working 9-11 hour days sometimes just so I can fit it all in. However, A.F.T.E.R is done since the school year is over, and tomorrow is my last day at the daycare. Sooooo Friday is my first full day of work at SOASTC and I'm excited to be down to one good job!!

Now what exactly does a Case manager do? Well we have Treatment Foster Homes where kids are in these foster homes either from their actual homes, or DHS has placed them there but they actually have goals and objectives and things they are working on that are usually behavior oriented. So, every day I'm in charge of checking in with the foster parents and documenting anything and everything they tell me. Did I mention documenting? Documenting is a HUGE part of this job because if I don't get it right then our program doesn't get it's money. And since we are not part of the government it is important that everything goes smooth.

Now what does a skills trainer do? Well I'm not 100% sure since I won't start that for a while but I think that I will be going to homes of families and working with kids that are in day treatment programs on certain skills to help their behaviors.

So, overall I'm excited and a little nervous since I'm it for the next 3 weeks I'm hoping that nothing too crazy happens. Annnddddd WOOHOOO I'm actually using my degree!!!!!!

When I went home this last weekend my mom and sister decorated a table and bought me some fun work stuff in celebration of my new job! I love them and they are awesome for it!!!

Mud Fun

2010-06-10T20:35:00.000-07:00

The only good thing I have to say about all this rain we've been getting is that it makes for some good mud, which especially when tended to can make a good mud pit. We went out to the Mueller's for Life Group last Sunday night with the teens and got to play in a big mud pit that their 6th grader had made for us with his back hoe. It was gross but fun to get down and dirty in the gritty yucky mud! It was fun though and a good bonding experience for all! However, now our clothes are still on the back porch as I'm waiting for the rain to rinse them (hopefully!) before I put them in the wash.

Finally Official Residents

2010-06-06T22:21:00.000-07:00

After a year and a half of living in oregon we finally now have Oregon plates and licenses. We had been putting it off for a while because it is costly and we had to re-take our written test in order to get our licenses. So after a long process and lots of paper gathering it is now official!!

Goodbye old plates

Hello new Oregon ones!!!

The Davis' Come to Visit

2010-05-31T12:48:00.000-07:00

Carter's parents came to visit the weekend before we left for our vacation April 23-25 so that explains my lack of posting about it until now. It was a good relaxing time and we went to the beach for a bbq and walk on Saturday and I also made them a cake for their 25th anniversary! Congratulations to them because 25 is a pretty big deal!!

Finally, A post on our vacation.

2010-05-21T23:03:00.000-07:00

I have been dreading posting on our vacation but know that I need to do it although it is overwhelming. However, how do you post everything from 10 fabulous days of vacation? Well I suppose my answer is you wait and then do it one day at a time.

Thursday-April 29th
We drove to my (Amber's) house in California which is 8 hours south and halfway to southern California. When we got there it was only 4 so we had plenty of time to chat with my family and help them finish packing their RV.

Friday-April 30th
We followed my parents pretty much the whole way all the way down to Malibu to start off our week for my sisters graduation. The 8 hour trip really took a bit longer though since we had to follow my parents in their RV Trailer behind the truck who couldn't top faster then 55 mph. Once we got to the campground where we would stay with them for 2 nights we unloaded and headed to my sisters baccaleurete ceremony and got to see the Pepperdine campus (carter's first time) and meet some of her friends and then we went to dinner at BJ's where they were playing the Lakers v. Thunder game on all of the screens and it was funny watching the reactions and we were hoping the Thunder would win just to see how upset the LA fans would get.

Saturday-May 1st
Saturday was Graduation Day. I am so proud of my sister and all that she has accomplished in College. I know that she has been getting a bit discouraged because she doesn't have a job lined up but she is great and I know that God has a perfect job just waiting for her!
The graduation was pretty long but it had a great setting on a big hill with the backdrop the ocean. The only down side is that none of us thought to wear sunscreen and we were sitting in it and my legs got burnt and Carter's poor forehead got soo burned that it peeled layers off for at least the rest of the week.
It was also cool because at Shan's graduation George Foreman (yes THE George) spoke and he was so humble it was awesome. Then we met up with Shan at a designated point with all the rest of her sorority sisters and after she took like a gazzillion pics with all her friends (I was designated paparazzi) we went to eat lunch at a greek restaurant that my sis always talks about because her roomates family is in love with it. After lunch we let shannon go hang out a last time with her friends and we went back to the campground to play on the beach!!! It was nice getting to hang out on a warmer beach where the water wasn't freezing to the touch.

The Graduation stage

The speaker behind the Mic is George Foreman. Can you tell??

Don't my mom and dad look so nice?

Carter wanted to get Shannon something different then flowers. So he got her a coconut!!

Never were there such devoted sisters... (name that movie)

Shannon's Sorority Tri-Delts

The family!

Shannon and her two roomates and bestest of friends.

Carter and Logan playing frisbee on the beach.

The view from my parents RV. It was quite a camping spot!

I love that I captured this picture right as it crashed on Carter.

Sunday-May 2nd
Sunday was the day we had reserved as whatever my family wanted to do we would do day. So, after attending the early service at the Conejo Valley Church of Christ, It just so happens they wanted to go to Disneyland so of course we obliged making us have 3 full days at Disney!!!!!!!!!!! It was fun getting to spend time with the family there because it's been a while since we've been there together. It was also great getting to see Carter's reaction to Disneyland because he hadn't been there since he was like 13 so the whole thing was like a new experience for him. Also, my sister went to the Disneyland City Hall and got us "Happy Anniversary" pins to wear the whole time. The pins were really funny because whenever an employee saw them they had to wish us a Happy Anniversary which happend like every time we turned around. It also was great being there on Sunday because that was the only day the park was open at dark and as many of you know, Disneyland is magical at dark!!! We also got to see their fireworks show which was fantastic and totally different then I've ever seen it! Around 11:30 we said goodbye to my parents and we walked back the short distance to our hotel with sore feet and already being pooped from our 3 long days leading up to Disney. However, we were filled with excitement that we would get to go back the next two days!!

Our Happy Anniversary Pins!!

Shan's says "Just Graduated" Mine is "Happy Anniversary" and mom's says "I'm Celebrating!"

We got SOAKED on splash mountain cuz we sat in the front. It took about 4 hours for my pants to dry out completely. Talk about uncomfortable!!

Dad at Dinner

Logan and Mom at Dinner

Getting ready for "A Bugs Life" it was fun watching Carter get a bit spooked!!

California Screamin is Awesome!!

Tower of Terror is sooo much fun!!

Space mountain is one of my favorites!! We rode it 3 times in 3 days!!!

Monday-May 3rd
We got to sleep in till around 8:30 on Monday and then got ready and went to eat at the continental breakfast before heading back to Disneyland. It was nice that we already did a lot of the big stuff the day before because we weren't really rushed to hit up all the main attractions and we got to enjoy more of the smaller rides and shows which was a lot of fun. Also since it was a Monday the lines weren't as long at either California Disney or Disneyland so that made everything go faster too! Our favorite ride this day was probably Toy Story's Midway Mania which is an amazing shooting game but it is a bunch of carnival games that you are shooting at while whipping you around from game to game. Unfortunately it had the longest line out of them all so we didn't get to do it as often as we would have liked. We also took advantage of the single rider line to do rides the Indiana Jones a second time but faster! It was cute because when I went on this ride I got the steering wheel seat and the older gentleman next to me looked me up and down and said "can you handle it?" We also spent a lot of time at the Future place and saw the robot show which was crazy because he could run, and climb stairs, and kick a soccer ball. Anyways, after we were done at the park which closed at 8 we walked to downtown Disney to browse and we ate at Rainforest Cafe. It was so nice after a long day of walking to sit down and relax with a yummy meal before heading back to our hotel!

Carter in front of the Mr. Potato Head Boardwalk Barker

This Checkers Game was Itouch Coffee table style. Craziness!!!

The ASIMO robot made possible by HONDA

Our Rainforest Cafe Dinner was delish!!

Tuesday-May 4th
This morning we woke up to be at disneyland at 9 to use our special magic morning pass for early admission on select rides. We chose to do the kiddy rides like snow white, and pinnochio that we typically wouldn't wait in line for so that was neat. Then we decided to go over to california to be in the front when the park opened so we could get on Midway Mania again and hopefully do it twice before having to wait in a long line. Unfortunately after high-tailing it to the back of the park we found out it wouldn't be open till 12, so we hung around the park and went back at 12 and it still wasn't open, and then we checked an hour later and still not open. Finally around 2 we went back it was open but there was a long line but we rode it anyways! We also got to go into the Disney Museum which was really neat and saw the electronic Abe Lincoln speech which was incredible lifelike!! We left the park around 6 because we had to check into our dorm at Pepperdine. Our time at Disneyland was fantastic and we have tons of pictures and memories to last us until our next trip!!!

Is Carter the next Walt??

I had been craving this Ice Cream all 3 days because every day we walked by you could smell the waffle cones. When I finally got it, it was absolutely amazing!!

Wednesday- May 5th
Wednesday was our 3rd Anniversary!!! Since we had arrived at Pepperdine the night before for the Bible Lectures we were up and ready to start our day of being filled up with God's word. We both attended many great classes and had many great points that we discussed with each other. It was also fun because we saw quite a few people who we didn't know would be there. It was also awesome because my sister was working the Lectures so I got to hang out with her a lot. Also, for our anniversary my lovely sister bought us yummy anniversary cupcakes from Crumbs. It was sooo sweet of her! We also went to the Malibu Country Mart but unfortunately we didn't see any celebs.

Thursday-May 6th

This morning we woke up for the 7:30 Praise and needless to say we needed a couple cups of coffee to get us moving. I would have to say that one of Our favorite parts of the Lecture was the group singing. It was so great to hear 600-800 people praising the lord at the same time. The main speakers they also brought in were great as well and very encouraging. For lunch on Thursday we joined up with the other people from our church here in North Bend and went to Paradise Cove which is this restaurant on the beach and since we sat outside we took our shoes off and ate lunch with our feet buried in the sand. It was very peaceful and relaxing! We also got to go to our very first OC alumni event and it was at the presidents house which was very cool that we got to go to (my sister was a lil jealous).

I ordered a Cobb salad and THIS is what came out. It was huge and everybody was laughing at how big my horse trough salad was. I barely even finished 1/2 of it.

Look at Carter's poor sunburned head... : (

Josh and Dana.

Friday-May 7th
For Our last day at Pepperdine we skipped out on morning classes and went down to the third street promenade to do a little shopping. We had both been saving up our personal money for spending and were excited to go to stores that we never get to shop at. After we got back we wanted to get seats for the lesson that was to be given by Brad and Debre McCoy (Colt McCoy's Parents) because we figured it would be pretty full. We def. made a good choice by going to their class because it was very powerful and a great class for parents of all ages to hear and it was encouraging for us as people who work with very athletic teens. Friday also held saying goodbye to my sister (so sad). The closing ceremony was very powerful and a perfect ending to the lectureship! We called it a night around 8 and went back to the room to get everything packed up.

The McCoys

Pepperdine Campus

Saturday-May 8th
We left around 8:30 Saturday morning and had a pretty uneventful trip back to Yuba City to stay the night with my family.

Sunday-May 9th
After going to church with my family and seeing beloved church members we took my mom to lunch at Red Robin. Then we headed home where we arrived back to the comfort of our own home around 9:00 Sunday night, satisfied with a fantastic vacation under our belts.

I know this post was long but I really think is that it was more for me then you but I hope you enjoyed it anyways!

We are Headed out tomorrow!!!

2010-04-28T23:19:00.002-07:00

Our long awaited vacation starts tomorrow morning!!! We will be doing 3 things in about 10 days. First my sister Shannon's graduation from Pepperdine University (wohoo sister!!!) and then our anniversary trip to Disneyland (our 3rd anniversary!) and then the Bible Lectures at Pepperdine to finish off the week. We are pysched for this and can't wait for it all to start!!! Expect many many pictures to come!!!

Gold and Silver Falls

2010-04-20T11:47:00.000-07:00

On Sunday we had our Life Group right after church because we were going on an adventure. The Kruse family invited us to their house out in the country for a yummy lunch(and some chasing chicken time) and then took us about 10 miles up river to Gold and Silver falls, a hiking place. It was a fun outing for us because although we only had 4 teens it was also a combination of 3 other families so that was fun!! The hike wasn't too intense but I sure felt out of shape afterwards! You hike up and first there is Silver falls which you look up too and then you continue on and there is Gold Falls which you look down on. It is incredible to see even more of God's Beauty and how peaceful such things are!

Chasing Chickens at the Kruse home

Get em Carter, Get em

I didn't catch this one, it was handed to me, but you know I'm a city girl when I am excited to hold a chicken!

Shane caught this one

It took Carter a while to catch this little rooster

Ross totin everyone around.

Approaching Silver Falls

Isn't it lovely?

Not exactly the best picture of us, but oh well.

That is Carter up behind the fall. I was not surefooted enough to climb up there.

This is Gold Falls.

A Partial Group Shot

Taking a Break

Is this in my future?

2010-04-14T08:25:00.000-07:00

One of the moms at A.F.T.E.R told me to check out this video because she said it was hillarious and so I did. And after watching the whole thing I realized that this could be us one day. What happens is something that I could totally see Carter (the manly man) saying to our possible potential one day son. After I showed it to him he totally agreed so now I figured I would share this video with you if you haven't seen it yet.

Chili Cook Off

2010-04-11T20:37:00.000-07:00

Today we had a chili cook off after morning services. This was sponsored by the youth group to help raise money for the mexico mission trip that Carter and 7 teens will be taking this summer to Zorillo, Mexico. I somehow (okay, it's really because I'm the youth minister's wife) ended up being the one in charge of setting up everything and figuring out how things should go (which really is still new to me) so although I had some great help I was worn out by the time we got home at 2 and still hadn't even eaten because I didn't have time. We had 11 participants which was a MUCH better turnout then we had expected and we took donations and ended up raising $800!!!!!! This was a great start to our fundraising endeavors and we want to send a big THANK YOU to everyone who participated in any way!!!

I made a Chili that had bacon, spicy sausage, hot rotel, ground beef and chocolate in it. Yes I said chocolate. However, it wasn't as big of a hit as I had hoped but Carter liked it which is good since we will probably have it for leftovers sometime this week.

One yummy Cookie!!!

2010-03-30T21:06:00.000-07:00

We have been having Wednesday night church for the teens at our apartment in hopes of drawing more teens. In addition to this I make it a point to have some sort of dessert to entice them further. Last wednesday I made Apple Cinnamon Chunkies and they were a huge success!! Carter especially loved them and he usually is a one cookie only kind of guy, he loves them so much that he had to throw them away on Monday so he would stop eating them every time he walked by.

Here is the Recipe

1 pkg (18 ounces) refrigerated oatmeal raisin cookie dough. {I made homemade oatmeal cookie dough because my picky hubby doesn't like raisins}

1 cup chopped dried apples

1/2 Cup cinnamon baking chips {These were really hard to find but oh so worth it, I finally found them at Albertsons, I never even knew there was such a thing!}

1/2 tsp apple pie spice *or substitute 1/4 tsp cinnamon, 1/8 tsp nutmeg and pinch of allspice or cloves.

Let dough stand at room temperature about 15 minutes. Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease cookie sheets.
Combine dough, apples, cinnamon chips and apple pie spice in large bowl; beat until well blended. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto prepared cookie sheets.
Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on cookie sheets 2-3 minutes. Remove to wire racks. Cool completely
Eat, enjoy, taste the deliciousness, and feel like it's kinda healthy since there are apples!

Impact NW Youth Retreat

2010-03-23T21:50:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we took 8 teenagers (wohooo that's a big number!!) to Impact NW which is a youth weekend sponsored by the Lakeview Church of Christ in Tacoma, WA. This is our second year to take teens and I think that they enjoyed it! Despite the 8 hour trip with all of our stops we considered it to be a bonding experience! The main speaker was Brian Simmons and he did a great job talking about how our sin seperates us from God and causes us to make poor decisions that hinders us from "experiencing" God. I know that this challenged me personally and I'm hoping that the kids took something from it as well. Carter's parents let us stay with them and provided us with more food then we could eat so I want to send them a big Thank YOU for their amazing hospitality!! One of our favorite parts was the comedian they brought in on Saturday night. His name was Thor Ramsey and I haven't laughed that hard in such a long time and it was truly wonderful!! Now I will leave you with some pictures from our weekend.

Van trip

I'm missing somebody, so the group minus 1

Brian dragged Crysta around in this chair to prove some point

Try to get all 5 people in your group on one bucket

Let's try that again!

Hanging out at the Davis'

Hunter is too cool for school.

Some girlies!

Our traditional Red Robin Lunch stop!

Happy

2010-03-12T22:22:00.000-08:00

Although there are many things that make me happy, for Mandy's photo Friday I am entering in this picture from the Tiki Room at Disneyland. I last visited there in October and am soooo excited to get to go back there again in May w/ Carter. Even though I am 23 years old I still get incredibly happy upon entering Disneyland and the Tiki room is one of my stops that I have to see and enjoy and happiness is something I always experience as I sing with the birds in the "Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki room, in the Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki room, where the birds fly high and the flowers bloom, in the Tiki tiki tiki tiki, tiki room." (Now try getting that out of your head for the rest of the day!)

How to start your day off right

2010-03-10T21:51:00.000-08:00

Starting a day off right does not include helping a 3 year old who is not in my preschool class strip off his poop covered sweater while not trying to touch his poop covered hand while not wearing gloves because they for some reason have stopped buying them. Let's just say this morning consisted of quite a few hand washings...

"mmm good, what a yummy graham cracker"

2010-03-02T22:20:00.000-08:00

This week in preschool we are talking about books and reading in honor of Read Across America day which is today, which is also Dr. Seuss' birthday. So, I've been having my kids make their own books. This consists of them illustrating pages and then dictating their story to me. Most of the kids just told me what they drew for the words like, "this is a cat on the bed" or "this is the yellow sun" but this one little girl had a full out plot (well as much as you can have for a 5 year old). So I thought I would share it with you and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

I'm pretty sure the last page is my favorite part. I especially love it when she told me what to write and I have to keep a straight face while making sure that she wants that in her book. Especially the "mmm, that's good, what a yummy graham cracker" part. Gotta love the little guys!!

Bored Ponderings

2010-02-27T18:29:00.002-08:00

As I sit here with my handy dandy laptop I was bored so I decided that I should post on this blog. Carter has been gone since Wednesday so I have a lot of time on my hands. I realize that this blog is super boring as of late but I feel like our life is the same stuff everyday. We don't have kids to post about, our jobs might have interesting moments but we forget them by the time it comes to blog.So, that leaves me with trying to come up with something fabulous to keep your attention.

Bored Ponderings:

1. Even though Carter and I just sit and watch T.V together not talking a lot, watching T.V by myself isn't the same.

2. Coaching wrestling is great for Carter but I selfishly can't wait to have our weekends back again!

3. Why is it that when you just throw on sweats and a hat to go grocery shopping you seem to run into everyone you know?

4. The Olympics are very addicting and I will be a tad bit sad when they are over.

5. However, in regards to the thought above, I will be happy for our normal programming to resume.

6. I miss having a plethra of friends to just hang out with. I need to find a network here but still am not sure where to look.

7. I am very thankful for a mother-in-law who happened to call me as the power went out, at 9:30 at night when I was home by myself. She kept me from freaking my freak.

8. The other day one of the new kindergardeners at AFTER came up to me as said "What's your name again" and I looked at him and wanted to make sure he was talking to me so I said "My Name??" and he goes, "ok, MYNAMe I really need you to..." He had me laughing for a good 5 minutes after that one.

9.When you have to sneeze but can't it really really hurts!

10. I can't wait until we go to Malibu in the beginning of May for my sister's college graduation, anniversary trip, and Pepperdine lectureships all combined.

11. I am so happy that one of my bestest college friends Danielle now has her own blog. Way to go!!!

12. I like to cook, but lately have been feeling uninspired...any ideas?

13. Even Jillian Michael's couldn't keep me excited about working out. Next up is Zumba.

14. I really really really want a dog, unfortunately no dogs are allowed in our apartments, I keep telling Carter that if we got one that didn't bark nobody would ever know. But really, a dog that doesn't bark, I wish!!

15. I love the feeling of sitting in a clean house, unfortunately I have problems keeping it clean. I should have known it would be an issue based on my problems keeping my room clean when I was younger (right mom!?!?)

16. Okay I can't really think of anything else right now and I need to go get some dinner for myself so toodaloo for now.

Preschool Pledge

2010-02-24T13:07:00.004-08:00

This is my preschool class doing our pledge of allegiance and singing "My country Tis' of thee"and they are too cute so I just had to share with you guys! We have been working on it since the beginning of the school year in September and we've had it down pat since the end of December. Enjoy!!

30-day Shred, YIKES!!!

2010-02-10T22:16:00.000-08:00

This workout DVD is the bain of my existence. I have been wanting to do better about getting in shape, but I hate hate hate working out. I wish I could have the body without any work but doesn't everybody I guess. So in the quest for a great workout I found the Jillian Michael's- 30 day shred workout video and it seems like people had great results. So I got excited about it, got my mom to buy it...got a couple of friends to do it to through talking about it on Facebook, found out some friends were doing it and got even more excited. Then I did it. And it was terrible. Now don't get me wrong, it's a good workout. It leaves you sore for days and hurts while doing it. But, that's what makes it so hard for me to get motivated to do it. I don't want to wake up 30 minutes early to put myself through torture (okay maybe it's not that bad). So, I've been missing days here and there and now I feel guilty. So, I'm hoping that by writing this post I'm kind re-committing myself to dear ole' Jillian. That she can kick by butt every morning and I'll know that I'll live as I'm gasping for air. However, if you don't hear from me in a week you might want to consider the risk that Jillian has killed me. Till then...have a great day.

Photography Friday-Blue Theme

2010-02-06T12:27:00.000-08:00

I had to sort through a lot of my pictures to find the best "blue" picture for Mandy's friday contest. It was fun going down memory lane while browsing and I decided upon this picture. It is from a fall break trip during my freshman year of college '04. We went to St. Louis to work with inner city kids and this was from a trip to the park. I love how happy the little girl is just simply swinging in the sunlight. Makes me feel happy every time I look at it!

No more metal futon butt!!

2010-02-04T22:53:00.001-08:00

Our latest purchase has been this nice 10" full size futon (in black) from overstock.com This has been on our list of things to buy for a while but we finally decided on it last week and it arrived today. It was already thick when we got it and it's supposed to get even better within 24-48 hours! This new mattress became a must have for us since we always give up our bed when our parents come to town and the other mattress was so uncomfortable that we never sat on it and sleeping on it was for just 1 and very very uncomfortable. It is also perfect timing because Clayton and Sarah are coming to visit in a couple weeks and they will now have a good nights rest. I know it's pathetic that I'm posting about a mattress but I now get excited about the little things in life (since nothing else really happens) and this just happens to be one of those things!

Where oh where is my paperwork.

2010-02-01T23:03:00.000-08:00

One of the worst parts of being an adult (I've decided) is gathering up all the paperwork to turn in for taxes. Luckily we are having somebody do ours for us who will help us find all the breaks for people in ministry but it is a pain in the rear end trying to make sure we have all of our forms in order and gathering all the receipts that I should have been saving but ended up misplacing or throwing away. So three cheers to you if you already have yours compiled or even finished, and good luck if you are still in gathering mode like me!

Photography Friday

2010-01-23T11:19:00.001-08:00

Below is my entry for Mandy's friday photography contest. The theme this week is Water. This picture was taken at one of our local beaches from a spot that you have to hike to where there is this ledge with a gourgeous view of the ocean.

What would we do without our DVR?

2010-01-16T19:50:00.002-08:00

So don't think any less of us after this post but I'll admit it now, we are TV people. You could even call us TVaholics. It is our way of relaxing and unwinding after a long day. Whenever we are home the tv is usually on, even if we are not watching it. I will just call this our little luxury for now because I know that once we have kids we will be relegated to one or two shows that we may not even consistently watch.

So for now this is our list of our guilty little pleasures in life. It is long, and yes we watch them all. This is what is on our DVR list (in exact order).

1. The Ellen DeGeneres show (Hers)
2. Bones (Ours)
3. Castle (Ours)
4. Better off Ted (Ours)
5. Deadliest Warrior (His)
6. The Ultimate Fighter (His)
7. Cupid (Ours)
8.In Plain Sight (Ours)
9. Law and Order SVU (Ours)
10. The Goode Family (Ours)
11. Burn Notice (Ours)
12.Royal Pains (Hers)
13. America's Got Talent (Hers)
14. Leverage (Ours)
15. Psych (Ours)
16. Clash of the Gods (His)
17. The Mentalist (Ours)
18. Lie to Me (Ours)
19. UFC Fight Night (His)
20. Dancing with the Stars (Hers)
21.Law and Order: CI (ours)
22. House (ours)
23. Bones (ours)
24. Grey's Anatomy (Ours)
26. Dirty Jobs (ours)
27. Ugly Betty (Hers)
28. The Amazing Race (Ours)
29. V (Ours)
30. The Biggest Loser (Ours)
31. The Bachelor (Hers)
32. Glee (Hers)
33. Human Target (HIs)
34. LOST

Now granted, these all aren't on air at the same time but when they are we sometimes tape 3-4 shows a night. That is why I am so thankful for our DVR or else we'd have to cut some of them out...

Long Overdue: Visit to my sister in Malibu

2010-01-09T16:14:00.000-08:00

So back in the beginning of November I got to go visit my sister in Malibu. I was so excited because I haven't been to see her at school (Pepperdine) since she's gone there (and she's a senior). It was great to get to see her cute house and meet her roomates as well as a lot of her friends. She took me to do all the touristy stuff and she didn't mind a bit since it is all stuff that she never does herself since she lives there.

One of the first things we did was she took me to one of the private beaches where they tend to film movies at and we of course took a picture.

We also went to a nicer place for breakfast one morning and the Malibu Country Market and waited around with our coffees FOREVER to possibly catch a glimpse of somebody famous and to my disapointment we didn't see anybody = (

We also went down to the Hollywood walk of fame and took a look at all the stars and handprints at Grauman's Chinese Theatre. I don't want to dissapoint anybody, and although I've been there once before it still does disspoint me, but it is VERY dirty and creepy down there. We also ate at Hooters all by ourselves which was pretty funny to us.

Then we also made a trip to Rodeo drive to dream about all the stores and very very expensive clothes in all the stores. There was every big name store there and had us singing "Dolce and Gabonna, Fendi and Nadonna" and of Course we had to stop and take a look inside Tiffany & co. We also got cupcakes from this favorite famous place called "Sprinkles" and it was delicious!!!!!

We also went down to the Santa Monica Pier and ate at Bubba Gumps and went shopping down at the promenade there. It was fun because just the other day they showed a clip of the Pier and I was like "I'VE BEEN THERE!!!"

My sister of course, also gave me a tour of her campus and we took a picture on these steps where we have a picture from many moons ago when we were little at the Pepperdine bible lectures.

Also, what is a trip to southern California without stopping at Disneyland? Well not to worry because we went there on my last day with my sister. Hillary also came with us who is a freshman at Pepperdine and grew us with us at our home church in Yuba City. While at Disneyland we participated in a pepperdine Alumni scavenger hunt which tested our knowledge of Disney and although we didn't win added a twist to the Disney experience.

Eating some Dole Whip (pineapple yumminess) before the tiki room.

The Matterhorn

It's a small world!

Everybody who participated in the scavenger hunt.

Bug's life 4-D experience

This ride was so intense. Enlarge the picture and just check out our expressions!!

The fireworks were cancelled so they made it snow on main street. Everybody got soooo excited!!

The tower of terror, I was petrified!! But the ride was incredible.

This trip was great and my sister was a fantastic tour guide!! I loved getting to spend some quality time with her and I am so proud of the young lady she has become!

Wrestling Coach

2010-01-06T20:20:00.000-08:00

Something else that has been taking up a lot of Carter's time is that he is one of the main J.V coach's at Marshfield High School here in Coos Bay. This has been a great opportunity for him and he loves getting to experience being a part of wrestling (if you didn't know he was an avid wrestler in H.S and he still loves to keep up with it now) he even gets to roll around with the guys which is great for him. However, I say that wrestling is both a blessing and a curse. It is so great for him, but it is incredibly time consuming and before the holidays it felt like he was gone almost every night and every saturday because of wrestling, but it seems like the season is starting to calm down a little more. Another one of the blessings of wrestling besides Carter enjoying it is that he gets to spend a lot of time with the wrestlers and show them his positive Christian influence as well as get his name out there more which I know will help to make the ministry thrive even more.

Christmas

2009-12-27T22:47:00.000-08:00

This year we traveled up to Tacoma on Wednesday for Christmas festivities. On Thursday (Christmas Eve) we just hung out all day and Carter and I went to IHOP with Silas and Sarah Fitzsimmons (friends from Carter's church here as well as OC buddies). It was fun reminescing with them and enjoying some companionship with people our age since we don't know very many people in our age group in north bend. At night our Christmas Eve dinner was ate at "Famous Daves" which is a BBQ place and that was yummy. Following dinner we drove around to see all the lights and we went through "Spanaway Lights" which is a long drive through lights show that lasted over 20 minutes and they did a great job with it!

Christmas day Carter's brother Clayton and his wife Sarah came over around 11 and we opened presents. We got spoiled and ended up with quite a few great things and a decent amount of chirstmas spending money. We spent the rest of our day playing games and eating a yummy ham dinner followed by going to the movie Sherlock Holmes (a pretty great film).

The Dogs thought the presents were for them and were begging like crazy.

On Saturday we went shopping at the SUPER MALL where I made quite a dent in my christmas money but I got tons and tons of great deals. Carter only bought 1 pair of pants and 1 movie. (why am I not suprised).

Sunday we have spent at church and then with Clayton and Sarah and Paula and Darrell all playing games and having a good time, followed by dinner at Red Robin (Carter's Fav).

So far we have had a great and relaxing trip and we are just enjoying being with family and seeing people from here.

Long overdue Judo Tourney Post

2009-12-06T13:52:00.003-08:00

So back in October Carter had a Judo Tournament that I've been wanting to post about. But I wanted to include video with the post but our Mac wasn't working and our dell wouldn't let me download video. So now, I have this working and I'm going to post about that crazy weekend.

The tourney was up in Spanaway, WA so we stayed with Carter's parents and they joined us at the tournament as well as Sarah our sister-in-law (Clayton's wife). Carter did great, he won 2 out of four matches and his last match was to get "true second." During his last match he was fighting the guy he had beat the first time but this time things went wrong. We didn't know this but apparently the guy had head butted him when they fell and split open Carters chin pretty good. They guy ended up throwing Carter for an Ipon (an instant win) and when Carter went over to the medic area we had no idea what was going on. So after a lot of chaos over there Carter walks over with his sensei (coach) and announces to us that he needs to go and get 4-6 stitches. The stitches thing ended up being so annonying because him and his dad went to urgent care and as they were filling out paperwork the lights went out so they ended up having to go to the hospital. About 6 hours later everybody was back at the Davis house for a late dinner and a quick game of pictionary with Carter's nasty chin.

Oh yeah, Carter received 3rd place overall. So proud of him!!

Showing off our coast

2009-11-07T15:00:00.000-08:00

A view from where we hiked

This is a view from where we hiked at, isn't it beautiful!?!?

There might be a seal in here

The following 3 pictures are of some seal covered rocks down the road from where we hiked. Unfortunately they are so far away that you can't see them by eye, just by super zoom camera or binoculars.

A few weeks ago we had a recruiter from York College who was on the west coast come to town to visit with some of our kids. She ended up staying with us and had never really been to the ocean before so since I didn't have to work in the morning the next day I took her down to the beach, and then on a little hike that leads to cliffs that hang over the ocean. She of course loved it and thought it was gourgeous. We also were lucky to see tons of seals swimming below us probably going fishing but that was fun. It was such a gourgeous day outside too that I couldn't help but take some pictures to share with all of you!

Animals do the funniest things

2009-11-06T18:02:00.003-08:00

Just a little warning that these videos are gross but extremely funny...Just thought I would share them with all of you so you can say ahhhhhhhhh.....grossssssssss.............!!!!!!!1