Team Davis

Lately there is quite a bit of rivalry and quarreling among the best friends, the Davis sisters. As a result we had another "Team Davis" family night last night. We set out to make crepes, each person in charge of an ingredient. Once the batter was ready we went out to the strawberry patch and loaded up some baskets of berries. All had a role either in washing or cutting the berries, or starting on the crepes. The girls were singing, and helpful and tolerant. Working together means happy kids. And eating the crepes was oh-so-joyful!

Mmmm...Nutella

We watched a short clip from the movie, Miracle, (if you haven't seen this movie it is well worth a rental!) where the coach has the USA Olympic team do hours of drills after losing a preliminary game where each player was playing for himself. After being pushed to the point of exhaustion one of the players yells, "I...(heavy breathing)...play for...the United States of America." This is what the coach wanted to hear. Instead of playing for themselves or their college team, he wanted to hear that they were playing for the United States and not for the name on the back of their jersey. They, of course, go on to win the gold against the Russians.

We talked about what that means for our Team Davis. What is our goal? How does a team work together, and why? The girls seem to get it...in theory.

After every family prayer we gather our hands together and in French say, "Davises Forever!" This tradition came from Geoff's family and I admit that at first I thought it was a little hokey. But it keeps the end goal in our minds daily, and it reminds us that we belong to something much larger than ourselves.


Sometimes as a parent I wonder if any of this kind of stuff sinks in. But I have to teach it anyway...and often over and over again. I choose to believe that in the long run we'll realize our goal, even if it takes us awhile.

Kipper is FIVE!

We're not really sure when Kipper's real birth date is but Tennie's spoke with the most conviction (as usual) about May 27th, and so today we celebrated his fifth birthday.

Since I'm not a huge dog lover, and really have Kipper because I know pets are good for kids and they love him, I'm probably not the one to write a meaningful post about how he's changed our lives, or all of his lovable qualities. So I won't. But he is a good dog, and he has seen us through quite a few eventful years. Happy Birthday, Kipper!

We took him on our temple outing today and let him roam and romp around the park-like grounds.
A real dog celebration.

While romping and roaming with Kipper Adele got in a tree and asked, "Mom, do you have any pictures of me in a tree?" Probably a dozen, but I couldn't resist.

Poetry with Poppop

Thursday is poetry night during dinner, and tonight's guest poetry reader was Geoff's dad. He reads from the same book of poetry for children that his parents read him as a child, and he has a knack for engaging the girls. Sitting at the table I looked up and saw the girls gathered around, eating their post-dinner popcorn (made to lengthen the dinner hour), and loving poetry. I ran to get the camera...


It was a perfect moment.

Summer Fever

It is hard to get home mid-May from a 5-week trip and jump back into the rigors of school. Our official last day is this Friday, although Tennie will be doing math into next week. We're moving at a slower, more relaxed pace. We're all ready to be DONE!

This past week zoomed by. Since we seem to be slow moving we don't seem to be doing much. The weather is unseasonably cool, but sunny, and the girls are outside a lot. We're starting to bring in baskets of strawberries from the garden, and the bikes have a renewed appeal.


During these summer months Geoff and I are taking the girls to the temple with us weekly. While one is inside the other will bike, hike, explore with the kids. Last week the idea was that we would all paint the temple. Instead the girls explored the beautiful grounds, and Adele painted a guinea pig.


Saturday I went to a fundraising tea with my friend Cindy while Geoff and the girls explored Empire State Mine, the largest mine during the Gold Rush. One can still go down into the mine, but they didn't have time to do that during this visit.



Two days until some long naps and laz(ier) days...and counting!....

"What?! We have to weed the corn rows before we swim?!" (General moans and eye rolling...)

I went out to get a shot of them taking their first dip of the year, but they jumped into the 65 degree water and were out in a flash. I found them drying off on the shed roof...

A week in Utah

We're now back in Auburn with the clothes washed and put away, the car emptied and cleaned, and the fridge and pantry stocked with all of the colorful foods we didn't eat much of while living out of a suitcase.

In between Moab and Auburn we spent a fun week in Salt Lake City, and I plan to fit it an eventful week into one post!

My brother Nate and his wife Kim made the long trip from Colorado to see us. They are so fun and lively, and we loved every minute with them. We also saw my brother Mitch, his wife Joann and their little guy, Tag. It was nice to see Mitch and Joann but I must admit that Tag was really the main attraction! The girls and I couldn't get enough of him. Only bummer...I didn't get any pictures...too busy playing catch, and watching him show off his new ability to jump!

One day we played a long game of Monopoly. It was a first for the girls and they are hooked! (Although Tennie kept sharing her money with Adele who was broke...hardly the real objective of the game...but she showed the true Z School spirit!)


It was great as always to hang out with my dad and his wife, Babs. They were very good sports giving up their calm and slow lifestyle for the week! Nate's wife Kim is always making something amazingly delicious in the kitchen. We ate like royalty all week.

Tennie and Ceci with Nate and my dad

A swim in my dad's hot tub

One day we played charades, the girl's favorite (a nice way to engage everyone).



Adele got the royal treatment from her aunts.

Kim french braiding her hair

Joann doing her nails

Geoff spent a few days of the week at an Influencer training. After a meeting in Provo we went up the canyon to Sundance. We can't seem to visit Utah without a visit to this beautiful place.

A traditional Sundance sucker

We spent some time with Geoff's siblings, too. We had dinner in Provo with Davey, Erica and Brittany a few nights, and spent one evening in Salt Lake with his sister Nikki. We felt so welcome and loved everywhere we went, and we kept commenting how lucky we are to have such a great family.

Saturday we ran/walked a 5K sponsored by Nikki's law firm. We all woke up early and were pretty tired from a busy week so it took some coaxing to keep little Ceci going. But she finished!

Sunday we went to Temple Square and saw a live performance/recording of The Spoken Word which is broadcast from the Tabernacle every Sunday morning. It was awesome! Our prophet, President Monson, was there too!

In front of the Tabernacle on Temple Square

The girls with their cousin Bailey in front of the Salt Lake Temple (where Geoff and I were married!)

Geoff's sister Emily, her husband Mike, and their daughter Bailey returned home from Hawaii the day before we left. We had been staying in their home all week (it was remarkably strange to have our own place!) It was great to see their tan faces before we left.

The drive home was long. You know that moment when you really wish you could push a button and a thick, sound-proof wall would separate the front seats from the mayhem in the back seats? Geoff pulled off the freeway. He wouldn't drive until things calmed a bit. With great wisdom, as usual, instead of getting mad he suggested, in an energetic and happy voice (where he pulled it from is still a mystery) that we spell 'Davis' with rocks. The girls jumped out of the car with enthusiasm and got to work. Ten minutes later they hopped in the car happy and cooperative. Bless Geoff's patient soul.


And now with two weeks of school left we are looking towards SUMMER!

Moab, Arches and Canyonlands

Our last stop was Moab, Arches and Canyonlands. We camped in a secluded and intimate campground with beautiful red rock all around. The weather was warm. There was one wee annoyance...caterpillars. Tens of thousands of them. They fell from the trees like raindrops. They crawled all over the tent (and inside if allowed...we learned quickly). They built cocoons within hours all over the zippers of our sleeping bags, in the crevices of our tent, and they snuck into our food boxes and suitcases if left out for even a few minutes. So there was that. And the last day, and the morning we left (a day early) it was very windy and the red sand coated our tent and hair and teeth. So there was that. And both Adele and Ceci each saw snakes in the campground and were afraid for a good while. So there was that. But those things paled in comparison to the awesomeness of the campground and its environs.

Moonflower Campground - Moab, Utah

Can you spot Tennie? The girls LOVED scaling these rocks.

There they go, on the way to the top where they disappeared for hours.

The girls were very serious about rescuing the dozens of caterpillars on each of our tires before we went anywhere. They built caterpillar preschools and playgrounds.

Morning Glory Arch Trail - Moab, Utah - 4.5 miles round trip








Arches National Park

Balancing Rock

Delicate Arch Trail - Arches National Park - 3 miles round trip

Arches National Park Junior Rangers at your service

Canyonlands National Park

Geoff's sister Nikki and Erica, and Erica's husband Davey joined us for a few nights of camping and a day in Canyonlands. It was so fun having them along.

We picnicked at this spot, the Grand Point View Overlook

Mesa Arch Trail - .5 miles round trip

This trail is just about all we were up for at this point in the trip. We were pretty exhausted. Our fellow family members continued on another hike after this while we spent some time working on the girls Junior Ranger books, which might consist of identifying rocks, plants, or animals, writing a poem, spotting responsible behavior in nature, picking up trash, watching a short movie about the park, listening to a ranger speak about an aspect of a given park, drawing a picture of their favorite spot, doing a maze, etc. There were different levels of difficulty and each of the girls was in a different level. They learned a lot from these booklets. It is a great education program offered by all national parks.

Canyonlands had a Junior Ranger backpack full of books, field guides and activity pages. It was at least 15 pounds! Ceci was determined to carry it on our short hike. I didn't let her go far before taking it over in fear of long-term skeletal damage! When at the arch she and I spent a good while looking at the books, trying to find animal tracks, and identifying trees. She is an eager little learner and always exclaiming, "That is so intrasting!"

That makes four badges on their camelback backpacks

That wraps up our family adventure!