Snow Canyon Sand Dunes

 Here is our last post from Southern Utah this time around.  We went to Snow Canyon to play in the Sand Dunes.  My cousin Logan was super nice to send me some pictures he took.

Zion National Park

Saturday we went to Zion National Park which is one of our favorite places on this beautiful planet.  Wintertime in the park is cold but empty, which means it was mostly just us and the wildlife.

A few miles outside Zion is a small ghost town called Grafton which we never tire of visiting. It began in the 1880s and ended in the early 1900s.  I imagine Mormon pioneers settling this wild and majestic area and admire their grit.  The small cemetery is full of old tombstones, a few of which say, "Killed by Indians".  

 I tried to capture the rock mountain in the background.  It looks less grand here than it really is.

 This schoolhouse was also used as a church and social hall.

Cowboys from all over the region used to come to the Friday night dances.

Behind this little house was a small barn.  Ceci did some exploring and found a hidden, original, covered wagon.

Guinea pig surprise - continued

I forgot to post the sad ending we had to our guinea pig surprise.  Tennie's Louis(a) died while in labor, and Benjamin(a)'s two off-spring died within a few days.  Very, very sad. 

Red Cliffs

While Adele and Grandma went on an early birthday outing, and I stayed home to catch up on some things, Geoff, Tennie and Ceci went to Red Cliffs to one of our favorite area hikes. We can't get enough of the red rocks around here.

Exploring the roots of a tree!

Happy 2012

It was time to change our blog header, for cryin' out loud. The girls have grown from this picture nearly two years ago...
to this one...


My they are growing up quickly. We took these pictures early in December but I'm just now getting around to posting them. There are many more but blogger will not upload my photos! Any other recommended blog sites out there? Blogger is driving me nuts! Speak to me!






Here is the text for our New Year's email that went out today. Tennie wrote it.

Ceci (7) is so flexible and loves to dance. She danced to three songs and sang to three in a sing and dance recital. Her sisters were in it too. She also acts. She was in Narnia as a fairy and in a colonial play, at our cousin summer camp, was George Washington. Ceci is also a very determined reader. One day she was stumbling at reciting the alphabet, the next day she was fluently reading Bob Books. She also plays tennis.

Adele (9 and 11/12) was also in the dance recital and plays. She was a fairy with Ceci and was Abigail Adams in the Colonial play. Adele also plays tennis. She's really good, and can play in crocs! In the Spring Adele started painting and drawing. She's so good and lots of our friends bought some of her paintings!

Tennie (11) was in the dance recital too. In Narnia she was the White Witch's dwarf, and she was director of the Colonial play. She loves writing. She goes to a writing and Latin class (I even wrote this card...)

Mom is still homeschooling. She teaches so many different subjects, and learns a lot herself! If she's not in the school room she's in the kitchen making yummy (and sometimes the opposite) food.

Dad cooks too. Sometimes mom needs a break. He also does yoga every day. He takes us sisters out to play tennis. Basically he's freakin' awesome.

We love and miss you!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

The Davises

New Year's Eve

We had a great New Year's eve. The kids played with 2nd cousins all day, then in the evening we had a party at my cousin Adam and his wife Amber's home.

We took a little hike in the afternoon - the girls with 2nd cousin Halle

The girls played hide and seek and a keep-away game in the streets for hours on end

The girls discovered Just Dance on the Wii and this dominated most of our New Year's eve celebrations. I'm pretty sure it isn't accurate as Geoff scored higher than I did...

The neighbors were lighting huge fireworks so our party moved outside. We gave our kids silly string, which was definitely a kid favorite! We had a contest to see who could create the biggest ball of string after it was over so they even cleaned up their own mess (loser had to sing a solo in front of everyone...)


So long 2011!

Water, mud and sticks

We've spent several hours yesterday and today at the river across the street from my mom's home. The weather has been magnificent. The girls were restless and irritable with each other indoors, but when we took them to some sand, mud and water they were energized and delightful children.

Yesterday we built a pretty rustic shelter (playing like we were stranded on a deserted island). Today, with the help of one of their second cousins, Geoff and the girls built a pretty darn awesome hideaway. Kids are so present in their activities. It was good to learn that from them today.

More second cousins came, and then as the day turned into night all the kids played in the street and we adults stood together and visited. It is fun that my girls are comfortable with my aunts and cousins and my cousins' kids. The more extensive the family connections the better!





And today...