Utah

Dear Utah,

I miss you. I miss your hot summer days and crazy lightning storms, I miss driving past my old elementary school, I miss seeing a temple every few minutes while driving, I miss dunford donuts, and Cafe Rio. I miss my old roomates and highschool friends. I miss my family.

My heart is so full when I get to go home. So is the schedule. We always try to fit it ALL in. And this month was no different. I must confess I wish I took more pictures. We did SO many fun things and half the time we didn't realize until after the fact that we didn't take one picture! I guess that's part of just living the fun instead of worrying about camera stuff...

Anyhow, we did get some pictures. And I wanted to post a few H.O.M.E. Highlights....

Mini Golf with the Fam.

Visit from Great Grandma Thompson! 4 Generations!

My mom prepared the most amazing meals!

Jacob's first Zoo trip with the Uncles...

Ha, my little monkey!

Visiting friends! A tasty lunch at Pei Wei (also very missed!) with Ashley...

Amy, and Becca B. why didn't we get any pictures???

That makes me so sad. I miss all you girls! Next time for sure.

So many celebrations: My first nephew on our side is coming in just three weeks! We threw Rachel a Whinnie the Pooh shower since she LOVES all things Disney and used to collect whinnie the pooh stuff....

My mom and I made our first diaper cake, and we also created some tasty Tigger Tails like they have at Disneyland! Yum!

Becca and I went out to take some maternity photos of Rach. She hates being in front of the camera, but was such a great sport and I think we got tons of great stuff! Here's just a couple...

We also celebrated Johnny's 19th birthday and mission farewell...

(Can you tell we're related? Just look at the rediculous wrinkled foreheads! Hah!)

He's so much fun and I miss him so much already. But I'm sooo proud of him and very excited for his upcoming adventures in New Jersey.

Dear Family,

I miss you. I miss you everyday and can't wait to see you again.

Blueberry Meadows

Even before we moved to Oregon, this was something I was looking forward to. The most delicious fresh fruit and veggies right down the road.

This weekend we had a family date night- Blueberry Picking!

Well, of course we took way too many pictures...

(I've been trying some new things in photoshop, so nevermind the lack of "matchiness".)

I asked Stephen to be the main photographer today, since I am usually behind the camera. I figured Jacob should probably have at least a few pics of his mom in his book. I'd say he captured some good stuff... Thanks Stephen, these mean the world to me.

The teaching, the tasting, the sharing...

He became a natural born berry picker. He only got stuck in the bush a couple times, and actually enjoyed the blueberries! I have been trying to get him to taste them for over a year now but he's always refused. It was a good day for both of us!

I LOVE this picture- can you see who he's carting around in his bucket along with the blueberries?

Pretty special watching him learn and taste new things.

We went home with all this for only two dollars. Now for some blueberry muffins, cobbler, pancakes, etc. Who wants to come visit?

The Independent One

Yeehaw!

The Ranch trip was awesome! We somehow fit 80-ish people in the lodge

(and surrouding camping areas) which was total chaos but so much fun.

Rachel, my mom, and I were in charge this year- so we were super busy. But inbetween responsibilities we played games, swam in the pond, relaxed, went to workshops taught by talented cousins, looked in the old buildings remembering when we had to do "changeovers", ate the biggest & best smores of my life, etc...

I meant to take a lot more pictures, but like I said, we were busy.

I mostly just LOVED sharing this special place with my little man.

Dirty face, dirty knees, and all.

He LOVED the bounce house. (Anything that makes him feel like a big kid.)

Hah, a little too much bouncing...

Poor kid actually got the stomach flu the next day.

And looked like this most of the rest of the trip.

We were so thrilled when Stephen showed up Saturday morning as a surprise! He was able to find a super cheap flight and made the trip if only for a day and a half. It made my weekend!

Jake was a little weirded out by the barn dance. I thought he'd dig it....

But it was hard to pull him away from the party lights...

Everyone else seemed to have a great time!

I'm so grateful we could share these memories together.

Thank you, Grandma and Grandpa for bringing the family back to the ranch.

We sure missed you Caleb, Becca, and Dad.

The last morning I was determined to take some cute pictures of Jacob in the amazing sunflower field. He was so not in the mood. Which is understandable. So this is the true storyline... Even Buzz Lightyear couldn't change his mind.

We did get some pretty great photography practice with a few other cousins and their families- I'll be posting some of those on the photog blog soon.

(And Yes, I still need to send out those invite emails.

I just wanted to post this quick one today...

Thanks for the comments and addresses!)

Thinking About It...

Ah, the debate on making a personal blog private. I have thought about it SEVERAL times. Ever since I started putting up pics of the little one, using names, telling you my deepest darkest secrets....

Well, after doing some social research, I realize it would obviously be smarter to do so.

(I am planning on updating it a lot more often since being that much further from family and knowing our visits will be few and far in-between the next few years.) I suppose it's wise to know who our "audience" is.

Therefore, someday in the nearest future I am planning on trendily "Going Private". Though that sounds kinda lame. How about, "By invitation only"?

I know I will lose the "loyalty" of some of our reader friends. I admit I check the private blogs way less often then those that automatically show up on my list. But if you really care at all what we Davis 3 are up to, then all you have to do is leave a comment/let me know your email and I will get on that within the next week or so.

And if for some reason you are bloggin along with me, and I don't have your address on my reader, please let me know. The more the merrier! (Within reason of course.)