Christmas Parties

Our church Christmas party was so great! The people who organized it did an amazing job with decorations,  dinner, musical numbers, and the nativity program. I really enjoyed the retelling of the Christmas story and wasn't sad a bit that Santa didn't make an appearance . Love!

I still need the recipe for the creamed corn that was served as one of the pot luck sides. Yum! Who even knew such deliciousness existed until I moved to Texas.

So, so lovely.

At Zach's work Christmas party they had a great waiting area with all kinds of activities while we anticipated the arrival of the guest of honor.

Lucy's favorite feature of any party: The bounce house

Um, cute!

Lovin' up on Dad while they can!

Nice little peach fuzz hair coming in. Very nice, very nice.

He rolled up to the gate in style.

Santa is hardcore in Texas.

That's one classy Santa Claus.

Lucy posing with Dad in front of the "shooters"

I don't know how you beat that kind of entrance. Space shuttle? Teleporter?

Winterfest & Movie Night

Our little community hosted a Winterfest and the girls and I stopped by to check it out while Zach ran errands. I heard that there would be snow!

We brought a few toys to donate to the Santa's Workshop and got some tickets for rides, but because it was so cold we didn't even end up using them. We did win coupons for some free desserts at the Chick-fil-A booth, and some free hot chocolate mix.

Lucy also enjoyed writing a letter to Santa telling him her Christmas wish and also shared what she was giving her Dad for Christmas.

North, to Alaska!

She loves these costume suits and was laughing the whole time. Eat more chicken!

The "Snow" I had heard so much about. Lucy's face says it all: Disappointment/confusion

Oh, well! Stand on it, poke at it with your mitten, take a picture, and we're off!

Despite the surprisingly freezing temperatures that day, and the somewhat of a let down on the snow front, it was a fun activity to go and check out. Next year we will have to have Zach come with us so that he can take Lucy on some of the rides while I stand with the baby.



Another fun activity we did for a family day was to go see the movie Frozen at the theater. This was both Lucy and Clara's first movie theater experience and they both did great, minus one small incident with Clara. Half way through the movie at the climax musical number I realized she needed a diaper change, stat.

Suffice it to say that it wasn't her first bath in a public restroom sink. By this point I am pro. Lucky for her I had an extra outfit in the diaper bag for her to change into! Then back to the movie to enjoy the rest of the show. She even fell asleep for the last bit.

Anticipation!

Excited!

Lucy loved it, and is very eager for her next movie theater experience.

Thanksgiving 2013: Reunion

Originally for Thanksgiving we had planned on having some friends come visit and stay with us in our new house. Unfortunately, we had to cancel because we hadn't even moved in until a few days before!

Thankfully we received a few dinner invitations locally and were able to go visit with my old roommate Marianne, and her husband Brian, (who had been my brother Boyd's roommate), and Marianne's brother and his wife and kids who were so gracious to host the Thanksgiving dinner at their home.

The dinner was amazing, and the company was even better.

We were so grateful that David & Elise invited us! It was so great to see everyone and catch up after not having seen them for several years.

The best picture I could find of us with all our girls. Ha!

My loves!

The kidlets. 

Searching for deals and planning Black Friday excursions.

Love, love, love this girl!

Clara's head was a good support for standing apparently.

Baby besties hanging out under the swing.

Kid wrangling. 

I am so, so glad that we were able to meet up again after all this time. Lucky for us they only live a few hours away now. Let's not wait another six years before seeing each other again!


Here's to living closer to friends and family!

A Bass Pro Shops Christmas

One of the surprisingly best Christmas activities we went to this year was a simple family night at Bass Pro Shops. Our friends from church invited us to meet up with them there and we had a great time with free crafts, rides, and a family picture with Santa!

The store is always an interesting place to visit because of the extensive taxidermy displayed throughout the entire store. It also has an enormous fish tank the size of our living room where you can see all kinds of fish. The Christmas decorations just made it an even more fun place to visit for the holidays. Lucy really enjoyed seeing her friends from church, all the animals on display, and especially telling Santa her Christmas wish.

Way to go Pro Bass Shops! We even bought a few small tin mugs with candles in them that looked like hot chocolate for stocking stuffers and some homemade fudge and divinity from the sweet shop on our way out. Yum!

Obligatory picture of Clara's favorite pastime while on an outing: Looking around doing nothing, wishing she was free from her stroller prison

Free crafts with all our friends!

Just chillin'

The girls at the North Pole!

Amazing sweet potato casserole fudge and divinity

This is one Christmas activity I will definitely be doing again next year for a family night! I loved that everything was free (ride, picture, craft, looking around store) and there was a variety of things to entertain for an entire outing.


Anyone else have any fun local activities I should know about for next year?

Home in December

Here are assorted pictures of us getting comfy in our house during the month of December.

Pink Pj twinners!

Snuggling for warmth when the temps dropped.

More snuggling.

Lucy enjoying her See's Halloween treats from Grandpa Billy and Grandma Gayle.

It's like looking into a mirror!

Skyping with family.

"Mom, why is there a Jesus card?" "Who is this, mom? Is this a prophet?"

Excited to get another cousin!

Mango Baby

These pictures were from January 2014 when Clara had just gotten teeth, and we were experimenting on solid foods.

Nom, nom, nom!

Here's to new experiences and happy babies!

Thirteen for 2013

Sometimes we get discouraged about all the things we didn't do- goals we failed to achieve, or just things we didn't make the time for. Instead of lamenting and feeling guilty about what we missed, let's focus on some of the positive, uplifting, and even hard things we've done this year- even if they were unplanned and not a "goal".

Here are Thirteen  Awesome Accomplishments for 2013:


1. Made a baby
Clara Rose Davis came in 2013 while I battled with gestational diabetes, sickness, and stress. I am so glad everything turned out well.



2. Had something removed from my arm
Might not seem like a big deal to most people, but I have been working on overcoming my anxiety about needles, shots, etc. for the past five or so years and have come a looooong way. I didn't have any tears, and I didn't even feel like I was having a panic attack afterwards!



3. Moved
A somewhat expected change, but with very little information until the last minute. Sad to leave all our friends, but excited to move to a bigger city with a Temple and big airport, which hopefully translates into seeing family more!



4. Lots of fun family visits!
Nana & Poppa, Scott & Christina, Dad & Gayle, Boyd



5. Another year as RS President
Thank goodness for my amazing presidency members who have helped me out so much this year as I was traveling, sick, with a new babe, etc. Thank you!



6. Garage Sale
Participated last minute in a friends garage sale and got to unload stuff that I would have just donated anyway. Downsized and made money doing it!



7. Zumba!
I do not like to sweat, but I love to dance! I made a point to attend free Zumba exercise classes and loved being able to work out and make friends at the same time.




8. Sold our house/bought a house
It took a long time to find the right house to buy, but thankfully only took two weeks to sell our old house. What a huge relief it was to not have that house to worry about as we moved forward.




9. Pink Tea Society Parties
Had a blast participating in mommy and me tea parties (pink lemonade) with some church friends. Only wish we could have hosted more before moving. It was so fun planning, dressing up, and creating cute treats and activities for the mini ladies and gentleman who attended. It is always fun getting to know other moms better and visiting with them too!



10. Followed through on inspiration
- Ladies Night: Cheese party
- Red lipstick
- Mother's Lounge friends



11. Made new friends
- Invited people over for dinner and games
- Accepted every invitation we could
- Showed up to everything
- Combined Family Nights
- Ladies luncheon salad bar
- Grilled cheese Ladies luncheon




12. Ate fresh new things
Mango, papaya, fresh coconut, kale, beets, parsnips




13. Joined a choir!
I loved being a part of a church choir again. Part of what I loved about Zach when we first started dating was that he was in the ward choir when we met. I love spending time together sharing our interests and talents.

Anyone else accomplish some unexpected or unplanned things this year? Let's celebrate all the victories, big or little!



See here for past accomplishments.