Back Yard Pool Area

BAck in May I blogged about a backyard project that we were working on. I never had a clue about the scope of the project and how it would turn out. I am sooooooo pleased with it - it is not done yet, but that isn't due to the lack of hard work, there is just so much that we want to do. I thought I would post some pictures since we are done working on it for the year. I look at the pictures and I am amazed about how much work Daryl was able to do this summer. It was all done by hand and the sweat of his brow but it is amazing. I sure do love that man.







Before and after pictures from the back of the yard towards the house. Look at all that work - it's amazing!!!!!!







Here are some before and after pictures of what the yard looked like looking up from the pool and how it looks now. What a lot of hard. I am so pleased with the way it is turning out and sooooooooo proud of Daryl for all of his hard work.










This is a a picture looking down at the bench.




This is a picture from the top of the stairs showing the bench. It looks really nice.





Daryl decided to build a pathway from the side gate along the side of the pool. I didn't know he was planning on this and it was a pleasant surprise. It looks really nice.




I saved the best picture for last. This is my favorite spot in the back yard. We really enjoy setting on this bench and just talking after a hard days work.

Birthdays and more birthdays

Our family has tons of birthdays during September through the end of the year. It starts off with three birthdays in September, Joe, Ayden and Becky, then in October we have two birthdays with Alexis and Monica, one birthday in November with Sean, and then three birthdays in December, Dad, Candis and baby Drake's (which we can hardly wait to get here). Anyway we have been attending a lot of parties lately and I thought I would share some pictures of some of them. The first one is of Ayden on his birthday. He had a Super Hero party with friends. That was a first for him and he was so excited. It was great to be there and enjoy the fun. This picture is of him in his Captain America costume that he got for his birthday. WE sure love this little man.



Not only were we able to go to Idaho Falls for Ayden's birthday party, but we were able to be there the next day, Sunday, to hear and watch him participate in the Primary Program. His part in the program was the First Article of Faith, which he had memorized completely and could say without any help. That was impressive and he did a great job. Here is a picture of him and his little brother, Gavin, getting ready to go to church.



The entire family was able to get together to celebrate Becky's birthday. We had dinner, opened presents and just enjoyed being together. Mary Elizabeth had bought a pinata to hit around. I think everyone enjoyed watching that and I know the grandchildren loved the candy. We all love Becky and hoped she had a great time as well. All the nieces and nephews think Becky is the best, and the the adults agree as well.



The last birthday party we were able to attend was for Alexis. She turned two years old and her mom threw her a Little Mermaid party. This is a picture of Alexis during her party in front on the Little Mermaid decoration. She was so exicted to have a birthday, running from one thing to the next. It was a blast to watch her. Her mom cooked really delicious chicken tacos for lunch. It was a fun party. Alexis has such a cute smile and we love her so much.



Monica also had a birthday this past week. We didn't get to see her, but we sure do love you and hope that she had a great one.

Cecret Lake

Over Labor Day weekend, Daryl and I wanted to do something fun. We are not used to just sitting around the house when we have time off, so we decided to hike up to Cecret Lake. The hike is only one mile each way and we figured it would be nice to get away to the mountains before the snow hit and it was just to cold to hike. I guess we were not the only ones with that idea. I have never seen the mountains so crowded. There was never a time on the trail or at the lake that we were alone in the wilderness. There was always a bunch of people around, as you can see in the backgroud of the following picture.


Daryl said I never put a picture of me on the blog. So I have included this one. This is right after we reached the lake. It was a short hike, mostly uphill with a bunch of switchbacks, but it was well worth it.



Here is a picture of the lake. It was very pretty.

More Pictures dealing with last blog

Here is one of our bundles of joy, Gavin. He was having a lot of fun just playing in the dirt and rocks. Little children are so much fun to watch, they can entertain you for hours. We sure did enjoy our camping trip with Monica and Sean and wished we could have stayed longer. Oh well - there is always next year.




Here is a picture of the guys visiting Old Ephriams grave. that bear was over 9 feet tall. I would have hate to come upon him in the middle of the night when I was out camping. His skull used to be at the Smithonian in Washington D.C.




Here is a picture of the whole crew (missus the picture taker) as we are out exploring. We sure had a great time and was sorry to see the trip end.




My mom makes the best ever pickle beets and chili sauce. I have for a long time now wanted to learn how to bottle these two items. So I took a Friday off of work and went up to mom's and had her teach me how to do it. It sure is a good feeling to know how to bottle fruits and vegetables if you ever need to. Thanks mom!!




To end our summer off. Chris took us to Traflaga to play games. He won free passes when he was living with us and doing so well at school. He wanted to take us with him and his mom to say thanks. We went minature golfing to begin with.




We all got a hole in one except for Chris. I did first. Daryl got his hole in one on the second to last hole. It sure was a lot of fun




Chris prize also included tokens to play some arcade games. I don't think I have ever done this before. It was fun.







To end the day with Chris and his mom, we went for a ride on a roller coaster. This picture is of Chris, the rest of us had to wait until the next one to ride.

More Summer Fun!!!!

I wasn't finish with this post, but my computer is acting up so I think I will post what I have and try to do another post later today or tomorrow. Hopefully this post will make some sense. It begins by talking about our four wheeling trip we took with Monica and her family. I still have some pictures to post and will try with the next one.

Gavin and his dad as we are taking off the first day. Gavin was already to enjoy the ride. As the day wore on, Gavin would not set still, he was always moving around and then, of course, he finally fell asleep. Sean had his hands full trying to keep him on the bike. But I think Gavin was having a blast - there was no crying at all.




On Saturday morning, after Monica and Sean and their family left. Daryl and I went on a ride that turned out to be absolutely beautiful as you can see in this picture. The ride was a little more technical then others but it was amazing. I sure enjoy riding those four wheelers.




The week of August 16 through the 20th was spend in Provo, Utah attending Education Week. It was a great week and something that I have always wanted to do. There were 100's of classes and subjects to chose from. Daryl's dad and Judy were able to attend with us. We would get up at 7 a.m. and go all day every day until after 7 p.m. It was an exhausting week, but well worth it. This picture is one taken as we were preparing to head off for the day. The first class we attended was on Abraham Lincoln - what an amazing man he was.




This picture was taken right before a lecture began on the 2nd coming. This is one of the few classes we actually attended together. There were so many to chose from and you just wanted to go to all of them.




Sunday, August 22, 2010, Audrey Elizabeth received a name and a blessing in church. Her dad did a wonderful job and Audrey received a great blessing. What a wonderful little girl she is. I don't have any pictures of this ocassion becuase I haven't received any as of yet (hint hint.

Penn and Logan

We have been really busy this past two weeks. But while I am waiting to get the pictures so I can update our blog, I came across this picture that I forgot to include in one of the blogs. It is such a cute picture that I thought I would just put it in on its own. The twins really love corn on the cob and it was so much fun watching them eat it with their Grandpa. All three really enjoyed it as you can tell.

Sailing

Well this past weekend we were off to another adventure. We decided to go to Bear Lake to go sailing. I have never done this before so I was a little nervous about the whole thing. We thought it would be fun to give Chris the opportunity as well. It was pretty fun, but 4-wheeler is still my favorite activity.




I had the opportunity to steer the sail boat as we went flying over the water. I would dare say I did a great job. Everyone looks very relaxed and all so trusting.




Well, I guess my steering of the boat didn't go as well as I would have hoped. Looks like I lost two passengers. Good thing they could swim. We sure had a lot of fun thanks to Uncle Mark and his friend Robert for taking us with them.

Girls Camp Week

I can't believe the boys are already two years old. This past weekend we went up to Mary Elizabeth's and Spencer's home to celebrate their birthdays. They really enjoyed their cakes this year. I remember last year, Logan would not touch his cake for the longest time and when he finally did it was to lick the frosting off his finger. Not this year, they really enjoyed them.

















On Friday, July 23, 2010, Daryl and I went to Park City to explore the Outlet Stores. We try to do this no more than once a year. Daryl was able to find a couple of pairs of pants that he liked and I got one pair, so it was a good afternoon.













The week of July 26 through July 30, Daryl and I had the opportunity to go to Girls Camp. The camp was held at the Heber Valley Girls Camp. It was beautiful and we had a lot of fun and a lot of neat experiences. There were 13 girls that attended from our ward and four leaders, with only one Priesthood from each ward. As you can see from the picture we slept in cabins with electricity, had hot and cold running water, refrigerators, cache cookers, flushing toilets and hot showers. It was an awesome week.




This picture is of all the girls from our ward. Our ward was assigned to provide sack lunches for the entire stake. This picture shows how the girls lined up to help move the line along smoothly. We were very efficient and feed 150 people very quickly.




At Girl's camp they had a challenge course, were the girls had the opportunity to try new things and learn how important it is to work together,and listen to the right influences. One thing that was available was a swing. The ECouple missionaries would strap you in and then you would get pulled up approximately 35 to 40 feet, where you would pull a release strap and swing back and forth. It was a lot of fun. Here is a picture of Daryl comforting me and helping me to walk after I did the swing. (it was a bit scary)

Four wheeling with Chris

This past weekend, for another one of our short vacation trips, we took Chris and went four wheeling up Logan Canyon. We found a perfect campsite up Temple Fork and set up camp. I got to cook out of the dutch oven and over the camp fire and really enjoyed it. Dad and Chris both said the food was delicious, so I was pleased with myself. The trip was a lot of fun, I haven't been camping for a couple of years and really wanted to make sure that we went this year.




Here is a picture of Dad and Chris on one of the many trips we went on. This trip was exploring the road that connects Logan Canyon with Blacksmith Fork Canyon. It was a long ride and I got sun burned, but it was fun anyway. Another trip we went on was to Old Eprihams grave. I forgot the camera on that trip, but it was amazing to see just how big that old grizzly bear was. I would have been scared to come upon him in the middle of the night.




Chris said he had a good time, but he sure looks worn out here. We really enjoyed the time we were able to spend with him and hope that he doesn't mind hanging around a couple of old people ocassionally.

Bar J Wranglers Weekend

This past weekend, as part of our summer vacation and taking short trips to places were we have always wanted to go, but haven't make it to them yet. We decided to go to Jackson Hole Wyoming to see the Bar J Wranglers perform. Here is a picture of Daryl at the look out point over Bear Lake. It has been a long time since we stopped at this point and it sure has changed. It was nice to see the lake from this distance.




I have always loved this sign so, of course, we could not go through Afton Wyoming without taking a picture. We didn't even have to stop for the picture, Daryl took it as we were driving down the road. What a great camera man. It turned out so good.



After traveling for what seemed like forever, we finally arrived in Jackson Hole at the Bar J ranch. We waited in line for another 2.5 hours before they started handing out tickets. We got excellent seats second row back right in the middle.




To end the weekend perfectly, we went to Monica and Sean's and spend Sunday with them, attending church and playing with the boys. Here is a picture of Grandpa and his two grandsons reading a book. Everyone is enjoying it. Thanks Monica and Sean for letting us spend the night and Sunday with you.

Audrey

Annoucing the birth of our 6th grand child. Audrey Elizabeth Davis. She was born on July 1, 2010 at 8:16 p.m. weighing in at 7 pounds 12 ounces and 19 inches long. she as adorable as possible. We are excited to welcome her into the family and love her very much.





While Mary Elizabeth and Spencer were in the hospital taking care of the new arrival, Daryl and I got the great opportunity to watch the boys. They are not quite two years old and boy did we have fun. Here is a couple of pictures of them that I thought was precious.






Here is a picture of Audrey and her Grandpa. She sure is loved!!




Here is a picture of me and Audrey, what a beautiful little girl.