The Christening Dress

Lucy brought me a box she found. In it I found these pictures, and The Dress.

It's the Christening Dress that my grandmother, Artha Linda Simmons Brown

was christened in. She was born 11 May 1904.

Almost 100 years later, my younger sister Natalie used the dress for her daughter Elizabeth Linda Gunter, born 30 July 2003, to be blessed in.

What an heirloom!

I believe my mother was christened in this dress, as well as her siblings and some of my siblings.

Think it will last another generation??

Hosting Turkey Day

Here's the Rikers of Rochester (with a visiting Marty from northern CA) at the Davis house for Thanksgiving. It was very nice....and yummy.

So here's the story...

We wanted to roast the turkey on the rotisserie and had a nice recipe for it.

what did we learn?

1. A 19 lb turkey does NOT completely thaw in 3 days.

2. A 19 lb turkey does NOT fit on a grill rotisserie.

3. The grill lid WILL leave nasty black char on a nicely rubbed 19 lb turkey.

4. Convection ovens can and do save the day.

Kissing a fool?

I came across some old photos and thought this blogworthy.

For several summers a bunch of families would go up to a place called Bon Echo in Canada. There was a lake bordered on one side by a huge 375 ft cliff, complete with ancient indian handprints and paintings along the water's edge, a couple very steep trails up the face of it, and lots of wild yummy blueberries on the top (which we brought back to mom for pancakes!!).

The Wooley's boat took waterskiiers constantly. Group campfires, smores, sing-alongs. Dar Anderson and a couple other lucky swimmers/skiiers found a leech bed (yuck). One year there were thousands of black beetles everywhere.

The chipmunks at the campsite were practically domesticated (and some squirrels decided to build a home on top of the station wagon air filter- dad was not pleased), and we named this one (mom would remember) and watched him shuttle all kinds of goodies that we handed out.

I was ten. Good times.

Life of Christ, in bronze

Last night we went to see a beautiful display of bronze statues depicting the life of Christ.

It is free to the public and will be at the Hill Cumorah Visitor's Center (in Palmyra, Rt. 21) through the end of January.

They are masterpieces done by Angela Johnson. My photos don't do them justice, but the feeling, the details, the colors are all amazing.

Go. See this before it leaves this area.

I really like this one.

Mary and Martha with Jesus.

In the Sacred Grove. How appropriate that this display is just a stone's throw away.

Don't forget Marleah

Marleah decided to be a crayon this year, so here's what we made.

Only 38?? Tsk, tsk!

visited 38 states (76%)
Create your own visited map of The United States


Hmmmm....no wonder I still get itching for a road trip. Now who can I go visit?

PUNKy Town

Yep. It's Halloween again, and Frick & Frack decided to go as matching punks.

Sorry, girls, but you've got to be the most beautiful

mohawk sporting, lip-ring wearing, black clad punks in the entire world.

The girls were WAY too happy with playing the part as they skipped off to the school....

Am I worried??



Nah....before she left, Jill found and gave me this

I love that girl! (And her gorgeous twin, too!)

Fall Photos

The girls had a half day today, and the weather was okay, so we hit a nearby business district for a photo op. Here's a few of the best shots...

I was pleased, but a new camera that doesn't distort zoomed shots and takes pictures faster than a drowsy snail would have been wonderful.

(hint hint, DH if you are reading this...)

Backyard stuff

Here's the latest backyard project.

This time, it's Marleah and the neighbor kids working on a shelter.

At one point, they actually had four walls (utilizing the fence) with about four times the amount of sticks and logs that you see here, and this patch of roof remains.

Ah, to have the ideas and ambitions of youth....

Gobbles of Fun

Lu's party was a success!

All the little turkeys had fun....I mean, the kids had fun making little turkeys.

My baby is 4!

From this.....

To this....in the blink of an eye.

From the yard...

My Endless Summer hydrangeas...pink this year and lovely.
I love love love morning glories- especially these blue ones.
There's something neat about the rarity of blue flowers.
Sadly, this is the end of their season.

From Under the Bed

So I'm thinking that it's time to find some neat art for the blog, and here's what I find wrinkled up under Jillian's bed.

Amazing.

Cutting Edge?

From this....
(Locks of Love donation)

...to THIS!!

No more long-haired Marleah!

sniff....my little girl is growing up.

Davis Reunion, August 2009

Brant Lake, Adirondacks.

We had a great eight days with the NY crew, the NH family, the OR gang and the ME bunch.
Sunset Mountain Lodge was the perfect place for our group of 22, and many good memories were made. There's something so neat about lake living- something more pure, removed from the bustle of everyday life. when all was said and done, we left closer, more appreciative of family and loved ones and the simple blessings in our lives.

Reunions and lake life- I highly recommend it.

School Days, school days....

Today is the day! Lucy has been super-excited to go to Pre-K and ride a big school bus (an hour earlier than her sisters). She looks almost as excited as her mom, who gets to have 2 hrs 28 min of No Children each morning!!

Well, here's the gang at the bus stop.
You didn't get the memo that it was Blue Day? Apparently it was.

The first day of school went off without a hitch. All three kids happy and excited.

Many things to be thankful for- and life is good.

Blame it on Homearama

Time to switch bedrooms around....this time Marleah gets to go solo.

After seeing the cool painted kids bedrooms at Homearama this year, I took matters into my own hands.

Marleah loves it.

Sum Sum Summertime

This summer I've been blessed with watching two extra kids everyday-

actually they are my girls' second cousins.

Alyssa is just a year older than Marleah, and Dylan is soon to be 6.

Sorry, Dylan- you've been thrust into a girl world, but you're holding your own just fine!

Isn't he handsome?

We've gone to playgrounds, the movies, gone swimming, to the library, the store, climbed trees, made crafts and the summer is only half over!

It's so nice to have everyday playmates for my girls, and often the bunch of them are playing with the handful of neighborkids too.

Here's Alyssa and her longtime friend Shawna- two gorgeous girls!!

Jump rope turner, extraordinaire.
Lucy comforts with a smile.

She's my "in your face" kind of kid- adorably grimy and grinning!

There's nothing like a summertime!

Four Score and.....wait...only 13 Years Ago

13 years ago today, I married this cute blond boy who I had met in bright red Converse sneakers across a racquetball court.

The sneakers are long gone, replaced with many many pairs of running "shoes".

He's still cute and blond.

We've had lots of good times, too many bad times. But let's be honest- how many people would get on the thrilling rollercoaster ride if it didn't have highs and lows?

Trust me- it's still thrilling.

What a long, strange trip it's been.

I love you, Matthew!

A Touch of Art

Been a bit since I've posted anything, and I came across this....it's a painting by James C. Christensen (my favorite) and it's titled "Sometimes the Spirit Touches Us Through Our Weaknesses. This is not one of his most recent pieces, and I've reflected on it many times since I first saw it (I think while at BYU where he was a professor of mine for a blip). Here's what the artist says about it....


The Latin post nubila phoebus translates as “after clouds, sun” which is something like our saying “every cloud has a silver lining.” The iconic Christensen hunchback-as-Everyman is somber and a bit troubled. “The hump represents his troubles,” says Christensen, “and we all have them, but there is a little light at the place where the angel spirit’s finger touches the hump. I wanted to show how we grow from coping with adversity. Humbled by our weaknesses, we can be more open to things divine.”

Nice, don't you think??

And here's another painting I love, by Steve Hanks...

Water is one of the hardest things to draw/paint, and Steve Hanks has been mentioned as one of the nation's best watercolor artists. I just love the serenity and grace of this one...makes me wish I was there.

What does it make you feel??

Fluff-sitting...I mean Puppy-sitting

Marleah has agreed to watch a pup for 5 days while our friends go on vacation. She's been excited about it, since both she and Jillian have been asking for another dog off and on since our Maggie left us. So this week should prove interesting:

1. Will M & J be as eager to aquire another dog after a week of scooping poop and having new holes chewed in things?
2. Will Lucy get over her fear of animals enough to tolerate or even like having a pet in the house?
3. Will Matt cave in feeling that we should wait for Sept (after summer camping is done) to consider another dog?
4. Will I be able to hold my stand in not wanting another dog to clean up after...I mean to join our family?

Time will tell, but

could YOU say no to this face????

"All I want for Summer is...."

Ann Marie's two front teeth! (well, you know what I mean.)

Camera Fun

Got together with the cousins, and the lighting was nice....

What a grown up girl! Can't believe it.

My photogenic one. So blessed.


What a face!!

Part girl, part princess (or in this case, poodle skirt)

How HANDSOME!!

Innocent and yummy- we could just eat her up!