Davis Family

Wow, am I a slacker or What???

2010-04-18T10:50:00.000-07:00

A perfect picture of their personalitys, Kyla doing what she's supposed to, and Haley....

This is Kyla's first tball game!!

Jared is the coach!

This is the baseball parade they had at the start of the season!

Well, it's only been like 6 months since I've updated, oops!! Yesterday was Kyla's 5th birthday!!! I cannot believe that I have a 5 year old. It was such a fun day. She is growing up so fast, and I am not going to be to handle the day she goes to kindergarten. I had to go and register her the other day, and I just don't know if I'm going to be able to send her to school! She is so grown up, and she is such a good girl, she helps me with everything all the time, and she is such a good big sister. She makes sure that everyone is well taken care of, her teachers love her because she does everything she is supposed to, Ty and Haley love her, Ty just laughs and smiles everytime she walks in the room, and Haley is just happy to have someone that does anything for her. She started playing tball this year, and it is the cutest thing ever, she loves it! I just can't believe my kids are growing up so fast. Haley will be 3 next week, and Ty is almost 7 months! He is starting to crawl, and he rolls like crazy all around the house. And, he's huge, at 6 months he weighed 19.6lbs! Haley only weighs 26, he will definitely outweigh her by 1! We are all loving the warm weather that is finally here, and we're looking forward to a fun summer!

Ty's Blessing Day

2009-11-02T15:42:00.000-08:00

It won't let me delete this, so you get two!!

Thumbs up!!

Grandma and all her grandkids!

Yesterday was such a beautiful day, it was a perfect day for Ty's blessing. Jared did such a good job with the blessing, and Ty was good to, and didn't cry! He's been such a good baby, it has been so fun to have him. I can't believe he's over a month old already, he is growing up way too fast! He looked so cute in his little suit yesterday. We just love having this little boy in our family!

Halloween!!

2009-11-02T15:13:00.000-08:00

Haley just couldn't wait any longer to eat her treats!

This is everybody at the end of the night, notice Haley is already out of her costume, we had only been home for two minutes!!

Ty wasn't thrilled about his costume!

Halloween was so much fun this year, we had all of Jared's family down for the weekend. The girls had so much fun playing with all their aunts, uncles, Grandma of course, and their cousin Presley! They loved trick or treating this year, they were so excited to go! They looked so cute, and had so much fun!

Montezumas Castle

2009-11-02T15:05:00.000-08:00

Two weeks ago, we went with our friends the McIntyres to some indian ruins, that are about a half hour from our house. It's called Montezumas Castle and Well. They were really neat to see, and it was fun to be out in the warm sunshine, enjoying a beautiful fall day. We went on the little walk through the ruins, then we stopped at a beautiful park and had lunch, then we drove through the canyon to Sedona, got ice cream, then continued up through the canyon to see the fall leaves, and we ended the day in Flagstaff. Needless to say, it was a very long day, but the kids had tons of fun, and were so good the whole day.

Updates and Pictures

2009-10-14T09:31:00.000-07:00

Feeding the ducks at the park

Two weeks old

Soooo tough!

So I took Ty in for his two week check up on Friday, and I knew that he'd gained some weight, because he was looking a little chubby, but...he gained almost 2 pounds in two weeks!! He was 7lbs 12oz at birth and9lbs 8oz at 2 weeks!! With my girls, they really didn't weight 9lbs until almost 2 months old. He is such a sweet little baby, we have loved having him. It's been nice to have a mellow child and a good sleeper too. The last 2 weeks have just flown by, we had both grandmas out to visit, and the girls had lots of fun being entertained constantly. It has been nice though this week to get back on somewhat of a routine.

Our Newest Phoenix Suns Fan is Here!

2009-09-30T10:51:00.000-07:00

This was the night before, and the girls wanted to look like mom

Tyler Duane Davis was born on Septemer 25th! And, yes, Jared is very excited that he gets to share his birthday, (his was the 24th). Ty weighed in at 7lbs 12oz and was 21 inches! He was my biggest so far, I guess its a good thing he's a boy! He has been such a good baby so far. His sisters love him, and love to take care of him. It won't be long before he's dressed in princess dresses and bows! Jared is excited to have another boy in the house to even things out a little. We are so excited to have our newest little guy here!

First Day of Preschool

2009-09-08T13:12:00.000-07:00

Today was Kyla's first day of preschool. She looked sooo cute and was so excited to go. I can't believe she is old enough to be in school and will go to Kindergarten next year. She had so much fun at school today. She was just bouncing with excitement when I picked her up, and she wanted to tell me all about it, but she said her favorite part was recess! They had a little bag that they had to take with them today, and it had a few of their favorite things that they could put in it, so everyone could learn about them. One was her favorite food, and when I asked her what that was, she said tuna fish, so in went a can of tuna! She's been such an easy child to please, and Haley and I missed her today while she was gone! On a side note, Haley is totally potty trained now!!!! We started about 2 weeks ago, and it only took her about 2 days to get the hang of it, and she has had very few accidents since then, we are soooo proud of her, and happy that we will only have one child in diapers at a time!!

Wedding....with lot's of pictures!

2009-08-21T13:49:00.000-07:00

The girls were a little worn out after all the wedding weekend!

Haley didn't make it very long in her dress, but at least it kept it clean for the next night!

Waiting outside the temple for Drew and Whittney to come out!

We went to Salem Days parade while we were there, and the girls loved it!

This has been a busy summer full of lot's of trips home. We just got back from Drew and Whittney's wedding, and I thought maybe I should finally update a little. The girls and I were in Utah for almost two weeks, it was nice to spend time with family, but a little crazy too with all the wedding stuff going on, it's always nice to get back home and get back to normal. Enjoy!

It's a.........

2009-05-30T20:25:00.001-07:00

We are actually having a boy this time!! We are all excited to have a little boy come into our family. Kyla wasn't so sure at first, but she is really excited now. We went shopping the other day, and she helped me pick out some clothes for him, it was really fun. Now we get to redecorate the nursery,.....Yeah!!

Grandma, Birthdays, and the Zoo

2009-04-21T21:51:00.000-07:00

It was Kyla's 4th birthday on the 17th, I cannot believe she is that old already!!! Grandma Davis came down to visit for the week, and we had lot's of fun. On her birthday we decided to go down to the Phoenix Zoo for the day. We had a lot of fun, and the weather was beautiful. She kept telling me, "Mom, I know this isn't really my birthday, we're just celebrating it today, because next week, my friends are coming over for a party, and that will be my real birthday!" Apparantly, it only counts as a birthday if you have a friends party!! Well, she's in luck, because the 23rd is Haley's 2nd birthday, and we are having a combined friends party, So two birthdays in one!

Easter Dresses

2009-04-21T21:31:00.000-07:00

Easter was really fun this year, both of the girls were really excited for everything. They had a lot of fun coloring eggs, and doing easter egg hunts. And, on Sunday they were both so excited to wear new dresses to church....we tried getting pictures, and of course Kyla was perfect and stood there posing and smiling, and we had to chase Haley around the yard, and try to bribe her with things to hold still, but she never would until we went inside, and she walked right over to a corner and stood there with a big grin on her face....it always has to be on her terms!!

Finally.....

2009-04-07T17:44:00.000-07:00

I have been meaning to do this for quite some time, but it just hasn't happened. We are......having BABY #3!!! We are super excited!! This new little baby is due October 4th, and we will find out in 5 weeks what we are having, so we will keep you posted!!

Easter Egg Hunt

2009-04-07T17:35:00.000-07:00

Our city put on a little easter egg hunt at the park on Saturday. We've had really nice weather, but of course on this day, it was freezing!! They had games and a little petting zoo set up. The girls LOVE any animal, so they had tons of fun petting and holding all the animals. Then we headed over for the easter egg hunt, they both had lot's of fun, and got lot's of eggs. It just got them more excited for more easter fun this weekend!

SNOW!!

2009-02-20T11:43:00.000-08:00

We finally got an actual snowstorm, we only ended up with about 2 inches of snow, but it stayed for a couple of days, and the girls had lot's of fun playing in it. But, Flagstaff, which is about an hour north of us, has been dumped on this year. So, yesterday, we decided to go up and go sledding...we had so much fun!

Kyla's Gymnastics

2008-12-04T17:43:00.000-08:00

Kyla started gymnastics about a month ago, and she has had so much fun. It has been really fun to go and watch her, she's definitely not the most coordinated child out there, but she loves to go. Its been really good for her to interact with other kids and people, she's not nearly as shy as she used to be. She is such a good girl, they always stretch on their little mats, and while all the other kids go to get a drink of water, she stays and helps her coach clean up all the mats, and while all the kids are running around crazy, she sits quietly in her spot and does exactly what she's supposed to. She's such a good girl! Her favorite part is the balance beam, and she comes home and practices all the time. It's made me feel a lot better about sending her to preschool this next year, seeing how well she's done, and how much fun she's had!

We went to the Park

2008-12-04T17:34:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we went down to Anthem, which is about an hour south of us. We stopped and played at a park, it was so warm, and the girls (and puppy) had a lot of fun playing. It was so warm, the splash park water actually came on while we were there, and kids were running through the water, I just can't believe it's December!

The Newest Member of Our Family

2008-11-15T12:19:00.000-08:00

This is the newest member of our family........GUS!! He's an english bulldog, and we just got him yesterday, he is 6 1/2 weeks old. He is still working on getting used to us, and we are working on the whole potty training thing.....yeah! But, he is so cute, and we love him. The girls have had so much fun playing with him. We're excited to have all of them grow up together!

Enrichment Night Christmas Blocks

2008-11-06T13:42:00.001-08:00

We have our christmas enrichment night next week, and I made these to go along with our program, I thought they turned out really cute!

Halloween and Our Trip to Utah

2008-11-06T13:21:00.000-08:00

I am finally catching up a little with things, and decided that it was time to post again....Well, we went back to Utah over halloween and visited both of our families. We had a lot of fun, the girls had so much fun playing with all their aunts and uncles and cousins. They were very good on the drive up and back as well. It was fun to go home, neither of us have been back in almost a year. We also got together with some of our high school friends, it was fun to see their kids, and hear about all they're doing. I think the best part of the trip though was all the food... We never go out to eat here, because there aren't any good restaurants, especially mexican. We had ruby river, brick oven, los hermanos, cafe rio...and yes, we all gained 10lbs, but oh well! Halloween was really fun to, we went down to my moms and her ward had set up trick or treating around this walking path, that is out in the trees, it was fun to be outside, and easy to just let the kids walk up and down the path. They thought it was great! We had fun on the drive home to, we stopped at big rock candy mountain, then we got ice cream in kanab, and played by the waterfall, then we stopped in page at glen canyon dam, and we stopped in Tuba City and had dinner. It took us 12 hours to get home, but we actually had a lot of fun! Thanks Judy for letting us always stay with you and for taking good care of us. We love you all!!

Happy Birthday Lover

2008-09-25T15:28:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Jared's birthday, he turned 28...we're getting so old. He really didn't get the best birthday this year, since we just got back from our cruise two days before. But, we did get to celebrate with the McIntyres, they came over for a BBQ and cake and ice cream before he had to go to work, exciting huh! His birthday was his first day back to work after the cruise, so that just topped it off. Anyways, just wanted to say that I love you, lover, and I hope you had a good day anyways. And thanks for spending the last week with me, I had the best time of my life. I love you!!

Back to Reality

2008-09-25T15:03:00.000-07:00

We're back!! We had the best time ever on our cruise! I would highly recommend cruising to anyone. Every day you have new stuff to see and do, you never have to decide where you're gonna eat, and how you're going to get to the things that you want to do.....we had a really great time. We had 3 days at sea and 4 days at different ports. We went to Grand Cayman first, and we snorkeled and swam with the sting rays, Jared loved it, but I wasn't too sure about the whole thing. They were huge and they would just swim all around you and come up to you, it was really creepy. Then we went to the Roatan islands, which are part of Honduras. We went to a nature park, and held monkeys and birds, it was really fun. Then, we went out on a catamaran and snorkeled over the reef, that was really neat. Then we went to Belize, and we took and hour and a half bus ride out to the jungle where they have zip lines and rapelling set up. That was really fun. After visiting roatan and belize, I would never want to send my boys on a mission to these third world countries, it made me so sad to see how they lived, and so thankful for what I have and can do. Our last stop was in Cozumel, which has become very americanized. We went on a 4 wheeler ride out into the jungle, they took us to see some mayan caves, that was cool. We were so busy the whole time that only once did we get to go to a beach, and just hang out for a few hours, but it was worth it. Thanks so much to Grandma and Cristi for coming out and tending, it would've never happened without you guys!! Kyla and Haley had so much fun playing and playing.

We Are Officially Bikers

2008-08-21T13:44:00.000-07:00

Look how excited we are!
These are the mile markers

We decided that we needed to start getting in shape again, because we only have 3 weeks until we go' on our cruise, so...we bought bikes! We have had a lot of fun this last week just riding around the neighborhood. Today we decided to try Iron King Trail, it's just a couple of miles up the road, and it goes through the red rock and up into the hills, it's an 8 mile roundtrip ride, and we had a lot of fun. The girls really like riding in their trailer, and we stopped a lot to throw rocks off bridges, climb on the rocks, and look for mountain lions! Just as we were starting out, there was a sign saying that there had been a high number of spottings in the area, luckily we didn't see any, only antelope. Well, hopefully we keep up on the bike riding, and it doesn't become another one of our 3 week workouts, and then we don't use them again. There are a lot of trails right around where we live, so we're gonna keep trying them!

This is for you Jeremy

2008-08-15T21:18:00.001-07:00

Slowly Catching Up

2008-08-10T20:38:00.000-07:00

So, now I'm only two weeks behind in posting. We just got back from lake powell two days ago, we met Jared's family in Page, and we had lot's of fun. It was just a nice, relaxing trip and it was great to get away for a few days. We had some nasty storms that came through while we were out on the lake, which was a little scary, but we still had lot's of fun. Luckily, the girls have gotten used to the big storms, down here we get monsoon rains in July and August, so every afternoon we have big thunderstorms that roll through, they love to go outside and watch the lightning, thunder and rain coming down. They love the water as well, and they loved swimming, and making sand castles, and going out on the boat and riding the tube. We took the camera the first day, but that's when the big storm came, and we didn't get many pictures, then we forgot the camera when it was nice out. Oh well, at least we have good memories! We also just had family pictures taken, so I will post a few of those as well. Thank you again Grandma Davis for our fun trip!!

Finally Time To Update

2008-07-27T20:13:00.000-07:00

We are finally settled in our new house. We love it, we have worked really hard to get it all ready, and we still have lot's of work to do. We love our neighborhood, we have really nice neighbors as well that are always asking if we need anything or if they can help. Our house was vacant for six months, so the yards need a lot of work, and as we were putting the front yard in, I think we had half the neighborhood over to thank us. Anyways, this post is going to be mostly pictures, so enjoy! I have had requests for a new recipe, so here it is:
Ice Cream Pie

One bag?? of White Oreos (they're new), or any creme filled cookie
1 tblsp melted butter
(crush oreos as fine as you can get them, drizzle with melted butter, and mix well. Press into 9" pie plate)
One container Cookie Dough Ice Cream (softened)
Spread this onto oreo crust
Cut remaining cookies in half and line the edge of the icecream to decorate
Drizzle caramel ice cream topping over pie
Freeze until firm

Warm Weather Fun

2008-06-15T20:31:00.000-07:00

I love summertime! It's so nice to have warm weather and to be able to be outside all day. We had a lot of fun this last week. Grandma and Diddy (Cristi) came to visit. They drove down and spent the week with us. We had lot's of fun swimming, going for walks, going mini golfing, shopping..., it was a really fun week. We took Kyla and Haley mini golfing for the first time. Kyla had lot's of fun, and Haley was great as long as she was strapped in her stroller. For some reason that is the only place that she holds still, she loves to go anywhere in the stroller and she is just content to sit. Back to mini golf, we stopped keeping score after the first couple holes, because after we would hit the ball, Kyla would gather them all up and put them all in the hole, so I guess we just all had perfect games! We spent a lot of time down at the pool as well, it's been in the 90's, so just right for the pool..Kyla would swim all day if we'd let her, she just puts her little arm floaties on and swims from one end to the other. Haley loves the pool as well, and she has no fear of anything, the last time we went she was walking right off the edge and into the pool! We also bought a little blow up pool, and since we have rocks everywhere in our yard, we put the pool on the trampoline. Kyla and the guys (Brayden and Joseph, her best friends) loved it, they went up and down the slide, in and out of the pool for 3 hours straight. As for Jared and I, we're just trying to keep up with their energy. We're still working on getting paperwork together for our house, and it's all coming together slowly. We will most likely close on the 1st of July, and then we get to start painting, and doing yard work. We can't wait!! I'm going to try a few new recipes this week, so I will post them after I see which ones are good. I did make a raspberry-peach cobbler this week, and it was really good. So here's the recipe for that one:

Raspberry-Peach Cobbler

2 (15oz) cans Peaches (drained)
1 cup fresh or frozen/thawed raspberries
2 Tblsp sugar
1 Tblsp flour
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
Stir all of this together and pour in 9x9 greased pan

topping:
1 white cake mix
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 cube butter melted
Use a fork and stir together until it forms clumps
Spoon topping over Fruit
Bake at 350* for 30 minutes, Serve warm with vanilla ice cream

It's been a while

2008-06-01T21:30:00.000-07:00

So it's been almost a month since I've updated anything, I guess it's about time to get caught up. Well, let's start with the most exciting news....we're moving again!! But, this time we are buying a house that we will hopefully stay in for at least 5 years,...we'll see. We are really excited about it. We have been watching the foreclosure market for a while, and they seem to be the only houses that are selling, everybody else is stuck on the market forever. Well, we came across our ideal house for the exact price that we wanted, so we couldn't resist putting an offer on it. Well, after a few weeks of waiting, we got it!! We'll be closing on it within the next few weeks, as long as everything goes as planned, then we are just going to clean it and paint, and we are ready to go. It's needs some yard work, and Jared is sooo excited to start that, he already has it all planned out in his head. We are really excited because it has grass, everywhere here the yards are just rocks, it makes for easy maintenance, but not the best play area. I'll have to take a picture of our house right now, so you can understand. The down side to all of this is that we are leaving our friends, they are all still in the same neighborhood (the one we live in now), we will be about 15 minutes away from them. It has been so much fun these past few years to just walk down the hall and visit, or just walk a couple of blocks away, so we are really going to miss that. But, we are still plenty close to do everything that we want to. Oh, and to top all of this off...we got asked to speak in church again for our last Sunday. We just barely spoke 6 months ago, because we just barely moved here. Apparantly we're just amazing speakers, HA HA!! So if anyone has given a talk recently on personal revelation, could you just e-mail it to me, that'd be great!!

Happy Anniversary to Us!

2008-05-05T14:21:00.000-07:00

So we've been married for 5 years, I really can't believe it's already been that long. We had a really good anniversary, it was nice to just have a day to ourselves. (Thank you Jen!!) She got the privilege of babysitting 5 children under the age of 4, exciting huh! Their anniversary is coming up, so it will be payback time. We decided to go down to the Mesa Temple and do a session, we've haven't been to the temple together for quite a while. In North Dakota it was a 5 hour trip one way, and then when we actually did live by the temple for the summer, we had a brand new baby, now the temple is only a 2 hour drive one way (with good traffic), so we don't have much of an excuse now. We stopped and ate on the way down, and just had a good time being able to carry on an adult conversation. The Mesa temple is really pretty, it makes you feel like you're in Hawaii with all the plam trees and tropical flowers. We got stuck in traffic forever on the way home, but what's a little more together time....Our anniversary present to ourselves this year is taking a cruise, just the two of us this fall, so we've been working really hard to look half decent when we go! On the way down Jared and I were thinking about all the things that we've done in the last 5 years, we did things a little backwards, we bought our first house when we got married, then we sold it to help pay for school, and moved into an apartment, we've lived with in-laws twice, and we are now finally getting ready to get into our own house again. We've moved 5 times, we have two kids, we've had 3 dogs, and no longer have any of them, Jared graduated from college, and we're now settling into his career. It is so nice to be steady now, and know where we'll be and what we're doing. Don't get me wrong, we have definitely had a lot of fun these last 5 years!! We'll just see what the next 5 years bring!! I had to teach my quarterly relief society lesson on Sunday, and I taught it on the two talks given by Sis. Beck, Stand Strong and Immoveable in Families, and Mothers Who Know. It's always a great wake up call when I teach, because I definitely learn the most. I have been reminded of all the things that I have been blessed with and the wonderful family that I have.

I'm married to the smartest person ever!

2008-04-30T14:36:00.000-07:00

I have to do a little bragging on Jared's part. He has been doing 100's of hours of training at his new job to be able to get certified, yesterday he did his certification, and........HE GOT 100% I am so proud of him, to top it off, he is only the second person ever to have gotten 100%. You should have seen him the night before and day of, he was so nervous, obviously he didn't have anything to be nervous about! Love you Lover!!
On a side note, for my own personal record, Kyla had her 3 year old check up today, she weighed in at 30.5 lbs and 38 inches tall, she is in the 50% for her weight, and 75% for her height. She was so good, this is the first doctors appt. that she hasn't cried at, and she actually talked to the Dr., which is a big accomplishment for her.

Haley is 1, yeah!!!

2008-04-29T14:24:00.000-07:00

I finally got 5 seconds to sit down and update about Haley's birthday, it's only been a week, oops!! The girls have had a continuous cold that just keeps rotating through, and it is getting really annoying, and of course it's only a virus, so they won't give me any antibiotics to help clear it up! So needless to say, Haley really wasn't all that happy on her birthday, but it was still a fun day anyway. We had the McIntyre's over for lunch, since both dad's had to work in the evening, and we had lot's of fun eating and playing. Poor Haley was miserable, so she ate her lunch, opened her presents, took a couple of bites of cake, and went down for a nap, and the rest of us finished her party for her. After she woke up, she was feeling a little better, so Jen and I decided to take the kids down to Anthem, about an hour away, and we went to the outlets, then we went to this really fun park and fed the ducks, had a picnic, and played until dark, then we headed home, we really did have lot's of fun. Haley loved the park, she loves to climb on things, and by the time we left she had climbed up the slide (the slick part), at least 4 or 5 times all by herself! Even Kyla and Joseph tried it and they couldn't do it, she is the most determined child!! She has been a lot of fun and really challenging at the same time this last year, she has started coming up to me and she wants me to hold her and she'll put her arms around my neck and give me a big hug and kiss, she puckers up and everything, it's the cutest thing ever. One minute she's the sweetest thing ever and the next minute she makes you want to scream, we love her very much and can't wait to see what this next year brings!! Oh yeah, before I forget, I took her in for her one year old check up a few days ago, and she weighs a whopping 16 1/2 pounds!! I was really hoping for at least 17, but she is also 29 inches, which puts her in the 50% for her height and the 0% for her weight! She just never stops moving, and burns off every calorie she puts in her mouth, which is a lot!! You should see this girl eat, sometimes she will out eat me at a meal, the other day we had pizza, and she ate 2 adult size slices, I just don't get how she doesn't weigh 50lbs. I guess she'll be happy when she's older!

Kyla Turns 3!!

2008-04-21T14:00:00.000-07:00

We had such a fun week this last week. Thursday was Kyla's birthday, I can't believe she is 3 already! The time is just flying by. I love the three year old age, she has such an imagination and a fun personality. She loves to help me do everything, and she has really started being a lot nicer to Haley. It's a lot of fun to see them play together. My family was able to come down and spend a few days with us over Kyla's birthday, we had a lot of fun. Thanks again everyone for coming down!! We had a BBQ on her birthday with my family and our adopted family the McIntyres. I think she got more presents than she knew what to do with. First, a package came from Grandma Davis with lot's of fun princess stuff and a new swimsuit, and the cutest dress ever!! Then my family all got here and brought her more princess dress up and the cutest princess beach towels. You might notice a theme, we're really into princesses right now! Then we gave her a princess karaoke machine that plays all the disney princess songs. Her and Joseph (one of the twins) had a good time with that! Then the twins came over and brought her presents too! She was totally spoiled rotten, and she loved every minute of it. I made her a Yellow Belle cake, that is what she specifically asked for...We had a lot of fun hanging out and playing Wii games! Just to let you all know, I won the bowling tournament!! Kyla made Adri and Melinda play tea party for two days straight, and they all had to have a sleepover with her in her bedroom. This last week was a lot of fun, and we're looking forward to doing it again on Wednesday when Haley turns 1!!

The Downside to Good Weather

2008-04-02T14:27:00.000-07:00

So there is a downside to living somewhere with good weather, the BUGS!! They have already started coming out in full force. I really don't have too much to complain about, we've only had a few, we've had friends that have had two trantulas, a centipede, and random other spiders and insects inside their houses!! But, yesterday I had the privilege of killing a HUGE spider in my laundry room. It was about the size of the palm of my hand..., we've had a trantula in our garage and a few small spiders (quarter size), but this was the first big one inside our house. I really should've taken a picture of it, but I just reacted. And then of course I get a million questions from Kyla about what it is, what was it doing, why did I kill it, is it still moving, will it move again tomorrow, etc, etc.....Anyways, to Mom, Melinda, and Adri..., I did immediately call the pest control and I am having the house sprayed tomorrow, so they will all be taken care of before you get down here!! Anyways, that's the story of the week, because nothing else really exciting has been going on, so until next time....
MENU:
Tin Foil Dinners
Spaghetti w/ breadsticks
Chicken Pot Pie
Grilled Salmon
Tacos
Hawaiian Haystack
Sunday Roast
RECIPE FOR THE WEEK:

Breadsticks (very easy, very good)

One loaf of Rhodes Frozen Bread Dough (thawed and mostly raised)
Divide this into 16 balls
Roll these out into breadsticks and place on greased cookie sheet
Dip each one in melted better and then sprinkle with
Garlic Bread Sprinkle (buy in spice aisle)
Salad Supreme (Spice aisle)

Let raise again for 20 minutes, then bake at 375 for 13-15minutes, depending on how crispy you want them, They are really good the next day as well. Enjoy!

Just Another Week

2008-03-17T14:41:00.000-07:00

Happy St. Patricks Day everybody! I can't believe that March is already half over, the time is just flying by. We haven't had anything to exciting this last week. I'm in charge of our Relief Society Birthday dinner this week, so I am just busy trying to get that all done. Jared just wishes that he could go on more 4-wheeler rides and the girls are just happy if they can go outisde and jump on the tramp and play with turbo. Now that I'm thinking back about this week, I remember what we did. Jared is in Cub Scouts and so we had the Blue and Gold banquet with this weekend. Him and Jared McIntyre are over the cubscouts and so they actually put this whole thing together, they did all the planning and even the grocery shopping for this. Jen and I had a good laugh while they were out grocery shopping, we wrote their lists for them which only had about 20 things on it, it took them 4 hours!!! But, of course they had to stop for lunch, they got really worn out!! No, we were really proud of them, they did a great job. We all put together a dinner for 50 people, and it turned out really well. Kyla got to go to her first real birthday party, for a little boy that is in our ward. A whole house of 3 year olds, wow!! Needless to say, Kyla did not have that much fun, as you all know she just doesn't really care for other people. Our friend Jen took her and her boys, and she stayed with her, I figured she would do better if she didn't have me to cling to, she still wasn't much fun. Oh well, maybe next time!! Jared makes fun everytime that I put recipes on here, because he says this blog is about us, not about cooking....but I don't really care, so here is the menu for the week!!
Pulled Pork Sandwiches
Stir Fry
Chicken Alfredo
Chicken Salad Croissants
Fajitas
Spiral Ham w/ Cheesy Potatoes (easter dinner)

Pulled Pork Sandwiches recipe:

5-6 lb. Pork Roast (whatever cut of meat that's on sale)
14.5 oz. can of PETITE diced tomatoes
16 oz. can tomatoe sauce
2/3 C. Brown Sugar
1/3 C. Vinegar
1 tsp. Chili Powder
12 Buns
Mix all of the sauce items together, place pork roast in crock pot, and pour 1 cup sauce over the top, cook on low 6-8hrs. Take meat out of crockpot, dump out excess juice, shred meat. Put the meat back in the crockpot and pour remaining sauce over the top. Leave on low and let cook 1 more hour. Serves 12
This is a great meal to put on in the morning, so it's ready for dinner. It makes a lot, but I use what I need for the meal and freeze the rest. Stays good in the freezer up to 2 months! Enjoy!

Our Trip to San Diego

2008-03-10T14:08:00.000-07:00

So last week we decided spur of the moment to go to San Diego, Jared had a couple vacation days that he had to use up this month, so we just decided to go. It's only a 6 1/2 hour drive from here, so we packed up and headed out last monday, we stayed until friday. We had such a fun time. The girls were so good on the drive out, and we had so much fun everywhere we went. Tuesday, we spent all day at Sea World, Kyla loves every kind of animal there is, and we had so much fun watching the shows, but she was most excited about seeing sharks and dolphins, are as she calls them "golphins". She loved feeding the dolphins, and especially petting the stingrays. Haley was a very good girl, although she spent most of her time sitting in the stroller. She loved the big aquariums of fish, we would just park her in front of them, and she would laugh and scream and point at all the fish, she loved it!! Wednesday, we decided to go to the San Diego Zoo. We spent all day there. Kyla walked the whole time both days, and loved every minute of it. They have a little children's zoo, where they let the kids come in with the animals and pet them. Kyla thought that was great, she loved the goats!! Thursday, we went to the beach, it started out sunny, but then it got really windy, but we had enough time to build a sandcastle, find some seashells, and eat at least 5 or 6 handfuls of sand (Haley)....We went for a walk out on the pier and there were lot's of seagulls and pigeons for Kyla to chase, except she thinks that every bird is a duck!! Friday we packed up and headed home, the girls were very good on the way home as well, I think we wore them out. Our trip was a lot of fun!!!

Enjoying the Sunshine

2008-02-27T13:35:00.000-08:00

Hello again! So, it's been a good week so far, Jared passed off one of his certifications on Saturday, so now he only has two more and he is done!! Haley had her nine month check up on monday, and she is a whopping 16lbs.!! She is also 28 inches, which puts her in the 90% for her height, and the 10% for her weight. She just can't eat enough to keep up with all the calories she burns, just today for lunch, she ate a whole hot dog, two celery sticks, some jello salad, and a whole cupcake, not to mention the 6 ounces of formula she finished off 1/2 hour before lunch. She is going to be really happy for this metabolism later on in life. Yesterday was my birthday, Jared and the girls got me some decorations for our house, some more kitchen stuff, and.... a shopping spree!! I have 5lbs. until I'm at my goal weight, and then I get a whole new wardrobe!! Jared took me to lunch before he had to go to work, it was so nice to eat a meal without having to answer a million questions, or clean up after Haley. Kyla was not very happy that it wasn't her birthday, she didn't understand why she didn't get presents and cards. So, her and I made cupcakes and decorated them, then we took turns singing happy birthday to each other and blowing out the candles. It was a good day. This morning we walked down to the park, and played with our playgroup, then we walked home and BBQ'd hamburgers and hotdogs for lunch. We ate outside on the picnic table and jumped on the trampoline, I even got a little sunburned on my face. It is absolutely beautiful today...anybody jealous yet??
Weekly Menu
Tin Foil Dinners
BBQ
Beef Enchiladas
Taco Salad
Hawaiian Haystacks

Recipe for the Week
I make these cookies when I need a last minute dessert
Sprinkle Cake Mix Cookies
1 Box cake mix with sprinkles
1/3 cup of oil
2 eggs

Mix all of this together (not with a mixer), roll into 1 inch balls (I make mine a little bigger), press with a cup until 1/4 inch thick, bake at 375* for 7 minutes. Cool completely, and frost and decorate like regular sugar cookies...

I've actually made it to week 2

2008-02-18T13:00:00.000-08:00

Hello again...I might actually keep this up, it's been kind of fun. This last week was lot's of fun, we had Grandma Davis, Drew, and Chelsea here to visit us. They just left today and we already miss them. We had lot's of fun playing, shopping, and eating. All the things we do best!! It was also Valentine's Day, and I made some really cute sugar cookie bouquets, I'll see if I can put the pictures on here. And, now for the menu for the week...
Chicken Cordon Bleu
Chicken Enchiladas
Turkey Roll-ups
Pizza
BBQ Hamburgers
Tacos

Recipe of the week:

Turkey Roll-Ups

Oven-roasted turkey lunchmeat
Stove Top stuffing (made as directed)
2 Packets turkey gravy mix (made as directed)
Mashed Potatoes

Take one piece of turkey and spoon a heaping spoonful of stuffing into the middle, roll up and place in 9x13 pan, (you can make as many of these as you would like, I make two per person and then some extras for leftover lunch for the next day). After they are rolled pour 1/2 cup or more gravy over the rolls, bake in 350 F oven for 25 minutes. (covered) Serve with mashed potatoes and leftover gravy and stuffing. It's like a mini thanksgiving dinner, sometimes I even make pumpkin pie to go with it!!

Menu for the Week

2008-02-12T14:09:00.000-08:00

My family is always calling to see what I'm making for dinner, so I will try and put up our menus for the week, we'll see how it goes:

Stir Fry
Hawaiian Haystack
BBQ Pineapple Chicken
Tortellini Pasta
Ham w/ Cheesy Potatoes
This is a short dinner week, because we have Grandma coming in to town, and we will be going to dinner!!

Recipe for the week:

Tortellini Pasta

1 Pkg. frozen cheese tortellini (90z. or larger)
2 Cups chopped broccoli
1 Can (14.5 oz) italian-style diced tomatoes
6 oz. cream cheese (3/4 pkg., use all if using lg. bag of pasta)
1/4 Cup grated parmesan cheese

Cook pasta as directed on pkg, add broccoli last 3 minutes of pasta cooking time.
Meanwhile, cook tomatoes in large skillet 5 min., Add cream cheese, and parmesan cheese, and stir until melted. Drain the pasta and add to tomatoe mixture. Sprinkle with extra parmesan cheese if desired.
**I add chopped cooked chicken to this for a little more of a meal
**I serve this with garlic bread

Getting Started

2008-02-12T13:24:00.000-08:00

We finally decided to jump on the band wagon and join everybody else doing blogs. We'll give it a try and see how long I can keep it up for. Well, let's just start with a little update on where we're at. We are finally settled in Dewey, AZ. (A little town just outside of Prescott.) We absolutley love it here, especially the weather. It's the middle of February and we've already had 3 or 4 picnics on our back porch and at the park. This is quite the change from North Dakota, where we spent the previous two winters. Jared loves his job and he is just working on getting certified right now. I (Melissa) am just busy at home with the two little girls and church callings. Kyla Kay will be 3 in April, and she is really getting to a fun age, she loves to sing and dance for us, and she is constantly coming up with interesting things to ask us, her new favorite movie is the Little Mermaid, and she can almost quote it word for word, (which also means the rest of us can quote it as well!!) She loves being a big sister and helping out whenever she can. Now there's Haley..., she is 9 1/2 months old, and she is the most active child I have ever seen, she wears me out!! She has been crawling since she was 5 months old and she has been trying to walk for the past month and a half, but she can crawl so fast that she hasn't been too interested in really taking steps. She only stands up to be able to reach things she's not supposed to. She is also the happiest little girl, and she loves everybody, a complete opposite from Kyla. Her and Kyla have finally really started to play together and it is really fun to watch them interact. They love to go outside and play on the trampoline and they love to play with our dog Turbo, (Kyla named him). Well, so far we are doing really good down here and we love the area. We'll keep you posted on anything coming up.