Parades & FREE FOOD

Our home is 4 houses away from the street of this 4th of July parade. We were in the shade for the entire parade so we LOVED it! Shade makes the world a better place.

Owen was too busy eating a grandpa treat to open his eyes.

Owen showing off our parade winnings.

And now we're to the Farmington Festival Days. One of the best parades ever.

He LOVED the bands.

Eating delicious ice cream from the parade.

For some reason everyone decides to give out free food in July. Free slurpee day and Chick Fil A day fall on the SAME DAY. Heaven!!

I didn't have to tell Owen to smile for this picture. Savannah is sad I wouldn't
give her any.

Don't judge our ghetto cow spots.

Uncle Josh works at Chick Fil A!! We're so lucky!

While Dan was at scout camp Baskin Robbins gave out
free ice cream pie. Owen was too busy loving it to look
up for the camera. And can you tell Savannah is jealous?
(Don't worry, she's already had lots of ice cream.)

A Reunion & A Wedding

We LOVE the annual Davis reunion each year at Zion National park, and this year did not disappoint! The kids were great in the car (Savannah's first road trip!) Somewhere along the road Savannah had a major blowout (which we didn't notice!) She really is an angel baby and I felt so bad when I finally took her out of the carseat and found the mess. Bless her.

There are SO many people on this side of the family (I think there were almost 70 people there this year). And we now take up all but 2 rooms of the motel where we stay. Since this was my third reunion, I think I am finally getting close to knowing everyone's name. This is no easy task. Obviously 70+ names is a lot to learn, but so many people have also the same name. Two or more people share the following names: Rachel, Nathan, Alicia, Jonathan, Laura, Shauna, Daniel, Matthew, Josh, Robert, Andrew, Jenny, and I'm sure there are more that I can't think of. I guess in some ways this should make it easier because there are less names overall to remember, but trying to figure out which Andrew belongs to which family can get confusing.

The happy traveler. This was taken BEFORE the dead-stop on the freeway.
Yes, the freeway was closed. It was bad.

Anyone planning to do a road trip with a baby
NEEDS this contraption. It's the best!

"Yippee I'm Here!!"

Remember how we stayed in a hotel? I figured this would be as good a time as any to help Owen learn how to sleep in a big-boy queen-sized bed (I'm so afraid to make the transition because he sleeps and naps SO well in the crib!) We gave him a good talking to about not getting out of bed, etc and left the room. I checked on him after 10 minutes and all was well. We paid good attention to the monitor and didn't hear anything. When I came back to the room almost 2 hours later, this is what I found. All the lights had been turned on, he had played games on his kindle (he even turned the sound down so I wouldn't hear) and got into EVERYTHING (silently, of course). His eyes were completely glazed over from being so tired and he was desperately trying to open a box of fruit loops. Thank goodness Savannah slept through it all. And don't worry, we found a pack n play for the next night. I think he might just be sleeping in his crib until he's 12. ;)

Hotel rooms are just way too much fun.

He mostly just eats the bubbles. Props to cousin Mahrika for this pic (and the
other good ones).

This kid didn't hold still the entire weekend. And pretty sure he ate all
that ice off the grass. 😬

Have you heard of this game? Apparently if I was still teaching high school
I would use it all the time. It made for some HILARIOUS family trivia.

Savannah's first time swimming.

She did great!

Mama's girl.

Owen doesn't have enough fat to stay warm, even in a heated pool. But he
LOVES the water!

Uncle Matt took Owen down the slide and made quite the splash.

Owen is in there somewhere!

Pools without life guards are the best.

Love!

And now onto the wedding! Apparently it's kind of a thing for Ditto's to get married right after the reunion. It makes for lots of fun family time, and the wedding was awesome and exhausting all at once! There was a reception in Garland the night before the sealing. It was gorgeous but the mosquitos ate me alive.

The ceremony, luncheon, and Centerville reception were all on Saturday. Big thanks to Aunt April who watched the kids during the luncheon so Dan and I could enjoy our food in peace. I was too busy enjoying family time to remember to take pictures, but just know that it was awesome and we LOVE Natalie!

This is what she looked like while I was putting it on. So much poof!
I had to get a picture. :)

Auntie Sara is a favorite!

Bestie cousin Amberly. Too cute!

Dan's great uncle Owen on the left.

I Did It!

"I did it!"
This pic is from last November. He has grown up a lot!

Owen is great to always celebrate his accomplishments. Whether it's throwing away a dirty diaper, hanging up his jacket, or turning off the vacuum (while I'm trying to use it, of course) he will come running to me with his giant toothy-grin and yell "I did it!" This is usually accompanied with some jumping and fist pumping. It's hilarious. And adorable. And a great reminder that adults don't celebrate every-day accomplishments as much as we should.

But this one I am celebrating BIG time, because WE DID IT!!!!!!!! (I don't think there are enough exclamation points to truly portray my excitement.) The doctor gave us the green light to take Savannah out into the world on Easter Sunday. (Yes, I know Easter was a while ago. We've been having too much fun getting OUT OF THE HOUSE for me to sit down and update the blog.) FOUR months we were cooped up, stuck at home to avoid unnecessary germ exposure. Being stuck at home with a 2-year-old is crazy.  I'm also pretty sure I ate A TON of chocolate to survive. This was good for my mental health, but BAD for the hips. Oops.

Her "coming out" dress, compliments of aunt Mel. She's the mom
of soon-to-be 5 boys and she declared that girls should
wear blue. I concur!

Dan calls this her "Mario Punch" picture.

Our first time together at the grocery store. I was too nervous
about germs to take off Savannah's cover. Good thing she slept most of
the time.

She is still not on any growth charts yet. At 4 months she was 9 pounds 9 ounces (that was six weeks ago). But she is STRONG! It's fun to see such a small baby hold herself up so well.  She finally graduated to size 2 diapers (mostly because I ran out of size 1 and I wasn't sure she would make it through another box). She has outgrown almost all of her newborn size clothes but isn't big enough for three months size yet, so we're kind of in that awkward  in-between stage where nothing really fits. She is FINALLY getting faster at nursing,  which also adds to the celebration.

We blessed her at my parent's house a couple of weeks before the big coming out party. It was awesome and we highly recommend blessing babe's with just family around. It's the best.

Grandparents part 1

Grandparents, part 2

Devouring delicious Italian pasta. Yummmm.

More eating.

Lydia is in this picture too, I just know it!

My mom wasn't much of a pack rat, but somehow she managed to hold onto
the dress that I was blessed in (30 something years ago). Doesn't she look
too cute!

She would be mortified if she knew I was posting this. :)
She did keep the bonnet thing, but since it made me look like
I'm wearing a tutu on my head, I opted to go with a headband
for Savannah.
You're welcome, little one.

I so wish my mom could have been here to recreate this picture herself. Le weep.

And the rest of these pictures are random and in no particular order.

Surviving another hour-long nursing session while Dad is off at mutual.
10 points if you can name the movie that's playing behind him
(cuzin, I'm counting on you!)

Tummy time with Savannah

With Megan, the oldest girl cousin. Crazy that they're 12
YEARS apart.

Fat guy in a little chair!

The white was totally unplanned. Love my little munchkins!

  

Owen playing "music" with the vacuum hose. 

Loving life at church. 

 

Pajamas from aunt Laura. "Don't MOOSE with me!"

Sleeping beauty. She folds her arms like this all.the.time.
I love it.

  

She is SUCH a mama's girl! All I have to do is make eye contact and she
smiles for DAYS.

Pondering the meaning of life.

Remember how my brother in law's birthday is on May 4th (aka May the Fourth
be with you). We all got to together for a surprise Star Wars party and it did
not disappoint. And yes, I made that cake. So proud!