Tahoe Travels~

Sunset on the way home..We saw fall and winter landscapes, it was great to top it off with a beautiful sunset.

The clouds were amazing and pictures never do the scenery justice, especially with falling snow and glistening sparkles in the fields.

The beautiful couple we went to see be married.

Gotta love a waterfall, even if it is small and right by the restaurant. There was ice in the pond too, brr~

Too bad I was in high heels, I would have like to see that snowman and waterfront closer, but then I'm sure a snowball fight would ensue, that I was trying to avoid to stay warm.:)

Behind Bri and I you can see the nice restaurant, Riva grille, where we had the reception for family and a few friends!:)

Brian and I had a wonderful Saturday to ourselves! Judy our trusted respite worker(babysitter) came and was with the kids while Brian and I went to Steve and Layna's Wedding in Lake Tahoe. It was a beautiful ride there and back and enjoyed a nice ceremony and great meal there. I loved the snow and the scenery was amazing. I was glad we can"visit" then come home:)

YW in Excellence

I was pretty pleased to go to YW in Excellence with Emmy. The first speaker was sister Barlow from the Stake. She told stories of hands, kind hand, serving hands, sacrificing hands, and peaceful hands. She is a great speaker and the stories really spoke to everyone there. I was impressed about how these stories she told spoke to me and Emelie too we shared one with the rest of the family when we got home.These group of girls are truly great and I was so pleased to hear Emmy sing a song with all of them. My friend Cozann knew the song too and was signing next to me. I found out she used to lead the music in a deaf ward long ago. I love sign and it was special to hear of her joy in speaking it. She is a great woman too. The young women's displays of their goals and projects was very nice as well. I was impressed at their talks, one girl was asked to speak on each of the Values. These girls really did gain a better understanding of things like Integrity and Faith through this personal progress program. I'm so glad I went through young women's too. Emmy is in for a treat, being with these girls is a great thing and this program lifts the girls to new heights and gives them confidence and grace that I was so happy to see last night. They had mini eclairs too amongst other desserts which I failed to bring home for Brian hehe, he loves those!

Winter Wonderland?

Matchy girls, they even got gloves. Celia calls the snowflakes on them Christmas~

Celia couldn't believe Spencer refused to wear his. But they have feet!

Joseph was pretty pleased with his Navy Polar Bear Jammies.

I dunno about you , but it feels like December outside. We are waking up to the sound of the heater, frost on the rooftops and ice on our windshields. All the sites and sounds of winter seem to be here. ( apart from white snow on the ground which I am just fine without) I made pumpkin muffins this morning to remind myself its November! We are getting excited for the holidays. Brian has been whistling Christmas tunes for a month, and we listened to Stings winter Christmas album in the car on our date last night. We went to target and its completely decked out for Christmas, I love it. They had Jammies on sale. I still think its unfair they don't Make footsie pajamas for mommies. Mornings are cold here and maybe they'll sleep in if their cozy was our thinking.:) Santa could go crazy with all the dollar bins at Target right now too. I know this Santa's helper sure did hehe, Fun stuff. Celia and I went out exploring the world yesterday ( I say that because she comments on everything and all is so very exciting for her, even the trip to the bank with its black bench out front) and came home with silver C ornament for her. The stores were closed and she wanted my keys ( its apparent we lock things up here and mom has the key) to go inside Pottery Barn to see the trees. I'm sure she'd love our tree up right now! I will refrain and enjoy fall festivities a little longer.~

A Tribute To Expression.

Tonight I was so happy to have the Opportunity to go and visit Josi S. Kilpack, my pal from long ago. Brian was so sweet to come home and watch the kids. It always is such a nice feeling of freedom driving away from my wonderful little ones while I do something for myself. Its great to reminisce and remember friends and my old book group from the Inauguration neighborhood. It is so wonderful to me to have women writers these days to create and express themselves so beautifully. I loved hearing the stories of how these books came to be and feeling the excitement of those who were touched by these books was truly amazing. I love all the little details of the signing, asking the spelling of the name, the anticipated signature, and the gold seal of the autographed copy.

After all the commotion and many books were signed and the Deseret book store employees expressed their appreciations and excitement for Julie and Josi to be there, we went to El Torrito for Dinner. They lit the fire for us and it was great food and great company. I want Emmy to explore her talent in writing too. I downloaded blurb and maybe we can upload Emmy's book she has been writing. I think she should publish it herself, sign it, and have it on hand as a copy for here at home.:) We truly are blessed with wonderful imaginations and capabilities to express ourselves, we should use that to the fullest and feel wonderful for doing so.:)

A Wednesday Off.

Emmy and I got to have some Mommy Daughter time together. It was nice. Emmy and I enjoyed going to the movies, having a meal together and getting lip glosses! Girl stuff is tooo fun!

A view from the ride we went on near Vacaville California. I love how it just becomes more green here in the winter!

Here's a try at a picture of the kids together. The girls did great!

Veteran's Day caught me off guard this year. All of a sudden I had all the kids home for the day, I wasn't feeling well and I knew my freshly straightened house would suffer greatly if we all stayed home. We like to go to Vacaville, the shopping is great and there always seemed to be something of interest for the kids. Last time we went there was a life size chess game we could play. This year they moved that out of the way and made a gated carnival like area. Smart thinking, a place for kids to ride the merry go round, a train and play on outdoor toys while the parent shopped. But to our dismay it wasn't open yet! We ventured into Old Navy with all the kiddos. It went really well, Spencer used his love of clothes to guide us to things he wanted. I love that he was choosing and that they were on sale! He did hug a mannequin, but other then that it went very well, in fact in line I was complimented on how I handled Spence which really made me happy!

My Sweet Teen!

Celia hugged Emmy and said "Happy birthday You You Emmy".

Emmy always has loved to read, but now she wants to read Twilight!

A surprise dessert for the Birthday Girl.~ Chocolate chip cookie the size of a small pie, nice second only to steak and chocolate!

Grandma Holmes at Black Angus for Emmy's Birthday Dinner.~

Rah Rah and Papa came over and brought Emmy presents and Chocolate cake! My folks were there too and showed their fun great pics of their African Safari.

Emmy is all about music these days!

Happy kiddos, notice the crown Emmy has on for being the birthday girl, its sponge bob~!

Emmy has been very excited about her birthday and becoming a real teenager. My parents came from Los Angeles to visit and we had a wonderful time.

Party Party~

I love this pose of Joe's~

Celia picked up on trick or treating so quickly, she knew what to say, and to thank them, and was doing it each step like a pro.~

The kids sure get to have fun in school. Each of the kids except Emelie had a fall party in class with pumpkins and games and treats and fun. Spencer's class even had pizza and he came home with sooo much loot. Balloons and toys and bags of candy. His aides said he really enjoyed the party. Spencer seemed more into Halloween this year then in the recent past. We trick or treated around the court and he was happily visiting the neighbors. Its so nice they all know him and made him feel special and complimented him and the other kids on their costumes. The Kids and I loved the trunk of treat, trick or treating, and passing out candy! We even carved pumpkins with Rah Rah and baked the seeds with plenty of salt. We were making memories.~

Costumes

Our Gypsy Emmy. She has already been to one party this year dressed up. Spence and I will be dressing up too along with all the rest of the family for the Trunk or Treat on Friday. Hopefully I'll get some pictures then.:)

On Guard~

Celia Bear and little Joe AKA Little Red Riding Hood and Super Spooky Ghost Pirate. His mask flashes lights too!

Emmy is so sweet and attentive to her little sister.:)

We were pretty excited about Halloween even last month. Every year I hardly get to take any pictures with the busyness of getting everyone ready for parties and events. This year I took a few pictures ahead of time.:)

A walk at the Temple

Brian was out of town this weekend, the kids had been sick so church was out of the question. Sunday was still a wonderful day. We watched conference in the morning then rode to the temple and walked around. It is so beautiful and peaceful there. It feels so calm, quiet, and it has a feeling like how I think the Garden of Eden might have felt. I love this picture of Celia. She has so much personality. She yelled "Temple Right There, Yay" when we drove up. Yes she picked that flower, Shh..:)

Sons and Daughters checking out the pretty water in the fountain.

Joseph was happy to take a picture of Emmy & I. In fact, he thinks it could be the start of a career in photography for little Joe.:)

Joseph took this picture of the beautiful Sacramento Temple.

Celebrating another Davis Girl~

It was great to see the baby's room, everything so carefully thought out to bring this baby to a loving warm home. This is Lisa and her friends admiring the new baby's room.:) What an exciting thing to have another girl in the Davis Family!

What a gorgeous blanket made with love by Rah Rah for Holly. Lisa was very pleased.:)

It was lovely outside and a very nice time chatting and enjoying the yard and yummy clam chowder Rah Rah brought.:)

Beautiful Lisa and our Hostess Autumn~

Everything was beautiful including her gifts. Lisa and this new little one are very loved.

Dressing up is fun to do. to do to do to do..

Gotta have your pink star wand to say bibbidy bobbity boo with and sing songs while prancing around in your tiara and snowwhite dress!

Pretty happy!

Daddy did a great job finding this super darling Dora puzzle for Celia. She raised it up and told Dora to say cheese for the camera!