Casey, Rachel, Isaiah, and Brooklyn Davis: September 2011

Brooklyn's Baby Blessing

While we were up in California we were also able to bless Brooklyn. It was nice to have so much of Casey's family around. We got special permission and were able to bless her at Grandma Davis's house. She has been in the hospital and was able to come home now, but was unable to go to church. So we did it there so she could be there for it. It was nice, because they share the same middle name, so it was kinda special. Casey's mom made her blessing dress, it was a bit big on her, but I thought she looked absolutely beautiful in it! She also made the flower head band! Thanks again Karen! Here a bunch of pictures and a few family pictures finally! I don't think we got a good one with everyone looking, but oh well.

Brooklyn with Grandma Karen Davis

On her blessing day! Which I just realized was 9/11/11.

I like this one the most I think.

A few with big brother.

Casey's brother Jeff and sister in law Yolanda with Dad and Mom and our family.

On the road again!

I think we have about done our fair share of traveling lately. This past weekend we traveled up to Santa Margarita and Atascadero, CA to visit Casey's relatives and attend Casey's Grandpa's funeral. Grandpa Donald Davis passed away at the age of 93 of old age. He lived a nice long life. It was good to meet some of Casey's relatives that I hadn't had the chance to meet until now. It was also good to learn more about Grandpa Davis because I really didn't know him very well. I have only visited him a handful of times. Each time I met grandpa he would always say, "It is so good to meet you." I guess he couldn't remember that he had already met me. :) I always thought it was funny when he would say that. It was a really good funeral service and I am glad that we were able to attend.

While we were up for the funeral we also got to spend time with Casey's grandparents on his mom's side. Zaya had so much fun out at the ranch. He enjoyed going for jeep and RTV rides out on the ranch. Catching a big frog or toad, not sure which. Riding and feeding the horses. Watching the birds eat and splash in the bird bath. Feeding grandpa's dogs Gunner and Stubby, but mostly Stubby. Playing with the trains. And eating WAY too much sugar! I guess that is what grandparents are good for, spoiling them. :) He also really enjoyed the jerky Grandpa Parsons sent home with us and I think Zaya probably ate half of it! The whole bag was gone by the time we got home! I only got one little piece, so that tells you how much Zaya ate. It was also really good to see Casey's parents one last time before they leave on their mission next month to the Baltic states, which is over in Latvia and Lithuania. We are definitely going to miss visits from them over the next year and a half. We also were able to bless Brooklyn while we were up there. I will do a separate post on this.

On the way home we hit bad traffic again. So we decided to stop in Santa Barbara and have fish and chips! It was a nice break from driving and the traffic. The fish and chips and clam chowder were delicious and the scenery was so beautiful. I wanted to get some pictures but our camera battery was dead. We really enjoyed our trip and were glad we were able to get away for a few days and spend time with family. Enjoy the pics. Sorry if there are too many. I always have a hard time deciding which ones, so I just post a ton! :)

Feeding Zinger

Getting ready for the horse ride!

Zaya riding with me

He enjoyed it quite a bit.

But he had more fun playing in this watering trough afterwards.

I always knew I could be a cowgirl. :)

Having fun riding Zinger

My handsome cowboy!

Casey riding away on Zinger

Zaya also loved this little tractor

He was so enthralled by it!

Petting the horses

Pretty rainbow that stretched across the sky!

Zaya's little frog!

He thought it was pretty cool!

He really liked carrying it around in this bowl.

Brooklyn with her Great Grandma Parsons

Some cute pictures of Brooky smiling!

Brooky with Grandma Davis

Brooky with Great Grandpa Parsons

Relatives at the graveside service

Casket and flowers

Casey and his cousins with Grandma Davis and Zaya had to get in too. :)

Another one.

Brooklyn's Brace

Here are a few pictures of Brooklyn in her Brace. She looks so peaceful here after she has now gotten used to wearing it. I am so happy to say that it was only the first day she had to wear the brace that she really fought it. Every day she is in it, it seems to bother her less. We are both starting to get used to it. Not sure yet how long she will have to be in it and whatnot, but for now I am just glad she is happy and that we are both adjusting to it. She always has to wear pants or leggings in this brace so that it doesn't rub her legs raw. I still don't have any pictures of the back of the brace or the brace by itself, but I will get some. I will post more details once I find out more about what they are going to do after this step.

Zaya licking mashed potatoes off of the beater! You would think it was frosting or something! Silly boy! He had to get a picture too! :)

Labor Day

This year for Labor Day we spent a good share of the day just catching up with life and trying to finish getting settled into our apartment here in California. We finally got all the pictures up and finished putting everything away. It is nice to be rid of all the boxes! :) We also took part of the day to go to the Ocean. We had fun building a sand castle with a mote and letting the cold waves run over our feet. It is so relaxing to just sit and listen to the waves crash. Brooklyn enjoyed it too and she pretty much just slept the whole time in her car seat! It was a little colder than normal because it rained a little (you can see the gray skies). But even still it wasn't bad and we enjoyed our trip to the beach. It is so nice to live so close to the ocean that we can have fun at the beach AND get some work done.. all in one day! I have a feeling our car is going to constantly have sand in it with as many trips as we may be taking to the beach. :)