Yuma, AZ

Our visit to Yuma, AZ

We had a great time in Yuma, except for the fact that we wish we could have been there longer! I only got to see my cousin Bryce once! Thanks again to Robert & Christina and Gpa & Gma for everything - we miss you guys! My Aunt and Uncle have two adorable dogs at their house, so Mariah was in heaven. Robbie on the other hand wasn't too sure about them, especially when they were barking.

I love Gpa and Gma!

Mariah's new best friend... the leapord.

Mariah & Robbie putting on the performance of a lifetime.
Us.

Robbie and Uncle Robert

Mariah and her buddy, Uncle Robert

We got there on the evening of the 6th (my birthday!) and Gpa and Gma took us out to dinner to Olive Garden (yummmm!). It was really fun and really good, it had been too long since we've seen them (and too long since I've had Olive Garden)! Josh surprised me by having a cake brought to our table and everyone sang to me - the kids thought it was the coolest. The only bad thing about the evening was that Robbie was extremely tired and just wanted to run around, hence the pictures of the kids laying on the floor. Yes, they're in a (relatively) nice restaurant and no, I didn't even attempt to stop them. Hey, it was my birthday.

The next day we went shopping with Gma and she got tons of fun clothes for the kids. Mariah got to pick out her own outfit, so of course she chose a dress and sparkly shoes. She wanted to change into them immediately so we changed her in the car on the way to lunch. We went out to lunch at this super yummy place called Kneaders (like you knead bread - it kinda reminded me of Panera Bread, but way better). We were waiting in line, and I guess Robbie was hungry because I look over at him and he's chewing on a huge chunk of chocolate bread! He had ripped open the plastic wrap and grabbed a peice! The rest of the day we shopped and hung out with Gramps and Grams... the kids had so much fun at their house, which is decorated in a safari/african theme. Gpa let them play with his harmonic and recorder, so they sang, played and danced the night away!

Lunch w/ Grams and Mariah's new outfit!

GGpa and GGma with Robbie and Riah

San Diego

I still can't believe how much my kids love the beach. Each time we go it convinces me more and more that we need to live close to one. We went to San Diego for four days after our family reunion in Yucca Valley. It was only about a 2 hour drive, so it wasn't bad at all.

We went to the beach a couples times, took the kids to Balboa park, Seaport Village, and downtown. It had been a while since I had been there... man I'm getting old.

Our hotel was nice, a little too nice because they make you pay for EVERYTHING. Parking was almost $15 a day and if you wanted a mini fridge you had to pay extra. Other than that, everything was really nice. The weather was pretty good and it felt good to be near the ocean.

First Wedding

I had the opportunity to photograph my first wedding! Josh's sister Mariah (sound familiar?) and her husband Joseph were married in Salt Lake this past weekend. I had such a great time taking their pictures; they were so happy, beautiful and so in love... it was a blast!

I'm in the process of building up my portfolio, so if you or anyone you know is in need of a photographer for weddings, family portraits, children & babies, senior portraits, sports events and more, please contact me. I'd love to give you a great deal!

To see some examples of my work and more importantly, my gorgeous sister-in-law, visit my Photography Blog at http://brandilyndavidsonphotography.blogspot.com/. All of my contact information is there.

Thanks!

Air Museum

Checking out the planes... Sgt. Seth
Painting on a huge airplane project

"I can fly too!"

The Duffey family in the cockpit.

Dancing?

Robbie thought he was in heaven. Cars+Airplanes=Heaven.

We had a great time at the air museum in Palm Springs. I think the funnest part was watching the kids reactions to everything, especially Robbie and Seth. Go figure, the boys... They did a great job of catering to the little ones with a huge paper mache airplane to paint, a real airplane to climb into with outfits and all and lots of other things to climb on and mess with.

This sweet old lady that worked there came over and gave Robbie a paper airplane kit because he was crying. Josh put it together for him and then after about .3 seconds of play time he ripped it in half and started crying even louder than before. So this sweet lady gave him another airplane kit to replace the broken one. Josh put the other one together and well, I'm sure you can guess what happened. We did this about four times until I finally told the lady we better go... (it was nap time). She gave us a handful more for the road and we went on our way. Robbie fell asleep the second he hit the carseat.

Mariah loved all the airplanes and cars too, and loved pretending that she was flying a real plane! Her favorite part was painting the airplane all by herself and cutting out the pictures she colored for Robbie.

New Year's Eve!

Party like it's 2009!
The Davidson Family

Sistas

Twins

And the official DDR (Dance Dance Revolution) Dance-off winner is...

Brandilyn!

The Ladies.

Happy New Year!

Everyone

So much to look forward to in this new year. Hope you all had a fun, safe time and are looking forward to the future. Happy New Year!

Hot Springs Trading Post

A few pictures from our visit to the museum and trading post in Hot Springs near Joshua Tree National Park...

Aren't my kids so stinkin cute??? Sometimes I just look at them and wonder how I got so lucky. They are awesome. Of course they have their moments, we all do, but they are great kids. So completely different from eachother and such wonderful friends. They love eachother so much and are so sweet with eachother.

It was great weather today at the trading post. It's crazy the many differenet terrains there are in the sate of California. I love it here. We went from mountains and snow to catus and desert in a matter of hours. Next we'll be at the beach and then back up to the snow. What other state can offer all that?

we are nomads.

Pictures from our Yucca Valley family reunion. Mariah playing with Daddy's gift.

Robbie

Desert Style...

Josh and Robbie

Kaniesha, Mariah, Josh and Robbie

Nomads. That's what we are. Here's a quick summary of our 'goings ons' this month or so:

December 6-17 Tennessee (pictures to come...)

December 24-26 Grass Valley for Christmas (pictures also to come...)

December 17- January 3 Yucca Valley for family reunion. Pictures on this post.

January 3-6 San Diego (Josh, the kids and I)

January 6-8 Arizona with Grandparents and Aunt and Uncle and cousins Yay!

January 8-9 Las Vegas (stay with Aunt and Uncle - another yay!)

January 9-12 Salt Lake City (Josh's sister Mariah is getting married!! Another big yay!)

I know, it stresses me out even thinking about it too! This is just one of the reasons why I've been so horrible at updating the blog lately. I will post some Tennessee and Christmas pictures as soon as I can.

Grass Valley

We went up to Grass Valley to see Bob-o, Nona and the kids for a couple weeks. It was finally feeling like winter-time! They recently got a new trampoline with nets around the sides and the kids love it! I love it too because they can't get hurt, well at least they can't fall off of it... The best toys ever.
Uncle Seth and Robbie...

"Sorry I made you fall seventeen times kiss"

Trampoline time.

kisses.

Seth and Robbie are best buds. He follows Seth around wherever he goes, even to school - so Seth has to sneek out the back door when he leaves in the morning. My kids are so lucky to have so many people that love them and spend time with them!!

Thuggin It Out.

New Camera!

I just got the camera I've been wanting for... FOREVER! Check it out!I apologize for the huge gap in posts, we've been doing a lot lately. We're currently out in Tennessee and I'm getting lots of fun pictures. I will try and post them soon...

Making Fires

Daniel and Robbie watching the flames.
Mariah triming the bushes...

Robbie playing on the patio furniture.

My cousin Daniel (who finally just started his own blog!! yay! danielhoer.blogspot.com) came out for Thanksgiving. He came down to good ol Hilmar for the weekend, along with my sister Rashauna, to hang out and help me out. It was so fun to have him around; it was one of our best visits. The kids totally recognize him and love him and he's suprisingly sweet with them. He even got up with them one morning to let me sleep! Bet you wish you had a cousin like me huh? He also smashed up all of our old outdoor furniture and burned it. I'm not sure if that was a favor for me or play time for him... either way - it worked out perfectly. Mariah loved having a fire and we even roasted marshmellows one night.

Swing Time.