After 5 years....

It has only taken me 5 years to figure out how to change the templet of our blog and add a picture! Hopefully it won't take 5 years for me to update it. However, it might... You see, we went to Detroit and saw all of our family... Andrea's and Jeff's. Because Andrea was snapping pictures, I forgot to take any. How stupid is that. At this rate, I might get some pictures posted in about a year!

We love you all and we are doing fine.... we will get our act together one of these days and post some pictures and let you "see" our life. :)

Easter and "backwards"....

I posted all of these pictures backwards... you can either
go to the end and work up, or just figure it out on your own. :)



Olivia's haul from the jelly bean easter egg hunt.


Jeff got his share! The jelly bean hunt is a favorite family
tradition. We don't hunt for big eggs... just tiny ones!


Victoria loved the hunt. She really got into it! Each of the
kids got a bucket, garden shovel and rake, garden gloves and
crocks. Did you notice the garden theme?


Uncle Steve hid all the jelly beans in high places... that ment
he had to lift everyone up to get them when they were spotted!


I think he had a good time "playing" the gave with us!


Most of the jellies are in simple places to find, but we do get
creative... Sometimes we find them days later!


Jett loved it! He would see one and skip over others
just to get it. It was funny.


A good time was had by all!


The traditional bunny cake... handed down from Grandma Hammond.

The black jelly beans at the back are a tradition, too! I think Russell (and

probably Helen) were the ones that started that!


I had to use toothpicks for the whiskers. I forgot to get

candy for that!


Miss Ella is starting to smile and even laugh out loud. Brent

is the one that can get her laughing. She will smile for the rest

of us, but most of her belly laughs are brought on by Daddy!


This is a big smile!!!


Ella loves to "suck her lips" into her mouth. On this day we

couldn't get a good smile because she was having so much fun

looking goofy!


Poor Jett.... Three sisters! He is bound to have some pictures

that he will want to distroy as he gets older!


He is so proud to be the girls practice "dummy"!


Everyone on our street has commented on how much they are enjoying

having little kids on the street again. I have to say that Jett riding up the

street on his bike is absolutely adorable!


Victoria has learned to climb trees this Spring. This is great

fun to her, but it may mean another broken arm before she

is through with Summer!


Her nose looks huge in this picture, but I think that it is just

scrunched up as she is making a face.


Poor Laura was so tired. She came to Utah for 4 weeks and during

that time she had sick kids... too many places to go and too many

people to see. She didn't get much rest. Austin was the only one

holding out from taking a nap!


Ethan was so tired he couldn't even eat his cookie. It was

so sad! He goes so hard most of the time, that it seemed strange

to have him "stopped". Ethan promptly went home from this Utah,

trip and jumped off of a chair and broke his clavicle! He is miserable!

He kept telling his mother to "Free the Bees" like on the Bee Movie but she didn't

know what he was taking about. After a bath while putting him back

into his brace for his clavicle he told her that the brace was his bee

wings. He doesn't like the brace so he wanted to "Free the Bees"!! How

funny is that!


Grandpa and Austin reading together! They both seemed to love

the time together! Austin (and now Ella) are getting so big that

Grandpa needs to sit down with them.... they are just too heavy!


This adorable hat was made my my friend, Cindi Wendler. Isn't

it darling! I have since made a few myself... they are really quite

fun to make... and so cute to see!

We have a lot of things going on at our house... I haven't posted a

blog for a while... We'll see if I get any more organized. I used to be,

but something happened!!! We hope you like the pictures!

We love you all and hope that everything is going well for you. Hope to

see you soon! Doug and Delores

Ella Nicole home at last!

Look at that "Pack double chin" !!!


She is thinking... come on, let me have my hands
out!


Home at last and "sleeping like a baby"!


Victoria just "chillin" with Ella. She held her like this
for at least one hour... When she would finially give her
up, her arms and legs were asleep and she couldn't move!
But, she was not about to admit anything was wrong for
fear someone would take Ella from her!


Look at that hair! Blonde and curly!

Baby Ella!

After all the waiting we finally got little
Ella Nicole Davis here! These are a few of the
pictures that we took just minutes after her birth.
I hope you like them!


She is here!


Right after her first bath. Look at the hair! So Cute!


This picture shows her just enjoying the warming lights.
It might be the best picture of her hair, too! Wide awake and
checking things out!


Hey! Where's mom?

I'm ready for my close up!

First time her eyes were shut. She was awake and alert

looking at everyone for about 4 hours! She was just trying to

get to know everyone... then got tired!

Yes... we even let Dad hold her, but not until everyone else

got a chance... How mean were we!?!

Grandpa's first look at his newest little beauty! Ella

makes 6 grandkids. They are all Grandpa and Grandma's

"favorites"!

The kids all waithing for their turn to hold Ella!

Victoria is in heaven!

Andrea blogging on her i-phone... Pictures almost

instantly! She is much more techno-savey than

her parents!

Olivia loves her! We think Ella looks like Olivia.

Victoria is beside herself she is so excited about Ella.

She doesn't want anyone else to get to hold her!

Big Sisters!

Don't you think they look alike?

Although Jett was very excited to see Baby Ella, he was

pretty excited to see his mom, too!

Still a little swollen, but still so cute!
She is so cute and so alert!

Ella Nicole Davis - January 20, 2009 - 7 pounds, 11 ounces - 20.5 inches

First family photo!

OK...It has been a year since our last post!

We have had a lot happening with our family during the past year. Andrea and the kids moved back from Alaska and moved in with us. Brent came just in time for Christmas. They moved to a new house in Cedar Hills, We went on a road trip to San Diego, Andrea's family moved back with us in August, Jeff had his 2nd baby boy on Aug. 6th, School Starting, another baby due in January.... the list goes on.

I have taken pictures, but I didn't download them until yesterday... 297 of them to look at, sort through, and then choose a few to give an over view of all the fun and activities we have had. Here are some pictures... (I couldn't post all 297, but I gave it a good try!)



Victoria in her Kindergarden Halloween Parade.


Olivia and Victoria going to school.


The two dress up queens!

The girls came up to our room one night dressed as

wrestlers.... Garbage bags with leg holes cut in them

were their uniform, but the underware on their heads

was the kicker! Grandpa and I laughed until we were

sick.

I am sure that you can understand why we thought

it was funny!

We went to Columbus to see Austin our newest grandson.

He was adorable... Ethan loved him, too!

Every day Ethan was very interested in Grandpa

shaving. One day he got a little too close! :)

I cannot tell a lie... we did play a few games of cards!

We went to the zoo twice while we were there. Jeff

and Laura have a yearly pass and we all got in free!

Ethan loves the zoo. He will watch the animals longer

than any little kid you've ever seen!

Sure hope Austin loves the zoo, too!

Ethan got to ride on the horse while at the

zoo. He thought he was pretty hot stuff. Grandma

and Grandpa thought he was too!

It rained while we were in Ohio and Ethan went out to

play in the rain water. He loves water, too!

Austin and Laura! So cute!

Ethan loved to play at the table...

Ethan is a total nut cake... He stuck his gusher

in his hair to keep it for later!


Cutie little Austin!


Grandpa loved to rock Austin. It was too

hard on his back to walk with him.


Ethan had never seen "hot air popcorn". He

got so excited. He laughed so hard!


Grandma loved to snuggle with Austin, too!


It was hard to get a picture of Austin that really shows

how cute he is... I don't think this one did either! Trust me,

he is darling!


Ethan writing! We think he is going to be a lefty!


Snuggle time for Grandpa!


Ethan is a dare devil! If he doesn't have to have stitches

soon it will be a miracle. He loves to jump off things (like

chairs) onto his bean bag!


Ethan kept us entertained! He loves his Nemo hat!


Jett, your sisters are going to blackmail you with

these pictures someday!


Doesn't he make a lovely bride?


The kids loved making cotton candy. So did Grandma!

It is one of her favorites, too!


Playing Corn Hole (an Ohio favorite) on the 24th of

July. Jeff and Laura made Andrea's family and Doug and I each

a game for Christmas. We kept both of the Corn Hole

games going for several hours. It is a great game!

Thanks Jeff and Laura!


We had a water balloon toss game. I was Jett's

partner. He would throw the balloon knowing that

it would pop. He would be back with another one to

throw within seconds!


The kids ran through the sprinklers... it was a hot

day!


Even the dog (Trixie, a Mickey look alike) got into

the action!


Jett....


While we were in San Diego, Jett could hardly wait

to go "where ever" each morning. "Can't you guys

hurry a little faster?"

Grandpa and Ethan watching the whale show. He

loved every minute of it!


It's so cool to watch the whales underwater!

We loved having the entire family together... It was

noisey, but really fun!


Jeff and Ethan liked riding on Grandpa's stroller

once in a while! Doug really didn't want to have a

wheel chair, but just the walk from the parking lot

to the front gate changed his mind. It was a very good thing

he had one. He would have never made it!


WOW!!!


We went to all the shows in See World. Many

of them twice! Grandpa's handicaped seating

came in nice! Reserved seating about 1/2 way

up the seats! Cool!

We brought our lunch every day to help everyone

same money. It was fun.


We had to go out of the park to picnic, but there was

a table in the shade that we could all sit at.


One crippled Grandpa, two pregnant daughters, four

little kids and Jeff and I! Thank heavens for Jeff... He

was really the only able bodied person there! We loved

strollers... we smuggled water bottles, fruit snacks and

crackers in using the diaper bags!!!!


Here are four cute kids!

The back of each shirt says, "I am Grandma and

Grandpa's favorite! They are all right!

I didn't put in any pictures of our day at Disneyland. It was also a great day! Thanks to Andrea's Air Force discount we got two days at Sea World and one at Disneyland at a pretty

good price!

As you can see, we have been busy and having fun. I will try to not take another year before I post another blog! :) I will attempt to do better! We love you all and hope that you are all healthy and happy!

Doug and Delores