Antelope Island

I have been wanting to take the girls to the Great Salt Lake for a long time.  I was 50/50 on whether or not I wanted to go this past weekend.  Then I found out that they were having a little festival out on the island, and that sealed the deal for me.  And bonus....they had a place to do horse-back riding.

This was our first glimpse of the bison.  

Then we found some closer to the road.

 Then they had to cross the road....

 Then we got to the ranch, and our guide (DJ) got our horses saddled up.  This is Dom's horse.  His name is Maverick because he was in the Mel Gibson movie with the same name.

This is Elle on Navajo.  He was in the movie Far and Away with Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman.

We took a 90 minute ride up the trail.  It took us a bit to get adjusted to our horses, but once the girls got the hang of it, it was just a lot of fun! 

I have about 15 pictures that look like this.  Can I tell you that the ride would have been much more enjoyable if I had not been lugging my big old camera.

This was the pinnacle (literally) of our ride.  It's difficult to tell, bu the view is really, really awesome.  When we went down the hill, DJ told Dom and Elle to lean back, and use the stirrups to balance and hold on to the reigns.  Dom was holding on for dear life, and he had the reigns too tight.  She said, "Why won't he go?"  I said, "Do you have the reigns pulled back so he thinks you should be stopped?"  She said, "Oh....that."

All along the way there were thousands and thousands of beautiful sunflowers.  It was SO picturesque!

After our ride, we went to the other side of the island and took pictures along the way.

And more bison....

And more sunflowers.....

Then we went to the Stampede Festival and ate some carb-loaded, fried food.  The girls really wanted to dip their toes in the Great Salt Lake.

On the way to "the beach," we saw a few of the balloons that flew that evening.  

This is one of my favorite pictures....

We got to the west side of the island as the sun was going down.  I haven't altered any of these pictures...

Here they are....as the sun is going down...in the Great Salt Lake.  They are probably about 1/4 mile away from where I'm standing.  

I love this picture.

I love living in Utah; it is so unbelievably beautiful!  This whole state is a testament to God's great creations!

Middle School Election Tactics

Dominique is running for Student Body Officer this week, and we have been having some discussions about elections and campaigns.  A few weeks ago, she asked me to help her.  I agreed to be her campaign manager (an un-paid position, by the way).  She decided that she wanted her theme to coincide with something she could hand out...like candy, a bracelet, you get the point.

I came up with several bad ideas.  Then she really liked, "Don't be a sucker, vote for Dom."  We thought we could get suckers and use the label maker to put her slogan on labels and wrap them around suckers.  She said to me, "Let me check with my friends and see what they think before we decide."  Um, excuse me?  I said, "I don't mind being your campaign manager, but I don't need to vet all ideas through 'your people'!" Since I'm also funding the campaign (posters, suckers and supplies), I think my opinion counted a bit more than a group of 7th grade girls.

Do you know how much suckers cost?  There are 180 7th Graders at our school.  I thought...this is going to cost me 10 bucks or so.  Guess again.  A bag  of 18 suckers cost a whopping $3.00.  When did sucker prices go up so much????  Luckily, all suckers were on sale at Walgreens.  We spent $20.00 to get 190 suckers.  Then I spent about $45 on the cartridges for my label maker.  I have no idea what Dean spent on posters the week before, but I can tell you that the Sharpies used to color said posters have come up missing (or at least some of them have).  I'm guessing I'm out at least $100.00 on this campaign.

So, as we are adorning suckers last night with labels (Oh, and we got some Dum Dums...and I made the labels for those say, "Don't be a 'Dum Dum,' vote for Dom Dom."  Apparently, I'm the only one who thinks that is funny, but oh well...since I was in charge of the label maker....)

While doing our project, Dom says, "Is this what it's like when you run for President of the United States?"  I couldn't contain my laughter.  Can you imagine???  The Obamas with 300 million suckers and a label maker?  I said, "Yes, it's similar, but you don't give out suckers.  But you have a campaign manager, a budget, a slogan and a reason that people should vote for you."  Running for student body officer is a mini-life lesson....

Then I asked her what she thought her chances for winning were.  She says, "Oh, I plan on winning, because I'm going to make everyone pinky-swear to vote for me."  Can I tell you how proud I am! 

I hope she wins because she really, really wants it.  In the end, we might be out spent, and I know that we don't have the best slogan.  I'm holding out for the coercive "pinky-swear technique" to push her to the finish line.

One BIG birthday bash...

We have six birthdays between December 18th and April 23rd....we are heavily stacked at the beginning of the year. Add to the mix Garrett and Elise (both in April), we've got 8 birthdays in five months. So, this year Mariah asked if we could go to Benihana for our birthdays.  She missed the December Benihana event.  We went..we ate...we had a really good time! 

Mariah and Garrett (can I tell you that they REALLY enjoyed the meal and themselves)

Me and Riah

Bradley and Elise

Dom and Dean

Elle was missing...she was at a softball tournament in St. George.  It wasn't all tragedy...at least Elle was there for the December Benihana fest.

Part of the fun of Benihana is watching the making of the food. Our guy was cute...he put the fried rice in the shape of a heart and made the heart "beat" with the spatula.

Yummy veggies and shrimp appetizers

Add the seafood and chicken

Add the red meat...

The cheesy and requisite birthday drum and tambourine

Ice cream and candles for all birthday celebrants.

Extinguishing the candles

Back at home....a cake for Bradley (made by Dom)  See everyone laughing?  What you can't see is that Garrett is just out of this picture...and for sure he has said something hilarious...he's always saying hilarious things.

If you only knew the escapade it was getting those candles lit, you would understand why I took the action shots of the candles being blown out.  Let's just say that kindling and flint is not an effective method for candle lighting.

 

Dean and Bradley

Where does a genie live?

Tonight we were at dinner at Mimi's Cafe. I had a Cobb Salad with blue cheese dressing (on the side). They delivered it in a container that looked like this: Probably prompted by the shape of the container, Dom asked, "Where do Genie's live?"

I said, "In a bottle?" Because whenever I think of Genies, I think of "I Dream of Jeannie" and something that looks like this:Dom: "Not a bottle!" "Like that (pointing to the salad dressing thing)! A Genie lives in something that looks like a gravy boat." (still pointing at the salad dressing thing) Click HERE to see previous confusion related to a gravy boat.

Me: "Ah, yes, I genie can live in a lamp" (And why I'm pretending like genies exist is an entirely different matter).
She thought we meant a lamp like this:

Or perhaps this:

Since we have one of these up in our house from Thanksgiving to New Year's each year.

We then tried to convince her that something that looked like this:

is actually considered a "lamp."

Me: "Have you heard of the Parable of the 10 Virgins?"

Dom: "No."

Me: (Pointing at Dom) "One." (Then pointing at Elle) "Two."

We had an interesting conversation about oil lamps. For whatever reason, Dom hasn't seen an oil lamp (or if she has, she doesn't remember seeing one). We don't have them at home. My mom used to have them. We had the colored oils and everything. I don't know why we ever used those things. I can't imagine the fire hazard that they were. I don't remember seeing one after about 1979 (or about the time that we got our first CB Radio.....connection? correlative? hummm?)I LOVE having these times with the girls. I'm so glad that Dominique (at the age of 12) still asks questions like "Where does a genie live?" I love that it leads us down unexpected paths of conversation and exploration. When we eat at home, we actually sit around the table and talk; some of my best conversations with the kids happen there. Tonight it was at a restaurant table. This is the fun stuff of life.

Where does a genie live? Why of course, a genie lives in the imagination of a child.

BOM Challenge

Today Elle, Dominique and I began reading the Book of Mormon from page 1. As part of their Young Women's goals, they need to read it in its entirety. It's a daunting task. I've read it no less than 7 times from cover to cover. On two occasions, I read it in 7 days. It was about a 3 hour a day commitment, but it was such a sense of accomplishment.

I don't know if you've ever tried to sit down and read the scriptures (any scriptures) from cover to cover, but it's not easy. In the course of my life time, I've read the Old and New Testament in their entirety, but only once have I read the NT from cover to cover.

We were challenged in Stake Conference so just READ the Book of Mormon...not necessarily finish it by February (when we have our next conference). So, since I have three solid weeks of vacation between now and the end of the year (as do the girls), I asked them if they would be up to the challenge. They were a bit hesitant at first, but I threw in a new snuggie for each of us and the promise of hot chocolate during marathon reading sessions. They agreed.

Today we read for TWO and a HALF HOURS....in two separate reading sessions. Do you know how hard that is for a 14 and a 12 year old? We read out loud and take turns. We hit our goal of 40 pages. I'm so proud of them. It won't be easy, but it will be a good goal to work on. I've organized it so that we don't read EVERY day during our vacation. I've broken it into 13 days. Only 12 more to go.

I'm confident that we can meet this goal, and I know that they'll be SO PROUD of themselves when they've done it.

What will you challenge yourself to do? Is there a project that you've been wanting to do? Got a book in you that you've been meaning to write? I'm a big believer that time-sensitive goals are great motivators! Please share if you have any ideas for your next "big thing."

School Pics

I cannot tell you the amount of negotiating that goes on about school picture day. I am not a fan of over-doing the eye make up especially when we have girls that are so beautiful without it. This picture day was no different than any other...ridden with negotiation and some tears. Goodness me.

Aren't they pretty girls!!! Growing up WAY too fast!!!

First Day of School

I'm shamefully "late" in posting these pictures. To my defense, I was not home on the first day of school this year. That fact makes me a bit sad. It's one day that I really try hard not to miss, but this year, it was unavoidable. Each year the kids get older (duh!), but the realization is that in getting older they'll soon be moving on. They are incredible young women ready to conquer the school year!Mariah: 16 years old, Junior at Jordan High

Elle: 14 years old, 9th Grader at Mount Jordan Middle School in Sandy, Utah
(She is really a Freshman, but this year 9th grade is still at the middle school.)

Dominique: 12 years old, 7th Grade at Mount Jordan Middle School in Sandy, Utah
(Had I been home that morning, this child would have never left the house with that much eye make up on! She's trying to grow up too fast, and it's tough when you have two older sisters who are allowed to do things you're not yet allowed to do. We've got a nice compromise all worked out now with regard to the eye make up...at least for now...)

They're growing up!!!!

I try and try and try to convince these two girls that they are absolutely beautiful without their eye makeup, but it is a losing battle. They so want to wear it, and it makes them so happy. I try to tell them that it is not what is on their face but in their heart that makes them beautiful. They listen, nod...then ask if they can buy blue mascara. AKKKK! ANYTHING but blue! There is a line from the movie "My Girl" with Jamie Lee Curtis. She is putting eye makeup on Veda for the first time and she says, "The number one rule about eye makeup is that you can never have enough blue eyeshadow." That movie took place in the early 70s, and that statement might have been true 3 decades ago, but it isn't true now. There has been an alarming resurgence of 80s styles, though. Stay tuned for more fashion happenings from the Davis girls.