so long sister mcdonald!

Amy left us today for the next 18 months to serve a mission! She will be serving in the Iloilo Philipines mission. We are really going to miss her but it was a pretty happy day because she is just so excited!

{parker taking pictures... Melissa on speaker phone through the whole thing}

Sister McDonald.

The literal curbside drop off.

I think she is in good hands.

ali + roberto

In an effort to watch less smut recently, we decided not to watch this season of the bachellorette. Plus I was never an ali fan. BUT we did end up watching the last couple episodes of this season, and last night was so worth it. that was some great great TV. loved every minute of it. love ali. love roberto. loved it. loved it so much, i watched it again this morning. seriously, i love them.

did anyone watch?

the cabin tree swing broke...

Madison swinging on it 2 weeks ago. yikes.

it's true. after many many exhilarating rides, not without many many injuries, the Davidson cabin tree swing broke. I'm just glad I wasn't on it.

Our True Identity

I was just on lds.org ordering ourselves an ensign subscription. We haven't had one for a while and we always say, "well we can just read it online," because you can..here... BUT I really really enjoy reading from the actual magazine and I just don't do it when it's online. Now I am really excited to get our copy. I saw this video while I was on the church's website and loved it. I think we all need to be reminded of our divine nature.

melissa and eli

melissa + eli

I'm itching to get down to st. george to see melissa before she heads back to michigan for school. I wouldn't mind seeing this little guy either!

bear lake vacation

we spent last weeek in bear lake with the davidson family. The first day was windy and a bit chilly but it warmed up plenty by the last day when we were all sun burnt. the camping wasn't as bad as i thought it was going to be although my air mattress went flat every night and our food tent got raided by skunks (we woke up to two of them screaming at each other in the middle of the night, fighting over our food i guess). Luckily, no one got sprayed. it was good to finally get some sun this summer too. we went in the middle of the week and avoided most of the crowds.

on another note...parker's business partner just took a full time job with another company and parker bought him out of his share... so parker has recruited me to be his "partner" for the time being or he likes to call me his admin assistant. HA. we will see how it goes. wish us luck!

oakley rodeo

the oakley rodeo is one of those annual events parker's friends always make a point of going to. it's just a great event. rodeo's are great. we had a great time.

we ate at the road island diner before the rodeo. it's a cute little diner that literally came out here all the way from road island.

heather + matt

yup. they got married. it was a beautiful day.

I don't know how these are the only pictures i managed to get of those two.

the yard looked beautiful.

taking off on the harley. i love these two. they are so good for eachother. we a couple weekends ago up in Idaho with them and they are really such a great couple and i'm so happy for them!

see more pics here.

really?

i feel like this

about this.

how we celebrated

kneaders all-you-can-eat french toast for breakfast. so good.
parker got the smart phone he wanted...it is all he has been doing the past 48 hours.

Seven peaks with our free entrance passes (gotta love those val-paks)

Brian and marcies wedding bbq for dinner.

it was a fun low-key day to celebrate parker.

tatum is married!

May 21, 2010. Tatum and Mike got married!

seriously isn't she the prettiest bride ever?

tate, charlene, me, sidney

oh mesa. she was also the bell of the ball. as if you can't tell.

we begged them to smoosh. why doesn't anyone smoosh anymore?

when tatum threw her boquet, it literally landed on charlene's feet. she was so embarrassed. she tried giving it away. she finally decided to keep it :)

happy 27!

parker turns 27 today! isn't he cute? hope i get a little boy half this cute someday.

happy birthday park! you are the best friend i ever had! i love you!

roomies

parker has been out of town a few weeks this summer for work. and since I watch too much Law and Order and freak myself out at night, Charlene has been staying with me while P is out of town (also it was just really fun to have charlene staying with me and pretending like we were roomies again). I'm always amazed how nothing ever changes with charlene. since the 7th grade, our friendship has always been easy and we always pick up where we left off. I know people always say that and it sounds cliche, but seriously, that's how it is.

{ insert really old picture of charlene and me here...i don't have one since my computer crashed...anyone know a good place to have your computer diagnosed and virus' removed? }

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in lieu of some older pics, here are some more recent or not so recent ones.

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tatum's wedding last monthclassic california beach trip... 2007.

don't ask me what we are doing in this picture. taken in seattle in old navy dressing room

salad spinners and hematocrits

I got one for my birthday a couple months ago and have been loving it. I hate wet lettuce. I heard this story on NPR a couple days ago. How cool is this?

"Doctors in developing countries need a cheap centrifuge to test blood samples for anemia. Some university students think they have one. It’s a salad spinner tricked out with test tubes. The students are taking it out for field tests in Ecuador and Swaziland."

How to pleat Steam Bun -done by pro

so I made chinese bbq steamed buns (sio pao in the philippines) yesterday and I was watching videos on how to close the buns... if you would have seen what I was doing and then watched what it was supposed to look like (see video below), you would have laughed. at least they tasted good.



reminded me of something a little more depressing. A few weeks ago, i pulled out my violin to practice a little...something i should and wish i did much more than i do...Anyways I pulled out the last song I was working on seriously with my teacher and practiced for a while then thought I would youtube it and listen to it a few times to remember what it was supposed to sound like. again you would have laughed at me practicing.... I can probably play this at about 1/10th the speed itzhak does. doesn't even sound like the same song. Really depressing... I haven't pulled my violin out since. don't worry, as soon as my pride mends a little, I will.



"Although we don’t know all the reasons why we have differences in degrees of talents or attributes, the important thing to understand is that we are individuals moving along our own individual roads. When we stop competing with others, we can actually increase our progress. We won’t be so discouraged—and we will be able to be more productive. We can try to be better than we were yesterday, last week, last month, or last year"

Carthage

The original door and bullet hole that Hyrum was shot through. Isn't it amazing to see original stuff? blows my mind.

the room where Joseph and Hyrum were shot and killed. We were really lucky to be the only ones on our tour through carthage with the sister missionaries. We were able to take our time and hear all the stories instead of being rushed through like they often have to do during the summer. One really cool thing I learned on this trip is that one of parkers ancestors was John Fullmer who was in Carthage Jail the night before Joseph was killed. Joseph had many friends come stay with him for support for the few nights he was there. The night before he was laying on the floor between Dan Jones and John Fullmer. He told john (i dont know the exact quote) "brother john, use my arm as a pillow to rest your head." Anyways, it was really cool to hear the Sisters tell the story and know that was one of Parker's ancestors.

The top window is where Joseph Smith was shot and then fell from.

Carthage has such a strong spirit there. You can really feel the spirit of the Prophet Joseph Smith. I'm so glad we got to go!

Nauvoo

I have a million pictures of all the little stores and homes in Nauvoo. This may be way boring to everyone but I wanted to post a few. Nauvoo is so sweet and small and quaint. We loved walking up and down the streets and going into all the little homes.
The plaque below the sculpture reads, "On the morning of June 24, 1844, Joseph Smitha nd his brother Hyrum left their familes, homes, and fellow Saints for the last time. Traveling on horseback, they paused on this bluff. Joseph looked admiringly at the unfinished temple and the city of Nauvoo and declared:

"This is the loveliest place and the best people under the heavens; little do they know the trials that await them."

Joseph and Hyrum then continued on to Carthage, Illinios, where they faced legal charges and eventual death at the hands of a mob.
Red Brick Store
the Nauvoo House this is the trail of hope that runs down Parley Street in Nauvoo. It is where the saints began the mass exodus out of Nauvoo in the middle of winter.


at the end of Parley Street is the Mississippi River, where the saints crossed over it while it was frozen.

The Nauvoo temple was gorgeous. It is 99% the same as it was when the Saints originally built it. Isn't it amazing they were able to build something so magnificent? and from a group of people who were mostly broke.