Happy New Year

We wish you all wonderful memories of 2009

and pray that 2010

will be your best year ever!

God Bless Us and God Bless America

2009 in Review

I honestly don't know where this year has gone! It's been a great one. We've had really good times and have made great memories.

I guess that the 2009 memories that really stand out in my mind are seeing Wicked in Los Angeles for New Years; our family winter camp trip to New Fork in Wyoming; and the passing of my father.

I enjoyed going with Alayna to San Diego to see A.J. born; my road trip with Alyssa, Randy and A.J., to Bellingham, Washington; my fun birthday at Echo Reservoir, buying our new old boat, and our camping trip to the Uintas.

We enjoyed our yearly trip to the ranch, the Myers family reunion; and many great times on the lake. Our weekend at Starvation Reservoir was really fun and we really loved all of the times that we spent with our family's.

Having Mel being called to the Bishopric was pretty exciting, and I received the best surprise of my life when A.J. (and his parents) showed up on our front door for Thanksgiving.

We loved having our families together for our really big Thanksgiving Dinner and getting to see that Transiberian Orchestre for an early Christmas present was awesome.

And so the Christmas season is upon us once again. We are grateful for the past year, for this season and for the birth of our Savior. We are so grateful for the wonderful year that we have shared with all of you and we want to wish you all the merriest Christmas Ever....God bless us every one!

Thanksgiving Poem

Thanksgiving 2009

Another year has rushed on by--the summer’s quickly passed
We’ve said goodbye to summer’s sun; we knew it couldn’t last
The autumn’s chill has settled in; the leaves have changed and dropped
Our thoughts have turned to winter--the seasons won’t be stopped

And Thanksgiving’s now upon us--The holiday we love
We’re thankful for those we cherish; Especially Him above
We take the time to ponder on our blessings great and small
And we marvel at His goodness and the love He gives to all

Thanksgiving is the start--of a season filled with cheer
A moment before the hustle starts as the shopping season nears
Don’t let the moments pass you by-- and get lost in the season’s haste
Take the time to savor, the love, the joy, the taste

Tell your friends you need them--hug and hold them tight
Kiss your babes and love them, as you tuck them in tonight
Be grateful for your family, your friends and others dear
And have a great Thanksgiving--with loads of holiday cheer

A.L. Davis '09

Thanksgiving Blessings

Mel and I would like to thank all of you for a wonderful 2009
Some of the things we are especially thankful for:

1. That we found each other

2. 21 wonderful Children

3. 22 beautiful Grandchildren

4. Healthy bodies (note that we didn't say anything about aches and pains!)

5. Our fun home

6. Employment (we keep our fingers crossed!)

7. Good memories

8. Lots of great friends

9. Plans for the future

10. Our testimonies of the Gospel

To All Of You......Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope you have a happy harvest season,
and oh, so that I don't forget....Happy Halloween y'all.

Welcome Autumn

Welcome to autumn;

my favorite time of year...
crisp clean air, football, halloween and the kick off

of the holiday season.

Our Front Door

Brock and Parker,

mighty Silverwolves!

Cory's a great coach and Jeri's the team mom...

these are two lucky players!

A Few Fun Times

I just thought a post a few pictures from the last couple of weeks. On Friday morning, September 11, I got a pleasant surprise phone call from Randy. He was in Alabama and asked me if I would like to pick him up at the airport that night. He spent the night at our house, and the kids all came over for icecream sundaes. Brock, Parker and Ike love their "Uncle Jimmy!" I took Randy back to the airport Saturday morning for his flight back to Alaska and to his loving wife's waiting arms.

On Saturday the 19th we took the boat up to Sulpher Creek Reservoir. Mel and I played around on the water for a couple of hours, and then some of the kids and grand kids came up for a ride.


Just at the same time that we took the boat off of the water, the heavens started pouring down. It rained hard for the rest of the evening. That night we enjoyed Diana's 5th birthday party, and heard bits and pieces of a heart breaking football game.

Sunday afternoon we celebrated my "big brudders" birthday. I won't tell you which birthday. Let's just say that he is six years older than me.

Fishing Hole

Mel and I just got back from a 3 day camping trip up in the Uintas. It was just the two of us, and we had a really great time. We found a really great fishing hole, and the only way we will divulge our secret place, is if you come up with us next year.

We did quite a bit of fishing. I am now a real fan of fly fishing. It is truly a beautiful sport and art form. Mel caught a few fly fishing and I loved watching him, as well as learning the sport for myself.

I caught my two, Prince Charles and Prince William, the boring way with a bobber and cheese. I named my second fish, a beautiful rainbow, Prince William because he is much better looking than Prince Charles.

We fished on Trial Lake and also on Pass Lake, in addition to our "hole". We also spent some time at Mirror Lake, just enjoying the view. Great times!

Girl's Night

Friday night I got to hang out with four of thirteen of our beautiful grand daughters. That would be Sydnee, Hannah, Ariel and Molly. Our swimming plans were cancelled when the rain started on Friday night; but we had fun anyway. We cooked hotdogs and marshmellos over the backyard campfire and watched a couple of movies in the tent. After breakfast the next morning. We had arts and crafts, and then headed back up to Evanston by Saturday afternoon for Mel's world famous dutch oven stew.

Starvation Weekend

We spent four fun-filled days at Starvation Reservoir last week. Starvation is a fun place to camp and play. We've always called it our mini Lake Powell because the scenery is more rugged than most of our local lakes.

We suffered through the first temperature drop of the summer. Temperatures in the 60's and 70's told us that autumn is rapidly approching. On Friday morning I braved the cold and got in to the water to ski. It was a pleasant surprise to find that the water was warmer than the air. The deep water was much warmer than the shallow water at the beach when we wanted to swim and play.

We all got in some quality skiing betweem the horrendous wind storms that hit every day, about mid-day. The kids were out skiing by 6:30 a.m on Saturday morning. Brock, Parker and I were wrapped up in blankets while the kids skiied on the glassey water. Mel was excited to clear the water behind Cory and Jeri's boat, since he wasn't able to get up when he tried a few weeks earlier with our boat.

Every one went crawdading one night. Little Ike enjoyed playing with his crawdad the next morning, at least until the crawdad turned on him and pinched his finger. It was pretty funny to see. (Click on the picture below to enlarge it, and you can see the crawdad). We seemed to always have a standing horse shoe tournament going on and games and stories around the campfire.

Mel and I would like to thank Cory, Jeri, Brock, Parker, Alayna, Jason, Ike, C.J., Jennilyn, Jeremiah, Jenni and Brodie, for the fun times and great memories that we made last weekend.

Pioneers and Potato Salad

We celebrated the afternoon of the 24th of July up in Evanston. July 24th is also Mel's father, Melvin J. Davis' birthday. He would have been 92 years old. Even though he has passed on, we celebrated his birthday with a chocolate cake.

Later that evening we stopped at my cousin Mark's house for a picnic in his yard. We celebrated a belated Pioneer Day (aka the 25th) at C.J. and Jenni's home the next night. We had a lot of fun there last year, so they all invited us back for a repeat party. We all enjoyed ourselves in their beautiful back yard. We especially liked sitting in their comfy new lawn furniture. They are great hosts. We enjoyed the food, the company, and the fireworks. Thanks again, guys, for a fun evening.

(I would like to make an editorial comment on the above picture of Ike. You will notice that his parents have selected what color of hat he "has" to wear. I am confident that when he is old enough to pick his own clothes, cougar blue will be his color of choice.)

Yesterday we enjoyed an afternoon at the Myers Family Reunion. This is my mother's family; the descendents of Wilford and Edna Myers. The older I get the more important I find that family is. Pioneer Day is a great time to remember the blessings that we have received from those who went before us. Mel and I are both really grateful for our ancestors. We are proud of them and grateful to them for bringing the gospel into our lives. I truly believe that there is nothing more important than being with the ones you love. Money, power and prestige loose their luster....but family is forever.

Summer Fun

The last week of June we spent a fun weekend at the Ranch with our Davis and Clark families. The Ranch is located on the Mirror Lake Highway, between the Unitas and Evanston. The above picture is Mel flying a kite. We had a large group there so it was lots of fun. The kids played in the water and Mel and I, and some of the kids fished. Briana is in the inner tube in the picture below. We had good food, great company and a spectacular fireworks display on Saturday night.

On the 4th of July Mel and I took our boat out to see how she would run. The "Shake, Rattle and Troll" did a great job. We went out of the American Fork Harbor and enjoyed our time on the water.

On the evening of the 3rd, we enjoyed watching "Rough and Reckless" play in a softball game and later watching the Riverton Parade. Brock and Parker had a sleepover with us after the parade and the next morning we took them to see their mom who was running in a 10K. Later that morning we watched the tail end of the West Jordan parade which ends at 8200 South and Redwood Road. All of the parade entries turn down our street at the end, so we got to watch it from the comfort of our front porch.

That evening we enjoyed "all you can eat" hotdogs and games at Cory and Jeri's; and then we all headed to Riverton Park to see the fireworks. After all these years, I still believe that Riverton has the best fireworks in the entire state!