DB Family Blog: Start of School to end of year 2024

First day of school! John 3rd, Katy 5th and Diana 7th

Jim's surf trip!

John lost a tooth at school which makes everything 10x as fun!

Sunset from our front door.

Jacob fished almost every day at the neighborhood pond. Catch and release so many fish!

XC for Jacob- first year was tough but he was decently fast. Proud of him!

Michael keeps getting faster. He has good times. Not state champ, but good pace!

Michael showed me some sketches he made...he really likes architecture!

Another sunset

Father son campout with the trailer at the beach. Oceanfront campsite!

For Nicole's 18th bday I surprised her with a Piano Guys concert!

Hard to believe she is 18!

Football game with the fam! It was fun to be there on Nicole's birthday with everyone cheering on the high school team.

Using a gift card they got at the game, Nicole took John out for some BoBerry Biscuits at BoJangles.

Dahlias are so pretty!

John waiting at the dentist because he had a sore tooth. Could never figure out what exactly was wrong, and it's fine now. But he got some quality time with his Uncle Brandon :)

Daddy daughter campout at the beach!

Cast net catch!

Jim wanted to fish, but the girls wanted breakfast so they compromised and had breakfast on the beach.

They caught an ENORMOUS fish! So big they couldn't keep it! Great bonding adventure!

Diana crushed it in XC. 2nd fastest at almost every meet. She goes right through pain, you can see her choose to do it. Pretty awesome fighter!

Sophomore year is a little tougher. Study till you drop!

John got a fish with Jacob on one of the many fishing trips Jacob took.

Cousin Kaitlin was in the MTC missionary choir at general conference. What a treat to see her!

Another meet. Another bright tomato red face from giving 100 percent. Go girl!

Jacob took Katy fishing too!

Peaceful lake views on evening walks with Jim.

Jacob played the organ at church for the first times! Prelude as well as in the meeting.

XC meet in the heat. Whew!

Front yard lizard

Seminary dinner....with no plate for his mashed potatoes! Such a fun event Marian and Brandon put on for a fun doctrinal mastery night.

Magical sight on my morning run.

Nicole took her brothers to see her vote for the first time. So awesome!

Mike built a house in class. Pretty cool!

Halloween concert! Diana has started singing more, especially as Mike's bass voice means he can't sing most songs anymore which is so sad!

We have so much fun at these concerts making loud music and partying with friends!

Sometimes I'm not sure what he's thinking...

Mummy hotdogs for Halloween!

Jim somehow getting to the whole bleached skull look for a deer skull. I had a hard time explaining this to the pool cleaner guy without laughing.

Stake dance! Nicole helped plan and put this on. Funniest story was how I had her get her eyebrows done at Ulta, but instead of plucking, they waxed- without realizing the Accutane she was on would take off a whole layer of skin too! Makeup helped coverup, but she had a bit of a "surprised" look :)

Family campout at Jordan lake!

Nicole caught a fish at the lake with her cast net!

Katy and I went to the zoo! For her birthday she got a camera and got lots of great pictures. She loves being creative and I love to see her explore her creativity. One on one time with her is such a treat!

And of course we got slushes at Millstone Creek Orchards on the way back.

Chilis lemonade is her favorite because the gallon container is a plastic bag.

We went to a craft store and she was blown away by all of the crafting things to do!

We go to the house about once a week and see the progress.

Diana and Phoebe ready for the game with their very high waisted shorts.

My Grandpa Davies passed away. We went to the funeral in Utah as a family.

We toured BYU while we were in Utah.

We all fit in a golf cart and had the easy tour all over campus!

In n Out Burger

We got a recliner for Kathryn that helps with her legs after all of the surgeries. Glad she can be more comfortable!

Funeral

Spending time at the Davies house was magical with everyone there!

Ramp built for Kathryn by her ward members

Music and the Spoken Word

Salt Lake Temple under construction

First Vision statues that are new. Beautifully done.

Stories with Kathryn. So wonderful for them to hear her laughter and testimony.

Nicole and Kiersten collecting books for Africa trip.

At the buffet, John tried tricking Brandon into eating something that looked like watermelon but was grapefruit or something sour. Brandon gifted him back with some mashed potatoes in an ice cream cone.