McDonald Family Vacation!!!

We just got back from the most fun, crazy, adventurous, wildly hysterical road trip with my family. My mom plans these trips a year in advance and creates detailed and color coordinated packets to get us all excited and prepared. I just love how much she enjoys planning and preparing for these trips....I think she enjoys that more then the trip itself! haha ;) Now keep in mind as you continue reading on, my ENTIRE family went on this trip. That consists of my parents, five of us siblings and our spouses, and everyone's kids (11 children under the age of 7, 3 of which are babies). Just wanted to paint that picture for ya :)

We started off in St. George and stayed in the most amazing condos. Then we traveled to Kingman, AZ to see where my brother Preston and his wife Rachel live. We saw the Hoover Dam and visited Oatman and then made our way to Williams. We took a train to see the Grand Canyon and then finished off the trip in Junction where we all stayed in this old Courthouse together. This is a very condensed version of what we did on our trip but I just wasn't sure how to share everything we did and explain all the priceless moments we had, so here is a list of my favorite highlights from our trip!!!

McShavis Family Favorite Moments!

-the crazy loud air conditioner in St. George that gave us all nightmares...lol.

-Kevin and Amanda's point of view about the "wild" donkeys....Kevin called it a "scientific anomaly" I believe.....so funny!

- Kevin’s panic attack when all the donkeys came down from the mountain in Oatman....bahahaha!!! (sorry Kevbev....it was priceless!)

-winning five crowns and being silly shooting my hand guns

-showing Amanda what my hair looks like pulled straight back.....Eeeeek!

-riding the train and having the “armed robbers” come aboard and rob us

-watching Morgie drool over the entertainment on the train…hehe!

- Kris hiding in her invisibility cloak and performing her patronus on a group of frightened/confused people!

-playing telestrations with everyone…..Obama/highlights/Amanda’s flying bunny….the bat from hell!

-finding my camera and realizing Aisling had taken it and recorded tons of silly videos

-seeing where Preston and Rachel live and having them look so happy :)

-hanging out in Xander’s room with all the boys and playing with toys

-making up all those dam jokes at the Hoover Dam!

-pretending our tour guide was a robot and had a cape on!

-Marshall having a thumb war with that high Jamaican guy...hehe!!!

-seeing the Grand Canyon for the first time….WOW.

-sitting in the back seat with Sam in the car and making funny faces at Kevin thru his mirror

-Swimming in Williams with everyone and seeing my mom look absolutely and completely happy :)

-being so scared of ghosts and creepy animal heads in the courthouse as I was trying to go to sleep and having Kevin keep a look out for me....(meanwhile Sam was sleeping in the vault!)

-beating Preston in foosball!

-being silly with Morgie in the pool…hehe!

-hearing Clayton say “horse spit”

-Aaron's tick! Bleh!!!

-Preston’s comment about the 7 wonders of the world….you know what I’m talking about ;)

-watching my dad make any grandchild smile with his funny claw voice

-watching Kris have a pretend gun duel with a random guy on the side of the road

-Marshall’s awesome video scavenger hunt! So fun! Loved seeing how into it their family was ;)

-Austin going up to Cedar and telling her she looked cute and that her hair was so cute!

-everyone feeling carsick on the way back from Oatman! Poor Kennedy :(

-seeing Sam interact with everyone…..he really grew up on this trip!

-watching Amanda beat Clayton in checkers….haha!

-the only words I could understand from Ari….”Sam has a big head, big head, big head”

-playing name that musical via text while driving in the car. So fun!

-being with my whole family and all getting along and having no breakdowns (adults included)!!!!!!!

-Oh and lastly, having a practical joke that me and Kevbev set up go unnoticed………ok let me explain……so we thought it would be funny to come up with something really lame and do it over and over again throughout the whole trip and see if it would catch on or if anyone would make a comment about it. We failed desperately and now we just feel totally embarrassed! Hahaha! (hopefully my family reads this blog so they will understand…lol) So we had a saying we would say over and over again and an action we literally did nonstop! You know the hand motion spiderman does when he shoots out his web? Ya…..we did that to each other all the time and whenever we did or said something cool or funny we would say “that’s so web!” Hahahaha! No one said a word about it! And now I’m sad to say that our prank has turned on us…….we can’t seem to stop shooting webs at each other! It's just so web! We are totally hooked! Hah!!!

We really had the best time and everything worked out perfectly! It was definitely our best family vacation yet!!! Can't wait to see what the future brings for the McShavis family ;)

Here are some fun videos and pictures of our trip!!!!!! Enjoy ;)

Getting excited for our cool train ride!

This little screw kept Sam busy for an hour on the train!

Cool raccoon hat ;)

Marshall and Cedar feeding the "WILD" donkeys!!!



Clayton and a donkey......(Clayton is the one on the right)

Kevin and Sam at the Grand Canyon

"That's so web!!!"



Sam's cute little feet poking out while sleeping in the car :)



Cute Morg and Kevbev just chilling and looking cool ;) Oh and me in the background spanking Preston in Foosball!!! BooYah!

At the Hoover Dam

At the Grand Canyon

Our video scavenger hunt- clean the window of someone's car



Our video scavenger hunt- act out a scene from twilight (ours has a little twist......if you haven't seen Jimmy Fallon's spoof then you probably wont understand this.....)



Our video scavenger hunt- give someone with sunglasses high five

And so it begins.......

Where does the time go? It feels like in a matter of days you go from him being able to lift his own head to rolling over to crawling to sitting up and now to standing.
So it started out as this...........



Seems pretty innocent right? Well now life looks a little something like this........



I can't keep up with him! haha ;) I am starting to get so nervous for Sam to start walking. What's life going to be like then??? So much change, but it's the good kind :)

Before Sam was even born he owned his first guitar (lucky for me it matched his cute room perfectly) and now he LOVES it! Sometimes when he is supposed to be napping we will hear him pluck the strings and start strumming it. It's propped up next to his crib so I guess he reaches out his little arm through the sides of his crib and plays with it. This morning I let him loose and found him like this......



What a stud. Well wish us luck as we continue on this new journey. Oh and if you haven't seen Kevin's new website and blog, please check it out at www.kevindeedavis.com
I am such a proud little wifey ;) Enjoy!

Baby you're a Firework!

Our busy Sam is definitely a little firework, but does he like them? NOPE!!! This fourth of July weekend was a blast except for one tiny little thing......the fireworks. I've never seen him so scared before and I hate it :( I'm not just talking about the ones you do on the street at your family party...(we can just hide him from those ones)...I'm talking about the "illegal" fireworks that for some reason are legal this year. We live close to Evergreen Jr. High and every night since Friday somebody has been lighting off the HUGE ones and our place literally shakes it is so loud. Don't get me wrong, I love America but it is now Wednesday and I really want a night free from this war zone we have been living in. So here's your official warning (whoever has been doing them) if you do them again after ten we are calling the cops! That's right!!! Sorry.....I'm just a little sleep deprived......can you tell???

Anyways, back to the good stuff......we played with the Davis clan Friday and Saturday night and enjoyed a delicious bbq. I love spending time with Kevin's family. I spent the whole night pretending I was the pink power ranger with Aidan and Eli. I think I've really got the moves down ;) Monday morning we went to the parade and had a yummy brunch at my mom's after. Here are some pics of us at the parade!








We had so much fun getting candy at the parade! No one can yell out "CANDY" like Claydawg can! Sam ate his first sucker! My parents are incredible....every year they have all the grandchildren sleepover and then they take them to the parade the next morning. I can't wait till Sam is old enough to go :) Hopefully they will still want to do it by then! hehe!!!

Kevin had a gig in Duchesne that night so me and Sam headed to the Davis/Burton Party. I'm so glad that I am so comfortable with my in-laws that I can go to a party without Kevin and still have a great time :) I am so lucky!!! Kevin's gig went well except for the fact that there was a sudden down pour during the last song and all his gear got soaked! (It is still sitting in our living room drying off.) HA! All in all it was a great holiday and we had a great time as a family. Can't wait for next year.....hopefully Sam will be a little more excited to see some fireworks ;)

9 Months Old!!!

Look at this cool kid. Can you believe he is 9 months old?!? So suave and stylish...one might say he reeks of coolness ;) We had so much fun at his nine month appointment. I love my doctor. He makes me feel like I am the best mom in the whole world! So here is Sam's update.....

~weight- 17 lbs 11 ounces
~height-25th percentile
~head-55th percentile
~low iron :(

Ya so I guess Sam is a little anemic, but I always am so maybe he just gets that from me ;) One thing I have learned so quickly is that there is always something to be worried about! I don't know if I shared before about Sam's weight, but he wasn't gaining any for a few months there and I was SO scared. He now is in the 15th percentile, where as before he dropped from the 50th to the 5th percentile. It was an intense couple of months, but he seems to be chunkier than ever now :) So on to the next crisis!

Some new fun facts about Sam.......he is busier then ever! He has to have some sort of a toy or a mission to accomplish and then he seems to be perfectly happy. I miss our quiet morning routine of him kicking on his play mat while I ate my oatmeal....now he is off and crawling everywhere. He loves the bathroom for some gross reason and I always have to keep him away from the plunger :( He also loves the stairs! Eeeeek! He can crawl up them all by himself! (dad if you are reading this don't worry....I don't let him do it all by himself...hehe) He is such a little climber. When I come to get him after his nap he is either sitting and playing with a toy or standing and waiting for me to come. I still just can't comprehend how he knows how to sit or stand by himself. He should still be a little baby and just lay there! He will eat whatever we are eating and with some help from his Grandpa he can drink little sips out of a cup! He has two big teeth (Kevin's teeth) on the bottom and his hair is actually getting pretty long on top! He can clap, wave, and give high fives and our most favorite as of recently.....give kisses. Man he started kissing fast! (again.....like father like son) I'm in trouble! Did Sam get anything from me? Oh wait......the low iron.......haha!

And lastly, he can play the piano with his eyes closed while sitting in a bumbo! (now how many of you can do that? hmmmm???) He is our little prodigy :) hehe!

Nine months down and forever to go! I love this little guy so much. I wrote a song a while back called Only Forever will do and I am starting to realize how true that statement is :)

A bit of Summer.....

So far we have had so much fun this summer. It has felt really busy, but busy is good! Here are some pics of what we've been up to.....

Going shopping

Taking lots of baths

Playing on our swingset


Going to China..... :)

Playing with Mama


Going swimming! (only thing off my list I can cross off...ha!)


Yes I am wearing a speedo ;)

Being silly with daddy....making the same face!

Wearing jeans for the first time!!!

Having fun at Kevin's work party!

Pretending we are in Hawaii :)

Thinking......

Sleeping......

What a fun start to our summer and the best part is it's only the beginning! I've got to get going on my list......that push up is going to be a tough one......ha!
I hope everyone had a wonderful Father's day. I am SO grateful for the father's in my life so here is a little shout out to them. Love you :) Hope you notice Kevin and Sam's matching outfit......hehe! A new Father's day tradition!!!

RCTX........

For those of you who didn't know, I spent the last three and a half years working as a dental assistant before I had Sam. Best job I've ever had! I learned a ton and I hope to learn even more in the future.

RCTX stands for Root Canal therapy and today I am sad to announce that I had my first Root Canal :( It wasn't nearly as bad as I had thought it would be....so I guess that's good news! It was done on tooth #10, was 21 mm, and size 60 gp. Haha ok so no one should understand that (I just like sounding smart every once in a while). Basically it was my front tooth and the canal was 21 millimeters long and the gutta percha used to fill it was a size 60.....now that's a fat tooth! Just some fun facts I thought were interesting! Basically what happens when you get a Root Canal is a series of tiny files go up and clean out the pulp of the tooth so it is left with no nerves and is essentially dead and the space is disinfected and then filled.
Here's how nerdy I am....I took a picture of the gutta percha before it was cemented in. (Normally a dental dam is used, but my tooth was too small for it to stay on...haha)

Look how happy I look! I just love talking teeth!!! :) Needless to say I am SO EXCITED to not feel pain there anymore. Woot woot! First order of business when the anesthesia wears off....eat a bowl of cereal! Haven't been able to eat one in months because the cold milk was too painful.

I was really scared last night about getting it done and here is a conversation Kevin and I had.....pretty sure he was trying to make me feel better....pretty sure it worked.....hehe :)
Kevin-"Hey Boo, do you know what scares me?"
me-"No, what?"
Kevin-"Rabbits.....I mean why do their ears have to be that big? They can't even talk!"
me- lots of giggles
Kevin-"And that fluffy ball of a tail? They can't even wag it!!!"
me- explosion of laughter
Kevin-"Ya......Rabbits are scary!"

I can barely type I am laughing so hard again right now! I should probably mention that this conversation took place while we were brushing our teeth.....for some reason that makes it even funnier to me! Teehehehehehe!!! No one makes me laugh like my Kevbev does ♥
So if anyone reading this has to go do something uncomfortable or scary, I encourage you to think of those rabbits.....now that's scary :)

Summer!

It's finally summer! Woot woot! I am so happy that it is officially summertime. There is such an energy all around once school is out and all the kids are free! I love seeing them out and playing with their friends, eating pop-cycles, running thru the sprinklers, having lemonade stands, riding their bikes, having grass fights, making up dances on the driveway.........ok, so maybe these are things that I like to do! Teehee! Today really does feel like the first true day of summer :)

This is Sam's first summer EVER and I want it to be one he will always remember (well probably not) but at least enjoy ;) So last night I starting thinking about all the fun things I want to do this summer and I ended up with a pretty sweet list. Now keep in mind that last summer I looked like this..........

I was pretty limited on what I could/wanted to do so I am taking full advantage of feeling spry and alive this summer.....ya that's right......spry! So here it is, wish me luck!

Summer to do list~

*Play at a park at least once a week
*Go swimming
*Get our food storage up and going
*Fly a kite
*Go to lagoon and ride Wicked
*Go to the zoo
*Eat cotton candy
*Learn how to make Jam
*Go to a concert in the park
*Eat sushi in Park City
*Finish the Book of Mormon
*Learn how to run......maybe.....still deciding :)
*Have a Harry Potter marathon
*Learn how to make meatloaf...Mmmmm!
*Put together a scrapbook for Sam
*Get more piano gigs (hint hint.....call me if you want me;)
*Eat a bowl full of peaches
*Be able to do a real push up
*Take ballet class
*Do a good deed every day
*Get a Bob's Brainfreeze with cream and icecream!
*Compose a new song
*Have a reunion with all my old ballet buddies
*Take up a new hobbie.....any ideas?
*Paint our kitchen
*Do a one handed cartwheel

Well there you have it. I really hope I'll be able to cross off all these things and more once the summer is over. And of course I want to do all of them with Sam (except for ride Wicked at Lagoon......sorry Sam.....too scary!) I wouldn't enjoy any of these things if I wasn't sharing them with my boys :) (Hmmm except for maybe that bowl of peaches......hehe!) Can you tell how giddy I am?!? Well, I better get busy! I'll keep you posted and let you know how it goes!!! Stay tuned for Sam's 9 month appointment.....it'll be a good one ;)