AZ Davenports

2010 Davenport Reunion

2010-09-02T13:57:00.022-07:00

It had been a while since we had all the family together so Dave said lets ogranize it! Everything fell right into place and almost everyone was able to make it!

Dave, with the help of most of the men and boys put up a zip line that was the hit of the reunion!

Here goes Branden!

Now it is Bryce's turn!

Rachel is landing with a big smile:)

Dave made sure we had harnesses to keep us safe.

It was fun to watch everyone's faces as they came down - This was Nichole's Specialty!

We had lots of activities like Bike rides, Rock painting, Golfing (with trophies! Dave won twice!) Bow shooting practice and wood branding.

The weather was beautiful and so were each of the lessons that were planned and taught!

We plain and simple just had fun and enjoyed our family!

Perspective - That is all it takes sometimes!

2010-06-16T08:48:00.002-07:00

I recieved this in my email and it sure made m think. My baby - Bryce- turned eight this year and he was my chubbiest baby. He still likes to be with me sometimes. Love you Bryce

Perspective - By Jenny Phillips

Perspective #1--The perspective I almost took last week
Doing laundry is miserable. Just when I finish 8 loads and finally put it away, the laundry baskets are overflowing again. My baby won't sleep. My kids are always fighting, complaining, whining, screaming, and moaning. My husband's high council meeting lasted 3 and a half hours, and I had to mow the lawn myself. It takes two hours to get my kids in bed, and there is never any extra time for myself.

Perspective #2--The perspective I decided to take last week
I am the head laundress for a very royal family. I have found that my chubby little baby loves to be propped up in all the laundry while I fold it and talk baby language with him. One day the mound of laundry reaching half way up to my ceiling will be a small mound of just mine and my husbands laundry, and I will have no chubby little baby to keep me company while I fold it. I also have the title of head tutor for this royal family. Everyday I have the opportunity to teach and train four little souls about the gospel, being kind, and developing a noble character. And in the meantime, they are helping mold and stretch me into a person of much deeper charity. Sometimes I get to be the head gardener. I even got to mow the lawn and smell fresh cut grass and watch the dark rain clouds float lazily in the sky while feeling my muscles work out. Perhaps one of my most loved titles is head bed tucker inner. For 2 hours I get to brush little white teeth, read and tell stories, listen to little voices asking for water, stuffed animals and special blankets. I get exercise as I put my 3 year old back in bed 30 times. And then I get to rock a little chubby baby and see him stop drinking his bottle and smile when I start to sing. Perspective changes everything.

Bryce is Getting Baptized and Everyone is Invited!

2010-02-22T16:42:00.004-07:00

Consider yourself invited if you are reading this. When asked who he wanted to attend his baptism he said, "Invite everyone!" Okay Bryce now everyone is invited!

Happy Birthday Bryce!

2010-02-22T16:08:00.009-07:00

Since Bryce's birthday was on Friday and we had his party on Saturday we got a special mini cake for Friday!

Now he gets to go to Cub Scouts with Branden! There are just a few Wolf and Bear Scouts so they even meet together!

Bryce got books, clothes, and transformers but his favorite is his huge nerf gun. Now he can be competitive with Branden.

The Party Was a Huge Success
The Fishing game!

Tug of War! We won't say who won!

Pin the Autobot Badge on Bumblebee was fun to! I was getting a little frazzled it looks like.

The Cake!!! It was sure yummy!

Bryce loved all of his gifts but the money got the best reaction!

We love you Bryce! So glad you chose our family!

Another Testament: New Slide Show and Web Site

2009-09-23T17:01:00.001-07:00

This is very touching. Although it is one person's view of the happenings in the Book of Mormon, it is very cool to see it put to real life.

Branden David Davenport

2009-09-13T22:59:00.004-07:00

Branden turned 9 this past Thursday! Look at how much he has grown! Wow I can't believe it has been a year since he was baptized.

All he asked for was more KNEX so that he could build something really big. A new Transformer and a Bionicle. Boys at this age are so easy to please!
We love you Branden!

Queen Creek North Stake "Goes Broadway"

2009-09-13T22:47:00.012-07:00

This was the title of our last Stake Activity that we had on Saturday, September 12. Each ward was to choose a broadway show and pick 2 songs to perform. Naturally Dave chose The Phantom of the Opera! We love that show. The songs we chose were - "The Phantom of the Opera" and "Masquerade".

This was a phenomenal experience. We got the information late so we had about 6 weeks to put this together. Our ward is so awesome and always up to any task put before them! After 2 pracitces, 1 dress rehersal we were ready to perform.

Here are our lovely daughters!

This was such a fun time - I am only bummed that my camera blurred some of the pictures. (Actually my phone!)

Thank you to all who made this a Success!
Phantom and Christine (Brother and Sister Moak!)

Our Phantom had many fans!

Watch out Sister Moak, these girls were serious!

More of our Wonderful cast members!

Everyone had such awesome masks! Here are Brother and Sister Loeper showing off theirs!

Sister Jones changed too fast but she was our lovely Ballerina and saved the day!
Thank you to Brother Smith who "fixed" all of our music! We rocked the hall!
Thank you to Sister Ritz for doing our Coreography and all the last minute changes we threw at you!
Thanks to Brother Jones and Bisbee for being our lighting and Stage crew!
Once again - Thanks to all who participated! You are AWESOME!

Labor Day 2009

2009-09-13T22:31:00.005-07:00

This Labor Day we went and went for a hike to look for cool rocks. Dave found this neat wash coming home from Father's and Son's this year so we went to check it out. We found these neat rocks that look like they were melted metal but they are rocks. We also found what looked like natural concrete! I guess that over time the wash and the elements compacted all of these rocks together. I forgot to take that picture. While we were out we visited Queen Valley (not Creek. It is a very small town hidden back in the mountains there after Gold Canyon. Anyway on our way we saw this little guy curled up and had to check it out!

It isn't the best picture since we didnt' want to get too close but it is a rattlesnake and we could tell he wasn't happy. Still we were in the car and safe to check him out!

Then on our way home we decided to go for a drive down the Apache Trail by Canyon Lake. Of course it was quite crazy by the lake so we kept driving and arrived at another town called Tortilla Flat! Dave and I had both been there about our kids ages so we wanted to show them it too!

While we were there of course we needed to find a bathroom and this is what we girls found!

Not what we expected but we couldn't help ourselves!

We really had a good time and didn't do much "Laboring"!

Ride with Dave!

2009-09-13T22:23:00.002-07:00

Every once in a while I get to take a ride with my hubby and keep him company as he goes to jobs throughout Northern Arizona. About 2 weeks ago he needed to go to a small town about 5 hours north on the Reservation. It was nice to be able to talk without any interuptions. We did run into a lot of road work which made our trip there about 7 or 8 hours. So we decided to come back through Flagstaff and what I think is the Painted Desert. I love Rocks! I love to see the different mountain formations and wonder and speculate how they were formed. This Desert is just facinating for me. I couldn't help but take pictures of some of the mountains. They don't do any justice but I love it!

I love Arizona and the wonderful beauty that we have been given to enjoy here!

My kids!

2009-08-13T17:16:00.003-07:00

My neice is working on her photography and I believe that she has a real knack for it. Look at these beautiful pictures she took of my children.

Doesn't Branden look like he is being mischeivious!

Bryce is sure a silly boy!

Nichole is so sweet. We hope it lasts. Love you Cholie!

I may be anxious for them to leave in the mornings but I am happy when they come home, safe and very noisey:)

Craft it Forward Results!

2009-08-13T17:14:00.001-07:00

Well It does appear that we have 3 winners.
Jenni Incardone, Becki Norris and Katalina Taunima! Now what to make! Oh let the fun begin. See you soon ladies:)

Yeah School is Back in session! Finally!

2009-08-13T17:03:00.003-07:00

My beautiful children are back in school and I am finally alone.

Although Rachel couldn't let me bask in my freedom for too long and has been home sick for 2 days! She turned 14 this July and will be able to attend her 1st Stake dance on Saturday. So I told her if she didn't feel good enough to go to school tomorrow then she couldn't go to the dance. I think she already feels alot better:)

Craft it Forward!

2009-05-04T21:50:00.001-07:00

So, here's how this game works-the first 3 people to leave a comment on this post will receive, at some point during the year, a handmade gift from me. What it will be and when it will arrive is a total surprise! The catch is that you must participate as well. Before you leave your comment, write up a pay it forward post on your blog to keep the fun going (or be lazy and copy and paste like I did). Then come back, let me know you're going to play and sit back and anticipate the arrival of your gift! Well isn't this fun? You know you want to do it! Embroidery Anyone!

Sometimes the Truth hurts!

2009-05-04T21:34:00.001-07:00

There is not much more to say about this except. Yup they are right!

I Love the Mountains!

2009-04-30T21:30:00.002-07:00

Last weekend we went to the mountains for a break! We all needed one. We pulled the kids out of school and left about noon. It was a beautiful day. As we pulled on to the road on the Rim we drove about 1/2 a mile in or so and there we saw it! SNOW! We couldn't believe it. We kept asking ourselves why there was still snow so late in the spring. The kids couldn't hardly stand it. "Stop Dad!" They would yell. "We just want to touch it!" Yes our kids have played in the snow many times, but they just had to feel it. Dave told them that he would find a great camping spot with snow and they could play in it. So they settled down a little. We found the most beautiful spot. Now if you could just picture the scene above, with trees all around. Off the main road far enough that they could ride there bikes with very little worry. (I do that a lot ~ WORRY. I must learn to stop:) A big fire pit all ready for a good dutch oven stew and a few sticks to catch on fire and try to poke eachother with. A couple patches of snow, with a little stream trickling down. It was Awesome, and it was COLD. Now we knew why there was still snow. It was freezing, but dad packed the hot cocoa, ALOT of it. So we did great. Dave taught the kids to whittle or carve a walking stick or a marshmellow stick which ever one we needed at the time. We found that Aspen trees make great walking sticks and are beautiful when carved smooth.
We drove around and looked for big stumps to burn - We were freezing! While we were out we found a Horny Toad. Bryce caught him and called him his own. For as long as we could stand to see him carry the poor thing around. We went on a walk and saw a big elk. It was amazing how big it was. When we got to the spot where it was standing the kids saw her hoof prints and later we found where another male elk was rubbing its antlers on the tree. Nature is soooo cool.
Camping is not my favorite, but I can't complain when it is so quiet and calm and I have a shower!
Thank you Dad for being so spontaneous. We all needed it!

Rachel's Dance Performances

2009-01-20T20:40:00.004-07:00

Rachel was in the Winter Festival of performing arts for the JO Combs Middle School on December 9th 2008. She was so excited and invited everyone to come. She was really grateful to Grandma Davenport, Aunts Debbie and Denise for coming down from Payson to watch her dance. She was especially excited when she saw our bishop's wife and old YW leader who came Brenda Nevitt, Thank You!

Rachel performed in a folk dance to "Walk like and Egyptian". She was so excited to put on the stage make up and I have to admit she looked pretty adorable. She was also in a Cha Cha dance to "Me Gusta Estar", a Hip Hop dance to "Radio Song" and she was in the finale a dance to a song from the muscial "Grease- You're the one that I want." This is the costume she is in in this picture.

Playing catch- up as usual

2009-01-20T16:15:00.002-07:00

I am going to go back in time and get caught up on all the happenings for the month of December. It was a crazy busy month. We had dance recitals for both Rachel and Nichole. We had our annual Gingerbread House Family Home Evening Party. Of course there was Christmas morning. We got to play in the snow too. So lets see how good I can get caught up - New year's resolution- "Don't get so behind!"

Ward Family Christmas Party

2008-12-07T19:39:00.013-07:00

This years party was awesome. Dave is on the committee and so we got there and set up and the food and the turn out was amazing. Our ward is more like a family and this activity everyone came it seemed like. Brenda Nevitt our Bishop's wife did the most adorable music program. I have included a clip of the children singing and a few pictures of the fun Cotton Ride and such. Santa came flying in this year. Dave arranged for the crane from work and we hooked up a crane basket with lights on it. Brother Reidhead was our santa this year and he did great with coming in from so high up! I didn't get pictures but it was great.

My camera only records for a little while, sorry!

Rachel is in the cotton cage!

She sure is getting big - not too big for

fun though!

Bryce thinks he is going to get me

with the "cotton ball"!

Nichole and her friend

Evlynn Germaine Caged!

Branden and Bryce

are not too thrilled

with the singing

thing but they

still did a good job!

Nichole sang several solos

this year.

She is much more confident

and sang beautifully:)

Yeah! I did it!

2008-12-02T23:24:00.002-07:00

Well I am finally getting the hang of this blogging thing! I figured out how to add music - a necessity as I see it, and even how to allow comments - which I love.

We are a little closer to being Christmas ready. Just a few more gifts and lights to go. Well and the "real" tree, and the gingerbread houses and ....I Love Christmas time - it sure keeps me busy. I like to get to the part of giving out everything that we make. The goodies, the gifts - I just love to see the looks on people's faces.

I am so thankful for my husband! Each year as our anniversary gets closer and closer. I remember all that he has done for me and I can't help but be full of gratitude that he loves me and provides so wonderfully for us as a family. I love you honey! Thank you:)

Thanksgiving!

2008-12-01T20:52:00.004-07:00

We had quite a busy weekend! We went to Dana's House for the Davenport Thanksgiving on Thursday. We had wonderful food and played dodgeball with Grandma. She is so fun the kids say grandma never gets older!

Then on Friday we slept in! NOT! We were up and out the door by 3:50am. There were some great sales that we had to get to. We were back home by 6:30am and had to go back to sleep. We then made our part of the Brown Family Thanksgiving Dinner and made our way to Payson. It was fun to see so many of you and visit and learn what you have all been up to.

On our way home we were asked to set the chairs up after the Temple Lighting ceremony. So we stopped by the temple to do a bit of service. While we were walking around the temple we notice that across the street people were protesting us doing our part to help Prop. 101 pass. We took this time to help our children to understand that these people do not understand that we love them in spite of their way of life, but we don't have to agree with it.

It was nice to walk back away from Main St. to the Visitor Center and listen to the music and feel of the spirit and see the nativity and the beauty of the temple. What a wonderful way to start the Christmas Holiday.

MERRY CHISTMAS TO ALL!

H E L P

2008-11-26T12:44:00.001-07:00

I can not figure out how to put the music player on this blog- oh it makes me soooo frustrated when I can't make things work. If someone can explain this to me I would be soooo happy!

Thank heaven's for these days!

2008-11-26T12:07:00.001-07:00

This morning I wasn't feeling very good. Sore throat, stuffy nose, tired, etc and I am trying to read to the children during our family scripture reading. Branden asks: How much longer? I told him: Not to long my throat hurts too much to keep reading. Then Rachel reaches for my scriptures and says I can read and Nichole gets up and get another book of Mormon and says I'll take a turn. Then Bryce says can I read verse 27? I was shocked and was happy to listen as my children read to me out of the scriptures. I sure love my kids,

Branden Got Baptized!

2008-09-17T06:41:00.003-07:00

We are so proud of him in his choice that he has made and want to thank all who attended. It really meant alot to him that so many people cared to come.

First Week of School

2008-08-13T11:21:00.002-07:00

Everything has been going good. We have quite the schedule -
Wake up
Family Prayer
Scripture Study
Chores
Breakfast
Out the Door to the Bus!

All of this happens within 1 1/2 hours. Not too bad I think.