Matthew and Aubrey Davis Family

A Belated Update

2010-12-01T17:06:00.000-08:00

Happy with his new hat.

It's been quite some time since our family blog has been updated. I've spent a great deal of time focusing on my automotive blog for school and there was a spell where I was also having some trouble with blogger. Cooper grows bigger every day and baby number two is well on it's way! We should be finding out the gender in a month or so :). Cooper is now mobile, if he's not crawling he's scooting, and it if he's not scooting he's rolling. He has also started pulling himself up on furniture and tooth number five is showing between Cooper's vampire teeth! Enjoy some pictures from the last couple of months!

Cooper's first sledding trip!

First time in the snow!

Helping with the laundry

Cereal beard

Too tired for dinner

Ward Halloween party

All that and a bag of chips!

Tablerock in September

2010-09-12T14:36:00.000-07:00

Aubrey and I started school this past week and before things got too crazy with homework and other things that take up time my Dad and I decided to hike Tablerock in the Teton's. Although we'd planned on having a bigger group come it ended up just being my Dad and I plus my buddy Kenne and his wife Dani.

The forecast for the trailhead was 65 degrees and sunny for the day and so we figured that we'd have some pretty good weather. While we did have very nice weather for the whole of the hike we did not anticipate the conditions up on the mountain or of the trail. Tablerock sits at over 11,000 feet and while the valley where Driggs and Rexburg sit was nice and dry the mountains had received over a foot of snow over the week from some heavy storms that had come through the area. We noticed that the snow line on the mountains was very low and became concerned that we wouldn't be able to make it to the top. We decided to give it a try anyway and see how far we'd be able to go. We pulled up to the trailhead and found the first quarter of a mile or so to be normal trail conditions for this time of year. However at about the mile mark as we began to gain elevation we began to run into snow.

Tablerock is not considered a hike for novices as the hike is about 14 miles long round trip and in that 14 miles you ascend and descend a little over 4,000 feet. We ran into a father and son from Seattle on the trail and while the son had been living in these parts for quite some time made it to the top of Tablerock his father had to stop and wait as he became light headed and dizzy from the altitude change. While the first couple of miles weren't bad trail wise the higher and higher we got so did the depth of the snow that we had to make our way through. eventually the trail could no longer be seen but rather just footprints in the snow. Several different groups had gone ahead of us luckily and we had a trail to follow even if it wasn't the real trail; I'm sure we'd lost it in the snow. We took the trail that was less traveled for the day and ended up following just one set of tracks for quite some time; we almost turned back because of the depth of the snow and the question of whether or not we were on the right path to get to the top.

Because we had not suspected snow to be on the trail my dad and I ended up wearing shorts. Lucky for us the weather was actually quite warm and we didn't get cold until we reached the top of the mountain and stopped to enjoy the view. Wearing shorts ended up being a blessing in disguise as we didn't have to worry about our pants becoming soaking wet and keeping us cold; however our shoes did become soaked and I'm pretty sure that I'm the only one that brought an extra pair of socks.

One of my favorite past times growing up has been to go hiking with my Dad and other friends who decided to join us. While we've hiked many different trails in the Teton's over the years I'd never had the opportunity to tackle Tablerock and I'm glad to finally say the I have. My Dad has hiked it several times before but never in snow and he was quick to point out how much harder it was in the snow. The hike on it's own in dry weather is one of the more difficult hikes in the Teton's because of how high you climb. The snow made climbing harder because it provided less traction in the warm weather and in many places really slowed our pace because we had to step in others footprints. On the way down was especially difficult because it was later in the day and the snow had turned to slush making it very slippery.

Tablerock has two different trails that you can take to reach the top, huckleberry and the face. While the face trail cuts off about a half hour off of your time each way it isn't as pretty as huckleberry and it's much steeper. The face trail also isn't maintained and can be pretty treacherous, especially when it's covered in snow. As we are more of the sight seeing type we took Huckleberry up and found much more snow but it was very pretty. Not wanting to encounter as much snow on the way back he took the face and still found plenty of snow and very slippery conditions! Most of the people that hiked Tablerock that day however took the face and so while we felt alone hiking up we ran into quite a number of hikers once we reached the top. One of which ended up being Melissa, Aubrey's cousin!

The hardest part about tablerock whether you are hiking in snow or not is the last mile or so that you climb up a shale face to Tablerock itself and then you have to scramble up to the top. The shale field is above the tree line and when it's covered in snow it's difficult to get traction. But once you've pushed to the top you'll witness some of the most beautiful vistas that you could ever ask for! Enjoy the rest of our pictures from the last push to the top and our way down the face!

A macro pic my dad took of some frozen flowers

Melissa's group built this fire and we were grateful!

A Few Pics From Our Week in Boise

2010-07-25T15:41:00.000-07:00

Aubrey, Cooper and I have really been enjoying our week in Boise! It has been nice to have a break from school work and work work! Grandma and Grandpa Johnson have been keeping us busy and while a few of the events were not camera friendly we did get some footage of a few of our events. We'll be heading back to Tacoma tomorrow but this week we have floated the Boise river, gone on some nice walks, been on a few bike rides both mountain biking and road biking, gone to a rodeo, gone to Lagoon, and we also went on several rides in the old Bronco. We've had a pretty good time we must admit! Enjoy our pictures from the week!

We tested the Bronco's 4x4!

Cooper didn't last long on the hike; he fell asleep trying to eat the bar.

Cooper fit right in with all the cowboy's!

I do have several more pictures that I'll be adding once I get them from Grandpa Johnson!

Spencer is Home!

2010-07-17T12:42:00.000-07:00

This weekend we travelled to Boise to see Aubrey's brother Spencer come home from his mission in Tulsa Oklahoma! We made a pit stop in Pasco Washington on our way and stayed the night with Tim and Haley. Haley brought out her Johnny Jump Up for Cooper which he really likes; although I think Athen was a bit jealous of him!

The next day we got up and headed to Boise and once there Cooper and I helped Grandpa Johnson get the Bronco put back together so that it would be ready to surprise spencer! We didn't have any toys for Cooper out in the garage so instead we let him play with some wrenches and tape which he seemed to really enjoy! It was also very fun to go the airport and watch Spencer come down the escalator. No one was expecting to see him there as his plane came in a little earlier than we expected and we all passed him going up as he was coming down! It's also been a big week for cooper and his diet! We fed him his first bowl of rice cereal this morning and we're proud to say that he downed the entire bowl without making a single sour face! He loves his food! Enjoy the pictures of our weekend!

A Couple of Weekends in One!

2010-07-11T18:56:00.000-07:00

It' been a couple of weeks since we've posted to our blog and we've done quite a bit in that time! So in one monster post I will attempt to cover all that we have done; everything from car shows to sea food feasts!

Seeing that Cooper was ready to go out for the day the weekend before the 4th we decided to head out to Steilacoom park and see what was to be seen at the Lakewood Summerfest. We had been told that there was going to be a car show there which we wanted to catch and so after our ward social we headed over to the park. Unfortunately we showed up late and on our way into the park we had to watch most of the cars leaving the park! We did manage to get a few pictures of the stragglers before all were gone!

The following weekend my family pulled into town to visit for a couple of weeks and we have been out enjoying the nice summer weather that has finally decided to come out. For the fourth we spent the afternoon and evening out at Corey and Lisa's place where we enjoyed good food, plenty of fireworks and a great atmosphere.

Since the 4th fell on a Sunday I got the following day off from work and we all decided to head over the Point Defiance Zoo and check out the sites there. The kids really enjoyed the sights there and we enjoyed spending the day together.

On Wednesday we went over to George & Linda's place for dinner; they had just bought a new puppy which was a mix between a Poodle and a Palmeranian. My parents ended up buying his sister so she'll be hitching a ride back to Idaho! Cooper enjoyed pulling this ones tail!

This most recent weekend was the most fun yet; our friend Casey from school came up for the weekend to visit and we spent a couple of days just playing! On Friday we went to Brown's Point to enjoy the scenery and eat some lunch and then in the evening we went boating with Corey and Lisa on their boat at Long Lake near their house!

After recuperating from our boating excursion we woke up the next morning ready to take on Seattle for the day. We started out touring the Pike Place Market which is always a treat and is always packed! There were lots of fun vendors and people throwing fish and crab; the workers at the market are famous for the fun work ethic! After the market we did a little shopping down town where we were surprised to encounter some nude cyclists; there were probably 30 or so in the group and while I did get some pictures of the event I'll spare you the horror of witnessing them for yourself!

After shopping we splurged a little and went to the Crab Pot where we ordered a seafood feast! After lining our table with butcher paper it was covered in all sorts of good seafood that we were able to eat with our hands. We had a really great time; after eating our meal we finished the day with a Seattle Mariners game. The game was really fun and our Mariners pulled off the win over the New York Yankees with a grand slam in the last innings of the game! We've really enjoyed doing the fun things that there are to do here in Washington and we love spending time together!

Missionary Experience

2010-06-27T16:01:00.000-07:00

Aubrey and I have really enjoyed working with the missionaries in the Lakewood ward this summer. We were called as ward missionaries back in May and have been doing a lot of fellowshipping and I've been going out on a lot of exchanges. Today was especially fun from a missionary point of few for me. The Elder's gave me a call this morning as we were walking out the door to church and asked if I'd be able to give a lady and her two kids a ride to church. I quickly dropped Aubrey and Cooper off at church and then went to pick them up. Cassie was her name and she had recently been baptized three weeks ago; she has a four year-old son named Juan who turns five in August and a 4 month old daughter names Jewel is only a day younger than Cooper! From what I can tell she is a single mother but loves the church and got along great with Aubrey and I; we are going to make sure to include her in some of our weekend adventures from now on.

I ended up having to take Cassie and her family home after sacrament meeting because her daughter was running a fever and not feeling well and it ended up leading to my missionary opportunity for the day.

A pet peeve of mine is when people are stuck with car trouble and no one offers to help or they just honk and get angry when the troubled car is stuck in their way. On my way back to church i noticed a late model Toyota Corolla limping through the intersection with flat tire. After going through the intersection myself I flipped around and found them parked at the front gates of a cemetery, all three of them gathered around their flat tire looking clueless as to what to do. I pulled up and offered my help and they were grateful. It turned out that they were on their way to church themselves and were just a few hundred feet from their apartment when they realized that they had a flat. There were women in their late 40's and a boy about 15 or 16 years old and they had just recently moved from Kenya. While I was jacking up their car we discussed some of the World Cup activities and then our conversation migrated towards church since all four of us were dressed for it. Turns out they were on their way to church as well and so naturally we each shared what church we were from. They were impressed to know that our church was also in Kenya and after a few minutes of talking I put the missionaries number in the front cover of an old Book of Mormon that I had in my car door that had been waiting there for just such an experience. The family was very grateful for the help with their tire and I was grateful for my opportunity to do a good deed and share the gospel. The showed me where they lived as we had to get a lug nut wrench from their apartment because mine was too small and I intern informed the Elders where they lived as well. Hopefully they will come visit us at church soon and some more good will come from this sunday afternoon's activities.

We are grateful for the opportunity that we have to be a part of the ward mission's efforts and look forward to more missionary activities while we are here this summer. We challenge you to take some time to slow down and serve someone else, maybe you too can have a great missionary experience!

Finding his hands!

2010-06-20T19:47:00.000-07:00

Today is Father's day and we had a nice dinner with Grandpa Dorman; Lisa, Cory, Katlyn, Roger, George and Linda all joined us for dinner and we had a great time. Cooper on the other hand unsatisfied with his bottle decided that he would turn for the table cloth. He's really starting to find his hands and likes to put just about everything in his mouth! You can click on the purple text to find a video of Cooper in action.

Olympic Air Show!

2010-06-19T19:45:00.000-07:00

Despite the lack of sunshine we've been having around these parts we still managed to enjoy most of the day outside this saturday. Since we weren't going to be in Rexburg for the annual air show this year, we decided to go to one here! The Olympic Air Show is held every year in Tumwater Washington near Olympia and we had a pretty good time!

The show held a wide variety of different kinds of planes for past and present and there was a lot of cool helicopters too; when we got there a super cobra was flying around doing some pretty neat maneuvers!

The air show itself was pretty similar to the one that is in Rexburg every year although the Rexburg show has a lot more acrobatic planes that perform stunts. The Museum in Rexburg is also a little bit nicer as well; the advantage that the Olympic Air Show had over Rexburg's however was a bigger airport so there was a lot more room to get up close to the planes. There was also some really neat jets at this air show; unfortunately when they started flying we had to take cover because they were extremely loud.

They made several super sonic passes at a very low level and we've never seen Cooper scream so hard! We felt really bad for the little guy so we called it a day after the likes of the F-16 and F-4 flew over with their after burners flaring. It was just too much action for little Cooper at this stage although it was really neat to see the jets break the sound barrier!

It was pretty funny to watch other peoples kids too though and we realize that Cooper wasn't the only little one and sometimes not so little one that wasn't enjoying the sonic booms coming from the jets. The first pass the the F-16 made startled about everyone on the field as it came from behind the hanger that most everyone was standing around and we were all looking the opposite direction thinking it would be coming over the trees. When it came blasting over the hanger with it's afterburner blazing it shocked everyone and even brought several 9 or ten year olds to tears!

CLICK HERE for some F-16 footage!

ENJOY THE PICTURES FROM THE AIR SHOW!

This rescue helicopter is apparently very rare; it was really fun to watch fly because it has two rotors that spin in alternating directions. They almost look like they'd collide and the thing would never get off the ground but it did!

I think that Cooper is trying to be smooth for the ladies in this photo!

More Laughs From Cooper!

2010-06-16T21:17:00.000-07:00

Click here for more laughs from Cooper!

And a couple cute pics to boot!

Let's go Jeepin!

2010-06-13T22:30:00.000-07:00

Another weekend has come and gone here in Washington and we weren't about to let it go by without having another fun family outing! George and Linda were kind enough to offer us a day out in their jeep for a few hours.

We took a ride over to Lake Washington and cruised around Mercer Island; it was fun to admire some of the fancy homes and pretty scenery, there were also a ton of cyclists on the island and it made us think of Grandma and Grandpa Johnson! While we were on the island we came across a nice little beach, unfortunately we didn't have our swimsuits and we most definitely didn't want Cooper to experience his first sunburn. So we spent most of our time in the shade and let Cooper experience feeling the sand between his toes for the first time which he seemed to really enjoy! It was the first day this summer that really had nice weather so we were quick to take the top off the jeep and get some rays!

After circling the island and enjoying the scenery we jumped on I-90 for a brief stint and drove around the temple grounds; then on our way back we decided to cruise around down town Seattle which was a lot of fun especially with the top off. We tried to avoid the freeway as much as we could as Aubrey's hair was flying violently in the wind and the visor on Cooper's car seat wanted to fly away. Cooper didn't seem to mind however because he slept most of the time. Aubrey had a great time with the camera while we were driving around Seattle, I think she secretly wants to be a photographer. Enjoy the pictures from this weekends family outing!

Before the day was done we could tell that our drool covered cooper had just about enough of sitting in his car seat so after feeding him his bottle we decided to let him take a brake in the back of the car before we headed home. He was sitting up so well that it almost looked as if he could ride all the way home that way!

Growing stronger day by day!

2010-06-09T21:19:00.000-07:00

Cooper is getting bigger and bigger and with each passing day he shows a little more personality. He was giggling all night long tonight and even took a ride on dad's shoulders. He's getting so fat now days that it seems he has no neck and the majority of his mass is his tummy! Enjoy some of the pictures we've taken of him recently.

Real Men Wear Pink!

2010-06-06T13:30:00.000-07:00

We were looking for some new running shoes for Aubrey when came across a new outfit for Cooper! The gray pinstripe pants are still too big and because Cooper has no neck we couldn't button his top butting to let him wear his tie. He still looks really cute in his new pink shirt!

A day on the beach!

2010-06-05T20:30:00.000-07:00

Since most of our weekdays are spent working and doing homework we really make sure to dedicate some time on the weekends to go out and do something fun together! This weekend we decided to head over to Ocean Shores and check out the beach!

It was a nice 75 degrees or so in Tacoma but the coast was quite a bit cooler and pretty windy so we ended up in jackets and wishing that we'd worn pants rather than shorts. We still had a great time though and the wind ended up being a good thing because there were kites everywhere; it was a real treat.

There were kites of about every shape and size imaginable there and some were up so high that we noticed them quite awhile before we got to the beach! There was one part of the beach that was set up for acrobatic performances to music for some of the kites and that was pretty fun to watch as well; Cooper wasn't quite sure what to make of it all.

Because it was a little cold we kept Cooper bundled up pretty good in his stroller but we did get him out and let him enjoy the beach a little bit for himself.

Although it wasn't the warmest day we didn't feel a day to the beach would be quite complete without getting some ice cream; so of course we did get some and we splurged on a little bit of salt water taffy as well!

At the end of the day Cooper was pretty tuckered out; so tired in fact that his head kept flopping over on his chest. All in all we had a really great time and we love our family excursions on the weekends! It seems that Cooper is doing something new everyday and we love watching him learn and develop; we're looking forward to letting him loose on the beach once he's learned to crawl!

I'm forever blowing bubbles!

2010-05-30T20:10:00.000-07:00

Cooper is starting to really get a gut! He is also discovering his hands, lips, and voice! We've caught him on tape blowing some bubbles!

Click here for more Cooper!

Cooper's First Baseball Game

2010-05-30T13:29:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we decided to go watch the Mariners play ball! They haven't been doing that great this season but they gave us a good showing for Cooper's first game, winning 15 to 8. We had a really great time enjoying the atmosphere and the food; although it was a little chilly Cooper had a great time and was very good for the several hours that we were there.

Cooper having tummy time and starting to show signs of laughter!

2010-05-19T21:12:00.001-07:00

Click on this link to see tummy time!

Click here for some giggles!

Click here for some hick-up laughter!

Taking naps & going to the beach

2010-05-19T20:24:00.001-07:00

This week has been fun for our little family. We took Cooper to the beach where he decided that the only thing he wanted to was eat and sleep; the next morning he was too tired for his bed but took mommies spot instead, she was busy doing ZUMBA!

Cooper of course is still really enjoying his bath's as well; he mostly just likes to stare at you. Unfortunately Coupe is losing all his beautiful locks!

Our belated baby pictures!

2010-05-14T21:56:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time coming trying to get my Mac to work with blogger but the day is finally here! Now that three months have gone by since our little cooper has been born we've got a million pictures to show just how much we love our little boy. Here are a few of our favorites!

Here is our little cooper the day he was born; just 6 pounds and 13 ounces.

Cooper is not only the first grand baby on both sides of our family but also the first great grand baby on the Davis side!

Cooper is probably about a month old in this picture.

Four generations of Davis!

Taking a nap with Daddy and starting to show some baby fat!

Wearing Daddy's favorite hat.

Taking Cooper on his first hike, hopefully the first of many!

Hanging out on the couch!

Obviously doesn't like being interrupted with flash photography during bath time!

Cooper scoping out the room at Great Grandpa Dorman's on his tummy!

Cooper is now three months old and growing so fast! We can't believe that he's already getting so big; he's really starting to smile and even to giggle a little bit. It's very fun to watch him try to sit up, he gets really frustrated because he can't quite do it yet!

Our trip to the Zollinger family reunion!

2009-10-03T10:49:00.000-07:00

We went to the Zollinger family reunion and had a car show of our own! Aubrey's great uncle Fonce collects tractors and cars and has amassed quite a collection over the years. We even got to see a Lamborghini Countach on the way home!

Trip to the Tetons!

2009-10-03T10:42:00.000-07:00

Took a trip to Teton National Park with Aubrey's family and we had a great time. Not only did we get to see the beautiful Tetons and Hidden Fall, we saw a naked guy walk through our camp! Sorry, no pictures of that event!

A quick trip to the Zoo

2009-10-03T10:26:00.000-07:00

This summer we took the kids to the local Zoo in Idaho Falls. While it was no San Diego experience we still had a great time. Emrie really liked feeding the goat!

Vocal Union Tour To Southern Cali

2009-10-03T10:07:00.000-07:00

This past spring I had the opportunity to go on tour with vocal union. We had a blast on our way down through Nevada, Southern Utah, and Southern California. We had a lot of great concerts that we put on and we even got to go to Disney land, old town San Diego, and the San Diego Zoo! As you can see we saw a Giraffe give birth!

Our jaunt to Washington

2009-10-03T09:56:00.000-07:00

On our way to washington we took the scenic route over Chinook pass and enjoyed the views there. Aubrey and I also spent a day in Port Townsend, lucky for us it was a beautiful day and we had a great time. Uncle George also gave us a tour of Lake Washington on their boat and let Aubrey and I take a cruise in his jeep. Thanks George!

The greatest museum on Earth!

2009-10-03T09:40:00.000-07:00

Aubrey and I took a trip to Washington recently to visit some family and look into an internship. Grandpa Dorman took us out to the LeMay car museum and I of course loved it! We saw everything from a De Lorean to the Flintstone car! Grandpa even found a Mustang similar to one he use to drive.

Our growing baby Boy!

2009-10-03T09:04:00.000-07:00

Aubrey and I got to go to the doctor yesterday and found that we're having a little boy! We are so excited for our first baby! Our little boy really gave the nurse a hard time during the ultra sound; he wouldn't sit still!

Honeymoon Pictures

2009-08-02T10:59:00.000-07:00

Just a few Pictures from our Honeymoon!

Our wedding day!

2009-07-18T11:17:00.000-07:00

These pictures are a little late, we were married November 22nd 2008, but here is our wedding day!