Reflection

Three years ago I was riding in an ambulance wondering what was going on, how things would be, and praying that Brett would make it. It seems like it was yesterday when I got the call from Brett, I was at work and he was home sick. He called and told me there was an explosion and he was on fire....I remember rushing home and seeing Brett outside looking so hurt, he had no hair and was covered in ash, and already was blistering. He got in the car and we headed to the hospital, we were later transferred to the Burn Unit at the U of U, where we stayed for the next 4 days.

It was there where we learned what had actually happened to Brett, we had a small propane bottle in the basement, which was defective. It had filled the room with propane and when Brett went to put a piece of wood on the fireplace, it exploded. Which caused him to burn 45% of his body with 2nd and 3rd degree burns.

We learned how to dress and care for his burns, we learned new exercises to help his skin so it would not lose it's elasticity. We learned so many things while we were there. But some of the most important things we learned where not taught to us by doctors, nurses, or social workers. They were taught to us by the tender mercy's of a loving Heavenly Father, he once again taught us the power of the Priesthood, Prayer, and families. He showed me that I am never alone, I can remember running down the hall and finding a bathroom and crying and shouting... Why me, why Brett? And then getting on my knees and asking for help, the calm that washed over me was unreal, but I knew that HE was walking hand in hand with me on my journey and was not going to let me go it alone, nor would he allow Brett to go it alone. Heavenly Father sent alot of angles to our family in our time of need, there were friends who took in our other two boys, and never even questioned when we would get them..(This was just a few days before Christmas)There were friends who came and cleaned my house so that I would not have to come home and deal with the smells...People who cooked for us and came by or called to see how things were going and people who just prayed..We know that prayers were answered, because we have Brett with us and he is whole.

There was a lot of recovery, bandage changes, and trips back to the burn unit. But all of us have learn so much. We have watched Brett turn his accident into strengths, I have watched him grow closer to the Lord, and know that he has a purpose here on earth. He has learned lessons that most people never learn. He is much wiser and more caring. We have watched Brett reach out to those who are different and try to build them up. We have seen Brett turn the other cheek to those who made fun of him, he rose above the teasing and still befriended them. Brett is an example to all of us. He has made such progress, it is so nice to have the long road behind us; but we would not trade the trip because of what we have gained.

This is a photo of Brett once he was able to come home, it was taken about 10 days after the accident once most of the swelling had gone down and he was looking more like himself, the white bandages were what we would change twice a day, he was wrapped like a mummy, and Colby and I got to play "cut and paste".

Brett was able to attend Burn camp the past two years up at Camp Tracy, he has been able to be with other burn survivors and learn and experience things with them. He looks forward to this every year. It is very neat to see him shine and be with others who have experienced some of the same experiences. It is nice to see him forget about things and just be a boy...He seems to come back each time with a new attitude, it is neat. It is neat to see they confidence that he returns with.

This is a photo of Brett and Brennon, one of the Junior counselors at Burn camp, this summer. The counselors have either been burn survivors or they work in the burn unit, Brennon is a burn survivor. Brett you continue to amaze me each day in your ability to show compassion to those around you...

Erika

Activities

Ok, I know that I am really bad at updating this as things happen. But one of my callings in the ward is Activities person. So with that said in our ward we typically do an activity each month. And since I am over the activities I am usually in the back working on something and not there with my camera, so I have to rely on people to help me remember the moments and take pictures for me.....So my sweet friend just emailed me some photos so I thought I would share them. The first ones are of the annual "Turkey Shoot" this is always done the day after Thanksgiving and we usually have a great turn out...this year we had over 100 people.

This is what Colby and I did the entire time... He would "throw" and I was the score keeper. This is Brock he was shooting a 410..He got 3rd in his age division he got 9 out of 25.

This is Brett, Kaid & Colten. Brett took 1st in his age division he got 20/25.. Kaid was told that next year he would have to move into a different bracket "the 25" he got 24/25. He also took 1st. This last photo is Brock getting his prize from the Bishop and Alan Davis.

It is a lot of fun, this year we even had Kathy and Roger stay over and come out...Hopefully they will continue the tradition, I know that the grand kids sure liked having them there. Roger shot well but I can't remember what he got.

So with the Turkey Shoot over the next week was the annual ward Christmas Dinner....This is a major undertaking....And I would not have been able to do it with out the help of a few great ladies who jumped in at the last second...To help save the day.....Thanks!!!! Bobbi, Janet, Kimberly, and Norma. And to everyone else who helped that I did not see.... We ended up feeding about 250 people..We ate and then the YW did a program and then of course we had a special visitor from the North Pole....

I do have photos on someones camera of all of my boys on Santa's lap, but right now I am not really sure who's camera...So if you have them on yours please shoot me an email....Thanks!

I missed when Brock was having his conversation with Santa.. But I asked what Brock said when Santa asked him what he wanted...I was a BIT shocked. Brock wants a CELL PHONE! I asked what Santa said, and he said that Santa thought that he could do that! I am going to have to TALK to Santa about that.

Class Assignment

A few weeks ago in one of my classes we were given an assignment to take our families names and for each letter say one thing about them...I decided that since this is like my journal I would transfer the assignment to this so I can remember what I thought....

C- Compassionate

O- Optimistic

L- Loyal

B- Brave

Y- BYU Fan (Y is hard)

M-Magnetic (he is quite the charmer :)

c- Cute

K- Kind

A- Adventurous

I- Intelligent

D- Daring

B- Brave

R- Responsible

E- Excels

T- Tenderhearted

T- Treasure

B- Bold

R- Respectful

O- Outgoing

C- Creative

K- Kind

I have been blessed to have such a good family. I love all of my boys! I hope they know that, and how proud of them I am....

Brett has a concert tonight I will get photos of this one.....

Erika

I FINALLY figured it out!

So this age thing is really working against me. I am really starting to notice my body is just not the same as when I was younger. I have noticed lines, aches, pains, and the big one that I am fat. So with that said my good friend and I started walking in the mornings to work off some of the fat. We get up and walk a little over 1 1/2 miles each day (expect Thursday's) and at first I was quite excited because I saw the scales going down....But now I am just staying right there not gaining but not loosing...I have felt kind of bad, her kids even tease use about still being committed to the exercise thing, they tell me that she is not one to stick to a routine. We have been doing this for six weeks now, and I just got an email that explains my ENTIRE problem.....And my walking partner can attest to just how much metal is in my mouth (she works at our dentists office :) )

So I wonder if we are done walking?!?!?!?

Erika

Gratitude

OK, so I am one of those people who hate looking at people's blogs to find that they have not posted in weeks...Well I am one of those people who has been slacking.. Sorry, I will try harder to post. I had every intention of posting before Thanksgiving about what I was thankful for, but that did not happen so I feel like I need to do it now.

I am so very grateful to have a wonderful family, they are so supportive and loving. I have great examples and tons of people that love me and my family. I am grateful to have a job, a house, a warm bed to climb into at the end of a long day, 3 wonderful boys that keep me guessing and on my toes, for a great husband who loves me, to have a religion that I love and can live, to live in a great neighborhood, to have a great walking partner (even if she does beat me), wonderful parents ( I am so lucky to have 2 sets) My mom and dad who raised me, they have given me so many gifts and reasons to be grateful. They are truly amazing, the most wonderful gift they could have given me was the ability to love, and to care. Thank you. Thank you for being my parents I am so lucky to call you mom and dad. My next parents, my birth mother and dad (Kathy and Rog) I am so thankful that Kathy would choose to have me. And too now allow me and the rowdy bunch into her life, we sure turned it upside down...I hope she knows how much we love the two of them. And enjoy being able to love them and have them apart of our lives.

I had great intentions of getting a photo on Thanksgiving, we had it here at the house and I wanted to put a photo of my mom's but did I think to get the camera out?!? That would be NO.. So I am going to post a photo from 2 weeks ago when we were at Great Grandpa Ivan's 80th birthday..

What a fun Thanksgiving we had, it was nice to be able to have family around and to enjoy the day and the company. Thanks for everyone for making it a great day. I am truly blessed.

Erika

Teachers.

Last week was Brett's birthday, on his birthday I went to the mail box and there was a post card for him. I brought it in and read who it was from and about started to cry, it was from his 5th grade teachers. Mrs. Hair and Mrs. Beveridge. They were his teachers 2 years ago and they have sent a card for the past 3 years. You all know that I come from educators, but I know that my parents did not send their former students birthday cards, not only a card but they are still giving him a hard time about liking BYU! What awesome teachers!! Who does this?

5th grade was a hard year for the Davis household, after Brett's burn and the problems we had with people teasing him and making his life hard, we were worried about sending him back to school.. I did not care if he learned anything that year, we just wanted him to have a little bit of self confidence and not feel inferior to everyone. These two women gave us so much more than we could have hoped. Not only did Brett get back some of his self confidence, he actually learned quite a bit. We will forever be grateful to them for what they were able to give back to Brett. They took the time to care about him and his well being. And they still are caring about him, it is truly amazing to me that they would take the time to do this and make a kid feel special and like they matter.

I guess with the holidays approaching and the anniversary of his burn we have a lot to be thankful for and it is all starting to hit me. I hope that I can make a difference in a person's life like these two wonderful ladies.

Happy Birthday Brett!!!

Happy Birthday Brett!

Wow, does time fly by or what?!? I remember 13 years ago heading to the hospital to have you, it was a blizzard and we were hoping and praying that we would make it to the hospital. We finally got to the hospital (everyone was waiting for us) and seven short (or LONG) hours later you were born. I will never forget when they put you in my arms the love that I had for you was overwhelming. You had such a strong spirit, you were so alert you were looking at everything. You had your cute butterfly birthmark on your chest (I sure miss that) but that way I knew I would get you back. You were the only baby in the hospital while we were there so you were so spoiled. I would have to fight the nurses to be able to have you with me. I would hold you at night and think how lucky we were to have you in our family. When Kaid came to the hospital I could hear him as he was walking out of the elevator saying where is my brother? He quickly came into the room and ran over to the bed and unwrapped you, he wanted to make sure that you were alright. He counted all your toes and fingers, he told everyone that you were "his" We all could not wait to have you come into our family!This is a photo of you and dad, you were about 4 months old. this was a day that Kaid and dad went out fishing on the River- you loved when they would bring the fish home and put them on the picnic table, you would squeal and squeal.

This was your third birthday photo- I know you don't remember Montana, but you would always tell us that you were the best thing to ever come out of Montana. And you know what I would have to agree!!!!!
Brett you have been such a joy to have in the family, I love being your mom. I have enjoyed watching you grow up to be the young man that you are. You have a special things that you need to accomplish here on earth. And we know that you will do them. I know that you have had to endure many trials in your life, but they have helped shape you into who you are becoming. We have watched you turn your struggles into strengths and have seen how you are able to help those around you who are hurting.

We want you to know that we all love you and want you to have a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Love,

Mom,Dad, Kaid & Brock

Halloween!

This year I was just not prepared for Halloween, it's tonight and I don't even have candy. I am heading to Walmart when I get off work to get some, so don't worry you can send your kids to my house. I will be prepared by then. I thought that I would post a couple of cartoons to set the mood for the rest of the day. I will post photos of pumpkins and costumes later tonight! Happy Halloween!

Grades

Brett has been so excited to be in 7th grade and finally get "real" grades. He loved the idea of getting A's, B's, and C's...I know who likes grades?! The end of 1st term was last week and each day Brett was on the computer looking up his grades to see what he had. Some times he is a better parent then I am!! Well today I got a phone call while I was at work and it was Brett letting me know that he had his REPORT CARD! He was so excited, I asked him what it was and he said that I would have to wait until I was home and look for myself......

Here it is a 3.95 how cool is that?!?!?!? We are so proud of him, and all his hardwork. He had tried so hard to have good grades. It is neat that he was able to get these. He would have had a perfect 4.0 but he was transfered into the Utah Studies class 2 1/2 weeks into the sememster because his art class was too full, we were told that he would not have to make up the work for the time he was not in class....They lied he had a test on the first day of class and did not know the information. The teacher counted it against him. He tells me this term he will have the 4.0. Way to go!!!

Court Of Honor

Tonight we went to the boy's court of honor...It was nice to see their hard work payoff. This year their scout camp was at Timberline (down in southern Utah) both Kaid and Brett were able to go. Kaid was asked if he wanted to go at the last minute and luckily he had the time off and was off of crutches so he was able to move around and enjoy things. Kaid received 5 merit badges tonight, and Brett earned 9. Brett earned the most of all of the boys at scout camp. Kaid earned the last one he needed to get so all he has to do is his "project" for his Eagle. Hopefully we can help him get that done in the first part of Spring. He needs to make sure his project will be approved and get it set up.

Better Late Than Never..

So this last week was quite an eventful one, we had lots going every night. On Tuesday Brett had a choir concert at school, we went and was a very nice evening. They had all of the grades involved and I got to listen to some of the girls from the neighborhood. I'm sorry I don't have pictures - next time.

On Friday Colby got off work early and asked if the boys wanted to go up the canyon, so as soon as I got off work we headed up.... it was so pretty we went to Payson Lakes and went fishing.

We were able to walk right down to the lake and set up our chairs. It was a little cold, but a lot of fun. Colby got the poles ready and we sat down and watched the sun set. It was a fun night. We were hoping that we would see a buck near by so that we could fill one of the deer tags that we had, but no such luck. But with the fishing we did have some luck....We caught one fish (actually I caught one) as you can see I let Brock hold it I did not want to have the smell on my hands....

After this we headed home so that everyone could get ready to head out in the morning to go deer hunting....

What Time of Year is this?????

If any of you are wondering what the answer to the above question is.. In our house it is hunting season! With 3 boys and Colby the season starts somewhere in early August and ends......I don't know when. It seems that they are always out hunting something or out scouting for something else. But whatever it keeps them out of trouble. (for the most part) This weekend was the opening of the rifle deer hunt, so out we went. We went with the Koller's and meet in the Walmart parking lot to head out to get some deer. We were up way early and when we got to where we were going to hunt everyone split up into groups. The first being Dave, Lisa, and Ryan. 2nd group Kaid, Matt, and Brett. 3rd Colby, Me, Brock, Jared, and Ty. The first two groups were on 4wheelers and we were on foot. Did I forget to say I have asthma which is typically activity induced asthma?!?!? We started on our walk-hike I kept making Colby slow down because I was dying....We finally got to our destination or so I thought! We found a bunch of deer just eating and guess what there was a BUCK!!! but could we get any one with a tag to answer the radios or cell phones? NO. so Colby said he was going to go higher on the mountain and we needed to stay there and watch the deer to see which way they go if they leave, and remember to be quite!!! did he forget it was me and the "little boys" quite is not in their vocabulary let alone their beings... So we sat there and waited watching the deer that was just looking at us not really concerned with our presence, I felt like a broken record saying be quite. So we decided that we should all close our eyes and just relax for a few minutes and apparently it worked. This is what Colby came back down the mountain too.

Yes this is everyone of us asleep. We did not even make a sound. Aren't we the best hunters around?

So after a morning and part of the afternoon we decided to head back toward the group and see what they wanted to do. We made our way down the mountain and found the group and Kaid and Matt had decided that they did not want to hunt out there any longer and they wanted to go somewhere else. Colby called a friend to see if he could get a key to get them on to another piece of property. His friend said "tell kaid to pull up his skirt and get back out there and hunt" we all laughed at this and Kaid replied back that he would get a deer before us....so the pressure was on, Kaid and Matt went and took the little boys with them and the rest of us went back out to see what we could do. We had been out about 2 hours and we get a text from Kaid saying he needed help lifting up his skirt while he cleaned the deer, we told him that we needed photos before we would believe that they had gotten one........

The is Matt with his first deer, the second is the "little boys" Brock, Ty, and Jared. They were all pretty excited. Kaid was happy to be able to help Matt get his deer, he only had one day to hunt so it was exciting.

Since the race was now officially on for us to get a deer we headed into town to get some gas and some shakes...We decided to celebrate we got double bacon cheeseburgers as well.

I know that this is a little bit blurry, but Colby took it on his phone. I don't know if we were just starving or what but this was the best food I have eaten in a long time.

This is Dave, Lisa, Brett, Ryan and me. Lisa was a trooper she was just getting over an accident and she did not complain, even though she was in a lot of pain. So all in all it was a good weekend. We only got one deer but it was not for lack of effort. Hopefully we can fill the rest of the tags this week.

Here Piggy, Here Piggy, piggy,piggy

Sorry about the blurry photo, I was using my phone camera. I went up to feed the horses last night with Colby, Brett, and Brock. And this was the first time I could see the pigs in the light, Colby and the boys bought pigs this weekend. Can you count them???? He bought six they are really cute, but they are noisy. And let me tell you they like their food... Brock was trying to come up with names for them all, I think he is getting overwhelmed with trying to name them because he said how about Joe, Smokey, Sierra, B, Y, and U! The first 3 are the horses names and B, Y, and U are what the last three pigs were named. It really cracks me up because Brock will know what one is what and will call them by their names, when we slaughter them he wants to know what one he is eating, I know it is morbid but that's how he is.

Reba, Reba, Reba

OK, so as promised. Brett and I went to Salt Lake to go see Reba, we got off to a late start and traffic was a mess there were 4 accidents along the way and then we missed the exit we needed to go eat at TGI Fridays. So we went to Training Table for dinner. We then heading up to the concert. We took Colby's badge so we could park close (this came in very handy when we were heading home) and then went into the concert we found our seats and waited. We had talked about the opening act and wondered how it would be done because they had said that Reba & Kelly would be performing together, we had no idea what to expect. Then all of the sudden out comes a tall blond with a sign that says "get on your feet" we couldn't figure out who it was until she said something........ It was barbara jean!!! Actually Melissa Peterman (she played Barbara Jean on the show Reba)

She came out and did stand up for about 40 minutes, let me tell you she is hysterical, Brett and I laughed and laughed. I loved the television show, but really did not think that she would be that good. Once she was done we were ready to see Reba.

This is Brett and I waiting to have the concert start. They had a huge drape around the stage and they would shine lights on it to change the colors of the stage, it went deep red and then the lights went down and you heard the music start. We were both so excited the song that they started with was from the Eurythmics "Sweet Dreams" Brett did not know the song but all of the older people knew it. Once the curtain dropped this is what the stage looked like.

They would take turns singing a few of Reba's songs and then they would do a few of Kelly's songs. They sang a lot of Reba's old songs which are some of my favorites. It was a really good concert. Brett and I both enjoyed it. Once it was over and time to come home we headed out of the concert and to the car and were on the road heading home in 3 1/2 minutes!!!! Thanks to Colby's key pass!!!! I have never gotten on the road from a concert that fast. We are defiantly going to have to take it for Celine next month! We were home so quick we even beat Kaid home fro
his night out!

Erika

Guess Where I am going TONIGHT!!!!

Yes, I am going to go to the Reba & Kelly Clarkson concert tonight! I am so excited. I love Reba and have always loved her. Last time I saw her at the Usana, with Michelle. We had a lot of fun, this time I am going to be going with Brett! He has to go to 4 concerts this year for one of his classes at school (we never had that assignment when I was in school) so I will update tomorrow. By the way did I say I was excited?!?!?

Erika

Hee Haw Farms

Last night I took the boys and Kaid's friend, Shayli to Hee Haw Farms.

This is over in American Fork, we have gone each year for the past four years. The kids all seem to like it. I enjoy it until I remember while I am there that I am allergic to it all. This year was colder than years before so it made it easier on my asthma while I ran around the corn maze trying to keep up with the boys.

We started out going on a hayride, the photo is a bit blurry but we were moving and the boys were watching to see when the candy was going to be thrown at them.

We then went into the corn maze, Brock has more energy then I think should be allowed. He was on a dead run throughout the entire thing. We usually go earlier in the day but this year with Kaid's job we waited until he got off, so it was dark when we went into the maze, this makes it hard to chase a kid who moves like Brock. Kaid and Shayli were in the lead and Brett and I brought up the rear. Brett is good to his old mother.

After that we went over to pick out pumpkins, go on the slides, and walk through the haunted barn. Brock said that it was not scary at all. The petting zoo had closed by this time, however all of the animals were still there and you could look at them. They have a pig that is the size of a small cow. It was HUGE.. Brock and Brett found a small John Deere tractor and both started riding it around....

It was really quite funny to see Brett on this tractor he was having a hard time getting it to go anywhere. I went over with Brock to see an animal and all of the sudden you hear this loud, and I mean loud crash, every one turns around to see what it was and there is Brett laying on the ground with the tractor up in the air, he had hit a fence and fallen over. I was laughing so hard that I really could not help him until I stopped. I know that we should not laugh, but I assure you that we were laughing with him, not at him. I think everyone enjoyed it and had a good time.

An Average Weekend

This weekend was full of fun and memories. It started out on Friday with Kaid, Kayden, and Brett heading out to Ephriam to kill varmints. This was wildly successful they all had fun and we did not see them until late Friday night. On Saturday Colby and Brett went out hunting to try to get Brett's first deer... No luck.

But Kaid and Kayden went back to Ephriam to hunt waterfowl, boy oh boy they hit the jackpot!

This is Kaid & Kayden's Geese. This was Kayden's first duck hunt and first goose.

This is Kaid's goose or as Kayden says "it's not a bird, it's a baby plane!" This goose had a 5' 10" wing span. So needless to say this is another one that is going to be gracing the walls of my house! Lucky me.

Then it was Brett's turn to try and get his deer, Kaid took him out and with in a half an hour they were texting me pictures of the deer he got. This was the muzzle-loader hunt (black powder) and Brett's first big game tag.

This is a great first buck, it is a 2 X 3. This was about 110 yard shot, with open sights. He must take after his mother!

So all in all it was an eventful weekend, the freezer will be full, as well as my walls.

Enjoy,

Erika

Brock and his posse..

This picture was taken two weeks ago, the night before the BYU and UCLA game. BYU football team puts on a fireside the night before any game (home or away) we went to the fireside, and let me tell you the spirit that was there was amazing! This is something that is not required by the Coach, this is strictly voluntary and I bet there was easily 80% of the team there. It was truly an amazing night. If you have the chance to go to one of these you should take the time to go, you will not be sorry.

Afterwards the team has a little meet and greet, so Brock was so excited to go and see Jan Jorgensen again. Jan came this summer to the Stake Fathers and Sons and spoke, and got talking to Colby about the outdoors and we ended up having Jan and his girlfriend over for dinner and horseback riding. It was alot of fun, and Brock found his new best friend. He thinks that Jan is awsome. So he was quite excited to have his friends get to meet him, and to get there picture taken with Jan.

In the picture l to r: Jared, Jan Jorgensen, Brock, and Ty.

Trial By Fire

Ok....Here goes nothing this is my 1st post. I decided to start this blog so that friends and family would be able to keep updated on the happenings in our family. It seems sad to me that I live in the same town as my brother and parents and still can't find time to see them as much as we would like. So I will begin this with the condensed version of the 411 in our house.

First, school started the end of August this was an exciting time for us, Kaid got to go to a brand new High School, which is in Salem they are the SalemHills Skyhawks. It has been quite the experience to see this school start from the ground up, Colby's company were the Electrical Contractors which did the school so we have many ties to the completion. Kaid seems to be enjoying the social part of school, and meeting lots of new friends, especially the girls.

Brett he also started a new chapter in his education he got to move to Junior High, he is in 7th grade and excels. We went to parent teacher conference and every teacher told me how much they enjoy having him in their classes, if he could just work on his talking. ( I have no idea where he gets his gift of gab :)

Brock is the last one in Elementary, he is in second grade and he likes school, this is a huge improvement from the last two years. We don't have any crying fits in the mornings any longer and mornings seem to go tons better. He played baseball this summer and is obsessed with BYU football. He eat, sleeps and drinks football.

As for Colby and I, we both have started new jobs in the past year. Colby works for the church at Church Headquarters, he is still an Electrician for them. He has amazing stories it seems on a weekly basis as to whom he has been able to meet. He seems to enjoy it, he rides the bus to work daily so it does make for a longer commute. I how ever have shortened my commute, I now work in town as the Office Manager for an Electrical Contractor. I love being so close to home. I am still in school and should only have about 2 more semesters left. I go at a snails pace I know, BUT I am also a mom.

Well that is what is happening in our neck of the woods...Stay tuned there will be lots more...Remember I have 3 boys, life is never ending at our house.

Erika