Fun-Family-Filled Summer

The past two and a half weeks have been filled with wonderful family events. Here is brief rundown:

July 6 - Mom and I flew to Missoula, Montana for a reunion at my Uncle Jim's/cousin Diane's house. We arrived at the airport about 15 minutes after Aunt Jean and Uncle Bob. Mom cried when she saw Jeannie. We rented a car, checked into our very nice hotel, met up with Uncle Steve and headed over to Jim's.  We had a nice dinner at the house and then sat around visiting a while.
July 7 - The big reunion events started off with a picnic and picture taking at a nice park in Missoula. Steve took Mom, Jean, Bob, and I on a scenic tour to Lolo Pass right outside of town. This is a place where the Indians had helped Lewis and Clark on their expedition. Then we went back for dinner and to join the big group. It was a lovely evening and it was great to meet all of Jim's grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
July 8 - We went to church with Jean, Bob, Leslie, and Irene. Jean, Bob, Mom and I went for brunch before going over to Carol's beautiful home at the top of a mountain in Pattee Canyon. Mom and I took Jean and Bob to the airport before heading back to Diane's house. We ate leftovers and visited for a couple of hours and said our final goodbyes before Mom and I headed back to our hotel room.
July 9 - Mom and I got up very early to get to the airport and fly back to Tucson. We were tired, happy to be home, and very glad to have been able to be with Mom's siblings and all my cousins.
July 10 - Gavin Appollas Davidson was born and we were able to go meet him that afternoon.
July 20 - About lunch time, my brother George came to visit with George E, Linda, and their children. We had a really nice visit. It was very nice to see them. Tracy, Johnny, and Daphne arrived in St. David with Chelsea. Daphne Brown, Vance's girlfriend, also joined us. We had our dinner, learned how to play Liar's Dice, and camped out in the front yard. We had a little rain earlier in the evening that cooled it off and then we had a beautiful night out in our tents.
July 21 - We started the day with apple pancakes and then met Richard's family at the Pioneer Day parade. It was the longest parade that I remember having in St. David. Vance even got to play cymbals and march with the band.The Heritage Society really worked hard and put together an outstanding celebration as a combination for Pioneer Day, Arizona's Centennial, and St. David High School graduating students for 100 years. It was wonderful to see so many people that our children have grown up and friends that we have made in this lovely community. We are very blessed. The kids went to watch the games for awhile and met me at the barbeque where I was serving. We all went back to the house and played games and relaxed. Richard's family left and the rest of us, except Dad, went back to the school for a patriotic concert that Mom and I sang in. That was really special to be a part of the community choir and sing some great music with Daniel Tenney making it a lot of fun. Next, we were hanging out on the football field waiting for the fireworks. There was a band playing and a gunfight show. We all entered a round of the Cake Walk and won a cake for Daphne's birthday party. That was fun. The evening was beautiful and a lot of friendships were renewed. Mom got tired so we came back to the house so Dad and I watched the fireworks from the house. It was spectacular!
July 22 - Tracy and Johnny came to the house to help me get food ready for the family dinner/birthday party. We went to Patton Ward's sacrament meeting and then on to Tucson. There was a lot of eating, playing, talking, baby holding, and enjoying each other's company. Pictures were taken and then goodbyes had to be said. It was a perfect weekend except for the absence of Rachel's family because of distance and Jeffrey's because they choose not to be with us. We pray that someday we can all be together again.
July 24 - Sophia Lynn Davidson was born and so we made another trip to Tucson to see our 15th grandchild. We are truly blessed.

Now it is time to try to rest before school starts again. It has been a good summer.