The Hand of God

We have the most wonderful sunsets here. We find ourselves sitting on the front porch sometimes just gazing at the wonder of it all. How could anyone see something so beautiful and still doubt the hand of the Master.

A Human Art Form

This is interesting. We were caught up with work and Matthew said, "Will someone help me make a bow?" So into the shop they all went. Saws were buzzing and brains were humming and after a while they came out with grins and.....bows. They were so pleased with their skills and the outcome of their labor that they felt an uncontrollable need to demonstrate it. So here's David with his "behind my head as I tear off all my hair" pose.

Josh is trying to impress us with his unique pose called "How far can I go down before my pants rip." He's doing pretty good I would say. If I did that I'd rip more than my pants. Their bows are made of an imported wood call Ipe. It is so hard that you can't nail it without bending the nail or splitting the wood. We had to pre-drill all of the holes to build a gable vent out of this stuff.

This is their "Greek goddess of the Bow" pose. They believe that if they can pose just right and shoot those arrows high into the sky, that beautiful girls will just fall out of the sky. It didn't work, but that hasn't stop them from believing, or hoping. Josh is trying to rip his pants again.

Matt was especially pleased with his bow. He tried it out on everything; cardboard, trees, buildings, the sky, David, Josh, and himself. He found that it works pretty well, and it's especially fun to shoot at moving targets.

This final pose is call "Arrow, Arrow Who Got Hit With the Arrow." It turned out that they all escaped the falling arrows because the wind was blowing just enough to carry the arrows away. Mom and Dad watched in horror as the arrow went sailing into the sky and began their swift descent. But all is well....so far.

It's Not a Rat, It's a Mole

This cute little guy has spent about three weeks taring up the yard and flower beds. We tried to get him but we could never find him. Until, Josh and Ammon did some research on the internet and found out how to catch him.

He kind of looks like a rat with some very strange differences. A mole is blind and can only discern light, so he has very small eyes. His front legs are like shovels without handles, and tough claws on the end of his fingers. They almost look like the flippers on the front of a walrus.

Here Ammon is demostrating his skill at handling this little guy. They are constantly trying to dig....it's all they know. So when you hold one it tries to dig through your fingers, and he is really tough, so he's hard to hang on to.

Don't drop him Ammon, hang on to it. Ammon!!!!

Oh no, he hit the ground. I think he landed on his head. Is it OK!!! It's not moving. Is it dead?

Wait, it's moving. It's still alive. Lucky!!

Look at this guy. See the long nose. It moves around like the trunk of an elephant, and his little mouth is underneath there somewhere. You see that his front hands are just sticking right out of his side.

Well another interesting thing that the boys learned about these critters is that they make a great stew. Just kidding, they can't make anything with those weired hands. They catch worms and take them back to their nest and tie them into knots and save them for a rainy day. We watched him dig in the ground and as he moved along under the surface the worms just came shooting out of the ground. It was really cool.

Ammon's Secret Life

Many have wondered about this handsome young man, who is soft spoken and seemingly very humble. But put on the tails and the hat, and put a cane in his hand and you may discover a different man behind that soft touch. Some have wondered if he is actually the notorious A. Monmoro Ni. The underground boss who covertly runs a secret chain of flower shops in the hill country of Arkansas. Perhaps, we will never know the truth, but every time I see a hick with a rose boutonniere on his camoflauge T-shirt I just have to wonder.

Here you see him posing as the son of one, Brenda Palmer. He tells all of us that he is going to the Prom. "Where," I ask, hoping that I haven't been too obviouse, or too nosey. He said the prom was in Little Rock and that he would be taking a dame that goes by the name of Kathryn. We checked it all out. It seems that there was a prom on the night he was all dressed up, and there is at least one girl in Little Rock that goes by Kathryn, though most go by more common names such as "Bobby Joe" and Billy Gene."

He looks sweet here. He told me that sweet is not acceptable anymore, and that I was to refere to him as "sick" from now on, or "something could happen to you," he said. That raised an eyebrow. I'm sure "sick" is more appropriate for a guy that dresses like this and drives two hours one way to spend the evening at an expensive restaurant with a dame named Kathryn, who's family is more interested in him for his looks than his money, which seems plenty suspicious to me. Just what are their motives I wondered.

This picture was taken just as I made a comment about his rose and ask where he had purchased it, seeing that such class was not readily available in Mt Ida. I wasn't sure what would happen next. I backed up quickly looking for an escape when he suddenly said, "Ah, gosh, don't worry about it. These things grow everywhere." I was happy to let that one go and get on to another topic.

He had me take this picture for his new campaign add. He says he's running for president. "President of what?" I asked, just blurting it out like an idiot. That was the wrong question. Twelve hours later I woke up in a field with a dozen blue tick hound dogs licking my face. I'll be brushing my teeth for the next few hours. What did they feed those dogs?

Well it was said that he was the life of the party. I'm not suprised, with his kind of power you get to be whatever you want. They say that he and this "Kathryn" were the nicest looking ones at the prom. Not much of a low profile if you ask me.

Baby, Baby, Who Has the Baby?

Can you tell who has the baby? There was plenty of competition for baby holding, and the babies wanted the attention. I'm sure that they all went home spoiled.

Uncle Josh with Olivia, Drew and MaeLee.


Uncle David was always ready to play with the babies. Oh excuse me Mae, I mean the "big girls." This is Mae's BIG smile. Somehow, the eyes seem to shut whenever the teeth come out.

I'm really not as fat as it looks. I'm actually off balance and leaning back. That's no double chin you see there. You believe me right? Anyway, here I am with my two princesses, Olivia and MaeLee

OK, there you go Mae, a BIG smile with teeth, and eyes...how cute are you. And great grandma Bee is so cute too. Grandma Bee really loved spending time with her great grand babies.

Uncle Matt. What a guy. He was always ready to help out and play with the kids. They all knew that if they wanted anything, to go outside, food, drink, popsicle, toys, go pottie......whatever.....Uncle Matt would either be on the way or be told to by some grownup.

Ammon and Mae, the match made in heaven. She is perfectly cute in this picture. She has that "You know I'm in control of this guy" look on her face. She says "jump!" and Ammon says "how high, how far, and how long my sweet Mae."

And then there's Brenda. She got to be "MOM" all over again. They might as well have been her very own. I'm not sure Natalee really new who mom was for a little while. Grandma was in baby heaven, a place she spent many years in.

So here is grandpa with his own baby Emma. Yes, this is my baby. She still sits on my lap, hugs me and follows me around. I don't know what I'm going to do when she leaves me. I keep telling her that she can't. Right now she's just humoring me.

Great grandma Davis with Drew and MaeLee. These little guys didn't have any trouble adjusting to having more grandmas and grandpas. It was nice to have them so comfortable with their great grandparents. Drew had a little trouble with it at first. "Drew, great grandma Davis is grandma's mom, and grandma in your mom's mom." Drew thinks about this for a minute. "No," he said, "my mom doesn't have a mom."

Aunty Em with Drew and Livi. Here Drew is demonstrating his BIG smile. Notice, the teeth show, but the eyes are shut.

Great grandma Bee with Natalee. Grandma Bee got a lot of baby time with this one. Natalee was happy with whoever was holding her, as long as she wasn't left alone on the floor.

Aunt Cami and Natalee. Again, a happy baby. But who wouldn't be with Aunt Cami, she talks the best baby talk I've ever heard. And Natalee seems to understand every word.

Huh, grandma and Natalee. And notice the smiles.....can you see the resemblance? Yea, it's the teeth. Brenda is deffinately Natalee's grandma.

Uncle Matt agiain, doing his job. Hold me.....where's my blankie. I don't think that Matt really cared much. He is the baby of our family you know. So for him it was really cool to get to be a big brother for a few weeks. He really enjoyed all of the play time.

I thought that this was a wonderful picture. You wonder where all of the gorgeous babies came from. Just take a look. With a beautiful, young looking grandma like this, how can you go wrong. There are definately some good genes coming down on that side of the family. These two are as pretty as they come.

Grandma and Grandpa Davis are "Greats"

Girls, girls, girls. What a picture. Grandma Davis found that these girls were ready to play, and so they did. They played cards, dolls, bubbles, stickers and kept great grandma busy.

Here she is trying to settle an argument, something that is not all too uncomon between these two competetive princesses. One would find a toy or start to do something and the other would jump right in and do the same thing.

Not that anyone is counting but there are 4 great grandbabies here. Hey, anyone out there want to join the race? Just kidding. I know we got a head start. But isn't this a great picture? I just feel sorry for poor Drew. One prince and 3 princesses. No wonder he gets so frustrated sometimes.

Olivia decided that great grandpa Davis had a nice lap to sit on, but the real fun started when she decided that he was hiding a pillow under that shirt. She was looking all over for how to get it out. She was poking it and pushing it. I don't think we ever convinced her that that was grandpa under there.

Daddy and his little girl. Brenda worked tirelessly to get things ready for her parents. I think she was concerned that everything would be just right for her dad. She often talks about John and the great friends that they had become and how much she appreciates his wisdom and his example.

And so the tradition continues. What is it about this grey haired man that attracks the ladies. Whatever it is grandpa, keep it up.

We all hope you will come back again soon.

Uncle Ammon and Mae

There's just no doubt about it. Uncle Ammon is Mae's one true love. He enters the room and she smiles. She could be crying and screaming about something and see Ammon and suddenly be smiling. And get this, she will actually put her princess dolls down to be held by Uncle Ammon.



Ammon got more kisses from Mae than all of the rest of us combined. Now does that seem fair?










Mae is explaining to Ammon the importance of understanding all of her needs and wants. "You see Uncle Ammon, my happiness in dependent upon your ability to be there whenever I need you."


Whatever she wants, wherever she wants to go, he'll be there in a hurry, all she has to do is call.

I'm not sure who misses who the most. Ammon just hasn't been himself ever since Mae went home. Oh, by the way Mae, Uncle Ammon said to tell you that he loves you, and misses you.

Girls Night Out

Yes, I'm still looking for my wallet. You would think I would know better, but come on, can you imagine these faces with those big sad eyes and all those slobbery kisses, and "please daddy please." What's a guy to do, I ask you, huh?
Well anyway, they went to Hot Springs and had a great time. Emma was in need of some girly time with her sisters. She doesn't get much of that around here.
They went shopping and ate out at Buffalo Wild Wings. One of our favorite places.

These are some gorgeous girls. I have no idea how we ended up with such beauties....well, maybe I do, it's their mother. It certainly doesn't come from their balding, fat, father.

Off With the Training Wheels

Well Drew saw all of those big boys riding their bikes without training wheels. And to make matters worse, he wiped out because of those darn training wheels. "Take them off, take them off of my bike. I don't want them on there any more." So off they came. Next thing we know he's muddin with David and Matthew. He's a natural.