Family Dinner at the Davenports

The other day we had Tara's family over for dinner. We were planning on having an outdoor barbeque, but it was windy and cool so everyone wanted to be inside. We ended up turning on the Wii and playing some Mariokart. My bro-in-law Lonnie is a quad and can't grip with his hands so we tooks some rags torn from an old sheet and tied his hands to the steering wheel. He still lost the race though because he was laughing so hard he couldn't control the car. We now have some ace bandages and a set of Tara's velvet handcuffs to secure him to the wheel.

This is my nephew Gauge. He loves riding bikes so much that it doesn't even matter if he has to wear a pink helmet and ride a pink bike. He looks like one bad mutha.

The First Day of School

The first day of school went well, despite Kaitlyn vomitting through the night before. We shouldn't have let her have Oreos for dessert. It was gross (no pics of that). Megan was really excited for school this year. She is in 1st grade and will be staying the entire day at school. This is her second year at North Star Academy. Ashley, on the other hand, was really nervous. She is in 3rd grade and transfered from Rose Creek Elementary. She was worried about a new, school, new friends, and that sort of stuff. She did well though and liked the school. Hopefully she has many new friends by the end of the week.

Ashley likes to pose.

So does Megan.

Relay for Life

Many of us in the neighborhood participated in the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life this year. I wanted to volunteer a little bit with the ACS this year and they talked me into being the Event Chair for the South Valley Relay. Luckily, I had the support of great friends and neighbors. We were able to pull this event off with each others help. It was a great event and we had lots of people attend raise money for the ACS.

Team Captains wore yellow shirts and committee members wore blue.

Grassy area with Fight Back flags.

The event is made up of teams of 8 to 15 people. The goal of each team is to raise $1,000 or $100 per person. Each team does their own individual fund raising prior to the event as well as selling things at a booth during the event. At the relay, it is the goal of each team to have one person walking the track through the night. The thought is, "If cancer doesn't sleep, then we won't sleep until we find a cure." We didn't do so well on this aspect of the relay, but it was our first year. We are going to do this next year as well. We would love anyone support from anywhere. You don't even have to live in the state to support the cause. We have online teams that just raise funds and we will send you some shirts. Let me know if you are interested in doing this with us next year.

Setting up with other committee members

Zane Gonder, he's a Bronze Star recipient and he literally saved the day!

Our Armed Forces doing the flag ceremony

The cancer survivors wore purple shirts and led the first lap of the relay

Some of our survivors and little survivors

We all walked the track after the survivors. Notice the luminaria bags lining the track. They represent a survivor or someone still fighting cancer, or someone who passed away because of cancer. We sold those luminaria bags to raise money.

Each team did a booth. The light saber booth was a big hit.

Some of our kids testing the defensive skills of the Military Mascot.

The kids game area.

This band saved us too. Many of our acts cancelled the night before and these guys came on short notice. Good job entertainment committee.

We lit electric candles in the luminaria bags for the luminaria ceremony. That was a highlight of the night.

We stayed late into the night and a lot of people camped out.

Thanks Brittany for the pics.

The Davenport Family Reunion was a blast this year. We stayed at a lakehouse on Lake Pend O'rielle. Actually we stayed a the river inlet that feeds from the lake. It was a big house and all of the families had a bedroom, although some less private than others (kids room). We had the jetskis there all week and we rented a boat for a few days. I was sore after several days of wakeboarding. The mosquitos were bad and the horseflies hurt even worse, but it was a fun time and we look forward to doing it again.

Despite the picture, Britney didn't like getting on the horse.

The kids loved using Grandpa Dollars to buy stuff at Grandma's store.

Waiting in line at the log ride at Silverwood.

Megan was a crazy driver.

The three amigas. Danielle made these girls their dresses.

The brothers and Dad at Circling Raven Golf Club.

Ashley, the cousins, and a few of the uncles rode on the bumper boats in the evening at Silverwood. The temperature was dropping and the sun was down when they went on the boats. Just outside of the bumper boat pond were some water cannons that you could use to squirt the riders for the cost of a quarter. Here's a video of us drenching Ashley, and the water was icy, and yes, I'm a mean dad even though it was Grandpa and Aunt Danielle doing most of the damage.