Blackberry Days - Day 3 & 4

On Sunday Erica spoke in sacrament meeting and Em taught in her ward, so we divided up between their wards. Our family went to hear Erica, which was amazing. She did a great job inspiring all of us. Our friends, the Parrys, old neighbors in Redmond, Washington, are in their congregation, so it was really fun to catch up with Heather!

After lunch and naps at Erica's place we all met up at a Vivian Park in Provo Canyon. All of the cousins love Geoff. He is always up for a wrestle, a chase, a game of basketball, or providing any kind of fun given the circumstances. He is fun for every age. This year he brought sling shots and a bow and arrow to the park.

He's so good at trusting the goodness in each kid. They feel respected and admired and adored all at once.

Meanwhile these cuties had rigged some string to water bottles and were trying to catch fish, the stuff of a perfect, imaginative childhood...

While walking to take that last picture I heard Ceci call my name from above.

That kid loves to climb trees. 

There was always a clump of people visiting on the blankets...

And those teenage girls made a lot of bracelets and hair wraps for each other and the younger girl cousins. Oh, and some of those older girls cousins colored their hair raspberry red for fun one night. Did you notice? The younger girl cousins got red (washable marker) streaks in admiration for their adoring older cousins.

Many went to explore an old train.

 

There was some marshmallow roasting even though it was still light out, which takes away a bit from the campfire mood but not the taste of the marshmallow...

As the afternoon faded away and the air grew cool Davey began to play some songs, the girls still braided on, and learnings about ancient Jerusalem was the topic of conversation. Adele appropriately said, "This is a perfect moment."

Before we all went our own way we had someone take a picture...

And then we sang, Who Took the Overalls from Mrs. Murphy's Chowder. This is a song we sang "down by the pond" at the fire pit at those first Blackberry Days in Auburn. It goes like this,

Who took the overalls from Mrs. Murphy's chowder?
Nobody knows so shout it all the louder.

It starts as a whisper and gets louder and louder until everyone is shouting at their capacity. Little kids love this, of course. It seemed a little out of place at the park. Disruptive to other park goers, for sure. But those who remembered the Auburn days were beaming at the memory. Those that were too young to remember had no idea what we were doing.  Here is an old picture, mid - Who Took the Overalls...

Right there in the park we prayed as a family. It was a perfect moment of unity and love and everyone felt it. We then gathered for the handshake that originated with Geoff's parents. All hands in with a "Davises Forever!"

There is power in family togetherness.

The last day I didn't join everyone as I just look outside and my allergies seem to flair up. And there aren't a lot of pictures from that day, but it was an intense noodle hockey game (girls against boys, and the girls won), swimming at Britt's pool and then dinner and updates in the clubhouse. I joined for the final part.

The teenagers gave updates, which was fun. Hopefully they know how lucky they are to belong to a family that is so interested, supportive and bursting with love.

Until Christmas when we're all together again!