Snow Day!

Since I have been home I have been adjusting back to this life after I got used to Romania and my life there. It has been nice to be back with the family though and see my friends. Derek made a special trip to Heber on Saturday so we could just have a day of fun! It was awesome! Except for when Parker and Derek gained up against me during the snowball fight. 

No Snow Day is complete without the baking of sugar cookies and decorating and then eating them while watching the old school Frosty the Snowman cartoon. 

This is our snowman Stewy......pretty cool guy oh and then there is Derek, he is almost as cool as our Stewy. 
Sledding! We still have yet to find an awesome sledding hill! 
Parker just giving Derek a nice gift of snow in the face...so sweet 
This was not a part of our snow day activities but I thought everyone would just like to know that the coolest cousins in the world have once again been reunited and still love each other so much! 
Merry Christmas Everyone! 

I am back in the USA

Just in case you did not know yet I am back in the States safe and sound. It is kind of a weird adjustment but I am enjoying being with my family so much!!! I got to eat lots of delicious food last night with my girls last night, got to help decorate the tree with my mom, listen to lots of christmas music, drink egg nog, just love all the time I have spent with my family. I have also come back to my "new home" in Heber, UT! 

You know you live in Heber when you go for a short run and see over twenty deer running through the street, along the streets and even sometimes right next to you....I mean I know they prance so gracefully and I run so heavily it is not like they had to try and show me up or something. So rude! 

Christmas Party..Another awesome activity with the Branch in Iasi!

We had our Branch Christmas Party tonight and it was a blast!!! I spent the afternoon decorating and helping wrap up sarmale for the dinner. So, we had a spiritual thought on the birth of our Savior during this Christmas Season, We sang Carols, Brother Nicu read a poem in Romanian and I am not sure what he said but I could tell that it was a beautiful poem:) We had a great time eating and laughing with out friends and taking a lot of pictures. It is weird thinking I am going home in 5 days because it feels like this is a new home to me now. I love it! Below is a picture of our friends, Alexandra, Mary, Rozi, whom I have mentioned in past blogs. Anyway, I just love them and I am going to miss them so much! Thank goodness for facebook!
Group picture!!!

Me, Ionut and Robby! Oh, and I must give credit for the hat to my Mom and Rhett...My Mom told me to buy one and Rhett chose it out. It was like $1, pretty rad deal!

We are singing carols in Romanian, love it! Brother Nicu (He is in the middle) has an incredible voice!!

We had 4 big dinner tables going. There were a lot of people!
Mor Craciun! Translated into English Old Man Christmas and translated to out culture Santa Clause!

More Kandid Pics

Brother Nicu again and his son

Alexandra, Chelsea and I

Craciun Fericit Everyone!!! I will be home so soon and can hardly wait to show more pictures and videos with those that I love the most! Happy Holidays and make this Merry Season the best and serve others!!!

Craciun Fericit!!!!

This may come as a surprise to some of you but I am not one to really blog and when I say that I mean it in the sense of having witty or deep thoughts to share. Rather I just post up a bunch of pictures to share the story of my life with everyone so here it is:

Our two friends Mary and Alexandra were baptized Friday night...it was incredible!

I love the awkward baptism pictures where everyone has to stand with their hands to their side....haha

Friday was out last night with our kids that live in an apartment 30 mins away so we took them their christmas gifts and I have never seen happier kids. Saying good-bye was really hard but I know that these gifts will leave a little part of us with them. I love them!

Iulia!!!!!

These are the toys we got for the orphanage from the donations we recieved....so anyone who donated thank you so so much! And no worries there is still money left that we are putting to good use!!! I love Christmas! And I know it is a pretty sweet hat huh?!

I am thankful for....

The Man downstairs that fixed our gas problem (and yes I mean the gas for the oven) so that I did not have to carry a turkey to the other apartment to cook it.

This holiday that brings us all together to remember why we are thankful and to remember the Creator that gave us life and everything around us. What a good looking group (or part of the group).

Old school gas oven to cook delicious Turkey's in for my very first time. And for Mothers who make you take the gizzards out in the years before so when the time came for you to do it on your own it wouldn't gross you out anymore...not true, still gross.

Taxis so I do not have to walk 1/2 a mile carrying a 9 lb. Turkey. The Romanians already stare at me I did not need to carry a dead bird to get any more attention.

Men who carve the turkey because I am weak sauce and not that patient.

The Angel that was watching over me and making sure my Turkey was almost Perfect:)

The Villa where we hold church meetings and long tables so we can have awesome gathering like this.

Rhett and the fake wishbone to keep us entertained during the break between dinner and dessert!

Wonderful Friends and for the service that brought all of us to Romania...whether it be the mission or the work in the orphanage these are incredible people and I love them!

Awesome desserts and HOMEMADE PUMPKIN PIE...Alicia Pureed it herself and everything!
I have a quote that I shared at thanksgiving Dinner and I would like to share it with everyone:

Elder Richard L. Evans once said, “Gratefully we acknowledge the infinite mind of our Maker, and gratefully ought to offer our tithes and offerings, and earnestly consistent service, in thanks for all that God has given, and keep his commandments in remembrance of the love and providence and purpose of the Creator, the God and Father of us all, the organizer and operator of heaven and earth, without whom all these things would not be so. Thank God for all this: for life and what sustains it, for loved ones that make it meaningful, for faith and purpose and continuance, always and forever. Thank God for all of this—and much, much more.”

I am not just grateful for this holiday to remind us of our God and to give thanks to him for our lives and everything that makes it but to remember him daily and in our prayers give gratitude for all the blessings and tender mercies we experience. I am grateful for my faith, my family, my friends, my health, my adventures and learning experiences in traveling (past and present), for my education and for the love that I feel from the kids that I work with everyday here, and right now especially I am grateful to all my family members and friends who donated money to help bring Christmas to the Kids here in Romania. Thank you!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Cute Pic

This is baby Stefan!!! So CUTE! I could write more and update everyone on life in Romania but I am too dang tired! So, maybe another day:)

Crazy Eights!

Once again I have been tagged but for another game....thanks Katie:) Well, here it goes:

8 Favorite Movies (really how can you choose favorites for this, these are just the first 8 that came to my mind)
1. Once
2. Les Choristes
3. Dumb and Dumber
4. Sleepless in Seattle
5. Preacher's Wife
6. Beauty and the Beast
7. Hot Rod
8. It's a Wonderful Life

8 Things I Did Yesterday
1. Woke up and thought I was going to be late for church and then realized my clock got set ahead an hour by accident....no idea how.
2. Went to church
3. Read and finished the book Eclipse
4. Ate dinner with my group out here in Romania
5. Had a group meeting
6. Tried to talk to my family on skype with little success.
7. Updated my blog and emailed friends
8. Went to bed early!!!

8 Things I Look Forward To Doing
1. Holding Stefan at the hospital
2. Playing with my kids at Dancu
3. Thanksgiving Dinner
4. Reading the last book of the Twilight series
5. Giving gifts to the people and kids out here that I just love!
6. Spending the Holidays with my family
7. Watching Christmas movies with my family
8. Going on a no sugar diet with my Mom after the holidays and being able to run outside again!!

8 Favorite Restaurants (again is it really possible to choose only 8)
1. Medina's (mexican food in Franktown, Co and I am not sure if I spelled it right)
2. In-n-Out
3. Guru's
4. Spud's
5. Bombay House
6. Thai place in San Marcos, Ca (the name has slippe my mind)
7. Veranda inn
8. Red Robin (unlimited fries...yay)/Nielsen's Frozen Custard..so what I have 9

8 Things On My Wish List
1. For all my kids in Romania to grow up healthy and strong and be able to go to school!!
2. To be able to come back to Romania someday
3. Visit my Sister and the Baby for a couple of weeks
4. Have the best Christmas ever with my family
5. Get a scholarship
6. Get accepted into Grad School somewhere cool
7. Spend a New Year's Eve in New York
8. For Katie's blood clot to go away!

Well, that's all Folks!! I tag Grandma and Grandpa Davis, Aunt Kristy, Mom, and Liz, Good luck and again thanks Katie, I miss you tons! Get better soon!!!

4 More Weeks!

Time really does fly by so fast! I only have a month left in Romania to do as much good as I can. I am not even sure what to write about right now. All I can think about is how bittersweet leaving this wonderful place will be. I am so excited to see my family and spend the Holiday's in the states but at the same time I wish I could be with the kids for the holidays too....why can't I just have the best of both worlds? The only thing that I can really find hope in is that BYU has this program every semester so as soon as I leave in two weeks there will be someone else here to take my place and to love these kids just as much as I do....and that will hopefully continue for a long time.

There is something that I feel the need to confess, I am reading the Twilight series. I know, I always made fun of these books, I made fun of my roommates who love these books and here I am reading them. Now, I am not sure if it is because I am in the land of vampires that this book is more appealing to me now or just the fact that I have a lot of extra time on my hands lately so I need something to fill them with and there is always the last option that I still have schoolwork to do before I get home and I was born with the procrastination gene and if I had to I would read this series twice in order to postpone actually having to do schoolwork.

Since this is my blog I am going to give you my opinion of these books and at anytime if I offend you with my opinion that is just too bad but you can always choose to leave my blog page and go find comfort in facebook. Twilight is an entertaining book, the story is fun and I love going back to the days of my childhood of imagining vampires and werewolves but the writing is so amateur. I feel like I am reading a book that someone from high school wrote. Then there are the characters. Bella, oh where do I start? Could you have a worse role model for teenage girls. She is desperate, needy, insecure, and obsessive and has no sense of her own independence or personality. Some heroine. Then there is the suave Edward, the "good" vampire. Can you say controlling?? My word, he has all the power in the relationship and knows it. I mean, there whole relationship is so unhealthy, coming from the hopefully soon to be marriage therapist. But Jacob, now there is a character I love! He may be a werewolf but he knows how to have a healthy relationship and his personality is so fun loving. His character keeps me sane throughout the book. Now, after reading all this criticism you may wonder why I keep reading the series if it drives me so nuts, well I am still wondering myself, but entertainment is entertainment.

To end on a good note with the twilight fans who may be reading this post Edward really is dreamy....I mean I have always wanted a vampire as a boyfriend:)

Tag..You're IT!

My sister Rachel Tagged me and I had to put up the 4th picture in my 4th folder on my computer. The ironic thing is when she had to do this her pic was one from her wedding and well so is mine! Crazy! They are just so happy! I remember their wedding and as beautiful and fun as it was the best part is always watching the newly married couple and how they look at each other all day....especially during their first dance. Oh, love, so splendid:)

Well, now that I have been tagged I must past the torch on and I choose Parker, Erin and Emily!!! I cannot wait to see the pics that they get!!

PS if you do not get the whole tagged thing look under Rachel's it has a brief explanation.

Budapest...no U-Da-Best! I heard that and thought it was clever..

So, I am not even sure where to start with my trip to Budapest because the whole thing was just incredible! We can always start from the beginning..Now, we all know any trip a Davis takes cannot just go smoothly, at least not for me. To follow tradition of dysfunctionality (if that is even a word) I missed the train, along with a few of the other girls in the group. At first this seemed very frustrating and I felt like I was getting gyped a day of fun in Budapest but it turned out to be a blessing in Disguise. First off, we got lucky that when we went back to try and change our tickets there was a lady working who spoke English and we also got lucky that one of the girls that missed the train was Alicia, she is pretty fluent in Romanian. With their forces combined we were able to change our tickets and only have to spend $5. The next blessing was that we got to spend a day in the City of Cluj. This may seem weird as a blessing but I got to see and experience a lot of things that I would not have otherwise and it was an amazing experience.

Then we made it to budapest and I never knew it was such a beautiful city and so I was pleasantly surprised. To tell the rest of the story I will just talk through my pictures, it is just easier for me that way!

And yes I do have food pictures and there are only two this time...first off, I love gyros and someone should start up a gyros stand in Provo somewhere, it would be a hit! Second off, this is the man that sang and danced for me and gave me extra meat since Obama won...he was very entertaining!
You can never go wrong with Pastries!

This is the room we were staying in at the Hostel...it was called the Bob Marley room!! RAD!

I saw the Opera, Elektra, and so this is me in the Opera House...pretty awesome! It is too bad the Opera was in German and then the subtitles were in Hungarian, it was a little more difficult to follow.

On a ferry ride on the Danube where we learned about the history of Budapest.

See why I like it so much

Another one of the Opera House

Chain Bridge

Buda Castle

St. Stephen's Church, so beautiful! I love castles...they never get old:)

I was just proud of my picture taking skills on this one

Hereo's Square

Parliament Building

Cool View and a ncie Hike

Gardens in Cluj

The train ride was so much fun..I wish we traveled on trains more through the US, and they are way cheap!

I just like this one

Ttthhattssss ALL FOLKS!

Politics

I am not one that particularly likes to voice my political thoughts or opinions for the world to see but in recent events with the election and witnessing it all from Eastern Europe there is something I do feel inclined to share. I have been in Hungary for the past couple of days and in the Hostel that I am at there are quite a few guys from the UK and other parts of Europe. The last couple of days we have talked a lot about the election and what was going on. All of them have the same opinion that Barack should be President. And yes I am a Democrat and agree with them but what I found interesting is how they expressed the feelings that if McCain won how pretty much all of Europe would not be happy with the U.S. They put it this way, 3 strikes and you are out, and I am glad that we are not out.

Even though a lot of Republicans, and most of my family, are not happy about Barack winning I must say that I have seen a lot of positive feedback from people internationally and I think that it will gain us a lot more respect and build up some good rapport internationally, which we could very well use.

Oh, and tonight when I went to get Gyros at a stand nearby our hostel and the Vendor asked if I was American and when I replied yes he started to dance and sing "Barack, Barack" over and over and then he gave me extra meat on my gyros just for being American!!! If that is not a plus already from Barack being the new President then I just don't know what else would be..I mean all that other stuff we vote for doesn't really matter as long as Europeans like us again and give us extra meat in our food right?! I know, Deep Thoughts of Kinsey Davis, it really should be a book.

Christian I Hope You See This...

If you check out Rachel's blog (randrrailroad.blogspot.com) you will see a pic of Her and Ryan's Halloween costume and in talking to her I discovered that the shorts Ryan is wearing are hers and it reminded me of a time when I went to Utah to visit Christian and we went Hottubbing.....well Christian did not have shorts on him so he borrowed some of Emily's. Ryan's shorts are far shorter but I think that Pink is Christian's color:)

Halloween!!!

Some of you know that one of my awesome callings out here is Activities Coordinator and so I got to plan the Halloween this party for the Branch and it turned out so awesome!! I was stressed all week and not sure what everyone expected but like every other activity the people here just make it what it is which is always a good time and a party! We had pumpkins to carve, apples to bob, people to wrap in toilet paper, face painting, food to eat and memories to be made and they were! It was a wonderful time and I am glad that I get to be a part of this branch. Oh, and a heads up, I will be in Budapest for the next week so my blog will be pretty bare until I get back but when I do I am sure I will have a lot to say! Oh, and I got my wallet back with everything in it, besides the money of course, but everything else and it is a huge relief...I got my identity back!!!!

Branch President and Elder Hardman with the pumpkins

Creeepy

YAY!!! I discovered I am no good at this, but if we had an eating contest I so would have won

Team Epic carving a pumpkin!

Check out those saweet boots!! I was a cowgirl....I know not very original but I do not have much to work with

Happy Halloween!!!