Field Trip

This week Erin got to go on a field trip to CiCi's Pizza with her preschool class! She was so excited for this day to finally come. They got the grand tour, including a few minutes in the refridgerator which she thought was amazing. They also got to make their very own pizzas. She had a blast and is finally starting to come around to the idea of school. She has really struggled with separation anxiety which was a suprise to us. Hopefully we are getting it all out of the way before we get to kindergarden next year.

The Armor of God

How cute are those two? After reading Dave's comment on my last post - the see ya next year one- I decided that I usually wait for something groovy or big to happen to feel it blog worthy but I'm thinkin' our life is pretty simple and boring and you really might be waiting for quite some time, so here's to the small and simple things....like FHE for instance. The last few months were particularly crazy busy for our fam and we kinda slacked off but with the new year here it is our goal to get back on track spending one night a week really enjoying each other and learning gospel principles! We are striving for persistance not perfection in this area and are having fun doing it. For Family Home Evening this week Seth was in charge of the lesson. He taught us the importance of putting on the "whole armour of God" from Ephesians 6:11. He did such a great job! He came up with all of the props himself which the girls loved.

He also shared a clever object lesson that I hadn't seen before. All you need is 2 oranges and a bowl of water. The orange represented a person with the 'armor of God' - the peel is the armor. Place the orange in the water and it will float. Take the 2nd orange and peel it. Each piece of the peel is something that separates us from God...not saying our prayers, scripture reading etc.. As you place the peeled orange in the water you will see it sinks. Moral of the lesson: We are lifted up and protected when we dress ourselves in the armor of God. We can rise above the trials that come our way with His help. He will not let us sink when we do our part.

I love how many resources are so readily available to us with the internet and am amazed that my kids really know how to navigate their way around the web - sometimes better than me! And to think that when I had a project, mom had to actually drive me to the public library to use their encyclopedias!

Hello Again...

Hi. Hello. Howdy ya'll!

Really what do you say when your last post was more than a full year ago? It was tempting to bag it and call it quits but I love keeping up with the fam and peeking in on what's going on in your lives through blogs, so here is my attempt at getting back in the saddle. I thought about playing catchup with all of last years events but that thought was a bit overwhelming so we are just picking up from right here - in the gloomy depths of January! It has been SO stinkin' cold here! As you can see, we even got a little snow! I'm not sure where our warmer Texas winter is but I'm ready to stuff my cheeks and go hibernate till this passes!

U of U vs. TCU game

The U of U game was this last weekend and since that's Ryan's alma mater we decided to take the whole family out to Fort Worth in support of the Utes. Boy did we stick out like a sore thumb. The game was sold out and they set a record for attendance at about 50,000. There were less than 1,000 there in red so you can imagine the looks we got. Good thing we had such cute kids with us to keep them from saying too much!

Daddy with his Emma before leaving for the game. You'll notice that she is wearing the U of U cheerleading outfit she has had since she was like 4. She was determined to make it work!

Such a happy family! Love Erin's face in this one!

And look how quickly it can change to a smile. She really is our Jeckly & Hyde.

We went with the Gillespie's and Cisneros. So funny to think that so many years ago we were all there together and even in the same ward if even just for a short time. We set next to some die hard fans that traveled from Salt Lake to cheer them on. They lent us one of their flags. If you happened to be watching the game you may have seen our little group on tv. Of course, that's only if you hadn't turned off the game yet because it was so bad...at least for the Utes!

Even though we didn't win the kids all had a blast being silly, cheering, and of course eating!

Emily and Erin cheering on the U....maybe next time they'll win.

Cousins

After Halloween Mandy, Eden and Fox were able to spend and extra week here with Laura and I. It was so fun to have them here. I agree with Laura...I have the best sisters ever! Just wish Julie could have stuck around a little longer. I was enjoying the visit so much that I failed to get many pictures. But I did get some yummy new recipes! Eden and Erin loved playing dress up too. They were always in a leotard, princess dress or my favorite would be Eden in an old witch costume that she dubbed as Malificent from Sleeping Beauty!

WELCOME FALL!

I absolutely love the fall! I only wish that it lasted longer in Texas! The high today is 57! Burr! Maybe that is nice for you Utah folks but it is chilly especially considering last week we were enjoying temperatures in the upper 70's. Before the weather turned cold we spent a weekend completely redoing the flower beds. Ryan didn't like what was here so he ripped them right out when we moved in and they have been empty till now. It was a great day spent working together!

See how hard they worked while I took the pictures!

Halloween

We were so blessed to have Mandy, Andrew, Eden and Fox join us for Halloween. What a fun holiday it was to have all of the cousins together and grandma & grandpa came to join in the fun! Here the kids are as Max (Eden), a Bat (Fox), Bumblebee (Emma), Ladybug (Erin) and Seth & his friend Connor went as Dallas Cowboy fans. Seth didn't really want to dress up at all, he just wanted the candy. So this was the only cool thing he could think of since he's 11 ya know. And NO he doesn't even care for the Cowboys that's why he considered it a costume.

Lots and lots of bumblebees and ladybugs this year! They looked like a true "swarm of bees" as we trick-or-treated at the outlets.

Fox was the cutest bat ever! His costume was made out of an umbrella! You should have seen him running from behind. Mandy is so clever!

Erin and aunt Julie with all of her spoils. After the outlets we came home and enjoyed dinner with all of the Burtons and then hit our neighborhood for more treats! It was a fun night!

My little gymnast

Don't mind the horrible lighting of this picture or her undies hanging out....but Erin did a little gymnastics class through the rec center and just loved it! She was quick to make new friends and become the teachers pet. Everyday she asked, "is it Friday yet?" and regardless put her leotard on everyday!

New School Year

Remember how behind I am right? So these were taken on the first day of school....so we are talking back in August! I'm so behind! The only reason I am posting these things is for my own benefit. Last year I took my blog and compiled all of the years highlights in a groovy book. I'm hoping to do the same this year. The kids started a new school this year - Chandler. They have done great even though it was so difficult to leave all of their Story friends and teachers. They still compare everything but are making new friends and learning the ropes.

JUMP

I absolutely just loves these pictures Dave took in the backyard after church one Sunday while we were there. Totally jumping in their Sunday best...but I love how each of their personalities just shine through!

After the open house we invaded Traci's home and enjoyed lunch there with Shanna and Traci's families. Then we took advantage of how close we were to Kennecott. That was the first time we had ever been. It was really interesting to see up close! It is the worlds largest open pit copper mine. Check out the actual size of the tires that the trucks use in the mines!

Oquirrh Mountain Temple

We were very blessed to be in Utah during the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house. It is absolutely beautiful! We were so glad that they were able to have this experience with them and the rest of Ryan's family. I love the picture of Grandma & Grandpa with ALL of their grandkids! Thanks to Dave for taking all these!

Buds Together Again

We really enjoyed seeing some of our friends that have moved to Utah. Seth was especially excited to hang out with McKay. They definitely made the most of our trip out. They spent some time in Morgan on 4 wheelers, swimming and hiking the M and in Kaysville celebrating McKay's birthday, camp Kiesel, and working on McKay's fort. So glad they have kept in touch!

Take me out to the ball game....

One night we went down to Ogden for dinner at Javiers and a Raptor game!

The Camp Out

Well this was definitely one night that our family will never forget for multiple reasons! Quick overview....Took us about 20 mins to get up the mountain to the most perfect spot... Bishops Gate. It really was beautiful. Grandma even joined us for dinner which was a special treat as she typically steers clear of campouts....I think I know why now and may join her next time! But I did discover what a great driver she is as I trusted her with my life on the way up the steep mountain. We ate our yummy tin foil dinners and spent time around the fire just being silly and making smores. This part was all dandy....somewhere in the middle of the night things started to go downhill. Screaming children, those who were terrified of pooping in the woods, cleaning up at 4am, and the next morn didn't get much better...vomiting and the scare of a lifetime for me in which I almost flipped the 4 wheeler with both of the girls on it.....scary! Luckily we survived and even though Ryan "says" he hates camping I'm so thankful he is always prepared for anything like a good little scout!

4th of July...Morgan style

We got to Utah just in time to celebrate the 4th with all of the family! Our day began at the hometown parade which consisted of a few 4 wheeler, horses, fire engine and some families that decorated their trucks and threw candy to those anxiously along the street. It lasted all of about 10 minutes but thankfully they turned back around and we got to see it all a second time for a grand total of about 20 mins. We then headed over to the park where the kids all got their hair spray painted and enjoyed the candy blast, critter man and other carnival activities. The remainder of the day was spent at Nate and Kristy's with the McCoppins, a yummy b-b-q and of course fireworks! It was a great day! The kids loved having so many cousins around!

On the way...........

Ok...so I know I'm so behind on the blog and today I actually have absolutely nothing going on and it's raining! So what better day to play catch up. In my attempt to do this quickly I'm thinking there will be lots of collages. There are just too many pictures, thanks to Dave! So if you want to see the pics closer just click on the collage. These are a combination of my pics and his. So enjoy the summer pictures (even though its October now!). This first one is our trip on the way to Utah in July. We were packed to the max! But we made it safe and sound only 20 something hours later.

Golf Camp

Ryan loves golf and has wanted to convert his son to the game for some time. Although he has gone out with Ryan before he has never been enthusiastic as he is now. This particular golf camp was at Chase Oaks and called 'Hook a Kid on Golf'. It worked! Seth really enjoyed his time and got a groovy set of clubs out of the deal. I absolutely just love this picture of Seth and Ryan from behind. At the end of the camp they had a golf tournament and invited the parents. Seth was pumped to have his dad there as his own personal caddy for the day!

He had some really great shots throughout the tournament.

Ryan finally got his own new set of nice clubs for father'd day/birthday this year and is excited to have Seth go out with him.

Girls Summer Camps

Erin on her last day of Yummy, Yummy in my Tummy Camp. She got to make lots of goodies in her class like cookies and cupcakes!

Emma & Hayley went for the Rockstar Diva camp. They had a blast jammin' to Hannah Montana, playing games, making crafts, and dancing!

Her teacher was Mrs. Larson who was also her kindergarden teacher!
The girls had so much fun and so did their mom!

I totally took advantage of my alone time and
got lots done and even treated myself to a pedicure!

Oh what do we do in the summertime......

Swim in the pool.....

The kids are getting more and more brave in the water this summer. Especially the girls. This day we were at the Frosts and Emma started out terrified of jumping off the diving board but by the end she was doing trick after trick!

Seth can't wait till we are in Utah and gets to swim every day at Grandpa & Grandma Mac's

Even my little Erin who just turned 3 last month became quite the little dare devil! She too started of terrified of just swimming in a floatie and thanks to some one-on-one swim time with aunt Emily she came around. Yes that is her just jumping off the side with nothing but a floatie. The little girls were so cute counting to 3 and jumping over and over and over......

By the end of the afternoon she too was jumping off the diving board!!!

Boating on Lake Lavon....

Thanks to the Pedersen's we enjoyed a very hot Texas day on the lake! The kids tried lots of new things! Although totally terrified we got Emma out to try skiing and I was impressed with her squat-skiing! She did a great job!

Yes, that is me! Up on a wakeboard! Growing up we went skiing quite a bit but wakeboarding was a lot different. I was not used to having my legs bound together. Anyway I was just glad that I finally got up with the great instructions by coach Greg!

I wish I could say the same for Ryan!! He so tried but just couldn't get up! He was in the water alot! We were both so sore the next day...guess we aren't as young as we think.

Although Seth had a few traumatic experiences in the water (he tried to get up on the wakeboard and skiis but took in a bit too much of the lake) he loved the tubes!

So did Ryan and I! Greg showed no mercy...

Erin loved riding in the boat

Texas Thunderstorms......

We have had quite a few big storms this spring/summer. This one came very unexpectantly. We have a nice long storage closet under the stairs that the kids have dubbed the Harry Potter room that is our storm shelter. I came in to check on the kiddos after listening to the weather reports and found them snuggling together and trying to take their minds off the storms by reading. I have to admit that is long as there is no damage I absolutely love thunderstorms!