Halloween Kick-Off!!

It's official, the Halloween season is here. What better way to ring in the spooky holiday than to decorate Halloween cookies!! We went to our
friends house while the the husbands were at the priesthood session. The kids decorated cookies and didn't hold back!!





What do you do after you have indulged in way too much frosting, candy, and cookies? You try to balance all of that out and get pizza of course!

Who needs a cat....

when your sister has the claws!

In a matter of 3 hours this weekend, Emily managed to bite Gracey's forearm, forehead (who bites a forehead?) and draw blood with a scratch on the cheek.

Seriously Emily, stop being mean!!

We are sad.

Our precious cat, Penny, has been gone now for 6 days! I am much more emotional than I ever anticipated being. I guess the better way to say that is I just wasn't anticipating us losing her so soon. She is only a year and half.

I let her out at about 4:00am last Saturday morning to go the bathroom. She likes to roam the backyard and neighborhood at night but is usually at the back door waiting to be let in at about 6:15 when we are eating breakfast. Saturday, we had to leave for Vegas at 7:30 and she wasn't there. I had a strange feeling, but I am also kind of a worry wart so didn't think anything more. I set her food out on the porch for when she came back. We came home that night, expecting her to be waiting for us, but she wasn't.

The first few days were the longest days for me. Any sound, any movement or shadow, I was sure would be her. I still find myself looking and hoping to see her at the back door.

We have put up fliers, made phone calls, sent emails, and Corky has gone to the animal shelter twice. We have accepted that she is probably gone for good but are so sad about it. Our neighborhood borders some acres of empty land and so my guess is that she roamed too far and may have been snatched by a coyote or something. I always knew it was a possibility but probably got too comfortable after living here for 19 months and NEVER seeing a coyote. Corky says there is a chance she just wandered too far away and couldn't find her way back and is now a stray. Or she might have been picked up by some crazy cat lady.

Luckily it has been far more traumatic and emotional for me than for my girls. They definitely miss her and mention it often, but I haven't seen any breakdowns. Not like the ones I have. The only time I have seen them cry about it is because I started crying first. As long as I can keep my brave face on in front of them, they do well. It's kind of silly really, it is a cat. Pets come and go and that is part of life, but I haven't felt so attached to an animal since my dog of 14 years passed away while I was in high school.

Want to know what I am regretting? Other than letting her out and trimming her claws the day before, is that I didn't write more about how funny of a cat she was. I took so many pictures of her but never posted them because I didn't want to seem obsessed...but I was. She was awesome!!

I have got to end this post! It makes my heart hurt.

Don't think I am weird if in the next few days I post pictures of Penny and my girls that I should have written weeks ago!

More than 6 years in the making...

*Warning: Lots of nostalgia going on here*

For the past 3 years, one of my new year's resolutions was to get all my videos onto my computer and external hard drive. I am so glad to say that the 3rd time making the resolution is finally a charm....and only about 9 months into the year.

Before I started actually putting them on the computer, I lined the videos up in their order by year, then month.



Do you see the trend? First year of marriage (far left) not so many tapes. Second year, Gracey. Gracey. Gracey. Gracey. 3rd year, slows down a little until Emily is born at the end of it. And now, 2009, I am only on my 3rd tape! I don't feel I missed much, but I am seeing that I do need to be a little better these days!

I documented what seems now to be every second of Gracey's first year. Corky was in Iraq and so all these videos include us waving to him, blowing kisses to the camera, and taping a lot of me just interacting with Gracey as a baby.

Last night, Corky and I were watching the video of Gracey being born and the 2 weeks that followed. It was just the 3 of us enjoying time together before he deployed. As we watched the video, I silently sobbed behind him. The emotion was shocking.

It was somewhat of an "out of body" experience for me. My heart ached for that young, happy couple that was anticipating the hard goodbye. They (Me and Corky) were filming each other as they took turns holding their new baby, singing to her, and praising any little movement or sound that she would make. I know I was there, but it seemed to be a lifetime ago. Who was that couple? How did they find so much joy in those few weeks with their new child when they knew the possibilities of the future?

November 2004


I cried watching because I was reminded that there was something truly divine holding us up at that time. Despite the heartache, life was wonderful....euphoric even.

Was it the postpartum hormones?

Possibly.

Was it the prayers of so many?
The pleading to Heavenly Father for Corky's safety?
The pleading for my sanity?

Definitely.

Just as Corky and I have, Gracey and Emily have both loved watching these videos. I hope that they will forever cherish them as I do.

While our lives, for the most part, have remained far less dramatic in the past few years, there is one common theme of these videos....JOY! Whether we are watching clips of Gracey being born, Emily being born, first steps, first words, soccer games, dance recitals, and solo performances in the living room....I am eternally grateful for the joy that I have in my life, and the technology that enables me to look back and actually see it.

Here is a picture I snapped of the girls watching some video as it uploads to the computer. Normally I wouldn't allow popcorn in my bedroom, let alone near my computer, but this seemed like a special occasion.

The little bruiser!

Gracey punched a boy for the first time, and I saw the whole thing happen. All I did was laugh. Like, "laugh-so-hard-I-almost-peed-my-pants" laugh. She didn't get in trouble either. You ready to nominate me for Mother of the Year yet?

Here's the story

While we were in Phoenix staying with Corky's brother and family, Gracey was out in the back playing with her cousin Blaise and his cousins. Naturally the two girls, Gracey and Alyssa, played well together while the two boys, Blaise and Braiden, were playing. While the boys were playing on the seesaw swing, somehow the girls got offended by something. The girls rushed inside and tattled something like, "the boys are being mean!" Uncle Audie (Corky's brother) sarcastically says "Punch him in the nose!!!" Gracey and Alyssa turn right around and run outside.

Everyone thought that that would be the end of that, that the girls just wanted to tattle and move on like kids do all the time. (an example being Emily always tells me that Gracey is being mean. If I only respond with "Bummer", Emily is satisfied and moves on with her life!)

It was as if Gracey and Alyssa could read each other's minds. Gracey runs to the side of the seesaw with Braiden and Alyssa runs to the side with Blaise. The girls STOP the seesaw and in the next instant, we watch Gracey CLOCK BRAIDEN IN THE NOSE!!! It wasn't a girly little smack either. It was a ball-fisted, straight back, then straight forward, square in the face, punch!

While the adults are laughing hysterically, Corky goes out and tells her that Uncle Audie was kidding and that she shouldn't hit. Like kids do, they all forget about the incident and go on playing.

It could have been worse and turn into a brawl, but it didn't....so now when Gracey can't hear us, Corky and I continue to laugh about our little one who literally packs a punch!

For a little visual effect....



Oh, if only I had it on video.

Baby Connor's weekend

Corky's brother and his wife had their 3rd baby boy, Connor, in June. Labor Day weekend was when we went down for his baby blessing! It was such a great weekend. Corky got in two rounds of FREE golf and I fit in a pedicure and hangout time with Candice.

We stayed busy all weekend doing nothing. Lots of hanging out and visiting, cleaning up after kids, holding super cute babies, and having a good time. We love hanging out with all of them and seeing family.

Because I know prayers work...even from strangers.

Meet our friends Caitlin and Ammon. They moved to Kingman about the same time as us and were in our ward until just recently, after buying a new house in another ward. Caitlin and Ammon had been trying for 3 years for a baby and this spring, they were blessed to become pregnant. Their little girl was due in December, but in a sudden change of events, she was born early yesterday morning. More than 3 months early.

Little baby Sharon was flown from Kingman to Phoenix shortly after being born and is a tiny, perfect, and feisty little thing! Read about her, pray for her, and please pray for our friends. You can see the joy in Caitlin's face and I am in awe of her positive attitude and strength. I have seen miracles happen in situations like this and I know prayer is an incredible source of aid, comfort, and healing!!

Weekend Recap

Well, you all heard about the burn. It got darker, and scabbier, and funnier actually, as the days went on. It's still there on my cheek in case you are wondering.

Because I feel super awkward taking pictures of myself, here is me loving on my crazy-haired Emily.

Gracey had another soccer game. That was fun even though it was a lot hotter than the week before. I am really impressed with her coach. He is super cool with them but is teaching them early how to be a team. I snapped this picture when he gathered them all to warm-up and stretch. As these kids were preparing for their game, I looked around and saw the opposing teams all scattered doing their own thing by themselves. This coach is teaching great team skills at a young age. I am happy.

We threw a game of rockband together with some friends, all while Gracey was documenting.

Lizard Catcher....

That would be me, Morgan. I saved the day this morning, or rather this lizards little life, by catching him finally. I saw him last week scurry into my bedroom and since then he has made random appearances, but has been too quick for me though.

Finally this morning, I saw him just hanging out in the middle of my room, being perfectly still. I thought he was dead actually, until I saw a tiny little movement out of him. It made for an easy catch. I grabbed a jar and just scooted him inside. I take his weakness as a good sign that my bedroom was not a good feasting area for him.


After catching him and showing him off to the girls for a few minutes, we released him outside. Hopefully he will stay away. Does he not realize that I have a cat in my house? Cats like to kill lizards. Any lizard coming into my house must be suicidal. What's worse (selfishly of course) is that lizards bleed on my tile when injured or killed. Who cleans that up? My cat sure doesn't.

I hope that lizard is thankful!

Update on the burn.

It is worse today.

I look stupid.

"I am so smart! I am so smart! S-M-R-T!!!!"

*Name that quote!*

So today was going to be a pretty chillaxing day. I didn't have any errands to run and no place to go that didn't require a ponytail. I couldn't go to the gym in the morning like usual because I was babysitting my friend's kid. Knowing the gym wouldn't be until the afternoon, I knew I had my chance to practice curling my hair. Please note, I have a lot of really thick hair and have worn it short for a few years now. If I don't flat iron it daily, it is a little poofy. I have tried curling in the recent past but it just poofed even more. Since I knew my hair would be in a pony tail anyway, I thought I would see what it looked like now that it was a little longer.

I am definitely out of practice. I don't know where my mind went for a split second, but I let the curling iron touch my cheek. Not the cheek right by the ear. Not my neck where burns usually occur...but the front, highly visible, already blemished enough, cheek.

At first I thought I pulled it off quick enough and it wouldn't be too bad. The burning sensation continued and I was nervous, but went on with my morning. My friend picked up her kid earlier than planned and so I had time to get my workout in a lot sooner. I changed my clothes and was about to head out when Gracey asks, "What is that line?"



I know it is small and you have to click on the picture to see. And I know it most definitely could have been worse... but feel sorry for me okay?

On a good note, my hair isn't as poofy as I was thinking it would be.

It's official

I am officially a soccer mom!! Is that not the most ridiculous thing? Not the soccer part, but the part that I have a child old enough to be playing?

So what that she is swimming in her uniform? Or that she does push-ups (by herself) randomly through out her practices? My oldest child plays a mean game of soccer, even scoring one of the goals for her team!!!

The soccer league here is great. They split the two opposing teams up and they play 2 separate games of 3 on 3. Instead of the soccer field looking like a herd of 22 kids fighting to touch the ball....now its only a herd of 6!

Last Saturday was Gracey's first game. We could tell the rain was coming, but luckily it stayed dry until after. It was a cool 80 degrees and we were all in heaven!!! Until of course Gracey stole the ball from Emily during warm-ups, then we had a few moments of trouble.



Gracey is #7


Emily kept saying, "I am going to play soccer when I turn Foa!" But she got pooped just watching the game. Or maybe she was throwing another one of her fits. I don't remember.




The games ended and we had a celebratory lunch at In & Out!


I could get used to that!

Too much info?

Forgive me if this crosses some kind of "TMI" line...but I just couldn't believe it.

I never understood when people told stories of forgetting their bra? I mean, who does that? How do you not remember your bra?

This morning, about an hour after getting fully dressed and getting ready to leave the house, I see a lone bra next to my dresser. That couldn't be my "regular" bra could it?

It was!!

After feeling myself up for longer than appropriate (because I just couldn't believe it) I realized I FORGOT TO PUT ON MY BRA!!!!

Again, who does that?



*Updated (about an hour later)

So after typing all that up and thinking to myself "I have never done that before," I realized that I have totally done that before!! How did I forget that one time?

It was over 5 years ago, Corky and I had just moved to California and we were waiting to get into our house on the military base. Because we were going to be moving on to base soon, every Sunday we would make the 45 minute drive to church.

It was about 40 minutes into the drive, basically pulling right onto the base, that I realized I was not wearing a bra!!!!! We couldn't just turn around and go back at this point so I panicked. Then proceeded to attend church...and nobody noticed. ( I think....or hope)

This was when I was pregnant with Gracey. Also before I had clocked over 2 years of nursing in....so my bra-less day was a little more forgiving.

And that's that.

Little Miss and a crown

2 weeks ago I went to the NO DOUBT concert in San Diego with some friends. It was a quick trip but deserving of its own post...so I will leave it at that for now! While I was gone for a whopping 30 hours, Corky and the girls partied like they were the rock stars!

One of those events being a daddy/daughter trip to Burger King, where each girl got a crown with her kid's meal.

For the next few days, that crown was glued to Emily's head.

(Keep in mind, I only got 1 day's worth of pictures. These events were repeated the next day as well!)

Both girls insisted on eating a royal breakfast with the crown.

Emily insisted on a royal movie.


Then prepared a royal feast in her kitchen!!!


The little queen did fore go the crown (and the shirt...at my request/demand) to enjoy a Popsicle!

I have GOT to get back into the swing of this!

This weekend we will pack up the crib and toddler bed, overdue by about a year, and set the girl's new (new to us/them) bunk beds up! The girls are really excited about the new beds and I am excited to be able to lay in bed with them and snuggle, read stories, and chit chat. I am not going to lie, I have been known to climb into the crib and toddler bed a time or two, but a real bed will be lots easier to do that with.

Anyway, I think the girls have been subconsciously saying their goodbyes to the crib this week. They have both been playing in it with their baby dolls together, reading stories together, and finally sleeping in it together. Of course I took advantage of the photo-op since this will be the last chance of seeing them like this.

This is how I found them the other day during their nap time. Stripped down to their skivvies and completely out cold.

Laughable? I think so.

Yesterday I was at the gym getting my cardio on when I heard someone's music playing. I look over to see a man a few feet away from me who pulled his headphones away from his ear. His headphones were playing "Rockin the Beer Gut!"

Does anybody find that funny besides me? I laughed quite loud at that one. That has got to be one of the funniest "motivational" workout songs that I have heard!

It's not you, it's me.

The passion is gone. The romance is dead.

I think we just need some alone time. A weekend getaway, maybe? I wish. My weekends are jam-packed until almost the end of August.

Excuses. Excuses.

I have faith that those old sparks will reignite this old flame once again that is my blog!

"Dear blog, I still love you...but am not in love with you."

All relationships have their ups and downs right?

*cue the sad EMO music*

Thank you Monsoon.

Last week it rained here in Kingman, and it rained hard! I love the rain and so I particularly enjoy Monsoon season here in Arizona. One day it rained pretty good on our way home from the gym and Gracey begged to play in the rain when we got home. From my perspective, this was not a good idea. The girls had bathed that same morning and we were only hours away from jumping in the car and heading to St. George. Of course, my first instinct was to reply with a quick "no". As quickly as I almost responded, that little voice in my head that so often makes me feel guilty said "Let them be little!" So I put away my weird, clean-freak tendencies and told the girls that they could play in the rain.

By the time we got home, the pouring rain turned into a slight sprinkle, so I knew our time was limited. We rushed inside, put the girls in their bathing suits, and ran outside to go look for rain puddles. We walked halfway around the block before spotting the perfect one.

This was no easy thing for me. I was biting my tongue with every dirty splash. When they had the fun idea of sitting (SITTING!!) in the puddle, that nearly put me over the edge. I was having an internal panic attack. However, I let them do it and they LOVED it.



I wish I would heed that laid back, inner-voice that is trapped in my head more often. The girls had a great time and I really enjoyed watching them.

On our walk back home, you can see the sun is shining and the roads are nearly dry. Gracey and Emily were playing this silly game where Gracey would be far away, turn around, then run towards Emily saying "I missed you!" They kept this up until we were all the way home. It was so cute!!!

Snowflake, Trailer rides, and Spook. Fruit Loops and Porch Swings. Grandma, Old Grandma, and old jewelery.

A few weeks ago we went to Snowflake, AZ to visit Corky's mother and grandmother. We hadn't been since last spring and so we went for a quick trip. I will admit, Snowflake wasn't the most fun place to go before having kids. We have always enjoyed visits with his family, but unless all the cousins were there as well, there wasn't much entertainment value to it. Then the kiddos came along and it is one of the most fun places to be. Corky took the girls on countless 4-wheeler rides. They loved sitting in the back of the trailer and riding the streets of Snowflake. Of course, the dogs were tagging along. Either the little (big) pup Rascal, or the beefy Spook. Where ever the girls were, the dogs weren't too far behind....even if it meant sitting in the trailer with them.

This is Spook. This old dog is one of the most mild-mannered dogs you will meet. The poor guy fell out of the back of the moving pick-up a few years ago and so his mouth is a little droopy....but he is a sweetie.

This picture of Emily in the sprinkler, you may think it is nothing out of the ordinary, but it cracks me up! Emily is our less outgoing child and so when Corky and I peeked from Old Grandma's back porch and saw her getting wet on purpose, we not only had a proud moment, we got a good laugh!

That afternoon, we had a late lunch of Old Grandma's famous beans with homemade tortillas. (Only the Gibson cousins know the wonderfulness (is that a word?) that are those beans!) Since we had a late lunch and since they are at Grandma's, they had a dinner of Fruit Loops and watermelon!!

Old Grandma Ruby has all sorts of treasures in her guestrooms. She has old letters that were written between her and Granddad, letters to old friends, letters from old friends, old trinkets, and some old jewelery that Corky let Emily wear for a minute.

So as you can see, we had a great time in Snowflake. We loved visiting Grandma Jean (Corky's mom) and Old Grandma Ruby (Corky's grandma).

Greetings World! We finally emerge once again.

I am pretty sure this has been the longest hiatus from the blog that I have taken. Partly intentional, partly because things are crazy! Should I just plan on summers being incredibly busy for the rest of my life? We have put miles and miles on the car and we aren't even done yet. We still have a trip to Phoenix, trip to St. George, and a trip to Snowflake....all in the next 3 weeks!! Let that not come off though as a complaint. We are having a blast and basking in the joys of summer, parenthood, families, and life!

Over the next few days, I am hoping to catch up on what has happened in the last month. Starting with these little gems that had me cracking up when I uploaded them to my computer.

A few weeks ago, Gracey was webcamming with my mom. We don't do it all the time, but when they webcam, it is like having a babysitter. I can get whatever it is done that I need to. For example: cook dinner, vacuum, and catch up on dvr'd show. Kidding, mostly. Apparently Gracey wanted to document the occasion!