Happy Birthday to my Emily-girl!

Today my baby girl turned 1. I love this girl so much. I was sure that I would never love anything as much as I loved Gracey. It wasn't until Emily came along that I realized that love isn't just shared or divid out...it seriously multiplies in an instant. I love this little ones personality, her humor, and her subtleties that only a mother or father can pick up on. It has been a truly remarkable year having her in it. Because of her arrival Gracey has become a great big sister, I have learned the importance of having and sticking with a schedule, and Corky has mastered the art of carrying "bose a dem" (translated to "both of them" in Gracey language).

This little one truly melts my heart with her big blue eyes. Happy Birthday Enemy! (also Gracey language...translates to Emily. We all picked that one up.)

9 months Portraits

Current Snapshots

Christmas!!

Christmas was nice and quiet around here....and as perfect as it gets I think. This is the 2nd time that we have done Christmas in our own home and not travelled and I really love it. Of course I love mine and Corky's family and always wish I could see them more often, it is just so nice to enjoy Corky's easy-going work schedule and just chill.

Christmas Eve we did go to some friends house who stuck around here and had dinner with them. Then the kids dressed up for the Nativity and it was really cute. Not being with family for the traditional big dinner/party, being with good friends is the next best thing.

Santa was so good to Gracey and Emily this year. He brought the kitchen that Gracey has been wanting so badly and Emily is old enough that it entertains her just as much.

The girls were spoiled, as was Corky and I. Corky got me a brand new camera that has been so great to have already. My pictures aren't blurry anymore, the resolution is excellent, and it has a 10x zoom. It should last us quite a while. In case anyone is curious it is aSony Cyber-shot DSC H-3. Corky also got me the Rockband game....which leads me right into Corky's present.

Corky got the X-box! He has been wanting one for so so so long but have never been able to justify the time or money. Since he won't be going to medical school and won't be spending all his evenings studying, we figured this would be great to play with.


We fully enjoyed everything about the Christmas season this year. We feel very blessed to be able to celebrate the birth of our Savior and to know the true meaning of it. We also are happy to have reasons to buy each other fun things. I love the holidays. There is definitely no better time of year. As you can see in the next collage, we are already enjoying our fun toys and are happy that the girls can be included. You also may notice that my Christmas tree is already down. I promise, I am not a scrooge...just always anxious to have my house back to normal. I love everything about Christmas decorations but I think if I kept them up for long periods of time....I wouldn't love them so much!

Gracey's performance.

Last Thursday was Gracey's preschool performance. We have quite the little performer on our hands (maybe spazz is the better word for it). Corky and I have been cracking up over this video all weekend and are happy that we were able to get it onto the computer in time to spread the Christmas cheer!

A little Quiz

1- If your daughter runs up to you with red stuff coming out of her nose, what's your first guess?
a) blood
b) red hot candy

2- If your daughter was too freaked out to blow her nose, would you think it is because she is scared of
a) the blood coming out of her nose?
b) the fact that something is stuck in her nose ?

3- After realizing your daughter has a redhot stuck in her nose and its finally taken out but she is still crying, what do you think the reason is?
a) it was scary?
b) the cinnamon from the red hot kind of stung?
c) all of the above


My (Morgan's) guesses: 1) a 2) a 3) a
The real answers: 1) b 2) b 3) c

Why do kids stick things up their noses???

Divide and Conquer

Earlier in the week, Corky decided that he wanted to take Gracey golfing this weekend. I was more than willing to agree to that. Not that I want to get rid of Gracey by any means but I barely can remember what it was like to look after one kid. Corky has been pumping Gracey up for this all week and this morning when I was trying to help them get ready to go, she only "wanted Daddy's help." She wanted only him to help with her shoes and sock, with her breakfast, with her coat, and anything else that she needs assistance with. She would have preferred Corky to do her hair too I am sure, but I wasn't going to let that one go! It was pretty cute to watch those two with each other, they make a pretty great team. As Corky said it so perfectly, "Gracey has a daddy-crush this morning!" She sure did. I hope they had fun, I can't wait to hear how their day was. From the sounds of it, Gracey was well behaved through all 18 holes but that is as far as I know.

Meanwhile, back on the home front, Emily and I had a great day! I was able to get the house pretty clean (minus the bathrooms that I am in no mood to clean today) and was able to spend some major one-on-one time with my little girl. Gracey goes to preschool 5 days a week for 3 hours but Emily is usually taking her morning nap through most of that time. Not to mention that I am scrambling to shower and do other things during that time of the day. Anyway, today we had no schedule and I have almost forgotten how much fun it is to have just one kid. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE LOVE LOVE having two kids....it is never dull and so much fun, but today was such a nice break from the hard work it really is. I got to devote all of my attention to Emily, the way I used to be able to do for Gracey, without worrying that Gracey will be jealous.

I think I hear a car pulling up right now....I can't wait to get the report!

As I sit here checking my email, I realize that not many more things bring holiday cheer into our home than listening to Corky sing "O Holy Night" like Cartman from "Southpark." All while he does the dishes from dinner.

He makes me laugh.

Guess who is getting out of the army!!!!

WE ARE!! WE ARE!!

I'll be honest, I am a little frightened to enter the civilian world but we are SO FREAKIN EXCITED and are going full speed ahead into job searching. Corky is already lined up with a job placement company so we are excited for that.

We knew we had 2 paths to pursue....the first being medical school through the military, the second being to get out of the army. The military school that Corky was applying for, USUHS, is highly competitive and so we knew it was a long shot to be accepted, especially after only preparing for it in 6-8 months. Of course nobody likes to be told they aren't accepted to anything, but when Corky was told that today we both breathed a huge sigh of relief. It would have been a really great opportunity but it would have kept us in the military for another 17-20 years.

Now that we know which path out of those 2 we will be taking, we have like 50 more paths to choose from! Ideally we would like to end up in SLC/Provo area but you just never know. St. George would be fun too.

I never thought we would get to this 5 year mark where his commitment to the army would be coming to an end. It always seemed such a long ways away!

Craziness I tell ya!

This is what I have been doing....

Hi! My name is Morgan, and I am the creator of this blog....in case anyone has forgotten. It has been forever since I have been on here. I don't even dare look at my google reader to see how many blogs I need to catch up on.

Maybe this is old to everyone else, I wouldn't know! This has had me and Gracey cracking up all day long!!

This afternoon Gracey and I wrote a letter to Santa Claus. I wrote the letter after she told me what to write, then she traced it. Then she cut out fun toys out of a catalog that I was going to throw away (actually recycle for those of you who are "going green")

We are definitely getting excited for Christmas around here.

Egg Nog Pie

My friend Pam just asked for some pie recipes for Thanksgiving and I didn't even hesitate, I knew what I was going to post. Egg Nog Pie!!! I stumbled upon this recipe when I was buying myself a carton of Egg Nog one year. It is simple and heavenly.

Egg Nog Pie

1 package vanilla pudding
2 tsps. unfalvored gelatin
2 cups Egg Nog1/2 tsp. rum extract
1 cup whipping cream
9" baked pie shell

Combine pudding mix, gelatin and egg nog in saucepan and cook over low heat until thick. Remove from heat and stir in rum extract. Chill. Whip cream until stiff. Beat egg nog mixture until smooth and fold in whipped cream. Pour into baked pie shell and chill several hours until set. Garnish with whipped cream, nutmeg, or chocolate shavings!!

"You are my Sunshine"

Gracey was all singing and smiles on her 3rd birthday last Saturday. Even though she had a nasty cough, she got through it! :) I will post more pictures of her fun day soon.

A BIG congratulations to my little brother Dallas!!!! I just got the phone call from him tonight telling me that he is getting himself hitched in March. I couldn't be more excited! The whole family is excited to have Jessica become an "official" member of our crazy bunch!

Love you both, tons and tons!!!!!

Better late than never.

Yup, just now posting our most recent adventures in pumpkin carving.....




and Trick or Treating!

Eater's Remorse.

Halloween is tomorrow! I am already sick just thinking about all the candy I am going to be eating this week.

Tag-alicious!

6 Facts about me!! This seriously took me a week to come up with things.

1- I am a sucker....and I mean SUCKER for Christmas movies at any time of the year. Some of my very favorites include:

• Christmas Vacation
• A Christmas Story
• Home Alone, Home Alone 2
• The Preacher's Wife
• Elf (just watched it yesterday with Gracey)
• A Christmas Carol
• Its a Wonderful Life
• The Christmas Shoes

2- When I smile really big or laugh really hard, the right side of my mouth goes crooked. The funny thing about it is that I can feel it but I can't help it. When it happens, it makes Corky laugh which makes me laugh even harder...which makes it even more crooked.

3- Of all the chores in my house, for whatever reason, emptying the dishwaher is my least favorite. I love to load the dishwasher (because in my stubborn head, I am the only one who does it right!) but I really hate to empty it when it is clean. Its one of those things where I have to tell myself that it will be over in less than 5 minutes so I can just deal with it. Luckily, if Corky sees me doing it he will take over because he knows how much I dislike it.

(For this next one, Corky made me promise he could proofread it before I posted it to make sure I don't downplay it like I usually do....apparently its a bigger deal than I make it out to be!)

4- I almost drowned on our honeymoon. We were in Aruba and wanted to go snorkeling to explore a shipwreck that was off the beach about 1/4-1/3 of a mile. It didn't seem that far from the beach when you are standing there, so we decided to go for it. I had never had much experience in the ocean before our honeymoon, growing up we always went to the lake, but we had been snorkeling everyday and I felt I had the hang of it. So we are decked out in our snorkeling gear and start on our swim. We had been swimming for a while and I looked up and still had a ways to go. The beautifully clear, blue water was getting deeper and deeper beneath me. There was probably 30 feet of water beneath us that I could see perfectly through and that is when I realized just HOW MUCH water I was surrounded by. I was trying very hard to stay calm because I didn't want to ruin this little "adventure" for Corky because I know he really wanted to see the shipwreck. I thought I was doing okay but my panic mode took over and I began taking off my mask because I was sure I couldn't breathe. Then I would suck in salt water which made me really not be able to breathe. Corky kept saying "let's go back, let's go back" but I refused because we were almost there. The waves were getting stronger and I was getting more scared but still being stubborn despite the fact that I was STILL breathing and drinking salt water. Finally I started vomiting (and here's the gross part) started sucking that in. That's when Corky got scared and turned me over on my back and just started pulling me out of my own throw up and back to shore. He seriously thought I was going to die....but I wasn't.

When we got back on shore I felt just fine. I was hungry because I had just lost my taco bell chalupa to the ocean, but I couldn't believe what had happened. I still feel bad that we didn't make it to the shipwreck but in Corky's words "he feels bad that he almost drowned his new bride!"

5- I can put dental floss up my nose and have it come out my mouth. It was a hit at every family reunion up until I got pregnant and my gag reflex multiplied by like a million.

6- If I have to take a pill, this is what I do. I put the pill in my mouth first, then take a drink of liquid and let the pill and liquid sit in my mouth until it "feels right" to swallow it! I don't know, I don't get it either. I am not sure what makes it finally "feel right" or how I can speed up the process but I just know that if I swallow it before, then I am most likely going to gag and the pill will get stuck in my throat.

--- I am so late doing this that I am "tagging" anyone who hasn't done it yet. Don't hate me for being lazy and not checking to see who hasn't done it themselves. :)

baby steps, really.

Sorry friends if you get sick of videos but living away from all of our family makes it tough on everyone when I can only tell family about the milestones that Emily and Gracey go through. Technology definitely makes it easier to share those fun times. So to all of our family, and anyone else that wants to watch, enjoy!! :)

Emily is getting to be a little pickier with her food. I usually can trick her though into finishing all of her veggies. Bananas though are a whole other story. She does not like bananas at all. Who doesn't like bananas, really? The video here is of her letting me know that she doesn't like green beans. She doesn't hate them to the point of being grumpy, but she definitely doesn't enjoy them.

Mmmmm, green beans.

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Emily has taken 3 full steps on her own but of course she started goofing around when we got the digital camera out. She is closer and closer to walking, although she doesn't seem to be in too big of a hurry. I am fine with that. Baby steps, right?? ;)

A little progress walking...just a little

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U-C-L-A!!

Last weekend we went to another UCLA football game. It definitely wasn't feeling like mid-October....it was H-O-T!!! Its okay, it was still a great day. We went down the night before and stayed with our friend's Andrea and Ben. Ben plays for UCLA but injured his knee a few weeks ago so is sitting out for a couple of games. Crappy for him I am sure, but fun for us because we got to hang out with him a little more than we normally would have been able to. Andrea and I hadn't hung out for this long period of time in years and so it was a blast for me to just sit and catch up and chit chat! I love her to death and thank her for having us for the weekend.



Here we are at the UCLA vs. Cal State game. The game was right at nap time so Corky and I got to actually watch most of the game while the girls slept. Notice Emily's blanket around the head? Have you ever seen Man vs. Wild when he is Moab, Utah? "What's his name" (bear grills is how I say it) pees on a shirt and wraps it around his head to cool him off. We just dumped water on the blanket for Emily, but knowing that trick definitely helped! :)

Here we have Andrea looking sexy, a family picture, the game, and a picture of the cute newlyweds, Ben and Andrea.

All good things must come to an end, so after a delicious dinner at BJ's, we said our goodbyes. Emily was really sad to say goodbye, can't you tell? Anyway, we hope to see them again soon. We had a super fun weekend.

Isn't it ironic....don't ya think?

It's funny how things turn out. A year ago I was praying that having a new baby was a good enough excuse to be released from the Primary Presidency. Even a month ago I was secretly wondering how much longer my sanity could last with my calling. But the past few weeks have been great. I finally felt like I was getting the hang of Primary and it wasn't such a chore anymore. I was actually really enjoying it and especially loving the kids. Wouldn't you know it....I was released yesterday from my calling. In fact, the entire presidency was rearranged. As a presidency, we had an idea that things would change soon so it wasn't a HUGE shock. My funny husband made me laugh yesterday before church as I was situating myself and the girls before it started. He came up to me, said "Will you give the closing prayer?" I agreed. then he said "Oh, and you are being released!" He's so formal, right? :) I don't mind, I figured that much. So then onto the new callings. I was so excited for the primary because they are going to be in great hands. The new presidency consists of 2 of my very closest friends here at Ft. Irwin. They are so amazing and will do such a good job. Then the evil, unproductive part of me came out as I thought to myself "They are going to have so much fun at their meetings....can't I just come to the meetings to hang out?"

During the rest of our Sacrament meeting, I was a wreck. I realized I would be giving my last sharing time that day to all those kids that I have grown to love and adore. Even today I am surprising myself at how emotional I am. I was cleaning out my binder so that I could hand it over to the new 1st counselor and was finally able to begin to feel the relief that I have been looking forward to. I have learned so much serving in this presidency. I have gained a load of confindence in front of children (they used to scare me to death!) and I have learned that each calling is equally important. Nursery teacher, to Sunbeam teacher, to Relief Society teacher.....there is not a single calling that we, as a church, could do without. When I used to teach CTR 6, I looked at it like I was just a babysitter for an hour or so each Sunday. From now on, if I ever teach again, I will know whole heartedly that those children will remember.

Now that my lessons have been learned, hopefully I will continue to apply them to my every day life. I look forward to the next lessons that I am meant to learn, but right now I am really looking forward to relaxing this Sunday.

Only a matter of time now....

Here is Emily walking with the popcorn popper. She did this all night after she discovered how easy and fun it is to walk when you have something to help you go along.

Emily walking, with assistance.

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Which cookie would you choose?

If you are smart, you would most definitely choose the ones that Gracey decorated! She LOADED them with the good stuff....frosting, M&M's, sprinkles.