Family Christmas Picture

So we cheated a little this year with our Christmas clothes. This was our last Sunday in Southaven before Christmas so we had to wear our Christmas clothes. This is Brent's new suit and my new sweater that we're not supposed to get until Christmas but oh well. We snapped this shot after we got home from church today since we were so color coordinated. This is Morgan's third and final Christmas outfit.

Santa Baby

Here is Morgan in her 2nd Christmas outfit. She wore this to the ward party last night and was a big hit. We had a nice dinner although there were too many people to fit in the gym. I guess that's a good problem to have. Then there was a little program with music and the nativity presented by the primary. A nice time was had by all.

Here are a couple of shots in front of our Christmas tree that Brent had fun editing on my mom's new laptop. Her computer is much faster than ours when it comes to editing so he was playing. Enjoy!






Morgan is just getting to be so much fun to take pictures of. I wish I was that photogenic.

Thanksgiving Trip to Pennsylvania and DC

We had the opportunity to go visit my brother and his family in Pennsylvania over the Thanksgiving break. He is finishing up his PhD at Penn State. We stayed in State College for a couple of days and then headed to DC for the rest of the week. We had a great time. Morgan got to meet and play with two of her cousins, both of which were more than happy to give her lots of love and attention. En route to DC we went through Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Lancaster County has large Amish and Mennonite populations. It was fascinating to see the Amish in their buggies, especially the ones with childrens faces curiously sticking out the front. The Amish children are adorable. We saw more than we thought possible in DC in the 3.5 days we spent there. We saw the National Mall with its monuments, several of the Smithsonians (Air and Space, American History, Natural History, Gallery of Art), Arlington Cemetary, the National Cathedral, the National Archives, the National Zoo, attended a session at the DC temple, and went bowling. We walked a ton and all were completely exhausted each night when we got back to our hotel. In addition we visited Gettysburg and Hershey Chocolate World on our way back into Pennsylvania. My favorite sites from the trip were the National Archives (where we saw the US Constitution and the Declaration of Independence) and the National Cathedral. Paij's favorites where seeing the monuments on the National Mall. It was a great trip and we couldn't have asked for things to have gone any smoother. Thank you John and Megan for letting us visit and for helping make the trip so wonderful. We are grateful we got to spend Thanksgiving break together.

Just for fun

Morgan was being sweet as could be tonight. She had a bath, which she just loved. The fun didn't end when the bath was over though. She wouldn't stop smiling as daddy was drying her off. It was too much fun to let this memory slip away, so I grabbed the camera and started snapping away as we played games in the mirror. Once Paij got her fed and off to bed I decided to arrange the photos into a little collage. So here it is. Hope you enjoy.

She's learning!

Here are some videos mostly for the Grandmas to see how much she is growing. She has been eating rice cereal for a while now but I just thought we needed a video to show how much she loves it. Keep in mind she had eaten an hour ago and wasn't starving, she just likes the food.



Morgan has only been holding her bottle now for about a week. She still loses it sometimes and can't really do it if she's tired but this little video shows that she can pretty much control the bottle. Enjoy!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Our Halloween fun started on Monday when we carved pumpkins for family night. Brent's masterpiece is found below. You won't find mine pictured because mine can't really compete. At least he was creative in this because his costume was a little bit lacking. See below.


I must admit however that he was the mastermind behind my costume. He bought the wig and the face makeup and even assisted in applying the make up. Surprisingly, Morgan didn't seem to care much that her mom had a green face and gray hair.



Morgan was a lovely lady bug along with our neighbor Abby, so we thought we needed to get some pictures together. Morgan's costume was a little warm and didn't allow much movement of her legs to she didn't wear it too long at the ward party. She was an awfully bug cute though.


At the Halloween Party, they had a fun hay ride that took us around the neighborhood. That's what we're doing in the picture below. (See Brent's costume? Creative huh?)



We hope you all had a great Halloween as well.

Bald and Beautiful

Morgan and I went to go visit my good friend Julie who just finished her Chemo and Radiation treatment for brain cancer. Things are looking good now for her. I told her she needs to hang out with Morgan more more often and they can be bald and beautiful together.

The sundress

Brent's mission president sent us this dress and Morgan wore it to the SCO BBQ and we just had to share.

More CA Pics

My sister just sent me some pictures from our trip to CA and I thought I needed to share them here. Above you see a few more from the blessing with Morgan's cousins, Bode and Kasen as well as my sisters, Kalli and Haylee. We were so grateful to be able to be there together.


Then we had a little fun doing a photo shoot by putting the little babies in a wash tub. It was pretty fun to see them all squished in there together.

And finally, the kissing cousins. Kasen couldn't quite hold himself up like Morgan (he's 5 weeks younger) so he just happened to lean over and Kalli was there with the camera to catch it. I hope this isn't a sign of things to come.

There aint NOTHIN' mainstream 'bout this burger!

Paij & I decided it was time to get away from Memphis for a few hours.  The weather was beautiful and it was the first Saturday that we have had open in over a month.  We decided to head south to the small town of Holly Springs, MS.  In addition to it's antebellum homes, Holly Springs is known for a not so quaint burger joint called Phillips Grocery.  

Originally built as a saloon in the 1800's, this joint stands across the street from the old, faded, red-brick Mississippi Central train station.  It doesn't take much imagination to picture this place back when the trains were rolling through, people stopping off to get their fill at the saloon.  We honestly were a little concerned when we pulled up to this place.  We parked right outside the kitchen.  Black grease dripped from the vents, sliding down the roof, then falling on the bushes directly in front of our parked car.  Our concerns escalated as we walked around to the front of the building. The obvious signs of old sagging lumber, thin beams desperately struggling to keep the old building from crumbling before our eyes.  But we had made it this far and we couldn't turn back now. 

Our fears subsided as we stepped inside and saw other families, apparently still alive after eating the food.  After stepping up to the counter and placing our order we realized how unprepared we were for this trip back in time.  This place was lucky to have electricity, never mind a credit/debit card machine.  Realizing our predicament AFTER ordering our food, we began debating the drive back into town to get some cash.  Do I go alone, abandoning my wife and child in this unknown time and place?  Just then the father of a small family sitting nearby turned to us and offered to pay for our meal.  He pressed the issue until we accepted the offer.  We were caught off guard by the kindness and hospitality that was demonstrated on multiple occasions while visiting this strange town.  We saw in full-strength the southern hospitality that Memphis has completely abandoned.  The food was ready in a few minutes.  As we bit into the burgers we nodded our heads in agreement.  These grease balls really are some of of the world's greatest burgers (as claimed by USA TODAY).

After eating we drove aound the town for a few minutes before heading south to Wall Doxey state park.  The park is home to a lake that contains a cypress grove.  The trees are uniquely beautiful and we enjoyed a pleasant hike around the lake.  Morgan was so good on this 2.5 mile hike.  She never let out a single peep.  She sat there in her baby carrier and drooled as she took in the smells and imagery.  

It was a fun little getaway for our little family.  For those of you in the area we recommend the short trip to this unique town.  We may be doing it again shortly when the fall colors arive.

Morgan's learned a new trick

I felt a little like I needed to give her a doggy treat after this. Too bad they don't make reinforcements like that for 4 month olds. Yeah, I'm a bad mom! She can already roll to her right and left. She's such a big girl.

Morgan's 4 months!

Our little angel is 4 months old and so much fun. We decided to take some pictures so everyone could see how much she is growing.

The cutest little laugh

Morgan's little laugh is coming out more and more. She really likes it when mom and dad make these goofy sounds that make us sound like drunk cows. We love the response, so we really don't care what we sound like. We hope that you enjoy.

St. Louis

We headed north for the Labor Day weekend to St. Louis. We are all traveled out and enjoying normal home life now that it is over. We got back from California on Tuesday and left for St. Louis on Friday. We went with three other couples and had a great time. On our way there we stopped and ate at Lambert's Cafe, a restaurant made famous for their throwed rolls. That's right, throwed rolls. They've got this guy that wheels around this cart with fresh, hot rolls. All you have to do is yell out "Roll!" and raise yor arm and be ready to catch one. It is quite the experience and the portions are monstrous.

In St. Louis we visited the City Museum. Now this place was designed for kids, but that did not stop us from having a blast. It is unlike anything any of us had ever seen. Below is a picture of Paij in a whales throat. The whales mouth actually leads to a system of caves, tunnels, tubes, ladders, and all sorts of interesting niches for kids (and adults) to explore. Outside is another network of ladders and rebar that allow you to explore jets suspended in air. That is Brent crawling in the rebar tube, trying not to lose his flip flops through the openings between the rebar. Also pictured below are Paij and Morgan scooting down a tube in the aquarium at the City Museum. Paij stopped to say hi to the tortoise as he floated by.





























We also visited the Budweiser headquarters in St. Louis. The perk for most tourists is that they offer free samples at the end of the tour. We all opted to enjoy some refreshing Mug root beer instead. While we were there a man wasout walking the famous Clydesdale horses. Those horses are enormous, as is evident by the picture below. They can weigh over 2000 lbs!


St. Louis is also home to a cathedral basilica that is quite impressive. It contains 41.5 million glass pieces that cover 83,000 square feet, making it is the largest mosaic collection in the world. That one is for all you factoid collectors. Needless to say it was amazing to see the detail that was put into decorating that building.

Last, and probably least, we visited the top of the arch. The arch felt like a disappointing roller coaster ride. We waited in line for about an hour and a half (with 26 drama crazed teenage cheerleaders right behind us). We got to the top, looked out, thought 'why did we wait around for this?', and headed right back down. I guess it is just one of those things that you do once just to say you did. Pictured below is our little family next to one of the viewing windows at the top of the arch.

California Dream'n

Yeah we're Dream'n we were still there!

Morgan got to meet her new cousins. Believe it or not, Morgan is the oldest. Bode (left) is Haylee's third child and is about 20 hours younger than Morgan. Kasen (right) is Kalli's fourth child and 5 weeks younger. They had a great time playing together and while in CA. It was so fun to have my two sisters there with their babies.

While in CA we spent the day on Lake Oroville on a party boat with about 40 of Brent's family members. Brent's borther has a ski boat for tubing and wake boarding as well as the wave runner above. After a some deliberation but not much, Brent's parents were convinced to take the wave runner for a spin. Judy(68) and Paul (72) had a pretty good time and so did the kids and grandkids watching grandma freak out.
We also got to attend the wedding of my best friend from High School that was held at Lover's Point Monterey. Needless to say it was beautiful. As we enjoyed a faboulous lunch at the reception, we were able to watch dolphins jumping in the bay. I was so glad we could attend. Congrats Melissa and Sean!
While in Monterey, we took 17-mile drive to the Lone Cypress and passed Pebble Beach Golf Course. Wow I miss the beach!
We were also fortunate enough to be able to attend the finialization of the adoption of three more siblings for Brent. That makes 13. These three beautiful children have lived with Paul and Judy close to four years now. James, Jessica, and Cody, welcome to the family!
Finally the most important thing that happened on our trip to CA was blessing our sweet Morgan. We did it in my parents back yard with more than 70 people in attendance (hence the reason we didn't do it at chruch). Brent did a fantastic job and had us all in tears. Morgan was a little angel. P.S. Her mom made the blessing dress (thanks for your help Kristi) and Morgan wore her lace booties I brought back from my mission in Belgium (not pictured here).

Bath Time

Here's another video at my mother's request. Morgan loves her bath time and we always enjoy giving her one because we get lots of smiles. Enjoy!

Pretty in Pink...and green

Isn't the point of having little girls to be able to dress them up every now and then? This is one outfit we were looking forward to Morgan growing into (then again, there are a lot of outfits we look forward to being able to dress her up in). Thank you Toni Hart. Not only is Morgan smiling more and more, she is figuring out that she can make her own sounds (besides crying, which she is pretty good at). We have lots of fun talking to her and listening to her make cute little noises back. Her parents couldn't be more proud.

...a hunk, a hunk of burning love

We finally made it to Graceland. It was so exciting that Morgan slept right through the whole thing. It was actually quite interesting to learn a little more about how accomplished and generous a person Elvis was. That guy has got a hallway lined with enough gold and platinum records to build a second great wall of China. Below is a photo of Paij, Morgan, Elvis, and a hunk of burning love.

For being the King, the man certainly had some funky ideas about style and decorating. Shag carpet on the ceiling? It takes a secure man to wear an outfit with more sequins than all the stores in the greater Memphis area combined.

Another Beautiful Morning

Janne took this video when Morgan was waking up from a nap. I just can't get enough of my little smiling baby.

A weekend in Nashville

My niece, Janne, flew out to help us out with Morgan while Paij and I have conflicting school schedules this term. She flew into Nashville and so we decided to make a weekend out of it. We went to the Hard Rock cafe for dinner the night that she flew in. We told Janne to bring her fake ID (which she forgot) and we were unable to sneak her into one of the honky tonks to listen to live country music. So the Hard Rock was a back up plan.

On Sunday we went to church and toured some of the sites in Nashville. We visited the Parthenon, Bicentennial park, Bellmont Mansion, and the Gaylord Opryland hotel. The picture below is of the Parthenon. It is a to-scale replica of the one in Athens as it is believed to have been originally built.
On Monday we shopped at the Opry Mills Mall. Actually I walked laps with Morgan in the stroller while Paij & Janne shopped. Afterwards we went to the Hermitage, the home of President Andrew Jackson. He's the guy on the $20 bill. The picture below is of he and his wife's grave.
All in all it was a great weekend. Morgan was great. We couldn't have asked for her to have behaved better. The only bad part was having to come back to Memphis.