Halloween!

We had such a fun Halloween! Our second Halloween with cousins from Idaho Falls and Meridian. And that is the funnest way to do Halloween! Kam, Halli, and Zack were anticipating it for weeks. Kamryn and Halli knew for a while what they wanted to be for Halloween--Kamryn was Lola from Hannah Montana and Halli was a soccer player. Zack, however, couldn't decide. As soon as he heard his cousin Tyler was going to be Luigi, the decision making was over. He decided he just had to be Mario. They were funny to watch together.

Jaxon wore monster pajamas and he definitely makes a good monster. A sweet monster.

Our Halloween fun started with dinner with cousins where they got a free kids meal at Sizzler for dressing up in their costumes. Then we went trunk or treating at the cousins' church building. We finished up with trick or treating in their neighborhood. It was a great night! Thanks Amy and Derek and cousins!

Fun with Jax!

Zack is 7!

Zack is 7! His day started out with the traditional cinnamon rolls and scrambled eggs and unwrapping of gifts. It was a school day, which is a gift in itself since he loves school and would live in Mrs. Adamson's class if he could. I took treats into his class that afternoon and the highlight was picking friends to help pass them out. Then when we got home, Lance surprised Zack by coming home early. The big surprise of the day was going to see Where the Wild Things Are. Zack really liked it! Not everyone agreed, but the birthday boy loved it. Then we quickly hit McDonalds half price night on the way home so we could come home for cupcakes and ice cream. Zack had requested a spider cake for his birthday, but seemed to be happy with spooky cupcakes instead.

Some of Zack's favorite things right now...

Playing with cousins and friends

School

Running

Playing outside

Writing stories

Drawing

NOT soccer

Making everyone laugh

Being lots of different characters in a matter of minutes

...Happy Birthday Zack! We love you!

Class Pet

A few weeks into school, Kam's teacher asked if I would come in each week so Jaxon and I could listen to students read. As we were talking, the teacher said the class had been asking if they could have a class pet. During the conversation, she got the idea that maybe instead of a class pet, they could have a class baby...Jaxon. This was a great idea because Jaxon is a class favorite already. Any time we walk into the classroom, we hear Jaxon's name being called from many different directions and the students start to swarm him. So I told her he could definitely be the class baby, but he could also be considered the class pet since he has found his voice and likes to growl and make all sorts of noises. So now Mrs. Sprague's 5th grade class has a class pet and a class baby all in one!

The Best Weekend Ever...for my husband!!!

So, Lance just got back from such a fun weekend. A dream weekend for him. He went to visit his sister and her family in Dallas and to see his two favorite college teams play at his favorite professional team's stadium. He said it was like seeing Atlantis or like being the boy in Willy Wonka who saw the chocolate fountain. Anyway, so fun. For a while, we didn't think it would work out for a few reasons, but in the end it worked out perfectly. He hasn't taken many trips and this was a hard trip to beat. His sister knew how much he would love it and what it would mean to him, so she saved him a game ticket. My brother sent him an airline ticket (compliments of his job and generosity) and off Lance went Thursday morning. He texted and called several times throughout the weekend and I could tell he was having a great time. He had so much fun hanging out with Rainie and family. He also came back with some examples for our kids of how well cousins listen to their parents. It was back to the daily grind this morning, but he had the best weekend! Thank you Rainie, Chris, and Ben for Lance's awesome weekend!!!!

First Day of School!

"What do Mom and I do now?"

















"Here we come 1st grade, 4th grade, and 5th grade!"

Kamryn and Halli

More pictures I love. When I look at these pictures, I can't believe how grown up our girls are. Halli turned 9 this summer and Kamryn will be 11 in a few months. How is it possible? I love my beautiful girls.

Zack and Jax

It's photos like these that make me smile and laugh and forget all the tough times.

The new Jaxon!

So I am full of good intentions, but not following through. Kristel and Sarah both mentioned I need to update, so here is at least a Jaxon update. He is almost 7 months and these photos are from the last couple months. He lost his full head of dark hair and was looking bald with a comb-over. Now his hair is starting to grow back in and look even again. The newest hair is looking blonde. He is a smiley guy and adores his sisters and brothers. He has had 3 ear infections in the last 4 months, but doesn't complain much. At his 6 month check up he weighed 18 lbs!! He still doesn't beat Zack at a whopping 19 1/2 pounds at 6 months. Jaxon is so fun and the time is going by way too fast!

4th of July

We had such a fun 4th! My mom flew in from El Paso that day and we did our own little fireworks in the front yard, made a 4th of July cake, and went to Melba to see the most awesome fireworks! We had heard Melba had a great show and so we decided to check it out. They were so great and Kam, Halli, and Zack thought the smiley face fireworks were the best!

Is That What He Thinks?

Usually Zack does a pretty good job staying in bed once we tuck him in. A few nights ago, this was not the case. It was either his 14th or 15th time getting out of bed and he finally voiced his real frustration after coming up with many creative excuses. He said in desperation, "I just want to be an adult and stay up late and watch bad movies!" It would have seemed so funny to me at the time except that I wondered about the bad movie part. Does he think we watch bad movies and why does he think that, and what is his definition of bad movies? Lance and I were watching Valkyrie and paused it each of the 16 or 17 times Zack came in the room. So he had no idea the content of the movie or any other movie we watch since there is always the push of the pause button to attend to whichever child walks in needing something. So, I guess there needs to be a follow-up conversation. My only response was, "I just want to be a child and have someone stay up doing all the chores and make me go to bed." Not a very good response. Lance's response was more creative..."Well, if you stay in bed, you and I will switch places this weekend and you can be the Dad and make me go to bed and you can stay up late." I'm glad Zack didn't follow his part of the deal and instead got out of bed 2 more times, or we would have a 6 year old still up at midnight tonight.

Movie Night

As we were getting ready for a family movie night a while back, I walked into the family room and this is what I saw. This scene had "Halli" written all over it. I asked her about it and she said Jaxon wanted to be part of movie night too, so he needed his blanket, jammies, slippers, and of course, his passey. She said even though he couldn't eat the popcorn, he could at least hold it. So, I laughed, snapped a picture, and asked her to let someone else enjoy the popcorn and Jax could keep the rest of his movie necessities.

Happy Birthday Mom

Today is my Mom's birthday. People who know her would all agree she is an amazing person in every way. I am so grateful for her. I grew up knowing how much my mom loved me and never doubted that. The older I have gotten, she has become my friend as much as she is my mother. Whenever something exciting or sad happens, no matter how big or small, I always think, "I need to call Mom." I haven't lived close to her since I was 18, but she has always come to visit just for fun and for the important occasions in my little family's life. Now my children get to enjoy the beautiful person she is. My Mom is an example of true patience, perserverance, calmness, faith, service, and she is a great listener. Thank you Mom for your quiet example. I love you. Happy Birthday.

Brotherly Love

When my brothers and I were little, my mom kept a notebook of the funny things we would say. A few years ago, one of my brothers made it into a book and gave each of us a copy. It is priceless. He gave them to us when we were all together one Christmas, and we all sat around reading the book, laughing so hard. Every day with guilt I think I should be blogging or writing down all the things my kids say so they can do the same thing one day. So here is the latest...more sweet than funny. We were all at the park this weekend and Zack asked to hold Jaxon while Lance took a couple pictures of us. As we were all getting up to leave, I heard Zack quietly say to Jax, "Jaxon, I will always be your pal and your bro."
The next one is not so sweet. Last night as I was feeding Jaxon, Zack in his fourth attempt to get out of bedtime, asked if he could "pick" Jaxon. (This is probably gross to anyone not related to monkeys). Anyway, Zack likes to pick the lint between Jaxon's toes. Yes, I know, gross. So, he asked, "Can I pick Jaxon's toes? Everyone needs a good picking before they go to sleep."

Jaxon John Morris

I have been waiting until I had the time and energy to add pictures from Kam's birthday, write about Christmas and add Christmas pictures, and write about the arrival of our newest family member. Well, I have now realized that energy will not be here for a while and Amy suggested I just start from where we are right now. So, where we are is that our new little guy is here! Jaxon John was born January 20--inauguration day--at 7:36 pm. He weighed 8 lbs 2 oz and was 20 1/2 inches long. He was born with lots of dark hair. And today he is 6 weeks old!! These have been the fastest flying weeks ever! Jaxon is a sweet baby. He loves to snuggle. He likes to be held and as soon as we pick him up, he curls into a ball. He didn't cry for the first few weeks--he just squeaked and squealed. When Halli's teacher asked Halli to tell the class about her new brother, she said, "He has lots of dark hair and squeals like a girl." Until now I was a little sad about the age gap between our first three children and Jaxon, but now I realize how great it is. I have big amazing helpers and Jaxon gets in his cuddle time. I have also had requests from Halli to please let her know when Jax has a dirty diaper and to please not change it without her. What more can I ask for? We have a healthy new baby and helpers to go around!

favorite Things

Hey, it is Kam. Mom told me I should write about my 10 favorite things because I am 10. So, first I love to ice skate. I think that it is sooooo much fun. Second, I love to eat pasta. Anykind is so good too. Third, my favorite animal is probably a koala. They are so cute and cuddly! Fourth, I really like school.I am always asking if i can do extra work or something like that.I am a straight A student! Fifth, I love friends. I have so many that I can't even name them all! Sixth, GO FOOTBALL!! I love to watch games with my dad. Seventh, another favorite sport, tennis. Well I really have NOT played tennis in real life but we have wii and I love to play tennis on that. Eighth, my whole life I have wanted to visit Ireland, Spain, and most of all... Italy! I am so adventurous. Ninth, mom and dad won't let me have a pet.I love animals! Last but not least, the tenth my favorite movie is The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants ( the first one because my mom won't let me see the second). It is a very fun movie.Thanks for reading some things about me!!!

Kamryn is 10!

Kamryn turned 10 on December 10th! She was so excited because my mom had been telling her how special her birthday was--that it was her grand birthday--because she was turning 10 on the 10th. Kamryn has always seemed much older to me than she really is, ever since she was a baby. She has always been so wise and mature for her age. It seems now that her age is catching up with her and it seems that 10 fits her quite well.
We asked what she wanted to do for her birthday. All she wanted was to have one of her good friends come over and hang out for pizza and Hannah Montana viewing and singing and dancing to CDs. So the Friday before her birthday that's what she did. Then on her birthday night, Halli and Zack stayed home with a sitter while Lance and I took Kamryn to Olive Garden for a birthday dinner and to Claire's to pick out nail polish and a Hannah Montana journal. Kamryn thought it was so funny to have her dad in the girly store looking at earrings, nail polish, and hair things.
As we tucked Kamryn in bed that night, I asked if her 10th birthday was as great as she had anticipated for so long. She said it was even better! We had one happy 10 year old!
I am grateful Kamryn is our daughter and our family is blessed to have her.