Happy Halloween!

Don't we all just LOVE Halloween?? The ultimate kid fantasy holiday. Here are the kids on the big day, just before heading out to claim their loot...

Morgan, a.k.a Hermione Granger. "Swish and flick"

Layton a.k.a Indiana Jones...Kate lovingly calls him "IndYIana Jones."

Allie, my darling 50's girl...caught her mid-spin on this pic.

Cute Kate...little Tinkerbell. Sometimes referred to as "Stinkerbell". (Only when she's being a stinker of course.)

One holiday down, two to go...Christmas is just around the corner folks! Ready or not...

Yeahhhh! I can SEE!!

Little Miss Rigby

Every year the Rigby High School dance team holds a fundraiser called Little Miss Rigby. Now before I continue, I need to add the disclaimer that I am sooo not a pageant mom and I don't believe in exploiting little girls in that way. That being said, this particular program is kind of like a Junior Miss for little girls. There is no talent portion, they just learn a little physical fitness routine, followed by a poise and interview segment. This is Morgan's second year participating and she has really enjoyed it. They assign each girl a "big sister" from the dance team to help them learn their routines and cheer them on. I think this is Morgan's favorite part. At the end, each girl recieves a rose, and a special award from their "big sister". Morgan's award was Little Miss Hard-Worker. Can't ask for a better award than that! We love you and we're proud of you Morg!

All the girls on stage at the end of the program. There were 42 participants this year!

Morgan after the show...barefoot because her shoes were hurting her feet!

Mom and Morg

Her faithful supporters

Blast from the Past, part duex

While we were on our trip to Boise a few weeks ago, we stopped off for a moment in a little town that has a big place in my heart. In fact, I still like to call it my "hometown" because so much of my growing up happened there. I will always consider myself a blessed person for having the opportunites and friendships that were cultivated there. Here are a few pics of my old stompin' ground.

My old house on Juniper Street. When we lived there it was brown with yellow trim. It has unfortunately fallen into disrepair, but so many good memories remain!

North Elementary where I attended 5th and 6th grade.

Mountain Home Junior High School -- Home of the Patriots

Mountain Home High School -- Home of the Tigers
I took this picture from the back of the school... my friend Forrest and I RAN up this sidewalk nearly every day because we were late...most often it was HIS fault!! :)

Mountain Home High School was unique in the fact that they allowed the art students to paint big murals on the walls of the school. Nearly every wall in the school was covered with some kind of cool painting. Some of them became "landmarks" to me, helping me remember exactly where my classes were. (Chemistry was right next to the Beetles) I heard that soon after we moved from Mountain Home, they painted over all the murals and were no longer allowed to paint on the walls of the school. This is one of the only murals left, painted on the concession stand just outside the school, and happens to be the one my older brother, Mike, painted. Way to go, Mike!

The Seminary building...Brother Roberts was one of the best seminary teachers ever!

Mountain Home City Pool where I worked as a lifeguard and taught swimming lessons for two summers in High School.

Mountain Home Stake Center where I attended church and had some of the most amazing leaders. Not to mention super-fun stake dances!

Anyone from Mountain Home recognizes this iconic landmark just outside of town! Nuff said.

Blast From the Past, Part 1

Every once in a while, you find yourself part of something really special. You may not realize it at the time, and it may even be years down the road before you do, but eventually memories will come and take root in your heart and maybe even in your tear ducts, and you will realize that you are a blessed person because of one such experience in your life. When I was about 14, I had a friend who was 3 years older than me... yes three years. She was a Laurel and I was barely a Mia Maid. She was the one that everyone wanted to be friends with because of her dynamic, positive, magnetic personality. This amazing person would call me on the phone and offer to come pick me up so we could hang out. A lot of the time we would play softball, or go to the lake and swim, or just hang out with her and her friends. They (she, and all her cool friends) even threw me a birthday party when I turned 15! This proved to be a pivitol time in my life when all around me were girls my age trying to figure out who they were and what direction they were going to go...myself included. So you can only imagine the impact this friendship had on me. From then on and to this day, she has been one of my greatest friends. I am so thankful for her reaching out to me and taking me under her wing. I had the privelege this weekend to attend her wedding reception in Boise, and oh, what a welcome reunion. She looked beautiful and soooo happy! Rebecca, I'm so happy for you, and I wish you all the very best!!!


I was so happy that my husband and kids got to meet Rebecca, and got to see first hand, the crazy, bubbly, fun person that she is. In the middle of Rebecca's "thankyou" speech, she broke into a pre-choreographed lip-sink of "I will survive"! Just LOVE this girl!

Morgan and Layton took a little bit to break out of their shells on the dancefloor, but once they did, there was no holding back!

They were both so excited to dance with Mom and Dad, and Layton even had me twirling under his arm! What a leader that boy is!

Super Mega Summer/Fall Post (brace yourselves)

It's hard to believe that summer is over and fall is right around the corner! We had one heck of a summer, and it doesn't seem to be slowing any time soon. Here are a few things we've been up to in no particular order....okay, so there is some order...

In late August we were able to have a short reunion with some of our best friends from Dental School. I love these pics of Allie and Ellie. They were only 1 year old when we moved from Kentucky. But they play as if they've known eachother their whole lives!

Allie and Ellie deep in conversation. (how cute is that?)

Isaac, Kate, Morgan, and Allie

Layton and Lauren

Nothing like a day spent with good friends. We love you guys!

Brenda talked me into running the Top of Utah 1/2 marathon with her. She must know I'll do anything to see her! It really was fun though, and a good goal to keep me focused all summer.

Note to self: next time wear a shirt that doesn't change color when you sweat! Good grief! I promise I'm not lactating!

My cousin Darci lives in Logan and my brother Ryan was there supporting his wife who was also in the race (a few miles ahead of me!)


One Sunday night a couple of weeks ago, after dinner and in the middle of putting kids to bed, we discovered that our sump pump decided to quit working in the basement and there was water all over the storage room floor. (and a little on the carpet surrounding the storage room) So what I was hoping to be a relaxing Sunday evening, turned out to be spent vaccuuming water and emptying a much-too-full-of-junk storage room. Sounds fun huh?

The upside to this story is that since the storage room was now empty, it was the perfect opportunity to build long-overdue shelves and get organized! So over the next few days Quinn and his dad (Thanks Wayne!) worked to build shelves for me and I am LOVING my new storage room!



Who can forget the Eastern Idaho State Fair? Here are Quinn and Kate outside my Grandma's house waiting for the parade to start.

And all the kids standing with their candy bags at attention!

Allie with my cousin Darci's kids, Jada and Brecka

All the kids sitting on the curb in front of my grandma's house. The cool thing is that somewhere there is a picture taken about 20 years ago with me and all my siblings and cousins sitting in front of the exact same house on the same curb. My grandpa said this was the 39th year they have watched the parade in front of thier house!


In mid-September I participated in my last race of the year, the DuExtreme Road Duathlon in Pocatello. This one was extra special though, because I had two of my favorite people in the world participating as well.. They also hold a kids bike race, and Morgan and Layton couldn't wait!

Layton getting all "pumped up" before the race!

They both did great, but Layton's chain came off his bike half-way through, so he had to wait for someone to come help him put it back on. Tough break, bud. He said he can't wait for next year though.

Morgan coming in to the finish line

The kids with their medals and a really proud grandma!

..Not to mention the proud Mom!

Morgan snapping pics as I finished the bike leg.

Transitioning to the run

Coming across the finish line...4th overall! Not a bad way to end the season.

Whew!!! Is this post done yet???

Happy, Happy Birthday Morgan!

Morgan's birthday was a couple of weeks ago, so this is coming a little late, but I couldn't not post about such a great kid.
I can't believe my little girl is 10 years old! And what a beautiful 10-year-old she is! This girl never ceases to amaze me with her ability to show love and concern to those around her. I absolutely adore her and I am proud to call her my best friend.
Here are a few things that I love about Morgan...

* She is a morning person...rarely a day goes by that Morgan is not a ray of sunshine in the morning.
* She is becoming quite the little babysitter...(Quinn and I LOVE it.)
* I love that even after 10 years, she still sleeps with her blanket that she had as an infant.
* Her brother and sisters are truly her best friends.
* She is a great shopper! (we have a little too much fun sometimes!)
* I love that even though Morgan loves to dance and is good at it, she wants to give it up to play basketball this year.
* She has lots of friends, and is never afraid to reach out and make new ones.
* She thinks boys have cooties.



Morgan and her best friend, Kait

Morgan playing with her little baby cousin, Tyler

Morgan and Kate, aka "mini-me"

Layton made a lego letter H (for "H"appy Birthday), special for Morgan on her big day. What a guy.

My four great kids.

Morgan and I were asked to sing a few weeks ago at a Young Women's mother/daughter picnic. It was so great for me to share that experience with her. She didn't even seem nervous!



In light of her special day, I wanted to document Morgan's birth story. (Mainly for my own records, but read on if you wish.)

Morgan was born on September 1, 1999. Literally one of the last babies of the 20th century...kinda cool! Being my first pregnancy, I had no idea what to expect, so when the doctor told me I would be ready any day, I didn't really think twice about it even though my due date was still three weeks away. I went to work the next day and when I got home that night, I was having pretty intense contractions. So we packed a bag and headed to the hospital at about 8:30. By 9:30 I was settled into my room, and dialating faster than they expected. The time for an epidural came and went, and they decided to do an introthecal for lack of time. Morgan was just coming too fast. She was born at 11:47 PM and wieghed 6 lbs. 9 oz. She was fairly difficult to get here, they even had to use the vaccuum to help her out. But the labor was quick, only 2 hours...so quick they pretty much told me to camp out at the hospital the next time because it could happen even faster. Quinn and I couldn't believe the miracle we were suddenly holding in our arms and we were instantly smitten. I remember the intense love that came over me and I knew I would never be the same. We are so grateful to have Morgan in our family. She is the perfect big sister, daughter, and friend. We love you Morg!