Boys' Night

As much as I hate to see my boys grow up, it has been so much fun to hang out with them lately. Every once in a while we give them the opportunity to stay up late with Mom and Dad. Sometimes it's to watch a big kid movie; the new Karate Kid was a big hit, (and I personally can't wait to have a Back to the Future night). Other times it's to play games that the sisters just aren't big enough for yet. Their absolute favorite is Monopoly. It is a miracle that this game has made a reappearance in our house; Brandon and I played it once as newlyweds and I vowed never again! My husband is a bit cutthroat about his games. But for these two....well that's a different story. 

Yes, that is a tupperware of raw cookie dough to snack on! 

These two are hilarious!! They're sure to call out, "Chancellors!" when a chance space is landed on, to tell you that, "Things are getting hairy in here!" when the game is getting serious, to remind you that you own the "Body Odor railroad" if you have the B&O, and they each have their favorite spaces that they will always hold out for. Parker loves Boardwalk and Park Place to a fault. He'll get most of the way through a game with only a few properties holding out for the big ones. If those can't be had he loves Tennessee Ave, (pronounced tuh-KNEE-tsee, don't ya know?) and Marvin Gardens, (MAH-ven GAH-dens).  Drew loves S-T Charles place and S-T James place. He also loves to be a railroad man.

They can also be persuaded to play Apples to Apples Jr. but this game is the clear fave. They're so much fun to play with that I don't mind it too much anymore. I love that they're learning to win and lose nicely, (for the most part) and to handle tasks like being the banker. I've been thinking it would be awesome to come across the old version of the game PayDay to teach them some money management skills as well. Life skills aside, just having a good time is great too!

Utah with the Morgans

While we were in UT, we stayed at my parent's house, but used our weekends to spend time with Brandon's family. Both the boys and girls got to have their own special weekends at Grandma and Grandpa's house as well. On the boys' weekend we met up at Scheel's to have some fun before leaving the boys with them. Claire was having nothing to do with the ferris wheel unless she could ride with Grandpa. She is a Grandpa's girl for sure!

 I'm bummed this picture turned out fuzzy, because the boys were so cute together. This is our cousin Tobin, and the boys don't often get to see him, but always have a blast when they do!

 This was the most adorable thing in the world. These two were both a little scared to be riding without an adult. They put on their best brave faces. Parker did have some fun, but poor Paige got off with silent tears streaming down her face. We made sure the next time around to have her sit with Mama instead.

 We were supposed to be making scared faces in this photo, but I think I'm the only one who got the memo. ;)

 This was all the Morgan cousins except our cousin Madison who also lives far away, ready for church on Sunday. What a cute bunch!

 On the girls' weekend they got to go to Build-a-Bear with Grandma. They had a lot of fun and carry these stuffed animals everywhere. Paige's is a cat that she originally named Lisa, but has since decided to call Sparkle Dean Morgan. Claire's is a monkey originally named Agnes, who sometimes prefers to go by Electabuzz. Emma named her bear Margo and is less fickle about names.

 When they got back to Grandma's house they got to play with Aunt Brooklyn's stash of bear clothes, and then later here in Texas each girl was sent their own outfit on their birthdays.

The kids had lots of fun with Grandma and Grandpa Morgan!

Visiting Grandpa Murray

Let's do some catching up, shall we? Our stop in UT on the way to TX was a whirlwind visit. We tried to pack in as much fun as we could and see as many people as possible. It's pretty much a 24 hour drive from TX to see our families, so that won't be happening often.

We wanted for sure to see Grandpa Murray. I had been waiting for this visit ever since Noah was born, because Noah's middle name Macks is for this grandpa. We didn't go out to UT the summer he was a new baby, so this was the first time we had opportunity for a photo of the two of them together. Also, we lost Grandma Murray not too long before this visit, and we were really looking forward to checking in on Grandpa. 

This right here is my favorite photo ever of Grandpa. I know it's nothing flashy, but this is how I always want to remember him, and highlights my favorite things about him. Grandpa had heard that Parker was reading the Book of Mormon, and wanted to chat with him about it. He asked Parker how it was going, commended him for working so hard at it, and then started talking about the scriptures telling Parker about the 12 tribes of Israel. Grandpa loves the scriptures and makes an effort to study them every day. When he started losing his sight to macular degeneration, even that didn't stop him and he now listens to them on tape every afternoon. I don't know the particulars of Grandpa's story, but I know that Brandon remembers lighting cigarettes for Grandma and Grandpa as a boy. He says that when Grandpa decided it was time to follow the gospel, it has been with exactness ever since. He wouldn't even drive one mile an hour over the speed limit because the gospel teaches that we should obey the law of the land. He served as a faithful temple worker until his health no longer allowed it, and even now attends as often as he can get a ride. This man shows the light of Christ more than anyone I know. His countenance glows, and he overflows with Charity. I never feel as uplifted, loved and encouraged as I do in his presence. I am so proud to carry on his name and memory in our Noah Macks.

Again, not a great picture, but one I wanted to have for memory's sake. Grandma always loved having a porch swing for the kids to sit on and I think it would have made her so happy to see these girls swinging out in the sunshine.

This is Brandon's dear Aunt NaDean. She and her sister Aunt Sandra have always made an effort to be part of Brandon's life and to be supportive of him, and just as I always felt so loved by Grandma and Grandpa for being Brandon's choice, I feel the same outpouring of love and acceptance into the family from them. They are always so happy to see us. When Aunt NaDean heard we were coming for a visit, she opened her home to us and allowed us to stay the night and fed us delicious food. I wish I had a picture of Sandra as well, because she also came to see us at Grandpa's but I didn't get one. Also, I must say that I think that Brandon's aunts are stunningly beautiful and I hope that our girls inherit a bit of that.

It made us so happy to see our dear Grandpa Murray again!

Grandpa lives about 30 miles away from the home we left in Vernal, so while we were there we also made a quick trip out to attend church at the ward we lived in. We got to see many of the faces that we love so much there and it was almost odd how little had changed while we were gone! It still felt like home. It was a visit that was too short but one that we are so glad that we had opportunity to make.

Parker's Baptism

Yesterday my biggest boy was baptized. I am so proud of this boy. Brandon and I really made an effort to help him take this important step seriously. To know what he was doing, and why. He rose to our expectations and even exceeded them. I think this boy is what I like to call an "old soul." I feel that he was sent to our family to help me along far more than the other way around. He understands so much for his young age, and seems to know when I don't quite know what I'm doing. But he is patient with me.

Brandon and I challenged Parker to read the entire Book of Mormon before his eighth birthday to help him prepare. At times we wondered if we would have to help him along, but all on his own, he reached a point where he was determined to accomplish his goal. In the midst of our crazy move he had gotten off track of the schedule we had given him to follow by quite a bit. Rather than give up, or wait for our prodding he started reading two days worth, then three, then four. At the end of it all he finished four days ahead of schedule. All along the way I'd ask him questions about what he had read. There were a few times when it was hard for him to comprehend, but I was amazed at what he did understand and learn, and we had some really enjoyable talks about it. Now that he has built this great habit, I hope he keeps it up and really learns to love the scriptures.

The big day was so special. He was somber and a bit shy, typical of his personality, but he was also extra affectionate, which I hope was his way of showing that he was feeling something special.

I of course was an emotional mess. I am loving these wonderful people that our kids are growing into, but I also think it is happening way too fast. I tried to keep it together to give a talk on baptism, but I'll really just have to know that hopefully we taught Parker everything he needed to know before that moment.  

 Brandon gave a talk on the Holy Ghost before the confirmation and did a great job of relating the topic to Parker individually. I think Parker really understood what was taught there. Brandon is a great Dad, and a wonderful example of a priesthood holder for our kids.

This is the first time we've had a picture taken with all eight of us in it. After two days of lots of fun with family, they were tired and missing naps. But I still love this picture. It shows our real life. Our crazy busy imperfect, wonderful, always entertaining full of love life. I love these people with all of my heart just the way they are.

We're Not in Kansas Anymore

So, one of the most obvious details missing from this blog is the fact that we moved. A big move. Brandon's boss called one Friday night in February and asked how he felt about transferring to Texas. He told him right then and there that he would do it. We waited a few days to make sure that it was really going to happen, and in about two and a half weeks, we were packed and out of Kansas.

Kansas was good for us in a lot of ways. I loved it when we lived near Wichita. It's a really small big city, and I felt comfortable getting wherever I needed to go, but you also didn't have to go far to be in the middle of nowhere.  By the same token, when we moved about 45 miles away, we were in the middle of  nowhere. Which again, had it's good points, but wasn't so much fun as I'd originally hoped it would be. I think had we really settled down there, and had opportunity to have a home on some property and have a great big garden and live self-sufficiently it would have been fabulous. I loved the slower pace, I loved not feeling like I always had to be out and about somewhere. As it was, were were renting not the nicest place we've ever lived, and had no opportunity to garden. That meant we had to drive 30 miles to the grocery store in a not much nicer town, and the food quality was just really lacking. Stores in the middle of nowhere have the worst produce. Then you take it home to a fridge that's older than I am and it only lasts a few days at most which is really inconvenient when the store is that far away.  On the plus side, I really learned how to meal plan, (not that I didn't know before, but it forced me to really take it seriously) and do without if we didn't have something. It also forced me to get better at stretching our food a few extra days when necessary. When a winter storm hits on grocery day and you can't drive until the roads thaw out, there's not really any other choice. Not taking all of those, "Oh I just need to run out for one little thing" trips to the store helped the budget quite a bit.

One thing that was hard about where we lived was that we just never really fit in the town we had moved to. It was a town of about 500 people, most of whom had grown up there and all knew everything about everybody, and we were just the odd folks out for being new. Part of it I suspect was also that we are mormon. The people there just hadn't had good experiences with mormons, and I totally understand that. I myself had a hard time with some of the ward members there. We also stuck out for homeschooling. When there are only 10-15 kids in each grade level and your kids are the only kids in town not attending school, it tends to get noticed. Anyway, whatever the reason, we never made any friends there, the kids never made any friends there. We had a very few friends at church, but they all lived 30 miles away as well. It was nice to have so much family time, and really, my kids are each other's best friends anyway,but it was odd to not feel at home in town.

I'll be totally honest here and say that I just did not try hard enough. We had an idea that we weren't going to be in this town permanently, (we originally thought that the work Brandon was doing would take us into Oklahoma after a year) and after growing attached to so many people in so many places and having to start over again, it just felt like too much effort for a place that my heart really wasn't in. But as that first year started coming to a close and changes weren't coming, I was faced with the fact that if we were going to stay another year I'd have to accept it and try harder. That was an interesting time. I'd prayed for so long to be moving on, and finally I just realized that it wasn't happening. So I prayed instead to have a softer heart about staying and started planning as if we were. The crazy thing was, it was only about a week or two from that time to when the offer came to go to Texas. I felt like I'd been humbled there, and taught to accept whatever is in store for us and grateful for the opportunities we did have.

So for all of these reasons, it wasn't a hard decision to go to Texas. Brandon knew he didn't even have to ask me about it. The lease on our home was up at the end of February, so it seemed like perfect timing. Rather than try and extend it for any time, we decided to pack up and end our time in Kansas then. We put our things in storage and sent them to Texas and Brandon drove the kids and I to Utah. We'd planned to have a summer visit anyway, so this seemed like an opportune time to take the trip. I stayed there with the kids for a month while Brandon went on to Texas, started work and looking for a home for us. When after that month he didn't have any prospects for us, he came and got us anyway, and I got to work on finding a place. We stayed in a two bedroom apartment that work had rented for Brandon and he was staying alone in anyway. At the end of another month, we found a home to rent and moved in.

I was never so happy to call a place home! To know that our things were on the way, to have our own space, to get back to a normal routine was so welcome after so many weeks of uncertainty. I don't do uncertainty well. To be honest, none of the in between time was that bad, but the not knowing when it would end was terrible. It was hard on the little ones too. Emma took it the hardest I think. Potty training totally reversed, she was far more irritable than usual, and for the time we spent without her Daddy, she was horribly unsettled. It improved some upon our joining him, but even then I remember walking through houses one day and all the kids were running through rooms yelling out which ones they wanted, and she just threw her little body on the floor in the master bedroom and cried, "There's no room for me!" She did not understand where her bed was, her toys, and why things were so different day to day, or how many places she would have to get used to sleeping in.  She had been to so many new nurseries at church, and at the same time as having to adjust to not having Claire in there with her anymore as she'd graduated to Sunbeams.  From the day our storage pod was delivered and her things were back, she was a different girl again! A few weeks of finally attending the same ward and she was happy to go to nursery. Now Noah gets to go to, and it's one of her favorite parts of the week again.

So that was that. A rather big life change spread out over two months, and we're finally feeling adjusted and back to normal, whatever that is.  I'll post some more soon on how things are for us here; things we like and things we're still getting used to, and of course all of the birthdays I've missed posting about but for now I'll leave you with some updated pictures of the kids that we took as Mother's Day gifts for the grandmas shortly after we moved in.

We thought our Noah boy was going to be terrible at sitting for his picture, so we waited to do him until last. He was horribly naughty while the other kids had their turns, and then funny enough when it was his, he sat right down and said, "CHEEEEE" like he'd been dying to do just what the other kids were doing. One shot was all it took to get a great one and then we were done and playing at the park for a reward!  Lesson learned!