Ties

Like most parents, we want our kids to look nice at church. A long time ago we got Morgan a couple of clip-on ties, but he has since succeeded in breaking both of them. Leslie managed to fix one, but he refuses to wear it. I think the clip is uncomfortable for him. Anyway, in an attempt to get him to wear a tie to church last week, I suggested that he wear a bowtie that I have. I have two, so Morgan could wear the pre-tied adjustable one (we can actually make it fit him) and I could wear the one that I have to tie myself. I thought that the prospect of looking like Dad would help him give in to the idea. I even let him borrow one of my belts (it goes around his waist twice, and I don't have that big of a waist). Well, he wasn't happy enough with that - he wanted to wear one of my normal ties (a blue one from the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake). I didn't really know how that would work out, but I finally told him he could wear my blue tie the next Sunday if he wore the bowtie that Sunday. That worked. He looked pretty good, as you can see for yourself.

Well, today Morgan remembered my promise that he could wear my blue tie (we had hung it up with his white shirt last Sunday). I was trying to figure out how to make this work without having him trip all over the tie and without having a knot that was bigger than his neck! This is what I came up with:


I don't think anyone at church even figured out that it wasn't a little boy's tie. Now, here is the secret behind it (Behold Super-Morgan):


I tied the tie with the small end as if it were the big end, and then stuffed the big end inside Morgan's shirt (it went almost all the way around his body inside his shirt). You can see what it looks like when it's not tucked in:


I made Morgan wear an undershirt so my tie wouldn't get too sticky/sweaty. However, he still had a problem when it came time to go to the bathroom. Part of the trouble was with the tie and part with the belt. Anyway, by the end of it my tie was wet. I'm not sure exactly what happened, but I didn't ask. At least he looked nice at church. Next time we go to the University Mall, we'll definitely be stopping at the Tie One On store to pick up some real ties his size!

School

In just 12 hours Morgan will be off for his first day of school. I can't believe i am sending him to learn from a woman i have barely met with other children i do not know. I am excited for him but also scared for so many reasons. It seems strange to send him off everyday for a full day of school. That is what they have here in OK for Pre-K. Am i a bad mother for sending him? What could i have done to prepare him better? I just can't believe that my little Morgan is going to school tomorrow! Wish us all luck.

Happy Shining Moments

Yesterday was one of those little happy moments that may not come often but when they do they make everything worth it. The evening seemed just about picture perfect. After a visit to Morgan's new school to meet his teacher and check out the classroom, we had a visit from the the Back-to-School fairy. The kids were amazed when they opened the door and found no one there but presents for both of them. Emma was very happy with her handmade pink pillowcase and her very own box of crayons. We gave Morgan a bike. He was so excited. (No, we don't plan to go this big every year. We just wanted an excuse to finally give him one.) We were able to go out as a whole family and let the kids ride up and down our very safe street. We were riding for almost an hour and never saw any cars driving by. It was just so happy. Two little kids on little bikes with little red helmets riding through the cool twilight. Nate and i soaked in the joy of the moment as we walked hand in hand behind them. It had been raining all day but stopped just for us. The weather was cool and everything looked so amazingly green and beautiful. We ended the evening in a wonderful way too - with special school blessings from our wonderful father and husband.

I just cannot believe how blessed we are and cannot fathom that we in any way deserve it. It makes me think of the Primary song I Know Heavenly Father Loves Me (Whenever I hear the song of a bird...). Maybe, just possibly, our Heavenly parents feel the same way Nate and i felt with Morgan's bike. They are just waiting for any excuse to bless us and they feel joy when they do. I am so grateful for all i have been given.

Happy Birthday Emma!

Our Emma turns three today. It's not that long ago, it seems, that she looked like this (left). I don't know if she will be able to give up being two. Lately, if we tell someone that Emma is almost three she very emphatically tells us, "No, I'm TWO!" She has done a lot of growing up this past year.

We all love our little Emma. She is beautiful with her blond curly hair and big brown eyes and she is all girl. She loves to wear skirts and dresses ("big skirts") and be all dressed up. She is also all girl in her intense emotional swings. She can be either intensely happy (silly, screaming, giggling) or intensely sad (lying on the floor in utter despair because something is not quite right). The picture to the right is what we call her "rock star" picture. She almost looks like Hannah Montana (not Miley Cyrus, though, who is quite different from Hannah Montana).

Emma is very independent and loves doing things her own way. She visits "Princess Land" most days to go to "school", or have a picnic with the other "princesses", or just to see all the "pink animals" there. It must be quite a place she has built up in the world of her imagination. Luckily, Morgan is happy to go along with her to Princess Land any time.

Mostly, Emma is someone who brings a lot of fun and kindness to our family. She can often be seen giving hugs and kisses and telling us she loves us. Even when she has been crying hysterically about something she didn't like, she is quick to forgive and to to be happy again. We are so glad to have her. We love you, Emma!

The Bad News

From the Jane Austin Movie Emma:

Ms. Bates: "Now the bad news is, she has a cold."
Emma: "Oh, No!"
Ms. Bates: "Oh, Yes!" Mm. But, the good news far outweighs it. Far, far, far. For she is coming to visit!"

I keep thinking of these lines as it fairly accurately describes my life right now. I do have a cold. It has been rough on my already tired pregnant body and has brought back increased nausea. But the good news is we are coming to visit at the end of this month. We will be in Utah for just 5 days. I wish it was much longer but can hardly wait to be home in the mountain air with my family. We will spend a few days at a family reunion and then attend Nate's cousin's wedding and we are planning to attend our ward in Provo on Sunday. We can hardly wait. Hopefully we will get to see many of our dear family and friends.

Happy 29th Birthday Nate!

We are happy to celebrate our wonderful Nate today. There are hundreds of things we love about him. We thought we'd just list 29 for his special day. So here's to you, Nate. We love...

1. That you go to work early so you can come home early to spend time with us and never complain about being tired even though you get up way earlier than the rest of us.
2. Your wonderful singing voice
3. That you love the outdoors - going camping, hiking, or just observing bugs and trees. You enjoy nature like a kid but understand it like an expert.
4. Your Spryness
5. That the kids think you don't like treats because you eat lots of treats only after they are in bed.
6. How much you love people, all people. And you really take the time to get to know them by serving them.
7. That you have learned to eat vegetables for me and always swallow some down to be a good example to the kids. And now one of your most requested meals is Veggie Pitas.
8. Your bow-leggedness
9. That you magnify your callings so well in an effort to simplify and bring people to Christ. Whether you are the exec. secretary, or the scout master, or the sunday school counselor you always get things organized and, more importantly, touch peoples lives for the better.
10. That you can pick up and run 5 miles like its nothing.
11. That your waste size is smaller than your age.
12. That you came up with the idea and happily put a chocolate coating on my "morning sickness" pills so i could swallow them each night without gagging.
13. Your muscles
14. That you have put up with my fruit picking and preserving obsession year after year even though you don't like dried fruit.
15. That you do everything with whole-hearted enthusiasm.
16. How smart you are. Your brain works in an amazing way. With your PhD you are officially the expert on Vapor-Liquid Equilibrium of Polymer Solutions During Thermal Decomposition of Rigid Foams. Congratulations.
17. That you joined the emergency response team at work because you love to help people and because putting out large fires and crawling through small spaces to rescue people sounds fun to you.
18. That you are such a very hard worker. You enjoy a challenge and complete tasks with a smile.
19. How financially smart you are. Thanks for helping us to budget and save even when we had very little and helping us work toward good financial goals.
20. That you research everything in detail before purchasing or trying things out.
21. How much you love our families. How your parents and siblings rely on you for advise and support. And that you love my family and are happy to spend time with them.
22. Your competitive nature when playing games, that you just have to win. But also that that competitiveness does not flow over into the rest of your life as pride.
23. How good you are with our kids. You are so good at getting them to calm down when they are upset and at having fun with them. Having you with us makes everything more fun.
24. That even with my big tummy you still tell me i am beautiful and you are excited that our family is growing.
25. How you tell me that you love me at the end of every phone conversation. Even if it was just 30 seconds long and even if we just talked 5 minutes ago, you make sure i know.
26. How you really teach the kids about science-y things. Explaining down to even a sub-atomic level to help them understand how things work. (They like your answers alot better than they like my "Just because that's how it is" answer.)
27. That you encourage/force me to do hard things because you know it will help me grow.
28. Your dark hair and long elephant eyelashes and amazing dimples. You are so hot!
29. You! You are the best friend, husband, and father we could ever ask for. Thanks for your work, your example, your testimony, and your love.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NATE!!

Pioneer Week

As i said before in a previous post, Pioneer Day is my favorite holiday. So, our family turned it into kind of a week of celebrating these amazing pioneers. Last Monday we had a very fun FHE pioneer party with several of our good friends here. We put out the pioneer quilt, plugged in our "cold fire" (built with logs, a fan, some light bulbs and tissue paper) and told pioneer stories. Outside we had games for the kids, kid and adult crafts, and a mini covered wagon for the kids to pull around and even ride in. We served cobbler from the dutch oven, homemade ice cream and whole wheat rolls with hand shook butter. The ice cream turned out more like a raspberry milkshake but our sweet friends were kind enough to eat it anyway. We really had a fun night and i felt a little more connected to my Utah home.
Then on Thursday we set off on another adventure. As soon as Nate got home from work we started driving to Nauvoo, IL. It was quite an exciting adventure trying to get there. We hit a big storm just outside of Kansas City. Long story short - We ended up turning around at 1:00 am to find a detour as we did not feel safe driving through water up to door handles. Thanks to our trusty and cheerful dad we made it to Nauvoo safe and dry. We had a wonderful time there. We enjoyed seeing all the historic sites and shops, and learned alot about pioneer life. The kids collected many souvenirs like a rope that they helped make, a Nauvoo brick, self-braided rag ropes, prairie diamond rings, and a piece of wood branded with a picture of the Nauvoo temple. We got to see the pageant and enjoyed many of the pre-show activities. I even got to tie a few stitches on a quilt which made me feel at home and gave me lots of joy. I got to see a second cousin who is on her mission in the area and some family friends from Salt Lake were performing in the pageant. We loved seeing the re-built temple and being so close to it day and night. It is amazing. I was reminded of the remarkable strength our temple covenants can and should give us.
To make all of this even better we got to share it with our wonderful cousins, Kristin and Sarah. They are working at a shop there for the summer. It was so good to see them. They kept our kids entertained, fed us amazing breakfasts (french toast with "preview to paradise syrup" and special whipped topping, SOO YUMMY!), arranged for us to stay our first night in a beautiful hotel room, took us on walks to special places, and were just generally wonderful to talk to and be with. We are so glad we made it to Nauvoo while they were there. Thank you for everything, you two.
I love and admire the pioneers. I am constantly amazed by their faith and courage and unfaltering obedience to the prophets of God. They are truly an inspiration to me of cheerfully doing all that we are asked to do and trusting that God will take care of everything. I am grateful we were able to celebrate and remember them and i pray that i will be able to imitate, in some way, their inspiring qualities.