Oh, Brother

Clark, Greg, Holly, Katie, Karen, and me.

I wanted to share some exciting news about both my cute, i mean very cool, brothers.
Greg is engaged! He will marry Ami Goodliffe on December 27th in the Timpanogos Temple. We were lucky enough to meet her on our short trip to Utah and are excited to have her as part of our family.
Clark received his mission call. He will be serving two years in the Canada, Calgary mission. It looks like a beautiful (but cold) place. He will report to the MTC on January 7th. We are so excited for him to serve and know he will be a wonderful representative of Jesus Christ.
Way to go Brimhall brothers! Love you both!

2nd Trimester

Finally! I am finally in that nice part of my pregnancy when i am no longer sick and can enjoy feeling the baby dance inside of me. I have been able to stop taking my morning sickness medicine this week and am doing well. It is wonderful to finally be in my 2nd trimester. Unfortunately this change comes when i am actually 35 weeks along. So i also have the challenges of the last weeks of being pregnant.
Here are some confessions from a very pregnant woman:
* I waddle - i don't even try to fight it anymore. It gets so bad sometimes that i think i may need a hip transplant when this is all done.
* I justify myself in having extra helpings of casserole, fruit, meat, and dessert - all for the baby, of course. But rarely feel compelled to eat extra vegetables for him. (He must have his dad's genes)
* Every night i wear bright yellow pajamas (the only ones that still fit) and i look like a giant banana.
* I laugh and cry a lot, uncontrollably, at the same time, for no reason at all.
* I grunt and groan whenever i sit down, stand-up, or roll over in bed.

Just four more weeks now, hopefully less so my parents can be here. In the meantime i am going to eat extra dessert, waddle, moan and look like a banana.

Pictures at Random

Here are some cute but unrelated pictures i have been wanting to post. First Day of School. Morgan was all ready and excited to go. He had a mosquito bite on one ear which made it huge. It just added to his cuteness that day. He has worn this same shirt at least once a week since then.
The Drop Off. Here he is on the first day in front of his cubby. He was getting emotional but i was able to snap one picture. Emma loves dropping off and picking up Morgan from school. A few times the teacher has even let her come into the classroom to play.
I've Got All My Sisters With Me. This is another picture from our trip to Utah. The girls went shopping the first day to get supplies. Karen was working but surprised us by showing up at Costco. Yes, it totally made me cry, hormones.
Independent Emma. She picked out her colorful outfit and wanted three ponytails. She hung out at the top of the cliff all day while Nate and i helped people rappel. When i asked her if she had fun at the top she said, "Yes. But i was forced to go to sleep up here." It was a long day.
Go Morgan. On Labor Day we went canoeing and rappelling at Osage Hills State park (just 30 min. from our house). This was Morgan's first rappelling experience. He was scared but did great. The more he talks about it the more excited he is to go again. Emma says she will go too next time.

Hope you enjoyed our pictures. Thanks for checking on us. We love you all.

A Vacation back Home

Last week we were able to go home to Utah for a few days. When we first touched ground in the Mountain West (the Denver Airport) Emma said, "Mom, we're going home to Grandma 'Chele's!!!" It was so sweet. We spent just 5 days in Utah but were able to fit in time with both our families. What a blessing!
The first part of the trip was spent at Heber Valley Girl's Camp for a Brimhall family reunion. It is such a beautiful and special place. We stayed in the Marjorie Pay Hinckley camp. Some highlights included:
*belting out our family "Camp Sparkle Song"
*tin-foil dinners cooked in the fire
*Nate's lock-picking victory (don't worry he had permission)
*hearing Grandma B read her poetry
*our family filling the lake with paddleboats
*cheering on all the brave people who did the high ropes course
*listening to Morgan's wild sick-induced sleep talking (he can count to 19 in his sleep! literally)
*Emma wandering through the camp in beautiful princess dresses
*farm stories from my Dad and Uncles
*talking, laughing and crafting with aunts, uncles and cousins
*late night chatting with my siblings and parents
And lots of other family fun.

On Saturday we were back in Salt Lake for cousin Melissa's wedding at the temple there. Thanks to Carrie for watching our kids so we could both attend the special sealing. Again it was wonderful to be with the Kings. While we waited for the couple to come out Morgan struck a great business deal and sold his peanut butter cracker for 40 cents. Awesome! After all the pictures we ate lunch at the official restaurant of the King family - Chuck-A-Rama!
We rushed back for pictures with my family (my brother was able to get away from Utah State University so we could have the whole gang there). I was lucky enough to find my dear friend, Jill, in the canyon and had a few minutes to talk to her. That night we dashed up to the wedding reception in Bountiful, then back to my parents house, then down to Provo to stay the night at Jamie and Kamrah's apartment (Thank you!) Sunday we got to visit the Ostensons and attend our old ward in Provo. It was so fun to be there. We wish we had had more time to visit with everyone. It was great to see some dear friends. We dashed back to Salt Lake for one more dinner with my family and just barely made it to the airport for our flight thanks to 'Chele's skilled driving.
It was a fabulous trip. We probably packed way too much in but it was all worth it and i wouldn't cut anything out (just make it all longer). We have mostly recovered from the fatigue and are back in our OK routine here. Thanks to everyone who made our trip so fun.

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.