5 weeks off track...

The girls went back to school today after a 5 week break! Oh, it was not fun to set an alarm for 7:00! Ava and I don't know what to do with ourselves. She is bored and just wants to watch Shrek over and over again. She is obsessed. She also loves The Wiggles and Elmo. I just put her down for a nap and instead of laundry, I'll do some blogging :)

We had a great time while the girls were off track. I love having them home with me and they love playing with Ava. We didn't do a lot of activities, just lots of hanging out. Christmas fun took up a bunch of the time. We went to Classic Skating a few times (thanks to a free bounce back pass). We headed down to St. George to Mike and Martsi's house over Martin Luther weekend. We had a wonderful time and loved hanging out with The Strong's, my Mom and Dad, and Bre and Danny. Tiff and Nate moved down there in December but were leaving for a baseball tournament in Vegas that weekend. We were able to spend Thursday night and most of Friday with them before they left. It is really weird and sad not to have them around here, they are loved and missed! Our family inherited a great present upon their departure, we were asked to "cat-sit" until they got their own place (they are staying at my parents St. George house for now)

This is "Twinkle." He is missing at the moment, we haven't seen him in a couple weeks. I don't have a picture of "Vader", he is dark gray and comes home every night. When we first got them, Vader went missing for a week and half. He returned one evening and has been back each night ever since. Twinkle stayed here from the beginning but is now gone? These cats are odd! They only come home at night to eat and sleep, then they leave for the entire day. Chris LOVES cats, especially these two. He is on a mission to get them to be inside cats, it just isn't going to happen. I do think they are pretty cool, but despise cat hair in my home. I've been told that if Twinkle ever comes back, the cats are going in the basement so they can't wander so much. Chris wants one of those cat house tower things and a liter box and he said just every once in a while, they can sleep in one of our beds - WHAT? NEVER! Anyway, that is the cat saga. More to come later, I'm sure. Oh, and by the way, Chris and the girls have told Tiff and Nate they can't have the cats back, they are now ours!?!?!

Here are a few photo's from our time off of school...

The laziness in the morning around here is a bit out of control. We love to take our time and hang out in bed for a while each day :)

Bella loves to do this "klutz book" knitting project. We have about 20 cute oven mitts laying around this house if anybody needs some.

Lots of reading. I am so happy that my girls LOVE to read!

This is in St. George after a fun day at the "twisty park" by my mom and dad's house. Poor Ava took a header into wood chips after shooting out of a slide. They scratched her face up pretty good.

Mya before...

Mya after...

The time finally came to have Mya's retainer of teeth removed. I can't believe 4 years have passed since her little accident! Her permanent teeth are just about to pop through. A big Thanks to our friend Micah who did the honor of removing the device. We'll be seeing him regularly for the next 10 + years. She has major issues in that sweet smile!

I stole this picture from Annie's blog, I hope that's ok? I love this photo. Cutest girls having a ball at the Utes gumnastic's meet. Josephine, Elise and Bella.

And finally -

A weekend of fun, laughter, lots of food and snacks, and lego's with the Johnson boys! These two are a crack up and opened up a whole new world into the Morley household. Girls vs. Boys = night and day difference :) I had no idea! We loved every minute of it and hope Ryan and Angie enjoyed their time in tropical paradise! Let us know when we can help again!

Well, no recap in this post. I keep thinking I should just abandon the rest of 2009, really, 6 more months?

Craziness!

I'm still here. Way too busy to blog. My goal is to post next week :) Lots of fun things are happening around here....

St. George trip

Sickness in the form of Croup, Colds and The Pukes :(

And finally, lots of hyper, cute kids running around my house, eating me out of house and home! (Is that still an expression? I remember my mom saying it all the time when we were little.)

May 2009

Chris started up a commercial construction business in September 2008. He hired his wonderful mother to be his office manager. Last week in a phone conversation, she told him to sit down because she had some big news. She then announced that she would officially retire in April of this year. She had kind of hinted to this a few months ago, so I don't think he was terribly surprised. He stewed around for a minute wondering who they were going to hire. All of the sudden, his face lit up and he said, " you can do it!" Pointing to me!?!? Well after much discussion and thought, I will be taking over as office manager of Maverix Contracting. It is a strange feeling to be going back to work after a two year break. If I could pick a job though, this would be it. It is very laid back, at home kind of work. I'm hoping to do most of the work first thing in the morning and while Ava is napping. The extra income will be huge bonus as well! Enough about that, let's get on with 2009 :)

I love the month of May, it's finally warm! One of the highlights happened on the Saturday before Mother's Day. Chris was late to Bella's soccer game. When he did show up, I noticed he had a strap on his shoulder, kind of purse looking. I walked up to him and asked what he was carrying. He said "surprise" and whipped out a camera bag. What? He opened it and there was a brand new, high tech camera. It's the Cannon Rebel xsi, for all you knowledgeable camera folk. I, on the other hand, know nothing about this subject. I was very excited however for an upgrade from our point and shoot. (I still need major classes or lessons) It was put to work right away and it really does make a difference to have this kind of camera. Here a few shots taken that day....

Our first lesson should be lighting.

Bella and Mae, happily started posing while Chris was testing out the new camera. These two were really getting into it and were having a great time.

Cutie!

We took a trip down to St. George with the Johnson's and Hadley Wood. We love this get away. Not too far, very warm, and just plain relaxing. The kids love to swim, swim, swim and play at the park. We're very lucky to have parents who have a home to enjoy down there!

Chalk on the driveway is always the first thing the girls love to do upon arrival. It will entertain them forever. The only draw back is the mess all over their bodies. If it keeps them busy, who cares, right?

Mya, now missing tooth number two.

Mya, Bella and Hadley, ready to swim.

Ava couldn't wait to get in the water.

The girls have mastered the monkey bars and love to do it over and over again. The only thing that stops them, is when they get blisters.

Mya is such a character, check out her silly face.

Mya discovered a new hobby this time down. Snail collecting. They are everywhere, she would group them into families according to their size. I couldn't believe how many she collected. She even got yelled at with her new found love and was told to "leave the snails alone" from a crabby old neighbor lady :)

Our failed attempt to get a picture of all the kids together. This is the best one out of several shots.

Noah

Cole, flying a kite.

Chris and Ava taking it easy after a fun day at the park.

Ryan got tired as well :)

Emery

This is the only picture I have of Angie. Not the greatest lighting. She disappears when the camera is out.

As you can see, we had a great time. Are you still with me? This post has been SO long!

April 2009

I'm Back! I don't know if I should have committed to this blogging thing. The days zoom by so fast and wouldn't you know it, another day without a post :) I'm thinking this recap will take many weeks. I guess it's better late than never?

I remember so clearly this past April eating at Annie's house one Saturday evening. The 4 of us, Annie, Kenyon, Chris and myself started discussing my brother in law, Mike's, food storage business called Daily Bread. As we were talking about how well the company was doing, our husband's started getting this look in their eyes... wouldn't it be so great if you two (Annie and me) sold for Daily Bread? Two women who were passionate about food storage would kill it! What? A salesperson? NEVER! Well it was decided that weekend that we would team up and become "The Housewives of Daily Bread" (Annie didn't like this name, but Chris thought it was brilliant) We started a website, with lots of Kenyon help, Conference weekend. All of the sudden the leads came flooding in. We had calls and appointments every day of the week. It was much more than we bargained for, and a week into it, way too busy! We went strong for about 3 weeks and then decided to have people join in and help with the load. We would now be managers. Two women were recruited and we were off and running. Sadly, or maybe not that sad, our website was shut down and the Housewives were no longer. I was secretly happy, I'm not cut out for sales and I hated leaving my family each night. Annie and I had SO many laughs and oh, the stories we could tell. There are some very interesting people out there. I totally love this food though! It is THE ONLY way to do food storage in my humble opinion. Freeze dried meals that taste amazing and all you do is add water. The shelf life is over 30 years and it is very compact. It was an adventure while it lasted anyway :)

April had many other happenings...

The Zoo

Ava's first time on a Carousel. She kept saying "OHHH", while pulling this face.

No, she is not scared or sad. Just really excited! Funny face.

Cute Cousins! Mya, Mason, Harley and Bella. Another funny face, this time from Mya.

Mya on the train.

Discovery Gateway

Notice the blur in the background? Every picture of Ava is blurry because she wouldn't hold still for a second. This was our first time at Discovery Gateway and the girls loved it.

Another blurry iphone picture, it's the only one I had of my sweet Bella. (speaking of iphones, we had to get rid of ours :( We switched to Sprint to save a boat load of money. I absolutely loved the iphone and have had a major adjustment to this new one. It's called the HTC Hero. It's suppose to be like the iphone but it doesn't even compare. This new one is very complicated, glitchy, and SLOW! I would go back to the iphone in a heartbeat if I could!)

Also in April, Easter...

Up at Mike and Martsi's house for the easter egg hunt.

Mya and Mom

I didn't get any great shots of Ava, just this little video. Last Easter, she was 2 weeks old. She thought this "find candy on the ground" thing was pretty cool.

It's a tradition to get a shot of the grandkids on steps like this. (Clint and Britt's and Tiff and Nate's kids are missing) I have one for every year since Bella was born. Fun memories.

And, last but not least in April, Mya lost her first tooth! (We don't count the 4 she knocked out as a Toddler :)

Ava One Year Old!

I was introduced to Heidi Jamieson through ladies in the neighborhood. I remember seeing her at church for a few weeks right when we moved in, but then her family moved. I was told she was an amazing photographer. It was quite evident from all the pictures on everybody's walls in their homes, Heidi took them all. I had never ventured out from your good ol' Kiddie Kandid's, or Sears photography studio's. I was very excited to get the girls pictures taken. Our first time using her was before Ava was born. The results were great, and I have used her ever since. She really does capture the greatest shots and I am so happy with her work.

I really wish I could post every picture of Ava's one year photo shoot :). She was a total ham. She had many expressions and would kick her little legs on every surface we put her on. Her legs are blurry for most of the shots. Just too add a little more spice, she woke up with a cold. I was wiping her nose before each picture. I was so nervous that she would be ornery but being the angel baby she always is, she was absolutely adorable.

Here she is looking down at her legs as she is kicking them like crazy.

Still kicking, and laughing. Even after an outfit change :)

If I had to pick just one favorite, this would be it! Oh, that sweet face!

I would like to add that on top of being this wonderful photographer, Heidi is even more wonderful to have for a friend. We have been on several girls trips together (by the way, I'm pretty sure it's time for another!) and she is the most sincere, would do anything for anybody, kind of person. I am SO glad I met this great lady!