My Morgan Man

I know it has been a super long time. And I don't want to recap the last six months. I think I'll just pick up with what is going on now. Morgan, as you can see is growing right up. He picks up on the little games that his brother and sister play and quite enjoys them. He took his first steps at 14 months to the day. That was four days ago and since then he will only venture if he thinks we aren't looking.

Also something about this guy that is worth recording: After about four month of moving into this place in Fountain Green, I finally hung some pictures on the wall. One is located in Wyatt and Misty's room, and it is a picture that my grandma gave me for graduation. It's a picture of Christ holding a little boy in a garden observing a blue butterfly. Anyway, the other day, Morgan was crying so I picked him up and started walking around. I stopped at that picture to observe it. It's like new to me again since it's been in storage for a year. Morgan looked at it, pointed, and grinned from ear to ear. I looked at him admiring his grin and watched his mouth make out and speak the word "Jesus" as he pointed and grinned. It was the sweetest thing ever and a testament to me that we really did know and love our Savior in the pre-mortal life. It is so important to do our best to have that relationship with Him in this life as well. I am grateful for this knowledge and moments of strength like this.

Miracles

My church calling is in the Primary. This month has been all about the Miracles that Jesus Christ performed while he was on the earth. As I've listened each week to the scriptures and stories, I have thought to myself about the miracles that I witness on a daily basis. I'm not going to list them. They are personal, and sometimes a miracle for me wouldn't mean the same to you. All of our miracles occur in our little family, and are usually related to the children. There is one that came to mind while I was making the babies bed (adding the bumper, sheets, etc.) I was thinking about where this crib set came from. We got it after we had Wyatt. Most couples buy that stuff before the baby arrives, but we were so poor, it just wasn't a priority at the time. Wyatt was born a week before Ross' last semester of classes. We moved to Fountain Green after that while he did his student teaching in the spring. Student teaching means no pay.

We lived in his sister's basement for a time and lived off of our savings. Wyatt was getting older and it was time for him to move from the bassinet to the crib. My parents had already offered their crib that they used for their last few babies. So we were set there, but we had no sheets or anything. If anyone has ever purchased these crib sets before, you know they can be very pricey. They were more than we could afford, even the ones on sale were too expensive for us. I worried about what we could do. That week I received a call from my parents. My aunt had sent up a bunch of boy clothes for me to come look at. Her son is about two years older than Wyatt, so he was well out of anything Wyatt could use. Among this stuff was a complete Winnie the Pooh crib set with extra sheets! I was amazed and overcome with gratitude. We were provided for, and it truly was a miracle to us! I'm still using this set on my third baby and it is a reminder to me of the tender mercies the Lord has on each of us daily.

I challenge you to look for the daily miracles in your life. I would love to even read some posts of them. Thanks for reading.

July

Here are some goings on for us. July was our busiest month, so bear with me on the picture overload. Above is a picture of Morgan and his buddy who is 3 MONTHS younger than him. It shocked me when we put them side by side. He will be a big boy!

Below is a picture that kind of goes along with my last post about Mischievous Misty. That is baby powder, and that is not the only time she has done this, but this was the best of the artwork. Luckily it was JUST baby powder.

To start off Lamb Day this year we ran a 5k. Me and Ross with our good friends Grant and Holly. I hadn't trained at all, so I decided to try the course a few days before the actual race. I ran it pretty well that time,considering, but I was so sore when it came time for the race, that I was just hoping to finish. Ross finished way ahead of me. When I made the last turn, where the last stretch was uphill, I had to walk. Then I looked up to see that Ross was coming back for me, and he finished, again, with me. It was very sweet, and it gave me the will to at least jog to the end.

Getting ready for the parade.

Ross pulled the Lamb Day royalty in his dad's truck.

Miss Lamb Day Royalty. Ross' baby sister is the Queen in the pink dress.

Ross' dad driving the team pulling the city council. Can you see the colt?
Ross drove the same team for our Primary to have a float in the Pioneer Day Parade. I didn't get any pics. We were all dressed up like Pioneers. Everyone commented on how authentic we looked. Er, I guess...minus the rubber wheels and padded seats.

Something memorable for Wyatt. They hold softball games the whole week of Lamb Days. I had just given the baby to Aunt Alice so I could clean up Wyatt's skinned knees. As I held him on my lap, I heard a "head's UP!" I looked up just in time to hear a POP! then my little boy wailing. We got up and took him under some lights, where four different nurses concluded that there was no concussion, and he would be fine. This is a picture with the guy who threw the ball. He was throwing from 2nd to 3rd, but overthrew. The ball skimmed the bar above the chain-linked fence, which luckily slowed it down some. We were right in line with it. The kid felt really bad. We were just grateful it was nothing serious. This picture was taken a few days later.

Wiped out after the fireworks.

Glad to be home in our own beds.
During the week we stayed in a sheep camp parked on Grandma Bailey's lawn. It was nice to be where all the action was and not have to pack and haul the kids over there every day.

These two pictures were taken at the Cox Family Reunion.
Above is my handsome cowboy, and Buddy Boy coming behind him.
Below is Wyatt and his 2nd cousin making tracks. I never realized how much they looked alike until I saw this picture. It was a good time. Wish I would've gotten more pictures.

Grandpa Cox is passed away, and his birthday was that weekend when the reunion was held. Grandma and her four children all got up to talk about about him. Then they had a slide show with some very cool pictures throughout his life. I never knew him, but i felt like I got to know him a little better, and as I get to know his children, I can see him in each of them. I hope that made sense. It was the highlight of the reunion for me.

Misty is 2!!

Our little Misty Mae is 2 now. We had family over for a little party. It's so nice for her to know how much she is loved. We appreciate everyone who came.

I have to say that she has been my most challenging child so far. She is such a busy body. I can't leave anything on the table or counter or else she will get into it, eat it, make a mess with it, or all of the above. I guess that is normal for little ones. Wyatt was never that way, which has made toddler-hood a whole different adventure for us with her. She is, although, very bright and a fast learner, so she must be learning a lot through all of her discovering and mischief.

She loves to pour water. If I leave a partially full cup of water on the counter, she will find an empty something (cup, bowl) and pour them back and forth to each other. While very cute, this makes quite a mess. Over time, she has learned where the towels are to clean up her mess, and mom has learned not leave cups of water on the table. That doesn't stop her though. I've caught her drinking milk from her sippy cup, and spitting it into a cup so she could have liquid to pour. She has also fetched water out of the toilet. After that, I decided that it wasn't so bad to let her explore with regular drinking water.

She knows quite a few letters by sight, and a couple of sounds. She learns songs really fast, and always wants me to sing to her. Each of our kids have a song that their daddy has kind of named to each of them, and she loves to hear Misty's song which is "Zoe Jane" by Staind. We substitute "Misty Mae" for Zoe Jane. She loves kittys and playing outside and their pool outside (go figure). As a baby she was always skinny, and she still is, but has filled out some, and still eats just as much as her big brother. She gives the best hugs, and LOVES to play with her baby brother. She makes my days interesting with some of her dramatic fits, but I think that is the package deal when you are given a girl. I love my little princess so much! Happy Birthday!

Side note: I'm not sure what has happened to my blog background. It was just gone one day. I've tried to fix it a few times, but I'm not really sure what I'm doing. Any pointers to help me so I won't have to create anew blog would be appreciated. Thanks!

Summer!

It is SUMMER! My favorite time of year! Above is the one and only picture our first trip to Nevada. (I forgot to charge my camera battery:( )We went to Moapa, where I grew up. I have three sisters who live there now. We went down for my nephew's baptism. We swam at Daisie's house. They have a nice and kid friendly pool. It was a fun trip. I wanted to get all the sun I could.it is extremely HOT down there. I got a little greedy and ended up with the worst sunburn of my life.

Lucky for me, it turned into a tan. Yes, this is me tan. (I've turned quite pasty white over the years of living in UT.) And just in time for our second trip to NV. This time it was more northern to Reno and Carson City for my BFF Laura's wedding where I was part of the wedding party. Yeas, I had two escorts, because there were a LOT of groomsmen. Laura's parents basically turned their backyard into a reception wedding lot. It was beautiful, and so was the ceremony.

Tracy, Megan, and Autumn getting dressed upstairs.

The happy couple!

Laura and Somer. Somer was the Maid of Honor. She was so awesome at keeping Laura somewhat stress-free. I was put into their dorm in college, we were inseparable throughout, and have remained BF's ever since. Love these girls!

Me and Autumn. Another BFF(I'm sorry I keep using that like a high school girl, but it's true and writing it takes too long:)I think she's checking me out or something. HA! We stayed with her and Rory and their sweet little Benjamin who is just a few months older than Morgan. They were so gracious, and we enjoyed getting to know them all a little better.

All the bridesmaids. We were posing for the photographer, and Ross was a little late. That's okay. Action shots are the best!

The entire wedding party. I told you there were a LOT of groomsmen.

Wyatt LOVED their pond. At first he loved finding rocks to throw in it, but we talked him into keeping it nice, so he would just sit, mesmerized by the waterfall.

My husband is the MAN! He juggled all three kids not only during the ceremony, but the whole day while I got to be pampered at a salon with my friends. He's the one that made this trip possible in every way. Everyone commented on what an amazing father he is and how lucky I am. All I could say was, "I know."

Daddy's and babies!

Enjoying hors d'oeuvres

Everyone loved the roly poly man. Who wouldn't? Look at that flirty smile.

Me and Megan, another BFF, saying our good-byes. Can you tell I'd been crying? We left after the dinner and speeches and cake. Our children were exhausted! It was a fun trip for them. We arrived Thursday evening. Since the wedding wasn't until Saturday, we had all day Friday to play. We went swimming which the kids loved, and it was a pretty relaxing day. I enjoy getting the chance to go for visits. I'm sure Ross wouldn't pick Reno for a vacation spot, and I'm not sure how much fun it was for him. But I was grateful to him for letting me have this break, and being able to get all primped and pretty, because all you mom's know that just doesn't get to happen very often.

Potty Trained

Well, we finally made it! Wyatt is potty trained. And this was his incentive and it worked. He got to go up and ride on the Big Thomas. We told him we would take him if he kept going in the potty. It was off and on for a while. He'd wanna wear a diaper, then he'd wanna wear underwear. Once I told him he could ride on Thomas, he decided that's what he wanted to do. It was pretty easy once he got the hang of it, and I'm so proud of him. It was about three weeks ago when I made this promise. Since he doesn't quite grasp the concept of time, he began to think he was never going to ride on it. As we got closer to the event, I'd ask him if he wanted to ride on Thomas, and he would reply, "Wyatt's too big." Once we pulled up to the Heber Creeper and Thomas the Tank was at the head, he realized that he would get to ride Thomas. Felicia and I took our kids up(minus Misty), and had a fun time.

The picture above is at the Dairy Keen where we ate before we headed over to the fairgrounds. They had Thomas chugging through the whole restaurant, and every kids' meal came with a wooden whistle.

They got to meet Sir Topham Hat, who is apparently scary. Felicia had to step in to make them feel more comfortable by him.

They had play centers, movies, and a gift shop. We played in all these places while we waited to ride the train.

We finally got on the train. The kids enjoyed themselves, and the weather was nice.

Me and my boys.

Felicia, Kaylee, and Dusty. They all got a little viewfinder. Dusty is treating it like a camera.

It was hard to keep them still in their picture with Thomas. They just wanted to look at him.

Skipping Dinner

Do you think he was hungry this morning?