We decided to go visit family in Utah this year for Christmas.  Kirk had work off on the 2 ends of the holidays and had to fly home to Washington in the middle to work.  We all drove down to Provo together on December 19.  We spent the first few days with Kirk's family.  Kirk went fishing with his dad one day and me the next.  We had a good time and really enjoyed being able to relax without little kiddos around.  Cade had lots of fun playing with Grandma and Grandpa.  They made cookies, played with tractors, built roads, and set up Christmas decorations. 

Cami had fun chasing skeeter around and climbing up and down the stairs.  Kirk's brother Scott and his wife Kara drove down Friday night and got in around 5 am Saturday.  Kirk's Aunt Marsh, Uncle Steve and cousin Cody drove from Minnesota and arrived on Saturday afternoon.  Kirk's Grandparents flew in on Sunday.  With all of those people staying at the same place, we left on Saturday to stay at my parents' house.  We were able to go back to Provo and see Kirk's family on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday as well.  Sunday was my birthday and we had some yummy treats with my family and relaxed.  Kirk went elk hunting (no elk) and fishing again.  We opened Christmas presents and made a pumpkin cheesecake too.

4 Generations of Morris'

Tuesday we had a family party with my Dad's family at my parents' house.  I had fun seeing people and chatting.  I played games with my cousins and sister.  Cade found the appetizer plate pretty quickly and filled up on pickles, crackers and cheese.  He also loved being able to get water from the big cooler.  We had Santa come visit at the end.  Cade wanted nothing to do with him and cried when I took him closer, but he sure loved the new pajamas that Santa brought!  Cami played for a while and went to bed in the middle of the party.  A big bonus to staying at the same place as the party!

Wednesday was Christmas day.  Cade was so excited to see the presents under the tree and Cami enjoyed the wrapping paper.  My mom had cinnamon rolls ready for breakfast and a yummy egg casserole we ate after opening gifts.  We had a lot of fun.  Kirk and I got a new tablet from my parents.  Cade and Cami got hooded bath towels, some magic coloring stuff and some clothes.  My sister Lindsey had our family and she gave us some awesome preschool stuff, clothes for Cami and a fishing tippet holder for Kirk.  We just hung out the rest of the day until I took Kirk to the airport. 

Opening stockings

We gave my parents a multi-cooker

Cami and Cade loved the remote control helicopter my brother got

Cade's new hat

Cami's new dress

I need to get some pictures from Kirk's mom's camera--but this is a start!

Connor is Kirk's 23-year old brother and he has been here visiting us for the last 3 weeks.  He has down syndrome.  I have really enjoyed having him here.  He has enjoyed us too.  He has been a big help and gotten used to being with our kids too.  When he first got here, he didn't want to hold Cami or anything, now he will get her out of her car seat anytime we go somewhere and has even gotten her out of bed a few times. I was really surprised at how helpful he was.

• I was able to leave him with sleeping child/children while I did visiting teaching (yay!) and can take a shower while Cami is up. 
• Connor has helped unload all of our groceries, cut up things for dinner, and kept Cade laughing and happy. 
• Today we stayed home and cleaned the house.  He vacuumed for us, watched Cami while I cleaned the bathroom, cleaned the stove, dusted our shelves and a few others things and then folded the laundry!  Wow.  I should keep him around. 
•  He likes to use his iPad for research.  Usually he reads about fishing, but he gave me some parenting and potty training advice too. 
• He was able to go to the trampoline park with us and had a lot of fun.  He came to our ward party and studied Santa for a while, deciding if it was the real one or just a helper.  I'm not sure what he decided but after a while he came back with a treat bag because he sat on Santa's lap! 
• I had to mediate between him and Cade a few times when the couldn't agree to whose turn it was.  Sometimes I found myself explaining every decision I was making too. 
• He helped me make fudge and caramels, and I really couldn't have done it without him.  For the caramels he stood at the stove and stirred for about 50 min.  He kept telling me that he loved stirring. 

We are really glad that Connor came to stay for a while.  I think we may have to do it again sometime. 

• Cade loves to sing and dance.  We have a Christmas reindeer that plays jingle bells and he dances and sings and runs around.  He has started to sing with us and repeat words during the song.
• One day I was feeding Cami a bottle and couldn't stop when Cade said "potty Mommy!"  I told him to go in the bathroom and pull his pants down.  He ended up going all by himself and even washed his hands and flushed the toilet.  He still wears diapers at nights and wets during naps about half of the time, but when he is awake, he is great.
• Cade is getting more stubborn.  He likes to say no and figure out how long I will let him get away with it.  Typical 2-year old, I guess, but I'm still getting used to it. 
• Cade has loved having Connor here the last few weeks.  One night Cade wouldn't let me brush his teeth so I told him Connor would do a funny dance after I brushed them.  So he let me and Connor did and now Connor dances with Cade after every teeth brushing!
• Cade has had a lot of fun shooting hoops with his dad and Connor.  Every once in a while he yells "on fire!" just like Kirk does.
• Some of Cade's favorite phrases include "so happy," "umm yeah," and "no Cami get it."
• We were watching the Christmas devotional and the choir was singing a church, slow song.  Cade started running around clapping his hands and yelling "Cade love this song"
• Cade and I saw a life-size Santa at Lowes one day.  As we walked up to it, Santa started singing and dancing.  It scared Cade pretty good--he started crying.  But, since that day, he has recognized Santa everywhere we see him.  He has loved watching the classic Santa Clause is Coming to Town and Frosty the Snowman this month.
• Cade loves to see tractors, Christmas lights, and lawn mowers.
• We went to a trampoline place and had a blast!  Cade loved jumping and falling and running into the foam pit.

• He still is fascinated by the garbage truck.  It comes each week between 8:30 and 9 on Monday mornings and we listen really hard until we hear it and then we run out and watch it pick up the garbage on our street.
• Cade takes good care of his sister.  When she cries he runs and gets her a toy, usually the yellow ball.  He will bring a box of trucks into the bathroom when I am doing my hair or getting ready so Cami can play.  He loves to help feed Cami too.  I can put some cut up food or cheerios on the table and Cade will give them to Cami a few at a time.  I am starting to teach Cami to sign "more" too so Cade will ask Cami if she wants more and do the sign to here.  It is so cute. 

• Cade is still a big helper.  One day after putting Cami down for a nap I asked him if he wanted to clean the bathroom, do the dishes or build a road.  He yelled "Clean bathroom right now!"  Ok.  Sounds good to me.

• Cade loves to wave to Kirk in the mornings and will always "Get Daddy juice." (Kirk's Gatorade."  We have a box of it in the garage and Cade gets one every morning for Kirk to take.  I'm not sure how many have piled up in the car :)
• Cade always sits on the counter while I make Kirk's lunch and lately he has wanted his own lunch too.  So I get him a bag with a few things in it.  Later, he will tell me he is going to work and take his lunch and go eat it.  One day, his work was in my closet (which is basically right off our dining room).  He took his chair in there, then drove his car in there and read books and ate his food. 

• We made some treats and took them around to our neighbors for Christmas and Cade thought it was so fun to do it.  He liked to carry the treat and give it to the person himself. 
• He is getting to be a much better talker.  He is starting to use the words I and me instead of always talking in the 3rd person.
• He recognizes letters all over the place and likes to sing the ABC song.  (which he learned from a toy)
• Cade loves to have family night.  One day he found a spiral notebook.  We use the nursery manual for family night and it is also spiral bound.  Anyway, he "read" his book, then sang a short song, then folded his arms and said "amen" and then yelled "treat time!"  Yeah, he knows the important part of family night.
• He is a pretty happy guy (except for when he lays on the floor crying or jumps up and down screaming because I told him no)
  and we love having him around!

• Ready for work--shoes on, waterbottle full

  
  

  Driving the mower truck

  
  

  Using his leaf blower ( not sure where the had idea came from)

   

We were lucky enough to have Kirks parents and brother come for Thanksgiving this year.  They drove up on Wednesday and left on Monday.  Kirk's brother Connor is still here and will be staying with us for a couple of weeks until we go back to Utah for Christmas. 

Thursday Kirk and his dad went fishing.  It was really foggy and cold here all day but they had a sunny day on the lake.  We had a yummy steak-mashed potatoes-broccoli-stuffing dinner.  I made a pumpkin cheesecake with some help from Connor and Tom.  It turned out really good and was a pretty simple dinner to make. 


Friday was really foggy and cold again.  We all did some shopping here and there and played at home.  We set up our Christmas tree and stuff.  Lisa also helped me make a frame for a playhouse out of pvc pipe.  She had leftover from a sprinkler system and it was fun to make.  Now for the sewing. . .

Our tree is on a table this year. . .

Saturday was less foggy and cold.  Kirk and Tom went shooting and then Kirk, Tom, Connor and I went golfing in the afternoon.  It was my second time ever on a course.  I am pretty terrible, but it was fun and nobody else was out there, so it didn't matter that half my balls were on another fairway or that I putted it 5 times!  My goal was to get less than double par and I actually did it on 7/9 holes.  It was fun. 

Sunday was church and more playing and relaxing.  Kirk's other brother spent the holiday with his in-laws in Idaho and came back to have dinner with us.  Monday they got up and left.  We had a lot of fun and I love having visitors here!  Lisa helps a lot with dishes and playing with kids.  Tom had a lot of fun playing with them too.  We'll be with them again in a few weeks!

Cami absolutely LOVES Skeeter.  He is very patient.

It seems that each 3 months is kind of a milestone.  9 months is no exception.  Cami has changed a lot since 6 months.  We were excited that she was sitting up on her own and starting to pull herself forward.  Now she crawls all over, pulls herself up on furniture and is starting to cruise along the couch and push chairs around the room.  At 6 months she was just starting solid foods and now she eats everything we eat and will eat until I quit giving her food.

• Cami loves to crawl into the bathroom, pull herself up on the toilet and suck on the rim.  GROSS!  We keep our toilets wiped down with Lysol wipes and keep the doors shut! 
• She also loves to climb up on the door of the dishwasher and play with the silverware. 
• Cami eats everything she sees.  Her latest favorite is to put a toy in her mouth and crawl around with it there.  She also loves the taste of metal.  The binky strap we have has a metal fastener on one end and she sucks on that all the time. 
• She loves to crawl up on our fireplace step and sit there.
• She loves to crawl up the stairs too.  If I notice it is kind of quiet and I haven't seen Cami in about 15 seconds, I go to the stairs.  I tell her "Cami, I'm gonna get you" and she laughs and tries to climb up really fast to get away. 
• Cami is getting much better at sleeping.  I finally decided to get her on a 2 nap schedule.  The first week we were 2/5 days but now we're at 9/10 days.  She wakes up between 6:30 and 7.  Her first nap is at 9 and she sleeps about 45 min.  Her second nap is at 1 and she sleeps anywhere from 1.5-3.5 hours, usually around 2 hours.  Then it is bed time again between 6:30 and 7.  She goes to sleep great on her own and wakes up happy and ready to play. 
• Cami is really friendly.  She smiles at everyone and loves to laugh.  However, she hates it when other people try to hold her.  She will smile and then give me big hugs and want to stay in my arms. 
• Cami has started dancing.  We have a singing Christmas moose.  When Cade turns it on and runs around she waves her arms all over. 
• Cami found her voice too and yells a lot, especially when she is hungry.  Today I was eating a banana at breakfast and she had food on her tray but started yelling and staring at the banana.  I gave her some and she gobbled it right up!
• Cami likes to read stories.  Her favorites are Brown Bear, I see a Monster, and a touch-and-feel animal book.
• She is a happy, energetic, determined baby who gets into everything and eats everything she can see.  She is really curious and loves her mommy and her brother.  We love her too!