May 21, Jackson graduated from kindergarten.
Luckily it was on a Friday so Brian was able to come.
Jackson was given the award for
"Witty Wisdom"  :)
He told us that he is the 2nd smartest kid
in his class.  One of the other boys is smarter
because he is a reading level ahead.
Jackson has grown & learned so much this year!

Mrs. Hyer is the best kindergarten teacher ever!
She has been perfect for both Morgan & Jackson.
We will miss seeing her at the school as she goes
to a different school.  She is in grandpa &
grandma's ward & her husband serves with Grandpa
so I am sure we will see her often.
She has been such a blessing to us!

And of course our cute neighbro friend Makell.

This picture was taken at graduation, but oh how I love
this boy & his excitement for life.

 

Brian & the kids let me sleep in and then entered the room
with breakfast in bed and these beautiful
rose bushes to plant in the front yard.
I am a spoiled girl & Mom.

 

They weren't to happy to have to take a picture
before church but they still cute. :)

 

Morgan decided back in December that she wanted to have a puppy
party.  She made all the plans of what kind of food she wanted & what
kind of games she wanted to play.  We decided to "adopt" a puppy,
play musical chairs to "Who Let The Dogs Out," play games,
& decorate a doggie bag to take home.

The kids had a blast and it was such a fun party!

That night, Brian & I took Morgan out to dinner
on a special date with just the three of us.

The puppies all ready to be adopted.

Morgan's group of friends with Jackson tucked in too.

Morgan's favorite kind of candy is Twix. 

At the restaurant.  She got a little tired of waiting.

Brian & I worked so hard on getting Morgan's room
painted, Janelle's old bed fixed up with new drawers
underneath, pillows made, and organizing.  We were
up late at night & working hard to get everything done
by her birthday and we did.  We didn't let her
come in until her actual birthday after school. 
She LOVES it!

The plan is that she will share the bed with Hallie
when the baby comes and Hallie moves out of her room.

Details from the party.

 

 

The benefit of being sister to the birthday girl

 

 

 

 

Morgan climbed on the bed and laid
back against the pillows like this.
To me it said, "This is the best day ever!"
Happy Birthday Morgan!

 

I am pretty sure I don't look like this at 8 1/2 months pregnant,

but I do dream peacefully.

If only I had someone to interpret my recent dreams.

Dream #1:  I am at a peaceful  park on the most beautiful summer

day in June.  I am the only one there and everywhere I look, there is

nothing but clear blue skies and rolling green hills and grass.

I look up in the blue blue sky and see hundreds of storks flying up high,

each with their pink or blue bundle of joy that they slowly bring down

 & gently lay down on the grass.

I begin to run from bundle to bundle, so excited to see these

precious babies that the storks have just delivered.

I come upon the first pink bundle and gently pull back

the pink corner.  Instead of finding a precious newborn

baby, I find a poopy diaper.

Disappointed, I continue to the next bundle, this time blue.

Once again, I gently pull back the corner, expecting to see a baby,

and am greeted by a messy diaper instead.

Each bundle becomes a blanket covering a mess- surrounding me.

Everywhere I look there are pink & blue bundles all of which 

contain messy diapers as full as can be.

And then, I wake up.

Dream #2  

I send Brian on a secret mission to go and get as many of the largest

bags of salt as he can find.

He is gone most of the night and I find myself wondering where he is.

At last, he shows up with bag after bag of salt & I am elated.

I wake up and he is in bed beside me and I wonder where all the salt is.

Dream #3

(Early this morning)

Brian and I have stepped back in time and are with our kids

on the Titanic.  We are each dressed in the clothes of that era, including

the boys in knee shorts and the girls in fancy curls.  

Brian is in a brown suit, & I in a cream colored fancy dress with my 

hair in an elegant bun with soft curls around my face.

We are called in to dine at a beautiful mahogany table.  As I wait

for the children to arrive, I know that the ship is about to go down at any minute.

The kids each individually ask me if they can have the purple drink 

for their supper.  I think at first, "No, they can't have wine!"

And then I think,  "Well,  we are all going to die soon anyway, so we

may as well all drink the wine."

The wine goblets are soon passed around and each of my kids has

their own small fish bowl glass of deep purple wine they happily sip from.

And then, I wake up.

Thankfully there is no wine in the fridge.

This is Morgan's best friend- Laryn. They are like
two peas in a pod and act as though they are sisters
whenever they look alike.  Morgan & I went to Laryn's
baptism on Saturday and it was such a sweet & special day.
We love Laryn and couldn't choose a better friend for Morgan.

After Morgan's baptism we all had some quiet time and then
Brian and I took the kids to the park.  We had only been there
for about 5 minutes and I got this cute picture Morgan &
Landon going down the slide together.
(Forgetting that this was how Morgan once broke her leg.)

And of course, this is what happened.
Landon's leg bent back, he started to cry and I knew
it was broken.  Brian said he thought maybe Landon
needed a little extra attention before the baby was born.
At least he looks happy in this picture 

Poor kid has to slide around the floor to get
what he wants.  He is so stinkin cute though.  He will
wear this cast for 2 weeks and then we will see how
he does with the boot because it isn't a huge break.

 

On Tuesday he got his cast on.  Wednesday I went to Primary
Children's Hospital with a pediatric surgeon to schedule a surgery
for Landon to have his hernia repaired.  It was a long & tiring day
with all three kids in Salt Lake at a hospital I wasn't familiar with.

After talking to the doctor, he informed me that not only did Landon
have a hernia in his boy area, but possibly two, as well as one in his belly.
We could either wait a week and do the surgery, do it next month (after
the baby was here) or spontaneously do it the next day- which we did.

My mom took Hallie, Jackson was at school and then went to his
friend Makell's house all day, and then my Mom picked up all 3 kids
and took them to her house while Brian and I took Landon
to the Primary Children's wing of the Riverton Hospital.

They were so good with him.  They had lots of fun things
for him to do and play with while we waited for the surgery to begin.
Brian was so sweet to take the day off to spend with us.  It's always
comforting to have your best friend by your side when your child is
in surgery & when you just need that extra strength and support.

Plus Landon liked having Daddy there too.
I thought our little guy looked so cute in his little
hospital clothes while he colored and rode around
in the yellow car.  He wasn't quite sure why we were there.

Our poor little guy after a rough week.  He was a little
drugged over in this picture & slept the whole way home.
They found 3 hernias that they repaired & he is all better now.

I guess he really did need some extra love and
attention before his little sister comes.  When I showed
him this picture he was so excited to see the yellow popsicle.
All he ate Thursday, Friday, & part of Saturday were popsicles.
Thankfully, he won't remember his miserable week.

 

Morgan's birthday always seems to be a tender day for me. I think because it
was the day of her birth was the first time I felt the joy of being a Mom.

Now fast forward 8 years, to yesterday, and that joy was magnified even stronger.
Morgan chose to be baptized.  We have had lots of talks about this- about how it is
her decision & we wanted her to be ready.  We talked about what baptism means, & how we
are following the example of Christ's obedience to Heavenly Father's commandments.
We talked about the Holy Ghost, and how the adversary is like a ice cube- cold and
uncomfortable, but when we receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, it is like a warm blanket-
constantly by our side.  We had a special Family Home Evening to demonstrate this.
I loved watching Brian rub an ice cube along the arms of the kids and then
wrapping them a warm blanket straight from the dryer to really understand the powerful
difference between the two.  The kids loved the blanket and didn't want to step out of it.

Yesterday was perfect!  Everything about it was perfect!  We felt so much love and support
from family and friends. I wanted to stop and freeze time & slowly enjoy every second.

I wanted to sit and talk for hours with my grandparents, who won't be here much longer.
I wanted to individually thank our ward/neighbor friends who are like family to us.
I wanted to soak in every moment for as long as possible.

It truly was a day of heaven on earth.

Morgan was so excited to get baptized!  It was a special day for Brian as well.
13 years ago on the same day, his plane landed in Mexico for him to begin his
2 year mission.  What a neat experience for him to be able to baptize his own child
on the same day he started teaching and baptizing other children of God.

The day was perfect!  Morgan was beaming after she was baptized.  She had
 a new glow about her &  a new light in her eyes.  She was an angel all day & was
so kind and loving to everyone.  When Grandma Smith &  Aunt Janelle gave
their talks, Morgan sat quietly and listened to every word they said. When
people gave her gifts & hugs. She hugged them right back and told them she was
thankful they had come.  I am so grateful for her example.

  My best friend
and I are surrounded by these sweet little angels who bring
so much joy to our lives.

 

These two are best friends.  They have such a sweet relationship and I love
watching them play and interact with each other. They sang "I am a Child of God" together
with Morgan's friend and it was beautiful.

Morgan was beaming the rest of the day.  At our house for the lunch,
after everyone was eating, Morgan came up to me and said,
"Oh, I guess I should get some food now!"  She was so sweet to visit
with others & let them eat before her.

 

Grandpa & Grandma Smith

Great Grandma & Grandpa Smith- what a blessing they were
able to come!  Grandpa stood in the circle the day Morgan was blessed
and it was such an honor to have him stand in the circle again (along with Grandpa
Spencer) when Morgan received the Holy Ghost.

Grandma Karen & Grandpa Wayne

Grandpa Smith- aka my hero :)

Aunt Brianna

Great Grandma Spencer, Morgan, & Grandma Smith

We wanted the day to be all about Morgan, so we used pictures of her,
her favorite things & colors to decorate our tables with.

 

 

I am so grateful for this little sweet heart. I am grateful that she is our
oldest and for the example she sets for her brothers & sisters.  She
is a beautiful joy to have in our home.  I love her so much and am grateful to be
her Mom and her friend.