One Check on the New Years Resolutions List

One of my New Years resolutions was to buy clearance coats and donate them. A couple of weeks ago we finalized that goal by giving them to the Meridian School District. It took me forever to find but they were so grateful. Here are a couple of pictures of Morgan with the coats.

Morgan Progress

Morgan is talking so well. She can say tons of words -- so many I can't keep track of the count. She says her name (Morgie, which we try not to call her because we don't love it as a nickname). She can also tell me when she pooped so I bought her a potty yesterday and she is having a blast sitting on it.

She loves playing with her friends and gets so excited if we are going to babysit someone.

We sometimes go see the horsies (or neigh neigh's) or cows or whatever other animal we can find around town. Morgan loves animals. She also points to every airplane she can see.

This is such a fun stage and even though there are some frustrating times (like around 6 o'clock) I love love love it!

Pirates Cove

What to say about Pirates Cove this year...

Here is a link to cool video to see what it actually is.

We went because the place Tom works rents it for a week for a conference for their high paying clients and families are invited to go. It is full of swimming pools, stairs and fire pits -- just where a mom with a toddler wants to watch their kid for a week. It felt slightly like I would imagine prison with a toddler to feel. I was on guard all waking hours! Lets just say that by Wednesday I was ready to go home (but still had another four days).

When you think of mid September, doesn't nice fall weather come to mind? Well, don't let that fool you in Vegas. The days were up to 105 degrees so I couldn't really take Morgan on a walk or run during the day. We had to go at 7am when it was only 85 degrees.

Morgan had fun (and therefore I had fun) for the first couple of days. She is not scared of the water at all. It was fun to watch her go down the big slide and jump off the cliffs. The problem with not being afraid is that she wanted to go deeper and deeper without her life jacket. And the problem with that is that when she did fall over, she was under the water and couldn't get up. I totally see how kids drown while their parents are right there. It's not like they flail their arms and scream and stuff. They just go under and look up and inhale water.

When I did put her life jacket on she stood there and said, "ow, ow, ow," and wanted it off. We finally compromised with water wings thanks to another family that was there and let us borrow them.

Morgan can hold her breath for a second under water and when I ask her if she wants to go under, she closes her eyes and mouth.

Probably my favorite part was getting to see my good friend Kim and her family that live in Las Vegas. Thanks for coming, Kim!

Remember the saying, "don't mix business with pleasure?" Well, Pirates Cove week was a testament to that. Everyone seemed to be mad at someone and apparently I was the one people were mad at most.

For many reasons I don't think I'll go back. If I forget about this year and end up going next year, it will only be for a few days. And who wants to buy a plane ticket for just a few days?

Fun Summer Things

We've had a great summer but I am ready for cooler weather (not cold-- never cold, but mild).

We have gone to Lucky Peak a couple of times. It seems like every time I put Morgan's life jacket on it makes her fall over and get stuck like a turtle on it's shell. Here is one of those times.

We like to play at the park with our friends. Morgan especially likes the big kids. This little girl wanted Morgan to ride on the same park thingy as her so I put them together. My favorite part of this day was when she said to her mom, "Mom, you should have brought your camera. I look really cute today."

We found a great little rocking chair for $1 at our neighbor's garage sale. The name, Beverly, is painted on it so it probably needs a new paint job (unless we name the next one Beverly), but I think it was a great find.

Morgan's favorite place to play is in our kitchen cupboards. She clears everything out and gets in.

I'm turning into a real Martha lately. I sewed a blanket for the humanitarian project for our ward, made salsa and three pies in one week.

Grandpa Ralph

We had a fantastic Labor Day weekend with Grandpa Ralph. It was his first time to visit us in Idaho and he spoiled us.

He took us to Toys R Us to find some things for Morgan and ended up buying a game for adults too (not to be confused with "adult games").Morgan wasn't afraid of him at all. In fact, she loved to sit on his lap and play Ladies Pace (a horse game on his knees). She even gave him kisses.

We went to Lucky Peak one day to play in the sand, but Morgan liked playing in the rocks better.

Thanks for coming, Grandpa Ralph. We miss you already!

It's Fun to Play in the Bathroom

Toys. We have tons of them. From dolls to blocks to cardboard boxes. But guess what Morgan's favorite thing to play with is...

The toilet bowl brush! This is where I found it today.

Another funny thing that happened today was when we were upstairs. She was playing and I was on the computer. I thought she was either in the play room or her bedroom, then I heard a slurping noise. Immediately I went over in my anything she could be drinking upstairs, which was nothing... except for toilet water. Sure enough, I ran to her bathroom and she was there, water all around the toilet and on the seat. She always does this thing where she puts her hand in water then brings her fingers to her mouth and slurps. That's what she was doing with the toilet water. Mmm.

Something to Think About

We were reading the Book of Mormon and got to the introduction of the wicked King Noah. The first thing it talks about is how he has many wives and concubines and let his people commit sin. The second thing it talks about is how he put a twenty percent tax on his people.

I would love to only pay twenty percent in taxes. Is that telling us something about our leaders? I'm just saying.