sisters

I am the youngest of six kids. Four boys and two girls. I am quite blessed to have them as my siblings. I love my brothers and look up to them a lot. They are all hard workers, good fathers, and have sense of humors that leave you with your stomach hurting.  A lot. I am lucky to have them as brothers.  But I don't think it can beat the fact that, I have a sister.  And not just any sister.

I have Mandi!

We have gone through a lot together. 

Sharing a room during our younger years, staying up a few minutes past our bedtime so that we could play a game or two, playing barbies (in reality we just set up the furniture dressed our dolls and then called it good),  building tents in our room. Then we grew up a little and she put up with my annoying teenage years; stealing her clothes, wanting her to drive me places, and every other typical teenage girl thing I did. The we both grew up a little more, I moved away from home, then she did. We each got married and then started having children.  But we lived over an hour away from each other. And then 6 1/2 years ago she moved a lot closer. And it wasn't until then that I really realized how incredibly blessed I was to have Mandi for my sister. And with each passing year, I love it and appreciate it even more.

In the past three months Mandi has gone through the most difficult thing any mother could ever imagine going through. 

And during this time I have learned more about her than I have in the past 20+ years. Mandi is amazing. 

She is strong. 

She has a beauty about her that is so much more than looks.

She is intelligent.

She has a tender touch.

Her love for her children is deep.

Her devotion to her amazing, supportive husband is beautiful.

She can do hard things. 

She truly understands the great plan of salvation.

She understands that she needs our Savior (as all of us do)

Her testimony and faith is strong.

I have learned that I need and want to be the kind of mother, wife, and woman that Mandi has become.

I realize even more that I am the luckiest girl to have a sister like Mandi.

Not only do I have the best sister, but we have the best mom in the world! She practically could be our sister!

october is great

Do you agree?

October has got to be one of the best months of the year. 

What's not to love about the crisp air, the sweaters, cozy blankets, chilly mornings and perfect afternoons, baking with pumpkin and cinnamon, driving up the canyons to see the change in nature, turning on the fireplace for the first time, earlier bedtimes, fall smells. I love it all. 

It wasn't until I had kids that I realized that Halloween is a great addition to the list.

I am beginning to love Halloween. Not for the grossness. No way. But for the excitement that my kids feel that passes right along to me.

So last Friday we blew off the dust of our 2 small boxes of Halloween stuff and went right to work. We spent the rest of the day enjoying a few Halloween Oreos, wearing vampire teeth, playing with the felt pumpkins, and putting up decorations.

The boys get so excited about the 13 day countdown to Halloween. But this year I thought I would stretch it out all month long. It's just way to fun a month not to. It is really simple, but luckily our boys like simple. 

M 1st: Introduce countdown. Bake Pumpkin Bread

T 2nd: Halloween Memory Match (put matching Halloween stickers on some small cards)

W 3rd: Rock Spiders

Th 4th: Halloween Treasure hunt to Halloween books - read them

F 5th: Treat - Frankenstein Pudding Cups. Movie - Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (thanks to my dad)

S 6th: Fall Fire Roast

Su 7th: Boo Am I

M 8th: Candy Corn Sugar Cookies

T 9th: Halloween Bingo

W 10th: Toilet Paper Halloween Guys

Th 11th: Read Halloween Books

F 12th: Treat - Pumpkin Treat. Movie - It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown

S 13th: Witches Stew Game

Su 14th: Don't Eat Frank

M 15th: Skeleton Gingerbread Men

T 16th: Halloween Pictionary

W 17th: Owl Smores

Th 18th: Read Halloween Books

F 19th: Treat - Caramel Apples. Movie - Snow White

S 20th: Pumpkin Patch/Hay Maze

Su 21st: Haunted House Decorating (like Gingerbread houses)

M 22nd: Homemade Doughnuts/Hot Chocolate

T 23rd: Halloween Coloring Contest

W 24th: Make Halloween Bags

Th 25th: Read Halloween Books

F 26th: Treat - Witches Hat. Movie - Wizard of Oz

S 27th: Decorate/Paint/Carve Pumpkins

Su 28th: Tell Halloween Jokes while drinking Spider Cider

M 29th: Spiderweb Cheesecake

T 30th: Make a spooky fort and read books with flashlights

W 31st: Trick or Treat

There is a very good chance that I will not get to everything. (however the boys will probably do a good job making sure things happen). But I love to be flexible, so some things might change depending on the kind of day we're having. 

I just hope it's a good month with all my boys.

6 weeks

It's really hard to believe, but our Rudger has made it to 6 weeks today. Where has the time gone?

We can't imagine what life was like before this guy entered into our lives. 

Yeah, probably quieter....and we probably got a lot more sleep.

But we wouldn't trade it for anything.

four

Look who turned four years old.

On the birthday morning, the boys and I were in the kitchen getting breakfast ready, Levi came sleepily walking out and we shouted Happy Birthday to him! He looked confused and not very excited, he thought for a moment and said...

"Am I still three?"

We said...

"No you are four!!"

He got a huge smile on his face and enjoyed the rest of his big day!

Out to eat for lunch.

 and he was kind of enough to have his brothers join in on the fun.

 Opening presents.

Enjoying playing with presents.

Ninja cupcakes. 

We can't get over the fact that he is already 4 years old! Where did the time go? 

We sure love our Levi for oh so many reasons.

1) Your charm. You have won the hearts of many older women. Those at the grocery store, the library, the doctors office, and many of the young women in our ward. 

2) You don't hold back your feelings. Whatever you are feeling at that moment, you express it right away. Sometimes you really hate something or someone, or think something is stupid; which unfortunately makes us laugh a bit. But then you turn around and say you don't hate us anymore or you squeal with excitement. You don't hide your feelings.

3) How straight forward you are. You explain things as they are.

 When daddy asked you if you were reading when you were looking through a book. You told him 

"No. I can't read dad, I'm just looking at the pictures. I can only read the word cat"

4) Your squeeshiness, oh how we love those cheeks!

We Love You!!

We didn't realize that only four days later you would no longer be the baby of our family. You sure make a good big brother!

welcome to our family

sweet baby of ours!

Rudger Justin Morris

7 lbs. 7 oz.

19 inches long

Born at 9:06 on a beautiful Sunday morning

Every single one of us is absolutely in love!

It's crazy to think that we are a family of six now.

We were so surprised when we realized that he was ready to come meet our family already. 

I was having contractions all throughout Saturday, but I figured they would go away eventually since it's been something I've dealt with for months. So we went about our Saturday chores. Got some canning done with Justin, laundry folded, house vacuumed, basement cleaned up, bedrooms tidied, and baby clothes washed. 

I think I was nesting a little.  

Towards the later part of the evening the contractions were becoming really regular and more intense. That's when I decided I probably better pack the bags I'd been meaning to do for a while.  Four hours after that...in the middle of the night...my good friend came over and stayed with the boys while Justin and I headed to the hospital. Then 6 1/2 hours later he was born.  

We were extremely tired, but extremely happy. It's amazing what a baby can do to you.

Later that day, we couldn't help but just stare at him and wonder what kind of personality he will bring to our family. 

Whatever it is, we know we will love it!

as of lately

We have soaked up as much time as we can together. 

We have enjoyed Saturday getaways up in the mountain and love taking the canoe to our favorite new spot.

 I love the mountains and I love those big fluffy clouds. 

 It was a good thing we were taking advantage of all those weekends because two weeks ago our biggest kid had to get stitches. He took a big crash riding his bike home from work.The boys and I hung out with him at the ER until 1:00 in the morning. Fun. 

The doctor said no water for a few weeks.

So instead we've taken advantage of lazy days at home.

Spider Solitare is becoming a family favorite.

(I love the deep concentration)

 We have the nicest ward member who has the most fruitful backyard. She shared the wealth with us.

We are loving blackberries lately.

 We love our almost daily walks through the garden to see what is producing. 

We haven't been disappointed.

Especially all four boys. They have been drooling over these watermelons. 

(you know come to think of it, I think boy #5 wouldn't mind some either)

 And now sadly I feel like our lazy summer days are rapidly coming to a close. As much as I wish we could have done so much more, the boys have said it has been a great summer. 

And that's what matters.

Now, in exactly two weeks from today, our baby will make his grand entrance.

And we are incredibly excited!!