Jeremiah and Rebecca Morgan

Notice anything wrong

2012-01-23T21:19:00.002-06:00

2 months ago we ordered a new chair (bottom picture) to match our existing chair (top picture). Can you tell what's wrong with the new chair? Look closely ... seriously, who missed that!

Caleb's Birthday: Part 1

2012-01-23T21:17:00.003-06:00

Caleb

2012-01-23T21:17:00.001-06:00

JJ's first pinewood derby

2012-01-23T21:15:00.000-06:00

Like Father Like Son

2012-01-23T21:14:00.001-06:00

Wall Climbing

2012-01-11T18:07:00.002-06:00

Caleb's Family History Game

2012-01-08T20:49:00.002-06:00

A couple of weeks ago we had a Family Home Evening lesson on Family History. Caleb really took to it. He was totally into it. The next day, he sat down with the laptop and invented this whole Family History. He came up with the whole thing. I only helped a little with the questions.
" You are sons and daughters of God, children of the covenant, and builders of the kingdom. You need not wait until you reach an arbitrary age to fulfill your responsibility to assist in the work of salvation for the human family." Elder David A. Bednar, October 2011

Caleb Crochets

2012-01-08T13:43:00.003-06:00

This week at YW, Emily and Savannah learned how to crochet. They came home and taught Caleb. Now Caleb crochets!

She did it!

2012-01-01T22:08:00.003-06:00

She did it. Emily passed her driver's test. Her brothers and sisters made her this encouraging poster when she left for the test. My favorite note of encouragement (from Caleb): "Hope your car doesn't fall off the street." Sweet.

Christmas Day 2011

2011-12-25T19:23:00.003-06:00

Christmas Eve 2011

2011-12-25T19:02:00.006-06:00

The nativity

Mary & Joseph

Wiseman

Mary

The angel

The shepherd

Joseph

Secret Service 2011

2011-12-24T07:00:00.000-06:00

Last year instead of having the kids exchange gifts with each other, one of the kids suggested that we exchange names and do service instead. Genius! Definitely a tradition worth carrying forward. Here are a few sweet moments from our Christmas season 2011.
This is a character from Moshi Monsters, a website Caleb likes to play on, drawn by his "SSB" Secret Service Buddy.

Nutcracker 2011

2011-12-22T21:33:00.005-06:00

Last night was our annual trip to the Nutcracker which I am happy to report was far more enjoyable than last year.

Lesson learned. This year we had a dinner reservation.

Surprise! Sweet Sixteen

2011-12-22T21:15:00.003-06:00

With much thanks to her friend Tyre, Tuesday night we had a surprise Sweet Sixteen birthday party for Emily. The party was a lot of fun and I must say, I had a lot of fun helping in the planning. Unfortunately, Emily was tipped off ... by my phone. Tyre and I had been messaging each other on facebook for about 6 weeks. Apparently Emily found one of those messages on my phone about 3 days before the party. But she played it well and didn't let on to the surprise.

Justin Bieber santa hat from Addie. She knows her sister well.

Games.

She looks genuinely surprised doesn't she??? She should be an actress.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

2011-12-18T20:31:00.003-06:00

We spent 12 years accumulating Christimas decorations which seemed to be form-fitted to the old house. When we went to decorate this year, I wondered how it all might come together in the new house. I love it!

The boy tree. The boys get to have this in their room. And they got to decorate it all by themselves. I'm sure you couldn't even tell, could you???

The girl tree, downstairs in the family room.

Families are forever tree, in the piano room.

My tree, dubbed "my tree" because I get to decide what ornaments go on the tree. If the kids want to put an ornament on the tree it has to go on either the girl tree or the boy tree. Yes, I am that picky.

17 on the 17th

2011-12-18T20:26:00.003-06:00

On December 17th, we celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary.

We had some sweet surprises from our kids. This was a sign JJ made for us.

My personal favorite, JJ's homemade mistletoe. So sweet!

Best 17 years of my life. Very best.

Visit with Santa

2011-12-18T20:24:00.001-06:00

Happy 14th Birthday Savannah

2011-12-18T20:20:00.003-06:00

On November 28th, we celebrated Savannah's 14th birthday. We had dinner at Granite City then home for treats. Happy Birthday Savannah!

How to get a guy (by Caleb)

2011-11-29T18:24:00.004-06:00

As you may or may not be aware, Emily turns 16 in exactly 26 days ... which means she can date. Caleb offered up some friendly advice this evening in preparation for the big day. Emily took copious notes. These were his word for word ideas. Line up boys!!!!

How to get a Guy

By Caleb Morgan

1. You first have to look cute

2. Then you give him a present on his birthday with a note Dear ____________ don’t you want to do something inside our house.

3. Your hair looks good but not if he has an afro

4. Tell him that he is cool and famous

5. Tell him his shirt is really cool

6. Tell him your really big but only if they are smaller than you.

He will marry you and get sealed in the temple and he will love you and love you and love you and love you, and then you have kids.

Emily's First Job

2011-11-27T20:22:00.002-06:00

Drop by and see her sometime!

Saying Goodbye to the Old House

2011-11-20T18:29:00.009-06:00

Last night we signed the papers on a lease-to-own deal on the old house. It's a great blessing to have our house sell so quickly. It was harder to say goodbye than I thought it would be. We lived in this house for 12 years. I brought 3 babies home from the hospital to this house. It's the only house my kids remember. So many great memories.

We met the couple who is going to buy the house. They were super nice. The woman, Kelly, said, "We just had a nice feeling in this house. We could tell it was a happy place." What a compliment. My eyes filled with tears. It was a happy place.

Our new home continues to be a happy place and we'll create more great memories, but I'm a little sad to be leaving the old house behind.

Monument Day: 8 Witnesses Monument

2011-11-20T18:19:00.009-06:00

The final dedication of the day was the new 8 Witnesses monument located in Liberty, MO.

The 8 witnesses monument is located on the property of what used to be the Michael Arthur farm. The Arthur's were sympathetic to the Mormons who came under persecution in other parts of the state. The Arthur's employed several Mormons on their farm and several of the 8 Witnesses to the Book of Mormon are buried on this property. Zion's Camp was disbanded on this property.

My 5th great grandfather on my mothers side, Heman Hyde, was a part of Zions Camp and worked at the Arthur farm. His name appears on the monument.

Monument Day: 3 Witnesses Monument

2011-11-20T18:14:00.004-06:00

The next event of Monument Day was the centennial celebration of the dedication of the 3 Witnesses Monument. When Joseph Smith received the gold plates and was given the charge to translate the Book of Mormon, he was commanded that he should not show the plates to anyone. In time, the Lord gave Joseph permission to show the plates to 3 witnesses and then later to 8 witnesses who were able to see and handle the gold plates. 100 years ago this week, a monument was erected in Richmond, MO to the 3 witnesses. The dedication of that monument was celebrated.

Monument Day: Old Log Cabin Jail

2011-11-20T18:02:00.006-06:00

Saturday was a historic day in Ray and Clay County, MO. 3 separate events were held commemorating places of importance in church history. The first was in Richmond, MO at the site of the Old Log Cabin Jail where the prophet Joseph Smith was imprisoned along with Parley P. Pratt and others. In a letter to Willard Richards, Pratt describes the moment when Joseph Smith stood to rebuke the guards:

"In one of those tedious nights we had lain as if in sleep, till the hour of midnight has passed, and our ears and hearts had been pained, while we had listened for hours to the obscene jests, the horrid oaths, the dreadful blasphemies, and filthy language of our guards, Col. Price at their head, as they recounted to each other their deeds of rapine, murder, robbery, etc., which they had committed among the “Mormons,” while at Far West, and vicinity. They even boasted of defiling by force, wives, daughters, and virgins, and of shooting or dashing out the brains of men, women, and children.I had listened till I became so disgusted, shocked, horrified, and so filled with the spirit of indignant justice, that I could scarcely refrain from rising upon my feet and rebuking the guards, but had said nothing to Joseph, or any one else, although I lay next to him and knew he was awake. On a sudden he arose to his feet, and spoke in a voice of thunder, or as the roaring lion, uttering, as near as I can recollect, the following words:“SILENCE—Ye fiends of the infernal pit. In the name of Jesus Christ I rebuke you, and command you to be still; I will not live another minute, and hear such language. Cease such talk, or you or I die THIS MINUTE.”

Pictured here are descendants of those imprisoned here along with descendants of the 3 Witnesses and 8 Witnesses of the Book of Mormon who saw the gold plates from which the Book of Mormon was transcribed. On the far left is the 4th great grandson of the prophet Joseph Smith, Michael Kennedy Jr.

Gearing up for December 25

2011-11-13T21:08:00.001-06:00

Let us be clear - this is not Emily's car. This is the family car. Feel free her to correct her when she tries to convince you otherwise.

Hugs

2011-11-13T21:00:00.004-06:00

Some families are huggers and some are not. We've never really been the hugging type, but a few months ago we set out to change that as a family. Each night after scriptures and prayer, we hug. It's turned out to be a great thing ... most of the time. Well, at least some of the time. This was what hugs deteriorated to one night last week - a wrestling match. Sheesh.

Stake Center Dedication

2011-11-06T16:19:00.004-06:00

This weekend, we participated in the dedication of the new Liberty Stake Center, a beautiful new house of the Lord. The building sits in the shadow of the new temple currently under construction.
A view from inside the courtyard.
In the Young Women's room.
Caleb in the foyer.

Halloween 2011

2011-11-06T16:16:00.003-06:00

My week in California

2011-10-30T22:18:00.007-05:00

I spent this week in Irvine and San Diego, California with my Mitchell colleagues. It was a fantastic week, the kind of week that makes me LOVE MY JOB! This is my team.

Some candid shots during our meetings.

And some fun (shopping!).

Savannah's Young Womanhood Award

2011-10-30T22:03:00.002-05:00

This week Savannah was awarded her Personal Progress Young Womanhood award. This is an impressive feat in it's own rite. What makes this even more impressive is that Savannah did this largely on her own and did it a month before she turns 14. This is Savannah with her WONDERFUL YW President and my good friend, Tina. We are very proud of Savannah's great accomplishment.

Two Front Teeth

2011-10-30T21:59:00.002-05:00

My List (by JJ)

2011-10-30T21:54:00.002-05:00

Last week I handed my phone to JJ to entertain him for a little while. He used the notepad app to create a to do list for himself. Such ambition at such a young age. Makes a mother proud.

India Trip Day 6: Shopping in Delhi

2011-10-30T21:43:00.005-05:00

My last day in India, these wonderful companions agreed to take me shopping. This is Sarah and Surpreet. The shopping trip was a highlight mostly because of Sarah and Surpreet. They were SO MUCH FUN! Sarah is a beautiful mother of 2 little girls and the only Christian I met while in India. Surpreet is a single guy. These 2 sit by each other in the Genpact offices in Guragon. Theya re great friends and were HILARIOUS to shop with.

Just a glimpse of the fun we had. Surpreet carried my bags during our shopping adventure. He continually joked about the "good husband" who has to carry the bags while the women shop. These 2 were so much fun I didn't want to leave!

These were our dresses. Love Indian attire!!!

India Trip: Day 5 - The Taj Mahal

2011-10-15T17:50:00.012-05:00

Day 5 I got to do more sightseeing. I went to Agra to visit the Taj Mahal.

Agra is about 3-5 hours away from Delhi by car depending on traffic.

My escort for the day was Rajat from Infogain. He was very kind and great company for the day. Rajat grew up in Mathura, very close to Agra so he knew everything there was to know about the Taj Mahal.
There are pollution restrictions as you get closer to the Taj. A horse drawn carriage took us to the gate.

This was our tour guide.
This is the imposing front gate.
Here are descendants of the original construction workers on the Taj. These are the artisans who create the inlaid marble designs.

Then we went to lunch. This is a lassi. It is a sweet yogurt, milk drink topped with pistachios. Yum!

India Trip: Day 2 and 3

2011-10-15T15:57:00.032-05:00

Days 2 and 3 we spent at the Cognizant offices in Chennai meeting with our software development team.

Lunch with the team.
This was a tremendous surprise. The team created this display of flowers to welcome us. I was very touched by their hospitality.
Some action shots of our working session.

This is SLN.This is Sridhar.
Now for individual shots of the team members. This is Mrudula.
This is Poornimaa.
This is Jayalakshmi.
This is Suresh.
This is Sekar.
This is Sivaseelan.
This is Ashwini.
This is Sathya.
This is Vinodaa.
This is Hemakumar.
This is Shahul.
This is Vimal.
This is Kumar.
This is Muthu.
This is Jagan.
This is Prabha.

Aarthi and myself.
SLN and Sridhar.
I've been working with this offshore team for I think around 7 years now. This is the first time we've been able to meet in person. This was a very productive visit from a business perspective and was very personally rewarding. My Indian friends showed me such wonderful hospitality. I could move to India!

India Trip: Day 1

2011-10-15T14:44:00.023-05:00

I had the privilege of spending 6 days in India this week. I was there on business but found time to squeeze in some sightseeing also. India is amazing and the trip was a very rewarding experience for me. The first 3 days were spent in Chennai which is on the southeast coast of India. This picture is the view from the balcony of my hotel window which overlooked the beach.

First stop was church in Chennai. There are 3 branches of the church in Chennai. This branch was English speaking while the other 2 spoke Tamil. On this particular Sunday they were replaying general conference from the prior week due to the time difference in India.
This is my colleague Sathya who was kind enough to accompany me to church.
Next, we visited Dakshina Chitra which is a cultural village near Chennai. Here I am grinding rice flour.
The women use the rice flour to create ornate designs on the porches of their homes every day. Kind of like sidewalk chalk only better.
Here I am having Mehendi painted on my hand.
This is a peacock. You leave the mehendi on your hand for as long as you can. The longer you leave it, the darker the design will be. I made it about 5 hours. 7 days later, my design is just now fading.
Here Sathya and I are drinking coconut water.
Eating the young coconut. We also had heart of palm.
Next stop was Mahabalipuram south of Chennai. This is a series of Hindu monuments created between the 7th and 9th centuries.
This is Sridhar, another colleague from Cognizant.

Sathya, myself and SLN. His full name is quite long so he uses just his initials.
The beautiful beach by Mahabalipuram.
The market near the beach.
This is jasmine and roses strung together. The women wear this in their hair. Jasmine is definitely my new favorite flower. It is so fragrant and beautiful.

Stake Presidency Retreat

2011-10-04T07:00:00.000-05:00

Last weekend, we went to the Rainey's beautiful lake house in Grand Lake, Oklahoma for a Stake Presidency retreat. We had a great time with the Raineys, the Shaws, the Foleys and the Ames.
We all had a great time tubing on the lake.
The kids even did some swimming of the dock. Very fun and relaxing weekend. Especially grateful for the wonderful friendships.

Adam-Ondi-Ahman

2011-10-02T10:25:00.003-05:00

A few weeks ago we had the chance to go up to Adam-Ondi-Ahman to spend some time with the missionaries. They fed us dinner and were nice enough to take our whole family on a behind-the-scenes tour. Our last stop was Preacher's Rock.

Europe Trip 2011: Day 8 - Verona, Italy to Lucerne, Switzerland

2011-09-18T07:00:00.001-05:00

The final day of our trip, we spent the morning walking around Verona.
We went to the Casa di Giulietta, the house that is most definitely not where Juliet lived but tourists love to frequent and so did we!

Next, we drove to Lucerne, Switzerland. Behind us is a wooden pedestrian bridge. Inside lining the ceiling are paintings from the life of Christ.

And that's it for our European adventures 2011. As usual, we tried to do too much in too little time. We were exhausted, had a wonderful time and made memories to forever.

Europe Trip 2011: Day 7 - Lake Bled to Verona, Italy

2011-09-17T07:00:00.000-05:00

We enjoyed Lake Bled so much that we extended our stay in Bled just a bit.

The World Rowing Championships were being held at the lake. We were there to support our home country!
This was the view we took in as we were riding the lift up the mountain for ... ANOTHER LUGE RUN!

After our beautiful morning at Lake Bled, we drove to Verona, Italy. We went to an Italian opera in the outdoor arena, a Roman coliseum.
The pedestrian streets of Verona are lined with marble. We took a moonlit walk around the street where we hardly felt we were outside, the surroundings were so ornate. Verona is the 4th most visited city in Italy. It has all the charm you'd expect from Italy, but you walk away not feeling quite so accosted as you do in Rome. All in all, a beautiful city.

Sidebar: Driving in Europe

2011-09-16T12:00:00.001-05:00

It turns out that driving in Europe is more difficult than it seems. You have the difficulties you'd expect ... signs in foreign languages and navigating in unfamiliar territory. But it's even more complicated than that. To drive on the autobahns in most countries, you need to pay tolls. But the system is different in every country. So, the trick is to figure out what you need before someone figures out you haven't figured it out yet and wants you to pay a fine. Most countries require you to buy a sticker. This was our sticker from Slovakia.
Our sticker from Slovenia. It turns out that these countries are very serious about their stickers. We weren't really clear where the border was when we entered Slovenia. We stopped for gas shortly after entering the country. Customs was there, asked for our passports and wanted to charge us 300 euros since we didn't have a sticker. :( We were able to talk him out of that one.

Our receipt from our autobahn toll for Hungary.

Italy had more traditional tolls. However we did have a minor mishap pulling through a toll booth. As we were trying to read the Italian signage to get in the right lane to pay the toll, Jeremiah made a last minute decision to pull into another lane while a truck was barreling through the lane. He clipped us from behind. :(

We just never did figure out the system in some countries and I'm pretty sure we missed buying a few stickers. By the time we re-entered Switzerland for our return trip home, we were a pretty stressed out pulling through customs trying to figure out their system before someone wanted to charge us a fine. Turns out our rental car already had that sticker. :)

We saved quite a bit of money by driving a car and allowed us the freedom to come and go as we pleased. But I'm not sure we'd ever do it this way again. It added quite a bit of stress to the trip and made it difficult to relax worrying about police and fines and accidents. :(

Europe Trip 2011: Day 6 - Lake Bled, Slovenia

2011-09-16T07:00:00.001-05:00

Lake Bled, Slovenia is one of my most favorite places I've ever visited in the world. The small 3.5 mile perimeter glacial lake has crystal clear waters surrounded by amazing scenery.

The lake does not allow any motorized boats. In the center of the lake is a small island. We rented a rowboat and rowed to the island.

The island is just large enough to contain a small church. Leading up to the church there are 99 steps. On Saturdays, there is a steady procession of brides and grooms who are married at this church. The legend says that if the groom can carry his bride up all 99 steps that he is "fit for marriage". Our grooms decided to give it a shot. I'm happy to report that both Jeremiah and Sterling are fit for marriage!

The lake is excellent for swimming. In fact you can swim to the island. Jeremiah decided to give it a shot and he swam back from the island.

Europe Trip 2011: Day 5 - More Budapest, Hungary

2011-09-15T07:00:00.000-05:00

Sunday Day 5 began with church in Budapest.

Then a walk around the city. This is St. Isvan's Basilica.

The Great Synagogue which is the largest synagogue in Europe and the 2nd largest in the world (after the one in NYC).

Overlooking the city and the Danube.

At the top of the hill near the castle.
Capped off with a nighttime walk around the city. This is the chain bridge in the background.
And this is Parliament.

Sidebar: Eating in Hungary

2011-09-14T07:00:00.001-05:00

We rely heavily on Rick Steves' great advice when traveling in Europe. Rick warned us that "while most Hungarian restaurants are honest, rip-off joints abound in downtown Budapest's tourist zone". But I guess sometimes you have to learn your own lessons.

We sat down to eat at a sidewalk cafe.

Mistake 1: Never eat at a restaurant where the host/hostess is recruiting diners.

The waiter promises us that if we order typical Hungarian dishes, he will give us 20% off our bill. Sounds good to me!

Food was terribly uninteresting. The water bottle they brought me had previously been opened (certainly a recycled bottle filled with tap water). Then comes the bill. They explain that the only Hungarian food that gets the discount was goulash. You don't get the discount if you order an entree. My previously used water bottle ... $10. Shawna ordered a chicken breast. They asked if she wanted potatoes or rice with that. She chose rice. The rice was extra. They brought bread to our table before our entrees came out ... $6. Soft drinks ... $5. The grand total for our sub-standard dinner ... almost $80. Totally ripped off!!!

Europe Trip 2011: Day 4 - Budapest, Hungary

2011-09-13T07:00:00.002-05:00

Day 4 we drove into Budapest, Hungary. Jeremiah studied in Budapest for a semester at Budapest Economics University.

The university was formerly (in communist era) known as the Karl Marx University and still bears his statue today.
Hungary is known for their public baths. The Szechenyi Baths is an amazing complex of pools ranging from very hot to very cold with various mineral waters. European tourism guru Rick Steves highly recommends bathing with the "Speedo-clad, pot-bellied Hungarians." Rick was right! We had a great time!

Then we went to Heroes square.

Europe Trip 2011: Day 3 - Prague

2011-09-12T07:00:00.001-05:00

Day 3 started much better than day 2 ended. We started with a walking tour of Prague. Prague is very walkable. You can see all the sights on foot in 4 hours. Here we are at the castle.
The streets of Prague.

The clock tower.The highlight of the day was the folk dance festival that happened to be going on while we were there. Teams came from all over the world. We had an amazing time and the Russians STOLE THE SHOW!

Sidebar: Driving into Prague

2011-09-11T07:00:00.000-05:00

Well, it turns out driving in Europe isn't all it's cracked up to be. Day 2 was a very aggressively scheduled day. We came into Prague around 10pm. We had directions to our hotel, but it was dark out and reading the Czech street signs proved challenging. Our first harrowing experience came when the Czech soccer match let out. The police were out in full riot gear!We wandered the streets (and even asked directions) for 30 minutes or so. We turned down a particular road, heavily populated with people and cars. There were a couple of police officers standing on the side of the road. Jeremiah rolled his window down to ask directions to the hotel. They weren't interested in giving directions, but insisted that because we turned down this road and drove (literally) 20 yards without the appropriate sticker on our car (following other cars) that we now owed 2000 Czech crowns. "What sticker? 2000 what? Is that like dollars?!? Come on, we're just lost. We'll turn right around and go back." No luck. And nevermind the 10 other cars that turned down the same road without the sticker while we sat there. They took Jeremiah's passport and driver's license. We had no crowns. Sterling walked to an ATM and withdrew crowns.

A couple of interesting lessons learned:

It turns out the Czech police are actually corrupt. At least some of them. We watched the officer put the money straight into his own wallet.
Apparently you can negotiate with the Czech police. By the time we walked away, we only had to pay 500 crowns (amounting to about $25).

The hard fought Czech traffic violation ticket.

Welcome to Prague!!!

Europe Trip 2011: Day 2 - Fussen to Dachau to Prague

2011-09-10T07:00:00.001-05:00

This was the B&B that we stayed at in Fussen. This was clear up the mountain, just a 5 minute walk from the Neuschwanstein castle. In fact, it was the only hotel clear up the mountain. Can I pick 'em or what! (Nevermind that we had to share bathrooms).
Day 2 we began our drive through southern Germany on the Romantic Road. First stop was Wieskirche to visit this beautiful church.

Then a leisurely drive (well as leisurely as our drives got ... more on that topic later) through southern Germany.
Some of the views of which pictures don't do justice.
We made several stops at some quaint towns. If I'm not mistaken, this is Oberammergau which also included another run at the luge!
Then we drove over to Dachau. A very grim, sobering experience.

The entrance: "Work shall set you free". We didn't take many pictures here. Somehow it just didn't seem right to walk around snapping pictures like a tourist.

After Dachau, we drove into Prague. That is a story in and of itself so I will reserve that for it's very own post!

Europe Trip 2011: Day 1 - Fussen, Germany

2011-09-08T20:30:00.009-05:00

Jeremiah and I got to spend 10 days in Europe with our friends, the Trees, on a whirlwind tour. Day 1 was Fussen in southern Germany where the Neuschwanstein castle is located. (Also known as Cinderella's castle at Disneyland).

This will be known as the trip of the luge. Luges can be found throughout Europe and I think we might have found most of them!. You race down a mountain on a small metal track ... sort of like a bobsled without the ice.
And Jeremiah
Then we grabbed dinner in the shopping district.
Finally, we visited the castle.
Here we are (seriously jet lagged) against the scenic view from the castle. Time to get some sleep - end of day 1.

10 down, zero to go ... DONE!

2011-08-17T21:36:00.005-05:00

Today I took my 10th and last final exam.

I finished my masters degree in Computer Information Systems. Next May, we'll make the journey out to Boston for graduation. Much thanks to my family who has pitched in over the last 20 months doing chores, cooking meals and putting up with a mostly stressed out mom.

First Day of School

2011-08-17T19:40:00.007-05:00

It was the first day of school. 4 out of the 5 started new schools this year. Where is Savannah? I missed her picture. Had a lot on my mind today! (see next post re: MASTER'S DEGREE)!

The Morgans are Moving!

2011-08-07T12:28:00.004-05:00

It is with mixed feelings that we announce that we are moving! We bought a house about a mile away from our current home. The home is in Woodneath Farms. It is a little bigger and will give us a chance to spread out a bit. The downside is that we have to leave our current neighborhood and neighbors and family that we love. We'll be moving in around the first of September.

Orange tie in Trenton

2011-08-07T12:01:00.003-05:00

A couple of the chapels in the Stake needed some renovation. The Trenton chapel was on the list, partly because of the predominantly orange color scheme. Jeremiah had made several public comments about the orange-ness of the building. So, as the building was being renovated, the Trenton branch members snagged some of the discarded orange fabric and made him a gift ... an orange tie. Jeremiah LOVES stuff like this. We were very touched by the thoughtfulness.

Topping out the thermostat

2011-08-03T16:43:00.000-05:00

Unbelievably, we maxed out the thermostat this week at a whopping 107 degrees!

Smithville Triathlon

2011-07-30T14:47:00.017-05:00

Today, Emily, Savannah and I raced in the Win for KC Women's Triathlon at Smithville Lake. This was our 4th year in the race, but a memorable one to be sure. It began with an hour rain delay. Who would have thought that after 3 weeks of excessive heat warnings that we would have ended up shivering outside! But we did! The trash bags were less about keeping dry (because we were soaked already and were about to go for a swim in a lake anyway) and more about warming up!
This is what I love. 1000 women ... the sea of red swim caps.

Emily finishing the swim (in the black suit in the middle).

Emily on the bike. I love this picture because this is one of the kid's fists in air cheering her on!
Savannah on the bike.
At the finish line!

Savannah placed 2nd in her age category and received a medal.
Emily placed 4th in hers.
Me? 44th (out of 155).
Overall:
Savannah 346/713
Emily 147/713
Rebecca 200/713

When boys are left to their own devices

2011-07-30T14:46:00.001-05:00

I asked Caleb to go comb his hair this morning after his bath. This is what he came up with. Every boys dream to be sure.

Cameron Triathlon

2011-07-24T10:15:00.006-05:00

Yesterday was the Cameron Triathlon: 200 meter swim, 8 mile bike, 2 mile run.

We all went in the water 10 seconds apart from each other, Savannah first, then Emily, then me, then Jeremiah.
The results! 3 medals in the family! Very proud of Emily whose goggles broke just minutes before the swim and who shaved 3 minutes off last year's time. Also very proud of Savannah who shaved 7 minutes off last year's time and is handicapped by her heavier bike.

A dazzling combo

2011-07-10T20:53:00.002-05:00

JJ was looking for an appropriate outfit to go home teaching with his dad. It was Sunday so I was thinking ... you know ... keep the suit, take off the tie. He had other plans. This was his choice. And for the record, he's very proud of this one.

Weekend boy project

2011-07-03T18:27:00.004-05:00

This weekend, the boys picked up a couple of wooden coaster making kits at Home Depot.

Finished products! There's something adorable about a couple of boys pounding nails with their dad! :)

Irvine, California

2011-07-03T18:13:00.003-05:00

My new company Mitchell International is located in Irvine, California. So, every couple of months I have been flying out to Irvine for meetings. There are definitely worse places to end up. This is a group of my coworkers and I at dinner last week. Great group of people! Such a nice time!

Stitches waiting to happen

2011-06-26T17:29:00.002-05:00

The boys recently invented this new pastime with their skateboards. They have even figured out how to steer because as you'll notice the sidewalk is not perfectly straight and they need to steer themselves into the grass for a softer landing. Just waiting for the day that one of these skateboard runs goes awry for a trip to the ER.

Royals game

2011-06-26T17:25:00.005-05:00

There's just something about a couple of boys at a baseball game that is too adorable.

Last Thursday, Jeremiah got to take Addie and the boys to a Royals game with some friends. They had a ball.

9 Down 1 To Go

2011-06-22T16:23:00.002-05:00

I'm feeling a little melodramatic right now so you'll have to excuse my whining. This class was harder than I expected. Actually, it wasn't that hard, but was just A LOT of work. Too much work. So, pile on a busy job and 5 kids and I may lose my mind. 2 more months ... 1 more class ... some days I'm not sure I'm gonna make it ... or even want to make it. Don't worry, I'm just exhausted. A couple of good nights sleep and doing something besides sitting in front of a computer all day and all night will probably cure me.

Happy Father's Day

2011-06-22T16:18:00.005-05:00

In continuation of the McDavitt tradition, we held our annual tasting contest on Father's Day. This year, the dad's were required to guess soda pop flavors.

The prize ... Dad's root beer of course!

Our visit with the Gardiners

2011-06-18T22:11:00.012-05:00

This week we were so happy that our good friends, the Gardiners came for a visit. Craig and Kristi with 6 of their 8 children. We love the Gardiners!
Here is Allie and Lindsay with Emily and Savannah. Allie and her 2 sisters Hailey and Mandi have beautiful voices and are breaking into the music industry. Check them out at www.gardinersisters.com. We love keeping up with their music. We hope we can meet Hailey and Mandi someday also and we're certain that like Allie they are as beautiful on the inside as they are on the outside.
JJ and Caleb made instant friends with Ben and Tim.
So, how do we know the Gardiners? We met on a cruise! We had sacrament meeting on the boat on Sunday on the last family cruise we took and Craig and Kristi came. Craig and Kristi were there without their kids and we became instant friends. Despite the fact that they left their kids at home, our kids seemed to always gravitate to them. We kept reminding them, "Guys, they came without their kids. Maybe we should give them a break for a while." But they kept asking, "Where are the Gardiners? Let's go find the Gardiners". We had such a great time and hoping to cruise with them again soon.
We capped off the evening with a fun game of Wii. Here is their adorable youngest Lucy with Craig.
Abby and Kristi.

Abby and JJ.

Lucy and Caleb.
Abby and Addie.
Craig and Kristi.
Emily and Allie.

Come back and visit soon!!!

Cub Scout Day Camp

2011-06-18T22:06:00.006-05:00

Jeremiah spent the day at cub scout day camp with JJ. This was JJ's first year and he had a BLAST! So glad he got to attend with this great group of boys.

There's a little more to this story. I was scheduled to go with the boys for the day. But I was having a rough week ... work & school. I was totally stressed. So, my wonderful husband offered to come home and take a day off and go with the boys. So sweet.

Girls on the run is so much fun

2011-06-18T22:01:00.005-05:00

Found these few fun pictures from about a month ago when the Savannah and Addie ran in the Girls on the Run 5k. Such a great organization.

My loving boys

2011-06-12T20:38:00.002-05:00

I know I've posted a lot of these already, but every Sunday morning now my boys make me breakfast. It is the sweetest thing. It's always creative and full of love. This was last Sunday.

Fishing

2011-06-12T20:37:00.002-05:00

More Zebra Cakes ... For the Vincents

2011-06-12T20:30:00.004-05:00

Last weekend we took the kids to the store to let them pick out a treat. They each chose a box of Little Debbie snack cakes. The next morning, this was the dad-approved breakfast ... Zebra cakes. Seems to be becoming a habit in our house. Reminds me how much I miss our good friends the Vincents!

My thrifty husband

2011-06-12T20:24:00.004-05:00

This is just a funny little thing Jeremiah does. He doesn't waste ANYTHING. When we first got married he would squeeze out all the toothpaste as you see here in this picture. Then when he can't squeeze anymore, he will cut the tube in half and scrape out the insides. I am now 3/4 of the way through the next tube as he has been finishing off the last tube. Several years ago I'd had enough of toothpaste tube halves laying around the sink so I started buying liquid gel which comes in a bottle. This put an end to the obsessive tube cutting. However, I recently found this new toothpaste that I really like which only comes in a tube. Sigh ... the price I pay for clean teeth.

Caleb conquers the bike

2011-05-28T20:12:00.003-05:00

Party Week! (aka Rachel's visit to Missouri)

2011-05-28T20:05:00.004-05:00

Rachel was here last week so we were a little busy playing. The pinata has come to be Madden's new grandma's house tradition and the rest of the kids are happy to oblige.

We did a little shopping.

And these 2 were inseparable.

Big day for Savannah

2011-05-10T21:12:00.003-05:00

I thought the braces were adorable, but the day has come ...

Beautiful! Perfect! Gorgeous!

Girls On The Run is So Much Fun

2011-05-10T21:10:00.002-05:00

Addie ran her practice 5k with Girls on the Run tonight. She did AWESOME! 29:50 (the course was a little short of 5k). So proud of her!!!

My Happy Mother's Day

2011-05-08T20:16:00.004-05:00

Pretty much the ideal day ...

Sleep till 8am

Breakfast in bed

Nice walk outside on a beautiful morning

Jeremiah home all morning

Tour of the Liberty jail before church

Dinner with family after church

Addie's Birthday Party

2011-05-08T19:44:00.005-05:00

Friday night we had Addie's birthday party. 12 ten year old girls. Here we were making candles.

Lots of fun! Ahhhh, the end of Morgan birthday party season ... I need a nap!!!

1st Annual Kansas City Temple Run

2011-05-01T10:02:00.016-05:00

Saturday was the 1st Annual Kansas City Temple Run.

The race had over 1600 runners and was run in the shadow of the Kansas City Temple still under construction.

Here was the lady behind it all ... Shawna Tree. She did an amazing job!!

Sam stole the show in the 100 yard dash. I teared up watching him.

Jeremiah, Emily, Savannah, Addie and I all ran the 5K and the 2 boys did the 100 yard dash and 1 mile run.

Announcing the awards.

Savannah took 2nd in her age category and thank goodness because then we got to come home with one of these ...

The results:

Jeremiah - 18/24 in age group, 183/432 overall with a time of 31:25.

Rebecca - 15/67 in age group, 129/432 overall with a time of 29:09.
Emily - 5/39 in age group, 102/432 overall with a time of 27:37.

Savannah - 2/41 in age group, 40/432 overall with a time of 24:26.

8 Down 2 To Go

2011-05-01T09:59:00.003-05:00

Just finished my 8th (out of 10) class. This was a database security class. Not to bad. 4 more months!!!

Happy Easter

2011-05-01T09:39:00.005-05:00

I get 2 Sundays per year where I get to specify exactly what everyone wears ... Easter and Christmas. Hooray for Easter!!!

Happy Birthday Addie!

2011-04-19T22:19:00.003-05:00

Addie turned 10 today! She chose ... drumroll please ... Tasty Thai???? Yep, no kidding. No, she doesn't really eat Thai food. Out of all the places she could have chosen, she chose Tasty Thai because she could get sticky rice and sweet and sour sauce. No arguments from the rest of us though ... well no arguments from everyone else except JJ who ate a corn dog before we left home.

Happy double digits!!!

Nauvoo

2011-04-17T19:45:00.008-05:00

This weekend, we went to Nauvoo. Here with are at Carthage where the prophet Joseph and his brother Hyrum were martyred.

2 brothers with 2 brothers.

Inside the bedroom where Joseph and Hyrum were martyred.

Caleb was particularly intrigued by this original door which still has the bullet hole from the shot that killed Hyrum.

This is at the Stone Arch Bridge which is along the river leading to Nauvoo. Someone told us about this great spot while we were there so we checked it out on our way out of town. The saints built several of these bridges while they were in Nauvoo and this is the only surviving bridge.

There is a scene in the new movie Joseph Smith, prophet of the restoration where Joseph kisses Emma under the stone arch bridge.

Jeremiah and JJ at General Conference: Day 3 - at conference

2011-04-14T07:00:00.000-05:00

Jeremiah and JJ at General Conference: Day 2 - BYU

2011-04-12T07:00:00.000-05:00

Day 2 was spent in Provo at BYU.

They hiked to the Y.

They went to one volleyball game. JJ enjoyed it so much he begged Jeremiah to go to another one the next night. Jeremiah was happy to oblige.

With Cosmo.

Jeremiah and JJ at General Conference: Day 1 - Salt Lake

2011-04-10T20:40:00.010-05:00

In keeping with tradition, Jeremiah took JJ out to Salt Lake for General Conference. Day 1 was spent in Salt Lake touring around temple square.

At the temple.

Love this picture.

At the assembly hall.

At the conference center.

4 new ham radio operators

2011-04-02T15:26:00.003-05:00

The girls and I decided to attend the ham radio classes that the stake was teaching for a personal progress project. The classes were completely different than we expected. They were highly technical and the material was difficult. We still don't know how to use a ham radio! But, we studied hard ... I mean hard. Thursday we took the exam and we all passed! This was our celebration afterward. The girls have another little celebration planned. More to come on that!

My Birthday

2011-03-28T07:00:00.000-05:00

First dinner out at Tasty Thai ... yummmmmm.

Then a chocolate chip cookie cake (my favorite!).

Happy Birthday Pedicures

2011-03-27T07:00:00.002-05:00

This was an early happy birthday to me! So needed this! I haven't been this relaxed in a long time.

The deal

2011-03-26T07:00:00.000-05:00

Peter made this great deal with the boys on Sunday. He's wrestle each boy. If Peter won, they would have to eat their dinner without complaining. If they won, they could eat a hot dog instead. I'm totally game for that deal every time as long as Peter is on the other end of it!

Our new cub scout hideout

2011-03-25T07:00:00.000-05:00

A fun spring break project ... the boys and Addie put this sign together. Then Jeremiah let them nail it into the swingset which took them the better part of the afternoon. Cub Scout salute!

Happy Birthday JJ ... party #2

2011-03-24T07:00:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday Jeremiah!

2011-03-22T13:53:00.001-05:00

This year was a big one. Can you count all those candles??? He did blow them all out it in one breath though ... all 40 of them!

Our new cub scout

2011-03-16T18:30:00.001-05:00

Look who's driving!

2011-03-14T07:00:00.000-05:00

JJ's Baptism

2011-03-12T20:56:00.004-06:00

Today JJ was baptized a member of The Church. It was a very special occasion for JJ and for our family. So proud of him.

They're both so handsome!

The mouse

2011-03-09T18:11:00.005-06:00

Why does this kind of stuff ALWAYS happen when my husband is out of town ... Tuesday morning at 1am I was asleep in my bedroom and I startled awake because I heard something rustling around. It was coming from the floor by the corner by my bed in a stack of pillows. I turned on the lights and very carefully started picking up the pillows. Then I found the culprit ... a mouse ... yuck!

Wide awake, I went to the garage in search of mouse traps. No luck. No way was I going back in my bedroom so I went back to bed in the upstairs guest bedroom and slept very restlessly for the rest of the night.

The next morning I set a bunch of traps and tried not to think about it too much. Another restless night in the guest room and sometime during the night our little furry friend was caught in a trap beneath my nightstand. I spent a couple of hours that morning trying to drum up the courage to go take care of things (clean up the mess, etc.). Then I heard the trash truck coming around the corner. So, I rushed upstairs with a pair of tongs in hand and a trashbag. But I wimped out. Caleb was begging to help so what did I do???? I paid him $5 to use the tongs to throw out the mess. (For the record, we threw out the tongs also). Then I had to spend another half a day sanitizing my bedroom. Goodbye mouse!

Here are the 3 little kids checking out our little captive.

Happy Birthday JJ!

2011-03-09T18:06:00.004-06:00

JJ turned 8 today! First stop was dinner at Red Robin.

Next we came home for homemade chocolate peanut butter sandwich cookies made by Savannah.

And our traditional 8th birthday gifts: scriptures and a journal. Later tonight ... first night of cub scouts!

Rob and Sarah Beers

2011-03-05T15:19:00.005-06:00

February 26, 2011 was a perfect day at the San Diego temple. So happy to be there.

The Beers family.

So many good pictures. I think this was my favorite.

7 down 3 to go

2011-03-05T14:44:00.002-06:00

Not a bad class. I did a 10 page paper every week. It was a very business oriented class. I thought I was going to struggle, but I ended up really learning a lot and liking it quite a bit. 6 more months!

Girls night

2011-03-04T07:00:00.000-06:00

Face masks, the night before the wedding.