Happy 7th Birthday Morgan!

 

Morgan is now 7! I can't help but think of the day she was born, and the first time I became a Mom. She was such a good & sweet little baby & it has been so much fun watching her learn & grow.
One of my favorite things to do on the kid's birthdays, is taking pictures of them. Morgan was so excited to model for me. She even picked out her outfits the day before so she would be ready. We took her out of school early & gave her presents, curled her hair, let her watch a new movie, & then she & I went to do pictures. She was the perfect little model! The only time she got distracted was when 2 boys around her age walked by-- uh oh! She got a new doll for her birthday & named her Megan (that is what my parents almost named me, and what Brian wanted to name Morgan) so we had to take a couple of pictures of Morgan & Megan. :)
While we were taking pictures, I looked over and right then a Mommy duck came with her little ducklings. Morgan loved having them in the picture with her.
We are so blessed to have Morgan in our lives. She is beautiful, funny, sharing, loving, responsible, & so sweet to her brothers & sister. She always makes us smile, especially yesterday with how many times she said, "Mom! This is Awesome!" We love having her as our oldest & love the little girl she is. Happy Birthday Sweetie!

 

 

 

 

Highlights of Idaho

We decided last minute to go to Idaho for Spring break to visit Jen & her family. Jen was due on Friday with her little boy & she told me she would love for us to come so that the time before he was born would go quicker. So, Thursday we left for the 6 hour drive, and our kids did great! We stopped a couple of times along the way & had a fun time together as a family. Here are our highlights from the trip-
*Seeing Jen & Jared in their home for the last time- they are moving to Michigan in June!
*Watching the kids play with their cousins while we visited.
*The kids LOVED swingin on the tire swing in the back yard.
*Watching Uncle Jared climb the tree & spot an owl & it's nest
*Going to the State Capital building
*Seeing the Twin Falls & Boise Temples & walking around
*Going to Cabella's with all 8 kids
*Watching "Fire Proof" with Jen & Jared when the kids were all down for bed.
*Spending the weekend with together.
*Playing, laughing, & talking
*Easter Egg hunt with cousins
And, my favorite part was going to Tucanos- a Brazillian grill with ALL OF US!
Tucanos is so yummy! My sister can't have any gluten, and Tucanos is the one place she can eat where there are lots of things for her to eat. So, when we were trying to decide where to go that would be good and that the kids would enjoy we decided Tucano's was our best option. Then, we remembered that kids 6 and under eat free. :) Now you may think I am crazy, but yes, we took all 8 kids (9 including baby Talmage in Jen's tummy) to eat at Tucano's. But don't worry... our kids were so well behaved!!! We "warned" them in the car told them they needed be as reverant as they could be. They honestly were so good & our lunch was so enjoyable.
We didn't think our kids would eat very much. I got Landon & Hallie each a plate from the salad bar, and they ate a couple of things like crackers & fruit & then they were done. I thought Morgan & Jackson might eat a little bit more, but not much. Boy were we surprised!!! Morgan & Jackson each ate 13 shrimp!!!! I'm not sure if they were competing with each other, if they were really hungry, or if the shrimp was really good! :) I think it was all of the above!
At one point, the waiter, who kept bringing different kinds of meats, had shrimp. He asked Jackson if he would like shrimp & how many he would like. Jackson told him, "I would like 5 please!" The waiter looked surprised and said, "5?!?!" I told him to put them on Jackson's plate and I would share them with him. Well, within 5 min. Jackson had eaten 4 shrimp and was mad that I had eaten one. The guy came over again & Jackson asked for 5 more, which he ate. I started to feel a little guilty when the waiter gave me a look like "Are you serious-your kid wants more shrimp?" I wanted to respond, "Yep, they get that from their Dad!" Brian & I loved the shrimp as well, however we, I mean "I" limited ourselves to 3 or 4 shrimp each. However, I think they might be changin their policy to 3 & under eat free instead of 6! :)
We had such a great time with Jen & Jared & are so grateful to how much they treated us to such a fun weekend! We thought baby Talmage might want to meet us before we left, but I guess he didn't want to meet us yet. He came on Sunday, the day after we left. Lucky for him, he'll get to meet all of us in June.

 

 

 

 

 

Playing with cousins

 

 

 

 

 

Boise Idaho Temple

After lunch, we headed over to the Boise Temple. I didn't realize that it had 5 different spires which includes one with the Angel Moroni on top. Once again, the kids loved walking around the temple & smelling the flowers. We didn't stay too long because it was cold and looked like it might rain. I loved being there and watching people coming and going to the temple. Brian & I want to take our kids to as many temples as we can to teach them the importance of temple work & eternal families.

 

 

 

 

 

Idaho State Capital Building

Last fall, at Brian's work, he & the guys he works with built these beautiful doors for all of the doors in the Idaho State Capital Building. We decided that since we were in the area we would stop by and see it. The building was actually very interesting and had a lot of neat history. The marble every where was beautiful & we loved walking around. However, as beautiful as it was, when we went to the Boise Temple after lunch, there was a big difference. The temple was beautiful, but not only that, the spirit on the temple grounds was so strong- something we didn't feel on the grounds of the State Capital. The kids loved laying on the ground at the Capital building while looking at the stars in the ceiling at the very top.

 

 

 

 

Twin Falls Temple Pictures

The last time we were in Idaho was before the Twin Falls temple was built, so we decided to stop by and see it. Just like all the other temples, it was beautiful! The kids loved walking around the temple & feeling of the sweet spirit that is there. It was a little cold, but the sky was a beautiful blue & looks so pretty with bright white temple. I can't wait for the day when instead of walking around the temple, we can take the kids inside to do temple work.

 

 

 

 

Twin Falls Temple