Candy Making

Last week the Staley's got together to help Marilyn with candy making. BJ and Trisha do this quite often, but not me - I am not patient enough for it. However, I did enjoy the part that I helped with. Ryan's parents had a lot of the stuff ready before we all got there, so we didn't do near as much work as they did. We had a great time and the kids had way too much fun with the chocolate. I even managed to get a picture of me to prove I was really there! The candies turned out very yummy!

Merry Christmas to all...

A big thanks to my sister-in-law, Trisha, for helping put this cute card together for us. Happy Holidays!

Gift Exchange

One of the groups that I support at the Church Office Building got together this week for lunch and a gift exchange. We decided not to go with the white elephant gifts because, to quote Shelley, "we all have enough crap!" However, we did take the white elephant approach to giving/receiving the gifts. We drew numbers and went from there. Many of the gifts exchanged hands many times; some people were trying to hide their gift. It was a good time, good food, and good people. I work with some great people; this is just one small team that I support.

Mike Weber opening a See's Candies gift certificate...he did not leave with it!

Brian opening his 2nd gift, Imagine Iff...he did not leave with it!

Alan (my boss for this team) opening the popcorn popper that I WANTED...he did not leave with it!

Shelley is showing off the wrapping job done by David. He wrapped his gift with paper at work and made a great bow too.

Brian opening his first gift, large jar of cashews. It left his hands, but then came back.

Mark got a movie with treats...he left with these!

David opened a leatherman...it too left his hands, but returned!

Wayne (a big boss) opening a flashlight and golf balls...he didn't get to take them home.

Gary opened first...he got this fabulously soft blanket. He didn't get to leave with it - I did!!!!

Christmas Songs

With it being the Christmas and hearing the traditional songs, I always think back to my elementary school days at Jackling (Go Jaguars)! I remember singing in front of the school during assemblies and going to the Valley Fair Mall for performances. One of my favorites songs was always MUST BE SANTA! Over the Thanksgiving weekend I kept singing bits and pieces of it because I couldn't remember every word, until I went to the Internet and found the words. I was hoping to find the music so I could play it on the piano (OK, try to play it on the piano), but I have been unsuccessful at this point. So, for the enjoyment of all, here are the words to MUST BE SANTA...may the song get stuck in your head!

Must Be Santa
Who's got a beard that's long and white
Santa's got a beard that's long and white

Who comes around on a special night
Santa comes around on a special night

Special Night, beard that's white

Must be Santa
Must be Santa
Must be Santa, Santa Clause

Who wears boots and a suit of red
Santa wears boots and a suit of red

Who wears a long cap on his head
Santa wears a long cap on his head

Cap on head, suit that's red
Special night, beard that's white

Must be Santa
Must be Santa
Must be Santa, Santa Clause

Who's got a big red cherry nose
Santa's got a big red cherry nose

Who laughs this way HO HO HO
Santa laughs this way HO HO HO

HO HO HO, cherry nose
Cap on head, suit that's red
Special night, beard that's white

Must be Santa
Must be Santa
Must be Santa, Santa Clause

Who very soon will come our way
Santa very soon will come our way

Eight little reindeer pull his sleigh
Santa's little reindeer pull his sleight

Reindeer sleigh, come our way
HO HO HO, cherry nose
Cap on head, suit that's red
Special night, beard that's white

Must be Santa
Must be Santa
Must be Santa, Santa Clause

Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen,
Comet, Cupid, Donner, and Blitzen

Reindeer sleigh, come our way
HO HO HO, cherry nose
Cap on head, suit that's red
Special night, beard that's white

Must be Santa
Must be Santa
Must be Santa, Santa Clause

Thanks to the wonderful world of Facebook, I have found these elementary class pictures. I am being very brave in posting these, so be kind!

5th Grade, Mrs. Unander

4th Grade, Mr. Gandy

2nd Grade, Mrs. Eldredge

1st Grade, Mrs. Burns

Model Morgan

I have done some posts before of Morgan with pictures taken by my sister-in-law, Trisha. Well, here is another one. Morgan is turning into quite the model!

Thanksgiving 2008

Thanksgiving this year was spent with the Morgan side of the family. We were lucky enough to have my parents come from St. George and they, along with Kenny, stayed at our home. Megan loves having her grandparents sleep over; she helps get their room all ready.
My parents arrived on Wednesday afternoon and they stopped by my work to see the new job. They were able to meet some of the fabulous people I work with and see some of the archives too. That night when my parents got their car unloaded, we all went to Chick-fil-A for a quick bite of dinner. My mom forgot her PJ's so she, Megan, and I went over to Target for PJ's and a roasting pan so we could cook the turkey in the morning.
On Thanksgiving morning we were able to sleep in for a bit which was a nice change to the early mornings we are used to. We all headed to my Aunt Elaine/Uncle Wally's for the annual "Morgan Family Turkey Bowl". I didn't play football, big surprise I know! There was a large group there and from the pictures you can see the "crazy dress" tradition we all love so much. Morgan slept pretty much the entire time we were at Elaine's so that was nice. Megan played with the Barbie’s and then she and her cousin Bailey went to play outside. They had their own football game going on. At the end of the game the football group did the traditional pyramid stack and pose for pictures and also the dog roll. There was a younger generation that did the dog roll, but then Peter, my Uncle Vernon, and my dad did it too - they are crazy! It was great to see my Aunts and Uncles and cousins...we always have a great time together.
For dinner, we headed to my sister, Suzanne's house. Of course there was a TON of food and it was delicious! I was responsible to take a Jell-o salad; thanks to a co-worker for a great, simple recipe, and a pie. Ryan's dad is a great cook and agreed to help me make a pecan pie on Wednesday night. He is so great, that he made it while I was at work so I would have more time to spend with my parents...he is a great guy. After dinner, we all looked at the after Thanksgiving ads and just sat around and visited with each other. Megan and Bailey were playing great all night and as we were getting ready to leave they asked if Megan could sleep over. It was great for us because Megan was sleeping at Suzanne's! It did remind me of the times my cousin Trisha and I would do the same thing though. We would have Thanksgiving together at different times and it was inevitable that we would ask to have a sleep over...love those memories!
After Thanksgiving, it was just a regular weekend except my parents were here which made it that much greater! We had a great Thanksgiving and had a wonderful time with our family. If we didn't have our families, we wouldn't have much. It has been a very long, uncertain year for Ryan and I and the one constant has always been our families. We are so grateful for their unconditional love and continual support.

Going Private...

OK, I am really going to do it; I am going to set my blog to private. I apologize to mom and dad in advance...one more step - sorry. The reason behind it is simple, I am paranoid! Seriously, I had a mysterious person leave a comment on my blog and that just proved to me how vulnerable my family is out here in cyberspace. Send me you email address and I will send you an invitation; littleajax@msn.com or leave me a comment! I welcome friends, family, friends of friends and friends of family. I guess I will feel like I have a bit more control over things. Happy blogging!

Halloween 2008

For Halloween this year M was Ariel.

Here is M before catching the school bus in the morning.

M with MJ at the Fall Festival at the Elementary school.

Here is M pumpkin bowling.

MJ, cute as a button!

M was getting her palm read at the festival.

Again with the fortune teller.

Here are the kids at the bus stop...such a great group of kids!

Trick-or-Treating! M's cousins surprised her and came from St. George to go trick-or-treating with her. They had a great time.

Pumpkin Carving

Here we are carving pumpkins! We had a good time and made a great mess! We all had planned to carve one, but I didn't get mine completed because I was busy doing M's and cleaning out all of them! Oh well, I did roast the pumpkin seeds and boy where they delicious!

It's a...

Dear family and friends--

Just thought you would want to know that today we had our baby. Isabella Grace Morgan, 7lb 13oz, 20 inches, born at 12:29pm. Mom and baby are both doing great. We look forward to visiting with you later, and will hopefully get some pictures out soon!

The Morgan Family

This is the email my brother, Brandon, sent out to all. Congratulations to Brandon and Amanda and kids! I wish we were there or you here.

Niece or Nephew...which is it?

So, my brother Brandon and his wife Amanda are expecting a baby (they are actually at the hospital right now). Brandon and Amanda live in Mississippi so it is hard to not be right close to them. With each of their pregnancies, they wait until the baby is delivered and the doctor to say "it's a ..." before they know what the baby is! We are all anxiously awaiting the news.
So, at 2:30 pm (mountain) time I called my mom to see if she had heard anything...YES - she knows it all. However, I didn't let her tell me ALL of the details, I just needed to know that mom and baby are OK; they are both doing fine. So, I am giving them a bit more time to make a call to me before I give up and have mom tell me.

Belle La Vie

This past week I had a little get together; you know, the home party thing! My friend Alicia has started a new business and it is jewelry. It is a bit different than your Cookie Lee and Lia Sophia, I really like a lot of the pieces.
I want to thank all of those great gals that came over - you guys are "rockin' hot"!
If anyone sees anything they like, let me know and I can get you in touch with Alicia.

M was a big help and loved everything.

Kori, one of the rockin' hot chics!

This is one of my favs!

The browns

The blacks

The colors

The turquoise