The Living Planet Aquarium

The girls and I went to The Living Planet Aquarium in South Jordan. We met one of my "forever friends", Emily and her adorable 3 boys. The Aquarium was pretty neat; I am pretty sure the jelly fish were M's favorite. She didn't care for the sting rays because when she walked over to the pool one splashed her a bit and scared her - she thought they were going to jump and and get her. She is also afraid of the barb on the sting rays - ever since Steve Erwin passed away she has remembered that sting rays can be dangerous! M didn't want to let me take a whole lot of pictures of her so I did best I could.
Thanks again Emily and your adorable, handsome boys!

Now What?

From 8-8-08 to 8-24-08 I have been watching the Olympic Games every night. Staying up until at least 11:00 pm every night - some nights longer; waiting for the news to come one to see the weather and then getting up early for work - needless to say it was a tiring 2 weeks, but well worth it! Before the Olympics started, I honestly hadn't been watching much TV, but once they started all of us were glued. M was always cheering - "Go America!" and when they would show all the athletes competing in a certain event with their country flags, if she didn't see the US flag she would say, "We can still cheer for the others even though America isn't doing it!" Ryan and I enjoyed all of the amazing swimming races, gymnastics, volleyball (beach and indoor), basketball, and the list goes on. There were times we were yelling at the TV and the athletes - like they could hear us! And of course, there were tears shed, but only by me! I thoroughly enjoyed the Olympics and I am enjoying have the 10:00 news back, however, I do ask myself..."Now what?" I guess I am resigned to waiting for The Office; it just doesn't start until September 25th - can't wait for that!

Finished!

I have now finished "Breaking Dawn". I enjoyed the book and I am trying to figure out why a lot of people have been disappointed...any suggestions? There were definitely parts that I could have done without, but I made it through! There were some things that I totally saw coming that friends of mine didn't. I am a very visual reader and I visualize things before they happen.
Thank you to Helen for letting me read her copy - much appreciated!
Ryan is happy to see me done with the book because he says now I can be a part of the family again! I read mostly at nights while we watched the Olympics, staying up way too late! I recommend the series to all!

Forever Friends are Wonderful!

I just have to say that my dear friend, Heather, is awesome! Heather and I met while both working at Franklin Covey some 8 or 9 years ago (can't remember!). We have been there for each other through MANY trying times in our lives, but also some really GREAT times in our lives as well. Her little J is so dang cute, however not that little; he is so much bigger than MJ, but only 1 week older! M loves to go play with Heather's little H - in fact when we get ready to go over there, M always asks if I can leave when we get there so she can be alone! I spent some time with Heather recently and we made cards, but mostly chatted. It is so wonderful to have a good friends that you can spend time with, that your kids like and have fun, a good friend that is there for you. Heather, thank you for ALL you do. You are so great and I love that you are in my life. I know you are always there for me and we are forever friends.
Everyone needs forever friends; I hope that I can be one or that I already am! I cherish friendships; they are a vital part of my life. I can't name all of my forever friends for fear this entry would be incredibly long. I love you all and thank you for all the good you do for me and my family.

I see a deer!

About a week ago Ryan, the girls and I (and Ryan's dad) went to our model/parade home to get a few things out of it. While we were there, I was sitting in the front yard with MJ and we looked over and there was a deer! This isn't anything new for The Cove or really anything new to us as we had just returned from our week at the cabin and saw many deer, but this one was close. Of course, my camera was in my purse so I grabbed it from the truck and took a few pictures. After the first picture the deer ran off, but only to the backyard so I grabbed one more pic!

Terrible 5's?

Okay, I have heard of the terrible two's, but the terrible five's? Honestly, I am at the end of my rope with my little gal. She is very stubborn, yet very sweet. She goes from one extreme to another. Take last night for example...we get home from work/sitter, Ryan got home as we were unloading the car. M was totally fine, chatting with her dad and me. Then she wanted to go visit her friend next door who had surgery last week on her jaw due to a terrible accident. I was going to go with her and asked Ryan to come too, well M didn't want him to go so she started to throw a fit and then I decided I wasn't going either. I told her to be kind and that we could all go - her reply: NO NO NO! Then the tears and screaming started, then she was sent to her room, and more screaming. A few minutes went by and of course, she fell asleep. AGHHH!!! What to do! Then I wake her up so we can go to the grocery store and my sweet angel was back. I don't know what to do at this point. I love the girl to pieces, but man can she really throw those fits. When her fits start, I loose it and then we are both upset. I have been trying really hard to stay calm and try to reason, but can anyone reason with a 5 year old that is just like yourself? They always say that you get what you gave to your parents, mom and dad - I am sorry! I know I was a brat, but this early...really??? So, if there is any great wisdom that I am missing, please share; I will take all the help I can get...I have another one I will have to deal with in 5 years!

Goodbye, Goldie...

Over the Fourth of July we went to Richfield/Marysvale. We headed to the Parade in the morning and then went to the park where they had a lot of games and activities for the kids. M was given the choice of what she wanted to do; she decided to make a bead necklace. While she was finishing up, her cousin M and T came over with a gold fish. Of course, now M wanted a gold fish. I needed to sit, due to the knee injury, so Ryan took M over to LOOK at the fish. She came back with one. Ryan said that there was a guy standing there and said to M that she was too cute to not have a goldfish so he gave her his! As the day progressed, M decided her fish was named Goldie. As the title gives it away, Goldie is no longer with us. M was quite sad about this whole event. On Saturday morning I noticed that Goldie was at the top of the bowl. M said - she is just sleeping. I had to inform her that fish don't sleep at the top; when they are at the top like that they aren't alive anymore. M started to get tears in her eyes and I just told her that we would take a picture and then she could say goodbye...

You can just see the sadness


Goodbye, Goldie.

After the trauma in the morning, M went out and played with her friends. She came in at one point and said, "Mom, I am not even thinking about Goldie anymore! I still miss her, but I will be okay!" She was really cute about the whole thing; honestly, Ryan and I were surprised the fish lasted a week!

Morgan Family Fun 2008!

The week of July 20-26 the Morgan clan headed up to our wonderful family cabin. We all were looking forward to the week because ALL 31 and 3/4 (Amanda is having a baby!) of us were going to be there! My sister Allie took up the planning, which was great! Each one of us families had a day that we were in charge of.
Sunday: Pirates and Princess Day by us
Monday: Christmas by sister Suz and Shawn
Tuesday: Spy Day by sister Kristin and Jeff
Wednesday: Birthday Party by sister Allie and Brad
Thursday: Mardi Gras by brother Brandon and Amanda
Friday: Fiesta Fun by brother Peter and Cori
Saturday: Cleaning Day by mom and dad!
Of course, there was A LOT of food and fun. We all had a good time. M enjoyed playing with her cousins so much, when it was time to go on Saturday the cousins were pretty sad that the week had ended. Ryan had to work most of the week, so he went home early Monday morning. I didn't think he would be back up until Friday to bring us home, but Wednesday evening he showed up and surprised his girls! It was great to have him back and get to spend more time with us. There were a few moments of stress with Megan, of course she has my personality and we can clash at times, but overall she was good.
Saturday we had a very special surprise for my dad. We threw him a surprise retirement party. Now, my dad officially retired last year, but we slowly did it and then moved on to St. George so he was never given the proper send off. So, with the whole family being in town we went for it! My dad was so surprised - he told me he has never been so surprised in his life! There was a lot of family and friends that showed up; people he had done work for, and his boss of 20+ years (before branching 100% out on his own) Budd Rich came down from Wyoming. It was really nice and a great tribute to a wonderful, hardworking guy - love ya dad!


Here is my Dad arriving at his party!



I won't post all of the pics - way too many! My sis-in-law took over 500 that week; of course she also took all of the family pics too. On average there were about 200 pictures taken each day between all of us! CRAZY!!!