Our Three E's

Morrell Family Reunion

2009-08-02T21:56:00.000-07:00

This past week my sisters Mary and Megan were in Utah with their families. We ventured out and did some fun things together while they were here. Between the three of us we have ten children 3- 6 year olds, 2- 4 year olds, 4- 2 year olds, and one three month old!

Some of the fun things we did together was go on a tour of the Oquirrh Mountain Temple, see the Walt Whitman "I Spy" exhibit at the BYU museum of art, and let the cousins play together while we went shopping! We miss you guys and wished we all lived closer!

Granny and Grandpa Morrell in front of the BYU art museum with nine of their eleven grandchildren!

Ethan eating pizza with Spencer and his twin cousins Chloe and Coleman.

Eliza eating pizza with her cousins Molly and Sadie.

Ethan, Spencer, and Emma relaxing after a day at the lake!

Rafting the Payette River

2009-07-28T21:43:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend we went with Micah's family and extended family to Idaho for a fun river rafting trip. We left Eliza at home with Grandma and Grandpa Morrell and brought Ethan and Emma with us. We ran two stretches of the River. Emma went on the first stretch and Ethan came with us on both trips. It was a beautiful area with fun rapids and sandy beaches.

Here we are in the raft waiting to float one of the scenic sections of the river.

Ethan and his cousin Taylor had a blast on the trip. They loved riding at the front of the raft and steering us into the rapids!

Here's Emma riding in a little raft!

Ethan and Emma playng at the beach!

Ethan loved spending time at the beach catching little fish.

Emma having fun roasting marshmellows by the campfire.

July Fourth in The Unitahs

2009-07-05T21:15:00.000-07:00

Every summer we try and plan a trip to the Unitah Mountains. This is a special place for Micah and I because it is where we went on our first date and where we got engaged.

This summer Micah's parents invited us to go on a picnic lunch with them on the Fourth of July.
Here we are enjoying our yummy picnic food at Provo River Falls!

The kids had a lot of fun wading in the water. Here is Emma leading Grandma in!

And Eliza leading grandma in!

Here we are in front of the falls.

A cute picture of Grandma and Grandpa Monson!

Ethan and Emma found snow up in the mountains!

We decided to go on a hike around Mirror Lake. Here are Emma, Eliza, and Ethan walking hand in hand along the trail.

Eliza found a rock to take a rest on.

Eliza, Ethan, and Emma posing in front of Mirror Lake after their hike!

Happy Birthday Emma!

2009-07-02T20:55:00.000-07:00

Today we celebrated Emma's fourth birthday! We had a family party for her with lots of yummy food and cupcakes! One of her favorite presents was the little princess chair she is sitting on!

Her cousins Spencer and Molly from Denver were able to come to her party this year. They had a lot of fun playing together and opening presents!

Because Emma's birthday is so close to July 4th, we were able to put on a little firework show for our family and neighbors. It was such a hit I think we will have to make this a yearly tradition!

Emma's Finger

2009-06-21T20:35:00.000-07:00

Today at church, Emma got her pinky finger shut in her Sunbeam classroom door. Micah and I immediately took her to our doctor's office and they looked at her finger and told us to go to Primary Children's Medical Center. After taking X-rays they were able to see that no bones were broken so they put four stitches in her finger. We had a child life specialist in the room with us that played with Emma and helped her make a doll to demonstrate how they would put stitches in her finger. Through the whole experience Emma remained really calm and handled everything really well. We were amazed that she didn't even cry!
This is the last place we thought we would end up on Father's Day, but we were still able to spend time with both of our Father's and have a good day!

Graduations!

2009-06-05T20:13:00.000-07:00

Over the past week Ethan graduated from kindergarten and Emma graduated from her 3 year old preschool class! We had a fun time attending their festivities and will probably be singing "Going to the Zoo" for the next month!

Here is Emma with her teacher Mrs. Suzanne. Emma is excited to have her again next year as her 4 year old preschool teacher!

During the graduation ceremony Eliza decided to join in with the singing and dancing!

Next we had Ethan's graduation from Kindergarten. He really enjoyed having Miss Shaw as his teacher!

The graduation program was so exciting for Emma, she fell asleep in Grandma Monson's arms!

Grandma and Grandpa Morrell were also there for Ethan's big day!

Denver

2009-05-04T20:27:00.000-07:00

This past weekend Eliza and I drove to Denver with my sister Desi and my dad to go to my nephew Marcus's baby blessing. Our favorite part of the eight hour drive there was stopping for ice cream at the Little America Hotel at 9:00 in the morning.

Here is Eliza enjoying her ice cream!

Eliza and I were in baby heaven holding Marcus. He is such a good baby! I didn't hear him cry once!

Here is my mom and I having fun with baby Marcus. Five of my six siblings were in Denver this weekend and my mom did a good job of pampering us while we were there!

Poising with my two Denver nephews, Marcus and Spencer. Spencer is my sister Mary's cute little boy who is Emma's age.

Grandpa and Granny Morrell with Marcus and my brother Will and his wife Alisha on Marcus's blessing day.

Eliza and I flew home with Aunt Desi. We were lucky the plane wasn't full so Eliza got to sit in her carseat on the airplane. Eliza and I had a fun time on our trip, but our happy to be back home with the rest of our family!

It's Always Fun When Grandpa Comes!

2009-03-27T18:48:00.000-07:00

The children love it when Grandpa Reed comes over. He is really patience with them and they have a lot of fun together.

For Ethan's birthday he got a Book of Mormon reader with pictures. Here is Grandpa and Ethan "reeding" together!

Now that my dad is retired he has more free time. He brought us up a couple loads of mulch for our garden. Little Emma who loves to wear skirts and dresses most of the time, is helping Grandpa shovel dirt out of the truck!

Eliza loves both her grandpas and loves saying their name. She is a big mamas girl, but if Grandpa Reed is around she prefers to be held by him. He takes her to see the neighbors dogs and she loves to bark and say doggie!

Beautiful Bathroom

2009-03-14T20:52:00.000-07:00

With the help of Micah's Uncle Lynn, we finally finished our bathroom in our basement. Hooray!!!

Here are a few pictures of how beautiful it turned out.

Birthday Boy

2009-02-27T08:01:00.001-08:00

This past week we celebrated Ethan's sixth birthday. He got to celebrate his birthday twice this year! On his actually birthday he got to celebrate it at school and Grandpa and Granny Morrell came up from Provo that night and took him to the restaurant of his choice (Artic Circle)! On Saturday he had a birthday party where we let him invite whoever he wanted. Ethan chose a basketball theme and invited neighborhood friends, friends from school, his baby sitter, two nine year old girl friends, aunts, uncles, and even his grandma and grandpa. He hand wrote most of the invitations!

Here is Ethan at his party opening presents. We were amazed at how well behaved the kids were!

Ethan even had three little princesses make an appearance at the party for cupcakes!

Later that night Micah took Ethan and his cousin Taylor to the Jazz game against the Hornets. Here they are ready to go all decked out in their Jazz jerseys!

Uncle Russell and Aunt Nat were also at the game that night. They let Ethan and Micah sit in their third row seats during the second half of the game. Thanks guys!

Here is the view from the third row of two of Ethan's favorite players: D Will, and Millsap.

We l0ve you Ethan! Happy Sixth Birthday!

Catching Up!

2009-01-04T19:57:00.001-08:00

This past week my dad retired after working 29 years as a Statistician for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. On Monday his work through him a nice farewell party. My sister Megan and her family were here from San Diego, my sister Ann and my brother and his wife Alisha came here from Denver. My mom's sisters Mary and Carolynn also came.

Megan has two sets of twins. Coleman and Chloe are the same age as Ethan and Sadie and Dallas are the six months older than Eliza. The kids had a lot of fun playing together.

Here are Grandpa Reed and Granny Pam with seven of their grandchildren!

Ethan balancing Eliza and Coleman overlooking the Utah State Capitol.

Lora, Emma, and Eliza taking one last look at Grandpa Reed's office.

After my dad's Retirement party we went and ate lunch at the Lion House.

Here is Eliza eating a snack before dinner.

We had to divide into three tables. Chloe joined the Monson's at their table.

Granny Pam, Grandpa Reed, Alisha, Will, and the rest of Megan's family sat at this table.

My sister Ann along with Aunt Mary and Larry choose to avoid the chaos and sit at their own table.

Coleman and Ethan had so much fun together that Coleman came up later in the week to spend more time with Ethan. Making a snowman was one of the many fun things they did together. After spending the day with Ethan Coleman is asking for a basketball and basketball hoop for his birthday!

This past week I had a visit from my old roommates from Bowling Green State, Shirley and Melissa. Melissa and her family drove all the way to Utah from Ohio to surprise her family for Christmas. I am grateful I was able to spend an afternoon with her. We made pizza and had fun visiting while our children played together. This is the only picture I have of the kids eating pizza together. Between the two of us we have a 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 year old and one on the way... and no I am not the one who is pregnant!

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-29T19:44:00.000-08:00

This past month has been filled with fun activities and excitement for the children! For FHE, Ethan and Emma made a gingerbread house. Emma had managed to eat most of the candy off of it in about a week!

Both Ethan and Emma's schools had Christmas programs. Here is Emma holding a doll preforming in her Preschool program.

We spent Christmas Eve at Micah's parents house. One of the highlights of the evening was the Nativity put on by the kids. Taylor was a wise man, Ethan played Joseph and did a good job of holding baby Spencer who was our six month old baby Jesus, Sara was Mary, and Angel Emma and Shepherd Olivia had to keep a close watch on wild animal Eliza!

We spent Christmas morning at our house opening presents. Later that day we went to Provo to spend time with Lora's family. We had a good time eating, doing puzzles, and watching movies.

Here is Emma helping Eliza open her baby doll.

Emma is trying out her new kitchen while holding her new doll.

Watch out! Here comes Ethan on his new green bike!

We hope that you had a Merry Christmas!
Love, The Monson's

Fun Busy Week

2008-11-26T21:30:00.000-08:00

Today Micah had the day off of work, but Ethan and Emma had to go to school. When they came home we decided we wanted to do something fun as a family so we took them to the zoo. Overall, we had a really fun time seeing the animals and zoo lights.

Here are Ethan, Emma, and Eliza in front of the Cougars!

Ethan's favorite part was riding the train!

Emma enjoyed watching the giraffes!

The first time we walked by the elephants they weren't in site. Ethan and Emma were excited to finally see the elephant!

Emma had fun riding the Rhino!

Ethan and Eliza took a turn on the elephant trunk.

Micah and his nephew share the same birthday. This past Sunday we celebrated at his sister Natalie's house with a yummy dinner and fruit pizzas and homemade ice cream for dessert.

Over the weekend Micah and Ethan went camping and Christmas tree cutting. Here's Ethan in front of the campfire.

After the Christmas trees were cut Micah went shooting.

Later that night we had Micah's parents, brother Alan, and our friends the Hovey's and the Heumann's over for a BYU-Utah Football Party. All I can say is that the food was really yummy!

Denver

2008-11-18T19:11:00.000-08:00

Last week Micah and I decided at the last minute it would be fun to drive to Denver to attend the BYU vs Air Force football game and visit our family who live there. (My sister Ann has lived in Denver for over ten years, my sister Mary moved there two years ago with her husband John and they have two children Spencer and Molly, and my brother Will has lived there four years and has been married to his wife Alisha for two years who is from Denver.) My dad surprised us all by wanting to come with us. So Friday we all loaded up in the van and made the eight hour trek through Wyoming to get to Denver. Overall, it was a really fun trip and we are glad that we went.

Saturday we all headed to Colorado Springs to watch the BYU vs Air Force football game. Below is Molly, Mary, Ethan, Micah, Eliza, Lora, Emma, and my dad.

Here is my sister Ann holding Emma and I'm holding Eliza. This was the first football game that all three of our children went to together. It was nice to have some extra help with the children.

Here is Spencer and Ethan bundled up at the game.

After the football game we went to Qdoba a Mexican restaurant for dinner. We ordered some nachos for the kids and they had a blast eating together. My brother Will and his wife Alisha are sitting at the table next to the kids.

Here are the kids eating Sunday dinner at Mary and John's.

After dinner we went to Will and Alisha's new house for the grand tour. Emma and Spencer had fun dancing around to the Wizard of OZ while Ethan reenacted some of the plays from the BYU football game the day before.

The weather was beautiful on Monday so we decided to let the kids play together one last time in Mary and John's backyard before we headed back to Utah.

Happy Halloween

2008-10-31T08:49:00.000-07:00

This year we celebrated Halloween three days in a row! Emma goes to Preschool every Wednesday so she had a Halloween party at school where all the kids dressed up and did fun Halloween things. When I was getting Emma ready for school she did not want to wear her Halloween costume. I did everything I could to try and get her to dress up but she was insistent on wearing her blue dress with white hearts. So she went to school wearing her blue dress with white hearts instead of her princess costume. When she got to school and saw all the other little girls dressed as princesses she wanted to wear her princess costume too! Luckily we had put her Aeriel dress in her school bag and she was able to put it on over her blue dress with white hearts.

Here is Princess Emma with her preschool teacher Miss Suzanne (who is not really a witch)!

On Thursday we spent the day at Ethan's Kindergarten class helping out with his class Halloween Party. Ethan wanted to be Mater again this year (which was fine with me) and Emma had no problem putting on her Minnie Mouse dress that morning before the party! I dressed Eliza in Ethan's old devil costume because I knew she would terrorize his classroom!

Here is Ethan with his Kindergarten teacher "Dr. Shaw"!

On Friday, Micah's sister Natalie invited us to her house for a Halloween party. The kids went trick or treating in their neighborhood and we ate yummy food at her house. We had to leave early because Emma had decided earlier that day to chew and swallow a whole pack of bubblegum. She threw up pieces of chewed gum.

Here are Minnie Mouse "Emma" and Tinkerbell "Eliza" posing with their candy.

Seattle

2008-09-30T21:57:00.001-07:00

Earlier this month, Micah and I were able to go to Seattle without the kids! The main reason why we decided to go to Seattle was to go to a BYU football game.

Here is Micah and I with his dad at the Washington football stadium which overlooks Lake Washington.

That night we were able to go a Seattle Mariners baseball game with Tim and Mark Heumann. The New York Yankees were in town which was a real treat!

Micah and I love waterfalls. We drove an hour outside of Seattle to see this one.

This sign says the name of the beautiful waterfall we were able to see.

Before we flew home we were able to go to downtown Seattle to Pike's Market and to eat at Ivars!

Here we are at Deception Pass!

We were able to go to the grounds of the Seattle temple. Across the way was a wooded area with tons of blackberries. One of my favorite parts of the trip was picking fresh blackberries.

When we came home one of the first things I did was make blackberry jam! Yum Yum!

Happy First Birthday Eliza!

2008-09-02T21:51:00.000-07:00

Our sweet baby Eliza turned one on Saturday. She is our football baby! The day she was born was the opening day of college football and this year her birthday fell on BYU's first football game of the season. Because of that we celebrated her birthday on Sunday and had a really fun party. She really enjoyed eating her cake!

Here are a few endearing things about Eliza that make us love her so much.

1. Her teeth have come in an unusual way. The first teeth to come in were two on the top, but not the two you would think, making her smile all the prettier!

2. She loves to point at people and say hi. This makes her a hit whenever we go shopping, she will randomly point at someone, look at them and say hi. This definitely catches people off guard to be greeted by a baby, but most the time they respond to her by smiling and saying hi. I think it the cutest things!

3. She loves music. When Micah and I play the piano, she crawls over and stands against the piano playing the top keys while bobbing her head and shaking her stuff. Her favorite is when Micah plays "Boomba"!

4. One of her favorite places to play is in the dishwasher. She loves to help unload it by throwing all the silverware on the floor.

5. She loves playing with Ethan and Emma, especially with Ethan's trains and Emma's dolls. If she starts annoying them, they will carry her away from where they are playing to the other side of the room, but she quickly crawls back over to where they are.

Eliza holding one of Ethan's train not knowing what to think of the fire on her cake.

Posing with my Aunt Mary with her musical Elephant, trying to keep Emma from taking it away from her!

Admiring her new doll with Grandma and Grandpa Monson.

Consider this your "hi" from Eliza!

Vacation Fun

2008-08-26T21:54:00.000-07:00

Last week we were able to go on three really fun trips. Our first stop was in Bicknell, Utah where we attended a Morrell Family Reunion on Saturday. They usually plan the reunion the same weekend as Wayne County days so before we went to the reunion we stopped in Loa to watch the local parade. It was really fun for the children because they were able to collect quite a bit of candy and other trinkets. We had a wonderful time visiting with family at the reunion and spending time at my Grandma Morrell's house afterwards.

This was our favorite "float"!

After the reunion we went to my Grandma's house. Ethan and Emma had a fun time feeding horses with Grandpa Reed.

Emma had the attention of the horses with her meager offering.

Here is a picture of our little family with my beautiful Grandma Morrell in her home in Bicknell.

The second leg of our vacation was spending time in The Tetons and Yellowstone. We left early Monday morning to join Micah's family in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. We were able to go on a hike to Jenny Lake before most of his siblings headed back to Utah.

We spent most of our time with Micah's parents touring around Yellowstone and the Tetons.

I love this picture with the Teton Mountains as the backdrop.

Because they were only able to spend a couple hours with their cousins Taylor and Sara, Ethan and Emma were good friends on the trip.

One of their favorite things to do together was throw rocks in the water.

While Ethan and Emma were throwing rocks in the water Grandma Kristine helped Eliza wade in the water.

Emma joining in on the fun.

One of the highlights of the trip was swimming in Fire Hole River in Yellowstone.

Ethan and Emma were so excited to watch Old Faithful Geyeser they created their own little dance!

P U! The look on Ethan's face says it all about the smell of these mud pots!

Poising at the entrance of the Tetons.

One of the highlights of the trip was all the wildlife we were able to see. We were able to see moose, bison, elk, coyote, wolf, and pictured below...a bear!!!

Micah loved taking pictures of this elk!

We didn't get enough of the outdoors in Yellowstone so we decided to go camping in the Uintah's the day after we came home with Micah's brother David and their children Isabelle, Dominic, and Joshua. We had a really fun time camping, hiking, and fishing.

"Is it time to go to bed yet?" Emma loved going in and out of the tent and couldn't wait to go to sleep in it.

Emma finally able to go to sleep in the tent, while Ethan and Eliza still want to play!

We put the kids to work to help find wood for the campfire. Here they are poising with what they found.

Ethan and Dominic roasting marshmellows by the campfire.

Ethan and Emma with Isabelle at Provo River Falls.

The highlight of the trip for Micah was going fishing at Lake Bonnie. Anyone up for a fish fry?

The Bees

2008-08-12T15:30:00.001-07:00

Ethan's fascination with the Bees Baseball started in April when his Aunt Desi went to a baseball game with some friends. Thinking she was a huge fan, he would call her first thing in the morning the day after each game and tell her if the bees won and the score of the game. Because of his obsession with the Bees we decided it would be fun to take him to some games.

Last night we went to the Bees Baseball game with Grandpa Monson, Dave and Natalie's family and our friends Tim and Lithia and their family. The kids had a really fun time eating concessions, watching the game, and playing at the playground. They even got to meet "Bumble" the team mascot and have their hands autographed! It was an awesome game. The Bees ended up winning 12-1 and there was even a grand slam home run.

Here is Grandpa, Taylor, and Ethan at the game. Taylor brought his baseball mitt hoping to catch a baseball and Ethan begged for a baseball bat the whole game!

Emma with Sara getting their hands signed by Bumble. This was the highlight of the evening for Emma. When we walked into the stadium the first thing that Emma wanted to do was see the bee.

Here is Eliza watching the game with mom. She has done amazingly well at the games thank to the Heumann children for taking her on walks!

Finally proof that we were really at the game. . . our family picture with the baseball diamond as the backdrop!

Breaking Dawn

2008-08-08T12:44:00.000-07:00

I belong to a really fun book club. Yesterday we meet and briefly discussed two books that I didn't read and had a yummy dinner. Afterwards a bunch of us went and saw the movie Mamma Mia. It was definitely a chick flick with a cute story and fun music. This coming month we are reading Breaking Dawn the sequel to the "vampire books" by Stephanie Meyer. Last week I put the book on hold at the library and am number 2,738 in line. I figure I will probably get the book in 2-3 months. But no, my really sweet husband went and bought it for me and surprised me with it when I came home last night. Thank you Micah for being so thoughtful. I love you!

Much Needed Update

2008-08-03T15:27:00.000-07:00

It has been awhile since I last posted so I wanted to give an update on our children.

Ethan with Aunt Desi showing off his blue cast. He chose to have a blue cast because the green cast was too tight and it's also the same color as his favorite basketball team!

On July 24th we went on a fishing trip to the Uintah's. Micah was excited to take Ethan fishing and show him how it's done!

Ethan fishing at Lake Bonnie!

Ethan and Taylor showing off their fish!

Emma celebrated her 3rd birthday on July 2nd. Here she is showing off some of her new birthday Princess apparel.

The next week our little Princess received a "fancy" haircut from her brother Ethan. He decided to shorten some of her bangs and randomly take chunks out of the back of her hair.

Luckily my friend Hailey came to the rescue and was able to work wonders on her hair!

Thank goodness for her beautiful curls! I am still getting compliments on her haircut!

Emma had a fun time at "Magoon" with her cousin Sara!

Eliza is now 11 months old and finally got her first tooth last week!
Here she is chilling with Grandpa Monson on our fishing trip.

Much More Broken

2008-05-25T21:04:00.000-07:00

This week has been a very exciting one for our family. On Wednesday Ethan graduated from Preschool and on Thursday he had a green cast put on his arm. Unfortunately the green cast lasted about 36 hours before he took a fall at Chick Fil-A and broke his arm again. We spent all day Saturday at Primary Children's Medical Center in surgery having pins put in his arm to hold the bone in place. This was the first time the surgeon at Primary Chilren's had seen someone break their arm with the cast on. Only Ethan!!!

Here is Ethan posing at his graduation.

One of the only pictures we have of Ethan's green cast and swollen purple fingers!

Brave Ethan with Micah waiting to have surgery on his arm.

Ethan with his cousin Taylor who made cookies for him.

Ethan with Aunt Desi eating Snoobies!

More Broken

2008-05-18T15:01:00.000-07:00

Saturday was a busy day for our family. We were able to go to the Gateway for a book fair that was put on by Fidelity and see where Micah works. Ethan's favorite part was running through the water fountains and commented that it was the most fun that he had in his entire life. We raced back home from the Gateway to attend our wards Scouting Dutch Oven Dinner at a nearby park. While playing at the park Ethan and Emma both got hurt. Emma got hit with a swing causing her nose to badly bleed and Ethan fell off the monkey bars onto his right arm.

We decided to take Ethan in to have his arm X-rayed just to be safe because he wasn't acting himself. Here is a picture of him laying in the van in pain.

He ended up fracturing the lateral condyle of his humerus and a soft cast was put on his arm until he sees an orthopedic specialist this coming week.

The Emma and Ethan broken bone fashion show!

Our whirlwind day ended with a reading of some of the books we got at the book fair.

Broken

2008-05-07T15:49:00.000-07:00

Our computer is broken and has been for almost two weeks, so I am at the library catching up on my e-mail and blog. Ethan signed up for a library card so he could have internet access and catch up on the JAZZ and the latest NBA happenings. My little boy is growing up, I am surprised they give 5 year olds library cards. I brought our portable DVD player in so Emma could watch movies while we are on the computer. It seems to be working out pretty good.

While we are on the topic of broken things our computer isn't the only thing that is broken. On Sunday we went to my parents to celebrate my dads birthday. After dinner my dad took Ethan and Emma to the Provo temple grounds while they were there Emma got her fingers slammed in a gate. On Monday morning I decided to go and have her purple swollen fingers looked out by the doctor and after having them x-rayed we found out that her ring finger was broken. The doctor then put a splint on it and wrapped in up in a bandage, which she had taken off by the time we got home. Over the past two days I think I rewrapped her hand more than twenty times before I figured out that if I put a sock over the bandage she wouldn't take it off. Yeah! I have a feeling this will be a long two weeks.

Emma's black and blue fingers and broken ring finger.

Sweet Emma hiding behind her bandaged hand.

Emma using her bandaged hand to try to go outside.

My sister Desi wants to be on my blog so we took a picture last week of the two of us together in our new matching glasses. Desi looking cute and me, well not looking so cute.

Basketball Ethan

2008-04-17T13:57:00.001-07:00

This year has been fun for our family to follow the Utah Jazz Basketball team, especially since Ethan has developed an obsession with basketball. He pretty much eats sleeps and drinks basketball. The first thing he does when he gets up in the morning is gets our newspaper to "read" the sports section. He has figured out how to tell if the Jazz are playing that night and if so if the game is on KJZZ or cable. If there happens to be a Jazz game that night he is pretty much asking me all day if the game is going to be starting soon.

When the Jazz beat Houston in the first round, Ethan was so happy he taped the paper to our front door. Good thing he used painters tape to do it!

He also likes to log on the internet and follow the games on Yahoo Sports and check the scores of all the NBA teams. Because his favorite color is green is has also taken a liking to the Boston Celtics.

Ethan has a little baskeball hoops that he is constantly shooting hoops on. He likes to change into his basketball shorts and a t-shirt and shoot baskets while he watches cartoons and basketball games. He is really cute when he plays because he acts like he is various Jazz players when he is shooting. We ended up buying him a Kirelinko jersey that he pretty much wears all the time.

When we were at my parents house for mothers day my sister Ann was there and she painted everyone's toe nails. Later that night Ethan got into the nail polish and painted his arms. We asked him why he painted his arms and he said he did it because Boozer and D Will had paint on their arms!

Ethan in his Kirelinko jersey in front of his basketball hoop sporting his new tattoos!

My sister Ann decided to have a little fun and give him a personalize tattoo!

Here are a few of my favorite Ethan basketball quotes.

"Kirelinko for three, oh and he makes it!"

"Boozer for the lay up and it is good!"

"Memo for a deep three. Yes!"

"The Jazz won the first "Korver"(he obviously means the first quarter but says it like he is talking about Kyle Korver:).

"The Jazz won the game because they played defense."

Micah plays basketball every Tuesday night with the guys in our ward and Ethan has to tag along with him. He tries to keep score of all their games and between games will take his little ball onto the court and keep track of all the baskets he is making.

Ethan in St. George shooting hoops with his cousin Taylor and his Uncles Russell and Alan.

Last week Micah and I were talking about how great it would be if Micah could take Ethan to one of the last two remaining Jazz games. Last Monday, Micah went to the ticket office to see if he could get tickets to the game on Saturday against the Denver Nuggets. The only tickets they had left were single seats so we decided to bag the idea of taking him to a basketball game. Because we had been talking about Ethan going to a Jazz game, he was already talking about going to the Denver game. The next day Micah's dad called asking Micah if he and Ethan wanted to go to the game. Well they went and had a great time.

Ethan cheering on the Jazz!

Ethan at the game with Grandma and Grandpa Monson.

*This post was edited on May 18,2008

Easter Activities

2008-03-22T15:08:00.000-07:00

My sister Megan has been in town from California with her two sets of twins (Coleman and Chloe-5 years old, and Sadie and Dallas 13 months old). We decided to spend the day in Provo so our kids could play together and do some fun Easter activities.

We went to downtown Provo where the local business had games and goodies for the kids.

We took the kids to see the Easter bunny and they almost cooperated for a picture!

Ethan, Chloe, Coleman, and Emma coloring Easter eggs.

Emma trying to keep the dye off of her shirt!

Ethan showing off his blue egg.

After coloring eggs the kids went on an Easter egg hunt.

Emma eating jelly beans.

Ethan posing in front of Grandpa and Granny Morrell's BYU tree!

Happy Birthday!

2008-03-06T07:45:00.001-08:00

This post is dedicated to my friends and family who just had a birthday or who are having a birthday soon, especially my sister Mary who's birthday is today!

I wanted to share my favorite cake recipes that I have gotten many requests for and some highlights from our February birthday party. Enjoy!

Strawberry Custard Torte

1 package (18 ¼ oz) yellow cake mix
1/3 cup sugar
1 TBSP cornstarch
1/8 tsp salt
1 cup milk
2 egg yolks, lightly beaten
1 TBSP butter or margarine
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 carton (12 oz) frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 package (1 lb) frozen sweetened sliced strawberries, thawed and drained
Sliced fresh strawberries and mint leaves, optional

Prepare and bake cake according to package directions, using 2 greased and floured 9 in round baking pans. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks to cool completely.

In sauce pan combine the sugar, cornstarch and salt; gradually stir in milk until smooth. Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from the heat. Stir a small amount of hot filling into egg yolks; return all to pan, stirring constantly. Bring to a gentle boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat. Stir in the butter and vanilla. Cover and refrigerate until chilled.

Place half of the whipped topping in a bowl, add strawberries. Split each cake into two horizontal layers; place one layer on a serving plate. Spread with half of the strawberry mixture. Top with a second cake layer, spread with custard. Add third layer; spread with remaining strawberry mixture. Top with remaining cake and whipped topping. Refrigerate overnight. Garnish with strawberries and mint if desired. Yield: 12 servings.

I used a heart shaped cake pan, so I omitted the strawberry mixture layers.

Thanks to Aunt Natalie J. Ethan got a train cake!

Ethan showing off all his "transportation" presents and modeling the Bob the Builder robe Grandma Monson made.

Emma and Eliza with Grandma Monson and Great Grandma Jensen

Fun at the Zoo

2008-02-27T21:03:00.001-08:00

Today I decided to be brave and take the kids to the zoo. My friend Julynne, who is also my second cousin, suggested that we go today because the weather was good and it was free. Overall we had a really fun time, we only lost Ethan once and if you know Ethan that is really good! Here are a few pictures from our day.

Ethan and Emma riding the Elephant.

"Hanging" out with the Penguins.

Ethan with his big snake

Emma with her not so innocent kitty.

Playing with the Lions.

Mom with two of her little "animals"

Tagged!

2008-02-25T20:58:00.000-08:00

I just read both Natalie's blogs and saw that I have been tagged! I am so behind on blogging because my camera goes to work everyday with Micah so he can make movies of the trains for Ethan. Micah left our camera at work today and you should have seen the fit that Ethan threw.

What is your husbands full name? Micah Shane Monson. His mom liked the name Micah and his dad liked the name Shane. Micah hates the name Shane.

How long have you been married? 6 years on March 8th!

Who eats more sweets? Micah. We try not to eat a lot of sweets at home, but he is always telling me about the donuts and other goodies he gets at work.

Who said I love you first? Micah did on Traverse Mountain.

How old is he? Thirty-Two.

Who is taller? Micah

Who is smarter? When we got married I was smarter than he was so he went back to school and got his MBA, now we are equally smart.

Who can sing better? Micah, I inherited my dad's voice (aka the wedding singer :).

Who does the laundry? Me and the kids. They are always fighting over who will pour the soap.

Who pays the bills? Me.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Micah, although he says that I do.

Who mows the lawn? Micah, my older sister Ann liked to do it when I was growing up so I never learned how.

Who cooks dinner? I do, unless it is steak, bacon, or nachos!

Who drives? When we are together Micah drives, but most the time it's just me chauffering the kids.

Who kissed who first? Micah and right after that he tripped and fell:).

Who asked who out? Micah.

Who has more siblings? He does.

Who wears the pants? Me, expect when BYU football is involved!

Who to tag? My sisters Megan and Mary- This will be the perfect way for you to start blogging!

Wanna Snoobee?

2008-02-09T10:57:00.000-08:00

Last week we were driving home from the grocery store and we heard a voice from the back of our van saying "Want Snoobee, Want Snoobee". Micah and I looked at each other and started laughing, knowing that he wanted a Slurpee from 7-11!

On Monday night after FHE we went to 7-11 for a Snoobee. We'll let you guess if the kids had fun or not!!

Memories of President Hinckley

2008-02-04T19:09:00.001-08:00

We were saddened over the passing of our beloved Prophet, President Gordon B. Hinckley, on Sunday, January 27, 2008. This past week we had the opportunity to reflect on his life and the good he has done for the church over his lifetime. Yesterday Micah and I wrote in our journals about our feelings and memories of him as our prophet. I want to share my top ten memories in no particular order.

1. My first job was working as a banquet worker for the Church Office Building. Many of the meals that I served were to President Hinckley and President Monson. President Hinckley would comment that the portions were too large and President Monson would tell us that the portions were too small. So before each meal we would prepare a plate with small portions for President Hinckley and large portions with a glass of milk for President Monson!

2. In the Fall of 1989 I went with my dad to visit my Grandma and Grandpa Morrell in Bicknell, Utah. The weekend that we went happened to be stake conference and President Hinckley was there to speak. My grandma played the organ for the meeting and when it was over I was able to shake hands with President Hinckley. Years later when I read the biography of President Hinckley he mentioned his visit to the humble hardworking people of the Loa Stake. I am grateful to be a descendant of the people of Wayne County.

3. In the October 1997 General Conference, President Hinckley announced the building of smaller temples, at the time of his talk I was living in Bowling Green, Ohio where I lived over four hours from a temple. In April 1998, I was able to attend a special meeting with my friends Melissa and Michael in Columbus, Ohio where President Hinckley announced the building of a temple there.

4. On September 4, 1999, I was able to attend the dedication of the Columbus, Ohio Temple and be in the temple when it was dedicated by President Hinckley. He compared the Columbus temple to the greatness of the Kirtland and Salt Lake temples.

5. In November 2000, I waited in line with friends from my singles ward to hear President Hinckley speak in the Conference Center to the Youth and Young Single Adult of the church. Although, I wasn't able to hear him speak from the conference center. I will always remember sitting in the Tabernacle and hearing his "B" talk.

6. In September 2001, I finally made it in the Conference Center to hear President Hinckley speak to the Young Adults of the church. Micah and I were dating at the time so we were able to attend this together.

7. The first six months that we were married Micah and I lived in downtown Salt Lake. Upon attending church the first week we realized that we were in the same ward as President Hinckley and President James E. Faust. Due to their travel schedules they attended the ward about twice a month. It was a memorable experience to be able to be in President Hinckley's ward.

8. Over the past couple of years we have had many opportunities to attend events in the conference center where President Hinckley was in attendance. In December, I was able to attend the Christmas Broadcast with Micah's parents while he stayed home with our children. Not knowing at the time this would be the last time I would hear him speak while he was alive.

9. Thursday and Friday was President Hinckley's viewing at the conference center. My dad called me to ask if I was going. My first thought was are you crazy take three children in the cold snowy weather by myself to see the prophet. I talked it over with Micah and we decided we would go Friday afternoon and take our children with us. All day Friday all Ethan and Emma could talk about was going to see President Hinckley. We feel very blessed that we were able to have this experience with our children.

10. Micah and I were blessed to be able to get tickets to President Hinckley's funeral. It was inspirational to be in the Conference Center which was built under his direction as we reflected upon his life.

Holiday Highlights

2008-01-22T19:48:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to share some of the fun things that we did in the month of December. I know this is late, but hey better late than never!

Ethan, Emma, and Eliza in front of the Christmas tree after they decorated it.

After the first big snow storm in December, Micah helped Ethan and Emma make a BYU snowman. Go Cougars!

Ethan and Emma showing off their finished gingerbread house. Emma couldn't wait to start eating it!

Acting out the navitity story with cousins and Aunt Kristina at Grandma and Grandpa Monson's Christmas party!

Eliza telling Santa what a good girl she has been this year!

Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa Morrell's house. Aunt Ann posing with all nine grandchildren.

Lora with three of her sisters.

Micah's Second Love!

2008-01-06T16:23:00.000-08:00

If you haven't figured it out yet, Micah loves BYU football! This year he attended all six home games and two away games. Below is a picture of Micah with his dad and brothers Alan and Mark at the Utah game.

Micah and his Dad drove to Laramie, Wyoming in November to watch BYU beat Wyoming.

This is the finally score of the BYU vs Utah game. The Cougs pulled off a victory two years in a row!

Our friends Tim and Lithia Heumann and their son Mark at the Utah game.

Micah's dad with Micah, Lora and Eliza at the Las Vegas Bowl. We thought it was only fair to take Eliza to a football game as a baby because Ethan and Emma went as babies too!

This is an edited picture of the blocked field goal at the end of the game. Micah insisted on including this picture. Sometimes miracles do happen:).

The final score at the Vegas Bowl. BYU came out on top.

This is a picture of Lora and Emma at the BYU vs Notre Dame football game in South Bend, IN in October 2005. Emma was 3 1/2 months old.

A view of the Notre Dame football stadium.

This is a picture of Micah, Lora and Ethan in California around the same time Ethan went to the BYU vs USC football game in September 2003.

This is Ethan at the BYU football stadium this year. Micah's teaching his children young to love football!

Let it Snow!

2007-11-28T22:14:00.000-08:00

Ethan likes to call his Grandma Monson on the phone. In fact, he has had her phone number memorized for almost a year! He likes to ask her what she is doing and what she is making for dinner and when something exciting happens at our house she is usually the first to know. Well, this morning when Ethan woke up and saw that it had snowed the first thing he did was call Grandma to tell her. A couple of hours later he called her back to ask what she was doing and she said she needed to shovel the snow off of her sidewalks. After hearing that he quickly hung up and before I knew it he was outside shoveling our driveway and sidewalks.

Diesel 10

2007-11-20T20:25:00.000-08:00

Ethan loves Thomas the Tank engine and his new favorite train is Diesel 10. He talks about Diesel 10 all the time. Whenever we go shopping to Target and even Michael's craft store he has to go and look at Diesel 10 and when I don't buy it for him he throws a huge fit and everyone looks at me like I am the meanest mother in the world. Little do they all know he is getting it for Christmas!

This is Ethan at home playing with his trains. Emma has to observe him playing with his trains because this is his territory.

Micah's office at work overlooks the Union Pacific train tracks at the Gateway in Downtown Salt Lake. Ethan calls Micah everyday to see if he has seen Diesel 10. We took our family to the gateway today to go to the planetarium and do a little shopping. The highlight of Ethan's trip was seeing Diesel 10!

Happy Halloween!

2007-10-31T20:35:00.000-07:00

Here are our cute kids dressed in their Halloween costumes. Ethan's costume was just Eliza's size so we decided to have her drive Mater!

Ethan as his favorite "Cars" character Mater.

Emma as an Indian Princess.

Eliza the cat driving Mater.

Our First Post

2007-10-16T15:22:00.000-07:00

We are excited to finally enter the blog world! Thank you Natalie J for helping me set this up! I am over at her house now so this is the best that we have now for pictures of our family. The pictures were taken at Grandma Monson's funeral. I posted the one of Eliza in the carseat so you could see that there really is a baby in there! Natalie says this is addicting so stay posted to keep up with all the exciting and not so exciting things that happen in our life.