It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Merry Christmas, Everyone! Hope the season finds you and yours happy and healthy . . . here's our year in review - -


Sara Alice joined our family March 28th. She is SUCH a sweet little baby and had our hearts from the first hello! She is always happy, and is currently crawling EVERYWHERE, eating crumbs and other stuff she finds on the floor, and pulling herself up to reach whatever she can get to! She is the center of attention, always, and brothers and sister ADORE her! What a lovely closing chapter to the "Book of Morgan"!!






Anna will be 5 in February. She seems to think, however, that she's already 15! She has personality plus, and is a friend to all. She can go from playing with a baby, to chatting with a toddler, to conversing with a teen, to enchanting a grandma in a matter of minutes at church, and is completely comfortable with all of them! She started preschool this year, and informed me the other day that she'd kissed "Trey" at school 'cause he told her to! Yikes. Here we go!


Joey turned 8 in November and is in 2nd grade. He has the biggest heart I've ever seen. He is kind to everyone, and seems to be a champion of the underdog! I hope he hangs on to that. He loves Cub Scouts and playing soccer. He also loves to collect stuffed Cheetahs, but at this point he's got so many there's barely enough room left in his bed for him! He's on the brink of loosing front tooth #2 and will soon be singing "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth . . . !"






Tommy will turn 10 (holy cow!) in March. He's our Super Reader! I finally convinced him to start reading Harry Potter around Thanksgiving, now, three weeks later, he's almost done with book #5! He loves school, but wishes he could have harder spelling words! He also loves soccer and Cub Scouts - and is happy Joey has joined him because they really are good buds! Hope that lasts, too!






T.R. and I will celebrate 12 years this June! And no, this is not an engagement photo! Although it does look as though it could be! Kinda cheesey, but ya gotta have some cheese in your life ;)
T.R. is still Mr. Attorney Man! He enjoys it, most days, and is very good to leave the ick he deals with at work! Don't know how, but he does! He has been able to be involved with a few happy cases too, like helping a couple friends with the adoption process, etc. He was also put in the bishopric as first counselor in August - that's been kind of strange because it seems like such an "old man" calling! (no offense to any old men reading this!) But it has been good, and the "leaving it at work" talent has come in handy with this calling, too!
Because of T.R.'s new calling, I was released from Young Women. SO SAD for me! I've had a harder time letting go than I thought I would! Love those girls! But, it has given me more time to be mommy, now that I'm a church widow! Life is good. I still do a few weddings here and there, and like to surprise friends and neighbors with an arrangement every now and then . . . you can't go wrong with flowers!

We are so blessed with many wonderful friends, neighbors, and most of all family! It really is A WONDERFUL LIFE! Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Oh, Come Let Us Adore . . .

Bethany and Rachel, sisters and my former Laurels, brought me this cake on my birthday! They found out I was celebrating with hamburger helper and no cake for dinner, so they decided to fix that! So sweet! The 4 candle is because I was celebrating the 4th anniversary of my 29th birthday, and because they know it's my favorite #! What cute girls, huh? And lest you think TR a bad husband who didn't plan a birthday celebration . . . he actually had, but we had to go to Tommy's school choir concert instead. Thus the Hamburger Helper instead of steak! It was a great day ;)

I believe this picture is self explanatory . . . but holy cow, how can he be 8 already?! And, no, there wasn't a flood - but the kid's so long and skinny that we opted for the jumpsuit that was too short, but fit his body, as opposed to the one that would've been long enough, but also would've floated right off of him!!

We had the Morgan family Christmas party at our house Sunday. Complete with a nativity scene! The unique thing about our nativity scene was that we had to wait for "Mary" to throw-up before we could start! Poor thing! But that's a story not everyone can tell, and she was fine the rest of the night! (As far as I know!) The kids looked so cute, and I even teared up a few times. It really is an amazing story, even when you hear it a dozen times a year!

SAY CHEESE . . .

Sara is/has been trying her hardest to push those stubborn top teeth out! This is her smile lately, I assume she's trying to make us aware of her progress. Sadly, the progress is still not visible to the naked eye! But she sure looks cute when she cheeses! Teeth or no teeth!

Just a thought . . .

If I could tell the world just one thing
It would be, WE'RE ALL OK.
And not to worry 'cause worry is wasteful
And useless in times like these
I won't be made useless
I won't be idle with despair
I will gather myself around my faith
For LIGHT DOES THE DARKNESS MOST FEAR.

Poverty stole your golden shoes
IT DIDN'T STEAL YOUR LAUGHTER
And heartache came to visit me
But I knew it wasn't ever after.
We'll fight, NOT OUT OF SPITE
For someone must stand for what's right
'Cause where there's a man who has no voice
There ours shall go, singing

My hands are small, I know
But they're not yours, THEY ARE MY OWN
I am never broken
In the end, ONLY KINDNESS MATTERS

We are never broken.
We are God's eyes
We are God's hands
We are God's heart

ONLY KINDNESS MATTERS, IN THE END.

-Jewel

This is the song I have been hearing in my head ALOT lately. Mostly after I watch the news. I really think everything will be okay, as long as we don't forget our neighbors. Our fellowmen. "We are God's hands" Now, go to.

EIGHT . . .

Joey turned 8 on the 8th (AND it's the year '08 -love it!) and if I may just ramble on about this sweet little boy for a bit . . . he is truly a gentle soul. And if predictions hold up, he may end up a gentle giant! (predicitons being 6'8 according to his height at age 3 times 50% or some strange formula like that!)

Anyway . . .

He's been collecting stuffed cheetahs for about 2 years now. He loves each one, and has a name for all 16! Tommy decided to make him a cheetah blanket for his birthday, and as you can see, it was a hit! He decided that instead of using the blanket himself, he'd cuddle ALL his cheetahs in it! Unfortunately, this left little room for him!

For his 5th birthday, all Joey wanted was a Jack-in-the-box. I searched EVERYWHERE and could not find one. Well, I found one this year and decided to get it. I told him, after he'd opened it, that I had saved the receipt and we'd take it back so he could choose what he wanted, as I was just trying to make up for not getting one before! He decided he really wanted to keep "Jack", major reason being - - he loved making the clown pop up for little sister(s)! What a nice brother.

And finally . . .

He doesn't have his first scout meeting until tomorrow, but was/is SO excited for it, that he asked me at dinner, "since I have to go to scouts tomorrow, and I've never worn my uniform, would it be okay if I wear it tonight and maybe tomorrow after school so I can get used to it?"
So, on went the duds, and we spent the evening passing off his bobcat requirements so that he can go to his first den meeting having passed it all off! And he did "get used" to the uniform!
I love this kid!

Halloweenie . . .

We had a very busy and fun Halloween! First we had a cousin party where we made stuff and played stuff and ate stuff! It was fun, but if you've ever had 12 kids (including two babies not pictured) ages 9 1/2 and under at your house for a Halloween party, then you know the chaos that ensued! But that's how you make memories, right?! Also, please notice the boy to girl ratio - - slight advantage to the girls!! A 9 to 3 advantage, to be exact! (if you include the 2 baby girls!)

Then, it was off to "Trunk-or-Treat"! Gotta say, I'm a big fan of the truck-or-treating! It's much easier for me to stand by my trunk and hand out candy as I watch my kids wander around a parking lot, than to have to go from block to endless block, only to hit a few houses of the people we actually know and trust! But man, I'd have wandered all night given the weather we had! PERFECT! I love it when you can wear your costume instead of having to wear a coat! Loved it! All in all, a very good Halloween. Now I must go 'cause the kiddos are sleeping and this is when I go through their bags to pick out the stuff I want!

You can drop my Mother-of-the-Year trophy off tomorrow.

Question of the day . . .

While sitting on the couch folding laundry, Anna beside me coloring, I answered this question -

Anna - "Mom, when I'm 82 can I take my shower by myself?"

Me - "Yes."

Anna - "Thank you."