Two Years Ago

On this special day for both you and I, we find ourselves in the very same place we were in 2 years ago, the hospital. The image and feelings are still so very fresh in my mind. As you lay here in this hospital bed not so tiny this time, you still have tubes in/out of you, you still have trouble keeping your breath, and you still are easy to calm by the touch of my hand to your foot and head. Of how I wish you didn't have to go through the things that you have gone and are going through. Oh how I wish mom could take away your pain. This is where I have learned that the power of faith can calm the soul and get you through any and all situations.

Two years has come and gone so fast and at times so very slow. You have grown leaps and bounds from your mere 3 pounds and yet you have so many more milestones to achieve. Emmett Cole Morgan you are strong spirit and a strong boy. Your smile brightens the room and makes everyone around you feel good. Emmett you have an infectious laugh that changes any mood to happy.

Two years ago today, you were born into our family. Heavenly Father had chosen you to come to us, an unexpected yet much needed blessing. You were our special blessing that would teach your mother and father to rely more completely on Faith, Hope, Charity and Love our dear Father in Heaven. During these two years Emmett, mom has learned that I am truly just the keeper here on Earth for you and your 2 brothers and your sister. Never have I thought of this more and realized it until you joined our lives. How blessed I truly am to be a mom of such great spirits. With that truly overwhelmed that I have been chosen to be one of your parents.

Your dad and I love you so very much. Oh how blessed I am to be your mom and to have you as my son. Happy Birthday my sweet Emmett.

Here is Emmett enjoying his birthday in the hospital.

Another surgery for Emmett

As we were waiting for Emmett's surgery. Emmett was able to play with the toys in the kids room. Here are some fun pictures of Emmett enjoying himself. Just before it was Emmett's turn to go, they gave him some relaxing medication.

This is Emmett feeling loopy.

How do you describe the feelings you have as the nurses/doctors wheel away your child to the operating room. Oh sure we have done this before (too many times), but this time I am overwhelmed with the feeling of "Father Thy Will Be Done". As I sit here waiting for the doctor to come out and tell me all is well, you can see him now, I have so many thoughts and feelings running through me. So much to think about, so much to worry about, and so much to be grateful for all at the same time. I am overwhelmed. During these times, I turn to your Dad and to Father in Heaven for comfort. Your dad knows how to calm me and talk me through it, where as Father in Heaven calms my heart and I feel calm and at peace.

The surgery that was only to take 2 hours and now maybe 3 so we can take our time the doctor says, is going on 4 hours. I am getting a little nervous. Finally the doctor comes out and says everything went well. Because of the inflamation of the esphagous and the stomach from all of the reflux there was more bleeding than expected, so they took there time through each step. The doctor was pleased with the size of Emmett's stomach, it was the size of a bigger kid so she had more to work with as she wrapped it around Emmett's esphogaus. Emmett's esphogaus wasn't long enough like it should be, so the doctor had to stretch it into the stomach before sewing the stomach around the esphogaus. Before the surgery was over, the doctor put in a g-tube to help with the venting of Emmett's stomach.

A whole new world I am entering into which has been the case since the day Emmett was born. Now that Emmett will not be able to throw up or burp, it is the responsibility of Scott and I to take care of this task for Emmett. We need to make sure that Emmett doesn't wretch and undo all the stitches that have been done.

Now that the surgery is done, we are in the hospital room and it is in the darkness of the night that I call out to my Heavenly Father. A night where I can't calm Emmett and he and I both are functioning on no sleep. As I hold a crying Emmett in my arms, I find myself crying just as hard and saying, "Heavenly Father, I can't do this anymore. I have reached my limit. I can't do this anymore. Please Father calm him, make him sleep." As I am pleading with all my heart and crying just as hard, I feel an inner peace and know that my prayers are heard. As I hold Emmett he is starting to calm and go to sleep. I am able to lay him in his bed and he sleeps for a monumental 4 hours straight. Oh how blessed I feel. I know that I am a daughter of God and that he knows who I am. He knows my weaknesses and lifts me to make me stronger.

The dawn of a new day brings sunshine and a happier Emmett. I feel like we can make it. The nurses seem to think that I need a break, cause each one that comes into the room to take vitals ask me if there is someone coming to relieve me. I am the mom, I need to be here, but then the darkness starts to creep in again. So I call for a break. My parents come sit with Emmett so I can sneak a quick nap in at home with a shower. Then Scott comes to the rescue and spends time with Emmett as well. Wow, I feel like a whole new person.

Four days into this hospital stay, Emmett is doing fabulous. The funny, non-stop whirl wind boy has returned. Emmett has emptied every drawer in the hospital room, has run the hallways. and told the nurses "no no no". So I think it is time for us to go home. Keep our fingers crossed that it will be soon.

The Lord does have a sense of humor!!

I am feeling overwhelmed with my life and my life with Emmett. He just finished his 3rd surgery of the year and I am exhausted, I was seriously thinking of making the call to the Bishop to let him know that I needed to take a year off of all my church responsibilities.

I think I am finally coming down off of my adrenaline rush so I was having all of these overwhelming feelings. Well with my thoughts came the Lords response long before I could make the phone call to the Bishop. A counselor in the Bishopric came by our home to extend a call to me. I have been called to be the secretary in Primary.

WHAT??? ARE YOU KIDDING ME???? The Bishopric Counselor knew everything that we were going through and said that I could think about it. Really? Do I need to think about it? No, I know that this was the Lord telling me that I need to serve. I need to dive into serving so that I can "feel" again. Feel the spirit, feel the love of service, just feel the good instead of feeling overwhelmed.

This goes to show that the Lord knows what's best for me.  So I accepted the calling, with the understanding of I would be out of commission for the whole month of December to take care of Emmett and now my dad who will be having surgery. Everyone was so understanding.

As I have been engaged in this calling, I have come alive. I have had my fire relit and am excited to serve and mostly to work. I haven't worked in a few years. You know created things on the computer, felt fulfilled by improving a process, etc. I am so excited to be working the other part of my brain, that has been ignored since Paige was born.


I am thankful that the Lord does have a sense of humor! Just when I think I know best, he is quickly there to let me know that it's his plan - NOT MINE!!!

Some Track Break Fun!!!

This year track break was changed from December to November! The kids always get excited for track break because it means we get to take a trip and do fun activities!!! Well track break didn't start off so fun for the kids. They found out exactly what I do while they are in school, I run Emmett from therapy to therapy and from doctor to doctor appointment. No fun!!!

Garhett and Trent quickly lost interest in always going and asked if they could stay home. One problem, we don't have a home phone. So how would they reach me or I them if there was a problem? Quick solve, we got them a cell phone. GASP!!!! It is our stay home phone only. This way I felt a little more at ease of leaving the boys at home and occasionally Paige joined them.

Garhett and Trent quickly lost interest in always getting left at home as well. "Mom, can't we do anything fun this track break? Can't we go on an airplane somewhere?", they would ask. I have to admit I was getting the itch as well. I wanted to get out of the cold and go somewhere. Small problem, Scott still has to work. In fact this time of the year is when he gets crazy busy. So my hopes weren't to high of us going anywhere.

Track break is slowing winding down and Scott came home from work Wednesday night and said, "Let's get out of here for a few days and go to Arizona". OKAY!!!, don't have to ask or tell me twice. Because planning ahead isn't Scott's strong suite (love ya honey!), we couldn't fly (well we didn't want to pay the airfare that goes along with the non-planning), so we drove. GASP!!!!!!

We were going to leave Thursday night when Scott got off work and drive to my parents house, but I wasn't quite finished with the packing. It was less than 24 hours since he announced that we were going to Arizona. I finished the laundry but not getting everyone packed up. So we decided to leave early Friday morning and drive straight through to Las Vegas (a 10 hour drive).

The kids did amazing. We packed the Wii along with movies to keep the kids entertained through the long drive. It was fun to watch them play Wii in the car, we have the game Sing It where you basically karaoke a song. We had the singing throughout the speakers in the car, it was hilarious to hear the kids in "stereo".

When we got to Vegas we grabbed a bite to eat, some yummy custard at Nielsen's Frozen Custard, swam at the hotel and then went to bed.The next morning, we were up, fed, and on the road by 8:30am. We drove over the Hoover Dam and headed toward Phoenix. Another day of driving that kids were awesome at. We are so blessed to have such good travelers.

We stayed with our dear friends the Martinez's in Arizona. We have been friends with them for 14 1/2 years. I was Amy's visiting teacher and have been friends ever since. We bought our first homes by each other. Struggled through infertility together. Truly an amazing family. It was so nice to be able to just hang out like the days before children. Our kids played so well together. Emmett only broke a couple of things, which is an achievement in itself. Sorry Amy and John. Thanks for the good times, the great conversation, and the place to stay. We love you and miss you tons. (The unfortunate thing is that we were all having so much fun together, that I forgot to get out the camera and take pictures. :o( bummer).

This is Paige finding some dress up clothes among all the boy toys!

Here are the kids at the park. As soon as the kids stepped out of the car, Trent asked, "Is is summer here while it is winter at our house?". Scott told them that this was there winter!!! Our kids were loving it!!!

On Sunday, we were able to go visit a friend of mine from High School. It is so fun to catch up with friends after all these years. We have stayed in touch over the years haven't seen each other since we lived in Utah (quite a while ago). Thanks Juli for the fun visit. You have a beautiful family and a lovely home. Paige was in heaven finally being able to play with girls on our vacation. So thank you!!

Monday, Amy and John were back at work and the kids were back in school, so we took our family to the Phoenix Zoo. It was a fun zoo, with a lot of great animals and things to see. The kids enjoyed going on the carousel, riding the tractors, miking the cows, and seeing all the animals that we don't get to see at the Boise Zoo.

What a great spur of the moment trip this was. Our kids are getting used to the last minute get aways, that they can't wait for the next track break to see where the next place will be. Good times, good friends, and a great family memories!!!

Girls Weekend

I haven't done a girls weekend in about 2 years, so when Krista asked if I wanted to get away for the weekend I jumped at the chance. First I had to ask a few questions like: where there any kids (babies) going, cuz I couldn't go if there were; who was going; and lastly was there an agenda or could I just relax. Fortunately the answers were all music to my ears. Especially the last one. There was no agenda except for eating, sleeping, and hot tubbing. The rest was up to me.

Friday after Scott got home from work, I picked up Krista and then picked up Deidra for our weekend get away. We were headed to McCall to stay at Krista's time share. We started our fun filled trip off with dinner in the car from Taco Bell. We did a lot of laughing on our drive. We had our 32 oz diet Pepsi's and away we went singing to the 80's classics on XM along our mountain drive in the dark with snow flurries. Oh good times!!!!

We arrived in McCall, checked in and then went to the town market at 9:30 at night. This market had everything from groceries, to clothes, to fishing supplies, to skies. Truly the one stop shop for a small town, and no the name was not Wal-Mart. Here is where our fun truly started for the weekend. Krista remembered that she forgot to pack her swim suit. What???? Luckily for Krista there was a clothing section and even in the winter they sell swim suits. However, Deidra and I were not about to let Krista spend $25 + dollars on a swim suit for the weekend. So we set out to create Krista a suitable swim suit for our girls weekend.

Deidra scored Krista a men's black t-shirt for $1.00 in the clearance bin. Now she just needed bottoms. So off we went to the panty section. We found some dashing black briefs with a yellow smiley face I believe or some dudad, for $4.00. What a bargain!!! An entire make shift swim suit for $5.00, can't beat that.











The first night we stayed in the regular rooms, which weren't very regular to me. Way better than a hotel room. We had a nice family room with a TV and fireplace. A big roomy kitchen with a dining room table. The a master bedroom and another bedroom. It was a nice home away from home. Since getting a late start to McCall, we all were pretty tired after our drive and our shopping experience at the local Ridley Market. Off to bed.

In the morning, Deidra was the chef. She made us the best stuffed french toast with a side of sausage and a glass of orange juice. Actually I had my juice while she cooked and had a diet pepsi with the french toast. Everything was so delightful, great job Friend!!!! Cleaned up from breakfast and got the call that our Presidential Suite was ready. So we packed our things and moved over one complex.


















Yes in deed it was the Presidential Suite. I videoed it, but don't know if I will get it posted. It was like a luxory home. When you walked in there was a foyer that broke you off to two master suites one on each side of the foyer. Then straight to the main family room, a goregous kitchen and a long dining room table. Off of the family room was french doors leading you to the balcony where our own private hot tub awaited us. Shh don't wake me, I am not ready to go back to reality, I like this world I am visiting!

We got settled into our new digs and began our Saturday. Deidra took the dining room table and spread out her weekend projects. She was crafting and knitting. Krista took one side of the bar and set up her lap top and did homework, facebook and shopped on-line. I took the end portion of the dining room table and set up my lap top so I could work on my Heritage Maker projects.

It was the best set up. We had the TV on watching the cheesy Saturday flicks on TBS. We laughed and talked. I even got in a Saturday nap - yep and with no interruptions. HEAVEN I tell ya - HEAVEN!!!! After naps, a little more project stuff, we headed into town for lunch. We had a burger, fries, onion rings, and a shake. Before heading back to our suite, we stopped at the Maverick for a diet soda, and the local movie store for a couple of movies. Can the day/weekend get any better than this!!!

We watched "The Proposal", Deidra and I had seen it, but Krista hadn't. I can say it is even funnier the second/third time. Great movie!! We just hung out for the rest of the day. We went into the hot tub. The temperature outside was a whopping 28 degrees and we were sitting in the hot tub. Good times.

The next morning, we got up, took our time getting ready, packed up and then headed to town for some breakfast before hitting the road back to reality. Of course our journey home wouldn't be complete with our diet soda. Thanks Krista and Deidra for an incredibly relaxing weekend. I so needed to get a way and refuel. Scott was great to keep the kids and not complain or grumble while I was gone. He supported me and my get away.




Thanks again!!!!

Family Pictures

This year we decided to go with the outdoor pictures instead of the stale Jc Penney look. It was hard for us at first to act natural and have fun, we are so used to being stiff mannequins. We had a neighbor and gal in our ward Shandy of Shandy Vogt Photography, she is absolutely amazing. Shandy's talent is so incredible. Enjoy the pictures. To our family members, we will be sending you a printed picture of our family, so please be patient.

Enjoy!!!