Too much school!!!

Wow has today been a long day! and as I see and know it has been a while since I have updated this thing! James and I are ever still in school with James' light at the end of the tunnel growing ever brighter and mine, well, still quite black. James is more than full time and busy as ever but after next semester, he will be a UVU Bachelor Graduate! We will be having a party, I'm sure! Jerusha and Mallorie are adorable as ever!!! Jerusha never ceases to amaze us with her vocabulary and charm. She is almost officially potty trained and loves her big girl panties! She is going to be a kitty cat for Halloween (pictures to come) and is so excited for it! Mallorie is crawling and trying to stand on her own, that's a work in progress! She is so smily and has to be where Jerusha is, especially if it is my lap. For those who didn't know, we are gaining an addition to our family in April sometime (officially on the 21st but who knows, right?). We are hoping for a girl mostly because of all the girl clothes we have but a little boy would be welcomed to all the drama that the girls provide! Forward press forward! We love our little family!

My Family- that I love so dearly!

At the airport to get Jay and Dana. They had been awake for a day and a night and part of another day in China time by the time they went to bed Tuesday night.

We found them!

Not a moment in the day goes by where Jerusha isn't asking for milk! or something else edible- only usually after she spies something on the counter that looks good.

Mallorie liked the oranges although she couldn't get them.

Jerusha loved to help who ever was in the bouncer even when they didn't need the help. She thought they liked to swing...

I couldn't get Jackson to hold still long enough to smile for a picture. He goes to town in that bouncer.

"Yes, I got it! Now what?"

"Look Mom, he ate it!"


I have decided that I definitely have the cutest kids, nieces and nephews on the whole earth!!! About a month ago, my big (well, older) sister Michelle and her 3 (and almost a half- she's pregnant) children came to visit. I have to say that besides spending countless hours catching up and watching our children play together, the fact that she surprised us all with the visit (all but mom and dad and they kept the secret very well) was by far the best. During their stay, we all got to help Andrea and Magnum move to our old apartment and their new apartment, Castilleja hall on Snow campus. I actually did the babysitting while everyone else did the moving. Jerusha was beside herself with joy at friends that actually talk back and walk. (ones that she doesn't have to roll back over onto her back to see- Mallorie). Then this week, Jason, Vanessa and family went to Lake Powell for some house boating fun and we had the privledge of watching Jackson, their 8 month old baby boy. And what a good baby he is. I think my husband said it best as, "he doesn't cry." and that's the truth. Amiss all the baby fun, Jay and Dana came back from China. When they called us from San Fransisco, we asked them what they wanted for dinner- maybe something special. Their only request was a hamburger. They were easy to please that night. We grilled up some hamburger, showed off the babies they were meeting for the first time, and gave them a comforable bed to sleep on. I tell you, family is everything. I appreciate my family so much! I have realized lately how much my mom did for us as we were growing up. I love her so much and hope she knows that I appreciate the sacrifices she has made and continues to make to shows us she loves us. I love my husband so much! I have married the most imcredible man who has more ambition than anyone I have every met. I love him because he has made me a dreamer. His smile melts my heart and when he kisses me, I go weak at the knees. Icouldn't ask for a more supportive, happy and amazing husband for myself and father for my children. I love you, James!

This is my cute family! We have been trying to take a family photo with the newest addition of Mallorie since she didn't look so newborn and without much planning, my dad got this one on Mother's Day. Don't I have one good lookin' family! As of lately, both James and I are looking for work. It's crazy! James finished school at UVU and started with Ashford- an accredited online school, and I am enrolled at UVU for next semester to take more prereq's or- if I get into the nursing program- the second year of my nursing program which we are praying hard for!!! We get to go to the Scandinavian Days down in Ephraim and are so excited to do it! We are setting up a booth to sell some chicken and potatoes and cotton candy. Such is life. We got to talk to my little brother- Elder Struthers in Finland and we determined that he doesn't speak english when he talks to us but finglish. It's the combination of english and finnish and wow!!!! He sounds so good! He has been out just over 10 months now and it seems to have gone by so fast! I love that elder and all the heart work he is putting into his work! We love you Ryan!

And life continues! Jerusha is getting tall and talking more and more every day even after we thought she could say about all she could, she just keeps surprising us. Yesterday Jerusha and I we the only ones awake and she was eating some goldfish that she'd found in the diaper bag. She was playing on my like I was a jungle gym and there was nothing I could do to get her to play with some toys when she accidently dumps out the entire bag of goldfish on the rug (the rug that eats everything that lands on it aside of the children). I was a little frustrated and told Jerusha and a stern voice that she needed to help me clean up the mess. I think she must have caught on that I was a little frustrated and she came over to help and says to me "Relax Mommy". I took a step back and realized she was right. Oh the insights of toddlers!
Mallorie is revealing her little personality. She is ticklish and if I can get her at the right moment, she giggles a little. She is very smily and so happy most of the time. She isn't a very good eater so her moodiness comes from hungar most of the time. My favorite thing about Mallorie's size right now is that her legs are still really short so all the clothes I put her in hide her feet where everything else about the outfit fits really well.
James is almost done with his semester of school and is very excited about it! Otherwise we are just hanging out and doing some spring cleaning that doesn't seem like it will end. It's amazing the little things that we find that we don't use over time!

A day in the life of a two year old

So I have the funniest toddler ever and thought that I should probably write down all of the funny things that she does and what better a place than here to share these thoughts with everyone!
Jerusha is a water baby! When the weather is too cold (as it has been lately) to play outside and she wants to play with water, we turn our kitchen sink on to a small dribble and let her sit on a stool and splash as long as she keeps the water in the sink. She is very good at this as we let her do this often. Well, today, James turned the water on and was cooking and keeping track of her, I was switching laundry and putting Mallorie to down for a nap and somewhere in the days work, she was left alone in the kitchen for but a few minutes. The next thing we know, she is hollering for "DADDY!!!" and James walks into the kitchen. I saw him from the other room look at me and then at her and say"uh oh" with a huge grin on his face. Unfortunately for me, he was on his way out to work and I was left with a small pond on my kitchen floor. I, too, was choking back some giggles as Jerusha and I cleaned up the mess as she repeatedly reassured me that "It's okay Mommy, it's okay." 4 bath towels later, our small pond was clean as was our floor!

On the last day of our Disneyland trip, Jerusha's only nap place was in our stroller (which is actually the Morgans stroller) which held the day's lunch and snack in the basket on the bottom. Among those snacks was a box of vegetable thins....
I laid Jerusha down, gave her a blanket and told her it was naptime and that she needed to go to sleep. She laid down and was quiet or so I thought. The next thing I hear is "Ha ha ha, that's so funny!" in a fake and dramatic laugh. So I peek in the stroller and see that she as found the box of vegetable thins and is eating them, laughing and telling herself that she is "so funny". I let her be and a few minutes later, she returned the crackers to the basket and went to sleep.

Disneyland!!!

We flew out bright and early on Saturday morning and got to the Wayne County Airport. The flight was kinda crazy because Jerusha's ears were acting up on her and she was not to be calmed easily. She has become quite a daddy's girl! We found our hotel and a target to find food. Rachel went to the Young Women's Broadcast with a friend. The church building that we found that was the closest at 9 am was a polynesian ward. Rachel was a little nervous at first but after a kiss on the cheek from the young woman's counselor and the friendliness of the other girls, she felt better. Sacrament meeting was interesting. 2/3rds of the meeting was in a different language and it was very neat. Disneyland was on Monday and Tuesday. Rachel and I went to town the first day with many breaks with the girls. We had so much fun! Monday night and Tuesday morning James was with us and we watched the Pixar Parade and Rachel rode the Tower of Terror with James and Soaring over California with me. We went swimming at the hotel. I absolutely love to watch others get excited! It is so fun for me. I can see the excitement in Jerusha's eyes as she takes it all in! James is the proud coach of the National winning team of Utah Valley University Cheerleaders! They brought home the title! It was so amazing! I love that man and his ambition!



This was the stroller that these two girls spent most of their time in. Sometimes by choice others not! Jerusha loved to climb in and out and play in the back seat.



Jerusha loved looking for all the characters but wouldn't get too close and when we stood next to any of them she would just stare at them and put her fingers in her mouth.




She found a fence that was just her size to stand on and walk along. It was so much fun for her.



We stayed at the Anabella across the street from Disneyland. The room was considered a suite. It had a room off the side with a TV which we let Rachel stay in, the couch was a hide-a-bed where Jerusha stayed and Mallorie got the unused couch cushion under the night stand on my side of the bed which was opposite the air conditioner.

Mallorie loves to smile!

On Jerusha's birthday, we decided to get her some hampsters. She didn't like to hold them because their paws are a little ticklie so we put them in the front pocket on her overalls and she loved that much more!

Here is one of the five hampsters- cute little things huh!

We had a birthday party for Jerusha on March 1st after we blessed Mallorie in Sacrament Meeting. We decided to combine the blessing and party because we had family there for the occasion.

Little Mallorie
Just Being Cute
Jerusha loves to hold Mallorie

Mallorie is starting to smile and coo a little. She is very cute and Jerusha can't keep her hands off of her. Jerusha loves to spin and the picture of her on the couch in her after a good spin. She says "dizzy" after each spin... and the last picture is Jerusha insisting on holding her little sister and when I come to Mallorie rescue, Jerusha gets upset and squeezes tighter so I can't get her away. They are so much fun!!!

Here is the new addition to our family...

My little cookie maker

Okay, so since I have last visited my own site, there have been some changes in our life, most of which you already know about. We welcomed Mallorie Rebecca on Jan 3rd. Fun story... I woke up at midnight having hard contractions and tried to go back to sleep. In case that wasn't enough, Jerusha decided to wake up and keep me company. She must have known Mallorie was coming because she didn't go back to sleep. I picked her up quite a few times and every time, contractions came quicker. At about 2:30am I told James that we needed to leave and he asked if I was sure. I said I think. He suggested that I lay down and see if they would go away. When they didn't, I got dressed and suggested he do the same. Jerusha then joined us with a big smile on her face. She greeted us with a "Good morning!" I crawled down the stairs and got into the car. By this time, it was about 3:10am. The hospital trip is between 10 and 15 minutes. James dropped me at the door to check in and the nurse helped me back to a room in a wheelchair. Fortunately the doctor on call for our doctor was already at the hospital, delivering 2 other babies. He came in and broke my water and with the next contraction, Mallorie came into our lives. I hadn't even been admitted yet. From when I walked into the hospital doors to when she arrived, I had been there 7 minutes. Everything went well. The nurses played with Jerusha in the hall because there wasn't time for mom to get there. Mallorie is beautiful, healthy and growing. We love her so much!!! I also passed my LPN boards!!! YEAH!!! This test took me about 3 hours to finish but it was worth it to be done now. We have now figured how both James and I can finish school in the next 5 years. That's our goal!