The Better Choice

I have been taught that this country was founded upon principles of rightousness, that God had his hand in what the founding fathers were doing when they established the United States of America. Obama has proposed many things that go against everything that this country was founded upon. Remember what principles this country was founded upon and go out and vote for the man who will keep those principles alive!

Vote John McCain Nov. 4th, 2008.

Yes, We are moving!

Yes we are moving!!! To a new blog address that is... :o) Our new blog is: www.morganfamdam.blogspot.com
Come visit us soon and make the change on your link list! Hope to see you all soon!

Pictures from Kendrick's B-Day Part 1

Here are just a few of the pictures that were taken last niht at Kendrick's birthday party. These are from Leslie's new film camera that she bought from Kim and Ethan.

It wouldn't be a Morgan party without a baseball cake.
Will, right, a family friend, makes balloon animals.
He was great with the kids. You can see Kendrick with his sword on Grammy Mac's lap.
Kendrick's cousin Payslei
The birthday boy.
Grandpa and Grandma Morgan


Look at all those presents.
Kelsey, left, and Addison sporting their "princess crowns"
Kendrick (with a little help from Bailey)
opening his dump truck wagon from Mommy and Daddy.
The birthday boy starting in on his cake. Les ran out of film at this point, however, Kim was shooting with a digital and Bailey was shooting as well. We are hoping that someone got "the final product".

Stay tuned for more pics coming soon.

HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY KENDRICK!

I wanted to let everyone know that today (Sept. 27) was Kendrick's first b-day.

Pictures and videos coming soon

A couple of pix

Here are a couple of pix of Kendrick.

Hammin' it up for the camera!

Kendrick and Payslei Fishin' in Dave and Gina's front yard with Addie and JT's new fishing poles! It is so fun having cousins be close in age and proximity! Kendrick has been learning to walk and Payslei took a hold of his hand and was helping him walk. It was so cute! Gina got a pic of it on her phone but I didn't. I'll have to ask her for a copy.

Just as a note: K is doing so good with walking! As long as he is barefoot or in his shoes that I usually have him wear he is all over the place! He tries running when he gets excited but ends up on the ground after a step or two. :o)

My new toy!

I was at Dave and Gina's watching the kids one day and decided to do some dishes after we ate lunch. They have a portable dishwasher and I was loving having a dishwasher to use concidering I haven't had on since....let's see....before my mission.... Oh yeah it was when I lived at Gina's parents all the way back in 2002! Thats right it's been 6 yrs!!! .... Oh wait... I did have one while we lived at my in-laws when we first got married for about 1 month.

Anyways, I was enjoying using the dishwasher so much and thinking about all the dirty dishes in my sink at home that needed to be washed... blah!!! I hate doing dishes! At least by hand! So as I was sitting on the couch I spotted the RC willey ad and decided to look through it. To my surprise they had a portable dishwasher on sale!

Now mind you this was a saturday and we all know that ads end on saturdays. I called Phill, maybe I txted him, I don't remember, he said he was for it but then he asked how much it was and I told him and that that was the sale price. He doesn't like having to make big purchase decisions quickly. He likes to take his time and think it over first... Not good when something is on sale and that sale ends today. He asked if I had looked anywhere else I said no and told him to look online and we could talk about it when I got home.

I went home and he had found one at Best Buy on sale also but for about $75 less than RC Willey! Yeah even cheaper! So I went shopping after I dropped him off at work and what did I get? Yes thats right! A DISHWASHER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEAH for me... Here is a pic of my new toy!

Sing ..... Sing a song

Back awhile ago, Les and I kinda had a fight when she didn't know what she wanted to do on one of my days off. I HATE letting one of my 2 days a week go to waste, and I got frustrated that she didn't know what to do. I suggested going to an Owlz baseball game (big surprise huh?) well it wasn't a big surprise to her either.

She got mad and said that we ALWAYS go to thing that I want to go to and that she was sick of going to "baseball crap". I asked her what her "ballgame" was (i.e. the activity that she likes to go to) and she said concerts and plays.

At this point I knew I was in trouble. Les and I are complete opposites (though I think both of us have started creeping toward the middle in our 2 1/2 years of marriage) when it comes to music. In fact, I just barely asked her what her two favorite types of music are ... her answer?

Country ... Public Enemy #1 in my book.

and ...

... LDS church music ... I have to be in the right mood for church music (a mood I've very rarely in).

Well, I knew that I better find a concert that 1) Would be someone she actually would want to see, and 2) wouldn't cost us an arm and a leg to get inside to see.

I started looking where else? GOOGLE. I found a couple for artists that were coming to USANA, but those tix were 50-100 at the cheapest.

That's when I found Wendover, NV. As the slogan goes, "It everything you love about Vegas ... only closer."

There are three main casinos in Wendover and together they have a concert hall where a lot of country artists come to perform. I was looking through the list and saw that Phil Vassar (whoever he was) was coming on Aug. 31. I asked Les if she would like to go see him and she immediately beamed and got really excited.

I was actually pretty excited too, because the cheapest tix were $10 and that was part of the argument that started this whole thing --- we could get the whole family into an Owlz game for $8 total and concerts were just too expensive. So I'm thinking that we're made in the shade. We could have sprung for closer seats, but as long as you hear the music it's a good concert right? .... right?? ... come on! ANSWER ME!

Ok, I guess I was wrong and after looking at seating charts, pictures of the stage and a few other things. Leslie decided that she wanted to get the $50 floor seats because, "this is the only concert she gets to go to all year."

Our seats were on the 5th row almost in the middle of the stage, in fact, they were two seats to the right of center.

Our view from the stage, taken with Phill's camera phone
(they made us take our regular camera back to the car before going inside)

Les' mom was kind enough to watch Kendrick and let him sleep over at her house as we took off on our date.

Wendover is 2 1/2 hours from Provo. You go up I-15 to I-80 and head west until you reach Nevada. We left Les' mom's house at 2:30-3 p.m. and headed north. We both knew we better stop for lunch/dinner since the concert started at 7 and there wouldn't really be much time to eat once we got to Wendover.

There is a place in Salt Lake called Italian Village that makes "pizza benders", which are soft-doughed calzones. They are AWESOME! You can order whatever you want inside, but you might want to ask Les if that's a good idea. (***hint*** it's not) The original comes with ham, pepperoni and sausage inside. We went there and ate and then hit the road to Wendover.

As soon as we hit I-80 it started to rain. It wasn't hard at first, but then it progressively got A LOT worse. There were points on the drive that we were driving through buckets full of water, with 2-3 inches of water on the road itself and visibility down to 30-50 feet. We took it slowly, and as we were about to cross the Utah-Nevada line ... the sun came out.

It was 6:30 when we went inside. The seats that we sat on were nice leather rounded seats with a mini table for cup holders between every other seat. For a better idea click here. When we got in the theatre it was us and about 6 other people. We had a pretty good laugh, thinking that Phil Vassar might actually be able to pick me out for not knowing ANY songs(which it turned out I recognized three).

It eventually filled out and was a nice intimate setting for a concert. Phil even mentioned that it felt like playing in some one's living room.

As for the concert, from someone who doesn't like country, It was actually pretty good. I didn't stand up much, but Les did. She sang her heart out and we smiled and laughed through most of the evening.

They announced that Phil was going to sign t-shirts in the lobby after the show, so Les got really excited to be able to meet him. Apparently, so was everyone else, because there are a huge line when we got out there. But once Phil got there it went pretty fast.

The tour manager said that we could take pictures, so EVERYONE pulled out their cell phones and snapped away. ... ... ... Sorry for the poor quality.

Phil Vassar

Phil signing a T-shirt and poster for a couple from Lehi.
In fact, one of their wedding pictures is in Phil's video for "Love is a Beautiful Thing". If you go to the top of this post and watch the video, their picture is at the 1:18 mark. I was taken in front of the Provo Temple. The poster said, "Thanks for choosing us. 'Love is a Beautiful Thing' " With that picture in the middle. Phil signed the T-shirt and their wedding picture that was on the poster for them .... Cool huh?

Phil signing Les' T-shirt

Phill and Les in line waiting for Phil Vassar to come and sign the T-shirt

Les sportin' her new shirt the next morning at breakfast.

RED VINES!

So for our trip Les and I got plenty of snacks and candy to munch on (remember the Dum-Dums? Click here if you don't.) Anyway, we had a ton left over ... wait, that's not big enough ... we had a TON ... there we go much better. The thing that we have the most of is Red Vines.

Well, one day, Les was eating some and Kendrick wanted some. Les gave him a piece, and he quickly slobbered all over it.

Here are some pictures of the whole situation.

Standing up for daddy before he has to go to work

Chomping away at the Red Vine.

Getting it all over the place. On my face, my clothes, mommy's shirt and everything else.

I was at work when this whole thing happened so I had to hear about it after and check out all the cute pictures.
Les couldn't get too mad at him ... not with that cute smile he flashed her in that last picture.

Click-happy daddy

My little sister Bailey got a nice new camera for Christmas and since I have one of the cutest kids in the entire world, whenever Kendrick and I are at my parents' house, we go out and I like to take a bunch of pictures. Here are some of those pics. They are from early June.

Standing up and smiling for daddy.
Reaching for the camera ... but oh ... the sun.
Hi everyone

Hope you all enjoy the look at our little boy.

Fourth of July

Ok .... So while I was working on our trip posts, life continued to go on -- amazing how that happens right?As many of you know (and for those that don't) Provo goes all out for the 4th of July. From the hot air balloons, to the Parade, to the Stadium of Fire, Provo has it ALL!

Well, for the Morgan family the parade is what we focus the most energy and time on. Normally the teenage grand kids sleep out on the parade route in "our" spot and save it for the rest of the family that comes in the morning. Les, Kendrick and I live three and a half blocks from the parade route so it nice to just get up and walk down there before the parade starts.

Well, this year, lines got crossed and the was a misunderstanding about who was going to save the spot. as it turned out, nobody did.

Fortunately, my Grandma Morgan was performing in a play about the women's of the revolution called "Patriots in Petticoats" -- SIDE NOTE: It was awesome. I was afraid it was going to be too hot but it was very nice. -- that was playing during the 4th of July weekend at the Crandall Historical Printing Museum. The museum is located next to a bank, and the owner had put up bleachers for his family to watch the parade from. Well, he offered to let us sit there so we did.

Here are a few pictures of Kendrick at the parade that were taken by Bailey.

Watching the big balloons float past our spot.

Getting a kiss from Grandpa in his spiffy new UVU shirt that he caught at the parade. Also watching the parade with Uncle Vince.

Wearing daddy's Chicago Cubs hat (for the red white and blue in the logo)

Hanging with my (soon-to-be) NEW Auntie Katie.

After the parade we went to my parents house and hung out until 5-6 p.m. then went up to my grandparents house for the Stadium of Fire. They live in the foothills above Provo, just below the Y on the mountain. It is a perfect view of the entire valley and especially the stadium.

Mommy and Kendrick waiting for the fireworks to start.

Our son the fish -- California trip Part 7

For those of you that are jumping into the story from here you might want to read from the beginning here. Or Part 2, the long drive. Or Part 3, Sequoia NP. Or Part 4, visiting friends and family. Or Part 5, the Angels game. Or Part 6, the Dodgers game.

Well, now for the part of the story that you've all been dying to read (but mostly see). Ever since I posted a picture of Kendrick in the pool at Leslie's dad's house in Part 1 of this trip blog, many of you have constantly been asking me to put up the pictures of Kendrick swimming.

Well, here you go. If any of the photos need explaining I'll put below the picture.

Kendrick loves the water. The only problem is when he gets tired, from being out in the sun. The up-side of that however, is that it makes for some GREAT photos. ... and nice long naps after.

So these pictures are from the third time that Kendrick went swimming. It was one of our last days in California. The trip was enjoyable for all three of us. I got to go to two baseball games; Les got to show Kendrick off to Holly, Kelly, Uncle Ron and Aunt Jan and a few old friends; Kendrick go to see California and meet Lehi, Leslie's dad's big dog, as well as play with his Grandpa and Grandma Wurtz and Auntie Sarah.

We love you all soo much. It was fun to get away and have a great vacation.

However ... ... ...

not all of us had an enjoyable car ride home. Haha.

**That's it for our California trip, we now return you to your locally broadcast blog from Phill and Leslie**