Happy Anniversary to Us!

Well it has been 31 years of a wonderful life with my wonderful husband! We have six amazing kids and three even more amazing grandchildren! There have definitely been more good times than bad times and we are more in love than ever! For the last few years we have taken turns planning our anniversary "get-away". This year was Bart's turn and he planned a great trip to Flaming Gorge and a raft trip down the Green River. We stayed at Red Canyon Lodge. The following morning we got up and went to breakfast at Flaming Gorge Restaurant. We were leaving the restaurant and Bart asked me to drive, which is a little nontypical, but as I was going to get in the driver's side I heard "Hi Grandma". In the black van parked next to us was Parker, Christine, Tegan, Jackson, and Josh. I was sooo surprised! At first I thought how sweet to drive so far to come see us. Then I realized Bart was in on it and they were going on the raft trip with us. I was elated! How fun would this be. Anyway, we were blessed with the perfect day on the river and the little boys had a ball. They were very good the whole way. At one point Joshy got a little tired and wanted to go back! We explained we could only go one way on the river! Following are some pix of the great couple of days:

This is a view at one of the Red Canyon overlooks

This is the view from the front porch of our little cabin at Red Canyon Lodge. When we first pulled up there was a deer right in front!

This is in front of the dam (duh). A guy on a Harley was kind enough to take this!

The crew at the end of the rafting adventure

Getting ready to go
We are on our way. Notice Josh helping with the oar!

Stopped a couple of times to do a little fishing

On one stop Jackson happened to fall into the only cactus on the trail! We should have stayed in the boat!

Joshy enjoying some cookies, mostly the frosting!

More fishing

The cute girls

Tegan and her famous snake grass necklaces - Jackson really wanted one!

Of course we had to throw a few rocks into the river

Lots of fun and lots of pics!

So a mother's dream is anytime ALL of her kids are home together, anyway that is this mother's dream, which happened the first weekend of April, Conference weekend. So much joy is brought to my soul when I have my family around me. We have so much fun and I love watching my kids interacting with each other. I cannot really express the gratitude I have for family. The Lord knew exactly what would be motivation for us live to obtain eternal life with him - to be with our family forever! Anyway, Conference weekend and Easter were some of the most rewarding times I have had recently. We are so thrilled to have Parker and Jenn and the boys living so close. It has been so much fun to have them stop by and to see them so often. Jenn keeps saying we will get sick of them, but I honestly don't know what it would take for that to happen! If we could just convince Tyler and Jackie of the perks of living in the Basin!

Shane is in Alabama now selling for APEX, so this was probably our last get together until this fall when he comes home. We will also be adding another little Morrill in August, so this picture is only good for a few months! We were very lucky to have dad in the picture, as it is tax season, but he sacrificed a few more hours of sleep to be with us!

Haha, Joshy getting a lesson on how to "go" in the boonies!!

The rest of these pictures are from Easter. The boys had fun coloring eggs Saturday night. Then easter egg hunting on Sunday. Parker hid some eggs for Tegan, she had a hard time finding the one hoisted up the flag pole!

March Madness!

Happy 94th Birthday Mom and grandma! Mom turned 94 on the 20th. She had a special visit from Jackie and Cole who helped her celebrate with German Chocolate cake! Burke and Denny and a special friend, Lynne Smith also visited her on this special day and brought beautiful flowers. Julie Wilkerson, another special friend, came by earlier in the week. The highlight of the day was getting her hair done and going to McDonald's!

Cole is showing us how old grandma is!

To update you all on the History Fair. Tegan and her friends took 3rd place at District with their Butch Cassidy exhibit. They did a great job with a tremendous amount of competition.

We were soo excited to have Christine home for a few days of her spring break. Of course, Tegan was thrilled to have someone take time to paint rocks with her! We also went to the show "Race to Witch Mountain" and took a trip to Wal-Mart. Christine, thanks for remembering your family - we love to have you home.

We have also been very busy getting Grandma's house ready for Parker and Jenn who will be moving in on the 28th, which we are so excited to have them close for the summer. Here are a few items that were not claimed by the family. If you know of anyone who is interested, please advise them of this post or have them call me.

Beautiful oak dresser with mirror. Excellent condition.

Oak china hutch with metal and glass front panels. Light inside. Excellent condition.
Matching oak dining room table with four side chairs and two captain chairs. Also, includes two extra table leaves. Heavy, excellent quality.

White brand sewing machine with cabinet. Needs minor repair.

Misc pix

A few recent pix:

Hubby, father, and son-in-law gave his "girls" flowers for Valentine's Day. What a sweetie!


Jackie and Tyler trusted us with their little guy for a couple of days, which was awesome! Of course nothing got done but kissing Cole, playing with Cole, feeding Cole, holding Cole, kissing Cole, watching Cole, kissing Cole - we just had so much fun and he was sooo good. We think Tegan got him to say "stair" haha, he is so smart!

What a smiley guy! and such a good eater!

So much fun!

Tegan and her friends Bailey and McKell entered the school history fair last week with Butch Cassidy as their subject. They did an excellent job and got first place, so on to District this Thursday! Yeehah, way to go girls!

Did you know Butch never shot a man? He also gave a couple $500 to pay the banker for their taxes on their farm and then robbed the banker on his way home! What you don't learn when your kids do projects in elementary school!!

It's all about the grandkids!! (seriously)

As you know, I LOVE having family come home, especially the grandkids!! We had fun with Jackie and Cole visiting a couple of days while Tyler was at Klondike. I feel bad we only got a couple of pictures and one was Jackie's peed on shirt!!

Okay, so this is what little Cole did to his Mommy!! Oh Joy!!




. . . and this is what Mommy did to little Cole!!It was such great fun just to relax and have fun with little Cole. Of course, Jackie did all the work and just let grandma and Cole play!!



Next, we had Jackson and Josh for a few days while Jenn visited a friend in Idaho. They were such cute little guys and sooo good.


After I would get them out of the bath they would say "tuck me in Grandma". I'm not sure what that meant, but we would wrap them up tight in the towels! (Sorry if I got that wrong boys).

I am sure the highlight of their stay was the rides Tegan gave them on "grandma's stroller"!

(I hope everyone notices in the background the beautiful pantry door Tyler put in over the holidays. He cut, sanded, stained, installed!! What a guy!)

After our plans to go swimming at the rec center fell through, we went to the Dinosaur Museum instead. Even though they had been once they still had tons of fun. In fact, they were the only kids in there and had the whole place to themselves, which was great!

The boys thought they were so "brave" standing next to these big guys!

Needless to say I love my grandkids. Christine, Shane, and Tegan I hope you are not feeling too neglected! You know I love ya'. And sorry Jackie and Parker, but once you have kids they are welcome anytime - you need an appointment! Haha