You can thank Erik for the minimal pictures of our 3 weeks in AZ - he took both the camera and the iPhone on his travels and left me with nothing.  And seeing how I have a tendency to overshare pictures, you may want to literally thank him.  We drove down to AZ right before Thanksgiving, deciding to drive through the night in hopes that Morgan would sleep the whole time.  We'd never tried a road trip with her before, so we were a little nervous about the 12-hour drive.  While she was remarkably good the whole time, I don't think she actually did much sleeping.  Every once in a while, after we thought she'd fallen asleep, she would comment brightly on the moon or the cars.  She was a little slaphappy by the time we hit Vegas, and giggled and giggled about "casheemos."  Since we were way more tired than she was, we gave up on that idea for the trip home, and that's when she ironically slept the most.  

Morgan had been talking about going to AZ for weeks, and couldn't wait to see her Baba and Booma after an absence of many months.  Then when we actually got there, she would pretty much have nothing to do with them.  She would even tell them to go away - it was so sad.  I'm sure I'm not the only parent to experience this endearing phase, but it doesn't lessen the embarrassment or irritation.  They're not the only ones she does that to - she cycles through Erik and I all the time.  Nothing as heartwarming as hearing your child say, "No mama! Go away mama!"  But I get her all the time, and my family does not.  Makes it seem like a wasted bonding opportunity.  

We of course continued the donut run tradition in AZ, although  we went a little more upscale.  After she decapitated and disemboweled her snowman, she ignored the leftover carnage and demanded sprinkles.

The Mesa temple always has fun lights, and Morgan was mostly well behaved  with the distraction they provided.

As per tradition, we also went to a local grove and picked oranges.  They're so good that I wish we had bought a couple more boxes.

Santa came a little early for Morgan so that my parents could  have fun with that.  She only partially understands the idea of Santa, but she latched onto the most important message solidly: "Santa bring M's!"  She bypassed all the other toys and goodies on "Christmas morning" and just wanted to see the M's.  Might be our cheapest Christmas ever.

A view of my favorite part of Thanksgiving dinner - decorating the table.  The food just gives me the excuse.

This may look like torture, but Morgan was actually having a great time with her aunts.  Lindsay held her still while Becky painted "bunnies" on her nails (that's what she termed the little dots - no idea why).

Glad to get away, glad to have such pleasant weather and company, but also glad to be home.

Palmyra

I (Erik) had the opportunity to interview with a program in Rochester, New York, recently.  It was great to spend time with my brother and his family.  The trip also meant I had a chance to visit nearby Palmyra.  I have wanted to go there for years!  For those who don't know, Palmyra is an important place in LDS Church history.  This was where Joseph Smith had a vision of God the Father and Jesus Christ, where the Book of Mormon was shown to Joseph Smith, and where the first copies of the Book of Mormon were printed.


Every summer the LDS Church does a pageant on the hill where Joseph was given the Book of Mormon and thousands of people attend each performance and visit the surrounding areas.  While I was visiting the different sights I saw only two other tourists.  I guess the last day of November in upstate New York is not prime tourist season.  

 Replica of Smith home

 View out of Smith home towards grove of trees where Joseph had his first vision

View of Palmyra Temple from near Smith home.  It was built on some of the Smith's original property 

Joseph hid the Gold Plates containing the Book of Mormon under these stones during a search by a mob.

I had stormy weather. It actually hailed on me a couple of times. 

These next pictures are all from the grove of trees where, at age 14, Joseph prayed for forgiveness of his sins and to know which church to join.  We believe that God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared to him in answer to his prayer.

This is a monument commemorating the messenger that revealed the location of the gold plates containing the Book of Mormon.  It is on top of a hill called Cumorah. 

This is the Grandin Building in "downtown" Palmyra where the first copies of the Book of Mormon were printed.  They had a nice little tour where they showed how the book was put together.  The first printing was for 5,000 copies. Now there have been over 100 million copies printed in over 100 languages.

 One of the original 5,000 copies.

During my time visiting the sights I started to think about why I appreciated these places and what difference the sacred events there have made in my life. The events that occurred near Palmyra and the Book of Mormon, along with the Bible, have taught me  about God and His Son and how to know and worship them. It was a refreshing experience for me to be able to reevaluate myself and look for changes that need to be made.  I don't intend for this post to be preachy, just a way of sharing a good experience I had with you people who are important to me!

Sick for the holidays

We're ho-ome!  Not that you probably knew we were gone.  Safer that way.  Erik had a long string of residency interviews set up all over the country, and I wasn't really thrilled about being home alone for 2 weeks taking care of a crazy 2-year old while being 8 months pregnant.  Call me chicken, but I packed up and moved to Arizona with my family to survive the interview period.  Good thing, too, because Morgan picked up some kind of a virus (maybe RSV?) while we were there, and between a high fever and congestion we didn't sleep for about 5 days.  Not something I would have wanted to experience on my own, especially since she's been amazingly healthy her whole little life and I've never dealt with something like that before.

Some sickness highlights:
-She started getting sick the morning of my parent's church Christmas social, at which my mom, sister and I were to sing.  She snuggled with me the entire time, except when I got up to sing and then my dad got to carry her away screaming bloody murder.  After it was over, I retrieved her, still sobbing, with all kinds of fluids running down her face.  My poor dad may never volunteer for duty again.
-She started refusing food, and we got a little desperate to keep her nourished.  She pretty much survived that week on yogurt, frozen gogurts, popsicles, candy, crackers, fruit snacks, and raisins.  Now move past your horror about the nutrition of such things, and think about what such a diet would do to her diapers.  Yeah.  Good times.
-She loved her children's Tylenol, but when I switched to ibuprofen for better results she refused to drink it.  I started bribing her with Starbursts to get 'er done, and by the end of her illness she was eagerly chugging it down and I had run out of the yellow and pink flavors.
-Night time was the worst, because she'd wake up every hour or so, crying or wanting water or just wanting to come into bed with me.  She'd usually worm her way in by 6 in the morning, at which point she'd promptly fall asleep as long as she was in contact with me.  I was not so lucky - it seems like there is just not room for a mommy, toddler, and bulging belly in a twin size bed.  My favorite is when she would yell "Mommy mommy mommy" or a clear "I need water," jerking me awake, and in the 5 seconds it took for me to reach her she was snoring away again.
-I was haggard and grim by the time Erik flew back in to Phoenix, and I must admit to a little bit of glee, thinking of letting him take a few nights while I got some rest.  Instead, Morgan quickly recovered and started sleeping through the night again.  I'm still not happy about that injustice.  Erik claims it is his healing presence - after all, he is almost a doctor.

If there was a positive side to all the sickness and sleep deprivation, it's that she slept an amazing 7 of the 12 hours it took us to drive back to SLC.  I only wish I could say the same.