MorgAnnie: Oklahoma

8-19-07 to 8-25-07

I guess we should first start off in saying that we are okay, we didn't have any flooding in our little area from the "tropical storm" (it really was an inland Hurricane). The storm was actually quite exciting, we just thought it was a normal Oklahoma rainstorm. The storm was a remnant of Hurricane Erin. Usually they die down once they hit the land, but this one picked up again. Apparently it was quite the phenomenon, we enjoyed the crazy rain and the awesome lightning storm. We did get a little gift from the storm, we had a "pond" in our backyard for a while.

This was taken about two days after the storm. The previous owners of the home had an above ground swimming pool that left a perfect collection area for the water. We'll tell you more about our swimming adventures in just a moment. :)

We have some great news! ... No, we're not pregnant, but we did sell our house in Lehi. This has been a topic of great concern for us and rest assured it was always in the forefront of our prayers. Just a few days ago, we received a call from an agent who was looking for a place for her step-daughter, who really liked the area, the problem was that they wanted to do a lease-option, meaning that basically they "rent-to-own" the house. We really felt like this was an answer to our prayers and a way to make our financial burden a little lighter. Of course, it would be nice to just sell it immediately, but the renter wants to be able to purchase it in about 6 months and now with some rent coming in, we'll be able to take care of both places for a while with more ease. And worst case scenario is that if they don't buy the house within the two year designated time period, we were at least able to rent it for that time and possibly sell it for more down the road.

And here, we'll throw in some pictures that of course you're all dying to see.

The Kitchen has made some good progress this week. We were able to put up all the sheet rock for the walls and ceiling. Bro. Gipson from our ward was teaching me (Morgan) "the apprentice" how to tape, mud , and sand so that our finished walls would look nice. Needless to say, I don't really care much for the mudding part. I'm not really very good at it. I basically put on the entire first application of the mudding. Luckily, Bro. Gipson was able to come over and really help with the finishing touches for the second application of mud. Taping is easy of course, and I didn't mind sanding at all. I'm just glad that my friend McKay (from Huntsman Cancer Hospital) gave me a perfect farewell gift to protect my head while playing in the mud and the sand. It's really come in handy...too bad the hat is being damaged in the process.

As you can see, the final coats of primer and paint have been applied and we've begun building the cabinets. Half of our cabinet order is still in the shipping process, so we'll have to build those cabinets when they arrive. It's all really starting to come together now.

Annie has a friend from High school named Jessica. Jessica married John who works for the FAA. They live in Syracuse; however, John must come here to Oklahoma City for training sessions several times a year for a handful of days each time. This time they were here for 10 days and Annie received an email from Jessica when they arrived to Oklahoma. We had dinner with them one night and later in the week we met up with them for swimming at their hotel. We had lots of fun and Logan was just loving the water as usual. He really seems right at home even when the water is a little bit cold. Here are some photos.

As one might tell, it was my (Morgan's) first time applying sunblock to the BUDDY. I think I got a little carried away.

As always, Annie loves buying baby clothes. We always remember to pick up "airplane" outfits so that Logan will be able to bond with Grandpa Goodman. In order to even things out, we had to make sure he had outfits that enabled him to bond with Grandpa Hadlock (aka Pappa Beard).