Oklahoman Utah Adventures Week 21

December 23rd - 30th

Wow, I can't believe our time in Utah is almost over. It has been such a fun time to relax and enjoy family. (Although we're going to have a heck of a time getting Logan back into a good routine - he's so spoiled :) So, we were in Salt Lake (Sandy to be specific) for the beginning of the week. On Sunday night we went up to a relative's house and the whole family was there. Even after almost 4 years of marriage I hadn't met all the cousins on the White side (Morgan's mom's family) and I finally got to meet all of them, it was great. We did a lot of talking, eating, relaxing and catching up that night, unfortunately, my camera ended up staying in the diaper bag most of the time. :(

On Monday-Christmas Eve-we decided that we should basically celebrate Christmas with Morgan's immediate family. We were staying with his parents so we just slept in (about 5:00am with Logan) and just hung around while we waited for everyone to get there. We had the traditional ham and egg breakfast (for dinner) that evening and opened presents. Logan got some great toys and some cute outfits. We played our white elephant bingo game and watched some "Planet Earth" on the big screen. He's my little Christmas elf. No, that hat is not pushing his ears out like that, they really stick out, it's so cute....maybe he does have a little elven blood in him. :)

On Tuesday - MERRY CHRISTMAS - since we were done with all the family parties up north we decided to drive down to St. George and surprise my mom, boy was she surprised. I called her when we were about 15 minutes away to tell her our plans about coming down on Thursday when the weather looked good again. She was shocked when we walked in the door. It was great. Logan got to play with his only cousin on my side of the family, Kashlynn. They were pals at first sight. They had a blast playing with each other almost everyday!And of course, grandma couldn't resist holding both of them. :)

So, for the rest of the week you can imagine all the fun we had playing games until late in the night, we went to a movie, we got to hang out with Logan's only cousin on my side and we mostly relaxed and enjoyed not having to work or study. It might take a while to get back into the swing of things when we get home. :) Unfortunately, Logan did most of his sleeping during the day with Uncle Ty (above) or Papa Goodman (below) and left the sleepless nights to me. I guess we just wore him out with all that game playing.

Finally some pictures are on our blog, We hope you all had a wonderful holiday!

Oklahoma Adventures Week 20

December 16th - 23rd

It's been a very busy week. We were only in Oklahoma for a few days, but I guess we'll still consider this Oklahoma Adventures. :) Since Morgan was done with his first semester (he got all A's by the way, he's such a smarty - he worked really hard for it too) we decided to take a couple weeks and visit our families in Utah. We decided to leave on Thursday morning at around 5:00am, but on Wednesday night we still were packed and I was going pretty crazy and went in to stress mode, but of course it was all for nothing because we were able to get packed and get everything ready. I guess it was just the fact that I had to work that day, Morgan ended up having to work and had a Young Men's Activity that night, and it's hard to get this sort of thing planned and packed with a squirmy restless little boy. :) But he's just oh soo cute!

So, we started out at 5:00am on Thursday morning and the weather was perfect for driving. We had clear roads and clear skies all the way until about 45 miles before we hit Green River, WY. We were planning to stop there and have dinner and visit my brother and during the day we thought we might even be able to make it all the way to Utah, but we were really glad we got to spend the night we family, the snowstorm was pretty bad and after being in the car for 15 hours, we were ready for a break. We got into Utah on Friday about noon and didn't have any problems on the road. We took the rest of Friday to just relax and re-couperate.

On Saturday night we had the "Big" Hadlock Party, not just Morgan's brothers and sisters, but all the aunts uncles, etc. It was really fun. This year it was out in Tooele and there was as always, great food, great fun, & great family. It was so good to see everyone! Logan did great with the crowd and joined in the fun. He was so happy to see all his cousins and aunts and uncles.

Unfortunately, I'm having some technical difficulties in uploading the pictures, so I'll have to do that later. (whew, finally the pictures are working) Anyway, we had a pinata, and Santa Claus showed up and we just had a great time seeing all the family.
After the party we headed over to Morgan's brother Stan's house to watch the BYU Las Vegas Bowl game, man that was intense. The first time all the guys cheered at the game Logan cried and got scared, but after that when he knew what they were all yelling about, he joined in the fun and bounced up and down on my knee and clapped his hands and babbled his cheers.

He was also quite entertained with one of his cousin's remote control cars, I think he watched that thing go across the floor for at least an hour with no complaints (now we know what to get him next Christmas, hehe) - I do have a picture of that one for later. After the game we came home and crashed. Logan is still being a picky eater and not eating enough solid food throughout the day and then wants to nurse all night. I hope it's just all this excitement of the travelling and new things because I sure miss my nights of rest. ahhhh, memories. We still love him though, Morgan and I are trading off and if he's not hungry and just fussy, he'll get up with him, but if he needs to eat then I get up. So at least we're getting some sleep. Alright enough of my complaining - although if anyone has any good ideas on getting him to eat better, I'm all ears.

Since our next blog won't be until after Christmas we want to wish you a very Merry Christmas and hope that you are all healthy, safe, and happy. Until next week....

Oklahoma Adventures Week 19

December 9th-16th

Well, we officially live in a declared state of emergency. For those of you that haven't watched the news lately, Oklahoma was savaged with a terrible Ice Storm. (don't worry, we're all okay). It's been quite the experience. We laughed at our "canceled" Church last week, but didn't realize the extent of it until we went outside and saw that our cars were completely encased in about and inch thick of ice! ... Seriously.

Ice was so thick we couldn't even get to the keyhole on the car. It was crazy!It actually came off pretty easy though once we ventured out. The body of the car you can basically just hit it and the big chunks come off, but you need a special de-icing spray for the windowsThat is just a small chunk of the ice from off the hood of the Subaru. We decided we better get them ready to go just in case our power went out and we had to go to Nola and Gary's.We were truly blessed in this Ice Storm and never lost power. We were able to stay home and stay warm. We had a lot of branches fall off in the back yard and sagging power line, but again, we always had our power. It was reported that over 650,000 residences lost power. There are still hundreds of thousands without power. It's been quite the experience and actually pretty cool--only because we never lost power--but that doesn't make the devastation any less tragic, however the majesty and power of our Heavenly Father and nature have been awe-inspiring. There is beauty in even the ugliest of weather.

You'll want to click on these pictures to make them a little bigger to see the detail.These pictures don't do the beauty justice. It's almost like the world was covered in glass, or better yet, diamond. It was so crystal clear and thick on the leaves and branches.That's one way you could tell it was starting to melt is that the ice became more translucent, rather than crystal clear - that's why we didn't notice how bad the storm was, everything looked crystal clear and dry, but it was really encased in this perfect ice.It was beautiful, but did cause a lot of damage and while I don't really want to have everyone live through a storm like this again, I am grateful for the opportunity to have experienced it and been safe from the danger it caused. So, maybe just keep Oklahoma in your prayers for the next little while as it gets back on its feet. :)

In happier news, we're so excited for Christmas. We're leaving for our trek to the west in just a few days. (I'm still not organized and I haven't planned what I'm packing yet and it's driving me crazy, but we'll survive). Logan is ready for Christmas too, he's been practicing on one of Morgan's presents.

So, if anyone needs help opening presents, I'm sure Logan would be glad to be of service. Unfortunately because Morgan now works with the Young Men in the ward our house became a flashing target for a toilet paper job....It was a pretty pathetic job. We had been up most of the night with Logan, and supposedly they say they got spooked when Morgan turned on a light and made a break for it. I'm not buying it. We'll have to teach them a thing or two about the proper way to toilet paper a house. :)

The rest of the week has just been the aftermath of the storm and a cranky baby. I'm sure it's just a phase, he's still our little bundle of joy. Now that he's moving around and wanting to feed himself, he's definitely a lot more messy. Good thing we'll be at our parents' houses over the holidays. See what they have to look forward to. :)

Oklahoma Week 18

December 2nd - 9th

This week has been an interesting one, there have been a few noteworthy events. Last Sunday Nola and Gary and Brayden came over for dinner and to play games and I was feeding Logan in his high chair and suddenly he started choking. Immediately my instincts kicked in and I stuck my finger in his mouth and tried to swipe out whatever was in there, then I took off the high chair tray while calling Morgan (he was cleaning up dishes) and whipped Logan out of the chair and by the time I had him on my arm he was already breathing again. It was really bizarre in that while it was happening (which was only a split second, by the time Morgan looked over to see what was happening, it was already over) I was very calm and didn't really feel panicked until it was all over. It happened so fast, but I can remember it feeling so long. It was scary when it was all over, but I'm glad that I "knew" what I was doing. I definitely thank our Heavenly Father for programming that one into me. :) So, that was my little fright this week, I guess something was bound to happen eventually that would scare me. He's doing great now by the way.On Monday we got to babysit Brayden. They had a lot of fun together, Logan was a little possessive of his mommy, he made sure I stayed close by. This was one of the rare moments that I didn't have one or the other in my arms. They were both mesmerized by the mobile.

That didn't last very long though, Logan is too wiggly these days to sit still for very long. I enjoyed it while it lasted though.

Morgan was a big help that day too. I don't know what I would have done without him. There is definitely a reason it takes 9 months to have another baby 3 months difference is just too close. Hats of to Ben & Heidi (my cousins) and anyone else with twins, triplets, or multiples, I don't know how you do it. We did survive and I am getting a little baby hungry again...I know I know, Logan is still a baby, but I just don't feel like our family is complete yet. (no, it's not an announcement...I wish!)

It's getting a little colder here and I've been sick, so it seems extra cold and the other day I was wearing a beanie and Logan kept pulling it off my head, so I put it on his. It actually fit him really good.He's such a cutey pie! He actually ended up wearing the beanie most of the day. We played peek-a-boo and I would pull it down over his face, he couldn't quite figure out that he had to pull the hat up though and kept trying to pull it down like he does the blankets. :)

So, last week his favorite toy was paper, this week it's any type of crinkly wrapper, he played with my fruit snack wrapper for hours, so we decided to keep it in his pile of toys (don't worry, we keep a close eye when he's playing with it so he doesn't choke-I don't want to go through that again).
Well, now that I've trained Logan on my job, I think I'll quit. I think he does a better job than me anyway.

He's so curious now that I can't hold him on my lap while I work. We're still trying to sort out a good schedule for work. Now that he doesn't take very long naps, my free work-time has been slashed considerably.

So, we'll trade and he can do my work and I'll take the naps!
Finally last night he took a decent nap, too bad it was at 6:00pm and we couldn't put him down for the night. He woke up about 8:30 and we gave him a bath and then he was up and down until about midnight...crazy boy. There was supposed to be a big storm here and the power was going to go out and all that, so when he woke up around 1:00 I decided that he could just come and sleep with us in case that did happen he would stay warm. I'm not sure our family would too to well with the whole co-sleeping. We disturb Logan when we roll over and I'm too paranoid about squashing him that I didn't really sleep at all and Morgan was so paranoid about suffocating him that he didn't sleep well either, about 5:00am when the power was still on he woke up, I fed him and he fell back asleep and Morgan put him back in his crib. We got a very wonderful 2 hours of sleep until the alarm went off.

Some snow storm, eh? We got a call at about 8:00am that church was canceled. I guess it must have hit worse in other areas. I've never had church canceled before, it's been really weird today. We were already up though, so we got the blog done really early and made pancakes and Logan helped.

We're definitely looking forward to a family nap later today. Well, I guess that does it for this week. Maybe the storm hasn't really hit yet and next week we'll have some fun stories about that. Until next time....

A Few Tidbits About Morgan (I've been Tagged)

I guess I'm supposed to write seven things about me that you may or may not know about.

I was going to say I have the best wife in the whole world, but that is something everyone already knows about me so I won't include in "the seven items".

1) I have a confession. I have a certain level of CDO (that's obsessive compulsive disorder OCD alphabetized). There are somethings that I just like to have a certain way. In the home, I like things to be in their respective places. When they are, I know things are neat and tidy. I get distracted and lose focus when things are not in their place. For example, if I am already in bed at night and I know the remote control is not on its shelf right in front of the TV I will get out of bed and put the remote in its place so I can go to sleep. I also have a little issue when it comes to studying for school. If the house is dirty or cluttered I am not able to study until the house is clean and organized. When that's taken care of I can focus on my studies because a house of disorder is not in the back of my mind. I will clean an entire house before studying. It's a real problem.

2) My favorite smell in the whole world is my wife. She just smells so good all the time. Man I love those Pheromones. I think my son Logan also carries my wife's smell because Annie holds Logan most of the time because I have school and work. Sometimes when I hold Logan close he smells like Annie. When I've had a really bad day I know exactly what I need. I just hold Annie and Logan close and remember all that is really good in my life.

3) My least favorite smell in the whole world is the dirty-dish-rag smell. You know that dirty old dish rag you left in the sink the previous night after washing dishes and cleaning tables and counter tops. The smell of that rag the following day is the most foul smell on earth. Needless to say, I do all I can to avoid having to confront that smell. Right after we are finished with the rag it is thoroughly rinsed with Dawn and hot water, and it goes straight to the hamper. It's never left in the sink anymore. This results in us going through several dish rags in a week.

4) Those who know me know I can be stubborn and determined. This can be good and bad. For example, when I first became an x-ray tech, I was very determined to move on to my bachelor's degree in Radiation Therapy, and even more determined to become a Medical Dosimetrist. I wasn't willing to wait around for an opportunity to be trained-on-the-job in dosimetry. I was so determined that I picked up and moved my family all the way to Oklahoma to attend a Master's degree program here at OU. This is good.
However, I can also be very stubborn. I often want to purchase items that would be really fun to have but in no means are they necessary. Most of the time I want these items just to have them "just in case" I might need them later. This drives my wife crazy. She gets especially crazy when this obsession deals with shoes. Lately I've been wanting to buy a pair of indoor soccer shoes (court and/or turf shoes). I don't play indoor soccer, nor do I have plans in the near future. But I know down the road I really want to get into some kind of league for indoor soccer in the winter and outdoor soccer in the summer/fall. I don't have time to play now, but I will some day. For some reason I want the shoes now. This results in me spending too much time looking at the shoes I want on the Internet. I know the exact pair of turf shoes and the exact pair of court shoes I want. I just keep looking them up and looking for a better deal. This usually consumes me until I have the shoes in hand. Once I get what I want the obsession is over and I tell myself I have everything I could possibly want. But eventually I find something else I must have that I can't believe I've been living without. Then the cycle starts all over again. I try to explain to my wife that the obsessions will be much shorter if she just lets me buy the items I demand. Somehow she puts up with my bull-headedness and every once in a while I'll forget about what I wanted to buy.

5) This leads to my 5th item. I am a total wanna be soccer player. I've barely played in my lifetime and the times I have played its not like I'm super good. In high school I ran cross-country and track and field. This left no time for soccer. I was always interested in playing, but by then (without experience) I wasn't going to make the team. I've always felt that I would have been really good at soccer had I played it in my youth as much as I played baseball. I feel like I have the physical build and endurance for soccer, I just haven't had the opportunity to play or join a league after high-school. My wife and her brothers all played soccer growing up and they are all really good. In fact, Annie has some friends that we played some co-ed pick-up games with last summer. One of her friends is Cambree, and she is really good. She could always find a way to get the ball past me. I had lots of fun playing those pick-up games, even when the girls were better than me. The only thing I had on these girls was speed. It was fun to show off how fast I could run. I want to join a league now, but it seems like soccer leagues are this secret society and the only way to know about when and where to join leagues is if you've played all your life and you are really good at soccer. Apparently it helps to speak Spanish.

6) I'm not a huge candy junkie like my wife is. I really like cookies, brownies, ice-cream, and some pies. But I don't enjoy candies that are sugary, sticky, hard, or chewy. I think it's mostly a texture thing. Anyway....I always feel like I have to end the day with some kind of treat (usually a cookie or some ice-cream). If I have my treat after lunch it just isn't enough. The treat has to come after dinner and before bed-time.

7) I hate sounding boastful, but I'm pretty good at country swing dancing. It's a hobby I enjoyed a great deal before getting married. I went twice a week faithfully to a local swing dancing scene back in Salt Lake. This means I love Country music along with other choice genres. However, my wife doesn't particularly enjoy Country music. In fact she doesn't really like the dancing either. So I haven't been doing much swing dancing since I met Annie. Actually I think Annie would like the dancing part, but it's the part about dancing in front of crowds where other people are watching that she doesn't like. She actually does like some country music but I just need to get her to dance to the songs she likes. Some day she'll come around.

That's seven things you may or may not have known about me. -Morgan-

Oklahoma Week 17

November 26th - December 2nd

Now for the stuff you've all been waiting for....drum roll please....pictures of Logan! YAY! This week has been considerably less eventful, but when you have a 7 1/2 month old, it's always an adventure.It's a little blurry, but you can see his teeth a little better than last week's picture, and they've grown in a little bit more. I'm not really looking forward to the next emerging teeth. He's gets better everyday, but then he starts going through another phase. He's starting to go through his attachment phase which is making it harder and harder for him to be away from mommy or daddy. He fights his naps and doesn't like to go to sleep unless we rock him to sleep. Which for now I'm fine with so I can get some sleep. He knows how to put himself to sleep and he used to be such a great sleeper, but attachment phase, along with growth spurts, and teething makes a great recipe for sleepless nights and lots of cuddling, so it all evens out. :)So, now that he has teeth, it's even more important to take care of those teeth. (Please don't let him get my teeth...please, please, please.) The doctor told us to wipe out his mouth at night with a gauze or baby cloth before bed to start developing good habits. He fights me on this a little until he realizes how fun it is to chew on the washcloth, then he doesn't want to let it go. When he gets more teeth we'll eventually graduate to a toddler toothbrush, I can't wait to get him a cool spiderman, or dragon toothbrush, not that he'll remember, but I'll have fun with it at least.Logan LOVES paper. Give him a piece of paper and he'll be happy all day...at least until he eats it all. I'm sure he's digested plenty now. I'll put him in the middle of the floor to play while I'm working and look up a few seconds later and he's across the room and into the paper. He likes the crinkly sound it makes, it's amazing the little things that grab his attention. I think we know what to put in his stocking for Christmas. :) Speaking of Christmas, we finally got our lights up this week and our tree!
It's just a little tree, but it's just the right size for our family right now, besides, we're going to be leaving it behind when we go to Utah for Christmas. Morgan was such a good dad and helped me get it up and put up all the lights on the house. Logan likes the tree too, he's not sure what's all the hullabaloo is all about, he's just knows it's shiny and off limits, so naturally we have to watch him more closely when he's rolling around in the living room. He's done really well with it though.
Daddy and The Buddy like to work out together. You'll see lots of pictures with Logan in his cute little pajamas, we got them thinking they would be great Christmas pajamas, but they barely fit after we washed them, so now he wears them as much as possible before he grows out of them.
51.....52.....53......54......100! Wow, Logan is one tough baby, not even breaking a sweat.


Pretty exhausting if you ask me though. I love it when he cuddles like that. He sleeps just like his daddy with his mouth wide open.


Special Delivery! Logan is the best gift in the whole world that we could ever ask for. We love him so much! I can't wait for Christmas and the holiday season, this is my favorite time of the year. Looking back we had a great week, Morgan finished one of his finals, only 2 more to go, and I'm about 102% sure that he'll get an A in all his classes, he's such a hard worker! I was sick with a cold for a few days, but we've beaten that and luckily Logan didn't get it and we're all happy and healthy. And to end, Logan would like to blow you all some kisses!
Happy Holidays!