ornaments for Christopher

With Christmas just around the corner, my cute sil Natalie and I got to work on hand painting family Christmas ornaments for our brother Christopher who is on his mission in Concepcion, Chile. We spent the week painting an ornamnet for each family member and they all turned out really cute!! The hard part was finding small pictures of everyone to put in them. I am sure he will love them and I look froward to the long wait of his package finally arriving in Chile in about 5 weeks! We all miss Christopher so much but are so thankful that he is serving a mission for the example he is to all of us!! We look forward to him returning home in 18 months!!

fall leaves

Last Saturday while everyone went fishing, Brenna and Landon had a fantastic fall day. They raked the leaves all day, making a huge pile, burying each other in them and jumping in over and over. It was so much fun to watch them play enjoying the last warm fall day :)

football 2009

Last night was the official end to Jackson's 2009 football season. His team was in a 3 way tie with Alta and Riverton and had to play a a tie breaker with both....to our disappointment we didn't advance to the playoffs :( Despite his knee injury, Jackson finished the season with 14 Touchdowns...AMAZING!! His team finished the season 6 - 3 and had a fantastic season. Ryan had a blast coaching, getting to spend time with Jackson and getting to know all the boys on the team. Jackson started the season at 61 pounds and finished weighing in last night at 58?? I guess his light weight makes him extra speedy!! He had a great time playing this year and we are hoping that he will play next year but he says that he wants to focus on Lacrosse so we will just have to wait and see. We want to thank everyone that came out to support Jackson this season, it was so fun to have extra cheerleaders on the sideline :) We are so very proud of Jackson for being so humble, being such a good example and playing through his knee pain not wanting to let his dad, coaches or team down. Jackson is so much fun to watch and we are so blessed that he is our son. Get ready because Jackson doesn't sit still for long...Jr. Jazz starts in 2 weeks so come and cheer him on with us!! We love you Jackson and way to go Bengals!!

letter from Elder Morgan

Dear Renee and family!

Thank you for the pictures! I heard that you had a lot of fun for halloween. I did too. I dressed up in my pj's that you sent me and the maskes and made the pumpkin. My companion is going to make pumpkin pie with it today.

How are you? I hope you are all good. I am loving it here except for this rash that I have that is not allowing me to sleep these days, but I'll be ok.

I love this mission. It is amazing. We are going to have 2 baptisms this week and 5 more this month. It is great here. I love being able to preach the gospel to those that need it.---Everyone needs it

Yesterday I talked to this homeless man about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. His hopeless eyes filled with faith and a desire to change. I love helping people to come to Christ and be changed. I have kind of lost myself in it. The other day I realized how different I am compared to the old me. Don't worry, this me is better...I hope.

I love you all so much thanks for the letters and packages. Please pray for me to get better and keep sending me pictures and letters! Tell everyone to write me, I need it more than you know. Thank you for everything. I love you.

Adios,

Elder Morgan

A Frightfully Fun Halloween!!

pumpkins

Cundick's TOY STORY

snow day

The boys were so excited get their snow clothes on and play in the snow this afternoon. They quickly rolled balls to make a snowman but they got so big they couldn't lift them onto each other so they just took turns smashing them, boys will be boys. We love the snow but don't look forward to trick-or-treating on a freezing Halloween night :(

5 days until.....

jackson's knee

It's semi good news.....no cast is needed!! But Jackson has posttraumatic injuries in his knee. These include moderate bone bruising in the patella (knee cap) and the medial femoral condyle, moderate anterior cruciate ligament sprain, he has fluid between the fibers of his knee and severe bruising and edema in his Hoffa's pad (the fat pad below your knee cap) He will wear his brace for another 2 weeks, ice it twice a day and can start mild activity after that. The Orthopedist will reevaluate him in 4 weeks. We are thankful that he doesn't need surgery or that his injuries with heal on their own with rest *fingers crossed*. We look forward to Jackson getting back to his speedy active self very soon!!

raking leaves

Today I couldn't find Ayden and Landon. I quickly discovered them outside in the backyard raking leaves. When Ayden saw me he quickly said with a huge smile "We are raking the leaves to surprise you because you don't feel good, now you don't have to do it!" I couldn't ask for a better surprise!!

all heart...

Saturday was Grandparents/Family Day at Jackson's football game. As many of you know, Jackson was injured 3 weeks ago during a game and has been suffering terrible knee pain and swelling since. We thought it would pass but it didn't so we took him to the doctor. After 2 visits to the doctor and Orthopedist, an x ray and MRI Jackson has been put on limited activity and has a brace on his leg supporting his knee. The doctor made the diagnosis of Osteochondritis Dissecans OCD but after the results come back from his MRI and we meet with his Orthopedist on Tuesday will know for sure. Jackson was crushed when the doctor told him that he couldn't play football any more. The course of action to help his knee heal if in fact the doctor's pre MRI diagnosis is correct, worst case will be up to eight weeks in a hip to ankle cast. In talking to Jackson we made the decision to let him play in his game on Saturday as it maybe his last for the season. We are looking on the bright side and hope that the MRI shows something less serious but Jackson wanted to play and has more heart than any other boy I know. He was so excited that it was family day but he was still a little apprehensive about playing with his knee but he didn't let that stop him. He made 2 touchdowns and helped his team to V I C T O R Y with a 27 - 19 win over Woodscross! We are so very proud of him. Ayden and Landon showed their support by coloring their hair Bengal orange and blue...they looked so cute!! We are optimistic and will keep you posted about what the Orthopedist says on Tuesday...keep him in your prayers :)

crazy hair

Pumpkin Seed Necklace

Pumpkin seeds (roasted)
Paint (orange, black, white and green)
Needle and thread
(Kitchen foil to put seeds on while you paint them)

Paint your pumpkin seeds in orange, green, white and black. The easiest way to do this is to put them on kitchen foil so that they will not stick to anything while they dry. But it is a very messy job!

When your seeds are dry, thread your needle with a length of thread long enough to go over your head with 3 or 4 inches to spare. Put your seeds a few at a time on a pile on newspaper or a thin sponge. One by one push the needle down through the seed - when you have pierced the seed safely, pick it up and pull it through the thread. When your thread is about two thirds filled, knot the ends together tightly.

Note: you need a sharp needle for this so make sure children are well supervised or that an adult does the threading.

Grandparents/Family Day

click on photo to enlarge!!

whisk us away...

Halloween is my FAVORITE time of year. I love making spooky and fun meals for my family and friends that bring the Halloween theme to the dinner table. Normally I would share my ideas on this blog but now that I have a recipe blog I will be posting them there so make sure to check out Whisk US Away for yummy and fun holiday recipes!!

46

Jackson "golfing" in Hawaii June 2001

Jackson has always loved golf. When he was 2 he would tee up golf balls on our sprinkler heads...it was so cute. Last Thursday he went golfing with Ryan, grandma, grandpa and Ayden to Old Mill golf course. It was a cold windy afternoon but Jackson's golfing was HOT, he beat everyone golfing a 46, that's only 11 over par...AMAZING, he is only 10!! Jackson walked in the door with a huge grin his face and held the golf card up to me. It took me a minute to figure it out and then I saw it...he shoot a 46! I was so happy for him :) Ryan came in the door and said "wow, I am already getting beat by my 10 year old" he was so proud of Jackson. Jackson is looking forward to the spring so he can join the Utah Junior Golf Association and compete in Junior tournaments. We are so very proud of him and look forward watching him tee up next spring and summer! Way to go JAX!!

PCMC project...

Today while watching President Monson's talk during General Conference this morning I was quickly reminded that I need to get working on my annual service project for PCMC :)

There are only 86 days until Christmas!!

Many of you know that our precious little Landon born December 15th, 2005 spent his first Christmas in the NICU at PCMC. It was a very hard Christmas for our little family because our sweet baby boy was so sick and couldn't spend Christmas at home with us. For the past 3 Christmas's I have enjoyed playing Santa to all the babies in the NICU. I have taken quilts/ blankets and knit hats for all the babies who will spend their first Christmas in the NICU just as Landon did so they know they too are loved and that Santa didn't forget them. So here is where you come in...there are 60 NICU beds at PCMC and for the past 3 years everyone of them has been occupied on Christmas Eve by a precious newborn. This year with the H1N1 virus infections expected to be high this flu season I expect that PCMC will be full again this Christmas too. That is a lot of hats and blankets that need to be made so I need your help, if you are a quilter, knitter or would like to help in any other way *or know someone who is* your talents are much needed and truly wanted and there is no time like the "present" to get started!! The snow will be flying this afternoon at my house and the holiday season will be upon us before we know it....so if you would like to help, please leave me a message in the comments of how to reach you and our family and the babies in the NICU will be forever grateful...Merry Christmas!!

Jackson playing Santa Christmas Eve 2006