Great family time this year with all of our children including Anne’s parents Gerry and Carol Bogue along with Alan’s parents and his sister Diane. A houseful of family to celebrate Christ’s birth together. We had dinner and then enjoyed watching the Tabernacle Choir Christmas Broadcast with Alfie Boe, that amazing Tenor you all know I love.
Christmas Morning
After sleeping together in the basement, all the kids head up for Christmas Morning. We check out our stockings, eat a yummy breakfast and then open presents. Fun.
Of course any Christmas morning is more fun with little kids. Kenyon wasn’t quite old enough to enjoy it too much, but we enjoyed having fun with him…from Christmas clothes, to toys, to stroller rides.
We have so much to be grateful for…I love Thanksgiving time. We spent Thanksgiving Day at my brother Matt’s house with my side of the family – oh so so many Morgans. I think there were 35 of us in all…very fun…but no pictures.
Loren and family were in Idaho with Anne’s parents and Tess was in Arizona for her best friend’s wedding. So the following Sunday, we had a 2nd Thanksgiving dinner with just our family – safely returned from out of state. We invited Alan’s parents, but only Grandpa was able to come as Grandma had become ill and was still in the hospital – we missed her, but did send her a plate of leftovers!
I live in Thanksgiving daily that Alan and I have come from such wonderful families and that together, we have been blessed with our own wonderful family.
Halloween is always more fun with little kids and of course with Kenyon being the cutest giraffe ever, this year was great! The weather was so nice and a beautiful full moon made it complete. Clark worked some of his carving magic and of course, all the trick or treating kids liked his iPumpkin (took a few minutes) and didn’t notice his Les Mis Cosette masterpiece. Oh, well….
Tess and I spent a fun weekend in Arizona! We are both big Alfie Boe fans and when we found out that he was giving a concert in Phoenix, we decided to use our frequent flier miles to fly down to the concert and spend a few days with my sister Melinda and her family. If you don’t know who Alfie is, he was Jean Valjean in the 25th Anniversary cast of Les Misérables. Check it out here. Just before we left for Arizona, the Church announced that he would be the guest artist singing with the Tabernacle Choir in their Christmas concert this year. We are crossing our fingers that we can get tickets!
With 5 of our children living in 5 different places we have found an alternative to gathering around the kitchen table to visit. It is called a Google Hangout and it is awesome (and free)! Every Sunday at 6:30 we go online and invite everyone to “hangout.” It gives us all a chance to get caught up on each other’s lives. I probably don’t need to tell you that it is especially fun to see Kenyon as his parents hold him up to the camera! Last night we got to see him laugh himself to sleep…so funny!
Phillip is now a graduate student at Oregon State University, where he will be working towards a masters degree in creative writing and also teaching an undergraduate English class. He loaded up his car and he and I did the all-day drive (actually a really nice, but long 14.5 hour drive) on a Friday. Saturday we spent shopping for everything an unfurnished apartment calls for (like a bed :)). Then Sunday we went to his young adult ward, took a long walk on the beach together, and watched the CES Fireside with Elder Holland. Monday we saw a little more of Corvallis and the Oregon State campus, and then headed to Portland to spend a few more hours shopping at IKEA before he dropped me off at the airport to fly home. It was a great weekend…I loved seeing where he will be living his life. It seems very “Phillip.”
This year Clark is in 10th grade at Waterford. And sad but very true, this year he has no siblings. He is the lone “Brown” on campus. Our photo that used to have 6 kids headed off to school on the first day, is a photo of Clark ready to take on Waterford by himself. He will do great!
So finally after all these years, Elliot is not just a Cougar fan, but he is an actual BYU student. With a few adjustments (like preparing all his own meals :)) he is enjoying living on campus and going to school. Of course he is thrilled to have an all-sports pass!
