4 is the new 14

After months of desperate anxiety, Morgan finally turned 4 and promptly asked how soon she would be 4 1/2. This one cannot wait to grow up.  

Daddy contributed the birthday donut and 4 roses

She was so excited for her birthday party, but like every year, Erik and I bet on how many meltdowns she would have before the night was over - I think this year it was 2.  She just can't seem to handle that much attention and excitement.  We didn't anticipate the distraction it would be to her bladder, though, and ended up changing clothes and mopping up the bathroom right as the guests arrived.  Can't wait to share that story with a future boyfriend some day.

The guest of honor: "Uncle" Blake back from his mission! Notice the original birthday outfit...

I don't care if my kids want strawberry cake, princess cake, or anything else for their birthday.  This is what I make every birthday, and probably will for the rest of time.  If I have to make birthday cake multiple times a year, I want to love it.

She's smart, loves to read and learn, a good helper, obstinate, a trifle OCD, and has a sassy mouth.  She's becoming alarmingly like me, which is probably why we butt heads all the time. Since I can't really expect that turning 4 will make her any easier or more mature, I suppose I'll have to step up and be the one to change. Darn it.

Second Choice St. George

This last October, we had the amazing good luck to have a week of vacation scheduled at the same time as the Merkley houseboat time share.  We were so ready for a little relaxation at Lake Powell.  Do ya'll remember that awesome temper tantrum the government threw a while back, shutting down all kinds of national parks?  That ALSO coincided with our planned week at Lake Powell.  We told Morgan to pray for a miracle, but I don't think God has much influence in Washington anymore.  We ended up scrambling to find a vacation that didn't involve federal land, and settled on St. George, that mecca of the west.  We did enjoy ourselves, and decided in the end that Lake Powell might not have been the best choice anyway - I was in the early stages of pregnancy, someone else had vertigo, and there was a recent finger operation that needed to stay dry.  That didn't stop us from deriding politics, politicians, and Washington in general. We did some hiking in nearby state parks, caught "Mary Poppins" at the Tuacahn theatre, and enjoyed food and shopping. Utah reopened their parks on the last day of our trip, so we all hurried to Zions before parting ways with family and friends.

On our drive to Zions, a bunch of warning lights came on in our car - not what we wanted to see the day we needed to head home.  I dropped everyone at the park, then turned around and drove back to St. George to find a car dealership.  Thankfully it was open on Saturday, and thankfully they had time for me, and thankfully they had the part we needed.  And I guess we were thankful that it wasn't enormously expensive and that it happened before we drove home through barren desert.  We were grateful God was watching out for us, but I think we would have preferred just to have the car work in the first place. :) Ah, those blessings we could do without.