Thursday, December 11, 2008

Jack Bowden Morris

After nearly 34 hours of labor, Jack is here! He weighs 8 lbs 1 oz, is 21 inches long and was born on December 11, 2008. Mother and baby are strong and healthy!


Friday, November 21, 2008

37 1/2 weeks!

Okay, as you all know I post everything about 2 weeks late.  So here are a couple of pictures from the shower that the girls in my ward threw for me.  It was really fun!  The girls did a great job making it a special night with their decorations and yummy food to eat. Little baby boy Morris (no we have not officially decided on a name) now has lots of cute outfits to wear! Thanks everyone!  

The girls at the shower


The count down is on for the babe.  I just hope he comes after Thanksgiving, so Shawn can help me with all the little things that need to get done before the baby comes.  We are getting really excited! 

Sunday, November 2, 2008

NYC

We love NYC! Shawn had spring break last week so we decided to do one last horrah before the babe comes. Although, I have to say that I don't think I would do a city vacation again being 8 months pregnant but it was still a lot of fun. I did end up with cankles from swelling so by Friday and Saturday I had to take it easy as my back and feet were hurting a bit. Neither one of us had been to NYC so we thought that would be a good place to visit. We only stayed for a couple of days because I had to return to work. We stayed with one of my best friends from childhood and her husband. They took great care of us while we were there. We had a great time site seeing, playing games, laughing, trying new restaurants, and talking and more talking. Thanks Jane and Chris! We were also able to meet up with one of Shawn's friends from college and his wife actually went to the same High School as I went to. They have a great apartment looking over Time Square which was fun to view. It was fun visiting with them and catching up.

While our friends were working Shawn and I tried to do all the sight seeing we could do. We hopped on one of those double decker buses to learn about and see the city. I would recommend a bus tour, it was a great way to see the city. We hit up the Statue of Liberty, a tour of Brooklyn, the Empire State Building, Wall Street, St. Paul's Cathedral, The Tribute Center (this was a great place to pay respect to the victims of 9/11 but if you go bring some tissues), China Town, Little Italy, a carriage ride through Central Park (partly because my feet were so swollen from walking), the Metropolitan Museum. We were able to get great tickets to the The Little Mermaid. We did not have high expectations but it ended up being awesome. The costumes and special effects were pretty amazing. We eat at some great restaurants and got turned around on the subway station a couple of times.

My good friend from graduate school lives in Connecticut and she came to the city on Saturday to hang out. It was soooo great to see her and catch up with her. We LOVED NYC and are jealous of our friends who live there. Here are some pics:


Time Square



Shawn and the "Bull"


Okay not the best picture, late at night and after we had been drenched by the rain but I had to put a picture up of the famous "Magnolia Cupcakes." Shawn, Me and Kendra.


Empire State Building


Central Park


Bunch at Norah's Cafe with Jane and Chris. The food was amazing!


The Statue of Liberty


The Tribute Center


Scott, MaryLynn, Jane, Chris, Me and Shawn at Wall Street

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Fall is in the air!

It has been the nicest weather these last couple of days.  You can smell fall in the air.  Fall is probably my favorite season.  This morning Shawn and I went apple and raspberry picking with the business school.  We ate delicious fresh apple cider and donuts and then went picking. I guess there are a ton of cider mills here, we are excited to check them out! What a perfect morning!

   
The gang apple picking.  These are some of the LDS people who live in our complex.  These are also the girls that make up our dinner group.  It is soooo nice to only cook once a week!

Shawn and Brian apple picking

Here we are finished picking, time to go eat!

Friday, September 19, 2008

Shawn's Birthday.

Shawn's birthday was on September 8.  He turned 28!  Crazy he is two years away from the big 30.  We had a great time celebrating.  We had a RoCk BaNd PaRty in his celebration.  We rocked out all night and had a blast.  We downloaded some new songs just for the special occasion.  I made a ice cream cake (which he requested) which turned out to be DELICIOUSNESS (thanks Shelly and Sheila for the recipe). Thanks for everyone that came to support and for the Gray's for hosting.  Our apartment was a little small to accommodate everyone.  On Shawn's birthday we went to Main Street which has a bunch of local restaurants and had dinner at a the Chop House.  Shawn said it was up there with Ruth's Chris steak house.  Shawn has started to master singing while playing the guitar and since I like to play the drums, we now have our own little family band!

Happy Birthday and I love you Shawn!

Shawn blowing out the candles

Girl's Band

Shawn Rocking out!

Sunday, August 31, 2008

Summer Living....

Okay it has been forever since we posted last, so here is a long overdue update of our summer life. Feel free to skip sections or glance over it as it might be kind of long...... First we said goodbye to work, friends, family and house in Seattle and started our venture to Michigan. Sorry Family, I didn't have any recent pictures, we were bad about taking pictures:(



Our first house that we bought. Sad to say goodbye!



The girls at my work made me a blanket to remember the "Valley Gals," so much fun and so many good memories......




We stopped in Monterey for a week and stayed at the beach cottage and relaxed by the ocean..... Too bad we had to leave! We love it there! While we were in Monterey we were able to visit with both my family and Shawn's family and some friends from Seattle.

My mom and her friend Melody

Our Friends from Everett (the cutest girls ever!)

Shawn and I riding the "double bike." I loved it!

Then we drove to Fresno to visit Shawn's family and friends. Shawn was in heaven!! Usually Shawn is outnumbered by girls when we go with my family but Shawn loved wake boarding, camping and hanging out with his guys friends while we were there. I got plenty of pool and reading time in, so I was a happy camper as well.


Shawn has such a determined face here

Conquering the wake!


Getting some air!

Camping with the guys and eating a classic dinner!


On our way to Utah we stopped and visited my best friend Sandy and her family. She gave birth to a beautiful daughter like the next day. She is a trooper!! Her daughter loves to pretend like she is a witch, so we are posing like witches do.


On our way to Utah we stopped in Vegas and stayed with Shawn's aunt and uncle. His sister was also vacationing there so we got to see her as well. In California at the grocery store a guy saw that our car was loaded with our bags so he asked us where we were going. We told him we were moving to Michigan but we were stopping in Vegas and Utah before we headed out. He randomly gave us $5 and a business card and told us to split the jack pot with him. Shawn and I of course lost all the money in like two minutes but we took pictures of the event and sent him a thank you note. I wished we had earned some money so that we could have sent him some. Super cool of the guy though.


We also went and visited Shawn's grandpa who I had never met. He has an amazing musical talent. I hope one of our children inherit this talent. He is in his 90's and still plays the piano, guitar and sings. Truly amazing!!!



On our way to Utah to met my mom, sister and cousin in Cedar City for the Shakespearean Festival. We saw some great plays and had a great time. And yes Shawn did enjoy the plays to his and my surprise!.



Then we went to Utah and stayed with my mom. I always love being "home" and seeing friends and family. My brother was in town for a wedding so it was nice to everyone home. We especially loved eating fresh vegetables from my grandpas garden.
My brother, grandpa, me and Shawn


Then it was time to take the big venture to Michigan. Our first stop was in Omaha where we stayed with our friends Becca and Devin. It was fun to see their cute boy!




We briefly stopped in Winters Quarter where we learned more about the pioneers and that terrible winter. Then we went to Liberty jail, Independence and Cathrage jail where we continued to learn more and have a greater appreciation for what the pioneers and leaders of the church endured. They had such amazing faith! Next we spent the day in Nauvoo. We wished we had more time there because there was so much to see and do that we were not able to do it all. Shawn loved the the Browning House where the founder of the Browning and Company lived (he started a big gun company). Shawn loved seeing and learning all about the different guns. It was really special to see the Temple and houses of the pioneers. I loved learning about the different pioneers that lived there and the sacrifices they made for the faith they believed to be true. It definitely inspired me to be a better person. I am so grateful for the sacrifices they made so that Shawn and I can enjoy the blessings that we receive today.


Shawn in front of the Browning house


Guns, Guns, Guns.....


Should I be worried.....


Nauvoo Temple, so beautiful and special!


Cathridge jail where Joseph and Hyrum Smith were shot


This is the Church of Christ's Temple. They offer tours but we barely missed the last one for the day. I thought it would be interesting to learn more about their religion, another day......


Lastly we drove to Michigan. Our complex is huge and includes around 200 other MBA students. We are almost settled in (couple closets to organize and pictures to hang up). .....




We have met some wonderful people and are excited to make more friends. Our ward (congregation) here is super friendly and we have been able to make new friends with several of them. A couple of weeks we were able to go to the Detroit temple with the our friends the Anne and Jeff Bednar. Shawn actually took a couple of classes with Jeff at BYU. Small world.



The biggest event so far was the Michigan vs U of U game on Saturday. Football is CrAzY here. People started partying around 8 am and I don't think they stopped until the weee hours of the next morning. The football game was a fun thing to experience although I don't think I will go to anymore games this season. Standing up for fours hours was a little hard on my body but it was worth it for the Football Experience. You can see that a lot of red was represented but we were still rooting for Michigan.



Okay if you have made it this far, thanks for reading, now go take a nap, that was way too long. That is the end of our venture thus far. We will keep you posted more frequently!

Monday, June 23, 2008

Mexico

A couple weeks back Marti and I went to Nuevo Vallarta with Travis and Kristy. During my one hour and fifteen minute bus ride to work this morning, I was staring outside at the gloomy overcast Seattle sky wishing I was back in Central America...

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

How is this possible?

I found this article and found it shocking. Some lady died in front of her tv 42 years ago and no one noticed until now! A police spokesman said: "When officers went there, they said it was like stepping into a place frozen in time. The cup she had been drinking tea from was still on a table next to the chair she had been sitting in and the house was full of things no one had seen for decades. Nothing had been disturbed for decades, even though there were more than a few cobwebs in there."

First of all, the situation is pretty sad because obviously she didn't have any family or friends that performed much of a search when she went "missing." Secondly, how can someone die in an apartment complex without anyone knowing for 42 years? Unbelievable.


Monday, June 16, 2008

NIght out with the grad gals

Saturday I got together with some of my graduate school friends.  I always love getting together to catch up, reminisce, laugh and just have a girls night out.  I will miss having you gals around!  I still start to feel my blood boil when discussing certain aspects of grad school.........  Congrats to all of you and your upcoming ventures.  I will be anxious to hear all about them.

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Port Townsend



Today we went with our friends Spence and Katie to a small town on the Puget Sound called Port Townsend. They have been in AZ while Spence attends grad school but they came here for a summer internship. Marti and I met up with them at their short term rental (which has an amazing view) in Tacoma and the five of us packed in their car for the quick two hour drive up the peninsula. We had lunch at a quaint restaurant by the water that served fresh seafood and a killer prime rib sandwich (quite the combo?). We walked around, perused the shops and took in the views. As we drove around Fort Worden, a former military instillation turned state park, we spotted this old abandoned row boat and couldn't resist the kodak moment. Thanks Katie for the brilliant photography.


We got a little pose crazy and took a couple more not-so-candid shots.