A Time To Remember......

The past 2 weeks has come and gone with much gratitude and emotion. Steve's dad passed away just prior to Thanksgiving, so our days have been spent amongst family and friends reflecting on what an amazing person Steve's dad was. He truly has blessed the life's of so many, and I'm a better person today by having known him. I know his legacy continues, and I'm so grateful for the knowledge of eternal families and that we will meet again. Steve's dad grew up in Tridell, Utah which is about 3 hours from Salt Lake City. (near Vernal) Steve's whole family took a family history "road trip" in 2004, so we'd all been to Tridell once before. It was so special to go back and spend the day in a place that Steve's dad had shared with us just a few years back. The kids all remembered and even talked about some of the special stories Grandpa told on that trip.

The service was held at the local church building where Steve's Dad grew up attending church. It was a beautiful service filled with music and wonderful tribute's of his life. I must say however, it was a bit strange to be in a town where everyone knows " The Morrills"! The Morrill name has been in Tridell for so many years, not to mention the cemetery is FULL of the them. My kid's added humor to the trip when they commented on the number of deceased Morrill's they found in the cemetery. It was a beautiful day at the cemetery up on a hill overlooking the town, minus the wind. They had a wonderful military honors portion before the dedication of the grave. Steve's dad served in the military for a term, years ago.

Steve and Blake

All the granddaughter's received a rose to lay on their grandfather's casket following the graveside presentation.

Nadia, McKenna, & Cheyanne. This is our little trio. These girls were all born the same year and even though they've spent most of their lives living far from one another, they are so close. It's so cute to see them together. Nadia lives in Arizona and Cheyanne just moved to Boise recently from Washington. They sure did LOVE their Grandpa.

McKenna placing her rose on the casket.

Steve & McKenna

Grandma Morrill with the grand kids. ( minus 4. Jordan is on his mission & Rose left her baby girls in AZ and just her and Kevin came up)

My sister-in-law made these skirts for the girls all in less than a week. They looked so cute and the girls were happy to wear them in honor of their Grandfather.

Tyra, Hanna, & Blake

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Temple Square at Christmas:

One of the nights we were in Utah, we took the family and headed to Temple Square to look at all the Christmas lights. It was Thanksgiving weekend, the first weekend they are "on" and it was packed. People everywhere. Nonetheless, it was beautiful as usual and the kids were mesmerized. Steve and I have been down to see the lights between Thanksgiving and Christmas, but it was a first for the kids.

I LOVE this picture!

We were asked by the sister missionaries if we would stop and sing "silent night". The girl's loved the idea. The boy's on the other hand, took a little to get them going before they joined in, and really enjoyed the spirit of the evening.

McKenna & Nadia ( Oh how they wished they lived by each other)

Blake & his cousin, Hyram. They are definitely a minority when it comes to grandchildren as they are out numbered by the girls. That however, doesn't seem to stop them from having a good time.

Even though it wasn't the best of circumstances for the family to be gathering together, it made us appreciate one another more, reach out to one another, serve one another and really feel gratitude for the family in which we are apart of. Steve's parents have done such a fabulous job with all 6 of their children. The LOVE that exists within that family is one so sacred and special, it's nearly impossible not to feel the love our Father in Heaven has for each one of us.

Food Network 101- Starring Baker Boy...

Blake came home from school today and decided he wanted to play "cooking show." He pretended just as on Food Network how to make and prepare his own version of chocolate chip cookies (or as stated in his recipe, gourmet chocolate chip cookies) He had ALL the ingredients scattered about the counter as he talked and walked us through the process of his famous cookie recipe.

This is a copy of his recipe. He actually wrote the recipe just before the "show" started. He told me it was my souvenir for attending. ( and helping) He wanted me to file this "one and only" gourmet recipe in case I wanted to make these cookies again someday. My favorite part is when he mentions using a "twitch" of vanilla. That vocabulary is so Blake!

He proceeded to tell just how to put the cookies on the cookie sheet and in what order so that they wouldn't melt into one another. It was a hoot!

This I must say, was the BEST part! I explained to Blake, I'd never seen anyone on Food Network describe how to lick the beater when finished sharing a recipe. His reply; " really? that's the best part." "And it tastes sooooooo yummy."

Thank you to Blake, for inspiring me to use a recipe more often, and most of all, giving permission to "lick the beater" when following his recipe. :)

High School Musical 3!

I Love Musicals! I think I'm as bad as the kids if not worse. We've been anxiously awaiting the release of HSM3 as the movies and the music have become a big hit in our house.

With the movie having been in the theaters a few weeks now, McKenna has been anxiously waiting to go. We would have gone the first week it opened, however she wasn't going to go without her cousin Cheyanne. Knowing her cousin was going to be moving to the area within a few weeks she decided it would be worth it to wait. We FINALLY went last weekend and everyone had a great time. My sister-in-law and I were as much into the movie, dancing and singing to the music as much as the girls were. (of course they claimed we were embarrassing them) Nonetheless it was fun and we ended the evening with a stop at mall singing and dancing as we shopped. :) ( The video of McKenna anf Troy dancing below is so funny)

So Funny......

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Looking Back At HALLOWEEN

Seems like the month of October has come and gone so quickly. The week of Halloween especially seemed busy with party's, pumpkin carving, school events, cookie decorating, and even a Halloween piano recital.

Blake's Mr. Pumpkin was FULL of seeds this year. ( or as he would say it, "full of guts") It took him a good HOUR to scrape this one clean.

Leave it to Steve to master his pumpkin carving skills by using a chain saw or something of sorts to help the kids carve their pumpkin's.

McKenna and her "BOO" pumpkin.

Blake's creative masterpiece.

I LOVE baked pumpkin seeds. After we saw how many seeds we had to work with, I got the butter & garlic ready with a sprinkle of Johny's seasoning and baked em. Yum! They were tasty.

One of the the other things we did the week of Halloween is have our friends the Jorgensen's over for our annual "GHOOOOOLISH GOURMET." We have done this with them the past few years and it has turned into a family favorite. Each year we pick a new featured menu item and enjoy an evening together. The kids absolutely LOVE it! They're always a bit leery of what will be served as they read the menu and try to figure out what each item will be because.........YOU GET WHAT YOU ORDER.


Travis, McKenna, Blake & Wes

Gearing up for a bit of "witches brew."

Blake and Wes finished off the evening by enjoying their "dirt n worms."

The kids were off from school on Friday, but had their Halloween piano recital. It was fun to see all the students in their Halloween costumes and not to mention playing all Halloween music. When our piano teacher moved a while back, we were in search for a new one and really hit the jackpot. We LOVE her! ( even if we do have to drive almost into Meridian, it's worth it)
She even dressed up for the occasion herself. Gotta love it.

Happy Halloween 2008!