ok we're going

The original plan was to leave Monday, fly to New York, Jake and I stay in Jessie's Jersey apartment, and then leave Friday.  But because of all the crazy blizzards, and like the nine million people on the news, our flights got canceled.  And not just canceled, but no other way to reschedule.  New York airports are completely closed until Thursday.  Bad news as Jessie's last show is Thursday.

So after a prayer, crossing toes, and bribing a Delta agent we are officially leaving tomorrow.  BUT, we are now flying to Baltimore, taking a 2 hour train ride to New York, then taking the subway into Jersey (inhale. exhale.)  Oh, and now all 7 of us will be in Jessie's apartment.  Oh what we do to make this happen.

No matter how crazy this is, we are so grateful for our little miracle.  And, it will be quite the adventure: first train ride, 7 people sharing one bathroom, New Years in New York, and of course seeing my little sister dance on Broadway.  It always works out, and in this case, for the better.  So say a little prayer for us as we make our way across the country.  We would really like to get there this time.

Peace out folks.  Till Monday....

Photo found here

count' em: 4

 4 years today we've been married.
and I love this man.
feel so lucky to be his bride and everything that comes along with it.

I guess you can have your cake and eat it too...

christmas morning

sweater gloves, beanies, baby socks, scarves, hot tamales, polaroid film, baby clothes, milk duds, sweaters, and jake's favorite: a mini football for his boy...
 
it was a great Christmas morning. baby got spoiled. (and so did we.)  hope yours was just as merry and bright!

(and yes, jake does have a black eye. awesome. that's what you get when you play church ball...)

merry christmas eve

 it's starting to look like Christmas around here...as it should since it is Christmas Eve.

we've been enjoying family all week.  my sister's family came in town and we've been hanging out with our little nephew, Maddix like crazy.  it gets us so excited.

tonight we are making a grand dinner (a few new recipes), playing games, and of course getting ready for Santa and his reindeer.  I've been pretty good this year so hopefully that NYC ticket shows up in my stocking...

hope you all enjoy presents, treats, carols, and family this Christmas.  And most of all, I hope you feel the love of our Savior.  Life is good. Merry Christmas!

jake's birthday

 

and he celebrated the best way he knew how:

Kneaders french toast breakfast

BYU bowl game

Dinner at Tucanos

and a movie at home.

it all worked for me: food and hanging out?  my kind of day.

happy birthday jake! love you to the moon and back. (and so does baby.)

-Bryton

26 weeks

 

that means 14 weeks left.

(3 months...)

we're getting excited!

why i do what i do

Sometimes it's hard to explain my different jobs and why I am involved with Deaf Studies, Deaf people, and American Sign Language. Luckily, my two professors from UVU do a better job than me.  Recently, both Will Garrow and Flavia Fleischer were on the radio with KUER explaining everything from the history of sign, difference between English and ASL, benefits of ASL for Deaf children, and much more.  (There is also a sign interpretation streamed through video.)  


Please take time to listen to this unclear, and sometimes misunderstood, issue.  (Also, if you yourself have questions...)  This is very dear to my heart and something that I will always be involved in.  And it may give you a little insight on Bryton.  Click here for the link again.

Thanks friends.  Much love.

Picture found here

just a picture

 

me and sister Sierra.

That's all.

Happy Thursday.

for jr.

So the past couple of days I've been MIA...I've had a cold and, oh man, pregnancy colds live up to the hype.  I am still recovering but thanks to lots of liquids, the humidifier, and tons of rest I'm starting to feel better.  But while I was hanging out on the couch all weekend, I browsed for baby.

Of course I was drawn to anything relating to sign language and I'm happy to report etsy has it's handful of ASL gear.  Loving the ILY block above and the personalized teething toy below.  Pretty sure jr. won't be able to escape it. (yes we will be teaching him sign.)

So all my time being a bum was not wasted.  Love finding jewels like these.  Now just to figure out crib bedding....

in the fog

We went up to Salt Lake City for the First Presidency Fireside on Sunday and the fog decided to join us as well.  Temple Square had a whole new look; a little more of a glow.  So I had to snap a pic. Beautiful stuff.

The fireside of course was the perfect way to start off the season.  Another good reminder that we are celebrating the birth of our Savior, the greatest most precious gift from God.  God sent His son to save us from our sins and death.  This season I am grateful that our little family will not be separated at death, but because of the Savior, we will be a forever family.  That is our merry Christmas.

when he comes to town

one of the many cute decorations our land lords have around the cottage. 

this one makes me smile each time i come home. 

but of course that spot is left open just in case... 

stockings without a mantle

no mantle piece means a little creativity is required when it comes to hanging stockings.

so...candle holders should do the trick. 

pretty clever right?

we put the up the tree

  in all our years of marriage we have lived in someone else's house and felt like we couldn't decorate for the holidays. this year, finally in a place of our own, we have decorated for Christmas!  this means the tree, the nativity, and stockings.  i'm having so much fun.

every night we plug the tree in, turn off all the lights, and hang out by the glow of the twinkle lights. and we are enjoying the ornaments that hang all the way down the tree as i'm sure next Christmas, they will be only hung half way down, out of a toddler's reaching hands. (ack! crazy thoughts!)  so already our little household has been merry and bright. now just to make it all complete with some presents under the tree...

sometimes i wear his clothes

cause it's much more comfortable.

even though jake thinks it's hilarious.

(little does he know how often...)

our thanksgiving

we spent our Thanksgiving with Jake's family this year at his aunt's house.  and everything was homemade--the food and decorations. it was delicious and i ate all of it. huzzah! but, holy cow, i would fill up so fast.  i had to eat in shifts. (i was eating my pie when everyone was cleaning up...)

but before we left we had to document the belly status: 23 weeks!!

this year we have so much to be thankful for.  (now, don't gag but here comes the list) i'm grateful for my Savior, my Heavenly Father, Jake, our families, the cottage, my education, my two jobs, Jake's job, our friends, good health, our freedom, two cars that start, and a baby on the way!

it's a good life and i am grateful to be sharing it with this man.  sometimes we look at each other like we are back in high school and laugh: are we really married? do we really run a household?  are we really going to be parents? sometimes i feel like we are playing house and too young to be adults but i wouldn't want it any other way.  so grateful this year for all that we have. 

happy thanksgiving!

blizzard warning

it's been a while since i've heard of a blizzard warning in utah.
if it really lives up to all this hype (which holy cow people, it isn't the end of the world)
they say it's going to be a bad one
and that freezing temperatures will be in it's wake for the next few days.

so we aren't taking any chances (and we may be looking for a good excuse...).
tonight for dinner we are having homemade pizza rolls and hot chocolate.
and our netflix just arrived so we are hunkering down.
not sure if we will be able to come out of hibernation until Thanksgiving dinner is served...
until then, be safe and take care.
-love, the morses

christmas shopping

took care of most of my Christmas shopping at the Bijou Market Friday.

 

scratch that, i only got half of my Christmas shopping cause i kept spotting baby boy things like these handsome bow ties.  i couldn't resist.

story of my day.

merry christmas baby.

at least someone's getting gifts!

this time last year

we were getting ready for our trip to cancun. but this year i'm really looking forward to Thanksgiving at home. our nachos were great and everything for our Thanksgiving meal, but you really can't replace the turkey, potatoes, and pumpkin pie.  (trust me, i will eat all of it. i've already told the little mr. he can't be picky)

and we are going to try our luck at Black Friday shopping.  (are we insane?)  we are new at this and i think i'm going to record the whole thing.  should be hilarious.  really looking forward to next week.  bring on the holidays!

quite frankly

quite frankly i don't listen to christmas music until after thanksgiving.  i feel like thanksgiving deserves it's own holiday.
quite frankly i'm glad jake's at the jazz game so i don't have to sacrifice my "Lie to Me" time.
quite frankly i'm not ashamed of my addiction to tums.  this acid reflux is brutal.
quite frankly the snow fall yesterday was a lot more pleasant than this morning's sleet and slush.
quite frankly i think jake's a little jealous of my body pillow...

quite frankly i'm a feeling a little intimidated of becoming a mommy.  Heavenly Father is going to trust me with this little being?  i eat junk food, sleep through three alarms, don't stop fully at the 4-way stop, and instantly change into sweats the minute i get home from work.  and God is going to trust me?

quite frankly, i'm grateful and in awe.  every day.

on our deck

every time i see leaves change to yellow and red, i think of apples.
and how convenient as our landlords brought over homemade applesauce yesterday.
so now i'm nibbling applesauce while bundled up on the couch grading papers.
it's an "apple-y" kind of day inside and out.

going to vegas (and new york...)

the news is out!! jessie is now one of 12 dancers for the Donny and Marie Osmond Las Vegas show!!!!

And they will be taking their show to New York for December....guess where I'm going for Christmas??

ever since jessie was little, she wanted to take "How to be a Star" lessons.  well little sister, you did it! congrats!!! so friends if you ever find yourself in vegas, you know what show you need to see! (or New York during December...)

i'll have to let you know what she says about Donny and Marie.  she's been told they become almost family.  i'm so happy for her, and so happy she will be involved with such amazing, classy, and fun people like the Osmonds. congrats again jess!

the weekend's little successes

-lesson planned for the rest of term 2
-bought our christmas stockings
-closed the heat vents upstairs and opened them downstairs (since heat rises this will save us on our heating bill...or so we're told)
-watched BYU's win
-watched the U loose...
-purchased our first nursery necessity-a glider/recliner
-said our goodbyes to jessie (more on that later)
-watched "How to Train Your Dragon"
-and had some frozen yogurt with chocolate shavings and hot fudge for date night.

next weekend has an even longer list of "to-do's"....i'm going to need another frozen yogurt....

oh and i had a birthday

amidst all the exciting news, forgot to post about the birthday! as you all know, we drove down to st. george and hung out with my sister jessie for the weekend.  (we will talk about that 4 hour drive later...oye...) saturday morning she took me to Bear Pawn and had the most amazing breakfast.  i'm still craving that belgium waffle...and then later that night we got to see her in Thriller at Tuacahn.  and i gotta tell ya, there is nothing like Thriller on an outdoor stage with the red rocks as the background.  perfect for halloween. and of course jessie was amazing. it was quite the ending to a perfect birthday. thanks jess for having us down and introducing us to all the local goldmines like that breakfast parlor.  i owe you for that one.  i just love birthdays.

the ultrasound results are in:

and we're tickled "blue!"

happy halloween

 love, Super Dad and Super Mom.

parenthood: here we come.

life of a birthday cupcake

we are leaving tomorrow for st. geezy. i'll be enjoying my halloween weekend in warmer weather than alpine. and to top it all off, i'll be watching Thriller on my birthday at Tuachan.  better than this cupcake you say? oh, much better. (and it will last longer than 3 seconds...) 

peace out friends. happy halloween!