Maddi's 9th Birthday, Family reunion, and Photo Shoot

On August 15th was Maddi's 9th Birthday. This year we were actually at a the Williams family reunion in Idaho. I made her a sign and Dave's cousin brought some balloons. Aunt Tammy and Uncle Dave got everything set up for us so when Maddi woke up and opened the trailer door, she could see the sign and balloons. We sent Maddi on a scavenger hunt to find her present. When she opened up her new pink i-pod she was so excited. It was fun being able to spend her birthday with family that we have never celebrated a Birthday with before.


The grounds for the reunions were beautiful! It was acres of green grass, a ball field, a covered Bowery, and lots of space to ride bikes.
We had a yummy dutch oven dinner and played lots of games. It was actually a really cold weekend for August and woke up to frost, but it was a lot of fun! Marile loved playing with her little cousin Deegan. They are only 10 days apart and get along really well. It is always so much fun to spent time with Dave's extended family! We look forward to the reunion every year. Dave's Grandpa Williams had a stroke 2 years ago, he is doing pretty good and we are so happy that he is still able to come camping with us!

We had some fun playing on the swings and other cool toys that were there. We got some cool pictures of us all jumping off of the swings. I thought I did pretty good, but the kids informed me that walking off the swing is not the same as jumping.

While Dave and I were packing up the trailer the kids took the camera to take some pictures. We were so surprised when we got home and started looking at the pictures that they took. I guess Mason wanted the girls to do a photo shoot of himself. He posed himself and I think it is hilarious! I love the serious looks, and the side views. We were absolutely cracking up when we saw the picture of his eye with the mit over his face!!! Actually a pretty cool picture!!! I just had to put these on here!

Summer Swimming

Kayla and Maddi took swimming lessons 5 years ago, but I have never put Mason in lessons. I decided this summer to sign them all up for lessons. The girls loved refreshing their skills and learning to dive. When we went to Bear lake they liked to practice everything they had learned.

Mason has always been a little afraid of the water. He didn't even want to swim in the big pool until he was 4. He has never liked getting is face wet, so I was a little afraid of how lessons would go. The first day he got right in the pool and when his teacher asked him to put his head under water he did! (I was thinking, this is going to be great!) He jumped out of the pool and would not go back in. Dave and I tried bribing him with anything we could think of, nothing worked! Another teacher got him into the pool and he screamed the whole time! The next day he cried while he was in the pool, but then every day he got a little more comfortable with the water. By the last lesson (they only had 9) he was jumping in and putting his face under. He learned to tread water and actually can swim! I am so proud of him and for overcoming his fear! When we went to Bear Lake we could not keep him out of the water!

Marlie was a little too young for lessons (I didn't want to get into a swimsuit with her everyday), but we will put her in lessons next summer! She was a very good little sister and watched ever day from the bleacher and cheered everyone on. When we went to Bear Lake she enjoyed splashing, sun tanning, and she even tried putting her head under water!!

Island Park Summer Vacation

Every summer we try to plan a family vacation and go some where different. This year we took off to Island Park Idaho, just 30 minutes from West Yellowstone. It is so beautiful there. We rented a cabin on Bills Island and had so much fun! Here are some of the things that we did. I know it is a lot of pictures, but this is my scrapbook, and I couldn't put just a couple. It was great to have everyone together. My brother in law Cam and Daniella's daughter Dalene could not make it, and they were missed.

Our first stop was at Bear World In Rexburg Idaho on the way. You can drive around while bears and other wild life walk around your car. It is very cool, and the kids love it! After you are done driving around they have a petting zoo, and some fun carnival rides for the kids to go on. It was lots of fun!

It is a little stressful trying to pick out a cabin on the Internet. There are many great cabins to chose from. We were so pleased when we arrived and saw the cabin. We knew it was on an Island, but had no idea how beautiful it was there! Next time we will need to bring a boat!

The cabin and the scenery were so beautiful! The trees were so thick, I didn't even know that there was a cabin next to us because I couldn't see it. There were miles of four wheeler trails and I could have stayed there for weeks!

My parents are always so nice to make sure everyone is comfortable and happy. I think at almost every vacation they are sleeping on the couch or a blow up mattress so we can all have our own rooms! We all appreciate there sacrifice so much! I have to keep teasing Tim and Kim about the room they landed this time. It was the master suite with the most beautiful view of the lake and a walk out balcony. They also had a huge bathroom and a walk in closet almost the size of the room that all 6 of us slept in!! I know they felt guilty, but it was really the room that worked best for them! I am just calling the master suite next time! HAHA!!!!

As soon as we jumped out of the car the kids jumped into their swimming suites. They would have been happy never leaving the cabin! We were right of the lake and I knew that would keep the kids entertained for hours, which it did. The adults even got into the fun and were helping the kids catch crawdads and frogs.

No matter what time of day it was the view from off of the front deck was amazing! This is a beautiful picture that Marlon took on our last night there.

My most favorite part about any family vacation is just getting to spend time together and relaxing. This vacation was great because there was enough room for everyone to hang out do what they wanted. We played a lot of board games, and the boys and the kids had lots of fun playing against each other on the Nintendo D.S.

We took a drive to Big Springs to feed the fish! My Dad's parents were actually married at a little chapel just down the road from there. Kind of fun to actually see it.

We were so close to Yellowstone that we could not pass up the chance to go there. We only saw one Bison and one Elk, but we did get to see Old Faithful and some other geyser's.

I had to put these pictures on here! TOO, funny! each one of my kids came running out of the outhouses plugging their noses and gasping for air!!!

The Men and Daniella went further into the park while the ladies and kids decided to head back to the cabin. This is the beautiful things that they got to see while we stopped in West Yellowstone to shop with 7 kids! What were we thinking? We got back to the cabin 30 minutes before they did!

On our way out of Island Park we drove to Mesa Falls! They are absolutely amazing!
I think so far that this family vacation has been my favorite! ( I saw that every year!) Don't get me wrong , there are always a few bad moods and some not so perfect moments( You can't have 16 people in a cabin for 4 days without a few run- ins!) but they usually turn out to be funny,too! Dave has to throw at least one fit about all the family pictures that we want to take. We all love each other at the end of the trip and that is what matters! The time I get to spend with family are my greatest blessings! We are already planning next years vacation, and I can't wait.

Wild Rides at Willard Bay

Our friends Blaine and Natalie got a boat last year and have been very gracious to take us boating with them a few times this year.
We went to Willard and had a blast! The kids especially loved riding in the tube!

This day we went out on the boat with our friends the Kaneko's and the Steens's. The kids had a blast on the water wienie!!
We also met up with our friend Heather Christensen from High School and her darling kids. We girls decided we would give the tube a try, and Blaine promised not to dump us out, and that our sunglasses would be safe. Well, after a few minutes of fun I ended face down in Willard Bay with my feet straight in the air and still holding on to the tube. I hear it was some pretty good watching, even though I was not,too impressed at the time to be the only one in the water and to let the fish have my sunglasses. Luckily they were only $6.00. All in all it was a fun time!

It was the boys turn next, Blaine, Dave and Mac all got on together! We sent them on a wild ride and eventually they ended up in the water,too!

Our friend Stu really wanted to through a surprise party for his wife Misty, so with a little help from everyone and a few white lies we pulled it off and really surprised her. The Doutre's,Sorensons, the Allreds, Stu's family and Heather Christensen were all able to come. We had a great time on the boats and the kids got a few more wild rides!!!! It was a great way to end the summer! As you can tell the tube was very well used and we will all miss it, as it no longer will hold air. (I can't imagine why not! LOL!)

13 years of Marriage!!!!!

Yesterday Dave and I celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary. It is really hard to believe it has been that many years and that we are not as young as we think. As I look back on our life together I have so many memories. We really were only young kids when we meet. Dave was a senior in High School and I was a Junior. We knew who the other was had never really talked, we got set up by some mutual friends and we have been together ever sense. After Dave graduated he kept going to trade school and got his welding certificate. When I graduated a year later I started beauty school and Dave started a new job making cabinets. The week after I graduated beauty school we were married.

We got married at Hampton Ford, we really had no back up plan, so when it looked like it was going to rain that morning we were a little worried. Luckily the clouds cleared out and the sun came out. It was a beautiful day!!!! We were surrounded by our family and friends, all three of my living Grandparents were able to make it up from California. We were lucky enough to purchase our first home and move in when we got married. It was small, but newly remodeled on the inside. We only lived there for two years, but I have so many fun memories in that house. We were right in the middle of town and a lot of our friends would always stop by to visit. It was the first place that was just ours!!! It was the house we brought home our first daughter.McKayla Jaqueline Morris was born in March eighteen months after we were married. It was such a joyful time! I had had a very complicated pregnancy, and Dave also had started a new job working for Nucor shortly before her birth. Luckily I was able to stay at home with her and cut hair part time at a salon 2 blocks from our home. When McKayla was six months old we bought our second home and moved to Thatcher.We had a special day in March of 2000, when we went through the Temple to be sealed as a family. I was 4 months pregnant with our second daughter at the time.
Madison Lou Morris entered our family in August of 2000. It was an adjustment going from one child to 2 children, but as you can tell we were all happy about our growing family

Here is a picture of our cute little family in the Fall of 2002. This is at my little brother Tim's wedding.The next fall in 2003 we were so happy to add another child and our first(and only) son to our family,Mason David. He is the spitting image of his father and everywhere we go people are telling him that he looks just like his Dad.
We like to do a lot of fun things as a family. Some of our favorites are camping and going to the cabin in Bear Lake. Here we are in Bear Lake enjoying the beautiful fall leaves in 2005.We were luck enough to win a cruise to the Mexican Riviera from Dave's employer. We went in the fall of 2006 to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary. It was a great trip and we enjoyed every minute of it!!!! We are hoping that we can do something like that again to celebrate our 15th anniversary.In December of 2007 we added our third daughter to the family,Marlie Rae Morris. She is loved so much by her three older brothers and sisters. It is really strange yet wonderful to be the parents of four beautiful and healthy children. We truly are blessed!!!!!We live a very simple yet fun filled life. It is a much different life than we were living thirteen years ago. As different as it is I would not change a thing! Dave is such a great husband and father. He is a very hard worker and really tries to stay involved in all of the kids activities. I am lucky enough to stay at home with all the kids, and I have a salon in our basement so that I can cut hair while the kids are at school and Marlie naps. We are very busy this year with the kids and their sporting events, but it is great to watch them grow up and be involved in things they love.The above picture is at one of our favorite camping spots in Greys River Wyoming. It is so beautiful there!!!

Here we are on one of our fun family vacations.
Island Park, Idaho Summer 2009

Here are just a few little fun facts about all the changes that we have had in our thirteen year marriage. We have have moved into 3 homes, bought 9 different cars (most of them were Dave and his trucks!),4 camping trailers,5 dogs,2 cats (one of them we still have and we got him the week before we got married!) at least a dozen goldfish, a couple hermit crabs, and 4 Guinea pigs.

We have had a great thirteen years of marriage and I am looking forward to celebrating many more years together.I am not so excited about growing old, but it does make it better growing old together!

Fun in the Bear Lake Sun!!!!!!

So most of you know that we love spending time at my parents cabin in beautiful Bear Lake. We try to get up there often, but it is never often enough! We always enjoy every minute of that we have there. We love to swim, spend time at the beach (not Dave!), ride the Ranger, play games, and relax!!!

We were able to spend celebrate Fathers Day at the cabin this year. Dave was excited to get his new I-touch from the kids! My brother Tim, and Dave's brother Scott along with their wives and kids came for the weekend. We love having them around, and my kids love spending time with their cousins! My parents were such great sports and slept in the loft so we could all have a bedroom for the babies to sleep in! They were trying to sleep while we were being noisy and playing games!!! Sorry Mom and Dad!!!

The weather has not been the greatest for us this Summer, most of the days when we have headed to the beach it has been cloudy, windy, and sometimes rainy! Luckily the pool gets protected from the wind and feels a little warmer. Dave tries to act like he is having a good time, but would rather be at the cabin relaxing. He is not a fan of the sun or the sand, so the beach is not his favorite place to be. He even gets sunburned under the camp shade!!

For the 24th of July we had my whole family together at the cabin (except for my brother in law Cam, who we missed!!) It was fun to see Hudson, and Addie play in the water! Marlon and Daniella made it for the last day, Daniella had never been to Bear Lake in the Summer so we were glad she got to see how beautiful it is.

Those kids are real troopers! The water is so pretty, but very chilly!!!

The memories that we make at Bear Lake each year are some of my favorite! I hope that my kids will remember and cherish them always!

A Deweyville 4th of July!!

Yes, I know 4th of July was a few months ago, but I have to finally post our activities for the day. Here we are showing our patriotism.

Every year we head to Deweyville for the big 4th of July celebration there. It is a tradition that we have all look forward to! Dave was feeling very festive this year and bought the kids some cute head bands. He is also wearing my Mom's sequined visor! I love that he gets so excited about Holidays! Maybe Marlie takes after her Daddy. Look at her being patriotic with the flag. Here is the Goring gang at the parade! Every year they put together a float (a semi trailer with straw) and we all ride on it and throw candy to the crowd. There is no other parade quite like it. You drive down the road for 1 mile, then turn around and drive back. It is a lot of fun and we look forward to it every year. As you can tell there is A LOT of kids and grand kids! This year we decorated the Ranger to drive in the parade. Misty and Stu rode with us.

After the parade is over we go to the park and get ready for the candy drop. A man that is from Deweyville flies over the softball field a few times and drops bags of candy to the kids. It is a dangerous activity. I have seen an elderly women seriously fall on her face (she landed on my shoe and I thought she was dead!) I have also fought a few teenage boys for these bags of candy. The little kids aren't tall enough to grab the bags over the older kids, and every year there are kids crying while the teenagers walk away with the candy. We then end the afternoon by playing water games and eating lunch at the ranch. It is a great day!

This year Dave's Dad and Step Mom, as well as Cortnie and Chris and the kids came over for dinner and fireworks. We all had a fun time, and we didn't burn the mountain down, so that is always a good thing!