Table Rock Hiking 2011 at OneTrueMedia.com

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Way to go, Regan, Morgan, Lindee and Dad!!!  This morning they all left at 5:00 and started the hike to Table Rock at around 7:00.  It took them 3:40 min to hike up and 2:15 to get down. They all came back sweaty, tired, stinky, achy, hot, and ready for a bath and bed.  Poor Regan still had to go to Cross Country practice and didn't get home until 6:45 this evening.  She's beyond hammered!!  This is Regan and DJ's second time hiking Table Rock and Morgan's first time.  Jordyn had planned to go and had everything packed, and was so excited about the adventure but unfortunately she came down with the nasty bug that I blogged about earlier and spent the night puking instead.  She's already gearing up for next years adventure! 
According to both Morgan and DJ, Morgan was a bit whiny and slow for the first 1/2 hour and then DJ came up with the cutest idea.  He nicknamed her "Morgan the Mountaineer" and told her they were on an expedition and she was the tour guide and he was the city slicker.  She had to lead the way and he'd follow and from then on, she was the leader of the pack!  Lindee and Regan nicknamed her "Sacajawea" which she claims she didn't like but she said that DJ's idea gave her a lot of motivation and made her excited for the rest of the climb.  Lindee and Regan stuck together during the hike while DJ and Morgan stuck together just ahead of them.  At about 2 hours in to the hike up, Morgan said, "you know dad, this is the most time I've spent with you at one time." He said it really hit him hard and he realized how much it means to the kids to have individual time.  I love DJ so much for taking the kids to do this even though it was really tough.  He is constantly teaching them and showing by example that they can do hard things.  They just need to be determined and have a good attitude and of course with Heavenly Father's help they can accomplish anything!  I was visiting with Morgan tonight while she was going to bed and she told me how much she enjoyed the hike. She said that in the first half hour her attitude wasn't the best but then she noticed some flowers growing along the path and they happened to be the same ones she'd learned about at day camp a month earlier.  She said she started to pay better attention to the things around her and then dad's challenge to be the leader changed her attitude almost instantly.  I'm so proud of her and I the best part is that she's proud of herself!!  Anyway, here are a few pictures at the top of the mountain and a little video to prove they did it!!:)

  

more on the Birthday girl!

We celebrated Morgan's 9th B-Day on Wednesday!  Oh how we love her!  We did things a little different this year because of our crazy schedules.  We had a quick party in the morning where we enjoyed a yummy b-day breakfast and then she opened her presents and then she was off to school with treats in hand for her class.  The evening was busy with Regan's trackmeet so we couldn't have our usual party with the grandparents so G&G Rose had planned to come up for Morg's soccer game on Thursday and bring her their gift.  I didn't realize how important our "typical" B-Day parties are until she mentioned the morning of her B-Day that it felt a little like the B-day that I spent away in the hospital when I was pregnant with the babies.  Morgan is not one to voice her feelings so I knew that she was a little sad so we did some arranging and G&G Rose still came to the soccer game and then they quickly grabbed Grandma Johnson and we had a late B-Day party on Thursday night!  Morgan seeemed genuinely thrilled that it all came together.  She came up with the idea of having a cheesecake and decorated it all on her own.  She isn't one to make a big fuss over her B-Day but evidently she's been planning this out for a bit and I thought it was pretty cute!

She loves horses and thought it would be a cute idea to tint the cake green like grass and then put a big pile of dirt (graham cracker crust) on the top with chocolate chips doubling as either horse poop or rocks. Yes, I did say poop (that's Morgan for you) Thankfully it tasted nothing like poop and we got a kick out of it!

                                          She got some awesome presents like this circle chair from G&G Rose

                                                            I don't think she moved from this spot the rest of the evening.  

                                                                                            

                             Jordyn wanted to be the cake server--I think she was having a little B-Day envy.:):)

 Grandpa & Grandma Rose, Porter, and Grandma Johnson (it just wouldn't be a party without Grandma J.)  In fact when she came, Kamryn squeeled so loud and said, "Grandma J's here, hooray"

Grandpa Rose, Kaleb, and Grandma J!  Grandpa Rose was practicing taking pictures with his new toy (Droid)  I have to admit, it's just wierd seeing my dad texting.:) :)  Love you, Dad! 

The Grandma's, just wishing that Grandpa and Grandma Teichert could be with us.  If only they didn't live so far away but they called on her B-Day and also gave her a big chunk of change (in the form of a check) to spend on whatever she likes!  She is one happy little girl! 

Regan gave her an alarm clock, Jordyn gave her soccer cones, and Kaleb gave her a head lamp which he was super excited about because she always borrows his.  She also got a body pillow, soccer ball, water bottle, and some really cute gifts from her friends! Some of her favorites were the Pixo machine from Alissa and huge bag of M&M's fromWhitnee.  

Morgan is such a great kid.  She has so many great qualities but some that top the list are:

* She's comfortable with herself, she's not afraid to stand alone

*  She's extremely smart and driven in school

*  She's a goofball and keeps us all laughing

*  She has a great knowledge of the scriptures and always asks good questions during scripture study

* She's tenderhearted

* She tries hard to be nice to everyone at school

* She pays attention to detail and you can see it in her facial expressions

*  She always wants to know why (not sure whether that is good or bad)

*  she is hard headed and determined at times but hopefully she'll use these for good!:)

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Some of her likes and dislikes:

*she likes to play games

*she loves to build forts but doesn't love taking them down-(aaarrrgghh)

*she loves to snow ski

*she loves to play soccer- she's getting to be such a great player, in fact, she scored her first goal of the season on Thursday night when G&G Rose came to watch!  She played so agressive the whole time and their team won again.

*she loves to read and has earned almost 500 AR points this year. She's also a math whiz and has loved the challenge of accellerated math and has earned over 200 objectives this year.

*she doesn't love practicing the piano but she's really really good at it!

*she loves to do crafts

*she doesn't like to do jobs but when she puts her mind to it, she's a really good worker

*she hates getting up in the morning and is most always the last one up stairs for scriptures--we're hoping the new alarm clock will help out in that area but I'm not holding my breath:)

*she doesn't like anything fancy done with her hair and almost always has it pulled back in a ponytail (I've had to swallow my mom pride and relax a bit about this)

*she's content with a couple of pairs of jeans, a few shirts, and a pair of tennis shoes (a girl after my own heart) 

We love you, Morgan and hope that you will always try to be your very best in everything that you do!  Look to the Savior for the perfect example and you can't go wrong!