IT'S RAINING RIBBONS

"Mommy... Did I do something wrong?"

TurkeyGiving

The deal was, Morgan would make the vegetable and cheese and cracker platters, if Stephanie would do everything else. Well, do not be fooled... these carefully maticulated vegetables took hours and hours to place and perfect about the plate

Stephanie claims she had never cooked a gobble gobble before, but Morgan doesn't believe her, because rookies don't make things taste that good. May we thank the good pilgrims, who stopped fighting with the indians long enough to together have a nice feast and watch all day football; hence, the beginning of a beautiful tradition that continues to this day

Look Out... We're Crawling!

One moment we were blinking and Keira wasn't manuvering at all from Point A to Point B. And then the next time we blinked, all of a sudden the rascal was turning up in places we didn't put her. Morgan wasn't sure if she was hitch-hiking, taking a cab, or what. But then it hit us. CRAWLING!

HALLOWEEN

Keira joined some other kids in a special live halloween segment for Hometown Today. Here she is on the desk with KSN anchor, Stephen Chase.

WATCH HERE

http://fourstateshomepage.com/media_player.php?media_id=74281

Morgan's pal, Jeff Walsinger from Fort Madison, Iowa, sent Keira this adorable Iowa Hawkeye cheerleader giddy-up. Stephanie made a pompom to go with it. She was the life of all the parties she attended.


Lexi was a sumo wrestler. Addie, a warrior princess

VISITORS FROM OHIO

Stephanie's brother, Jared and the family came to visit us for a few days in October. He's a med student at Ohio State, and is currently doing residency interviews all across the country. It just so happened that his 1st one was in Oklahoma City, so he put the family in the car, and stopped at our place on the way. Barbara, Adalaid, and Lexi stayed with us while Jared drove to Oke City. Jared, Barbara, Addie, Lexi. Better known as Jare Bear, Barb Wire, Subracty and Lexus.

Keira had a jolly time with cousin Lexi

Addie wanted to make some cookies for Uncle Morgan. They actually weren't too bad for a 3-year old (Maybe 4-year old). She didn't even burn herself taking them out of the oven.

Steph and the girls at Carthage's Precious Moments Chapel

Addie told some funny and really clever off-the-cuff stories at Johnny Carinos

DEEP THOUGHTS: By Keira and Aspen

Keira: "What do you think about when you're feeling blue?"

Aspen: "Oh, I don't know. The flowers and the trees, I guess."

Keira: "What about good food. You think about that too?"

Aspen: "You mean like candy, pringles, cheese and crackers, stuffl like that?"

Keira: "Oh, well... I've never really had any of those. I guess I was thinking more along the lines of Gerber prunes, oatmeal, breast milk, stuff like that."

Aspen: "So you're saying you've never really had good food?"

Keira: "Yeah, guess not."

Aspen: (thinking inside her head) Awkward.

It's usally Daddy that does mean stuff like this, but Mommy thought it would be funny to put a box on Keira's head to see if she could manage to get it off. And after a worthy effort that lasted several minutes, the poor kid just threw in the towell with a look suggesting, "I have been defeated."

BABY GYPSY, WHAT DO YOU SEE IN THAT CRYSTAL BALL?

"I see some polar bears in your future. That's right, I see a cruise to Alaska... No... even better, I see you living with Eskimos in a popsicle cold igloo. And for another 10 dollars, I'll reveal how long I forsee you living in that igloo."

Keira, you're not supposed to eat your crystal ball, yo!

Advanced beyond her months. Keira's already drinking from a sippie cup. She'll be crawling by 7 months, walking by 9, talking by a year, and legally practicing medicine at 15. Just call her the next Doogie Howser


Bath time means good times. This super schwoop loves water like her daddy loves money

"Starting my piano lessons. My instructor said I must practice at least a half hour a day."

"Loving my new highchair, but ya'll better strap me in or else I'll go fly'n"

6 MONTHS

Well, our little 20 pound Phatty has hit the half year mark, and what better way to celebrate than resting between 2 pillows on Mom and Dad's bed with her binky in mouth, and talking Precious Moment's Bunny in hand. "I wonder if I'll still be this fat in a year?"

This is Keira and her 2-year old friend, Aspen, watch'n Pooh and Tigger. Aspen comes over to hang out with us a few times a week

PINK PARTY PICNIC in the PARK

A 5-month old baby has a lot of firsts, and so it was with Keira's first picnic. To the noticing eye, all 3 of us happened to be draped in pink that day. Normal for Keira... semi-normal for Steph... not so normal for Morgan. Needless to say, Morgan occassionally dares to be hip with his trendy pink shirt, but hesitates to overdo it. For example, on the airplane coming home from Utah last July, he was wearing the pink shirt with some classy pink and cream plaid shorts. But it just so happens that he had ruined his cell phone during the trip and needed to borrow Steph's pink one. On top of that we had brought several suitcases with us from Missouri (only 1 of them pink), but when it was time for me to leave a week before Steph and the baby did, I had to take the pink one home for space requirements. That's right: pink shirt, pink shorts, pink phone, pink bag. One kid with a not so subtle voice said to his father in passing, " I think he's gay daddy."

Diving into the grapes here. I don't blame her. Formula and rice cereal... I've tried them both and am no fan. Time for some real food baby! I randomly came upon this park one day, and after getting off work early for a change, we did the whole picnic thing on a beautiful September evening

Trip Back to Beehive State

Mo and Steph with brother Jake (just off mission) and girlfriend Natalie at Texas Roadhouse Grill

Mommy with the Keirster before blessing

Cousins Keira and Lexi talk logistics before their big blessing day. Big, flowing gowns marked the occasion

Aunt Rachel wishes Keira was her own child

Elena and Ashlyn hold new cousin Keira

4 different generations represented in this picture. And rumor has it, that everyone is hoping to do a 5 generational picture in 19 years

Breathtakingly beautiful Aspen Grove, past Sundance in the Timp Mountains. The Vance family all attended a reunion there at a family camp

Funny look'n and one of the wittiest kids in the western hemisphere, Eastin defines the message written on his shirt. "Rules Don't Apply to Me"

Keira gets chill as she cruises in her ride. The Aspen Grove Mascot

Morgan with a kid I delicately nicknamed 90210. This is my cousin Taylor from British Columbia. He's got a clean look and a suave step. I mentored him all week at camp

Morgan wishing someone would play with him in the pool

Justin, Eridee and Chelsie, who worked up there in the kitchen

Our angelic baby (except when she's sick, hungry, poopy, bored, tired, wet or with her daddy) sleeping in her swim suit at Aspen's pool

The Dalster-rama Dalster-liscious (aka Dallin) gets jiggy wit it in the pool

Hannah (Best Hellen Keller to ever hit the stage) puts Keira to sleep

Steph throws an ax into a tree stump at Aspen's Frontier Days. Everyone watching took neccessary precautions to avoid an early death by keeping their distance

Cousin Olivia (age 4) falls in love with Keira

The mountains were full of these obese squirrels. Morgan wanted to eat one, but the camp staff said that wasn't a request they had ever recieved before, so they weren't exactly sure how to respond

Grandpa, Grandma relax Aspen style with Keirzy while her Dad is on the basketball courts taking some punk kids to school with fancy moves only seen on Sports Center's Top 10 Plays