The Vance Family

2010 FAMILY SHOTS

2011-04-03T17:26:00.002-05:00

2010-11-19T12:57:00.001-06:00

MOVING TO WASHINGTON

We'll post new stuff once we get settled

2010-10-10T10:06:00.010-05:00

I know... it's been forever since we posted. Somehow life got in the way. But one thing we did do during that time is keep taking pictures. As of October 0-10, Keira is 2 1/2, and Avery is chugg'n on 9 or 10 months. Good times with the BUTTER BALLS

THE NEW SET HAS RUNG IN

2010-05-24T15:18:00.008-05:00

After months of crashing with our sister station in an old building following the tower crash, KSN finally has some big market flavor. Despite a thing or two here and there, Morgan thinks it looks pretty dang sharp

The Oh So Terrible Two's

2010-04-29T10:31:00.015-05:00

Alright, birthday #2 has come and gone, and what better way to celebrate then with some edible frog and a slew of stuff wrapped in frilly bows and bright paper. That kind of party is right up Kier's alley

A dollhouse and a bike headlined the present parade

Also took Kiera to the Zoo in Springfield. Saw some giraffes. Daddy told her that if she's really good and if his lotto ticket scratches off right, they could purchase a giraffe to put in our own yard. There's a deal in Kenya right now. A single giraffe is only going for like $173,000

This otter stole our hearts. Came right up and wanted to play

We learned that an elephant is the heaviest land mammal on the planet. That is except for Aunt Gertrude after polishing off Sunday dinner

BLESSING DAY

2010-03-10T09:54:00.008-06:00

Avery Elizabeth Arrives

2010-02-17T10:50:00.010-06:00

NEWS LINK ON AVERY'S BIRTH

http://fourstateshomepage.com/media_player.php?media_id=456821

Baby Avery came to us at an awkward time... late on a Friday night, and in a blizzard at that. But after an emergency delivery, she arrived healthy as can be. As for Keira, she about transformed from a baby into a little girl overnight

All wrapped up, Avery headlined the 10 o'clock news the night afer she was born. Not for anything that went wrong, but simply because she is the daughter of a sports anchor

CHRISTMAS

2010-02-17T10:26:00.008-06:00

I understand that it's already past Valentines Day, but I'm finally getting to posting some pictures from Christmas. Let's just say Keira came out on top

This fake Santa Clause scared Keira, and frankly, he scared Morgan as well

Gingerbread house. Let's just say it's got Keir's handywork written all over it

Branson @ Christmas Time

2009-12-01T11:51:00.003-06:00

Grandma, Grandpa and Kaylee came to visit for Turkey Slaughter and Consumption Day. Of course we went up to Branson one afternoon to see the Osmonds Christmas show, shop at the Landing and Bananna Republic Outlet. Don't forget Keira's 1st ever visit with Santa

Frolicking Through Sunday Flowers

2009-12-01T11:31:00.006-06:00

Hallo-Toddler

2009-12-01T10:31:00.008-06:00

Keira wouldn't dip her hand into the slop for anything, so Steph and Morgan did all the dirtywork

Introducing our proffessionaly carved pumpkin, Horton

August Trip Home

2009-10-02T10:05:00.018-05:00

Keira is under the impression she is watching the Disney Channel for her 1st eye exam
Special K entered and exited this car at Grandma and Grandpa's house exactly 2,037 times over the course of 2 weeks. Yes, we were counting.

Had so much fun with cousins Roosterhead and Subtracty

With the Nommies at the pool

Telling Carlee how cool her daddy is

With the Earls at the new Lindon Pool

BBQ at the Petersons

My first trip with Grandma to Build-a-Bear. She bought be me a Tinker Bear

Sniffing the new Italian Leather of Morgan's new scriptures he got for his 30th birthday. It's a rare edition.

Baby Number 2 Arrives in February

2009-08-27T11:15:00.004-05:00

Though many of you already know, the announcement over our blog is late coming. Nonetheless, we find out what we're having in a couple weeks

First Kiss Caught Off Guard

2009-08-10T12:19:00.004-05:00

Cole, 1 year Keira's older was the culprit at a KSN BBQ. That's one way to say goodbye, I guess

KSN BACK ON

2009-06-28T00:33:00.004-05:00

Finally, after a month and a half, channel 16 is back on the air with a brand new set that gives off more of a big market look. It was pretty amazing how fast the studio came together. And it was nice while it lasted, but Morgan no longer has weekends off.

WATCH HERE

http://fourstateshomepage.com/media_player.php?media_id=374681

FATHER'S DAY

2009-06-28T00:28:00.004-05:00

BOOMTOWN DAYS

2009-06-28T00:05:00.006-05:00

Also refered by Morgan as a Redneck's idea of a good time, we all spent a few day's at Joplin's annual summer festival. KSN had a booth that Morgan worked, but there was a little time to hit a few rides, eat some cotton candy and pet the animals

This fiesty llama spit on Morgan and Keira. After they bent over the cage to pet it once, it gave a warning hiss, but Morgan confused it for a mating call. So they pet the llama again, and before they could blink were showered with a mouthful of chewed up hay. Let's just say, Special K didn't know what to think

TOTAL DESTRUCTION

2009-05-11T19:53:00.014-05:00

On the morning of Friday, May 8th, what they're calling an inland hurricane swept through the area. Steph and I were asleep (6:30 Central time) when we awoke to a nasty storm of near 100 mph winds rocking outside. It lasted about an hour, and we exited The Plaza to behold plenty of destruction outside. Roofs blown off, a small fire started, a window shattered, the pool littered with lawn chairs, shingles and apartment siding (all of which Morgan beared the bitter cold to dive in and retrieve, only to ruin his cell phone because he foolishly forgot to take it out of his pocket... but then again, that's another story).

But the biggest devistation anywhere happened at the KSN studios when half of one of the 1000 foot antenna towers collapsed, crushing the set and clipping the bathroom of a house across the street. The morning crew was working at the time; and by chance, the tower crew just had to be there working on the digital transfer when they saw it swaying all over the place. With minutes to spare, they warned everyone to get out, most likely saving lives.

As far as what Morgan will be doing next, there are a lot of unanswered questions, but it looks like we'll be temporarily housed over at our sister station. Who knows when we'll actually be back on the air, let alone covering sports again, but I'm sure there will be plenty of stuff to do in the meantime helping make something out of nothing. A new facility will have to be built and a new era will be issued in; but for the moment, bring on the inconvienance of just having to make do.

You can kind of see the roller coaster track weaving up, over and through the 43 year old facility

Here's inside our own little Ground Zero. The collapse ran right overtop my spot at the desk

It mangled this guy's new car and clipped the bathroom, a mere 20 feet away from where the family was hiding out in a closet

Anniversareeeee Number Threeeee

2009-05-11T18:30:00.009-05:00

For those of you who didn't believe we would make it three years, we demand an apology. And to celebrate, we (Keira Included) spent the day down in the family Las Vegas. That's right... good ol' Branson, Missoura

Saw the Twelve Irish Tenors. A fantastic show where 12 guys with unbelievable chords sung everything from Danny Boy to Rhythm of Life. Highly recommended for anyone passing through. Even Keira loved it. Sat mesmerized and still for 2 hours straight, unlike she's doing right now, balling for me to come get her inside her crib

TURNING 1... ONE... WON

2009-04-22T00:17:00.009-05:00

Chef-Girl-R-Steph whipped up this beautiful cake to celebrate Special K's 1st birthday. A birthday in which the Keirster-rama came out on top in the gift's department

Eating dinner at Johnny Carinos, Keira somehow came up with this idea to make funny faces through the to-go lid

You think that's funny? Watch this

"Alright, but this time only. Honey, get the bath ready!"

CAL-IFORNIA LOVE

2009-04-07T16:47:00.030-05:00

On our first trip home to the Central Coast in nearly 3 years, and Keira's first ever, we took in one of the staples of historic downtown Templeton. Of course, I'm talking about the famous AJ Spurs. The experience was both good and bad for Morgan. His steak was the best he'd had in a while, though he thinks it was the result of his stomach flu the next day

Keira was all about the extra attention she recieved from Grandma an Grandpa out on the 5-Acre Wood

Happy early 1st birthday. "Grandma almost broke the bank on all my cool presents."

Keira's 1st trip to the ocean. We actually went to see these obese elephant seals out in San Simeon, but recieved an unexpected visit from a gang of hungry squirrels on top of that. (Note: not a doctored photo. Squirrels actually climbing stroller to eat K's puffs)

Feeding the starving ducks at Atascadero Park. Morgan wishes he had the faith to turn 2 loafs into a hundred loafs, becuase we didn't come close to feeding them all. It was survival of the fittest

With Grandma and Grandpa Vance leaving for their mission to Louisianna, some rich friends of theirs held an open house at their grandeous new estate and walnut ranch. It'll be odd for everyone not having them around for a while. Bob and Karen haven't lived anywhere but San Luis Obispo County for nearly 40 years

Morgan's friend, Ty LaSalle made the trip from his new home in San Diego to say hello

It was a fun day at Charles Paddock Zoo. Everything from Meerkats to a man eating Tiger. The flamingos were super vibrantly cool. So much so, that Morgan now want's one in his backyard

A nice war monument just built in Atascadero. A worthy tribute to all those who have, and still are fighting for freedom's cause. May God be with them as they successfully smoke and hunt power hungry dictators and virgin loving terrorists

V-Day

2009-02-27T10:37:00.005-06:00

Nothing like a personal poem and a dozen orange roses (red is too cliche), to make The Sweets happy on February 14th. Just a small way of saying, "thank you" for making our family work like a sleak ride straight off the lot. A ride with a fresh tank of premium fuel. A ride with that fresh scent of leather permeating as you open the doors.

WEDDING BELLS

2009-01-27T11:20:00.017-06:00

Steph's younger brother, Jake the Snake tied a very tight knot as he married the former Natalie Hawkes in the Salt Lake Temple. We made the trip out to celebtrate with them, and had some good times with the family

"OK, enough pictures. Somebody tell me when the Honeymoon starts."

Last photo with Uncle Jake as a single (free) man

Brady and Morgan. 2 of the best looking individuals in the history of the world

Purple Pride. Keira and Morgan were asked to wear purple, and boy did they ever wear purple

Luncheon at Corbins

Steph turned 26 on the 25th of January, but we celebrated a little early

Lexi and Special K lov'n all the Special attention from Grandma and Grandpa

1st Christmas Come and Gone

2009-01-12T16:03:00.011-06:00

Making Sugar Cookies for the fat guy

Holy Hannah, that all looks like good clean fun. Special K scored

"Me love my Precious Moments Doll"

"And my beautiful knit hat made by Grandma Vance"

"Daddy wailing on his new acoustic guitar"

"Man, what other kid on the block can actually say they have a talking, singing, moving animal train? I must have been better this year than I thought. Or else better than my Daddy and Mommy told me I was."

WHEN YOU WISH UPON A STAR

2009-01-01T18:11:00.025-06:00

Both Steph and Morgan and have done the Disneyland thing (Celestial Kingdom on Earth)several times, but never during the holidays. That is until, this year. Of course, it was Keira's first trip. There were 16 of us in all as Steph's family were all there to spend a few days with us in Southern California. And other than 1 rain soaked day, the rest was of the getaway was good times. Short lines, nice temps, and tons of talking bears, dolls, critters, dwarfs, fish, fairies and pirates to scare the heck out of us

Keira's official initiation into the family. The SMUSCH by Uncle Jared and Brady. Much much bigger than any mundane Christening or Barmitzvah

Her Tinker Bell hat we found in the Mad Hatter Gift Shop. Had her written all over it.

Jake and Morgan on the new Toy Story ride at California Adventure. One of the highlights at either park

Miss Kaylie. Holding Keira here, but all she's really thinking about is Mason. So dreamy

It's a Small World decked out Holiday style

Tinker Bell's pixie dust put Keira right to sleepGrandpa and Grandma's favorite part of the whole trip. Taking Keira and Lexi on the Tea Cups. That is untill Keir's lunch came up after spinning too fast

Benny and the girls with the celebrity, Pooh

2008-11-29T00:54:00.006-06:00

IT'S RAINING RIBBONS

2008-11-29T00:38:00.006-06:00

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

TurkeyGiving

2008-11-29T00:24:00.004-06:00

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!

2008-11-28T23:59:00.004-06:00

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

2008-11-06T17:22:00.012-06:00

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

2008-11-06T12:40:00.009-06:00

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

2008-11-06T11:14:00.023-06:00

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?

2008-10-16T13:11:00.013-05:00

"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

2008-10-08T14:04:00.002-05:00

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

2008-09-18T13:22:00.006-05:00

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

2008-08-14T22:29:00.023-05:00

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

BATH TIME IS GOOD TIME

2008-07-16T23:06:00.000-05:00

SHAKE RATTLE AND ROLL

2008-07-16T22:46:00.007-05:00

MUSIC WHEEL WONDER

2008-07-05T11:27:00.000-05:00

ALL TOO FREQUENT ROUTINE

2008-06-28T12:01:00.000-05:00

Somebody better perk up and pay attention to me, cause I really feel something coming on here.Alright, suit yourself, but it's only a matter of time before I cough up a ball of really nasty goop.

I told you so.

Toughest Sheriff In Town

2008-06-16T23:01:00.000-05:00

My cousin Lisa sent me this true and Laugh Out Loud piece about a real life warden from Arizona who actually had the guts to go against the grain and run a prison as it oughta be run. It was a refreshing read, if nothing else.

FOR THOSE OF YOU NOT FAMILIAR WITH JOE ARPAIO, HE IS THE MARICOPA COUNTY SHERIFF (ARIZONA) AND HE KEEPS GETTING ELECTED OVER AND OVER AGAIN.

These are some of the reasons why: Arpaio created the 'tent city jail' to save Arizona from spending tens of millions of dollars on another expensive prison complex. He has jail meals down to 20 cents a serving and charges the inmates for them. He banned smoking and pornographic magazines in the jails, and took away their weightlifting equipment and cut off all but 'G' movies. He says: 'They're in jail to pay a debt to society, not to build muscles so they can assault innocent people when they leave.'

He started chain gangs to use the inmates to do free work on county and city projects and save taxpayer's money. Then he started chain gangs for women so he wouldn't get sued for discrimination. He took away cable TV until he found out there was a federal court order that required cable TV for jails, so he hooked up the cable TV again but only allows the Disney Channel and the Weather Channel. When asked why the Weather Channel, he replied: 'So these morons will know how hot it's gonna be while they are working on my chain gangs.' He cut off coffee because it has zero nutritional value and is therefore a waste of taxpayer money. When the inmates complained, he told them, 'This isn't the Ritz/Carlton. If you don't like it, don't come back.' He also bought the Newt Gingrich lecture series on US history that he pipes into the jails. When asked by a reporter if he had any lecture series by a Democrat, he replied 'that a democratic lecture series that actually tells the truth for a change would be welcome and that it might even explain why 95% of the inmates were in his jails in the first place.' With temperatures being even hotter than usual in Phoenix (116 degrees just set a new record for June 2nd 2007), the Associated Press reported: About 2,000 inmates living in a barbed wire surrounded tent encampment at the Maricopa County Jail have been given permission to strip down to their government-issued pink boxer shorts. On the Wednesday, hundreds of men wearing pink boxer shorts were overheard chatting in the tents, where temperatures reached 128 degrees. 'This is hell. It feels like we live in a furnace,' said Ernesto Gonzales, an inmate for 2 years with 10 more to go. 'It's inhumane.' Joe Arpaio, who makes his prisoners wear pink, and eat bologna sandwiches, is not one bit sympathetic.

'Criminals should be punished for their crimes - not live in luxury until it's time for parole, only to go out and commit more crimes so they can come back in to live on taxpayers money and enjoy things many taxpayers can't afford to have for themselves.' The same day he told all the inmates who were complaining of the heat in the tents: 'It's between 120 to 130 degrees in Iraq and our soldiers are living in tents too, and they have to walk all day in the sun wearing full battle gear and get shot at, and they have not committed any crimes, so shut your damned mouths!'

Word is, he was a Mitt Romney supporter for president

FATHERS DAY NUMBER 1

2008-06-16T20:01:00.000-05:00

Morgan woke up on Sunday June 16th temporarily forgetting that he finally qualified as a recipient of Father's Day. Steph and Keira had a handfull of gifts ready and he anxiously ripped open the paper in bed before church. He recieved some fly shorts he'd been wanting from American Eagle, along with a slick Polo and a book about play-by-play icon Jim Nance. A huge breakfast was also made to celebrate his first very special day devoted entirely to fatherhood. One of Morgan's high school friends Steve Mac also gave him a call to wish him a happy Papa's Day. Memorable.

Bubble Up, Girl!
Keira had her first set of shots today. Morgan held her down while Steph clenched her teeth in the background. And though the shots themselves were no doubt a boatload of pain, she was right back to her angelic self no longer than 5 minutes later. Tough as nails!

LIFE IN BLACK AND WHITE

2008-06-11T12:51:00.001-05:00

JOHN'S BIRTHDAY PARTY

2008-06-11T12:17:00.000-05:00

Steph and Keira got invited to attend our neighbor John's 95th birthday party. John dressed up in his nicest suit and tie for the big occassion down in The Plaza's clubhouse and family from all over the midwest were there to celebrate with him. Keira was the hit of the party though, being passed around left and right like fancy artifacts at a 3rd grader's show-and-tell. And she worked the crowd with a performance that even took Stephanie by surprise, just cooing and making cute sounds for all the ladies to see and hear. Everybody in the room wanted a baby at that point, but once Steph brought her back up the apartment, she was reminded that it was all an act cause the baby immediately started balling

The sun don't even phaze me yo. I'm just straight chill'n with daddy in me fancy duds and a wacked hat, so back up off my ghetto grill. Let me break it down for ya'll. This crib out here in Jop Town is dope. Now I'm gonna go get me a diaper dizzle with my mommy-mo-mizzle. Word.

Lost in the LOVE SAC. Just to give you an idea how absolutely ginormous the love sac is, Keira is like a single grain of sand on an island beach. If we dressed her in black, you may not even know she was there

NAKED AND PROUD

2008-06-03T00:13:00.000-05:00

I sense a belly burp is coming your way

Grandma Grandpa Vance Arrive

2008-06-02T23:49:00.000-05:00

Baby holds bottle on her own for 1st time. One of her many sweetacious tricks

Grandpa telling Keira about the horses back at the ranch in California

Lady in Red lights up for Grandma and Granpa Vance who were in the middle of their trip across America. They drove over 3,000 miles just to see these infamous cheeks

SMILE ALERT

2008-05-19T13:48:00.001-05:00

We originally thought Keira may have been suffering from some form of baby depression because she never smiled. Well, needless to say, she broke out of it!

CHURCH DEBUT

2008-05-19T11:32:00.000-05:00

Keira finally made her long awaited appearence to the Joplin 1st Ward. For the most part, she was a little angel, sleeping through the entire Sacrament Meeting along with the high councilman

I had to fight off all the folks who wanted to squeeze her expanding cheeks and tell her how cute she looked in her new brown dress and bow

However, her debut wasn't all pretty. She cut the cheese several times while Daddy was watching her in Elder's Quorum, severly throwing off Brother VanHoose's lesson about the gifts of the Spirit. And I'm not talking about the subtle ones. They were loud, unassuming bursts of air protruding into the diaper. Morgan wanted to take her out to change her, but it had been so long since he'd been to the 3rd hour of church due to work conflicts, he decided to stick it out as the gas continued.

MAY STORMS WREAK HAVOK

2008-05-15T02:34:00.000-05:00

http://fourstateshomepage.com/media_player.php?media_id=16289

A series of tornados swept through the Four States on the evening of Saturday May 10th. Stephanie and Keira took cover in The Plaza's clubhouse while Morgan was at work. Morgan had his entire 6 o'clock sport's segment produced and ready to go about 5:30 when the chaos broke loose in parts of Missouri, Oklahoma and Arkansas. A tornado was even spotted by KSN's chief meterologist, Gary Bandy, not too far from the station and instructed everybody there to be ready to duck and cover, meanwhile, giving updates to viewers every few minutes. Needless to say, sports was cancelled that day and Morgan volunteered to take up as a news reporter. He drove out to a small town called Granby, Missouri where folks had lost everything in the flash of an eye. These are a few small examples of what a ticked off Mother Nature can do.

We were fortunate enough not to be hit ourselves, unlike the 24 who lost their lives, not to mention the countless others who had everything demolished, lost or scattered. Morgan was proud of Steph and the baby for braving the moody and unpredictable elements, while he wept side by side with some of those affected.

DREAM BIG

2008-04-22T01:51:00.000-05:00

2008-04-22T01:37:00.000-05:00

The Peterson family was in town to see Morgan because they desperatly missed him so much.

Actually, though true, that reason was way down on the list of why they spent huge dollars on plane tickets to make the trip. My guess is, the delivery, and the welfare of their daughter was higher up on the priority list.

Happy Birthday to Kaylie who turns 9 here coming up in a couple weels. Scratch that. Make that 13. We celebrated early with cake and gifts

FIRST BATH

2008-04-22T01:27:00.000-05:00

Already falling in love with warm water. Actually, she hated it. Morgan, however, was at the same time down in the jacuzzi wishing his daughter knew just how incredibly soothing a good soak can be.

2008-04-22T01:21:00.000-05:00

"Keira, one day you'll be able to swim like Daddy. Across this entire pool." My little future Olympian

EARTH TO KEIRA

2008-04-21T22:05:00.000-05:00

Keira slept through this entire photo shoot at The Plaza. Despite constant poking and prodding, nothing worked. She's a sleeper anyway, but of course the Zantac didn't help much. It's a medication in the benadryl family prescribed by her pediatrician to fight off a reflux problem.

At first, we thought she might be a narcoleptic. And though she still hasn't actually seen our beautiful pool with her own eyes, I'm inclined to believe she was dreaming about it at the time. "Keira, I'm serious. Wake up!"

TOP 10 PEOPLE WHO HAVE INFLUENCED MORGAN

2008-04-21T00:45:00.000-05:00

(Not listed in their proper order)

10. Newt Gingrich
9. John Stockton
8. Mr. Miyagi (closest thing to a Celestial figure I've ever seen)
7. Tim the Tool Man Taylor
6. Elisabeth Shue (So hot back in 1986)
5. God
4. Stephanie (notimated for best wife in state of Missouri)
3. Captain Moroni
2. Parents
1. Dana Carvey