Happy Turkey Day!!!

We had a GREAT Thanksgiving this year! Thanksgiving is never a let down in my family because we have SO many good cooks in the family that the dinner is always amazing! We had Thanksgiving at my grandparent's condo in downtown Salt Lake and we had my mom's WHOLE side of the family there, well except my uncle and his fam who are "estranged" from our family, long story, don't ask. It was great to get everyone together, you know me, I just love family!!!

Lindsay and Jason, their first Thanksgiving together...

Dana, David, and Mason...My dad and my Uncle Darin...

My grandpa and my mom, they look so much alike...

The kids kept entertained playing with cars on the dance floor...

Jackson wouldn't even consider joining us for a family picture...

My mom and her sister Denae...

Jack had fun playing the organ...

Me, Josh, and my precious nieces...

Grandma and Grandpa, the two who started this whole thing...

How cute are my boys...

Parker looks cute, don't mind my bad bad hair day...

The whole fam...

Aside from the yummy food, it was a good day to reflect on the countless blessings my family and I have been blessed with. I am so grateful for my family, my friends, the gospel in my life, health, the ability to get an education, and the opportunity I have to live in America. Sometimes I think, I'm so not deserving of all I have!!! I guess I just need to try and be grateful everyday for what I have been given and not stress about everything that I don't have or want. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!!!

Like Mother Like Son...

So last night I was getting the boys ready for bed and while I was brushing Josh's teeth Jack was pretending to type on my computer. When I finished with Josh I said, "Jackson time for family prayer!" He responds..."in a minute mommy, I NEED TO FINISH MY BLOG!" Hahahahahaha, it cracked me up! I think he's heard that a time or two!!!

The Joys of Twin Boys...

It seems the boys have been exceptionally "busy" these past couple weeks. They are literally into EVERYTHING and with twins, it's double the trouble and double the mess! Last week while I was in the shower apparently they found my camera and had a wonderful time with it...I even have proof...

Well the good news is it looks like they shared pretty well! And, heck, they took some pretty good pictures!

The other night I was on the couch reading and the boys were in the kitchen, "blowing out daddy's birthday candles." Don't freak out, they weren't playing with fire...

They were putting all my fruit in the microwave to make it "hot" then they would blow them out like candles, hahaha, it entertained them for an hour! The good news is, they didn't even turn the microwave on! It was cute until I heard someone say, "uh oh," I went in to find a nice mixture of salt and water all over my kitchen floor! Harmless, yes, but a PAIN to clean up!

Tub time is always trouble time, Parker says it's cuz I leave them in there too long-but hey, it's my time to blog!!! Haha. The other day I turned around to this...

 

*PICTURE REMOVED DUE TO PERVERTS"

 

Yes, they do have the cutest little bums ever BUT they are not supposed to be doing cannon balls into the tub! They were laughing their heads off, which made it hard for me to get mad, so I took a picture instead!

Everyone always always always asks me the same thing everywhere I go..."oh TWINS, I bet that is so hard!" My answer is always the same..."the first year was hell, but now it's so fun because they play so cute together." It's true, they do make double the mess and double the work for me but watching them play hide and seek or read books to eachother or play house together is so incredibly precious and I wouldn't change them for a single child for anything in the world! I love my twins!!!

How cute are my little hoodlems playing outside...

"Can't They Just Put A Patch On It?"

One of the all time great "Jennisms!" Ladies, wanting to be on time for your hair appointment doesn't justify driving on a flat tire!

How Sweet Is My Husband....

So it hasn't even been a week on my gluten free diet and I am absolutely hating life. Seriously, I like wake up depressed because I know I can't eat anything I want to. I am starving all the time and am very sick of potatoes, salad, and fruit. NONE of the substituion things I bought (for like a million dollars a piece) are even edible so I am really just miserable. Worst yet, I can't go out to eat! There's like no quick food you can grab except Wendy's chili and baked potato or, you guessed it, a SALAD! Anyways, worst of all I just feel very alone in this and I feel like no one cares or understands. Well, in the mail today I got...



Parker ordered these two books online for me about a week ago, how sweet and thoughtful of him!!! I think he doesn't really know how to handle me and he's hoping this will help, haha, but regardless...THANK YOU HONEY!!!

Week with Tara!

I had such a fun week because my best friend Tara came to visit! She and her precious little girl Sophie stayed with us Tuesday through Friday and it was so nice having them here. Tara and I have been best friends since we were about 3 years old, our parents grew up together so we have a lot of history! She has always lived in Boise so we don't get to see each other as much as we would like but when we get together it's just like we were never apart! I also LOVED having a little girl crawling around my house! =) The boys loved Sophie and were really cute with her, except they called her a HIM, haha. "Mommy, me hold him me hold him." It was also really nice cuz Tara was able to babysit the twins during my endoscopy and when I got my hair done! Thanks Tara!

Adorable Sophie helping herself to some dried cherries...

They all had fun in the tub together, but Sophie kept her distance-haha...

We went to the park and had a picnic but poor Sophie got too cold...

Tara and Sophie...Hanging out on the bathroom counter...

Friday night Tara's husband, Phil, drove over so we all wanted to go out to dinner! My wonderful sister and her husband babysat all three kids for us and we had SO much fun going out without them! We went to McGrath's and had YUMMY dinners!!

We made our cute husbands sit by each other and pose for a picture...

Tara and I (notice my dark hair!?)...

Auntie Lindsay and the twins...

Uncle Jason and cheesy Joshy...

This was Jack's face when Lindsay asked him if he'd like to spend the night there sometime...

The three cute kids in their jammies...

It was so fun having Tara here all week, I already miss her! However, her and I don't eat very well when we get together so maybe it's a good thing she's gone! Haha. I love you Tara and thanks for coming!!! Well, I'm off to Salt Lake to go grocery shopping at the GLUTEN FREE STORE, yay.

Poor Me...

Well I had my endoscopy yesterday afternoon and it confirmed that I definitely have celiac disease. They also said I had really bad acid reflux and my esophagus was swollen, red, and damaged. They gave me a prescription for that, which I may have to be on forever, but the only treatment for celiac disease is just a complete change in my diet. I can't eat anything with gluten/wheat in it, which is everything I love! I can't eat toast, cereal, oatmeal, cookies, crackers, chips, pasta, aka everything I eat. Everyone keeps telling me, "it could be worse you could have cancer." And I KNOW that would be worse, but really I just want to feel sorry for myself. If you know me at ALL, you know that I am a very picky eater so it's going to be hard to find things that I CAN eat. Also, the substitution foods are quite a bit more expensive than normal food so I'm not looking forward to that. BUT...the good news is I know now what was wrong so I can start feeling better and having energy. My stomach is so damaged from the gluten that my body isn't able to absorb anything which is why I have been so tired and had no energy. Anyways, that's the update. I'm starting my gluten free diet on Sunday, so wish me luck!!

A Happy Post...

Ok so I feel like my blog has been super negative lately and I am hating it! The main reason I do a blog is for my kids to go back and read one day, kinda like a personal history. While politics certainly do play a role in my life and everyone's lives, I do not want it to be the focus of my blog anymore. SO...no more posts about my feelings on politics, for a while anyway. :) I have made some enemies and even lost a close friend because I voiced my opinion and it just wasn't worth it. Do you think the day will ever come where people can respect other's opinions? I HOPE SO!

So, as I look at the lives of Jackson and Josh something that I want them to know is how much they are LOVED by their extended family. I feel like they have the best life ever, not because of Parker and I, but because of all the family in their lives.

They have great grandma Bybee and great grandpa Bybee that absolutely LOVE them! They also have great grandma Bliss who, even in her 90's, loves the twins and it makes her day to see them. How many kids are lucky enough to have 3 great grandparents that are even alive?!

Grandma and Grandpa Bybee and the boys...

They have two sets of grandparents who are young and full of enery and that absolutely ADORE them! They are always willing to babysit them and the boys always have SO much fun with grandpa and grandma Barraclough and Morrill! It makes me so happy to see how much my boys enjoy time with their grandparents.

Grandma Morrill and the boys...

Grandpa Barraclough and the boys...

Grandpa Morrill and Jack...

Grandma Barraclough reading to the boys...

They also have the coolest aunts ever. They even have an aunt that's only nine years old so imagine how much fun they have with their Auntie Tegan?? She is so cute and patient with them, Josh especially adores her. Jackie is so good with the boys, she has that natural motherly feeling about her that the boys just gravitate to. The boys love playing with Christine because she will play ball with them and entertain them 24/7. Dana doesn't get to spend much time with the boys because she has 3 kids of her own but the boys still love coming to her house and playing. The boys love Lindsay and she spoils them rotten, giving them whatever they want whenever they want-and she's won them over for sure! Seeing how much my sisters and sisters in law love my twins makes me feel so blessed!

Auntie Tegan and the boys at the zoo...

Auntie Christine and the boys at the "bolleyball" game...

Auntie Jackie showing Josh how to play with fire...

Auntie Lindsay making popcorn with the boys...

Sorry Dana, I have no pics of you with the boys!!! :(

The boys have 4 uncles and they love them all! They don't get to see Tyler and David too much because they're always working and what not but I know they love them because they talk about them when we get home from seeing them and it's SO cute! Uncle Shane is a big part of their lives and they LOVE having him come play with them. He's just like daddy, but without the homework and stress, haha. Shane plays so cute with them and it brings out a whole different side of him that we all love. They have grown to love Jason too but for some reason they're usually in bad moods when he's around! Haha!

Uncle Shane and the boys with their matching shoes...

Uncle Jason and the boys...

Sorry David and Tyler, I don't have any pics of you with the boys!!! :(

Last but not least....the boys have 4 cousins and they all play so cute together. Well, baby Cole can't play yet but the boys LOVE to take care of him and make sure he is ok, ha ha it's so cute.

This may be boring for you all to read but I guess I just want the boys to know how much support they have in their lives. No doubt these people will be around to watch you grow up and be there for you when you're mad at your mom and dad or whatever. I also want my family to know how much I appreciate them, we could never have done twins the first year without all your help! You guys all give the boys something that they couldn't get anywhere else from anyone else and I thank you for that. And PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE come see us-even if we move to the middle of nowhere!!!!

GOING PRIVATE

Unfortunately, there are some terrible people in this world so I have decided to make my blog private. I am actually saddened that I have to do this, but there are so many sick freaks out there that prey on innocent children that it's just not worth the risk to me. Anyways, please email me so you can still read my blog... jenn_morrill@hotmail.com And even if you don't really know me but still like to read my blog you can totally email me! I love it when people read my blog, I just have to weed out the sickos and weirdos. Thanks everyone!!!

Vegas, Roosevelt, and Sleepovers

It's getting hard to think of creative titles so...there ya go, haha. We've had a BUSY but fun week! Wednesday Parker and I headed down to Vegas for his interviews. We dropped the boys off with my mother in law, which is always kinda hard but I was so looking forward to our road trip together! The boys were not the least bit sad to see us go, haha, which made me happy because I know they are secure with mommy and daddy and that they love their grandparents. The trip down was a lot of fun, we took our time and stopped in St. George and went shopping. It was SOO nice to be able to do stuff on OUR time frame and not the boys! We did hit some really bad snow in Indian Canyon but other than that it was beautiful. I enjoyed time to talk to my husband and listen to my own music instead of VEGGIETALES!

Here's my hot husband in his wife's sunglasses, hahaha....

Ok so we only got one picture the whole trip, kinda sad, but really...who cares much to see Parker and I if the boys aren't in the picture???

Wednesday night we went on the New York New York rollar coaster, which was SOOO much fun! I'm a huge rollar coaster fan. =) We also hiked the whole strip and went to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory in Caesar's Palace. We didn't finish dinner until about 11pm, which was 12 our time, so we were SO tired (pathetic I know). We decided we didn't want to walk back so we decided to take a cab. We looked at prices and decided it was too expensive so we hiked ALL THE WAY to the monorail, only to find out that that was even MORE expensive so we (and when I say we I mean PARKER) decided to hike back out and find a cab. IN THE END, it costs $0.16 more to take a cab, haha. Anyways, we went to bed around 2am and slept great, we stayed in a really nice room at the MGM Grand.

Thursday morning Parker went to an interview which went really well. What did I do? SLEPT AND READ ALONE IN PEACE and it was the best day ever, haha. I took a jacuzzi, read an entire James Patterson, and got loads of much needed sleep. I have been really sick for a while now and I feel like that sleep really helped me get better faster. That night we went to PF Changs for the dinner interview which went really really well! We had a great time and they seemed quite impressed with my honey. =)

Friday we headed back to Roosevelt to see the boys. They were excited to see us but not ready to leave Grandma yet. Saturday morning they played for a while, we went and visited Grandma Bliss (Parker's grandma), went out to lunch, then headed home!

How cute are the blow up beds that Michelle bought for the boys!?

They always love the horses, Joshy pets them and says, "me brave," hahaha...

The boys had fun playing in the leaves...

TONIGHT was busy and fun too! We had my parents, grandparents, and Lindsay and Jason all over for the night AND Tegan (Parker's sister) and Abbi (my niece) are having a sleepover here tonight! They're downstairs eating popcorn and watching a movie right now. They play SO cute together and I just love having them at my house.

We made popcorn balls....

They played games with the boys...And set up camp downstairs in my living room....SO it's midnight and I am still working on my lesson for church in 9 hours, haha. It has been a fun week, I feel so blessed to have so much extended family around. I am such a dork...but there is no one else I'd rather be with than my family. I LOVE YOU ALL!!!