Along the path...

RD - Hope you have the most wonderful birthday yet. Wish I could stop by to see you today. Know I'm thinking of you and wishing I could see you on this special day. Love you and lots of kisses!

A day at the zoo. Beautiful weather. Fabulous company. Cooperative animals. Congrats on retiring, Mom! What a fun way to spend Labor Day! (Missed you much, Adam, Renee, AJ and EL.)

Guess who is finally FOUR! Yeah, RD! I'm so glad to have you as a nephew. I love your wit and charm and intellect. No one could ask for a better nephew. And I love the way you speak Spanish. Thanks for your kisses--where ever they happen to land! You're the best!!!

Last night my entire family and I went to Gardener's Village in Salt Lake for dinner in the old mill ( Archibald's ) and to walk around the village. It was such a surprise to have us all there together--even my sister and brother-in-law and their kids were able to make it. By the time we had finished with dinner, the shops had closed. It was still the witching hour as we walked around the shops to meet the witches. So much fun! Thanks for coming and for spoiling me rotten. At work my coworkers took me to lunch at the Thai Chili Garden , provided cake and ice cream, and were way too kind all day long. Thanks to everyone for their calls, emails, Facebook notes, etc. I appreciate your thoughts and wishes. It was a good day.

This is a short video clip of the trip to Lagoon that Nathan, Bekah, RD and I took this summer. RD was a little nervous on some of the rides at first, but loved it. His expressions were priceless. Bekah said that he was so tired at the end of the day that they hadn't even made it outside of the parking lot before he was asleep. Mostly he wanted to ride with his dad. Thanks, Bekah, for being a good sport and riding with me. Disneyland, ho!

On Saturday we hiked Donut Falls in Little Cottonwood Canyon--starting at the Spruces campground. My compliments to Adam and Renee's camera for capturing the colors so well--and to the lady who offered to snap us all together. It was a beautiful hike that I would recommend to anyone. Be aware though that there are streams and waterfalls; they tend to draw the kids. We saw deer and chipmunks and snakes and wildflowers and other hikers and castles (big rocks that RD stood on). Here we are at the end of the trail. My particularly saucy do is compliments to the niece I'd had on my shoulders part of the way. Thanks, EL!

Friday night, we colored eggs at grandma and grandpa's with RD, IC, and AL. AJ had had to stay home with a fever. Then we had a "sleep" over where we didn't really sleep much and geared up for Saturday's events. This Saturday, our traditional Easter egg hunt was held in my parents' backyard. All seven of the little one hunted for eggs. I'm not certain how excited AM, EL, and ZM were about the finding part. Especially since they couldn't eat the candy inside the plastic eggs and wouldn't be able to spend the money amount written on the outside of the other eggs. Here AJ, IC, AL, and RD show off their spoils. They had a blast finding eggs, eating candy and helping grandpa pay out the money amounts written on their eggs. Our picnic was held indoors due to the cool, rainy weather. Before scampering inside, the adults blew soap bubbles for the kids to chase and pop. Thanks, Bekah, for sharing a picture .

Last Saturday, before the sudden cold snap, we took a family to the Hogle Zoo. The weather was perfect--not too hot, not too cold. The animals were out and about. The zoo wasn't too crowded, and we got to see them feed a penguin fish. RD loved the lizard his dad told him was a dinosaur. IC said she liked the zebras the best. In this picture, AL was a little nervous at first when the giraffe started to lower and tried to pull herself up the pole until she realized that the animal would rise up and sink down. Then, she was fine. She had a ball going around in circles and waving at everyone as we passed. The rest of my nieces and nephews who were old enough to care about riding on a carousel had ridden the turn before. What a fun day! Becca thanks for sharing this picture!

Sleep over at Grandma and Grandpa's house! AL, IC, AJ, and RD are finally asleep after many stories and good night songs. Don't they look like angels?

Christmas came. Fast. Presents are all wrapped and unwrapped in a jiffy. Thanks everyone! Here is part of our Christmas program. Mary, great with child. This part was not in the script. AJ came up with it on her own. Joseph leading the donkey through Bethlehem. Mary on the donkey during the journey. Shepherd and angel? Little Christmas gifts beneath the tree. (AM and EL) AL as a rock star, after Christmas! IC as Fancy Nancy. Merry Christmas to all and to all a great night!

On Saturday afternoon, we went to Jungle Jim's Playland in Midvale to celebrate RD and AJ's third birthdays. RD turned three last week and AJ will turn three this week. I think that the kids (and adults) had a lot of fun. E. wouldn't ride the Jeep Safari without her mom. Go, Janette! Erika braved the way-fast elephant ride with Zack. More of the elephant ride. The spaceship ride was a hit! The kids could pull down on a lever to make their ship go up and push up to go down. Mini-tilt-a-whirl anticipation Giant swings RD's dirt cake. Isn't Bekah clever? AJ's Barbie cake. Renee--what a Suh-weet cake! Nathan, Dad, RD, and AL. Mom and EL Party on!

RD! Happy birthday to a sweet boy! Let's make soup again together really soon. (But, can we leave out the ice cream cone next time?) Love you!

Saturday was the third annual Morrill Family Pumpkin Carving Contest. More to come.

Tonight, the majority of my family met at Gardner Village for dinner at Archibald's and then planned to wander the Village. It's Witchapalooza and witching time at the Village. By the time we finished dinner, most of the shops were closing. We looked around a bit and snapped a few pictures. I'll post them another time. The witches and pumpkins and Halloween decor was frightfully fun, but I don't think I've had such poor customer service at a restaurant before. I wish I could say that the restaurant was packed. Maybe there were extenuating circumstances we weren't aware of. Maybe it was an off night for them. Maybe I'm just grouchy. Birthdays sometimes do that. Guess I'd better see the Witch Doctor or something to get it straightened out. The company was grand: mom and dad; Adam, Renee, AJ, and EL; Nathan, Bekah, RD, and AM, and me. Their service gave us a lot of time to sit and visit. RD and AJ were darling. Both were in very good moods. RD had on hi...

I know I say it all the time, but I really do have the most adorable nieces and nephews ever ! Bekah captured RD, my oldest nephew, singing "I love to see the Temple" on the way home from a family reunion. RD is an avid Spiderman fan (even going as far as to call to his baby sister Spiderbaby). He had had his face painted earlier that day. I'll post behind the mask photos another day. You can watch the video of him singing on Bekah's blog. What heart! What a personality! What a darling baby lisp! I'm watching now to see what myths and rumors pop up about Spiderman being LDS.