Morgan was able to participate in her gyms muscle meet a few years back. The problem is that I have no memory of what her actual results were. She did really well and won or tied on or placed in several of the competitions.
At the muscle meet they do a ton of timed strength and conditioning moves, things like leg-ups, sit-ups, push-ups, pull-ups, running...you get the picture. Hard stuff...stuff normal people can't do unless you go to the gym for several hours a week.
I had to post this one video in particular because it sums up Morgan as a gymnast. The girl is determined and even when her body tells her, nope, no more....she tells it ummmm yes, and sucks every ounce she has out of her self.
I also love this video because you can see her cute coach Heather in the back pushing her to keep going. Heather has since left to finish up her schooling but is so cute and will still come to see girls compete at state and pop in to the gym now and again. Morgan loved coach Heather and she was one of the first people to really believe in Morgan!
I love this little girl, and boy does she NOT take after her mother :)
One of the very best things about living somewhere for so long is you have traditions that you get to do every single year. The balloon festival is one of those traditions we look forward to each year. In fact, as I am typing this tonight is our annual balloon festival! Ok Ok so I am 2 years behind in blogging. Let's hope I post about this weekend before 2016!
This particular year Charlie and I were in Hawaii and missed the festival! I know, poor babies right? I was so happy however that Ross and Diane were willing to take the kids. And even snap a few pictures for us while they were at it. Way to go Grandma and Grandpa!
Balloons and brotherly love. Does it get any better?
I had to add these in because they warm my heart. My kids love grandma for many reasons but if you had to ask them why grandma was so great I can bet you that her cooking would probably be number one on the list!
When grandma is in town there is always a cake or homemade bread or cookies to be had. I love that while we were away she took some time to cook with my boys!
Charlie gets to go to Utah twice a year to recruit at BYU. He usually takes a kid along with him when he can. As jealous as I am that I am never the one that gets to tag along I am thankful for the opportunity my kids have to pop in for a visit now and again and spend time with family.
On this trip he took Morgan and she had the opportunity to spend some special time with her cousin Emma. These two girls are peas in a pod and I love seeing them together.
They went swimming in a natural hot spring by grandma and grandpas cabin in Heber.
They fell asleep exhausted after a day of crafting.
What girl does not enjoy a mani/pedi with a good friend?
And as for this picture....I have no words. You know you have sent your daughter to Utah when she comes home with a cowgirl hat and a picture of her holding a gun!
Our two cowgirls had an outdoor movie night on the deck.
And they also were treated to a day of horse back riding!
Seriously.....I want a trip to Utah! So glad my little Morgan was able to do this and spend some great quality time with Emma and her Grandparents.
Charlie took Morgan to the alpine slide and they had a blast.
They also went to visit the gymnastics gym and got to watch the girls on the team practice. Maybe Morgan will be in that same gym in the future!
Then it was off for a night of tailgating with Uncle Chris and Aunt Angie and watching a BYU football game. From what I heard she fell asleep not long into the game, but with the time change and all this fun I think I would have been sleepy too!
Last but not least, before the kids are baptized we always try and take them to a session of conference in the conference center. We have been able to do this for all of the kids so far and I hope we can do it with the last two.
This was a special trip for Charlie and Morgan. I am so glad she has some time to connect with family she does not get to see very often.
Several years ago a friend of ours was working on her photography business and wanted to try out a new lens. She asked if she could borrow my girls for an afternoon sister photo shoot. The girls were beyond thrilled being "models" for a day.
Our friend Elizabeth captured some amazing shots. Here were some of our favorites!
I am so glad that these two girls have each other. It warms my heart to hear them talking late at night. I look forward to the future and seeing their friendship continue to grow. There is something special about a sister, I know I am so thankful for mine!
So, it has been a really long time since I have blogged. I have missed recording what my little family is up to and have made it a goal before the year is over to try and get caught up. Details will have been forgotten but my motto lately is "Something is better than nothing". With that being said...here we go! I actually have blogged about things since we took this trip but in looking back over my blog I realized I never posted about our Paris part of our Rome and Paris vacation. Who forgets to blog about Paris????
Back in 2011 Charlie and I took our first trip to Rome and Paris. Rome was and still remains one of my most favorite places I have ever been. Paris was amazing as well. And don't get me wrong here...you can't complain about a trip to Paris but for us we just did not LOVE it as much as Rome. Part of that was probably because we were there for only a few short days. We really tried to see too much in too little time. We have since learned it is better to see one thing and really enjoy it then to try and see 15 things and run yourself ragged. We also learned on this trip that when possible book a hotel as close as possible to what you will be seeing. We stayed a little farther away to use hotel points and spent a decent amount of time on the metro getting to and from places. Especially since we were there such a short amount of time we would not make that mistake twice!
All that said....Paris was beautiful and romantic and all you can imagine and more.
Our first stop was to Notre Dame cathedral. Building began in 1163 and continued to be built over the next 200 years. Notre Dame is still a functioning Catholic church. In fact, when we were visiting there was a service going on. It made it even more interesting to hear the beautiful choir singing in the background although the incense got to me a bit. But it felt like an authentic visit and I really enjoyed it.
In the picture above you can see the flying buttresses which are the curved arms coming from the side of the church. They are there as a support since so much of the walls are glass. I found the entire church to be architecturally beautiful. Wish I could have had my brother the architect with me on this trip to share his insight on it all. The gargoyles you can see in the picture below were added at some point to serve as decorative water spouts.
This is a video clip of just some of the singing while we were there.
Below is a photo of Sainte-Chapelle. If only I had a better camera or knew how to use it or had enough time to find a good picture online...this picture does no justice to this church. Built in 1239 with stained glass windows covering more than 6,000 sq feet and two thirds of the windows are still 13th century originals. An interesting fact is that the stained glass was removed during world war II to protect them from harm and then were reinstalled! I would not have wanted to be in charge of that job.
We also visited The Louvre and the Musee D'Orsay. The Louvre alone could take an entire trip to get through. With only a few hours we did not even remotely scratch the surface. The Louvre holds the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo and has 8-9 million visitors a year! The Louvre became an art museum in 1793 but was originally built in the late 12th century as a fortress.
The Louvre
Us with THE Mona Lisa. I don't know if I enjoyed it so much because of its fame....but it really was a beautiful painting. I am proud to say that I have seen the original with my very own two eyeballs!
This was a statue we loved by Antonio Corradini. The skill that must come from making a veiled face like that is something I cannot even begin to comprehend.
We took a walk to the Arc de Triomphe. The construction of the Arc was ordered by Napoleon in 1806 and was completed well after his death in 1836. Two funny stories about this picture. My parents visited Paris shortly after they were married and went to the arc. Long story short they decided to cross the street which is in a constant state of several lanes of quickly driving cars. Being honked at and yelled at and luckily not killed they made it to the other side where they soon discovered the under ground walk way! I got a good chuckle thinking back to this story as I viewed the busy street. The other funny story is that a couple from Midland actually were the ones who snapped this photo of us!!!!! Go figure....running into someone from Midland in the middle of Paris. Small world for sure.
Have no fear....here comes the part about the Eiffel Tower.
Romantic....yes, beautiful...yes. Love love loved this part of our trip. We took a boat tour at night and got to see it all lit up.
The next day we actually got to go eat at Le Jules Verne. The restaurant is in the Eiffel Tower and we had to make reservations several months in advance. Its a fancy pants restaurant and not one you visit on a budget. We got a table at sunset and enjoyed a several hour long meal savoring each and every single bite!
Sunset over looking Paris on the Eiffel Tower. How lucky am I????? Seriously I can't believe I was able to experience something so magical.
You can't visit the Eiffel Tower and not steal a kiss from the love of your life. What a memory!
So, has Paris been forgotten? Absolutely not! It has actually been fun to remember this trip so many years later. I am glad we went and glad my hubby pushes me to do these trips that are out of my comfort zone. I am so happy with the memories we have made and the things I have seen and experienced because of him.
