Celebrating!

We had a blast celebrating Eli's graduation! The first day was warm and beautiful, perfect for outdoor pictures. The second day was rainy and cold, which Tanner actually loved. He went straight for the puddles! Eli spent his masters program with a great group of friends and we all partied together on Thursday. There was lots of talking, hanging out, and good grub. And then at the graduation when Eli actually walked, all 7 of his names were announced. (For those of you who don't know, Eli has 7 names that make the acronym Gazelem - go look it up in the Book of Mormon. His names are Gabriel Arcangelo Zeezrom Ezra Laconia Eli Morey.) I was thrown back to Arapahoe High School graduation when the same thing happened and everyone chuckled. The reaction was the same this time! I love my uniquely named guy! Congrats lovey love!

After lots of "peas, peas peas, peas" (please), Eli finally reached in the water to get Tan's rock that he threw in the water.

Oops! Forgot there was a giant hood back there!

Tan's activity during Eli's graduation pictures: playing in the dirt and sticks. SUCH a boy.

Tan loved Eli's tassle - playing with that was the only way to get him to smile for pictures

So cute!

I love this picture! Eli is running down the hill while pushing Tan in the stroller. This is the hill we walked up and down A LOT during our undergrad dating days. Oh the memories!

Eli's Public Health cohort!
Here's what Tan did during graduation. And guess what I did? Followed him up and down stairs and rows for two hours while taking occasional pictures. The life of a one year old!

Master Eli

As of today, Eli is officially Master Eli! I'm so proud of him and how hard he worked to get his Masters in Public Health degree in a year and a half. And he made some incredible friends along the way.

2 degrees down, 1 to go!

More pictures to come!

In the Leafy Treetops . . .

. . . the birds sing Good Morning!! And it is a G-L-O-R-I-O-U-S sound! SPRING IS HERE!!! Winter really pulled an ugly ending by snowing off and on for weeks. But now the trees are blossoming (we sing Popcorn Popping everytime we go outside and Tanman loves it!) and there are tulips everywhere! Yesterday it was almost 80 outside so we spent a few hours playing and flying kites with friends. Tan and I both got sun-kissed cheeks! Welcome back sun!!! We have missed you!

When we go outside, we spend time climbing other people's steps,

walking anywhere and everywhere,

smelling and (touching sometimes) newly blossomed flowers,

and kicking/throwing the ball.

With spring's appearance, I have fallen in love with the Avenues in Salt Lake. The trees are huge, every yard has tulips, the grass is turning green, the air smells wonderful, people are dining al fresco on porches and at cafe's, kids are playing outside, people are biking and jogging, and the feeling is a-buzz with new life and excitement! It is FABULOUS!!! We'll miss this area when we leave so we are trying to enjoy it now!!

One thing I realized yesterday is that I can't wear my BYU shirt outside! We live in the heart of Ute territory which is apparent by all the flags and Utah paraphenilia on all the houses and apartments. Oh and I finally jogged into the cemetery 2 blocks from our apartment where two of my grandparents are buried. I haven't visited their graves since we first moved in 4 months ago. I wandered around (it is a HUGE cemetery) and couldn't remember where they were! It made me so sad to think that I didn't know where my own grandparents were buried. But then I realized that it's ok because they continue to live in heaven and so I don't need to dwell on their bodies laying in their graves. Thank goodness for the plan of salvation!

Anyways, happy happy spring to you all!

P.S. Isn't this picture hilarious?! Tan is trying to hug his cousin, Wesley, last week in Colorado. Wes didn't like it AT ALL as evidenced by his facial expression and squeal of displeasure. But Tan continues to hug until someone pulls him away! Ha ha ha! They are so funny together. Tan is aggressive and Wesley is timid so Wes got lots of toys taken away from him. I guess it's time to start learning about sharing! Tan adores "Weth" (he has a lisp when he says "s") and will be so excited to spend a week in Lake Powell with him next month.


P.S.S. I know I need to cut Tanner's hair (he is growing some girly looking locks - check out the pic!), but he HATES, I repeat, HATES when we touch his hair. What do we do????

P.S.S.S. Ok this is the last thing - Eli sold our old camera and lens and, after a couple months with just my 5 year old digital camera, finally got his new camera and lens! I'm excited for good pictures again! The pictures above are the first ones from the new camera (except for the Tan hugging Wes picture). YAY! It came just in time for Eli's graduation tomorrow. Way to go Master Eli!

"Green" Day and "Hippity Hoppity" Day

"Green" Day, as we said to Tan, was celebrated by eating green egg omelets and green jello. Not much but still fun! Eli's dad, Lennox, joined in the festivities and even wore a little green!

For Easter, we played with bunnies and sang "Here Comes Peter Cottontail" all week. Eli, Aly, and I decorated eggs. We had a playground Easter Egg hunt and Tan totally didn't get it. Here's what happened:

Me: "Look Tan! There's an egg by that bush! Go get it!"
Tan: "No." Then he picks up a stick or a rock.
So I go pick up the egg.
Me: "Tan, put the egg in the basket."
Tan: "No." He grabs the egg. "Ball!!!" Then he throws the egg and all the candy spills out onto the sidewalk.

Even after that experience, I still hid plastic eggs for him around the house and hard-boiled colored eggs for Eli and Aly in high places. Surprisingly, he actually hunted for and gathered eggs in his basket!






He did well hunting until an egg broke open and he discovered that candy was inside. The hunt stopped dead in its tracks! So mommy finished the hunt while Tanner ate lots and lots of sugar. I just realized that we don't have pictures with him and his basket. Oops!

You know you're a mom when you have goldfish crackers stuck to your clothing. (Thanks Eli for never telling me it was there and taking pictures of it instead!)

After watching 3 sessions of AMAZING General Conference and hearing from "Mons" or "Mon Mon" (President Monson) as Tan calls him, Eli and I met up with Lennox and actually went to the last session in the Conference Center. We only got the tickets the week before: the Executive Secretary in our bishopric literally just handed them to me out of the blue! Apparently Lennox wanted one (he's in our ward) so the bishopric decided to let Eli and I go as well. How nice of them! And Aly was so nice to watch Tan and drop us off. I'm especially glad we got to go since we'll be all the way across the country for the next 8 General Conferences. I always love being in the conference center because I feel unified with the rest of the Church and feel the spirit so strongly when the Prophet enters the room. It's something everybody should experience once!

After that, headed to the Gehrke's for some annual Easter egg rolling and an incredibly delicious turkey dinner with amazing rolls (my mouth is watering just thinking about them!). Good food, fun times, and good company!
Aly spent the whole weekend with us which we all love! Tanner has the funniest name for Aly - he says the "A" without the "ly" and adds "ss" at the end. You put it together and imagine how we react when he says her name! It's pretty hilarious! Especially when he yells it really loud when the windows are open so that the rest of our apartment complex can hear. Ha ha ha!

Happy Easter from the Morey's! Hopefully our bright colors will encourage spring to stay and get rid of all the random snow storms we've been having!

Where's the camera??!!

Tan has discovered the camera! My favorite pictures are when he has his eyes closed like this because the flash is bright. Ha ha ha!

This pic makes me giggle when I see it! The flash and the way his hair fell made him look like Einstein! (Eli sold our old lens and is looking for a new one so we have been using our point and shoot for a while as you could probably tell from the not-as-good pictures in recent posts.)

Of course he needs a turn!

Wow, he actually did a good job!

The best part of life - eating

I'm happy to say that Tan has become a pretty good eater! We still struggle with pickiness sometimes but he is a lot more open to trying new things. But he won't eat very much which is why is such a skinny minny. And he won't eat anywhere except for at home in his highchair. Going out to eat has become an issue as he only wants to walk around and say "HI" to everyone! Here are some cute pics of him eating recently!

He thought it was funny to put black beans on his head

He is a sugar fiend! Ok ok ok, he didn't eat THAT much cake in one setting - I staged it. But he really does like sugar which is totally my fault because I love sugar so I often share with him. While my visiting teachers and their kids were over, I set out a plate of cookies and the other kids hesitantly took one and most didn't even finish theirs. On the other hand, Tan kept sneaking behind my back to where I hid the plate of cookies from him and stealing more and walking quietly away from me so that I wouldn't notice. Sneaky little devil!

He makes a mess most of the time, but not ALL the time!

I had to include this picture of Tan and Wes in Colorado while celebrating my dad's birthday. I love the boys have no idea what we all were laughing about. And I love how scrawny and white Tanner looks! Ha ha ha! When we go to Lake Powell, Wesley will just get tanner and Tan will burn. He got my skin and not Eli's easier-to-Tan-than-Sara's skin.

Tanner bo banner, fee fi fo fanner

This post is all about TANNER! Here's just a glimpse of what he is like lately:

He tries to push anything and everything around the floor and sometimes he'll fill up a container with things around the house. Then mommy gets to play by putting everything back where it goes!

He likes to wear these doggy slippers that jingle when he walks - so fun!
He loves his room, especially his bed. He doesn't even let me get through one bed time lullaby anymore before he starts saying "bed, bed, bed" and I have to put him in his bed and say goodnight. Once there, he snuggles with his Care Bear (his chosen favorite stuffed animal) and his dog named Boo boo. Occasionally I'll snatch him out of bed before I head for bed and cuddle with him in my own bed for a while.

Not the best picture, but he loves to play in the laundry hamper thing and especially loves it when I sneak up on him and tickle him while he's in there.

He can be tender sometimes but most of the time when I give him hugs and kisses throughout the day, he squirms and pushes away. So it makes those occasional hugs and kisses SO worth it when he actually decides to give them out!

He has an obsession with hats - not with wearing them, but pointing them out everywhere he sees them. Unless the hat has a strap around his chin, it doesn't last more than 5 seconds before he pulls it off. He clicks his tongue everytime he puts a hat on and I have no idea where that came from but it is certainly cute!

Within the last month he started saying "cheese" for pictures and giving me a cheesy smile. That's my boy!

Yep, he's definitely one. I'm surprised that he's actually only ever done this once. He is really good at obeying and following our directions and limits (most of the time).

I'm so proud of this pic I captured! He loves to give me letters through this mailbox and then I read them and slide them back through the mailbox. He then reads them in the cutest jibberish ever!

He loves to climb on EVERYTHING!!

He watches out our big kitchen window while he eats and points out all the cars, dogs, and "baps" (bikes).

His favorite activity is throwing balls and spends most of his time doing that! He won't leave the house unless he has a ball to take outside, even if we're just getting in the car.

There's a million more things about the Tanner man that makes him so insanely cute and fun to be with all day!!! He is saying lots and lots of words and can really communicate with us most of the time which is super fun! We love our little munchkie!