Morgans 1st Birthday Party!

I can't believe that Morgan is 1... (well I guess she will officially be 1 on tuesday but we celebrated her birthday a couple days early) I decided that we were going to have a princess party for our little girl... Since she sure is the princess in our household...It was so fun picking out all the stuff and decorating the cakes... (although it was a lot of work) We had a good turn out of our friends and family who came to celebrate with us... I am so grateful for our friends and family! :) Morgan seemed to have a fun time... She conked out after her party and took a 3 hour nap and we had to wake her up so she wouldnt stay up all night... That is the longest she has ever naped. I wish she would take ones like that more often so I had a little more time to get stuff done...

The birthday girl with her Grandpa Heywood... He sure loves his little grand baby...

Morgan with her little buddy Carson!

I was really kinda shocked that she didn't just destroy that cake... Give it to her any other time and I swear she would have ripped it to shreds! Maybe she was a little shy with everyone watching her...

Morgan playing with her presents that she got... Thank you everyone who came and celebrated her birthday with us and for all the wonderful gifts... She loves them all!

These are my great friends that I have known forever and helped me out so much with the party! Thanks girls!

Cotton Candy Fairy! (Warning picture overload)

Morgan is getting so big, I can't believe it! I thought it would be fun to make her a little tulle dress... I have seen them online and think they are so adorable and would be so easy to make... So today we took her to down town mesa and took some cute pics of her... Its a bit tricky since she is running all over the place and you can't get her to sit still or really even look at you but we had a fun time... I thought she looked so cute... Her hair is finally getting long enough to put in little pig tails and I decided to put a little make-up on her for this fun photoshoot! I LOVE having a little girl! Anyways sorry I had a hard time picking just a couple pictures since I thought all of them were just so darn cute but here were some of my favorites!

Happy Birthday Morgan!

A few days after Morgan was born

Her First birthday

Her second birthday

Her fourth birthday

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MORGAN!!! Now to those of you who are confused thinking that Morgans birthday is in May it sure is.... I am talking about my dear sweet sister Morgan who would be 14 years old as of yesterday April 19th... My little sister Morgan died 10 years ago this august... Every year on her birthday I think it will get easier and easier but I really do just miss her so much... She was the sweetest little sister anyone could ask for! She sure was my pride and joy! (haha thats something you would probably find a parent saying but I truely did love my sister so much and she brought me such happines and I loved to show her off to everyone and take her everywhere!) I remember the day I found out that my mom was pregnant with her... I was sitting on my moms lap and noticed that she had a belly and asked "mom are you pregnant?" She then told us that she was... I was so excited... When they found out it was a girl it was the most exciting thing... I have an older brother and a younger brother so thats just what I needed... A YOUNGER SISTER! I was 8 years old when morgan entered her life on this earth... She was born with a rare handicap called trisomy 18... Most babies born with this type of disability only live for a couple hours... Like I said before Morgan was my little pride and joy... When it was show and tell at school I asked my teacher if I could bring in my littl sister to show off... My mom came in with her and told the class about her... I always wanted to bring her to the stores, and church to show her off... For she was my wonderful little sister... I loved spending time with her... I would dress her up and put my moms make-up on her... Do little photoshoots, and just lay and watch t.v. with her... By the age of 10 I probably knew how to do most of the things to take care of her... Bathe her, suction her, give her meds, apply oxygen, feed her through her tube, etc... She sure was the sweetest girl with the sweetest spirit... I remember the last day I ever saw her... My family had a tradition of going to california every year for a week... My dad always stayed home with morgan while we went on vacation... That morning that we left I was really sad to leave her behind and I just gave her lots and lots of hugs and kisses... California was fun and after the week there I decided to go stay in utah with my cousins for a month or so... While I was gone morgan had become sick which was really nothing new... I would call home all the time to check on her and ask if I could talk to her... She couldn't talk but would make noises like babies do ya know... anyways while I was in Utah we decided we were going to go to Lagoon! On August 3rd 1999 we decided to take the trip early because that night I would be going home... All I knew was that my aunts from my moms side of the family were coming down to arizona to visit and I thought that is why I was going home... I met my aunts at the airport and flew the rest of the way to arizona with them... The entire time on the plane I had a wierd feeling in my stomach... When we landed the first thing I had asked my mom was how was Morgan... She told me we will talk about it when we get home... A little later I asked again and I got the same reply... On the car ride home I kept having thoughts in my head "what would I do if Morgan died" I had no clue thats what had happened... When we got home I hurried and ran into the house so excited to see my little sister leaving the luggage and my mom behind... She wasnt where she normally was so I ran back to my parents room to see if she was in there with my dad... And she wasn't... I then ran into the kitchen where my mom was standing and I remember so vividly saying "she's dead isn't she?" That must have been a very hard moment for my mom to let me know my little sister who I loved so much died...But I can't even begin to explain the emptiness I felt in my heart... That night my parents sat down with me to tell me what had happened... It was a rough night... Morgan had gone into the hospital the day before with pnemonia in both lungs... She stopped breathing in the car and had an extremely high temp when she was admitted... No joke it was around 107-108 degrees... The nurse had to check the thermometer a couple times to make sure it was right... My dad said he had to put in the shower just to try and cool her down... They soon put her on life support hoping to keep her alive long enough to get me home to say my goodbyes...This is something my parents debated about doing if they were ever in the situation... I guess once they were finnally in that position when they needed to hurry and decided they thought it would be best for them to put her on it so I could at least say my goodbyes to her... They knew how hard it would be for me not to be able to... For it had been a month since I had last seen her... Unfortunately her heart stopped on the life support... My sister had been to the hospital so many times before with pnemonia that this wasnt an out of the ordinary trip... The doctor suggested putting her in the hospital so she could get her antibiotics through IV... I guess this time was different than the others... As sad as I was to lose my sister I am so glad that she was able to be a part of my life... She was such a blessing to me and my family....I miss her dearly and am so happy to have the gospel in my life and the knowledge that I have of the plan of salvation...Knowing that I will be able to see and be with her again is a huge blessing! I guess this year I just need to remember the great times I had with her and celebrate the life that she did have and the time we got to share... Sorry this was so long but I guess I have had a lot of this on my mind today...

whoever knew a desert could be so pretty?!

My cousin Brittny is getting married and while her sister Bridgette is in town for a little bit she wanted her to take some pictures... I thought it would be fun to go out with them and do the engagment photos with them to get some time to hang out...Plus I love taking pictures! I had a lot of fun... I didn't want to get in the way of her taking her shots so a lot of them aren't that great but I am still happy with some of the shots... Mainly I was just off to the side or behind her getting low to the ground so she wasn't in them either...Here are some of the shots that I got in! I seriously felt like I took so many pictures but here are some of the ones I liked... I am still trying to figure out the photo editing program that I have so I know that some of the pictures are a little too bright... I was messing around with the fill flash a lot... Maybe someday I will get back around to re-editing them! Brittny and her Fiance Jason are so cute together! I am so excited and happy for them!