Camping with kids

We left last Thursday for our camping trip.  It took a lot of creativity and time to get everything packed up in the truck and on the cargo carrier, but we did it.  Of course it rained all the way to the campground and while we were there.  It stopped long enough for us to get our campsite set-up and for a small part of the evening.  After we went to bed a terrible lightening/rainstorm came through and soaked us!  Yep, every time we go camping we get soaked.  Ha ha.  It also rained the next morning so we went and got supplies to deal with the rain and cleaned up the campsite.  Later Friday afternoon, Jim, Jen and Ethan showed up to spend a few days with us.  It was a lot of fun!  The rain pretty much cleared then too and the weekend ended up sunny and not too terribly hot.

Before we had kids, we roughed it more while camping and the main source of entertainment was drinking, conversing, and playing games.  It’s much different now with kids in the picture but in a lot of ways better.  They help you see a camping adventure in a whole new way.  It’s great.  I thoroughly enjoy camping with my family and am so glad we all love to do it.  Even Megan enjoyed herself for the most part, which was a surprise to us.  Ha ha.

I look forward to making many more great memories camping!

All work and no play……..

would make us a dull family! Last night the girls wanted to go swimming after dinner. I told them they could but that if they wanted to help Ryan and I spread mulch they could. They decided they wanted to help us instead. It was super hot outside, just terrible. After we finished mulching we ALL jumped in the pool to cool off. It was just the thing we needed after a couple hours of hard work. It was fun seeing the girls and Ryan splashing, laughing and giggling just having a lot of fun. I even had fun myself. It was an evening of great family time – great memories. I love my family so much. I LOVE that we have these fun moments. These times become even more precious when you think of how fast time goes by and how quickly the girls are growing up.

What a long weekend

Ryan and I were both off of work on Friday since we were not sure when Doris’ visitation and funeral would be. We spent the day with the kids, working out in the yard on our “back yard project” from YOU-KNOW-WHAT. Ha ha. It’s not really all that bad, it’s just the weather is making it not as fun as it could be. Saturday after the funeral we kept ourselves busy working out in the yard and spent most of yesterday doing the same. It seems like a never-ending project.

Kylie fell riding her bike Thursday night. She wasn’t looking, of course, and got a bump on her head and elbow. She’ll live, though . Yesterday Ryan bought Megan a float-y swimsuit and much to my suprise she not only didn’t throw a fit about wearing it, but she swam around the pool all by herself in it! I was amazed!!!!

Speaking of the pool, Kylie is really swimming like a fish. She’s becoming fearless of the water. It’s nice to see her have so much confidence.

A bit of exciting news to a very sad weekend….Megan got into preschool at Plains!!!! We are excited, but scared in the same token. Is she ready? How will she do? She’s just not like her sister so Ryan and I are a bit nervous about this. I guess time will tell. Both our babies are off to school this fall! WAHHHHHHHH!

We love you Doris

Doris L. Morgan

SPRINGFIELD – Doris L. Morgan, 54, of Springfield died at 4:20 p.m. Tuesday, July 15, 2008, at her best friend’s home.

Doris was born Jan. 23, 1954, in Springfield, the daughter of Charles and Virginia Piper Gudgel. She married Kenneth Morgan on Aug. 11, 1984, at St. Aloysius Catholic Church; he preceded her in death.

Doris graduated from Lanphier High School and Lincoln Land Community College. She worked as secretary for Terry Bullock’s Garage. Most importantly, Doris was a dedicated mother who was involved with her son’s T-ball and baseball and was a Cub Scout Den Mother. She was also a member of St. Katharine’s Drexel Parish and enjoyed boating, camping, crosswords, music and being with her family.

Also preceding Doris in death were her parents; her Aunt Doris; and Uncle Eugene Colvin.

Doris is survived by her son, James Morgan of Pawnee; granddaughter, Kailyn; brothers, Carl Gudgel of Springfield, Walter (wife, Marlene) Gudgel, Charles Gudgel and Dave Gudgel of Pawnee; sister, Linda (husband, Jim) Smith of Springfield; five nieces; and four nephews.

Family will receive friends from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, July 18, 2008, at Kirlin-Egan and Butler Funeral Home, 900 S. Sixth St., Springfield. Visitation will begin with a prayer service at 5 p.m.

A funeral mass will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, July 19, 2008, at St. Aloysius Church, 2119 N. 20th St., Springfield, with Father Don Wolford celebrant.

Burial will follow at Calvary Cemetery in Pawnee.

Memorial contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society, 687 E. Linton Ave., Springfield, IL 62703 or St. John’s Hospice, 800 E. Carpenter St., Springfield, IL 62702.

Please visit Doris’ online life story at www.butlerfuneralhomes.com to offer your condolences.

I hope you are at peace now

Yesterday, while we were at the doctor’s office I called my mom to see how Doris was doing. She had taken a turn for the worse over the weekend so we had decided it was time to take the girls over to see her Monday night to say “I love you’s” (basically saying goodbye). I got off track here….anyways, when I called mom she told me Doris had just passed away. Ryan and I were both in such shock and didn’t want to tell the girls just yet so we took a deep breath and held back our feelings at the moment. When we got home I felt I needed to go see mom and dad and Ryan stayed with the girls so he could explain that Doris was gone. Ryan said Kylie didn’t take it so well. Megan, obviously, did not understand at all what was going on.

Doris….we love you. You were a huge part of our family and you were a wonderful, loving aunt to our children. You were a great friend. We will miss you so much. Your life ended too early, but we hope after the battle you had to fight that you are finally at peace and without pain. The girls know they have a wonderful angel looking over them at all times.

Megan and her medical mysteries

I swear we spend more time at Dr. L’s office than we do any other place. Megan came down with her monthly fever on Thursday, June 10. The only difference is this time the fever was higher than normal and she wasn’t wanting to do anything or eat at all. She had had poo problems all the week before that and now this. The fever got as high as 102.7 but mostly stayed in the 100 to 101 range. When she got fevers in the past they were 99 to 100’s range and she was still pretty much herself. The one constant is the swelling of the lymph nodes in her neck – this seems to coincide with the monthly fever. On Saturday Ryan noticed her tonsils were so swollen we weren’t sure exactly how she was swallowing. We asked her if her throat was sore and she said no. Considering Megan does not register pain like most people do we weren’t convinced that it wasn’t sore. The fever finally broke Sunday sometime and she went to Terri’s on Monday. Yesterday morning we looked at her tonsils again and they were still HUGE so we made the appointment w/Dr. L. He said her tonsils were huge, but wasn’t sure to be too concerned about them yet. He did take some throat cultures and wanted us to take some stool samples and see what we can come up with since she keeps having the fevers. If we don’t get any news from that he wants her to see an Infectious Disease expert. Oh great. Those three words don’t sound very comforting! sigh….

What a great 4th of July holiday

Well, we got back from our mini 4th of July vacation Sunday afternoon. Ryan and I took Monday off work to play around – just the two of us. We went shopping and did some landscaping. It was a hot day but fun!

Back to the vacation….we left Thursday mid-morning for Mt. Vernon to hook up with Ryan’s family for Kirsten’s birthday and the holiday. We were going to spend the majority of our time with Pat’s family. It was a GREAT weekend. The weather was beautiful, the kids were behaving fairly well – everything was just great!!!! It actually was a nice relaxing vacation. I have a bunch of pictures that I’ll post on the website if you want to look. One big milestone on vacation was Kylie learning to swim in the deep end of the pool!!!!!!! She just got up on the diving board – jumped off – and swam to the side without help. Ryan and I were so shocked it sent tears to my eyes. This girl just amazes me CONSTANTLY!!!!! Megan’s biggest thing was getting to feed a baby deer and Pat’s mom who she kept calling her Grandma. Ha ha.

Yesterday was back to work. Bummer! Ryan had to leave for Indiana yesterday which made it a bigger bummer! Ha ha. I hate it when he’s away. I miss him too much. That and every time he goes out of town something seems to happen – like storms and the power going out!!!! So the girls and I, after finishing dinner, went to Target to look around until the power came back on. Ha ha.

Stay tuned…..