The girls...

I wanted to share these pictures because they're just fun and show the girls personalities and cute faces. This was on Sunday after church.

O'Fallon Fall Fest 5K

I ran in the 6th annual O'Fallon Fall Fest 5K this morning. There was a costume contest so I dressed as a sparkly, good witch. I didn't win any prizes (not even a raffle prize!), but it's all good because I had a PR and a good time. I finished seventh in my age group. 26:07 was my overall time.

7 EMILY MORRISON OFALLON MO 4028 29 28 26:07 26:12 00:04 8:25/M

I love when he catches me in mid-air! I really tried to sprint hard at the end.

My friends, Kate & Chris, who ran the race with me.

Kathryn's Birthday Party-Hello Kitty style

Kathryn went through a lot of different characters before we settled on Hello Kitty for her party. First she wanted Diego, then she wanted Sid the Science Kid (new show on PBS), but I finally talked her into Hello Kitty because I could draw her!

Kathryn was so excited to open her presents. She had a super time at her party. She was just so enthusiastic about everything.

She was coloring at the craft table and kept making this cute, excited face.

Her birthday gang of girls. Abby is not pictured because she was being camera shy!

State Fair of Texas

The next day we drove to Dallas to see my Aunt Pat (my mom's sister).

She was so excited to take us to the State Fair with her Gold pass that she gets to use through work. With the gold pass you get really close parking and you get in free!

That is my Aunt with the girls who are cooling their tootsies in the fountain. The loved getting up and making wet footprints, and then dipping them again.

At the petting zoo, which was more of a feeding zoo.

Kathryn with her much-desired cotton candy. When we were looking around at things to eat, she said to me, "I want one of those pink things like that girl had!" Well, I wasn't fast enough to see the girl, so I started guessing. Was it ice cream? No, she didn't think that was what it was. After a few minutes, she shouted, "There! That's what I want!" It was cotton candy! So, we headed off to find her some. She was so excited to try it and hold it and to share with Sydney (and Mommy!)!

On Monday we drove all the way home, with Nonnie, and with a car packed very tightly. We're all so glad to be home! And Mike is happy to have us home!

Pumpkin Patch with Nonnie

On Friday we went with Nonnie (my mom) to a couple of Doctor appointments and shopping at Dillards (woohoo!). On Saturday we went to the Bell Family Farm in Tyler. The Bells are a family that has been in my home ward forever. They opened their farm last year and I was so excited to be able to visit their Pumpkin Patch.

Nonnie & Kathryn are posing in this picture, because that is the only way Kathryn would agree to be in the picture.

Nonnie took this picture on the hayride. Pretty good considering how bumpy it was!

Isn't this cute? It was actually kind of hot that day (typical Texas), but it was nice in the shade. Like the drool slinging off Sydney's chin?

Isn't this a cute idea? You can take this same picture every year and see how your chillin' have grown.

Texas Trip - Part 1

On Friday, September 26th, I drove 16 hours in one day (!) to visit my dad & stepmom in Odessa, Texas. We left at 5:30 am and got to their house around 9:30 pm. The girls did an amazing job. Especially since Sydney gets car sick, which means no DVDs!

On Saturday, we hung around the house in the morning, and then went to Chuck E. Cheese's, much to Kathryn's delight! It was the first time I'd ever eaten their pizza, and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be! On Tuesday we went to a Children's museum in Midland and the girls had so much fun playing in the pretend town. We were the only people there for most of the time, so it was nice for them to have it to theirselves.

These are the only pictures that I took while we were there, but Dean took a lot more, so I hope to get those from her and I'll post some.

Dean read many books while we were there. She bought them some little Little Miss books that they loved to hear.

Little Joe (the dog) was a constant topic of conversation and activity. The girls were either running away from him, letting him lick them (mainly Sydney), or being scared of him. He looks so vicious, doesn't he? They also have a kitty name Got Milk, but everyone just calls her Kitty. Sydney loved to chase her and try to pet her, but a couple of times the kitty had had enough and swatted at her, which scared her (but made the rest of us laugh). On Thursday, October 2nd, we drove another 7 hours to Tyler, Texas to see my mom.

Chile - Highlights and Memories

* Forgetting to get our luggage and my sister almost getting fined by the Chilean Department of Agriculture.
* Getting yelled at (in Spanish) by an old lady for taking her picture. (We hadn't actually taken her picture.)
* My mom being so frazzled from fighting with aforementioned old lady, that she forgot her bag and change at the grocery store!
* Running 3 blocks at mach speed to try and get aforementioned bag & change before someone else did.
* Being given the hoo-doo eye by a cab driver for slamming his door.
* Crying mostly non-stop for the first day I was there. (What can I say, I'm emotional. I was happy to see my mom, panicky to be 5,000 miles away from home and possibly never returning home to see my husband and beautiful kids...Did I mention that I have a tendancy to worry?)
* Being given a flower by a man who wanted to welcome me to Chile (even after I had made a face because he was eating french fries with mustard.)
* Saying "Permisso" (Excuse me) many times because until you do, people won't move or get out of your way!
* Almost throwing up after eating something that was supposed to be flan-like (I think) but felt more like really wet scrambled eggs with a hint of almond.
* Being very happy that they have Coke Zero in Chile! (Coca Cero)
* Enjoying the taste of empanadas fritas con queso!
* Eating sopapillas with salsa (so good!)
* Landing after a 10 hour flight and realizing that I had gone to Chile and back and survived! (And that I still had another (short) flight, but it not mattering because I was in the United States!)

Chile - Day7 (Last Day)

We woke up in Osorno and had breakfast (more cold cuts...weird). Then we walked around Osorno and browsed some shops. This is a very beautiful and grand Catholic church.

We tried some of this root (?) from a street vendor. It is sour and you dip it in salt. It was interesting. We had just eaten french fries and a pistachio ice cream, so the combination wasn't the best.

This is an apartment that my mom stayed in during her time in Osorno. This was considered very posh, and I think even it didn't have hot water and stayed very cold.

A view of two volcanos out of my window in the airplane. We almost didn't get on the flight out of Puerto Montt because they had oversold the flight, so there were some tense moments, but at the last second we all got seats. It's a good thing too, because if I had missed that flight, I wouldn't have made my connecting flight home to the states, and I was more than ready to come home!

Chile - Day 6

On Day 6 morning, we woke up and had the continental breakfast at the hotel. It consisted of cold cuts, rolls, yogurt, toast, and juice. Then we took a bus ride (1 1/2 hour) to Osorno. This is the first place that my mom was assigned on her mission.

We stayed in this hotel on recommendation of the Santiago Temple president.

This was the chapel that my mom attended during her time in Osorno.

My mom and I with Olaya & Leo Villarroel. They were very sweet to her when she was here on her mission. The little girl is from another family, but attended the same ward.

The Chacon Family. (The boy in the back is purposely standing in front of the antlers.) Luis, the father, is a jeweler, and made my sister and I and our daughters beautiful necklaces with birthstone pendants. He handmade the chain as well.

Chile - Day 5

First thing on Day 5 morning we were picked up in front of our hotel by a big tour bus. Unfortunately, we were the first ones picked up and the last ones dropped off, but we did get to see lots of scenery and the seats were comfortable. Then we drove along a rode that skirts Lago Llanquihue, a huge, beautiful lake.

Our first stop was the Saltos de Petrohue (I think it means Petrohue rapids or falls). It was very windy and bitterly cold, but beautiful. We had a perfect view of the Volcano Osorno from here.

Then we drove a little bit more to get to the boat that would take us across Todos Los Santos. It was a very nice cruise.

You could either sit inside, or outside. I tried to split my time between both. The air was so clean and clear here, which was a stark contrast to Santiago where it is so smoggy that you can rarely see the Andes mountains!

We got off the boat in a small town called Peulla (which I still can't pronounce). We had a choice of a couple of activities (canopy (zip line), horseback riding, 4x4 safari), but we chose a 1 hour horseback ride. They took us by bus a little ways from the town to a farm. When we got there there was a condor sitting on a stable. (The condor is the national bird of Chile). It was so cool to see him! But then I was hurried off to get on my horse. Our guide, Marco, didn't say much, but the ride was nice, even though the horses seemed to not like us. We got to ride through water, which I had never done before. The horses kept wanting to stop to eat. (My mom doesn't like horses, so she waited for us at the hotel.) Then we came back to Peulla and had lunch at the Hotel Peulla. We all ate salmon, because it was the only choice besides the pork, which we were instructed not to eat by our tour guide!

Chile - Day 4

Day 4 was September 19th, Chilean Armed Forces Day. There are many parades on this day, but we were headed down to Puerto Montt, so we didn't get to see the parades, but on our way to my mom's office in the morning, we did get to see these troops marching to get in line for the parade.

We had to run by the office before we left so that my mom could get her passport.

Then we flew down to Puerto Montt.

We had dinner (a meat festival) and then walked around down by the water. It was very cold and windy.

Chile - Day 3

Day 3 was the 18th of September, a patriotic holiday in Chile. You can read more about it here. We attended a festival at Ines Suarez park, close to where we were staying in Santiago. They had booths set up with hand made things to buy, rides for kids, live animal displays, and lots of Cueca dancing.

Later that day we attended another festival and watched a history of Chile on horseback. It was fun to watch despite not understanding a word the narrator was saying and the LOUD speakers that we were sitting near. Then we walked around the festival grounds and had a lunch of empanadas fritas con queso (fried empanadas with cheese, my favorite food of Chile), french fries (my mom thinks that Chile has good fries, and I agree), and Pastele de Choclo (Chilean corn and meat pie). (I have never tried the recipe that I linked, but I thought some of you might find it interesting to see the ingredients).

I took this picture because my mom was telling us how this was her favorite place to stand when she rides the bus, and I wanted to remember it.