Just a quick update...

This last month has been super busy for us. M mom and I spent the 4th,5th and 6th in Clio,MI with my brother and sister in law. We were able to fit in a ton of Christmas shopping, great meals (I love cracker barrel!) and of course, time with Anna and Ben Ben. That Friday was also Jake's last day working at Whetstone, and he spent the weekend watching Rorie and finishing the wood floors at my parents (isn't he just the best?).
The next week was a blur of final exams (yuck) and last minute planning for Jake's departure. Sunday night at our weekly family dinner, we had an early Christmas celebration for Jake where he opened presents from his family and a stocking from me. It was a bitter sweet evening, but we were glad to be able to give him a little bit of Christmas.
First thing Monday morning I brought Jake to the recruiters. We were able to spend a few more minutes together while Jake filled out last minute paperwork and took his final drug test (such fun). It was horrible saying goodbye to him, but exciting to know that we were finally on the adventure we had been planning for almost a year.
Jake was able to call a few times to let us know how his trip was going. He arrived at Basic Training Tuesday afternoon, called to say a last goodbye, and then surrendered his phone. We will be receiving a letter sometime next week so that we have his mailing info. This will be our main form of communication for the next 9 weeks. We are keeping our fingers crossed that he will be able to call home on Christmas Day, but nothing is set in stone. We will let you all know his mailing address as soon as we get it, and pass on any information that we get.

We appreciate all of your love and prayers!

Love,
Meghan & Rorie

Utah Pics

For some reason my computer wasn't letting me post pictures with my last blog. So here are all our Thanksgiving/Utah pics...ENJOY!

The Mellor boys impatiently humoring me

Dallin in his puffy jacket trying to get outside

Rorie on the 4 Wheeler


The Mellors at Thanksgiving Dinner

Bethany and Tory...the newlyweds :)

LtoR: Melissa Davis, me, Terren Pyeatte

LtoR: Peyton Pyeatte, Rorie, Lily Davis at our playgroup reunion

Nen, Ri & I

JT...SO cute!

I think this picture says it all

Rilyn was an expert equestrian!

Nen and JT trying to stay warm

Silly

Rorie the Cowgirl

Well until next time....

The Kenisons

Thanksgiving/Utah Madness!

For Thanksgiving this year I (almost) surprised Jake with a trip home to Utah. We had a wonderful time, but the trip was a little hectic and way too short! We were there just long enough to realized that we needed a lot more time to do all of the things we wanted to do.

We left Marquette last Sunday at 6:30 (never again) and arrived in SLC by 1pm. Darrel was there to meet us and he drove us down to Springville to the Mellors. Unfortunantly Brenda happened to be flying in that evening from Seattle (she was visiting Jake's other sister Laura) and we missed her by just an hour or two. It was great to see Neldon (a little frazzled) and the boys and the nice warm dinner they had waiting for us was great too. That evening we went down to Payson for ice cream at Grandma's and got to see a majority of the extended Marvin family. It is amazing how much has changed in just 6mo! Rorie had a ton of fun playing with all of her cousins, but by 7:30 we were pretty much beat. By 8:30 we were all sound asleep at Jake's parents house in Levan

Monday was our one relaxing day. We spent all morning and afternoon in Levan, talking and catching up. That night we left Rorie for a little one on one time with Gma and Gpa and went to Nephi to see Jake's sisters Mia and Andrea in their school play. It was callled Once Upon A Mattress and it was a re-make of the story the Princess and the Pea. We were a little shocked at the slightly racy storyline, but it was a hoot to watch Andrea being chased across stage by a rowdy King.

Tuesday my best friend Nen and her two kids, Rilyn and JT came down to spend the day with me. Jake entertained Rorie and Rilyn with pony rides while Nen and I caught up and I enjoyed meeting JT for the first time. It was wonderful to see them and JT was a riot! Such a happy bubbly little baby.

Around 4 we headed up to Springville to have Rorie's 18mo portraits taken with her cousin Dallin. We met at the studio and I finally got to see Brenda! She looked great with her little baby bump, if not a little frazzled toting all three of her boys. The pictures went ok, but we were a little let down. Rorie and Dallin have taken wonderful pictures in the past, and these ones were just not up to par. They were both cranky and didn't want to cooperate, but we still managed to get a few cute pics (I will get them up as soon as I can).

Wednesday was our busiest day by far. We started the morning with Sterling Marvins funeral. It was a very sad day but the speakers were wonderful and the over all spirit was uplifting. It is always hard to bury someone who should have had so much life left, but it seemed that the family was relieved to know that he was home and in a much better place. After the funeral Jake left with Bethany for some equestrian therapy will Brenda and I headed out for some retail therapy. We came home at three to relieve the babysitter and then Rorie and I headed out to meet up with our old play group. Melissa Davis, Terren Pyeatte and I met when I first moved to Springville. We were all first time mothers with young infants and we became fast friends. Our play group and their friendship really made Springville feel like home to me. It was great to see them and to get our babies together again. We got to catch up while the babies fought (I mean played) with each other. At 5 we left the kids with their dads and headed out to dinner. It was a wonderful evening! My last stop that night was at Nen and Tommy's new apartment. It was nice to have a little more time with Nen and to get to see Tommy as well. We talked a lot about his first semester of law school and their transition from a house to a student apartment as well as from one kid to two. They certainly have had a very busy 6mo!

Thursday we headed back to Levan for Thanksgiving dinner. It was held at the Levan chapel. We had so many people that the cultural hall was the only place that could accomodate us! It is times like those that really point out the vast differences between Jake's family and mine. Dinner was delicious and filling and by the time we got back to Jake's parents house I was ready for a nap. Jake's cousins all came down from trap shooting and four wheeler rides, and the kids got to work off their turkey and mashed potatoes on the trampoline. By the time everyone left we were all ready for bed, but we stayed up to savor our last few hours with the Kenison's.

Friday morning we set out for the airport at 5:30 (seriously WHO made these reservations?!) and we were a little worried that Rorie and Jake were coming down with the flu. We had to stop 4 times (two times on the side of the freeway) so that they could throw up. Luckily they both seemed better by the time we got to the airport and we just chalked it up to too much food and too little sleep.

Our trip home was long to say the least, but after only a few minor glitches (thank you very much American Airlines) we made it back to Marquette safe and sound.

We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and enjoy the rest of your Holiday Season!

Love,

The Kenison

One of these days...

One of these days I may get on top of my blog posting but in the mean time here is another catch up post:

Our summer just seemed to fly by. We had so much fun being in Marquette and enjoying all that the UP has to offer during its "warm" months. Now that fall is here Jake is starting to get a little nervous about his first Northern Michigan winter, especially when we had our first snow fall the second week of October. Luckily for him he only has about a month and a half left to endure before he gets to escape.

My first semester back at school has been a busy one. I really do enjoy the program and I am learning a lot. It is also fun for me to have a little bit of the true college experience, even if it is only for a few hours a day. The one major draw back is missing out on days with Rorie. It has been a hard adjustment for me but Rorie is having the time of her life. Spending all week being spoiled rotten by Grandma and Grandpa is heaven for her. I knew we were in trouble when Grandpa told me he had cooled down her oatmeal in the morning by putting a scoop of peach ice cream in it. We had to have a little conversation about proper diet after that one but on a whole they have been amazing with her. It is such a blessing to have such willing and generous parents near by.

Jake is still excited about his upcoming adventure this December, but with his departure so close we have begun to get anxious about the unknown. No matter how good the reasons are for it, seperation from your family is always a hard thing to deal with. We are so thankful to have one more holiday together before he leaves. We will have to make sure it is a great one.
Rorie is growing in leaps and bounds. Rorie has had the same three teeth for months, but just the other day we found not one, not two, but 5 NEW TEETH coming in. She has also grown about three inches in the last few weeks and she is officially too tall for 12mo clothes (although her waist is still too small for most 12mo pants) and we have had to scramble to replace her wardrobe. She is talking more and more everyday and we are loving watching her learn to express herself.

This week is halloween and we are so excited for Rorie's first real trick-or-treating experience. We will make sure to take lots of pictures so that we can share them all with you!

Until next time,

The Kenisons

Baby Rorie

Click here to view these pictures larger

Greetings from the UP

It has been way too long since I updated this thing. Since my last post our little family has moved cross country, have a new house, new jobs and also a new ward. It has been a very busy couple of months but we are having a wonderful time! Being back in Marquette (my hometown) has been so fun for me. I have loved seeing old friends and favorite hang outs and most importantly getting to be near my family. Rorie is enjoying being the center of attention and is enjoying the summer weather even more. It has been a very mild summer here but we have still managed to spend a lot of time in the great outdoors. Here are some great beach pics:





This June was our 2 year anniversary. Since we were a little tight on cash after the move we made it a pretty low key night. We went out to dinner without Rorie and then spent the rest of the evening at Presque Isle ( a local scenic destination) enjoying the beautiful scenery. It is so hard to believe that it has already been two year! Hopefully the next two years will be just as great!

The last bit of exitement since our move was the 4th of July. Jake got to be in the local parade with the rest of the local armed forces. Rorie fell asleep shortly before the parade started and I was working, but the rest of my family was there to cheer him on. That afternoon we all headed down to Marquette's annual Food Fest. The festival is a super fun tradition where all the local vendors bring their food (both local and foreign cuisine) to sell for charity. We had a great time walking, eating and visiting. That night after Rorie fell asleep Jake and I headed down to south beach to watch the fireworks display. It was pretty cold by then but we managed to keep warm :) All together it was a wonderful day! here are some cute (and patriotic) pics of Rorie enjoying the festivities:




We hope you are all having a great summer and we will post more later.

Love

The Kenisons

My New Obsession

When I found out that Jake and I were having a baby, I started scrapbooking to record all of Rorie's special moments. When we moved to Marquette just a couple of months ago I was introduced to a new form of scrapbooking: Digital Scrapbooking. My friend Hailey and her husband are professional photographers and she started doing this to keep up with all of their amazing photos. Since she showed me the ropes I have been going non stop ! I never thought that I would love it more than the traditional paper method, but it is a million times better! Here is why:

1. DS is ten times faster than paper
2. Because it is all on the computer it is easy to pick it up when you have an extra 10 minutes, without having to set up a million supplies.
3. It is possible to fix mistakes with the click of mouse which means no wasted supplies!
4. It is all saved on your computer so if the hard copies are damaged/destroyed you just print a new one.
5. You have the option of publishing your work to a web site (like blogspot) or having them professionaly bound and printed.
6. Even including the initial software costs and printing costs it is SO much cheaper than paper!

If anyone is interested in starting I definantly recomend buying Adobe Photoshop Elements 7, it is the most amazing program ever :)

So now that I am done ranting, here are a couple of my favorite pages from Rorie's baby book:

Obviously this page is of Rorie's Blessing Day. For some reason none of the pictures from that day turned out very well. They were grainy and had a weird color to them. The creative solution? SEPIA! It makes the slightly grainy look appear vintage and since the dress Rorie is wearing was originally my grandmothers (and my mom and I's) christening dress, it compliments it perfectly.


This is one of my favorites because both of these pictures show a slightly sillier side of Rorie. The one with Rorie bent over looks like a yoga pose....Downward Dog :)


This kit (the digital combination of papers, elements and fonts) is one of my all time favorites! It is so colorful and happy with so many element options. I could have made ten more pages with this kit without repeating anything.

Well I hope you enjoyed the pages and I hope I encouraged some of you out there to get creative!

Love,

Meg

Rorie and Dallin Birthday Portraits

So we are in the final countdown to the big move! We will be leaving first thing Thursday morning and heading for Marquette. So as you can Imagine we are super busy, but I just could not resist a quick post to show off Rorie and her cousin Dallin's one year portraits....SO ADORALBLE!


So these two above were their formal outfits that they had for Easter. Dallin is too cute in his little shirt and tie!

We absolutely love this pic, but it sort of looks like they are a little married couple :) :)

So it is not quite as obvious from these Pics but Dallin is HUGE...he is 11lbs bigger than Rorie...our little football stud.

Im one!

This pic was spur of the moment when we realized their casual outfits matched too...so glad we did it! This one really captures their silly personalities, especially when they are together.

We had to get a standing shot because that is the most noticeable physical change..she is only a pound and a half bigger than she was 6 months ago!

This is my absolute favorite of Rorie...you get a good tooth shot. All though these images dont have it...all of the printed pics have a sort of vintage overlay so it sort of has a sepia tone to it and they are just beautiful!

McCall Road Trip

This weekend Rorie and I went on an all girls road trip, first to Boise, ID then to McCall to visit my Grandmother. We left early on Thursday and spent the majority of the day driving. It was a long day with Rorie in the car and I have never been more relieved to arrive somewhere in my entire life! It was great to see both Grandma (or Granny to Rorie) and my Uncle Bill. We spent that evening just hanging out and visiting. My Grandma has two dogs, Tigger and Angus. Angus and Rorie were immediate pals, but Tigger was a lot harder to convince. Rorie's tendency to grab anything within her immediate vicinity, i.e. tails, ears, face, did little to create any goodwill between them.

This is Tigger, hiding on the couch just out of reach of Rorie's grabby hands. The entire time we were there Rorie never gave up on trying to play with Tig. It didnt help much that Tig no longer has a barker...so that all of the natural warning signs she was giving off (barking/snarling) came out as very innefectual coughing sounds.

Friday morning Grandma, Rorie and I headed up towards McCall. It was a nice clear day and the drive was SO BEAUTIFUL! I had forgotten how much I love the area. We arrived at the cabin in the late afternoon. I wasn't feeling well so we kept the rest of the day pretty low key, grocery shopping at the local store and just enjoying the cabin atmosphere. Rories favorite feature of the cabin as well as the most dangerous, were the stairs to the upper floor. The rest of the weekend was mostly spent keeping her away from them or diligently following her up and down them.

Here is a nice little action sequence for you:




Poor Rorie was almost constantly in a state of un-dress. She just cant quite manage to keep her pants on!

We spent the rest of the weekend exploring McCall and enjoying our quality time together. We just had so much fun and I can't wait to go up there again. Here are a few more random pics from the trip:
Rorie and Granny having bath time in the kitchen sink

Prior to her bath Rorie helped Granny unload the dishwasher...naked of course.


In Boise we had to get a little creative when it came to a high chair for Rorie. Necessity IS the mother of invention...
McCall cabin Sunday morning after we got a little fresh snow


Packing up Sunday morning we had to make sure that Lilly got home with us, so Rorie volunteered to let her go piggy back.

Lilly's Bday Party

Today Rorie went to her very first Birthday party! Her friend Lilly from our play group turned one today and all of her little friends from the ward came over to help her celebrate. Her mom Melissa went all out with the decorations. She had streamers, balloons and party hats!(which the babies barely tolerated) All of the kids seemed to be a little confused by the commotion and picture taking but they managed to enjoy themselves in spite of us. After the party each of the kids received a kid friendly party favor: Chinese takeout boxes filled with gold fish and cheerios.


Lilly the Birthday Girl!


Rorie was just obsessed with this balloon. She spent almost the entire party chasing it around the room.


This is a picture of the "Happy Birthday" Banner and streamers that Melissa put up. The room looked great!


This is a pic of Lilly with her birthday balloon boquet... a present from her grandma



Lilly really didn't like her birthday hat


Rorie was so good! She kept her hat on the whole time...so cute!


It was such a fun day for both Rorie and I and I just can't wait for it to be Rorie's turn (just a month and a half to go!).