Missing Her...

Today I am missing her a lot, it really started this afternoon, but for some reason has just continued all through the evening. Some of these reasons will sound so weird to all of you but it all sort of tied together. First Mandy and I went to a Chinese buffet for lunch and I had already been thinking about her and then I saw this one stuff (egg fo-young) sp? and it was my Mom's favorite chinese dish. Each time we would get Chinese food she would order that, and well, I don't think I've seen it since the last time she ordered it. I know that sounds weird but even something as small as that made me pretty upset. I knew I had to go to work after eating but I just wanted to go home and be by myself. Then on our way to work this song came on and it's from a soundtrack that my Mom absolutely loved. I haven't heard this song for like So many years, but I should have known something like that would have played. At work the name "Perry" came up for me to call, so even though it isn't HER name, it was just too much for me. I was praying he wouldn't answer and thankfully he didn't. Well then next name for me to call was "Kyle Campbell" and Campbell was my Mom's maiden name. It seems like I can't get away from it all tonight.

Yesterday I got this really nice email from a friend. She was friends with my Mom growing up and emails me now. She has no idea how much I love hearing from her about things having to do with my Mom. But yesterday she wrote and said, " I must tell you when I pulled up the most recent photos of your trip; I would have thought time stood still and I was looking at your mother; you are an identical face of her and heart."

Maybe because of this email is why she has been on my mind so much, or maybe because August is coming up and well, that's when my Mom was diagnosed. I'm not really sure, but I know it's hard. I guess I should stop talking about it, otherwise this will be another night of crying myself to sleep.......ahh... :(

Well to update you all on my Mom's movie ILLEGAL HOPE, the movie premiere will be on August 23rd in Orange, CA. David Ingrassano is flying Mandy and I out there for that weekend to be there. I am pretty excited about this. It will be so nice to have this movie and I know my Mom would be very pleased. May God get all the glory from the film! To see more about the movie click HERE

I hope some of this makes a little sense, as I'm writing to get all this out I have Lane talking non stop and wanting to play and my Dad talking to me about things, so I'm kind of half way out of it...

My Last 6 Weeks...

Just to caution all of you this is going to be one LONG blog post. I knew that when I got home I’d want to blog all about my trip but then I also tried doing a few posts while I was gone to make this one a little easier but I still feel like there is just so much I could share. I was trying to think of ways yesterday to make it more interesting to read also or ways to keep your attention through the whole post but I came up with nothing, so sadly you’ll have to bear with me through all of this if you want to make it to the end! ☺

As you almost all know I had my trip to Oklahoma planned for awhile before I actually went but it was more difficult this time since it was a surprise for Bethany. She was planning on me arriving the 26th, but I actually flew in the 21st and stayed with the Naylors a few days before I went to the Morris’ house. So my trip started out at the Naylors house which was a lot of fun! I got to meet a lot of really nice people at a Celtic Festival they played at and then just had fun being with them all. One night we played volleyball with a group of people at some church and then one afternoon us girls had fun playing around with make up and doing hair and then I had the privilege to photograph them with John’s REALLY nice studio lights. It was so great, unfortunately I did a horrible job taking the pictures, but I guess it was good practice for me. John’s lights are so nice too, I’ve heard about using studio lights but never thought I’d care to try them out, but boy was I wrong, they added a whole new feel to the pictures. Also while I was with the Naylors we went to the IMAX, which was really cool. We saw a movie called Storm Chasers. I had never been to the IMAX before so I didn’t even know what to expect, when it first came on I thought I might get sick during the movie, but that feeling went away and I was just so enthralled into the movie I think. ☺

So then Tuesday came around and it was time to try to pull off the surprise for Bethany. The plan was to meet Mrs. Morris at the donut shop around 7:00 and then when she went into the house she was going to have all the kids go in the back room while she got a last minute gift ready for Bethany. That’s when I came in and she had this huge box ready for me to slip underneath. She had it wrapped as if a puppy was in the box or something though, because she had little dog treats tied with ribbon to the top of the box to throw her off, which I THINK it worked. After I was positioned she had all the kids come out of the back and they were just all amazed at the huge box, it was hard for me to keep from laughing at the expressions the kids were saying! :D Finally Bethany started to open the box though and saw me! ☺ She said later on that she wondered if I’d somehow make it for her birthday but didn’t expect me to be in the box. So it was a success and I think she was not TOO disappointed that it was me and not a puppy!

Well I guess I better not give a play by play of the WHOLE trip cause that could get REALLY REALLY lengthy seeing I was there 2 days short of 6 weeks, who knows I could probably write a book, but anyways, moving on…. ☺

It was so great being back at their house and just seeing everyone again. Being able to join in on celebrating Bethany’s birthday was great, it was a really nice party! That day Bethany went to get her hair cut also so that was great seeing her get it cut at a salon type place for the first time! She is NOT tough headed by any means either, so the expressions she would make when the lady pulled her hair were priceless. I think I have a few pictures of that to post! ;)

Well for the first two weeks we just enjoyed a lot of normal things, milking goats, playing lots of volleyball, working on a song to record (singing) and also going to the Tea Room for Bethany’s late birthday gift. ☺ You probably all read her blog about that so I wont say too much. So anyway, it was getting very close to the time I was supposed to leave and SOMEBODY, no just kidding, I don’t know who’s idea it was but someone mentioned me staying longer. I had nothing pressing at home so it WAS possible for me to stay but I just kept telling them I couldn’t do that to them. When you take a family of 14 and then try to add someone else for that long, things DO happen and well I knew it would and so I felt really wrong to agreeing staying that long. But I gave in to my flesh I guess because I decided to stay. I called my Dad and asked his permission and he saw nothing wrong with it so I called the airlines and to my surprise it was VERY cheap to change my flight so I did! I was then scheduled to come home the 24th of July instead of the 8th. I’ll admit I was very excited that I was going to be there that much longer, and we had lots of fun things planned in those two weeks. TWO rodeos to go to and the Peach Festival in Strattford (sp?). Also Mr. Morris’ parents were coming up for a visit so I was going to get to meet them.

Well that first night after changing my tickets something came up and I immediately told them I made the wrong decision. Oh, don’t think THEY did anything wrong, it was me! Bethany and I had this little joke….a mean joke I guess and well Bethany did this little thing :-{} and I just laughed SOO hard but then someone else was in the studio and wanted to know why I was laughing so that’s what caused the problem. I couldn’t exactly explain to him what Bethany did and he really wanted to know so it was my fault and I felt awful but I made the comment that I shouldn’t have changed my flight. Well that kind of started an uproar! LOL Then I was told that I needed to “switch my gears” :D That became a key slogan around the Morris House with me there. I guess I have a tendency to come up with what everyone thinks about me then when they say that’s not true, I have a hard time believing them, SO after that night I tried hard to “switch gears” and BELIEVE! ;) It actually helped a lot, not to say I succeeded every time, not at ALL, but the times I was able to retrain my brain, it worked well. ☺

So that next day Nana and Pop (The Morris’ grandparents) arrived and it was really great to meet them. I had heard a lot about them but it was a blessing to meet in person. At first I was a LITTLE quiet around them (Just a little, right guys?) but soon I became my normal self. They put on a little concert for them and I played one song with Caleb and Dan on my guitar, As the Deer. That night was the beginning of our every night practice! The guys played Washed in the Blood and then realized I knew how to play it on guitar so practiced that and a few other songs most nights, it was a lot of fun! Just wish Bethany would have been in on it, she would just sit with us and look PRETTY bored! ;) She is very good at playing so we would have sounded even better if she would have helped us out!

A few days after their grandparents left we went to a rodeo in Shawnee. It was a HUGE rodeo and SO neat! I had never been to one before so it was quite exciting! Bethany says I screamed a few times, but I don’t remember doing that. Some of the events just looked so mean though, like where they had to rope the calf and then rope the back legs also and then stretch the thing….oooh so sad! ☹ I guess it is possible I screamed on that part, but only because I felt sorry for the calf. The bucking broncos were So neat and the bull riding…those were definitely my two favorite things to watch.

WOAH, sorry to interrupt with my story but I’m sitting on my Dad’s deck writing this and well I’ve had like 10 wasps fly by me and one big bumble bee, but just now I heard something loud and looked over and there was a HUMMINGBIRD not even a foot from me. It just stayed right by me. That was so neat and then it flew over to the hibiscus tree next to me, anyway sorry, maybe this is like an intermission to my story. ☺ It’s gone now though, so moving on…

While I was there we also got to do quite a bit of shopping. I had enough clothes for 2 weeks but not six and well I know I could just wash and reuse, but the same ol’ skirts for that long just don’t work for me. It was fun shopping though. I was able to get like 3 or 4 new skirts while I was there so that helped out a lot, OH and I got my hair cut! I wanted my hair to stay long but it was to the point it was too heavy to wear in a pony tail and it actually FELT like horse hair it was so bad, so while we were at the mall, I went in to one of those little places and they cut it for me. I was really nervous and after she was done it felt SOO short, but I’m glad I got it cut. It’s a lot healthier now and feels softer AND it’s cooler for these hot summer days! I think it’s about the shortest I’ve ever had it though. The Morris’ still think it’s long and well…my family could barely tell I cut it when I got home, but being my own hair I can DEFINITELY tell. ☺

Hmm..this is hard writing this many weeks later about everything that went on. We did SO much stuff but then I draw a blank when it comes to blogging about it all. It’d sure be a lot easier if when I’m on my trips I just blogged each night about the day, but of course that would take away from my time there and I wouldn’t want that. :D

Well last Saturday was the Peach Festival that we all went to. It was really fun going there and seeing the Burnett's. Hannah and Abbie were in the “Peach Idol” contest and were playing some song on the piano and violin. They did a really nice job and ended up getting to play before the rodeo that night also. Between the Peach Festival and the rodeo we went back to the Burnett’s home to have dinner and just spend time fellowshipping. It was nice to finally see their house and to see the girls again. I already talked a little bit about the rodeo that night. It was a lot of fun and I’m not sure if I mentioned but Elijah, Caleb and Daniel all did the wild cow ride thing too. I’m not exactly sure how it’s supposed to work, but I think you are supposed to like get ahold of the cow, saddle it and then one of the people is to get on and ride it to the other end, well, that only worked with one team. The halter came off almost immediately for the guys, so they weren’t able to do it. I felt sorry for them, but hey, at least they didn’t get hurt. One guy got like completely stepped on and left limping, so I’m glad it was no one I knew. ☹ Some of the younger kids did the calf scramble too. It was fun to watch tons of kids running around trying to grab the little ribbon off of them.

By this time my trip was nearing an end and I was getting pretty sad about that. I did miss my family, a lot actually but I knew I’d miss them all when I was gone too. The only reason it was easier for me to go was because I knew it would be good for their family to get back to normal life with Danielle being there! Even though they said it wasn’t like that, I know what it’s like to have company for 6 weeks..or longer and it’s nice to have your own family just back and not in the “play” mode anymore.

I found out SO many things right before leaving though, lots of things that I just laugh about. Some of those Morris boys are just TOO funny, they were having SS meetings without me knowing and well just loved to joke. :D “Y” I guess I had quite a few of my own jokes though for them! Anna- 5 C’s Bethany- ( ) and just some random ones throughout this post! :D

Leaving on Thursday was unbelievably tough. I just didn’t want to say goodbye and well I’m not sure how long it will be till I see them again, hopefully in January for sure at the Film Festival, but who knows…God knows! ☺ Very quickly after being there they all became like family to me. They all treated me as a sister and Mr. Morris would tell people I was his adopted daughter. It was very special to me. I realized on this trip that people don’t always have a motive for being nice. They chose to love me and to be kind to me because they were extending God’s love not for any other reason. That was very neat for me and I’ll always be appreciative for their kindness. I miss you all! ☺

Well, I guess that’s it. There you have it, that’s most of the highlights from my trip. I didn’t even mention 4th of July or flying kites or swimming in the pond and pool, there is just so much, hopefully you guys will feel like you know a little more though of what went on while I was there!

Now that I am back home I’m not sure what is in store for me. Right now I’m just enjoying the time I have at home with my family. Angie hasn’t been feeling good, she is SO ready for Luke to be here…we have been praying her water will break soon! We are thinking surely it will be in the next few days, but we hope each day it will happen that night! ;) My Dad is barbecuing today and Lane is filling up water balloons and well I’ve just been writing this. I AM working on my tan though, Bethany for sure beat me on our tanning contest, but getting home I found out I’m more tan than anyone here! ☺ Not that it matters, it’s just fun to compare. It’s taken me almost an hour to write this though, so that’s a whole hour I’ve been out here….uh oh Bethany watch out, I just might catch up to you! ;)

If you made it this far, Congratulations hope you weren’t all TOO bored with this post! ☺

SORRY I HAVE NO PICTURES RIGHT NOW....MY COMPUTER ISN"T HERE WITH ME SO IT'S HARD TO POST PHOTOS, PLEASE CHECK BACK SOON THOUGH TO SEE PICTURES!

Some extra time...

Well, most everyone is outside right now so I have a little bit of time to update my blog some. I seem to have a lot on my mind though, so I'm not sure I'll be able to get a lot of what we've been doing out in a blog now...we'll see though.

I've been thinking a lot about my trip coming to end lately and that gets me pretty sad. I've been here so long it seems like that they just feel like family and well, being home is going to be pretty weird I think. I was discussing with Bethany today that when I'm home it's almost like I live by myself, I mean...I sort of do when I'm at my nanny job, but I don't know, it's just not at all like it is here. I guess I should just stop thinking about it though and enjoy the last few days that I have here. Another scary thing for me is, I'm not even sure where I'll be going when I get home. I sort of lost my nanny job right after I came to Oklahoma, but then 2 weeks later she asked me to come back since she would be working part time from home, so now I have to decide what I'm going to do. Of course I'd love to just have NO job and stay home but that's not really an option for me. Then Angie, my stepmom, is due in the next two weeks, so with a new baby brother at home, I'll definitely want to spend my time there! :) We'll see though what the Lord has planned, I have had to just step back from things and realize that God is in control and HE has a plan for me and I'll just trust that He will show me what I'm to do.

Okay moving on to some of the fun things that have been going on! First of all, I have been getting PIANO LESSONS!!!! :) I am absolutely loving learning to play. I can't play much at all now, but hopefully with some practice I'll be better. I guess I've had maybe 2 or 3 lessons so far, but during the day when I have any extra time I'm usually sitting at the keyboard in the studio or their piano and playing. :D The studio is better though, that way everyone doesn't get so annoyed with the same song played over and over again with the same mess ups! Also, Caleb, Daniel and I have been playing our instruments each night trying to get some songs down. (Violin, Viola, and Guitar) my favorite to play has got to be "Washed in the Blood" It's got some fast strumming and a lot of fiddle playing. I'd love to just play all the time, but my little friend Bethany, kinda gets sick of us playing so much! :D She can take 30 min. of it, but that's it! ;) Right Besh? :P

Hmm..let's see what else have we been doing?? Oh, I've gone to TWO rodeos since I've been here. I had never been to a rodeo before, so they were both quite exciting! Since I'm allergic to horses and who knows what else, it's a little aggravating sneezing every 2 minutes, but it's worth it! :) The rodeo on Saturday was a lot of fun. We all went down to Stratford for a Peach Festival and we met up with the Burnett Family. We got to see Hannah and Abbie Burnett play piano and violin and then went back to their house for awhile and then on to the rodeo, it was really neat. Also, while at the Peach Festival, Bethany bought another dog. :D She already has 4, but she says this one will help with the goats. It's an Australian Shepherd and it's pretty cute, but....I'm sooooo allergic to it also! :D Too bad, because he does look kinda cute, I'd typically be wanting to hold him.

Today was a majorly hot day, at least 100 degrees, so Bethany and I went for a swim. I can't believe I did it, but I did...we got in their pond which has poisonous snakes and turtles and fish and gunk everywhere. lol It was so much fun though, and I only came close to one fish but other than that everything left me alone. I had to prove to everyone I COULD swim, I guess they were under the impression I couldn't swim, they believe me now though. :) After swimming in the pond though, we just sat in the baby pool which felt better because it was cold and we sun bathed! ;) I HAVE to work on my tan, I'm so white compared to everyone here.

Well, the guys are home now and Bethany needs to update her blog also so I guess I should be going. It's SO great here though, and I'll be majorly upset to leave. Sorry I don't have any pictures to post right now, I mean I've taken a lot and Anna has tons but it's hard to do on here so I'm just going to post pictures when I am home. Sorry if this post is kind of hard to understand my thoughts are kind of jumbled right now.....

Still Alive...

Alright, well I know I said I'd blog soon to let you all know what's going on with me, but due to several different reasons I just didn't. :) (Mainly, due to the fact that I was busy and just didn't want to sit down and write a blog post!) Anyway....just in case some of you don't know, on June 21st I flew from St. Louis to Oklahoma so I could be at the Morris' house on the 24th for Bethany's birthday!!!!! We had it planned for quite some time but I couldn't say anything on here because she reads the blog. :) Anyway, the surprise went great and it's been a wonderful two weeks. Two weeks was the longest I've ever stayed with them and I really felt like that was too long for me to stay anyway, you know putting out a family for that long, but for reasons I'm not sure of, they don't feel that way. They are just really nice and treat me like family...I love it! :) So for my next set of news.....
I was SUPPOSED to go home today, the 8th of July, but after lots of persuading, looks like I will be here until the 24th of July! :o That's a full MONTH I'll be here.....shocking, huh? Today has been pretty odd for me because I'm still in shock that I decided to change my flight. I mean I love it here and I love them, but it just seemed so wrong to stay with another family that long. They don't seem to understand why I say that though, I'm thankful though that they are willing to have me here. I'll definitely be making lots of posts when I get home talking about my trip, we've done so much stuff and have had some pretty deep, long discussions late at night that have left me thinking till 3:00 am sometimes, not able to fall asleep! :D It's all been great though. Everyone here is truly a blessing to me and when these next two weeks are up I'm sure it will be very tough for me to leave, but rest assured, I wont be changing it again for another 2 weeks. ;) (Mandy...I'm not staying forever!) :P


If I can figure out how to post pictures from their computer I'll be posting some of what we've done...hmm...maybe I'll tell you a little bit too. I've definitely been turning into more of a "country girl"...we've been doing farm chores (milking WITH bugs flying around everywhere) and getting dirty...REAL dirty, that qualifies for being a "country girl", right???? ;) Anyway...we've also been playing volleyball almost every night, which is So much fun, and we've been TRYING to work on a song that we'll be recording before I leave, I've been getting violin lessons and giving guitar lessons, went to a tea room for Besh's Birthday (SO FUN) and just lots of other fun things! :) Can't wait to post a lot of the pictures. :) Oh, also to read and see some pictures from what's going on, check out Bethany's blog
Well, I've been sitting at this computer long enough now, I really should be getting off, I just wanted to let you all know I AM still alive just having so much fun that I don't want to be on the computer! Hope you all had a great 4th of July!

Looks like the pictures are going to work, so I've got quite a few that I'm able to post from just various things, Bethany's photoshoot, the tea room, playing instruments, baking cookies with Micah, and the 4th! Hope you enjoy them....watch out though, when I get home, LOTS MORE TO COME!!!!








Blessings!