Irritable Ike

Here's our little video about a present from Aunt Janet and Uncle David...

Scarier than a Haunted House...it's...

...Traffic School!

I know, I know, you want to hear about the kids' cute Halloween costumes, but it's Traffic School that's on my mind...

Yep, the reason I'm blogging today is to share with you my new knowledge of traffic laws and how to violate them. For example, did you know that it's illegal to honk for any other reason than to avoid a collision? I didn't, but I do now, thanks to Joe, the Master Traffic School Teacher. And did you know that in Arizona, it is perfectly legal to change lanes in an intersection??? What the? I'm going to start doing it, just because I can.

Master Joe was entertaining and lively, and provided much live footage of Arizonans breaking traffic laws right and left. We saw an (empty) car get hit by a train, a view from the Light Rail system of cars turning right onto their tracks, and red light runners that make your hair stand on end.

All this reminded me of my last time in traffic school, back in 1997. I was living in Provo, Utah, and I was about to meet Adam, but hadn't yet. We spent several hours in a musty UVSC classroom subjected to a movie titled "LEMON LAKE" - cataloging the series of poor decisions a group of kids made while taking a road trip to "LEMON LAKE." It impressed me, but probably not in the way they wanted. It left me yearning to fill a void of quality film making in my life - please let me watch a B-grade movie! Or something that got raspberries on Rotten Tomatoes!

Apparently, I must have been more impressive than "LEMON LAKE" to one traffic school colleague of mine. With his shaggy half-bleached hair and a hackey sack at the ready, he unabashedly told me during one of the many lulls of "LEMON LAKE" that he was illegally parked. Imagine my surprise when the next day, when the fog of the traffic school spell had worn off, when my roommates left me a message that "Dirk" had called for me.

I warded off any potential advances this time, (12 years later, but you do get some desperate guys in traffic school), with my Skeleton Maternity Shirt.

You asked for it!

Six months along!

Five Little Piggies

This little piggy caught swine flu.





These little piggies have none!

Then this little piggie caught the fever...




We all say H1N1's no fun!

But THIS little piggy, (while he stayed home from school), cried, "Yipeee--eee--eee--eeeeee!" (WITH his fever)...

All the day long.

Thanks for the new shirt Vickie!

Order one at www.gladditudes.com!

We made it!

For the last two/three months, the family goal has been "Get through September." Since it's now October 4th, I think it's safe to say we have met our goal.

I know, we're not ambitious, but we like attainable goals.

We threw a family reunion called "Millions of Morleys" in July, we got the children's choir up and running for a new season, I directed the choir for Stake Conference, threw the elementary school's annual Ice Cream Social for 700 people, and sang a concert at the Assembly Hall. And lived to tell about it.

Since October 1st, I've been wondering what this feeling was that I was feeling, and I believe that it's relief!

Do you know what this means? It means that now there is time for things like cooking artichokes! We got two of them in our Bountiful Basket yesterday, and I'm boiling them right now and I can't wait to show the kids how to peel the leaves off, dip them in butter and then draw them between their teeth to scrape all the goodness off.

Adam is working on "Today" - the Millions of Morleys music video from our reunion this summer. I know he is working on it because tears of laughter are streaming down his face. That's a sure sign.

Lizzie asked me today if we are going anywhere, and I gleefully answered her - "No!" We're staying home and watching General Conference from the blessed comfort of our homes, and we're going to have boiled artichokes and work on Family Videos. Maybe go for a walk in the newly cooler weather. Sounds heavenly.

I have re-assumed my position behind the kitchen sink

I'm back! After a way fun weekend of wearing earrings and heels and red lipstick and eating out, I am back home.

A little weekend wrap-up:
Oh, how I miss these gorgeous mountains! On Friday, we drove to Heber for a rehearsal with our accompanist. At least, that was our excuse.


Dad took us to Asian Star - so delish.

On Saturday night, I attended my mom's Salt Lake Symphony concert. They had a cimbulom soloist. I've always wanted to hear a cimbulomist!!. . . Actually, I didn't know what it was. It's kind of like they took the inside of a grand piano and handed the guy (his name was Igor - Igor the Cimbulominst) some mallets, and he just went wild. The resulting sound was surprisingly lovely. I love the cimbulom, don't you?
Outside Libby Gardner Hall, they have a new picture of my dear old voice teacher, Betty Jeanne Chipman. She wasn't able to come to the concert because she contracted bronchitis from a student! She's like a grandmother to me.

Since the Assembly Hall would not allow any recording of any kind, we got together on Sunday night and recorded the whole concert.

My mom and Anne have been friends for almost 30 years. Do you know how they met? When my family moved from Boston to Philadelphia, they had an extra refrigerator. So, they put an ad in the paper to try to sell it - in this little paper called The Philadelpia Inquirer. Who was the first person to see the ad and call about the fridge? Anne Woodard, that's who. While talking on the phone, they realized they were both from Utah and had both recently moved to the area. Then they started playing together, and the rest is history. She ended up moving to Heber City a few years ago. But she never bought that fridge.

What an honor it was to perform with these musical giants! They are amazing women and I'm lucky to have had the chance to work with them. Let's do it again sometime, ladies!

Tonight...was the night of night-the night of nights tonight!

All My Bags are packed...

Okay! Here I go! I have decided I'm ready to BE The Soprano! I have a killer dress, my lyrics have slowed down their swirling in my head and settled into place, I got a haircut and I even found my sunglasses! I'm ready to knock it out of the park! I mean the Square. Temple Square, that is.

I flew to SLC today. Wow. It's so easy to fly alone. I felt like I should be carrying more bags or holding more hands, but it was just me. Strange...

Mom and I had lunch at The Garden Restaurant, then we had our Dress Rehearsal. When we were walking back to the parking garage, we saw this:


How cool is that? :)
Here's mom tearing it up during the dress rehearsal:


We're going to have so much fun tomorrow night. I wish you could all be there!

A Letter

Dear Readers,

Hi! How are you doing? I'm sorry it's been a while since I've written, it's just that, well, you see, I've been busy. I know, that's no excuse! I need to make the time for you in my life. I've had to add a lot of practicing to my full schedule recently, and something had to give. It's not that I don't care.

Today, much to the chagrin of the preschool carpool, I was able to get the bulk of my practicing done in the car. (That's the nice thing about singing - you take your instrument with you wherever you go. Try doing that with a piano! ha!) So, it turns out I have some free moments to jot a note down to you.

So, catching up. Let's see.
Adam has spent a lot of time fixing our pool. You know when you get to the point when everything breaks because it hits that 13 year mark? We've slammed into it with the pool. I tried to convince him that "Going Green" could include the pool as well, but he insisted we buy all kinds of tubing and levers and filters and things. I guess hot-glueing pieces together won't cut it anymore. Under Adam's watchful care, the pool is slowing turning blue again.

Lizzie played kickball with her friend Dallin on Friday afternoon, and when Adam got home from work, we all joined them. Lizzie forgot to drink water. She overheated/dehydrated. Later, she threw up in the flowers outside of Subway. Poor Lizzie.

Eli had his first soccer game. He scored a goal! Do you know how? He threw it in from the sidelines after it went out of bounds, then the ball bounced off another kid and went right into the goal. I love 7-yr-old soccer.

But even more exciting than that was last Wednesday, when I took Eli with me to a seamstress in our neighborhood who's helping me with my dress for the concert. We were there for a total of 19 minutes. While I was changing clothes, he found some Silly Putty and wondered what would happen if he put it over their remote control. Have you wondered that? I haven't. Well, I can tell you, (and I hope it won't take away the suspense for you), but it looks really cool to have blue sticky stuff all over the remote, and even cooler to try to figure out which buttons to push when you can't see them, but man, it's a beast to clean up. Go straight for the acetone, that's my advice. And make sure to write a nice note to go with it when you give it back to the owners.

Ivy had a darling birthday party on Saturday with 6 little girls and is still trying to get through all the sparkly gifts that were given. Watch out, though, if Ivy sees you unoccupied for more than a few minutes, she will insist on painting your nails and applying Tinkerbell makeup on you.

Me? Well, like I said, there's been a lot of singing going on. Curiously, Adam's been really into his ipod lately, especially when I practice in the evenings. Hmm. My mind is a jumble of French/Russian/English phrases that are tumbling around in my head all day. I really don't know how Erin does this kind of thing all the time. I mean really! Standing up and singing Alone in languages that I don't even speak while everyone is watching me gesticulate?! What was I thinking when I said yes to this? I'm just a carpooling, remote control cleaning, birthday party throwing Primary chorister, and somehow I've got myself in pretty deep here. I'm pretty sure that someone will stand up in the middle of the concert and call me out as a fraud. Ack! And I'll have to give it to them...I'm posing as a Singer! Yes, I've worked hard and studied for years and practiced endlessly, but that doesn't give me the right to this! At least I have comfort in the fact that the concert is free. Free, people! That means you can't ask for half your money back (because my mom is half the concert, and she's going to be amazing).

Why is it so hard? I think it's the monumental task of having 8 solo pieces performance-ready at the same time. It takes some planning to make sure they're all at their peak on performance day. So, if I start singing Russian phrases in the middle of the French piece, you won't walk out on me, will you? Will you just smile and say - "I understood every word! Lovely gesticulating!"? oh, and also, "You can't even tell you're 5 1/2 months pregnant in that dress...wait, is that blue Silly Putty on the sleeve?" Well, you can leave that part out.

Look at me - I've spent so much time talking about myself! Tell me, what's new with you? How's the weather where you are? Are your families healthy? I hope so. I'll try not to let it go so long in between correspondence again, truly I will. Know that I am thinking of you!

Regards,
Aimee

Ivy is FOUR!

Our Sweet Ivy Katherine turns 4 years old today! What a wait it's been - literally since September 18th, 2008, she has been asking when she would be turning four. A year is an eternity to a 3-year-old. At one point, it was a daily occurrance, and I remember trying to explain to Ivy that it would be 8 Months until her birthday.

She kept saying, "Eight Minutes is already up - is it my Birthday??"

But it has finally come, and we are all so happy. Really, what a sweet, darling girl she is - obedient and helpful, sensitive, musical, and very very silly.








Birthday Updates!

Kids' Dream

The Dream Club was busy over our holiday weekend!

In a very serious ceremony, Ivy and Hannah were officially inducted into the group:
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Saturday morning, they served us parents breakfast: (Muddy Buddies, Pickles, sausages cooked medium rare, strawberries, and chocolate chip cookies.) Bon Apetit!


Forts were built:

Sleepovers were had:

Lucky Kids.

Go, Erin, Go!!

My sister Erin Morley, has made it to the Final 4 in the Wigmore International Song Competition in London! They are streaming the video live at http://www.plushmusic.tv/channels/D8Y/wigmore-hall-international-song-competitions-channel.html where you can also hear the four Finalists' performances.

If you have a chance to check it out, enjoy it! :) Good luck, Erin!


Watch Erin Morley - Im Frühling: Delphine (Schubert) on Plushmusic

My, This Canyon is GRAND!

We thought this Labor Day, we'd show some respect for the South Side of the Rim. It ain't bad:

Yes, Mom, I held on tightly to Eli!






Thanks Andrews, for the fun vacation memories!!