Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas Everyone! I talked to my sister Tami today and she reminded me that I hadn't updated my blog since October....So here's a short entry. We had our family picture taken and here it is! We are very blessed to have so many wonderful friends and family! Our Christmas day was fairly quiet. Janet and Catherine both spent the night last night so they could be here first thing in the morning to watch Amy open presents. Amy loved each present so much that we had to coax her to open more gifts. After opening presents and eating the cereal from our Christmas stockings, Janet and Catherine went to Tony's house for the rest of the day. Bryan and Amy and I went to visit Kathy Jano, who was sick. (She was supposed to come over today and play games) Then we went over to the Clawsons for waffles. (I think they invited the whole ward...) Next we prepared a DELICIOUS Christmas dinner. Spiral sliced honey glazed ham, potatoes, green bean caserole. Bryan and Amy and I played the Wii until we were all too tired to keep our eyes open and then I decided I needed to write this new post. So as the day is ending, I am very tired, but very happy! Love to you all! Esther

Amy Clegg Can!

What a week! We had another wonderful Buddy Walk for Down Syndrome Awareness at Kensington Metropark last Saturday. A cool new feature this year was called the Avenue of Achievement. Each family was asked to make a poster with their child's talents, accomplishments etc. and Annie, Janet and Catherine made a BEAUTIFUL poster for Amy! I wanted to share it here. It's not as cute and wonderful as the original poster, but you can get an idea of what it was like. Thanks Annie, Janet and Catherine! You guys are amazing!










Amy can swim with her daddy!


















Amy can go to school! This is a picture of Amy's first day of Preschool.














Amy can Sign! She knows over 130 ASL signs, and she loves the Signing Time DVDs.









This is the sign for "more"








This is the sign for "food" and "eat"







This is the sign for "ball"









This is the sign for "cracker"








And this is the sign for "train"







Here is the last picture. I think it's my favorite. (Okay, they are all my favorites!)





Amy can do the chicken dance! Janet taught her the chicken dance and it is so cute!!

More Amy Laughs

Amy makes me laugh almost every day!! I've decided that I really need to keep track of all the cute and funny (and gross and funny) things she says and does. So here's another funny moment. I wrote about how Amy was drinking from the doggie water dish. She watches everyone including the dog. I found her in the kitchen again--this time eating Tux's dog food! YUCK! I picked her up and said, "Amy, we don't eat dog food! That's for the dog to eat..." And as she was listening to me, she was tilting her head back and forth like Tux does...HILARIOUS!!

Alvor was GREAT

Just a quick note to say that I LOVED THIS BOOK!!! It is a fun book, a fast read, and I couldn't put it down!! Buy this book! Read it! Tell all your friends!!

A New Book I'm SO EXCITED To Read!

As you know, we are voracious readers at our house! We pass our favorite books around, and sometimes have to buy multiple copies of the same book because we all want to read it and can't wait until the first person has finished. My sister Gaylene told me about this new author, Laura Bingham, and I'm really excited to read her first book, "Alvor." I've read the first chapter and can't wait to get my hands on this book! It's available on Amazon.com! GO BUY THIS BOOK!

Look Mommy! I'm a BIG girl!

Here's a funny story!! A few days ago I went into the kitchen and found Amy on her hands and knees trying to drink water from the dog's water dish. I picked her up and said "Amy, you're not a doggie, you're a big girl. Big girls don't drink water like a doggie." And then I gave her a drink of water in a sippy cup.

Yesterday, I went in the kitchen and I found Amy sitting by the dog's water dish again, only this time, she HAD A STRAW, and was drinking from Tux's water dish again. She was quite pleased with herself. The look on her face told me, "Look Mommy, I'm a BIG girl!!!"

Look Who's Talking!

Amy has been babbling --talking nonstop for quite a while, but none of us could understand her....Now it's fun for us as we begin to recognize some of the things she's saying. Her first words were "Dad" and then Hi Dad" and "Bye" and "Soft" (when she's petting the dog and cat) That was all for a while, but now she's talking more and more. She says all kinds of cute things like: "Oh, Wow!", "Who is it?", (when she's pretending to talk on the phone) "Home", "NO!", "wha da?" (th)"is is ow" (this is owie) (pl)"eese" "more", "sss" (for cereal) and "Sis" and for some reason she says "Bob" we don't have anyone named bob....maybe it's "bub" for Bubba which is what Catherine called Richard. And finally finally she says "MOM!" I've been waiting for a LONG time for her to say that! She's trying to do a "k" sound but it comes out very guttural--as if she's German.....and tonight she said "pa" sound for the beginning of please! She's really working hard on her vocabulary and it's fun to see her progress. She uses quite a few Sign Language Signs--probably close to 70 different signs--including important words like, candy, cookie, milk, cracker, cereal, more, eat, finished, full, yes, and no, dog, cat, mommy, daddy, water, drink, and many more but it's very late.....I'll write more about Amy's adventures in talking tomorrow.

In Memorium

Puffalump Morrow

March 1990-February 2009

We got our tiny little kitten from Tony's secretary, Pat Schade,
who found her in the middle of the road and rescued her.

We had been thinking of getting a cat and Richard was
so excited when Dad brought home a kitten!

She went through quite a few names

until we told Richard he needed to pick ONE name.

He decided to call her Puffalump

after those very soft stuffed animals

because she was the softest thing Richard had ever touched!

Janet was a newborn baby when Puff arrived

And we have taken Puff everywhere!

She was a world traveler!

She flew through Amsterdam on her way to the Philippines.

She lived with us in Manila and in Singapore.

Puff didn't like company--she would hiss at visitors

when they tried to talk to her, or pet her,

but she was really very patient and tolerant with her family--especially

with each child when they were small

and learning how to be soft and gentle with animals.

Puff never scratched or bit the babies,

even when Amy would do her WWF smackdown body hugs!

Amy would grab Puff around the neck and then lay down on top of her

and give her a HUGE hug!

Puff would just lay there and flick her tail and wait.

Puff was a wonderful pet and

We all miss her very much.

Richard and Krysten

This is a cute picture of Richard and his girlfriend Krysten wearing 3-D glasses when they went to the movie Bolt. I think it's a good picture of Richard. Krysten is a cutie and we think she's cool because she loves Harry Potter! I like Krysten because she brings out the best in Richard. We hope to see more of Richard and Krysten!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Happy New Year Everyone!! Janet is back in Utah. We are enjoying one more play day before we get back to our regular school schedule for Catherine and Amy. Amy got some Sure Step orthotics (ankle braces) that will help support her ankles. She is a typical 2 year old who loves to say NO! Catherine has really enjoyed Christmas break--especially having Janet home to play the Wii. Bryan is working hard. Every time it snows, he's awake early doing snow removal for 8-10 Dependable Gardener customers. Have a great day!! Love, Esther