Wargan Morwick*: December 2010

Rory turned 2 on November 28th and to celebrate we had a party - something we love to do around here. Lots of friends and family shared in the festivities and I couldn't have been prouder of how well Rory behaved. She gladly shared her toys with the other kids and not once let being the center of the universe (for a day) get to her head.

Here is my little organizer making sure that the balloons were properly sorted before the party.

Kids area - pre party

Kids area - during party

Rory getting ready to blow out her candles with a little help from her dad and Piper.

Lots of friends and family helping us celebrate the big day.

Rory excitedly opening gifts - here she is showing off her Sesame Street stickers. You can see how many of her friends helped her open the gifts.

Rory showing off her gifts from Grandpa Sid and Grandma Karen...she loves these little animals!

Trimming the Christmas Tree

Rory and I spent Friday night decorating the tree.

Our Little Eater

This is too funny not to share - Rory couldn't decided what to eat first, the beans or the yogurt, so she dug into both at once. Then, she proceeded to switch off between the two for the remainder of the meal. She is too funny!

I have been negligent in updating our blog and am trying to get back on track. It's been so long since I last updated this blog that most of the pictures show Fall in Fairbanks. In fact, it is anything but Fall right now. There is snow on the ground and we've already had our 30 below weather.

Getting Ready for Winter

Rory saw her dad raking leaves and wanted to contribute.

Grandma Linda's Birthday

The Frank/Anderson side of the family met up at the usual place, The Pump House, to celebrate Rory's Grandma Linda's birthday. Below Rory is showing off her shades while Grandma dotes on her.

Grandma Linda, Bruce and Rory. As you can see from the picture below, Rory just adores Bruce (and what's not to adore...look at that cute smile).

Haircut

Well, Rory has officially lived through her first disastrous haircut. I was giving her the usual haircut when Yuri made a smart-alec comment - so, I told him to take a shot at the haircut. He managed to get one snip in and it was a doozy...snipping her bangs both too high and crooked. Here they are during happier times :-).

And here is Rory after her dad's handy work - she looks happy doesn't she?

Visitors

Yuri's brother, Dylan, and his girlfriend, Amity, took a road trip from Skagway to visit the big city of Fairbanks. We were lucky to have them stay a week - which is a record for Dylan in any one place - and we had fun catching up. Below (L to R); Rory, Shannon, Nick, Bruce, Amity and Dylan.

Pre-Halloween

We were going to be out of town for Halloween so Rory dressed up in her costume a little early to show off to my folks. The pictures aren't great but she was dressed as "Rory McMorgan" (after the PGA's rising star, Rory Mcilroy).

Gymnastics

Rory signed up recently for gymnastics classes. There really isn't a lot of true "gymnastics" going on, but she enjoys running around, playing on the trampoline and walking on the balance beam. Below is a picture of Rory bouncing on the super-sized trampoline.

Cross Country Travels

In early November, I attended a Utility Rate School in Clearwater, Florida, and Yuri and Rory decided to tag along. We spent the weekend before my class in Orlando enjoying the warm weather, pool and Disney World.

Yuri and Rory headed up to North Carolina to visit family for a few days while I was attending classes.

Here are some pictures of Rory's first experience with an outdoor pool...she was hesitant at first, but soon found splashing around in the water to be a lot of fun!

Here we are at the happiest place on earth...well, that might be an over statement but it was fun none-the-less.

Below, Rory showing her excitement at the end of the "It's a Small World" ride.

Rory's dad let her pick out her own hat (she needed one to shield her face/head from the 90 degree heat and sun. She just loves that Mickey Mouse hat.

Below is Rory visiting with Yuri's cousin, Rebecca in North Carolina. These two became fast friends and Rebecca was a wonderful hostess.

Next stop in North Carolina was to Happy Acres, the farm of Yuri's Aunt Lura and Uncle Curtis. Rory was timid around the animals but grew more comfortable with time and eventually fed pears to one of the horses (with Lura's help). Below is a picture of Rory with Aunt Lura.

Rory became very fond of Fancy Acres - here she is playing with her new buddy, Uncle Curtis.

Yuri's Aunt Pam made the trip over from Salisbury, N.C.to visit Yuri and meet Rory for the first time. You can't see Pam, Yuri and Rory very well in the picture below but it's a great shot of them up in the hay loft.

Before we left Florida, we met up for lunch with Yuri's cousin, Elizabeth and her husband, Chris, who live in Punta Gorda, FL. We had a great meal and it was great to meet Chris and catch up with Elizabeth. We look forward to meeting their little one, due to arrive in late May 2011!