thankful

Today I'm especially thankful for all of the wonderful people in my life!

These two guys are some of my favorite.

Happy Thanksgiving!

A little break...

Ahhhh...vacation.  What could be better than days without a schedule or a single responsibility?  I can't really think of anything.  Eric had a week of vacation and in true Eric fashion we just had to go somewhere.  So, we headed to Palm Springs, and it was wonderful.

We were able to squeeze in a pit stop in Vegas to meet our newest family member, little Macey Morgan.  She's a doll.

The boys were thrilled to see palm trees and a ride on Josh's scooter was a definite favorite, too!

We then met up with Eric's parents and headed south to sunny Palm Springs.  The weather was just perfect...sunny and about 80 degrees.  Eric and I kept trying to figure out why we don't live in California!  Seriously though, the weather was heavenly.  We rode bikes everyday and swam every afternoon.  Perfect.

We rode the Palm Springs tram and enjoyed mountains (real mountains!) and cooler weather.  The scenery up top was breathtaking.  The boys loved hiking and climbing on everything in sight.  

Sam's love for whales seems to be slowly slipping away.  Before it's totally gone, we thought a trip to Sea World was a must for this 4 year-old-ocean-creature-loving guy.  And guess what...it was a HUGE hit! 

Sam was tall enough for all of the rides and loved them almost more than the whales!  He loved the dolphin show and of course Shamu.  He kept asking during each show if the animals were real or just pretend.  He couldn't believe he was seeing them in person.  Our trip to Sea World was worth every penny!

We were sad to see our trip come to an end.  Good thing the boys had their backpacks, shark souvenirs, and a big bag of gummy worms for our trip home. 

We stopped in Sin City again on the way home and met up with more of the Morgan-A-Tours.  We were only  missing Ally...and we missed her a lot!  Even sweet Grandma Verda made the trip down to Vegas and we absolutely loved seeing her.  What would it be like to live close to family again?  We can't even remember!

You just have to soak up time with family when you can, and we felt so lucky to do just that last week.  Thank goodness for vacation!

Oh, Toledo...

"Oh, Toledo!  I will miss you!"

-Sam, 4 years old

We hadn't been back to Toledo since our move in June, and we were needing an Ohio fix.  So, when we realized that Eric was going to have a busy weekend, the boys and I made plans to go visit one of our favorite places and see some of our favorite people.  

Sam was in heaven seeing all of his old buddies.  He picked up right where he left off, and enjoyed every single second we spent in holy Toledo.  When he wasn't busy running around like crazy with the boys...

 

...he spent his time taking care of baby dolls and playing Barbies to his little heart's content.  (What happens in Toledo, stays in Toledo, right?) 

 

He and Hailey also resumed their love affair and repeatedly told each other how excited they were to get married when they grow up.  We'll see what happens...

I loved watching my boys get so excited to be with long, lost friends.

And I loved catching up with long, lost friends of my own.  So fun.

It was weird to go back and be reminded that life goes on, even though you're gone.  Someone else lives in our old apartment.  Weird!  The ward is full of new people I didn't recognize.  Weird!  Some of my favorite Toledoans were missing and it didn't feel quite right without them there.  Life is always, always changing.

On our way back to Indy this morning (after we were rescued by AAA at the gas station because I locked my  keys in the car!!) Sam got teary telling me how much he'd miss Ohio.  "Oh Toledo!" he kept saying.  "I will miss you!" 

Thanks so much for hosting us, Ericksens!  And thanks to everyone else for making time to see us!  We absolutely loved it.

Two Years Old

My baby is two!

And we partied hard all weekend!

 

Max's birthday birth-weekend was perfect...

 Cake

Balloons

Pizza

Presents

And a last minute visit from Gram!

What more could a kid ask for?

Max loves being the center of attention; so being the birthday boy was his thing.

 He loved getting presents that were just for him.  He loved digging into a birthday cake and knew exactly how to blow out his two candles. 

Actually, we all loved digging into the cake...especially Sam.  I think this slip of Sam's made the weekend...don't you agree?

 Both boys loved being with Gram...so did I!  She's the life of the party and made our weekend nearly perfect!

Max is my show-off.  He's a goof and will do anything for a laugh.  He loves to giggle and he loves to snuggle.  He loves to eat, is obsessed with playdough, and wants to be just like Sam.  I love everything about him!  It's hard to remember life without Max around....what did we ever do?

Happy Birthday Max Man!