CUTENESS!!! Papa and Grandma bought Aedan his own Radio Flyer!! As you can see, he loves it

I think this picture is so neat. I love the colors ...oh and the little guy in it is pretty adorable too!

Here is another one of my favorite pictures. Grandma and Grandson matching, so cute!

This picture didn't turn out like I expected however, I like the outcome even more than what I was picturing in my own head. The hat I'm wearing fell down right as I snapped the picture....I just like the look on Aedan's face.

The beginnings of a Gingerbread House creation! We were quite the team. As I tried my best in perfecting the techniques of the frosting, Marybeth did an excellent job with decorating. Thanks to Grandma Morris for buying the kit, we had a wonderful time together with memories to last forever. Grandma had high hopes of building the Gingerbread house with her as well however, Marybeth ended up getting sick and wasn't able to do much while Grandma and Papa were visiting. She was pretty much laid out on her back for two days. The poor girl! She was a trooper though.

Here Marybeth is enjoying a piece of extra gingerbread that came with the kit. She deemed it good enough to share with others. :)

The finished product!! Marybeth and I were very happy with the outcome however, the memories are what we will enjoy for a lifetime.

Precious little Madeleine McKenna Morris
Sisters!
Auntie Melinda with my 2nd niece

One proud Aunt!

BoUnCiNg Baby Boy

Aedan loves to dance! He made me laugh so much when he would bounce up and down while shaking his head. He has one of the most contagious laughs!

Grandma's, Mommies, Aunties and Children Galore

The little sweet pea and her Mom! She is a darling little girl...with quite the vocal chords. She has grown so much already since I have been here.


Boo Bear and Grandma having a good ol' time! The two of them had a lot more bonding time and Aedan warmed right up to his Grandma! He is such a good baby!!





Auntie and Marybeth, snuggle time! Poor Marybeth came down with a nasty flu while Grandpa and Grandma were visiting. She got better a few days after they left and then came down with a nasty cold! She has been pretty miserable. More pictures to come when I get home!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow! Well, as most of you are aware, we had our first snow of the season! It's always so nice to see the ugly and barren trees beautiful again. What a marvelous Creator we serve!

I had the privilege of home schooling these two wonderful boys for two and a half weeks while Rhonda and Kristine were in Texas. It was a win, win situation, as Rhonda and Kristine were able to help Erika (Rhonda's 2nd eldest daughter) out with the new baby and I was able to experience a small glimpse of what it would be like to be a stay-at-home mother, home schooling! Bob and Rhonda have done a wonderful job raising their boys, as Grant and Ethan were a joy to teach. Being with them for those 2 1/2 weeks made me excited to, lord-willing, have my own children some day to raise in a godly home (by the grace of God!) Though, the responsibility of caring for someone else's children is big, it was definitely a stress free and fun one to fulfill, as Rhonda's organization skills and Kristine's love in preparing and freezing meals for dinner made the

transition much easier. Overall, I had a wonderful experience with the Bower boys and, as an added blessing, I was able to visit with my dear friends Shaunna and Eric during the evenings as they were kind enough to open their home to me during the evenings/nights. The pictures are of Grant, Ethan and I making Graham Cracker Turkey Cookies and painting Turkey's. For their History lesson we were studying about the Pilgrims and their first Thanksgiving day Feast. I enjoyed it immensely as I learned quiet a bit myself!

Madeleine McKenna Morris

Proud Daddy with child #3 !!! Madeleine McKenna Morris was born November 1st! She weighed 6 lbs 15 oz. and stretches from head to toe at 19 inches long.

I can't wait to meet her!

Proud Mommy with child #3!!!Jenn has been recovering much faster this time around. Praise the Lord!

The Morris family is certainly growing! :D I now have 2 nieces, 2 nephews and a niece on the way! :) Auntie-hood is so much fun!

Greetings from the state of Washington! I have been in Vancouver, WA for the last week and a half home schooling Grant and Ethan Bowers (Kristine's brothers) while Rhonda and Kristine are in Texas! I am enjoying it immensely and learning a lot in the process! The boys have been great! Anyway, I remembered Kristine had these pictures on her computer so I thought I would share with all of you my first EVER homemade Peach Pie!!! I had a craving for a peach pie a few months ago while I was in California. So, when we got back home and while I was staying at the Bowers, Kristine and I decided to make our own pie. And man o' man was it ever so good. I enjoyed ever last bite, even though it was a little on the juicy side.

Isn't she a beauty! ;)
The Chefs and their work!

It was well worth the wait!

Today Daniel, Cassie, Brent and I spent the afternoon at Bauman's Farm. Brent, even though it was around nap time, had a lot of fun walking around, sliding down big slides, feeding animals and playing in the hay maze. I think his favorite part was the hay ride. He loves tractors and trucks. We went on the hay ride last and though he was pretty much falling asleep in Daddy's lap he didn't want to get off.

Our trip to San Francisco!!! The weather was perfect for a quick trip to San Fran and so we enjoyed many of the popular high-lights in a fast paced trip through the city. As I'm sure you can see we didn't really ride on the trolley, just took advantage of it while it was sitting all alone on the street! We also walked down Pier 39 and saw and smelled the Sea Lions.

The famous Lombard Street~ My Mom drove down while Kristine and I walked down the stairs on the side. One of the funniest parts of driving through San Francisco was my Mom's reaction to the big hills! I believe I captured her on my video phone screaming as she drove straight up one of the enormous streets. However, the picture to the left will have to do! :)The worst part was when we had to stop at a stop sign. It felt like if stopped we would go screaming backwards hitting everyone and everything in our way. Good times and lots of laughs! :)

My favorite picture of the Golden Gate Bridge is the one to the above with Kristine. We had quite the adventure trying to find out how to get to the spot where Kristine and I are pictured on above on the right and below. I had been there before but, I couldn't remember what road lead to the top. After driving ALL the way around a mountain we finally found our destination and it was well worth it. We were very grateful for the beautiful weather that made it easy to see and enjoy the sights. As you can see from the picture on the right, with my Mom and I, it was rather windy. The picture on the left is a picture of me in the army bunkers that were used to protect the bay in the mid 1900's.

HUNTINGTON LIBRARY

My Mom, Kristine and I wanted to, at some point, check out some of the museums down in the L.A. area. We knew there were plenty to choose from we just didn't know which one would be the best for our buck. As we headed North, in search of a museum we had noticed earlier, we got all turned around. After taking the wrong exit we noticed the Highway Patrol building. We decided to stop in there and ask for directions. My Mom was picked for the job! :D As Kristine and I sat in the car for a good 10 minutes she soon came out smiling. Turns out the guy she talked to had a better place for us to visit. She said he kept getting all excited as he talked about this other museum. So, she was sold. He gave us directions to The Huntington Library, which was only a few exits away. Well, as you will see in the following pictures, it was well worth it! It would have been very easy to spend a full day walking around the grounds. Each garden brought out so much of the beauty in God's creation. What a blessing it was to get lost and be led to an even better museum than we hoped for.

The Gutenberg Bible -------------------->

Sittin' and relaxing, taking a look at the map and deciding where to go next.


Kristine and I thought these stone dogs were neat looking. There were two of them. One on each side of the entrance. You can't have too many pictures with stone statues.

Located on the grounds of the Huntington Library they had numerous buildings housing a huge art collection. Mr. Huntington, himself, collected most of the art throughout his lifetime. You can see how enormous the paintings are in the picture to the left. Makes me look so little! I don't know very much about art and painting however, some of these paintings even took my breath away in the detail.
My Mom is standing next to the famous painting "Pinkie" for more information on "Pinkie" click here
and scroll down a little.

The picture below, of Kristine and I, was just another photo opportunity next to a pretty fountain.



My favorite garden to walk through was the Japanese Garden. When you first enter the gardens it is breath taking. The picture is a view of what you see as you walk in...If you closely you can see Kristine and me sitting down below by the koi pond.

Home sweet home! Huntington Beach is the beach my Mom grew up at so, there was a lot of reminiscing while there. Our friend Sheri (In the picture she is on the right), known as the 10th child in my Mom's family, spent the day with us at the beach. At the end of the day she was so kind as to treat all of us to dinner at Ruby's, the restaurant at the end of the Pier. You can kind of see it in the picture above. We were able to see the sun set out over the ocean as we ate our dinner. Our afternoon was spent relaxing on the beach soaking up the warm sun, the weather was perfect, not too hot and not to windy. We also walked along the waters edge, Kristine would have gone all the way in if she had a friend that liked the ocean. ;) Unfortunately, her friend isn't a big fan of salt water and the uncomfortable, itchy feeling you have when you get out...I never really have been a beach person, I'm more of the camping/woodsie kind of girl. Kristine and I did enjoy rollerblading along the path. We felt like true Californians! We even stopped for an ice cream cone on our way back, defeating the whole purpose of rollerblading but enjoying it nonetheless! Overall our beach day was a success. I think I'm safe in saying it was one of our favorite days during our time in California. If we didn't have a schedule to keep to I believe my Mom would still be there soaking up the sun! The California beach is one thing she misses a lot!

Palm TREES!!!! It's definitely Southern California! On our way down to the Bazinet's (family friends) on a last minute whim we decided to drive through and check out some of the fancy homes in Hollywood. Our goal was to take a picture of the sign however, we found it was a hard task to take on. Everyone is so rushed in California, another reason I love Oregon. I am shocked the picture shown below turned out. We ended up driving to the top of a hill and stopping so I could poke my head out of our sun roof and capture this shot. It, also, was fast paced, in fact, I think I snapped it on my way down so the car behind us could pass. All that just to have proof we saw the Hollywood sign. ;) It was amazing to see how people live down there. Makes me love Oregon all the more! Eventually, we made it down to West Covina and stayed the night at the Bazinet's. Then, in the morning we drove N. To Sun Valley for church. It was neat hearing Pastor John MacArthur in his home church. I'm usually not a big fan of big choirs in churches (mostly when it has a showy feel) however, singing with the Grace Choir was amazing. At one point I closed my eyes and imagined what it would be like to be in Heaven and sing and rejoice in the presence of our Almighty God and how amazing it is that we will sound even better than what I was hearing at that moment. It was an incredible feeling.