Thanksgiving Weekend

Since we didn't have our own Thanksgiving dinner on the actual Turkey day, we decided to make all the fixin's on Friday. We spent Thursday night and all Friday cooking away and invited two sets of missionaries over to join us.
Morgan and Cody were both very proud of the perfectly cooked turkey!
Food makes both of my men very happy!

Saturday morning we got all dolled up and went down to the Brooklyn Bridge for family photo time. Our good friend Nikki brought her fancy camera and volunteered to take some pictures for us. We don't have them yet but I just know they came out great! Thanks Nikki, Cameron and John Henry for being such good sports and coming back from New Jersey early to help us out!

And here is the baby bump on week 19! We find out this Friday if we're having a boy or girl so stay tuned!

It's that Turkey Time of Year

Happy Thanksgiving from Morgan, Cody and Beth

We have lots to update you since we last posted. It has been a busy and crazy past week or so. But for the sake of the holiday I will begin with the present and work my way backwards. Today for Turkey Day we went to our church building to help others from our ward serve a Thanksgiving feast for a shelter that had asked for our help. We had a great turnout from our Harlem 1st ward, unfortunately we didn't have as many people show up as we thought so our Bishop and others started recruiting people off the street to come and enjoy the food. In the end everyone was blessed with yummy food, great conversation and a sense of truly being grateful for all the Lord has provided for us.
Our ward hanging out and waiting for more to arrive.

Taelen, the little boy handing out plates was on top of his game. Too bad we didn't have more people to hand them out too! More food for us:)

Last Saturday was our wards official Thanksgiving Party, so it's kind of like we had two parties. We had a great time eating and hanging out with everyone. We have been working very hard to get Morgan to smile for pictures. We tell him to show us his teeth (thanks for the great tip, Melgars) and he has finally stopped pointing to his teeth and this is the result. It makes me laugh every time I see it!

I want to take this Thanksgiving moment to say how grateful I am for wonderful friends. This lovely lady here, so graciously letting Morgan root through her purse, is our dear friend Anna. She has been a great friend during our time here in NYC and has been a huge help since Morgan was born. She is a wonderful babysitter and helps me every Sunday during Sacrament meeting, since Cody sits on the stand and I am alone with Morgan. I know I shouldn't need that much help with only one child but when that one child is Morgan, I need all the help I can get! I love talking about books, school and life with Anna and will be forever grateful that we have had her as a friend!

We opened a box the other night that contained bubble wrap and that great little tool belt. Morgan loved carrying his tools around and started stuffing everything into the pockets. Then he danced around with the bubble wrap. This kid just makes me laugh!

Talk about relaxed! This kid needs more stress in his life!

I must admit I have never before in my life bought a pomegranate and opened it myself. Since they are in season and on sale and I love them, I decided it was about time.
Morgan decided it was about time too. He ate them about as fast as I could get them out. Man those things will make you work for every last little seed...but man were they worth it just to get this face...

I couldn't stop laughing after I took this picture. He looks drunk on pomegranate and milk!

Last night we braved the cold and the crowds and headed out to the Upper West Side to see the Macy's balloons being blown up.

This is a view of the rest of the City who came with us!

It's hard to say if it was worth it but I guess it was cool to let Morgan see the balloons up close.

I don't think we would ever do it again because crowds are not really our thing but I'm glad we can say we at least did it once! We're such New Yorkers; so jaded!
Last Saturday before the ward Thanksgiving party, we helped this cute little man party on his 2nd birthday. Eliot is one of Morgan's best little friends and we had a great time celebrating the existence of such a great kid!

Eliot got a tent for his birthday and all the kids enjoyed playing inside. Bella and Chase are helping Eliot out at the moment.

After playing hard, it was time for sugar! Of course you may notice Morgan still has one hand on a little truck. Let's not get crazy with the break from playing thing!

Chase and Tyler joined Morgan and I in the cupcake picnic. Notice we're not on the carpet, crucial move for toddlers and green icing!

Every night Morgan gets so excited to play with Daddy...and to be set free from his clothing! Cody busted out Morgan's soft football and the two worked on Morgan's important ball handling skills. Never too early to train to be a linebacker!

Here's a fun video of Morgan jumping about, throwing the football, drumming along to Cake and showing off his smiling skills. Yep, he looks very ready for bed!

So once again, Happy Thanksgiving to all of our friends and family that are near and far. We hope you all take a moment to let Heavenly Father know how grateful you are for your many blessings. Right now I have never been more grateful for little faces that make me laugh and light up my heart. I love my family and the life Cody and I have decided to make together. I am especially grateful for prayer and my faith that by following the Savior's will we not only can but will be blessed beyond our comprehension.

Thank you for all of you who have prayed for us and given us hope and friendship!

I hope you all have full tummies and hearts during this wonderful holiday season!

Bring on the Christmas music!

Crazy 8's on Week 17

8 things I'm obsessed about right now:
1. Organizing my life
2. Christmas lists
3. Morgan's ability to share and listen
4. What the sex of the new baby will be?!
5. Our future
6. Thanksgiving foods
7. Morgan's ever decreasing naps
8. Family and friends

8 Words or Phrases I use:
1. True
2. No Worries
3. Oh
4. Nice
5. Morgan!
6. Is he just the sweetest thing?
7. Dope
8. Please?!

8 TV shows I love to watch:
1. ANTM
2. Pushing Daisies
3. 30 Rock
4. Office
5. My Name is Earl
6. Law and Order reruns
7. Oprah
8. Sesame Street (I'm kind of forced into this one but it really is a great show!)

8 Things I did yesterday:
1. Went to our "pre-school" with Minde and Ashley
2. Played in Ashley's playroom by ourselves because it was too cold outside
3. Talked on the phone a lot
4. Made banana bread
5. Made an apple pie
6. Made a french silk pie
7. Gave Morgan a bath
8. Ate a lot of banana bread, chips and ice cream:)

8 Favorite places to eat:
1. Cafe Rio
2. McD's
3. Dallas BBQ
4. Outback Steakhouse
5. New York Burger
6. My mom's and my mother-in-law's homes
7. Friendlys (for ice cream only)
8. Coldstone (can you tell I'm craving ice cream?!)

I tag Chamaine

Staying Caught Up

So in an effort to stay on top of things, I will post some pictures we took yesterday. We had stake conference yesterday which gave us some extra free time from our normal Sundays. Unfortunately Morgan was under the weather (I have a sneaking suspicion 2yr molars are on the way thanks to Minde's insightfulness) and he and Cody stayed home and avoided the rest of the world. I went to the Inwood chapel so sing with the stake choir. I was grateful for the chance to sing beautiful music with some wonderful singers, director and pianist, being able to hear the inspirational and uplifting speakers... but also really grateful for the mommy time off!

After Morgan's nap Cody decided the boys needed to get some fresh air so we headed to our favorite place Central Park and the Harlem Meer. Here's the big boy walking down the street all by himself. I love this LL Bean hat especially since it makes him look like he's a Swiss miss with braids. Cody didn't find my observation amusing! Morgan wanted desperately to get closer to the huge swans and ducks but fortunately dad was there to thwart his plans.
Yep, that's right, Morgan loves getting his picture taken! But sometimes mommies just need to preserve precious memories!

Anyone else think my outfit reminds them of Miss Marple?! Nice one Beth!
A stroller, a sippy cup and a beautiful fall afternoon, what more do you need in life?

After our walk we were lucky enough to be able to meet up with our former bishop and his wife while they were visiting the Melgars. We really miss the Hiatt family and were glad they made the trip out to NYC to hear Harlem's first return missionary speak at stake conference. What a blessing for us all!

Saturdays like these were meant for outings in Central Park!

I can't even describe how much I love this time of year in Central Park. I especially love the Conservatory Garden as most of you know. It is one of my favorite places in the City, and when these flowers are in bloom, the world!

Morgan was also fascinated by the flowers but I actually think it was more for the hoard of bees buzzing about the flowers. He actually grabbed one that made a frantic buzzing sound and wiggled free. This kid has no fear!

He's also not the biggest fan of getting his picture taken. Good thing I like pictures of the backs of people!

Chasing the ducks. He also chased some huge swans that were bigger than him before Daddy redirected his focus.

In awe!

Learning to smell the pretty flowers. Can you tell I like these flowers...pictures much?!

Near the entrance of the gardens is this tree. We took pictures near it last year. I just love the vibrant red color!

I also like how are heads blend into the sky...must remember to have darker backdrops.

Morgan skipping and jumping through the gardens. Cody had taken Morgan for a run that morning which is why he's dressed this way. It's their Saturday morning ritual and then I get breakfast and meet them at a playground in the park. I just love fall in the city!

A few weeks ago on a beautiful Saturday morning we went down to the Sheeps Meadow in Central Park to attend a dog show/carnival thing. We don't have a dog but I enjoy looking at them and so does Morgan. After we strolled through the show we headed out onto the meadow to have a picnic and let Morgan run free. I can't really remember why Morgan was so upset but man I love this face!

It was seriously the most perfect, beautiful, glorious day and I loved every minute of it. Especially the really yummy strawberry and nutella crepe I got from a vendor. It was heaven!

This dog was massive and a great show of the many types of dogs we saw.

We passed by the Bethesda Fountain on our way in. I'm so glad it is no longer under construction. Just beautiful.

The Alice in Wonderland statue is my favorite in Central Park. I rarely get down here so I had to take the opportunity to get a picture with Morgan. I can't wait for the Tim Burton movie either!

Morgan soaring above the skyline.

I love this man!

And I love this boy!

Thank you Cody for a wonderful life!

Oh I just loved this day and my family! Yay for us!