Thanksgiving

We had a great thanksgiving in the Morgan House. We cooked all day and had a feast that was very special. We cooked a 26 lb turkey, bigger than Lexi, and had all the sides (including Brian's kitchen sink dressing) and enough desserts to send us all over the edge!
Andrew, chef in training, helped to prepare the feast...



Tessa's favorite part: sparkling cider (aka kid wine)- mmmmm!!





Andrew even baked a pumpkin pie. His own suggestion and his very first!
Grandpa and Lexi spent a lot of time together!


Lexi is a big fan of Grandpa's ice water...

Disney

While we were in Cali we took our first family trip to Disneyland! It was perfect weather and we had a great time. (We were a little disappointed not to see Mikey the whole day, but the kids loved the rides.) The photo below pretty much captures the reaction of the day: "this is so cool and scary at the same time!"
Tessa at Its a Small World...


On the Dumbo Flying Elephant Ride...

California

Last week we went out to California for some beach time with Grandpa. The weather was absolutely perfect and the kids loved playing in the sand, splashing in the waves, collecting seashells and taking walks with Grandpa. It was a very special trip.






I can never get over how tiny the kids looks when standing in front of the huge ocean...
This is my favorite photo of the kids, I love that you can see the boys playing in the ocean in the background. I think we spent 6 hours on the beach this day...


Andrew loved taking beach strolls with Grandpa...

Tessa Birthday Party!

In typical princess fashion, we celebrated Tessa's birthday all week long. At the end of the week we had a birthday party for all her friends at DU gymnastics center. One of Tessa's favorite weekly activities is gymnastics class so it was fitting...

A party outfit for a very particular girl...we all know how Tessa is about clothes. So we were very impressed she wanted to put this on for the party. In fact the skirt has been in my office for about 2 weeks and every time we showed it to her she would shake her head no- she must have been saving it. When we got home that night it was hard to get it off her....after she went to bed it was hard to get it off Andrew!








And of course there was cake....(red velvet with cream cheese frosting-- YUMMY!!!).....

Tessa is 2!!!

Today Tessa turns 2!!!

Oh how fast the time has gone...two years ago we took the boys and Bailey on a walk to the park and called Auntie Madie because I just didn't feel right. Good thing she came up from Colorado Springs, because Tessa was born only a few hours later!

Tessa is growning up so fast. She is incredibly strong willed, independent, loves to sign and talk, has a belly laugh that is contagious, dresses in all pink 90% of the time, and is fearless. Her curls are adorable and crazy at the same time and she doesn't like to go anywhere without her bow- she even makes sure kitty has a bow too. She loves playing with her brothers and sisters: she can be as tough as Andew, as silly as Zach, and is very caring to Lexi.

Here are some birthday morning photos. When you turn two you get to pour your own milk in your cereal....oh so special!



She is singing happy birthday in this photo...




Because it is Wednesday, Tessa even got to celebrate her birthday at school with all of her friends! Yippee...more cupcakes and singing- even a candle...

Bon Voyage and Happy Birthday Party

The time has come for Auntie ZZ to head back to Chile. (Zach was devastated- he stood crying at the door for 30 minutes after she left ...)
The night before Tessa officially turned two we had a pizza party to celebrate her birthday and say goodbye to Auntie ZZ.

Happy Birthday Tessa!!!!



Andrew is listening to a card that Granny and Pappy sent. They recorded their voices and the kids thought it was the clooest thing ever...Tessa has been sleeping with the card in her crib!
Tessa was very particular about eating her cupcake...she did not mind a messy face but DID NOT LIKE the frosting on her hands! She ate the whole thing with out ever picking it up!