#145 - Happy Thanksgiving!

Where has 2010 gone? I cannot believe that Thanksgiving has come and gone, and that the Christmas season is upon us. This year has flown by. Before we know it, we'll be reflecting upon the year and making resolutions for the new one.

We've got so much for which to be thankful. First and foremost, we have a healthy, happy, sweet little boy who brings our family so much joy. His smile and laugh are contagious, and his curiosity is a lot of fun. He loves to learn - to read books, count his cars, spell out the ABCs - and he's constantly asking questions because he's so curious about life. Rarely an hour goes by that he's not making us smile in amazement.

And, we've got a wonderful family that supports and loves us and our son more than we could have ever wanted. Just this weekend, we were talking about the special relationship that Owen has with each one of his family members and friends - both collectively and independently - and how very blessed he is to have that relationship. with each of them. If you are reading this right now, then you know that you are one of those people - someone who has taken time out of your day to read about and catch up on our son. And for that, we thank you.

This past Thursday, we had so very much for which to give thanks. And, there's not a better way to do it than to spend the day with family. Which we did!

In our family, it doesn't matter how dressed up you are, if there's a job to be done, they'll put you to work! Not two minutes after arriving at Aunt Debbie's house on Thursday, Lou was carving the turkey. I just had to document this rare sighting in the kitchen.

Aunt Debbie hosted us at her house again (way out in the country!), and provided us with ample dishes and side dishes and desserts to sample. Here's a picture of Mom and AD. Which one is the older sister???

Paw Paw was there and just lit up when he saw Kaylin and Owen.

Not the best picture of the children, but at least it shows the Thanksgiving outfits that I made them. Many thanks to Heather for doing the appliques!

Sweet little Kay Kay.

Kay Kay and her Mommy.

After feasting on seconds and thirds at Aunt Debbie's, we went over to Aunt Kay's for dessert (OMG, the key lime pie.....). Here's my lil bro Robbie, with my cousin, Tommy. They were in the midst of the annual badminton game, which they won.

Owen with his loving Grandmother. His cheeks are all rosy from being chased around the house by Uncle Joe.

And, being chased by Uncle Joey. Two handsome boys!

We hope you had a safe and fun Thanksgiving celebration. Many blessings to each of you during this holiday season!

#144 - Welcome to F-L-O-R-I-D-A

This past weekend, Susan and Noah came down from Michigan to visit us for a long weekend. They flew into Savannah, but on Friday, we drove down to Florida, where we introduced them to all the things we love about Florida. Friday night, we took a sunset boat ride to dinner (where Noah ordered Gator tail and ATE IT, if you can believe that). Saturday, we drove over to Gainesville, and showed Noah the University of Florida campus (future Gator?????) and took him to his very first college football game. He had a blast!

We were sad to see them leave on Sunday, but we'll be up in Michigan in just a few short weeks for Christmas!

A picture of the beautiful sunset on Friday evening, taken from Aunt Kay's back yard. She was so sweet and hospitable to us this weekend. We can't thank her enough!

The three guys - Owen, Lou and Noah.

Susan and Noah about to head down to the boat.

On our way to dinner!

Think they are related????

Heidi-bug and the little guy! She was letting him drive the boat.

Sweet little Kaylin was there too.

And, finally, on Sunday, some pictures of the family. Tita and her two sweet boys.

Noah and Lou

And, the whole gang, including Aunt Kay. Thank you, Aunt Kay! See you Thursday.

Oops - one more. The boys playing football in the back yard.

#143 - Long time no blog

Sorry for the delay in posting. Last week totally got away from me, and next thing I knew, the weekend was here again. With another weekend came another trip down to Jacksonville. These days, Owen wakes up in the morning and asks if he gets to see Nana or Grandfather that day. He's very blessed to get to see them both on a regular basis recently. We've been averaging about two trips a month there this fall. Of course, Lou and I love it because we get some family time, and usually get to get away for a Florida game in Gainesville. This weekend, the Florida game was certainly not the highlight.

Today, Aunt Kay invited us over for breakfast, and Owen and Kaylin were in for a special surprise. When we got there, my dad suggested that we make some fresh squeezed orange juice. And by fresh squeezed, I mean - take the ladder to the orange tree, twist off some oranges, cut them, then run them through the juicer. Juice doesn't get any better than that. That's one of the many, many perks of living in Florida!

Here's dad with Owen, twisting off the fresh oranges in Aunt Kay's front yard.

After each orange was pulled, Owen would step down the ladder and toss the orange into the waiting basket.

Finally, the basket was nearly full, and Owen insisted on carrying it into the house.

Yuuummmmm.....

Owen was very adept at the juicing. He did 75% of the oranges!

And, finally, a chance to sample the goodness of Florida orange juice.

More please!

We, of course, saw Mom this weekend too. She loves Owen to pieces!

"Dad, another picture?"

Jen, Kaylin, Owen and me on the dock

And, finally, Daddy and his little buddy.

Hope you have a great week this week. We've got special visitors headed south to see us this week! Can't wait!

#142 - Halloween and Florida/Georgia Game

The last weekend of October is always full of fun when you're in Jacksonville, Florida. It's Florida/Georgia weekend, and many times, Halloween falls on it too. Like we do every year, we headed back home for the festivities, and this year, it was well-worth the trip! The best part of the weekend was that the Gators won in overtime. Lou and I stayed for the entire game and it was an amazing victory. As usual, we partied at the best floating tailgate you'll ever see - the Worth boat, which they dock right there at the marina next to the stadium. On Friday afternoon, we took Owen down there, where he got to see his Grandmother, Grandfather, Aunt Kay and Uncle Joe.

He was so excited to see his Grandfather. When he woke up Friday morning, the first question he asked was, "Papa today?"

Aunt Kay had a cool horn that Owen just loved playing with on the boat, so Owen was attached to her the entire afternoon. Plus, Aunt Kay is pretty special!

Here's the little guy with his favorite Aunt Jen.

When Dad had to get something from the hatch, the kids insisted on getting in there with him. Ha!

Grandmother with sweet little Kaylin.

This year's Halloween was a bit unusual. First, the city of Savannah changed the official night of trick-or-treating from Sunday to Saturday at the last minute. Since we were going to be in Jax for the game, we would be unable to take him here. In Jacksonville though, their trick-or-treating night wasn't until Sunday, and we'd be back home by then. So, Owen didn't officially get to trick-or-treat. He did, however, get to dress up in multiple costumes and get spoiled by friends and family who brought him lots of treats.

Here's costume #1 - Thomas the Train, which he talked about for months before Halloween.

A sweet little picture of Kaylin.

Here's Owen as a bumblebee. He doesn't look too happy here, but this is what he insisted on wearing on Halloween.

A family picture (Lou went as a surfer dude - nice hat)

And, finally, Owen as Super Mario Brother!

The real Super Mario

And Owen with his sweet friend and babysitter, Kailyn.

Sorry for all the weird formatting problems. After two days of trying to fix it, I'm giving up and posting as is.