Happy Halloween

Mike and I don't usually dress up for Halloween, but this year we decided to.

The kids had a great time on beggars night. It was a little cold, but fun nonetheless.

Morgan was Dorothy, Miles was a ninja, and Will was a pirate.

Morgan's favorite part of her costume was her red shoes. I have a feeling they will be worn out soon...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Morgan's First Piano Recital

Morgan had her first piano recital this week. She's only been taking lessons for 2 months, but I was amazed at how well she's picked up on playing. She was TERRIFIED for her recital; so much so, that she was up most of the night before fretting over it. She kept coming into our room and saying she felt sick. She is such a finicky little thing. When it came to her turn in the recital, her eyes welled up with tears and she almost lost it. I told her to pull herself together and that she'd do great, and that's exactly what happened. Once I walked her up she played beautifully. We love our shy little lady!

Here is Morgan with her piano teacher, Nicole.

Cousin Kelsey and Aunt Beth came to watch Morgan perform. It made Morgan's night to have her cousin there. Mike's family is always so great and supportive with these things.

All the students.

Carter visits

Many of Morgan and Miles friends have moved away from Ohio, but that doesn't mean they don't ever see them. Carter came to visit last week with his dad and the kids were so excited. Morgan and Miles stayed home from school so we could go play all day. It was so fun!

I love this old picture that was taken a couple years ago. Nina and I used to get our kids together at least 4 days a week - sometimes much more!! We sure miss having them around. I love to look at these old pictures - it brings back so many great memories...
Aren't they cute!

Fall Soccer Highlights

Here are some pictures of Miles playing soccer this season. He may be one of the smallest kids on the team, but that didn't seem to bother him! He was fun to watch.

He played awesome... And why wouldn't he? Just look at this energetic & encouraging crowd cheering him on.

Coming through the victory tunnel - the best part of playing soccer!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookies are so dang delicious - and I feel like I'm pretty picky when it comes to cookies. If you like to make fall treats, these pumpkin cookies are a must! Scroll down for the recipe...

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients:
1 cup canned pumpkin (be sure you don't get the pumpkin pie filling - you want 100% pumpkin)
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Combine pumpkin, sugar, vegetable oil, and egg. Mix until combined. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, and salt. Dissolve the baking soda with the milk and mix into pumpkin mixture. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and mix well.
Add vanilla, mix. Then stir in chocolate chips.
Drop by spoonful on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 F for approximately 10-12 minutes or until lightly brown and firm.

A week in Cabo... without kids!

I'm telling you up front, there are quite a few pictures with this post... I don't want to forget a single thing :)
Last week we left the kiddies with Grammie and Grandpa Dehner for 9 days (9 days!!) while we ran the marathon and then headed down to Cabo with AnnDee and Taylor. I can't even put into words what an amazing time we had. We stayed at the Pueblo Bonito Sunset Beach Resort - it was beyond luxury.

Every night we went to the beach to watch the sunset.

This is the resort we stayed at. It was like it's own little town right on the side of the mountain.

This was the view off our jacuzzi balcony. Taylor and AnnDee's place was right next door to us, so we could hop over the balcony and visit whenever we wanted.

This resort is so big that you need to call for a golf cart to get around. (I don't know what Mike is doing in this picture, but it makes me laugh).

AnnDee and I loved sipping on different drinks at the pool (virgin of course!!) Every time we ordered a drink they would look at us weird and say "What, no alcohol?? Are you sure??" They thought we were a strange bunch. My favorite drink was called a dirty monkey. It was a banana pina colada that we'd get with a drizzle of chocolate syrup on top... My mouth is watering just thinking about it. Yummy.

Check out this cool table. We'd order our food and eat it without ever leaving the water. It was awesome. I wish they had tables in the hot tub!

After our marathon we were a little stiff so we decided to go get couples massages. Mike and Taylor hadn't ever had one and didn't seem too thrilled to go, but after a little convincing, we got them to come along. It was awesome!! The boys were pleasantly surprised at how much they enjoyed it. Although their favorite part was using the spa afterwards. AnnDee and I were sitting in the waiting room forever waiting for them to come out. They got sucked into the steam room, ice tub, and jacuzzi. We never thought we'd be the ones sitting and waiting for them to come out... Usually it's the other way around. Don't we look so relaxed after our massages...

Mike and Taylor loved playing in the ocean.

One day we took a boat ride out to Lovers Beach to go snorkeling. It was beautiful. The beach has two sides - one side is called Lovers Beach where the waves are calm and peaceful and then you can walk across the beach through some rock mountains to another beach called Divorce Beach. The waves are much more powerful and the water is not as calm. It was fun on both sides, but I prefer Lovers Beach :)

One day we went zip lining. It was hot, but still fun. We went with a big group so we had to wait in lines for a while, but overall, I had a good time! We found some hammocks to rest in while we waiting for our guides to get everyone suited in their zipping gear. Mike struggled getting comfortable in the hammock, but Taylor and I were enjoying it.

They didn't allow us to bring cameras, so this is all we got of zip lining. bummer...

One day we went into town and ate at a little taco stand. The food was okay...

Then this guy came over and started singing for us. He had a great voice and made the taco experience memorable. He just wanted a tip, but he totally earned it. He was great!

Mike and Taylor weren't ready to go in for the night until we had a night swim. They were all about the night swim... every night.... It was nice because we had the pool and hot tubs all to ourselves. The pools were amazing - they were huge infinity pools and there were quite a few speckled throughout the resort to choose from.

The beach was also amazing. We usually had the beach to ourselves. I swear there were times we felt like we were the only people at the entire resort.

Mike was so great to plan this vacation. I didn't have to do anything except pack and go.

Of course we couldn't spend an entire week with the Nadaulds without being a little immature. We thought we were so funny at the time.

We left our resort a couple times to head over to another beach where locals were selling goods. I loved the little dresses they made and had to get one for me and one to bring home to Morgan.

Being silly in the store - it was getting late.

Our last morning before heading to the airport. I was sad to leave, but SO ready to get back to the kids. I missed them so much.

When we got home there was this great welcome home sign that Grammie helped the kids make. I can't even tell you how thankful I am for Mike's parents. They took such great care of the kids! I just wanted them to keep the kids alive while we were gone, but they did much more than that. They took the kids apple picking, to parks, shopping, to and from lessons and school, they took Will to the doctor for double ear infections, they went out to eat, and much, much more. I came home to a clean house, laundry done, my fridge and washing machine cleaned out, there were very much needed new dish rags on the counter from Grandpa, and the kids were asleep in bed. Grammie has won Will's heart. There have been a few times where Will has walked around the house like he's looking for someone - I can tell he's looking for his Grammie! Thank you Kurt and Shawn (and really all of Mike's family) for taking such great care of our kids. We love you all!