A Full Heart

This Thanksgiving was a special one for me. For a week straight I felt overwhelmingly happy and grateful. Thankful to be a mother. Thankful to be a daughter. My dear parents took two planes and a rental car to get to our house this thanksgiving and we were so so happy they did. For me, there is nothing better, nothing sweeter than to see your parents bond with your child. Since having Luke, I sometimes feel a little sad when he does something new or does some spunky, funny thing and no one else is there to see it. I think a lot of mothers feel this way right? We want the world to love our child as much as we do. Thanksgiving week my mom & my dad got to witness first hand our Luke's shenanigans - including baths, feeding, sleeping, playing - the works. AND they even witnessed his FIRST STEPS!!! That's right folks, this guy has entered a new stage. His first steps were taken the morning of November 25th - the morning after my parents arrived.

walking in memphis...


Remember Luke's squnchy face? Well, he took it to a whole new level for Grandpa. And Grandpa laughed so hard that he basically did it every time he saw him.



So, the week was mostly just playing with Luke but we also ate some southern BBQ and joined crazed Elvis fans at Graceland. Joey's sister Juli drove all the way from Des Moines to spend time with us as well. Here are the 3 Hale siblings at Thanksgiving. Joey and his two sisters Sarah and Juli.


I just love these guys.

Oh, and the crowning event of the trip was "project safari room". My extremely productive parents always want a project to help us with on every visit. They are way too nice. So, we decided to work on Luke's room and make it a safari room. I asked my dad to paint a mural on the wall of a giraffe. This is his first ever giraffe and he even added a zebra pal for him. I seriously thought I couldn't be any more impressed with my dad than I already was - but what do you know. He never ceases to amaze me.