**First of all as a disclaimer, to all the Morriss family that might be reading this and are highly skeptical of my declaration of love to the South and yet puzzled why we are still not living there, to them I say, after this last trip I am wondering that myself. I am sorry we live so far away. It truly breaks my heart.
I really do love the South. I can't quite put my finger on it. Perhaps it is because I served my mission in Nashville, TN. It could be because Jeremy and I lived in GA after we were married while he did an internship with Motorola. I have some wonderful memories of both of those places and times. Or perhaps it is how everything is covered in green and if you stand still long enough you might turn green too. Gardens actually grow there! You see beautiful, vibrant wildflowers growing spontaneously in the median of the freeways, which are covered in grass as well. And if man hasn't turned it into a neighborhood or shopping center, the skyline is thickly landscaped with trees. Another reason I love the South is probably the people. I am fortunate enough to know amazing people there. The South produces friendly, caring, considerate people. Unless you have experienced Southern hospitality you really can't appreciate what I am saying. From the cashier at the grocery store to people at the park, you won't find a friendlier, more polite people anywhere. I remember on my mission, the God-fearin' people of TN wouldn't be at all interested in our message but you better believe they would offer you a glass of ice tea and sit you right down on their front porch rockin' chair. I love it and I love them. Some of the best Southerners are in our own family and we went to visit them for a "blessed" week and a half. Here's some tidbits of what we "done did."
Parks, parks, parks, parks. Georgia has the coolest parks around. The girls and their cousin, Shayla played and played at 4 different parks. I will have to say, the coolest one was in downtown Atlanta. It was beautifully shaded, it had the soft foam ground, awesome play equipment and my favorites--the roller slide and the perpetual motion twirlers. Too much fun!
The Atlanta Temple. Jeremy and I got to visit the newly remodeled and rededicated Atlanta Temple. It was a wonderful, peaceful day.
The Children's Museum of Atlanta. The kids had a blast there! I want to take them to the Phoenix Children's Museum because I know they will love it. So many hands-on exhibits. It was just their cup of tea!!
Jeremy went to a Braves' game. He and his Dad went for a little male-bonding time. I didn't think the girls would have enjoyed a double-header against the Brewers, but their Daddy sure did. Especially since they won both games! Go Braves!
A homemade swing. Is there anything that Grandpa Morriss can't make? This swing was awesome. I am putting my order in for one, and oh, maybe a porch to go with it!
A homemade slip 'n slide. The girls weren't too convinced at first that it was a good idea to run head-first and slide on your belly in the cold water, but after much "coaxing" (aka-forcing, threatening and finally bribing) you could hardly get Makayla off of it.
Crafts and dress-ups with Grandma and Aunt Kelley. Grandma has a fun toy box with beautiful dresses that the girls twirled and did other girly, princessy, fairy things in-like turn Grandpa into a horse. Grandma help them make multi-colored sand bottles for Mother's Day and Aunt Kelley donated her time, paper, and stamps to help the girls make cards for everyone in the house.
The Wii. We danced and danced on Aunt Kelley's Wii. I barely did better than Makayla at the dancing. We have other talents in this life, but dancing isn't one of them. We had fun trying though!
Several dates--to Chuck E. Cheese with Aunt Courtney and Uncle John, a breakfast date with Grandma and Grandpa, to Aunt Christy's work where they got to dance to a live band in their princess dresses, and strawberry picking with Mommy and their aunts and cousins. Good times!
Mother's Day and picture taking. The men whipped up a yummy dinner for the wives and mothers in the family. Picture-taking wasn't as much fun for the kids or the parents but we got some cute pictures anyway!
So it was a wonderful trip with wonderful family to share it with! Even though you don't really live in the Garden of Eden, being with you was heaven on earth. We love you, Morriss family!!
2 comments:
Nothin' better than time spent with family ;)
And how appropriate - my security word was "cousin" - perfect, don't ya think?
Sounds like so much fun!!! The pictures of the kids turned out super cute too!
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