Tomorrow is November 25. Thanksgiving. I am thankful for so much. I have a wonderful husband and son as well as a great extended family. We are all happy and healthy and I feel so lucky to be surrounded with so many loving people.

These days, a great job can be hard to come by. I am so thankful to have a job I absolutely love and that I work with such a great group of ladies. I am so lucky to be a part of new families every time I go to work. I am also thankful for Brian’s job. I know I talk about how much he is gone, but in the big picture, he has a job he also loves, is challenged by, and he makes a great living. And I know the long absences are almost done!!

Then there’s Adam. I can’t even put into words how thankful I am for that little boy. Sure, he has his days when I just can’t deal with him anymore, but overall he such a fantastic child. He makes me laugh every day and I am amazed at how smart he is. He is such a sweetheart. My favorite is when he gives me the biggest hug he can by wrapping his arms and legs around me and squeezing me so tight that he shakes. Then he tops it off with, “I sure love you!”

And speaking of Adam, Thanksgiving is also his 3rd birthday! I can’t believe how fast time has flown by. He’s doing really great with potty training now. He’s pretty much all trained during the day and just wears a pull up for nap and bedtime. He is so proud of himself!!

I am working all weekend. I work a day shift on Thanksgiving, then I’ll join the huge family gathering at Dora & Fred’s. They are cooking up a delicious feast!! We’re bringing over a dinosaur birthday cake and party hats to have a little birthday celebration as well. It’s shaping up to be a busy, but fun weekend!

Oh, and to top it off, Brian got home tonight and will be here until December 3rd! That’s 9 days for him at home! I am also thankful for that!!

From our family to yours: Have a happy Thanksgiving!! Travel safely and stay warm!!

We’re home from Mexico. We had a fantastic time!

Wednesday and Thursday the weather involved scattered showers. And were they ever! It would be sunny, then some clouds would move in, it would rain for 5 minutes, then the sun would reappear! We would just huddle under the palapa on the beach during the brief showers, then continue on basking in the sun!

The weather on Friday and Saturday was better. It was super windy on Friday, but still sunny. Brian treated me to a beach side massage on Saturday and I, in turn, treated him to one as well. It was fabulous! So relaxing to hear the ocean waves while getting a great massage.

On our first day in Cancun, we went to WalMart to get a cooler, limes, and Corona so we were able to bring our own drinks to the beach. We also bought some milk and cereal so we would have breakfast on the balcony each morning. Gorgeous!

We would venture out in the evenings to find places to eat supper and we never had a bad meal. It was such a great trip and we can’t wait to go back!

I’ll post some of my favorite pics. You can also click on the link on the right that says “See our photos” and go to the album “Cancun November, 2010” to see more. We stayed at the same hotel as when we visited Cancun in March 2009, so that album will also have more pics of our hotel

Here is our ocean front view off our balcony:

Gorgeous beach:

Sand like powdered sugar:

Here’s Brian and I enjoying beach life:

Our last dinner of vacation at Calypso’s:

Breakfast in the airport at Margaritaville:

We got home Sunday night and Brian returned to Iowa early Monday morning. He’ll be home for Thanksgiving. Back to reality!

The last several weeks and months have involved Brian being in Iowa a ton for work. He is getting tired and so am I. How did we decide to recharge?! By heading to Cancun!

At the moment we are sitting on the balcony of our hotel room, enjoying the warm Caribbean breezes, Corona, and each other’s company. It is fabulous!

We had a 6 AM flight this morning and we were on the beach by 11:30. We decided to live it up and spring for the first class seats on the plane. What a treat! I have never been in first class before. We were served a delicious breakfast and had wonderful service the whole flight here. We are staying at the same hotel we stayed at in March ’09. It’s small, quiet, not all-inclusive and it has the best beach around! We have a fantastic 1 bedroom ocean front room! Our plans for the next few days include sitting on our chairs on the beach, sipping tropical drinks, solving the world’s problems, and just hanging out together.

Adam is spending time with both sets of grandparents while we are gone. He’s excited to hang out with them and they are excited to have him! We think the next time we come down here, we will bring Adam with. He is old enough now where he would enjoy playing in the calm, shallow waters and building sand castles on the beach.

I see my Corona needs to be refilled…..Hasta luego!

We had a great weekend!! Brian came home Friday evening after 2 weeks in Iowa! We ordered pizza for dinner and enjoyed all just hanging out together. We also decided it would be a good time to try to transition Adam into a ‘big boy’ bed! We took the railing off his crib and he now has a toddler bed. He thought it was a lot of fun to help Daddy use the screwdriver to take his crib apart. So far, the transition has gone well! He climbs out of bed every now and then, but nothing too terrible.  *KNOCK ON WOOD*

Saturday we hit the Pancake House! It had been a few weeks since we had been there, so it was even tastier than usual! We did some work in the yard and spent more time just hanging out together. Saturday night I went to the So You Think You Can Dance Season 7 Live Tour with my friend from work, Amber. We had a blast! It was an amazing show and the dancers are so incredibly talented! Here are a couple of my favorite dancers, Lauren & Kent

Sunday was Halloween! In the morning we carved Adam’s pumpkin, then we went to Sever’s Corn Maze in Shakopee for a couple hours. They had various activities as well as the huge maze to explore. Adam had fun running around, petting animals, going for a pony ride, and playing in the giant corn pit.

After nap time we watched the Vikings lose (again! bummer!). Then I took Adam out trick or treating while Brian passed out candy at home. Adam had decided he wanted to be a puppy dog and he looked adorable! We only made it to a couple houses and Adam said, “Now we should go home.” I talked him into going to a few more houses, then we went home. He had even more fun helping me hand out candy to the other kids.

Brian had to leave again this morning for Iowa. He’ll be back on Friday cuz I have to work next weekend (DAY shifts!! YAY!!!) I’m working on potty training Adam. This morning was rough. He wasn’t getting it. He went in his pants twice. I finally (after consulting with Shannon) decided to strip off the pants and just have him sit on the potty while watching TV & snacking. He went twice between 11 & 1!! Hopefully we’re on to something.

Big boy bed, and potty training all within a couple days of each other. Hopefully we’re not asking too much of our dude.

Have a great week!