Connor and Jeff 1v1

Now that Connor was on the freshman basketball team, Jeff and I encouraged him to continue working on his skills at home during his free time. Jeff will usually hang around with him and shoot hoops, but occasionally they like to take it up a notch and play some one-on-one. I had been hearing some stories about their 1v1 matchups and couldn't wait to witness in person. It was certainly entertaining to see these two go at it on the "court" at home.

Both Connor and I have to admit that it's quite impressive that Jeff at 57 years old can keep up with this 14 year old kid. But the funniest thing to me was seeing some of the aggression brought out in Connor during the matchup - a couple of photos showed that he was really giving it to Jeff. There MAY have been some fouls involved, ha!

These two! I just LOVE watching their relationship grow as they bond over sports. Connor probably has no clue how lucky he is to have his Dad at home and so involved in his development as an athlete, and even more so, how cool it is that his old man can keep up!

Thanksgiving 2020

It came as no surprise to anyone that Thanksgiving 2020 would look quite different this year. To our great disappointment, our annual Thanksmas gathering was cancelled due to the ongoing pandemic. It was the right decision but still no less disappointing. To commemorate the occasion, Jeff's Aunt Patti had a special gift made for all of us - Thanksmas face masks! We made sure to grab a family pic of us wearing our masks, and we even snapped a photo at home with Collin and Kevin to pretend we were enjoying the infamous "pantry shots" which is a long standing Thanksmas tradition.

Instead of traveling to Michigan for Thanksmas, we took a much shorter trip this year to my parents' house for a smaller Morgan family gathering. Collin and Kevin were able to join us and we really enjoyed the extra time with them. It was strange to think that the last time they were with us in White Oak, the boys all looked a LOT different!!

Our group was smaller than usual -- just my parents, all of my siblings, and all of the cousins -- but we all had such a nice time catching up and just being together again. As with all our family gatherings, we enjoyed nonstop game-playing and lots of yummy food. For our Thanksgiving meal, Jeff enjoyed his role as grill master for a special treat of ribeye steaks. 

We all laughed at one major difference with our family visit this year -- a house FULL of dogs! With Jeb and Alli's dogs Rosco and Millie, Michelle's border collies Shiloh and Gus, and Ben and Charlotte's new birddog puppy Rip, there was no shortage of love for all the fur babies. Kaitlynn, of course, was in heaven and there was no shortage of puppy love being doled out by all the cousins. And even Grandaddy was in on the action as he worked with Rip on his hunting skills. Watching the doggos in action was certainly nonstop entertainment for all of us!

Grandaddy was also happy this trip that he had a ton of free labor for his latest project, an outdoor storage shed that he's building behind his house. With the help of all the guys, he was able to get the roof installed which was a huge help. There is never a shortage of projects at Meme and Grandaddy's house! 

Kaitlynn and Anais's Thanksgiving Visit

When the Thanksgiving holiday finally arrived, Thanksgiving was the last thing on the kids' minds. Instead, they were so thankful for some much needed downtime from their hectic schedules. For Kaitlynn, it also represented the perfect opportunity for another long awaited visit with Anais. It's always a special occasion when these two get together, and this visit was no different. They swam, they danced, they jumped, they choreographed, they watched videos, and they Roblox'ed to their hearts content. There's never a dull moment when these two are together, and their hearts are never more full!

Connor's First Homecoming

The week before Thanksgiving, Connor had the cool opportunity to participate in his very first high school Homecoming weekend. Usually this would consist of a hometown football game followed by a school dance, but of course, Covid-19 changed all of that. Luckily, Connor has a great group of buddies with wonderful parents who came together to plan a fun event for the boys in celebration of their first Homecoming. After reserving a beautiful facility nearby called the Greenhouse at The Oaks restaurant, we all decorated to make it festive and fun for the boys and their dates. The full group consisted of about 15 guys and gals that dressed in their Sunday best and arrived for a fun night with dinner. Of course, no Homecoming event would be complete without a night of incessant photo-taking by the parents. To say we heard nonstop moans and groans about the photos would be an understatement, ha! I sure was glad for all the photos, though. What a fun high school memory for Connor and his friends!