For the extended Morley Family , Thanksgiving of 2020 was a delightful and blessed time!  Seven of the nine children, and their families gathered together in Missouri for a family reunion. We rented a lovely facility for Thanksgiving Day, with a big kitchen and dining area and fields for sports.  The decorating/set up crew went over early to get things ready!  We also set up a little memory table with pictures and scrapbooks to look through.  Lots of cooks in the kitchen! With a group this big, recipes are quadrupled and more turkeys are necessary!  Dinner time!  Ah, of course, the dessert!  Cousin Candace had an activity with the little ones.  The little boys found a fun game to play together!  Well, maybe there weren't enough chairs...    On Saturday, the 25+ young people took a 5 mile hike back to a cave with a large spring flowing out of it and into the river. Caves have wonderful acoustics so being the good Morleys that...

As wonderful as vacations are , it is always a blessing and comfort to get home and back into a regular schedule! There is school to do, music to practice, animals to feed and projects to accomplish!  Christmas music is in full swing! (no pun intended here...)  So are music lessons, with Jonathan, Laura, and Caleb all taking piano from their big sister and violin from mom.  He's taking it very seriously here!  While I was practicing the other day, Caleb came up and wanted to play "with me"! Love this boy!  Here we are celebrating Ethan's birthday with Grandpa and Grandma Morley. (notice the dog looking out for falling crumbs! =) Our family participated in a Trump Train a few weeks ago. There was much enthusiasm and a couple hundred cars involved! Thank the Lord for a leader in the last 4 years who has led us in a strong, American direction.  Our 4 oldest children and several cousins had a youth night at the house of friends of ours who are leading our youth...

 Bright and early on Monday morning, we drove to the historic train station in Williams, AZ where we boarded a 14 car train carrying over 400 (and that's at half capacity) people up to the Grand Canyon National Park. The train ride lasted 2 1/2 hours and then we were given 3 hours at the Canyon before reboarding for the trip home. Besides having to wear masks the entire time, we had a great ride!      The Grand Canyon truly lives up to its name!  Our first breathtaking look at the most famous of the 7 Natural Wonders of the World! We hiked and rode a bus to various different overlooks around the South Rim. The beauty was surreal! Our two little troopers!  This beautiful verse was posted on a scenic overlook! What an incredible proof for a Creative Designer right before us! What a blessing to experience this marvelous canyon and the magnificence of the area!  Part 4 Coming Soon.

 On Saturday, the second day of our trip, we drove to a nearby, abandoned copper mine perched on the steep mountainside. At one point, nearly 15,000 people lived and worked there but now the population is just 500 and that is only due to tourism. The views were beautiful though with many houses having porches hanging out over the cliff. Talk about breathtaking! We toured a museum of the copper mine with many old buildings and equipment/vehicles depicting the era of the mine. They even had goats, pigs and chickens to feed and pet!  Our next stop was an Indian cliff dwelling called Montezuma Castle. We took a leisurely shaded walk (thankfully due to the high temps of 90+ each day we were there) along the base of these incredible structures.  Somebody kindly offered to take our picture so we could all be in it!    We also stumbled upon this beautiful swimming hole down among the red rocks, in a flowing river. We spent two afternoons of intense heat, down here cooli...

 After a long summer of projects, gardening and music practice, our family decided to take a family trip to visit the southwestern states! We pulled our camper out and stayed in RV parks along the way. Our first stop was at the Pioneer Woman Mercantile in Oklahoma, a cute shop filled with kitchen accessories and decor.  After Oklahoma, we entered the great state of Texas!  It took two full days to travel through Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico and finally into Arizona as our final destination.  In Eastern Arizona, we drove several miles through the petrified forest and painted desert, stopping to get out and touch the incredible logs-turned-rock.    Posing under a bridge made by a 75' petrified log. Super neat!  Checking out more petrified wood.   We pulled into a RV park after dark and settled in. The next morning we awoke to these stunning red rock and mountains surrounding the beautiful town of Sedona, AZ.  Our first activity on the list wa...