Trying to get in the spirit...

It's not easy to get into the Christmas spirit when you are moving into a partially completed house a couple weeks before Christmas but we were going to have to do our best to do so. Everything from setting up the Christmas tree to shopping for gifts lost it's luster as we worked amongst the chaos. But in the end we pulled it off including our annual visit to Santa. With only a day to spare before Christmas the kids were troopers and put on their smiles so I could get the overpriced 5x7 Santa photo that I have gotten every year since the boys were born. Of course it wasn't until after I got home that for some random reason they had printed it off in landscape style rather than portrait style...the only one printed that way in the past 15 years...



After a nice Sunday service we spent Christmas Eve at the Morris's.





The funny thing is that in both Ohio and Washington we had several trees with plenty of places to put them. Here in Florida we quickly realized that we really don't even have one great place to put a tree. So for this year we threw it in the dining room since we have yet to furnish that room...



Christmas morning!



Seriously how crazy is this weather on Christmas?!? Here we are out on our lake for the first time. Connor was testing out his kayak and we also blew up our raft. Although the boys can hardly wait to have a couple jet skis sitting on the lift...we had a nice time enjoying the inflatables. Sage also loved being able to test out her new pogo stick. And although Ty managed to catch the first fish from the dock, Sage got outfitted with some cool fishing stuff for Christmas and loves spending time with Jack out on the dock fishing!





Shopping for the kids the week before Christmas was initially feeling a bit overwhelming but thankfully I think we pulled it off. Connor is always tricky to shop for because he likes surprises and really never wants anything. He's really been into health and fitness lately so I thought a kayak would be a fun thing for him to get out in on the lake and work his arms with. Ty didn't really have much he wanted this year either but had mentioned a surfboard. Sadly he got a drone too but on the second trip he managed to take it over the lake and lose reception or something as it disappeared...never to be found again... Jack also decided this was a good time to introduce the boys to their own nice shaving kits from the Art of Shaving. Hard to believe they are at this stage in life already. Sage finally got her first phone! With middle school starting in 6th grade here, it seemed like I had to give in to the phone.




We may not have ended our day with the traditional Christmas Day feast but we did end it feeling grateful for how blessed we are for our family, our health, and the memories we continue to make together. Merry Christmas!

Home Sweet Home...well not so much yet...but hopefully soon...

So after the most dreadful home build ever, on December 6th we finally moved into the house...not to be confused with completed house. It's hard to believe that after going under contract in July of 2016, and living in a place where construction can take place year round, we are still not in a fully completed house. After repeated missed deadlines and a host of unexpected delays, we finally got word from our builder a "to be safe" date of Nov. 30th, which he still was unable to meet. But by this point we had given up our temporary housing, had our Ohio movers scheduled, and had family scheduled to be in town for the holidays, something we weren't about to cancel. We had already missed out on the summer in the house which the kids especially had been really looking forward to, having a pool and dock, not to mention my parents golden anniversary, and a slew of other plans we had made and cancelled, so we were moving in regardless. Through all the stress and frustration though, there is one thing that brings peace and a smile to us and that is this view. From pink skies, to fog over the lake, the morning sunrise never disappoints. It's the one thing in the build that hasn't let us down...besides our fabulous dock builder who we wish could have built our house too...