Paige!

The last time Paige and I saw each other was back in 2008 when I flew to CA for my 20 year hgh school reunion and spent a night visiting her too! We may not see each other often but when we do it's like no time has passed and we instantly pick up where we last left off. This time was no different. Even though we only got to spend a half day together, it was so great to see her. The timing wasn't ideal as Jack and I were flying to Mexico early the next morning but at least we got to see each other! Hopefully it won't take as much time to pass before we see each other again... How lame though that we didn't think to take a photo until I was dropping them off at rental car place...haha!

Getting into the Halloween spirit...

One thing I was looking forward to this Halloween was taking the kids to Busch Gardens to experience the haunted houses like Jack and I did last year during during one of my trips to make house selections. Once again it did not disappoint...in fact it was a bit too scarey for Sage but she toughed through a few of them.






When Jack got asked to participate in a conference in Mexico the week of Halloween the first thing he did was call me and see if I'd want to go with him. Indeed with all the stress of the house there was no arm twisting needed...But we did need to find someone to watch the kids, something I had never had anyone do except my parents. Thankfully I have an amazing friend here who insisted on taking them. So away we went. I have to say I was a bit sad to miss Halloween but with the boys being too old to trick or treat anyway, it wasn't as big a deal to miss. They did dress up for school though, Connor in his standby costume, Superman and Ty took my advice and went the creative route, going as "fake news". He was a bit skeptical at first but after getting all sorts of compliments at school he agreed it was a good idea. Loved that Brian captured this photo of Ty in front of the Chipotle sign...very appropriate.



Of course Sage wasn't going to pass on trick or treating. Her and Liz were the busy bees and made out quite well...a little too well if you ask me! Somehow they managed to get through the night without a photo of them in their costumes...

Happy Birthday to me!

Dinner out with Jack and church with these cuties...a perfect way to spend my birthday weekend!

Oh Irma...

So when news broke that a hurricane was heading towards Florida I wasn't worried. We are inland, and living in a 2nd floor apt with a floor above us to deal with a roof blown off and a floor below us to deal with a flood. It seemed like every day the direction was changing and heaven knew where it would actually plow through. Although our living quarters didn't allow for a stockpile of food and water I did head out to Costco to grab a few things a couple days before they expected the storm to make landfall. Not only were there no parking spaces but then after stalking someone for their space I quickly learned that you had to stalk people for their carts. Once inside there were lines wrapping around the store for not only people checking out but those in line for water which was being rationed. It was absolute insanity! I may have left with no water but I did manage to get out with 8 gallons of mango juice...



As the storm got closer, SeaWorld was making arrangements for their trainers to pull all nighters with the animals. Last year when a storm had come through Jack spent the night at the park with the trainers but this year they said they had it covered but he wanted to make a point to check up on the employees so we had a great afternoon enjoying the calm before the storm...



As it turned out the storm did end up turning in the direction of our town, and coming inland. In fact it came right over us and wow, what a storm it was. We were one of the few we knew to keep power the whole time which was a blessing but the whole Orlando area was put on a required curfew to prevent any trouble and danger as there were lots of downed trees and power lines. Jack and I were rebels and decided to head out anyway as we wanted to check out the house and see how it survived. Of course it's only 2 miles away and yes, we ended up getting pulled over. Jack flashed his badge to the police man and said we were heading to SeaWorld to check out damage which thankfully got us off the hook! There was far worse damage than this but here are a couple shots taken on the drive to SeaWorld...



Because many schools and families within the school district were without power schools remained closed for a full week following the hurricane. Of course the kids weren't complaining! So Alys and I packed up the kids and away we went to Ormond Beach. What was sad was mose the hotels and neighborhoods in this area didn't have electricity or water. How grateful we felt to not have been affected that way. Hurricane Jose which followed behind Irma but stayed off shore created some big waves that the kids loved playing in! You can see how close our car was to the water line. A bit scarey but so worth the convenience!



One of the highlights of Irma and the storms that followed shortly behind had to be watching the community come together to help those in need. We had the opportunity to go assist in the preparation of meals that were being sent to Puerto Rico which had been devastated by hurricane Maria and what a great experience that was and a wake up call to how blessed we are. Feeding Children Everywhere was given the task of putting together over 4 million meals just for Puerto Rico. It took place over three weeks and and was by far the most organized and best service we had done in quite some time. So proud of Mormon Helping Hands and all the volunteers from the Mormon faith that came out in droves to help.

Labor Day weekend getaway!

With the frustration of not being in the house mounting and feeling a little stir crazy in the apartment we decided Labor Day weekend was the perfect opportunity to grab a hotel near the beach and get away. We landed on a town called Delray since we had driven through this cute beach community months earlier during a water polo tournament and knew we wanted to return. What made this such a fun town was not only being on the beach but the lively main street lined with all sorts of fun shops and restaurants that we enjoyed strolling up and down in the evening. We plan on taking many more getaways like this while we live in Florida!

And as you can see Sage was pretty excited about bouncing between the pool and beach...and sipping on pina coladas...

New school year, new schools, new adventures!

The jury is out on how many high schools the boys will have attended by the time they graduate from high school but as of the beginning of their sophomore school year they are on school #3. After completing the second half of their freshman year at West Orange High School here in Florida, they could hardly wait to get settled into the brand new high school they would be starting their sophomore year in. Not only is it a brand new, clean school but it is also only five minutes up the road from us which is so fabulous, especially for seminary drop off. Now let's just hope that soon they will be leaving to school from our house instead of the apartment... Here are our handsome sophomores, entering their 2017/2018 school year...  (Aug. 14, 2017)



Next up it was Sage's turn to start her first day of school! She too was also very excited to be attending a new school but this time Sage would be leaving elementary and starting middle school as a 6th grader! I wasn't a big fan of that as in Mason 6th grade was still intermediate and the idea of having Sage on a bus with a bunch of 8th graders didn't excite me but she can't stay young forever. So here is our beautiful middle schooler...