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...

Thanksgiving 2017

Can I just say again how much I love living in a place that so many friends love to come visit?!? The week of Thanksgiving brought our dear friends, the Habra's out to visit. Of course we had to take them to SeaWorld and with Jen being as big as a marine animal fan as she is, they even returned on their own for a second day. Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate very well but that didn't stop us all from having a good time together.




On Thanksgiving we met up with them at Disney Springs for the afternoon. I love that it's just a few miles down the road for us and such a great spot to take friends from out of town. It was done up so nicely for Christmas and walking through the Christmas Tree Trail with all the Disney themed trees was a great way to kick off the holiday.



After a nice afternoon with the Habra's it was time to get cleaned up and head over to our friends the Stroud's for Thanksgiving dinner. We feel so grateful for their friendship. Every couple months they make a point to have us over for dinner, getting us out of our apartment which I especially am grateful for. Not to mention the boys enjoy hanging out with their buddy Will. Apparently it's a tradition for them to take a photo during special occassions with their son's headshot, so Jack captured this for them! haha! Love it.

Mexico here we come!

Well there was no twisting my arm to join Jack for a conference in Playa De Carmen after all the stress the house had brought me. And how thankful I was for my dear friend Angela to insist on taking the kids when I hesitated to even go. What a great time we had. We planted ourselves at the Fairmont in Mayakoba which was perfect. We played golf, enjoyed the beach and pool, biked around the grounds, and enjoyed good food and great weather! Our driver who picked us up at the airport told us we had just missed a long streak of rainy days...so glad to have missed that. We may have come from the Sunshine State but that didn't mean we'd be ok not going to one.

Our first couple days we spent on the golf course. Neither of us played particularly well but we sure enjoyed the scenery...And yes, that is a sand trap! The best part was the PGA was arriving in a week so we were literally some of the last ones to play on it before all the pros arrived. The greens were definitely the nicest we had played on.




Of course the hotel grounds were equally as nice as the golf course. Beautiful pools, a nice private beach and even a river you could cruise through!



When Jack was busy with meetings, I was busy enjoying someone else waiting on me for once... ha!




My wheels for the week!



One night Jack and I took a cab into town to see Playa's version of 5th Ave. Stopped for dinner and have to say these were the biggest smoothies we had ever had.



The highlight of the trip had to be the day we spent at Xplor. It's basically a jungle full of all sorts of adventurous activities, including zip lining, all terrain vehicles, rafting, and underground rivers. It was set up like an all inclusive where you could eat at any time and the food was fantastic. We especially loved the smoothie stands located around the park. All we kept saying was how much the kids would have loved this place. When you first check in they offer a photo package which normally I would have passed on having the GoPro with us but the way it's set up is there are cameras throughout the park that connect to your helmet every time you pass one so you never have to worry about asking someone to take a photo for you and they are able to capture some great shots that we'd never be able to get. It was definitely worth it. Now we just have to return with the kids!!!




We did the zip lines first! There were two different routes with about 7 on each one. So fun!



At first we didn't know how fun these vehicles would be but they actually were a blast. You'd go over bridges, through caves and across rivers.





From exploring underground caves to paddling and swimming in underground rivers...




And even a hammock zip line!



This was definitely a trip we'd like to repeat. So grateful for a short flight from Orlando and good friends who made it possible for me to escape for a few days with Jack!