Florida Part 3 (of 3)

The final part of our Florida trip was spent back in Zephyrhills enjoying more time with friends and family.  We got to spend some quality time with our friend Larry.  And we squeezed a one day trip in to The Magic Kingdom (Disney) in Orlando.  We picked the worst day (busiest day of the year to go) but Lily didn't notice any different.  Chris and I nearly pulled every single one of our hairs out, but Lily was having such a good time that it was hard to have a bad time.  Plus its Disney... the happiest place on earth right?  Unfortunately poor Lily came down with a double ear infection and the flu two days later.  Ugh.  Luckily she is a quick recovery and we were ready to roll home about 36 hours later.  It was definitely a fantastic time had by all.  Did I tell you we came home to snow and 20 degree weather without coats?  Good thing for taxi service.

Florida Part 2

The second part of our Florida trip took us down to Bonita Springs, FL part way between Naples & Ft Myers.  We love this area and it is our third trip down to meet up with our Friends from London that also vacation in Naples, FL.  We were so lucky this year to get to celebrate our friend Tim's 60th birthday with other friends and family as well.

We also got some serious beach time in during the trip down south.  We hit Sanibel Island which is a favorite with Lily due to the abundance of sea shells.  She got a huge bag full to bring home.  We also found a new beach around Bonita called Barefoot Beach that was complete with 100's of Gopher Tortoises.  We saw dolphins playing in the water, did some more shelling, and Lily enjoyed building a sand castle village with a new friend on the beach.  We also enjoyed downtown Naples and the Naples Pier.  What a beautiful area.  We packed a lot in during the five days.

Shells everywhere on Sanibel Island

Pelicans going in for some fishies

Lily and Aniela 

Lily and Stefan (making their serious faces) 

The birthday celebration!!!

The beach at Naples Pier at Sunset 

one of those moments where you feel like the luckiest person on earth!!!)

Gopher Tortoises at Barefoot Beach

Not your typical seagulls

Florida, Florida and more Florida

We were very fortunate this year to be able to spend 15 days in Florida visiting family and friends.  We had a fantastic time and were extremely lucky with the weather.  The first five days of our trip we spent some really good quality time with Grandma Merry and Papa Ronnie.  We made it to Ft. Desoto Park and had some really fun times around Christmas.

Chris and Lily at Ft. Desoto Park

Sunshine Skyway Bridge in the Back Ground

Reindeer Flamingo's set up by some Ohioans on Ft. Desoto Beach

Grandpa Ronnie, Grandma Merry & Lily just before church

Crazy Hair on Christmas morning

Hanging out at Grandma and Grandpa's

Holidays and Friends

We are very lucky to have some really great friends in our neighborhood.  They mean the world to Lily and all of us and we were so lucky to spend an evening with them exchanging presents before we left for our big holiday trip.  Lily was the proud recipient of some very beautiful dress up clothes complete with a dress up chest!

Cookie Decorating

Lily and Chris' favorite time of the year are the days we have an excuse to make sugar cookies.  This weekend we used the excuse and invited friends over for a day of cookie decorating, gingerbread man making and gingerbread house building.  The kids had a great time.  The parents had some chili and lots of good wine to round out a perfect holiday get together.  We are very fortunate to have such good friends to enjoy the holidays with.

Starting with the sugar cookie dough and cookie cutters (these two did great, they even transfered some cookies to the pan for cooking)

Gianna, Lluc and Lily working on their Gingerbread House

I would like to title this one two reindeer and a flower girl

Add in a dad (Chris) and sister (Mary Grace)

Frosting sugar cookies is serious business in this house

Park City... Our New Home Away From Home

Most of you know that we were so fortunate to find a great buy on a condo in Park City, Utah this last month.  Thanks to Chris and his brother Chad we have home furnishings and nearly a brand new condo after all the painting, new carpet, new appliances, new HVAC, plumbing, lights, etc got installed.  Lily and I decided we needed to see the place ourself and get it ready for the rental season so we went out for five days this last week.  Unfortunately we were a little sicker than normal, but we still had a great time enjoying the Park City mountains.  Grandma Norma & Grandpa Cliff also met us and helped us get the place ready.  It was a quick trip, but we had a wonderful time.  Can't wait to go back again in April for Spring Break!

Lily insists on pulling her own luggage now.  You should see all the people watch her as she glides through the airport.  A four year old seasoned traveller on a mission.

Lily going out the first morning to get snow to eat

Lily hanging out with Grandpa.  Just like old times.  For as little as she sees them, she sure does enjoy hanging out with them.  Grandpa & Grandma even taught her to play Pai Gow on the ipad.  Good for the grandparents, no so good for the parents.

Views of Canyons Resort

Views of Park City Mountain Resort (notice the snow getting made across the mountain)

Steeple overlooking Park City Mountain Resort

Kim's favorite Aspen Trees on the way up to Deer Valley

Deer Valley

Birthday Party

To wrap up Thanksgiving weekend, Lily got to attend one of her old friends from school bday parties.  She was so excited to see her old friend and they had a great time at the "Bounce U" party.