Christmas Decorations

We got our Christmas decorations up. It's always tricky putting things up in a new house for the first time. We had fun reminiscing over all our Christmas tree ornaments. The kids are really good helpers! Bring on Christmas...

Thanksgiving

We decided to stay home this year and have a little staycation after getting back from Disney. We made a full meal and invited our friends Kelly, Brian and Camryn over to join us. Kaylee made her first apple pie, which she was very proud of. Kianna made deviled eggs and Trace helped with the green bean casserole. The meal was delicious!

We have are so blessed and have so much to be thankful for!!! Here's my top 10 list:

1. My LORD and savior, Jesus Christ. I can't imagine living life without the love, grace, peace and forgiveness he offers me on a daily basis.
2. My family- I love my husband and three kids. We have our ups and downs, but we always forgive. They are my safe place and I love them with all my heart.
3. My house- We have moved more than I would like but God continues to bless us with beautiful homes along the way. I especially love our beautiful backyard and pool.
4. Food- I love good food and am thankful that we have full bellies.
5. Extended family- I'm thankful for my parents who despite being divorced early in my life loved  me enough to create a loving atmosphere for me to grow up in. I'm thankful for Sue being a great stepmom over the years and loving me as her own. I'm thankful for my many brothers and sisters and that we continue to grow closer as we get older. I'm thankful that I have two grandmas still living and that my kids know them too.
6. My job- I love being a PT and am so thankful that God laid it on my heart when I was 16 years old. I love my patients and am passionate about helping them get relief from their pain; physically, mentally and spiritually.
7. Our church- We love our pastor and his bible based preaching. I have grown to love my mom's small group and the way we pray for each other during the week. They are a great group of ladies.
8. Jupiter Christian School- I'm thankful that my kids are able to attend a Christian school. It's not cheap, but they are getting fed biblically based curriculum and a Christian world view, which is so important in our culture of "do whatever makes you happy" mentality. 
9. Our dogs- I love Bella and Rizzo so much! I love how they sleep with Trevor and I each night and cuddle with us during the day. They make me happy!
10. Exercise- I love getting outside and enjoying the beauty of God's creation. I love walking along the beach and in our neighborhood with Trevor or at Riverbend park with friends. I love paddle boarding with Kelly. I love biking with my kids and/or friends. 

Thank you God for all that you've blessed us with. Help us never to take it for granted!!!!

Disney

Star Wars

Frozen Sing-A-Long

So embarrassed!!

Pandora

Dinosaurs

Festival of Lion King

Simba pretzel

Trace pretending to be in my belly like last time.

Safari ride

Animal Kingdom

Poor Mom

Epcot

Trace cracking himself up...

China

Brats in Germany

On our date walk

Yummy desserts from France

Kianna hoarding macaroons and her chocolate tarts

Rizzo

Bella

We spent three nights in Orlando trying to experience the Disney parks. Our first day was spent at
Hollywood Studios. One of the highlights was the newly opened Star Wars rides. Trevor especially was in Star Wars heaven. They did a great job of recreating the exhibit. Trevor and I also loved the Frozen Sing-A-Long. We embarrassed the girls and had a blast doing so! Another highlight was the Tower of Terror. The ride involves getting in an elevator, while strapped in chairs, and then the floor drops out from under you. It was super fun!

The second day was spent at Animal Kingdom. We got there nice and early and immediately headed towards the Avatar Flight of Passage ride. We weren't able to get a fast pass for it, so wanted to do it first thing. However, as we were speed walking there once the gates opened for Early Magic Hours, a worker redirected us away from the line. By the time we came back around, there was a four hour wait. Ugh! We ended up standing in line at the end of the day for two hours. Part of the fun is waiting in line and seeing the amazing world they recreated. They really bring the movie to life. As for the ride itself, my family loved it and well me, not so much. The ride involved riding on an avatar simulator and flying through Pandora. Lets just say it didn't end well for me...

Other highlights at Animal Kingdom were the Festival of the Lion King, where Kianna loved belting out the Lion King songs. We also enjoyed the Kilimanjaro Safari where we saw giraffe, elephants, flamingos, rhinoceros, etc., The last time our family was at Animal Kingdom was in October 2008 when I was very pregnant with Trace. I wasn't able to ride it at that time, so it was fun to experience it this time. We also bumped into the Hass' and had lunch with them. They have season passes so they were able to give us some Disney tips.

Our last day was spent at Epcot. We decided the rides were pretty lame, but loved the food. We ate ourselves around the world sampling things from various countries. We had poutine in Canada, lefse in Norway, brats in Germany, churros in Mexico, tiramisu in Italy, tartes and macaroons in France, hummus and kabobs in Morocco, and Trevor had beer from around the world. We actually let the kids go on a ride by themselves and had ourselves a little date walking around the park on our own. It was a fun day.

We can now say we've been to all the Disney parks and still prefer Universal Studios to Disney. The lines are shorter and the fast passes are better. Disneys fast passes have to be booked 60 days in advance and you only get three for each park. You can't book more fast passes until you've used up all three. Whereas at Universal, you don't have to prebook fast passes. Every ride has a fast pass line, which is much shorter than the other lines, so you spend less time waiting in line. We also like the rides better. It's hard to beat Harry Potter world. We ended out time in Orlando by visiting our favorite restaurant from last year, Cow Fish. We had burgerushi and yummy shakes. What a great end to our mini vacation!

PS- Our Rover lady takes the best pictures of our dogs! They love her house and were on their own mini vacation with her family.

Harborside Tree Lighting

This year Trace's 5/6th grade choir sang at the tree lighting ceremony. It was a nice evening as we begin to get in the Christmas spirit.

Boating with Friends

Our friends the Nelsons have a boat club membership. They have had us out on their boat on multiple occasions. We have gotten to go tubing and paddle boarding with them as well. We are so blessed with good friends and a beautiful place to enjoy the beauty of God's creation.

Mudrows Visit

Our friends, Jeff and Teresa Mudrow, recently moved to Sarasota, FL from Houston, TX. We met them in Michigan, as Trevor hired Jeff to be the Head of School. I got to be good friends with Teresa at that time. They decided to stop by for a few hours on their way home from a conference in Miami. It was fun catching up with our friends!

Kaylee's 15th Birthday

Our sweet Kaylee is 15 years old today. In honor of her birthday, I took her first thing this morning to get her permit. She has one year and 50 hours of driving between her and her license. We're very excited to have another driver in the family to help us keep up with our crazy schedule!

Kaylee Baylee is a sweet girl, who is quickly turning into a mature young woman. Here is a bit about her:

• School- Kaylee is very academic. She is currently taking three honors classes including Biology, English and Geometry. She is super smart, getting straight A's in school. She currently has no idea what she wants to be when she grows up, but knows that she wants to go to college and is leaning towards Olivet Nazarene. 
• Friends- Kaylee has been blessed with many good friends over the years. She continues to keep in good touch with Brittney Comer, Lily Ford, and Chloe Flender from Iowa. Her new friends in Florida includes a group of five girls including: Camryn Nelson, Lilly Hass, Lilly Doster, and Delaney Eagen. She also attends youth group with Faith Cunningham. Friends having become a big part of Kaylee's life, as her weekends are filling up with her social calendar. 
• Basketball- Kaylee loves basketball and has made tremendous progress over the last year. Kaylee played for the Jupiter Jaguar Travel Team last Spring and hopes to play with them again this Spring. Kaylee is also getting ready to start her JCS basketball season and hopes to be a starter on Varsity. Kaylee is a great defensive player and rebounder. Her offensive game keeps improving, but she lacks confidence and has to be coaxed to shoot. 
• Volleyball- Kaylee enjoys the game of volleyball and just wrapped up her JCS season on the JV team. Kaylee was one of two setters. Kaylee is very aggressive and is all over the court. Kaylee struggles to serve, so rotates out when it's her turn. Kaylee is a hard worker though and keeps working to improve her skills. She is considering going out for beach volleyball in the Spring to help her all around game improve.
• Youth Group- Kaylee still misses her Oakland Church Youth Group in Iowa. Kaylee has tried hard to get plugged into our Calvary Church Students, but it has been a struggle. There is a huge homeschool population and they tend to keep together. Kaylee has slowing made some friends in her small group, but still prefers to bring her own friends with her. Faith and Lily Hass often attend youth group with Kaylee, so that has made it more fun. 
• Hobbies- Kaylee has always loved to read and continues to do so. She also enjoys exercising and watching TV/movies. She is all about the teeny bopper shows like Twilight, Hunger Games, Harry Potter, and Divergent series.
• Kind Hearted- Kaylee is very thoughtful and mature for her age. She loves Jesus and is a great friend to others. She gives really great hugs too!
• Baking- Kaylee loves to bake and especially enjoys making chocolate chip cookies and banana bread. 
• Hard Worker- Kaylee is a great worker and will do well at whatever job she chooses in life. She has started babysitting lately and is enjoying the extra money, which she has been spending on clothes.
• Shopping- Kaylee used to hate shopping, but now that is one of her favorite things to do with her friends. They enjoy going to the mall together and trying on fancy clothes and taking pictures of each other...

In order to celebrate her birthday, Kaylee invited Lilly Hass, Lilly Doster, Delaney and Camryn over to our house for her favorite penne pasta dish and homemade hot fudge sundaes. Following dinner, they went bowling. They then wrapped up the night by staying up late, watching movies and having a slumber party.

Middle School Basketball

Kianna had a great basketball season on the JCS MS team. She was one of the starting five along with Julianna Moore, Rebekah Malone, Autumn and ________. She is a very aggressive player who loves to steal the ball and isn't afraid to shoot the ball. Kianna is fun to watch and has a lot of natural ability.

No Braces

Kianna got her braces off today and is so excited! She just completed phase 1, which is the completion of her top teeth. Unfortunately, she will be getting braces back on eventually once she loses four teeth and they all grow back in. Phase 2 will focus on the bottom teeth, but until then she has a beautiful new smile.

Calvary Students Retreat

The girls went on their first retreat with the Calvary youth group. Unfortunately, neither of them loved it. Both had some friend drama. We continue to miss our Oakland Church Youth Group.