Christmas in Florida

We had the most AMAZING Christmas EVER! Due to some major planning ahead, we were able to spend our Christmas vacation in Orlando, Florida. Just to give you a small taste of my background... I was born and raised in Florida. We moved around alot to a few different states and many cities but we always came back to Florida. Every year my Grandpa Smith always had a Christmas dinner the Sunday before Christmas at his home in Leesburg, Florida. And every year, my parents made it a point to be there. At the time, I thought it to be huge inconvenience even though I always had a blast reuniting with my cousins, aunts and uncles. We were spending countless hours in the car only to get in return a few measley hours of catching up. My parents always reminded us that these would soon be the memories we would one day cherish. Little did I know how quickly that time would come and how precious those memories would be to me. I now, find myself conjuring up the same plans my parents once did to make sure that Clay has the same priceless memories as mine. I know I won't always be fortunate enough to get my family and I out to Christmas dinner every year, but hopefully I can instill in Clay the same importance of family that my parents left me with.

Anyways, moving on from my moment of sappy-ness. Dad and mom rented a house in Kissimmee, Florida only minutes away from Seaworld and Disney World. Despite the convenience of being so close to the parks and surrounding extended family, we still found it very hard to squeeze everything we wanted to do in a measley 5 days.

Wednesday was the day we all arrived. The house was fully equipped with a game room, and so to wrap up everyone's full day of traveling; we took turns vegging out in between ping pong and pool tournaments.

Thursday, we spent the day at Seaworld. It was amazing to see my son experiencing the same exhibits and shows that I saw when I was young. Highlights at Seaworld (for me at least): the ride called Manta (as in Manta Rey). The Polar Express exhibit. I love that movie! The Shamu show called "Believe". We thought we sat far enough away, but we still got soaked. Clay was pissed! I got it all on camera...thank goodness for my cat like reflexes, I was able to take pictures of the splash before it actually got to us. :) And then the seals. They're so cute!!

Friday was a "free day", given to us so we could do whatever we like; sight seeing, etc. So we hit up flea markets and carnivals and came home with full tummys and arms full of prizes and souveniers. Clayton surprised us all by wanting to go on all the rides that he was almost too small for and not just by going on it once, but several times. I thought for sure he was going to puke on more than one occassion, but he's really got a stomach of steel. I was feeling queazy for sure.

Saturday, was Grandpa's Christmas dinner--it was held a day earlier than the past years. I should actually call it Christmas Lunch, cause we had to be there by 12:30pm. I still can't believe after all these years how many of us still make it to this gathering. We were missing a few people, but the majority of us were there. It's unbelievable that a decade ago it was all of us cousins getting rowdy and playing around, and now it's all of the cousins' kids getting rowdy and playing around with one another. I think Grandpa was little overwhelmed watching all of his great grandchildren talking to him, and hugging on him. I never knew either one of my great grandfathers so I treasure the fact that Clay is able to meet and know one of his great grandfathers.

Sunday, Dad woke us all up at the butt crack of dawn and we spent the day at Disney World. Clay was absolutely smitten by Buzz Lightyear from Toystory-hence the reason why we waited in line for almost 45 minutes to "meet" him. He couldn't stop smiling, or staring at him. We rode all the rides and ate all the food. We shopped and watched parades and fireworks. Took tons of pictures and got faces painted. It was very crowded but the lines weren't horrible, only because it was actually kind of chilly for a Florida, December day. Highlights for Disney: Buzz Lightyear for sure! Thunder Mountain-Clay was too short by measuring standards, but they still let him ride! He was so stoked about it, and so was Chris for that matter! The Christmas parade was definately a hit with Mickey Mouse (especially bc that's who we came to see after all) and alot of other different characters. And probably just the time I was able to spend with my parents, my siblings and their families, and my husband and son. Even though it's been a decade or more since I've been to Disney, all the memories came rushing back to me, and I remember how special it was my first time.

Monday morning, Chris and I had to catch an early plane ride home. Coming home from Disney extremely late, and waking up extremely early to catch our flight made for a very sleepy ride home. So glad we had most of the day to recover and sleep. We did have to go back to work the next day but thankfully not for the full week with Christmas being just two days away. And bc of our awesome planning Chris and I both got our way and were able to spend Christmas with both of our families. It was wonderful and very Merry. Clay was spoiled rotten, by everyone...what a lucky boy. Think I might donate all of his old toys just to make room for the new ones. And throughout all the hype and craziness we were still able to get in a day of snow boarding with all of Chris's brothers. Needless to say it was a blast and an awesome ending to a great December.

To wrap this blog up(and the year for that matter), my heart is extremely full...full of gratitude and love. My family roots are so deep and important to me and I am so grateful that that is one of the things that Chris and I value most. Without my family...I am but a poor, poor person. Because of my family I am rich, beyond my wildest dreams. Thank you Mom and Dad (on both sides of the family) for making this a Christmas we will never forget!

In a nutshell....

Wow! It's been so long that I forgot my password to my own blog! But this one's for you Heather! :) So the latest...let's start from May since I last posted in April.

Clay turned 2 at the end of May. We had a curious George party complete with a bounce house, pinata, and cotton candy machine. Of course he was spoiled rotten. It always amazes me what great friends we have that come and endure the kiddie bday part just to see him smile. We have the best friends and family out there! We love you all!

June and July was uneventful for our family, but nevertheless we were quite busy with wedding plans for my sister, Erin and my brother, Evan. I, (of all people) was nominated to take my sister and my new sister in law's bridals... I've included pictures on here. I think they turned out great considering I'm not a professional...Erin got married July 31st and it was a beautiful wedding. We had a little kink at the wedding ceremony when the Beach Boys "wouldn't it be nice" was turned on instead of the "wedding march"--when Erin was supposed to walk down the aisle...but with the beach themed wedding, I think it was perfect! Clay however, decided to make himself known and streak through the wedding reception. His father was supposed to be watching him, while I tended to my "maid of honor" duties. Thankfully my sister wasn't upset. So sorry Erin!

August was pretty boring...Chris and I turned our lives over to a dealership when we finally bought a diesel truck, and 2 days later the 25th anniversary of my birth arrived. He he he...funny way to say "Happy Birthday to Me!" For my birthday, Chris got both of our parents to pitch in and surprised me with a new laptop! Love, Love, love it! I was very pleasantly surprised.

September was a breeze after Evan's wedding. I was a bridesmaid for Jannelle (his new wife)which only added to my growing batch of bridesmaid dresses. Shortly after the wedding...I'd say early october, we found out that he and his new wife are expecting. We are sooo excited for our new nephew/niece/cousin! :) I finally got around to taking Clayton's "2 year old" pictures. He's growing up so fast that I want pictures (for myself and for my family) to see all the changes that he's going through. Clayton is not very cooperative so I took his best friend/cousin,Jayde with us to see if he would sit still with her. Not so, I was jumping out from behind bushes and scaring him just to get him to crack a smile! The kid was a brick wall, but I was able to steal a few good ones. Jayde's pictures turned out fabulous. She's a natural.

October also went by so fast! We rescued a dog and named her Molly. She is a Boxer/Lab mix. She is 1 and a half years old and is sooo well behaved. She's good company for Hurley, our other dog. We loved her from the get go and she's a great new addition to our family. Halloween came quickly for us and Clay was Spiderman. He ended up going trick or treating like 3 times before the actual event, so by the time Halloween came around, he wasn't really interested. He has however worn a few holes in his spiderman outfit. He wears it almost every day. And the second he puts it on, his whole persona changes. It's so cute...he turns into spiderman/ninja...jumping off of everything...kicking, punching, shooting, etc. I gotta stop letting him watch Chris play "Gears of War". Lol, whoops!

And that brings us to the current month of November! Ahh November, where have you gone?

It seems like it was only 2 weeks long! The second week in November I found myself in Florida, apart of yet another wedding. (Yes that makes 3 bridesmaid dresses in 5 months! Whew!) My cousin Amy, got married in Orlando, so I flew down for the weekend. It was beautiful. Two weeks after that, Chris and I attempted the impossible. A 21 hour, 42 hour round trip-road trip to Texas. Now it's no big deal for me and Chris, two adults, to take a long road trip--but we took Clay, our two year old with us. The drive down was ideal... the drive back was torture, for all of us. We drove down to be with my parents for Thanksgiving. It's been like 2 or 3 years since we've had Thanksgiving together, bc of the distance between us. So we made it a surprise for my dad and my brother...being that Evan's birthday was 2 days after Thanksgiving.

They were definately surprised when we walked into their office unexpectedly. Best surprise, by far, I have EVER been apart of. I don't think I'm ever going to be able to top that. Thanks Mom for keeping it a secret, and Chris for helping me accomplish it! We couldn't have done it without Chris's faithful driving through all hours of the night.

And that was our life, in a nutshell, for the last 7 months. So sorry to keep everyone hanging...I promise I will make an effort to update this blog more often than every 7 months. :)

(I don't have pics downloaded from our Texas trip yet... but now that i've written about it, I'll post them within the week. PROMISE!)

Lately...

So it's been awhile. I promised myself that I would keep this updated, and I've failed, miserably. Hopefully in the future I can stay on top of this a little better. Anywho, Easter has come and gone. Clay's not quite old enough to understand the whole "Easter egg hunt" thing, but we decided to keep with the Easter spirit and color eggs. I'm not sure what the deal was but I ruined the first batch of hard boiled eggs when they all cracked in the pot of boiling water. Needless to say we had egg salad sandwiches for lunch that day. Clayton LOVES hard boiled eggs, so he was so excited just at the sight of seeing all the eggs lined up and ready to be dipped. (Ha! It's so funny no matter how mature you think your kid is -for their age- they will always bring you back down to earth with a big thud, or a huge mess). Yes, Clay is 23 months old, but he is very smart. He wants to be a big boy and do everything himself. We're learning that (most of the time) if you show him what to do first, and then let him take the reigns, a majority of the time he will play "copycat" and mimick you exactly. Coloring Easter eggs? Not so. We showed him that he must gently place the egg in the coloring so it doesn't splash and get him all dirty. He didn't care and thought it was funny to drop the egg from a couple feet above the glass and watch it splash. Thank goodness we don't really care about our carpet, and I was smart enough to remove all his clothing, AND put a towel under the the soon-to-be crime scene. He ended up with a dark purple drip stain down his chest. All in all, the eggs turned out great. Jayde and Clayton loved being able to choose what colors they liked the best, and this year we tried out some glitter eggs. (I don't reccommend doing those.) Clayton really loves Jayde and his eyes just get sooo big whenever he sees her or even when her name is mentioned. So Erin and I like getting them together. (Plus it makes Jayde feel like a "big sister" when she's around Clay) :) Moving on, this past Sunday, we celebrated Carter's birthday (our nephew on Chris's side). He turned 4 and is very into Transformers and planes and sports. We got him a remote controlled airplane. That lasted all of 5 min. (if that) The little boys, just sat and watched--it was the big boys (all the brothers- Chris, Brian, & Matt, and family friend Dan) that destroyed the toy. Yes we will be making another trip to the toy store for a new, more durable birthday present to entertain a 4 year old...not a 34 year old. (Just kidding baby we all know you aren't 34...but 33 this year! Woot-woot!) Afterwards, the little boys, Clayton and Carter had a blast with Carter's new T-ball set. Clayton's a natural--but watch out, cause he doesn't care who's standing in the line of fire! Last but not least, Spring is here and the warm weather is back. So Clayton got his summer haircut. The "mohawk". We gave him one when he was just a tiny baby, but now he has a big boy one. It's very long and very badass, might I add. Although I do miss his hair. :( I think he misses his hair too. Sometimes I catch him looking at himself weird in the mirror, or rubbing the sides of his shaved head, with a puzzled look on his face. Poor little guy. Hopefully it grows out fast. (His dad on the other hand, loves it!) Welp, that's the scoop on us "Lately". Stay tuned. You never know when I might updat this thing! Mwauh ha ha ha ha.....

New to this whole thing....

So a couple of the girls at work got me started on the whole blog thing. I thought it might be a fantastic idea since we have so many family members that live out of state. I'm extremely new to this, but so excited to get started and get some things posted. "These are the days (and stories) of our lives...." (LOL!)