Dolphins!

We saw DOLPHINS!  They were so playful and leaped out of the water numerous times when we sailed by.  We took a nice ride down to Sarasota...but unfortunately didn't see any dolphins down there.  Our dolphin excursion was a fun little morning trip.

Christmas Morning

Santa stopped in Florida to deliver our gifts this year.  He left a little something for all the adults and even Patches too!  Allie was super surprised to find the iPod Touch she's been asking for.  Ayden was so excited to have his very own tablet!  Both kiddos found some awesome dolphin things to help learn about the dolphins we are seeing in a few days, and a snorkel mask.  We spent part of Christmas day trying out the masks in Auntie's pool and enjoying lots of family time in the warm Florida weather.  A sunnier Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve Early

We are headed to the warm Florida sun tomorrow, so Christmas Eve happened early.  Uncle Monte, Papa Ray, Barb, Nana and Papa all came over to celebrate.  Ham dinner, Christmas Rock cookies, and green punch were shared.

Ayden received a Lego Train set, monster Truck ornament, Disney gift cards, a bike helmet, a subscription for National Geographic for kids, and another Lego creator set.

Ayden guessed what many of his gifts were...he heard the Lego's in the box.

Allie received a ticket to Florida for cheer, paint for art classes she's taking, a Girl Scout ornament, a Disney gift card, skinny jeans , and  a new purse.

We gave the kids a trip to Animal Kingdom...matching family shirts and autograph books too!

  

Jingle & Belle

Allie and Ayden once again loved having Jingle and Belle visit this past month.  The brought little surprises along the way and made a few messes too.  Ayden's favorite was when they wrote funny Christmas songs on our toilet paper!  He was singing those songs for days!  This morning they left a little Disney surprise and a letter goodbye, for tomorrow we fly to Florida. They instructed us to give them a hug and leave them by our Give Back Sacks.  Santa is going to swing by our house in Michigan before visiting us in Florida...so we left him cookies.  We will miss you two little magical people.  Until next year.

Cookie Bake Day

Christmas seemed to come so fast this year with Todd being gone in Georgia for two weeks.  However, we managed to get some of our cutout cookies baked!  Those are some lovely little cookies for Christmas Eve!

Christas Spirit

Our angel, Allie, played the part of an angel in the nativity play at catechism to celebrate the birth of baby Jesus.  Allie also sang her heart out at the Christmas concert as part of the children's choir, Joyful Noise.  They sang Light a Candle, He is Born, and Seven Feet of Snow.  She loved the experience.

Allie is NINE!

My goofy, loving, little beauty is taking on her last year of single digits!  Allie is nine today.  She is growing up to be lovely little lady who is thoughtful, creative, kind and so smart.  Allie likes to be the leader, but can be shy at times too.  She is a hard worker and dedicated to doing well with all her goals.  She doesn't mind being the center of attention.  Allie's favorite things to do are play video games, craft and paint, hang out with her friends, and build with Lego's.  She has become quite the picky eater.  Some of her favorite foods include, chicken nuggets, noodles, cinnamon bread and ice cream.  She loves Sour Patch Kids and Reese's candy.  Allie is perfecting her back handspring at cheer, learning so many new songs on her ukulele, and has earned a vest full of Girl Scout badges this past year.