Christmas in Florida

We ARRIVED!

Moment of arrival:

 

  

I have never tasted orange juice until this day. The neighbor let us pick a 5-gallon bucket and we juiced the pulp out of these babies. Seriously. Unpasteurized, succulent, wholesome goodness. 

They weren't the best eating oranges, as the form didn't hold when you peeled it, but man, were they amazing for juicing. I have NEVER, and I mean NEVER, tasted orange juice like this.

Grapefruit right off the tree.

Pillow fight. Bella adores her aunties.

  

Around the table, we make sure our interpersonal skills are working...

   

      

 

Dinner memories - Laurie doing a little Indian dance for us, as displayed on the TV in front of us. 

Sometime exciting was going down. 

Best face of the night goes to Judy:

Ugly Sweater Contest...and the winner is: Ty and Savanna!

  

Night before Christmas...

Christmas morning. I was most excited to give Bella her costumes I made her. This one is Clifford the dog. Also, to show my family the video and CD of songs I made of Bella.

My favorite gift received this year, was seeing my dad reach out to the family of one of the victims of the Newtown, CT shooting. What a sweet & humbling experience. 

New Years at the beach house...

 

Our memorable beach bonfire which exploded a mortar (leftover from new years eve) in the pit, with all of us surrounding. Yeah good times. Ringing ears and a few burn holes in clothing were (gratefully) the extent of our damage.

 Gpa Buddy took me sailing! Learned quite a bit about Gpa this trip! It was fun!

Cousin Jo from Chicago came down to visit the beach house, and it was so good to see him!

 

Picking lemons from Gma Jettie's lemon tree!!!!!!! They are like softballs and not thick skinned like the grocery store ones - these are pure juice!

 During our time, we got to visit the Ronald McDonald house and cook a meal with dad's work for the families who were staying there! What an awesome experience!

Photoshoot time...CHEESE(balls)

Oh, and nevermind that Bella was sick and struggling to bear a smile. 

Total love birds.. (barf)

Isabelle...the real deal on the right...

I love this one: 

And I loved this one of my grandparents. They're adorable, and I hope Ty talks about me the way Grandpa talks about Grandma :)

3 weeks of bliss couldn't have felt shorter.

But overwhelmingly, feeling grateful for so much loving family in my life.