A Floridian Christmas

Ben and I went to Florida to be with my family for Christmas. We had lots of fun. Here are the highlights of our trip.

• We got to go to Ba's (nickname for my nephew) birthday party! He turned 5. CRAZY
• I had my birthday. Ben took my shopping for it which is exactly what I wanted! My mom got my sister and me a cake so we celebrated our birthday together that evening.
  
• We went to Busch Gardens and I decided I am getting too old for some of the rides. I was getting very dizzy after some of the rides and am a little sad that I can't run around like I used to.
  
• We went to a family friend's house on Christmas Eve which we have been doing since I was 4! We had dinner and went Christmas caroling at an assisted living home. A lady that we go caroling to every year was spending her first Christmas there so we went there instead of to a neighborhood. She was so happy to see us and she especially liked hugging Ben. She didn't want to let go because she is a little taller and said it felt good to hug him. She said he was just the right size! We got to see Alicia who we haven't seen in a couple of years so that was fun. Also Ben loved the Lego temple that the older man, whose house we were at, built with the primary kids.

• We had Christmas at my mom's house. My sister and her family came over and my brother and his family were there. My mom made a yummy dinner and we opened our presents. We got to talk to Ben's family and are looking forward to being there in person with them next year.

Ben was very excited for his shredder. He has been bothering me to get one for awhile!

• My niece and nephew stayed for a sleepover. They insisted that we sleep on the airbed with them. It started out with all four of us. I left first and went to the couch. When I woke up in the middle of the night Ben was gone and was sleeping in another room. These 2 are not very good at sharing their space!

• I got together with some high school friends. Ben and my family came along but they all left because I talked for too long. My mom was a trooper and stayed so we could go to the mall afterward. :P
  

• I was able to also visit some church friends that I grew up with. Ben stayed behind...too many girls and Alyson needed him to babysit so she could come along. He is very good to me and watches my niece and nephew without complaining so that I can spend more time with my sister.
  

• Ben, my mom, and I went to the Orlando Temple!

• We went to the Manatee Viewing Center. http://www.tampaelectric.com/manatee/ When it gets cold Manatee's go looking for warmer water. They gather by the water from a Tampa power plant because the power plant pushes out warmer water. I tried to get a good picture but it was hard because they always stay a little bit under the water.

Snow Day!

My Christmas Break started early because we had a decent snow storm on Thursday which means everything closes down. If we had been in Utah we would have still been in school and going about our daily lives.

Ben and I drove Kurt to the airport while it was still snowing. We made it there and back safely but there were many people on the side of the rode who had slid into the ditch. The whole ride I kept pointing out the smart drivers from the stupid drivers. The drivers here are ridiculous no matter what the weather is apparently. I thought they would want to drive a little bit better because of the snow but I was wrong!

Brrr....

This last week was freezing! I don't think I have ever been this cold before. It doesn't matter how many layers you put on. Humidity makes the summer hotter and the winter colder, and it messes up your hair no matter what season. You just can't win!

We've been having lots of Christmas fun for the last couple of weeks. Last weekend was our ward Christmas Party! Ben and I were put in charge of finding Santa. We got our friend Evan to do it. I took a picture of him and posted it in my last post. At the party we were able to sneak a picture with Santa in between all the little ones who wanted to see him!

We had our first snow last weekend and to me that means Christmas. It wasn't much which is my kind of snow! Even though I grew up in Florida, when I think of snow, it still makes me think of the Holidays. :) I'm pretty sure it's because of all those Hallmark and Lifetime Christmas movies I couldn't get enough of while I was growing up.

This weekend we went on a date to see a bunch of amazingly lit up houses. We went to 6 or 7 different houses that were on the Tacky Lights Christmas Tour which is all across the U.S. We obviously didn't go further than 4 or 5 miles away. It made me excited to find out it is everywhere because I plan on looking for some in Florida when I go home. If you want to find out if there are any near you go to tackylighttour.com and put in your zip code.

I thought this one looked like a ginger bread house!

My favorite time of year!

I love the Christmas season. I love the lights, the music, and the cheeriness of it. December has always been a crazy, yet fun, month for my family. My brother starts off the craziness with his birthday on Dec. 6. Then my nephew's birthday is Dec. 17. My sister and I are next with a birthday on Dec. 21st and then my brother-in-law's is Dec. 23. Of course, Christmas comes next. Today I was getting some blood drawn and the lady asked me my birthday. We started talking about the craziness that it brings. She said we should just have a celebration the whole month of December and I agreed! I decided I would want to stretch our December celebration out a little bit to include Ben's birthday on Jan. 6.

Tonight we went to a Grand Illumination celebration downtown where they had a big, lit up Christmas tree and lots of lights around. Many of the buildings were set up nicely with Christmas decorations for people to see. After that we headed down to the First Friday Night Art Walk that is held every month. It was my second time going and I enjoyed it a lot. There are always so many interesting things and PEOPLE to see. My favorite tonight was the boys dancing on the median in the middle of the street.

I couldn't figure out which picture to post because one shows the lights better but the other shows us better so you get both. You're welcome! Ben and Evan decided they shouldn't have added the Grand in front of Grand Illumination because it wasn't spectacular enough to deserve the grand but I thought it was great.

I have to include a picture of our friend Evan who will be Santa tomorrow at our ward Christmas party. Ben was originally going to do it but he couldn't get the suit on! You would think the suit would be made big enough for him because it is Santa but sadly it wasn't! I would have loved to get a picture of it on him :)