Favorite 2011 Photos

It's been a great year! I've really enjoyed revisiting it by looking through all the photos I (and others) have taken along the way. Here are 101 of my favorites.

Cheers to all our family and friends for a wonderful 2012! Every day is a gift...enjoy life!

Love, love, love it!

A cooler day by Floridian standards, is still a glorious day in our book. We couldn't pass up the opportunity to spend the last few daylight hours outside, so we took the boys over to Turkey Lake Park. It's an awesome park with a lake, fishing pier, playgrounds, nature trail, camping, swimming, picnic area, disc golf, Children's farm, etc.

The boys enjoyed checking out the animals at the farm and playing on the playground equipment. I love that we can enjoy the outdoors again in December!

Fantastic

I had a difficult time getting into Christmas this year. I probably would have felt like bypassing it all together if it weren't for Zach and Ben. All they know at this age is the excitement of it all, and it probably won't be until next year that they realize there's a lot more to it. I guess it's all that "more" stuff that weighed heavy on me this year. I didn't even realize how much I had been Grinchy this year until today when I thought about my attitude over the past few weeks. Unfortunately I allowed things outside my control to foul my mood and then unleashed that foul mood on my family. For that I feel really terrible. I have a ridiculous list a mile long of the things I'm lucky to have, and I lost sight of how blessed and grateful I am for those things.

There are always going to be people with more than what we have, less than what we have, and some that tragically have hands dealt to them that seem ridiculously unfair. This year I read, watched, and heard of people hurting and struggling, and it broke my heart. Despite our own situation, being less than desirable by some standards, we're rich in all that we do have. I feel ashamed that instead of showing gratitude for those wonderful things, I got caught up with worry about what we didn't have. How shallow of me.

This year I didn't lose a home in a fire, flood, tornado, or foreclosure. My family didn't suffer any devastating health crisis. No one stole our car or broke into our home to steal the boys' gifts. I didn't lose a child in a flash flood or in a fire on Christmas morning. I wasn't abducted and taken away from my family. Nothing awful happened at all.

I am blessed with healthy children, a husband that loves and respects me and provides for our family (not to mention puts up with my unpredictable moods). I find myself waking up to sunshine and warmth nearly every morning. I have cupboards that have plenty of food in them. I have an extensive list of people that I am lucky enough to call friends and family. The list keeps going. Life is pretty fantastic.

I can't fix all that is wrong in this world, I can only do so much. I can however stay grounded, humble and appreciative for the good in my life and teach my children that the blessings they do have will almost always outweigh that which they don't have.

To all my family and friends, thank you for being part of the awesome which is my life. I hope the holidays found you all well and celebrating all that is right.

"Jolly" Old Elf

I think it's great that Ben and Zach's first encounter with Santa was actually with my dad dressed up as the man in red, and he was by far a much better Santa than the one we visited a couple of days ago with the boys. This Santa very much looked the part but that was about it....zero personality. It was a good thing that we didn't wait more than a few minutes to see him, or I would have been very disappointed. The boys probably didn't notice, but I think Zach was a little confused when he came away from Santa without him asking Zach what he wanted for Christmas, which Zach definitely had a specific answer.

 

Ben wasn't worried about any kind of interaction with Santa and wouldn't go anywhere near him without Darius accompanying him. The sunglasses were not our idea for a cute picture....totally Ben's doing. He had been wearing them in the car and still had them with him when it was his turn to visit Santa. I guess he figured if his eyes were hidden then Santa couldn't see him and it would be safe to approach.

Tonight we got together with the Bacon's at their home for a little Christmas Eve dinner with them and the Tomer's. We had a great meal and enjoyed great company. Clay helped Darius put together our big gifts for the boys, and he and his wife Tammey were so sweet to give the boys robots. They are such kind people, and we have really enjoyed getting to know them better over the last few months.

 

It's great to have the opportunity to spend the holidays with awesome people. That alone is the best part of being back in Florida. We're so grateful to have the friends we do, and for how generous they are with us and our boys.

I Do - x4

It really does get better. Standing on the same beach 4 years later, I love this man even more than the day I married him. I love our life together. We're blessed to have each other, and it's as simple as that.

Happy Anniversary Darius. I still love you more.

Mile 0

With many of our last minute trips, we like to try and save money by using Priceline to book our hotel room. Our success rate has always been pretty good, but this time we really hit the jackpot when we landed a room at the Marriott. We arrived in Key West hours before our check-in time, but we thought we'd check anyway to see if at least we could park the car and take their shuttle into town. To our surprise, they gave us a room and at the mention of us there celebrating our anniversary they upgraded us to a suite....a really nice suite. This place was basically the type of room they photograph to impress people on their website, and it was as big as our apartment! We spent the next several hours at the hotel enjoying the pool and our room before we headed into town. Zach loved playing in the pool, and Ben enjoyed his own poolside activities.

We caught an evening shuttle down to Duval street where we shopped for Christmas Tree ornaments, new Kino sandals for me, pirate swords for the boys, and a Key West buoy and mug for Darius. We ate at the same place we did on the eve of our wedding, Sloppy Joes, where the boys got their first taste of live music with dinner.

On our return to our room, we all had a chance to take a swim in the giant soaking tub before bed. We spent the morning enjoying our last few hours in the room, and then we headed over to Smather's Beach where Darius and I got married. It was neat for all of us to be there again 4 years later.

After a brief stop at the Southernmost Point we headed back to Kino Sandals to pick up another pair of sandals they were nice enough to make for me, and Darius surprised me with an anniversary gift. He got me a necklace charm that was made from treasure on board the Nuestra Senora de Atocha  which sunk in 1622 and was found by Mel Fisher in 1985. Since I didn't have the chance to be a sneaky secret shopper, I had Darius pick up this cool Tiffany glass mermaid lamp he found in Key Largo as his gift.

It was a great opportunity for all of us to get away together, and we had such a great time. I can't think of anything else we could have done to better celebrate our anniversary. I'm so fortunate to have an amazing husband and two little boys that make everyday a great day. We're blessed in so many ways for all that we have and enjoy together as a family!

Spontaneous Trip

I guess you could say that Darius and I aren't big organized planners when it comes to taking trips. When we were in AK our trips were usually last minute and just to get away for a few days. It's nice now to have the option to get in the car and go instead of having to fly.

We've been wanting to get back to the Florida Keys since we were last there to get married. Nearly 4 years later we finally got our chance. Darius surprised me the day before and announced we were going for a few days to get away and celebrate our anniversary a little bit early.

We did our best to get an early start Tuesday morning and headed south on the Florida Turnpike which, after a few out-of-the-way detours, we now know is the only way we'll go from now on. By late afternoon we arrived at Bahia Honda State Park on Big Pine Key. We found the park at the last minute, and to our surprise we lucked up and got a campsite right on the beach. We immediately fell in love with the park, and already can't wait to go back.

There was still time for the boys to play on the beach while we set up camp. After the sun set and it started to get dark, we set off to find dinner at the Park Ranger's suggestion for good pizza in the area. When Darius told me we were going to the No Name Pub I laughed because before we moved I had just started a Dorsey book, and the No Name was actually in the book. I wasn't sure until we got there that the place was actually factual. The place is a trip and definitely worth a visit if you're ever in the Keys.

We returned to our beach side campsite and slept that night with the sound of the waves hitting the beach. Awesome. The only downside to our camping trip was getting chewed up by bugs the following morning, but even that didn't stop us from enjoying the beach for a few hours before we packed it up and headed south to Key West. We would have loved to stay another night had we been able to get a site for a 2nd night. We're already planning our return trip back!

"Happy Birthday Daddy!"

Ben and Zach are understanding much better now how birthdays work but definitely not on keeping things to themselves! After they helped with picking out their Daddy's birthday card, they promptly told him when we got home that they had bought a monster birthday card for him. They were so excited for Darius' birthday on Sunday. They told him happy birthday dozens of times and that they loved him. It was so sweet.

Darius spent his birthday on Sunday doing things he loves. He was fortunate enough to make a great contact at the restaurant who got him a tee time on a very very nice golf course at the Waldorf Astoria. He and Michael enjoyed a round of golf there that afternoon. While they were playing golf, the boys and I put up some birthday decorations and picked up an ice cream cake for dessert.

After he got home from golf, we got ready and took a drive down to the Catfish Place in St. Cloud. Darius read they had the best catfish in the Orlando area, so he wanted to give it a try. Unfortunately we just happened to pick the night the staff there were having their holiday party, so at first we were turned away, but Darius did a little sweet talking and they agreed to serve us. It was a quick dinner but definitely good.

All Ben and Zach could talk about since picking up the ice cream cake, was eating the ice cream cake, so that's what they wanted to do immediately when we got home. They helped blow out the candles and loved it so much that we let them do it a second time.

I think Darius was little bummed about adding the extra digit to his age, but he agreed that he'd rather spend his birthday with the things he has now instead of 10 years ago with what he had then. Having young kids who just love the simple things associated with a birthday makes the aging process a little less painful!

Party for Baby Bacon

Before we decided to move back to Florida, I was already secretly scheming how I would make a special trip here to take part, or at least attend, a baby shower for my dear friend Patti. I was thrilled that we made it here in time to be able to help out with it! It was the Bacon's that actually threw us our baby shower for Ben and Zach, so it was fitting that we were able to help out with returning the favor.

Saturday afternoon we all came together at the Bacon home for a really good time with friends and family. We enjoyed lots of delicious food, fun games, and great company. Several of us mentioned what a great mix of people we had at the party. It was a great opportunity for all of us to come together and celebrate the Bacon family and their new addition arriving soon. We're all so excited to meet their little girl.

It's typical to say that mom's to be are glowing, but I'm going to say it anyway because you couldn't look at Patti and not see the glow oozing from her. She's already stunning, but even more so with extra cargo on board. Considering the good genes her son has, her daughter is going to be a gorgeous little girl!