Christmas time!

Was celebrated at Mimi and Papa Tom's house!

And Great Grandma Trudy was there!

Opening up presents!

And finally, Matthew's dream came true! It was a new bike, parked under the tree! He is so proud

Hanukkah Time

Celebrating the second night of Hanukkah. Cousins Josh and Zach lit the menorah and did the prayers. Sam, he just smiled for the camera.

COUSINS!

Waiting to eat dinner!

Making Hanukkah Cookies!

Matthew and his new camera!

oh the weather is so delightfull!

Oh yes, this year it did feel like Christmas! It was a winter wonderland.

For a visual of snow accumulations

Oh yes, it was great! Sam loved loved loved the snow this year. He dove right on in and loved every minute of it. Matthew, well, he wanted to enjoy it, and tried his best, but couldn't get into the groove. Enjoy the pictures of snow! I'll touch it, but that's it!

Sam, hammin' it up!

See those monster tears...they were from the strong winds. Poor baby.

This was the glare we got....getting better.

The boys went sledding...and as usual, Sam threw a fit to come home.

-2 degrees

Yes, you read it right. -2 degrees and freezing...freezing our little bottoms off.
But oh how wonderful it has been. The boys are soaking up all the attention. Today we played in the snow, pictures to follow. Tonight we celebrated Hanukkah with the family. The house was full of cousins, aunts, uncles grandparents and parents! Gaga Judi made her traditional Hanukkah feast and it was scrumptious. Potato Latkes, brisket and cookies! Yumm yumm yumm. It's been forever since I last ate a yummie home cooked meal.

But, we made it safe and sound....20 hours later and are freezing.

We're in Kentucky!

And freezing our little hiney's off! It's coooollldd.
We made it about 12 hours yesterday. Drove through rain, heavy rain, a thunderstorm, rain and a lightning show. The mountains were so neat as they were fog covered. There we so many accidents it was scary, but we held on tight and plowed through! We rolled into our hotel around 10:15. The boys were every so excited to get here, although they didn't fall back asleep until around 11:30 because they kept giggling and talking to each other. It was so cute and so made me excited for what the future has in store for our family!

We just finished up breakfast in the hotel, and we're getting ready to get back in the car and just get home!!!! But first, Starbucks, here we come :).

And we're off!

And here is what our vacation looks like! Snow, cold cold cold cold. Check out Monday! YIKES.

Please pray for our family as we make this trip home. Our path does hold some snow and slippery roads, however, we're hoping the plows are doing their jobs. Thank you to all who have let us borrow DVD's. It's going to be a looonnnnggggg ride.

From shorts and t's to mittens and hats.....here we go!

Check back on our journey ! We'll be updating along the way.

Weather Weather Weather...Winter Storm Watch

Today I have been watching the weather forecast and talking with Erin since there is very large snow storm headed in our driving direction. We are planning to leave early this weekend for the north but I am thinking we should leave earlier. I know the further north we get the roads will be covered in snow. I also know the kids will be amazed at the snow since it has been almost 2 years since we moved to the south.

I am hoping the highways are in good condition for the southern minivan... we will drive very safely and watch out for the other crazy drivers.

Closing in on one chapter, opening up a new

Well well well....it's almost been two years since our plane landed here in Northern Florida. We were moving from cold snowy Wisconsin to warm sunny Florida. We had absolutely no idea what life would bring us as we held our GPS. We moved into a house we knew nothing about. We led ourselves blind as we put ourselves out there to make friends. And oh my, two years later, who would have thought....I have tears in my eyes as I am writing this thinking back to our first few days here in Oakleaf, to our last few days here in Oakleaf. Wow, what an amazing journey it has been. So many milestones we've reached together as a family unit, and also as individuals. I never dreamed that I would be the one who would live in Florida, let alone live in Florida with my husband and 2 children. However, life takes us in so many different directions, sometimes you just have to go with the flow. For that we are so thankful.

It's time my friends for us to close this chapter of our lives and move onto the next. As bittersweet as it is to leave, leaving behind so so so many close friends, who substituted as family, we feel it has been the best decision to move back home and call it home for good. Brad got the news last week that he will no longer have a job come January 30th. Our homeowners called the next day and told us they need their house back due to some life changing events as well. That was a sign, a huge sign for us to make up our minds and run with this and call it an opportunity.


So, we don't have a plan in place yet as life has been full of craziness, however, we will make something work and we'll keep you updated on our blog. What we do know is this is going to be a hard, but easy thing for our family to go through. Sam is taking it all in as we explain things to him at a very slow pace. He has worries, childhood worries like, "who will be my new friends" and "where will I sleep" and "who will be my new teacher" and how dare we not have a park at a 10 step distance and a pool in our backyard. Matthew is concerned his bed will be moved. However, all things will come with time as we adjust to life as we once knew it. We are so excited to make this journey work, under the circumstances. I already have people waiting for photo sessions back home so get ready friends, I'm going to be signing you up sooner than you thought!

I'm not saying good bye to all our friends yet as we have so many things coming up/going on. It will be a "see you soon" as you have no idea how much you all mean to us in sooo many different ways. Your kind words of encouragement when I need a lift me up. Those mommy day/night outs where you just knew when to call. Those awesome nights at the park where we played until the sun set and we had to pull our kids off the playground and drag them home kicking and screaming. Those pizza nights when we trashed each others rooms. To fun Bunco nights. Those families who have made us who we are today.....through tears of sadness and joy THANK YOU. Our family has grown up so much with your help and for that our family has been blessed.

Now, hang on kids, we're going for a ride!