Florida - Day 4

Today we decided to visit an aquarium close to our hotel. There were so many friendly people waiting to teach the kids about the animals. They had multiple tanks where you could touch the animals, but our favorite by far was the stingray tank. The kids spent an hour or more petting them and feeding them. It was a lot of fun.

We headed back to the hotel for a little more swimming and relaxing before packing up to head out early the next morning. I'm so grateful to have had this little break with my family. The kids are good to each other and we really enjoy being together. We're refreshed and ready to face the cold winter again!

Florida - Day 3

Today was a quiet day. We went to church in a neighboring town, went swimming, read some books and watched some football (GO COLTS!).

Here we are cheering for the Colts - They are going to the Super Bowl!!!
(On a side note, I think they have moved the furniture around in this room and forgot to move the pictures. The fact that they are off center has bothered me from the minute we walked in the room:)

Cami ate popcorn while relaxing

I finished The Lightning Thief. I wanted to read this series before the movie came out. My kids have really enjoyed these books and I liked it too.

Goggle-Girl here is always ready to swim - no matter the weather. It got really breezy in the afternoon and there was not a single person at the pool, but Cami insisted that the water was warm and she was having a blast all by herself. She has always been able to make to most of any situation!

Florida - Day 2

After posting our day one activities, we finished the night by playing a game of 5 Crowns. Dan and Trish introduced us to this game and we love it. It's kind of like Rummy but with extra cards, a changing wild card, and a set number of hands to play. And remember... the game's not over until the Kings go wild;)

Day two started off with more of this:

After lunch the kids did this:

We're not in shape like we are in the summer when we swim all the time. They were worn out!

After our naps, we were ready for dinner and looked like this:

After dinner we went to see this:

Loved this movie!! Probably the best movie I've seen in years. If you haven't seen it - go see it!

Florida - Day 1

We arrived in Florida last night for a weekend getaway. We've had enough cold. Yesterday at home the morning temps were in the 20's and today we were swimming in 80 degree sunshine. If you're cold, I'm sorry. Don't hate me.

Families Are Forever

Most of you know that my sister has just finished a 2 year adoption ordeal. They finally have their beautiful son, Aaron, and have begun a new phase of life in Columbus. Our religious beliefs include the concept of eternal families. We are married in Temples not until death do us part, but for eternity. We believe that if you keep the covenants you make with your Heavenly Father, you will be able to spend the eternities with your families. It really doesn't make sense to me for our loving Father in Heaven to ask us to spend so much time and effort building these relationships only to dissolve them after we die. My faith in this concept brings great comfort as family members leave this life.

When a couple is married in the temple, any children born to them are born within that covenant and automatically sealed to them (i.e. in God's eyes they are connected together forever). Aaron was not born to them, so they were able to take their whole family to the temple where Aaron could also be sealed to them. It was a beautiful day and a wonderful experience for our whole extended family.

Temples are the most sacred places on earth and, once dedicated, do not permit pictures to be taken inside out of need for reverence. My niece, Haley, took some great pictures outside. We will be getting a temple here in Philadelphia in a few years and before it is dedicated the public will be able to tour the building and ask questions.

Here are a bunch of pictures from our day:

(L to R and Front to Back: Ada, Elley, Talmage, Emi, Aaron, and Braden)

Janeen and Jason join the kids.
What a beautiful family!

This is Jason's side of the family including his parents and his sister and her family.

This is the whole group - I won't try to name everyone:)

Janeen, Me, Kathy, Doug, John, Jim

The Seguines

John and Shawna and their family

Jim and Cheryl and their family.

Talmage LOVES Reid and was his shadow the entire weekend.

Cousins from both sides.

Cousins from our side.

We have a tradition of taking silly pictures. Aaron wasn't sure what was going on!

Ada loved having Jenna carry her around and Talmage, of course, relished his time with Reid.