Florida 2012

We took off to Florida again a couple weeks ago to meet up with my mom and dad. They drove down south to visit a few places and met up with us in the Fort Myers/Naples area. We spent time on some beaches, the kids spent a TON of time in the pools (Lara even learned how to swim!!!), and we did some sight-seeing as well. The Everglades was on our list of things to see, so we took an airboat tour. It was really pretty, but we only saw one gator. So a couple days later we went to another part of the park and saw lots of gators! We drove down to Key West, where we had a little more beach time, checked out Mallory Square, Duval Street, I went fishing with the guys, and Lara and I went parasailing! Henry left a few days before the girls and I flew back, and after he was gone we drove to Tampa, where my brother met up with us, and we also went to Busch Gardens. My mom and I went on all the big roller coasters in the morning while my dad took the kids around to the kiddie stuff, then we met up with them around lunch time. We had perfect weather (not too much sun, but nice temps) and I am sad to be back home. But this winter has been nice, so I can't complain too much!

This little guy was kind of cute. 

I love Ayla in this one.

Waiting or our airboat tour. Ayla didn't want to be in the picture, and was very quiet and looked crabby/scared during the whole ride, but as soon as we got off the boat she says "That was so fun!"

Ayla hard at work on the beach.

She was a little nervous!

I'm so proud of her for going!

Mike

The girls lost their dad three weeks ago, on January 28, 2012. They seem to be doing okay, but it was a very sad ending to his story, and I have days that are easy because it still doesn't feel real to me, and days that are hard and confusing. His parents named a star for him, "Big Mike" so the kids know he is up there and is watching down on them. Here are some pictures of Lara and Ayla with their dad...

Lara was 3 months old here.

Almost 2 in this picture

Here Lara was 2 yrs, 9 months

Ayla! 3/25/08

This is one of my favorites.

This is probably the most recent of the 3 of them together. 

I wish the girls could have had more time with their dad and hope they will never forget him. They are lucky to have his parents and sister in their lives quite a bit. This will be Lara's first year doing the Dads n Dolls dance in her recital, and Shannon's fiance Joe is doing that with her. It is going to be so cute, but sad at the same time. We wish Mike could be here for that and for many other things. His kids are awesome, and I have to thank him for that!

Just a Typical Day for Ayla

This lady didn't even have time to put clothes on after her bath. She had to get back to her computer right away. She would play JumpStart all day long if I let her. Most of our conversations these days go like this:
"Mommy, what are we doing tomorrow?" I don't know. "What are we doing the next tomorrow?" I don't know. "What are we doing the next tomorrow after that?" I DON'T KNOW! And her new favorite word to say is "shoot!" Life is rough when you're almost 4.

This is what we woke up to this morning.... (Lara ended up having a 2 hour delay for school and Henry took her in.)

Our Florida count down is at 10 days. We can't wait!!!!

A Few More Shots From Christmas

Here are some pictures, mostly of the kids opening their presents.

This is from Santa

....also from Santa

Uncle Jon had her Barbie taped up pretty good. 

One of Lara's gifts from Henry

We had a houseful this year. It was our first time having Christmas, and the first gathering at the new house. Henry's mom and brother came, my parents and brother, and Fumi and Chizuka also came. We enjoyed a prime rib dinner and had fun just spending time together. The kids got a few fun games, and we played all of them I think. They loved Twister and Pop the Pig, and the adults had fun with Jenga and Farkle. The weather was great so the boys went four wheeling, and Henry and my brother used the Deuce to pull a tree down, while Larry helped the girls put their roller coaster track together. We had a great couple of days! So much fun, that THIS happened.....

 Larry was out like a light so we decorated him a little bit.

Here are a few from Christmas Eve too. I almost forgot that they opened one big bag from Grr-ya-ya and Papa the first night they were here.

Legos with Papa

Pick-up Sticks with Grr-ya-ya!

We finished the night by making cut-out cookies. We left one for Santa, and what do you know, he ate it while he was here dropping off presents for the kids! It was a great couple of days!

~My Ladies~

Merry Christmas!

Henry got me a new camera for Christmas. I've been playing with it a little bit. It is so ugly outside though. We need some more snow to make it more fun.

We had a little fun with Larry after he fell asleep in the chair. 

He had no idea until he woke up about 20 minutes later. 

Here is one of our super-cool gifts this year. My uncle made this for our caterpillars that we plan to keep next year so we can have monarchs again!

I need to find my cord for my old camera, which has all of the fun pictures of the kids opening their gifts on it. I will be back after I find it. Hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!