Thanksgiving in Tennessee

Happy Belated Thanksgiving! We spent this Thanksgiving in Tennessee with Jay's family and had a wonderful week. The weather was cold at first (to us Floridians), but was actually really nice. We hardly even needed our heavy coats after the first day. We had lots of great family time and way too much good food! Jay's sister Claire and her husband Brian and baby Lila were in too. It was so good to see Lila! She is just adorable. In addition to family, we got to spend some time with friends as well. It was a great trip!

It's good to be home. We made it just in time to watch the Vols and Fulmer end their season on a good note. It was a bit emotional to watch the players carry Fulmer off of the field for the last time. Although few Tennessee fans will argue that it was time for a change, it is still sad to see Fulmer go. He will be missed!

This is my last week of work/school! I will finish up my final externship this week and have my exit interview the next! Graduation is so close!!

Santa's Arrival

Well, it's that time of year again. I don't know if it's just Orlando, but everyone seems to be skipping Thanksgiving these days. As soon as the pumpkins and candy are gone, the lights are up and Christmas Carols are playing. This year was no different as the Millenia Mall celebrated Santa's arrival (two weekends before Thanksgiving!). It's really a great event, with live music, food, Mrs. Clause and various holiday characters entertaining the crowd...all in anticipation of Santa's arrival. This was our third year going and the kids (and adults) had a great time - even though this year it was 87 degrees that day, which made it a little harder to get into the Holiday spirit! You will notice however, that Brooks is not in many pictures, because he would not get near the characters. Santa makes his huge entrance in a cloud of smoke on top of the Cheesecake Factory with a firework display and "snow" begins to fall. He then makes his way throught he crowd and marches to his throne where he spends the next several weeks until Christmas. This year was special because the same night was also the final night launch of a Space Shuttle. After the excitement of Santa's arrival, we were able to watch the final launch before heading home (moon is on the left, shuttle on the right). The picture isn't great, but it was very cool to see!

Cousin Update

As you all know, Elle and Brooks are no longer the only grandchildren in the family. They have two wonderful cousins that they adore and wish we saw more often! My sister's little boy, Easton will be 2 in December and gets more adorable every day. We can't wait to spend Christmas with him!

Our newest arrival is Jay's sister's daughter, Lila. I haven't posted pictures of her since she was a newborn and she is growing so fast! She is almost 5 months old now and is just precious! We can't wait to get our hands on her over Thanksgiving!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! Hope everyone had a safe and fun night of trick-or-treating! Elle and Brooks a blast trick-or-treating with friends. Brooks was a fireman by day (for his school party) and Batman by night. Elle was a black cat. They are at such a fun age and are now able to outlast us! I miss the days of hitting a few houses and then home to bed while Jay and I hand out candy. They covered the whole neighborhood and then had even more fun handing out candy back at our house until the last piece was gone.