Hopefully this will be my last and final Florida installment, and then we can get on to bigger and better things! Well, different things anyway.

   The last part of Florida was spent with my immediate family (Dad Mom, and siblings).  It was so fun to have everyone together in one place, which is becoming a rarity even now with only two of us married, and I can't even imagine hoe difficult it will be to get everyone together when all 7 of us kids are married and having children of our own! We'd have to rent a gym or something to even be able to all fit in one building.  Anyways.

   One of my fondest memories of trips to Florida with my family growing up were the inevitable trips to the beach in search of shark's teeth.  Sometimes we would even go before the sun came up!  If you've never dug through sand and shells and tasted the salt water spray in your face in search of the tiny treasures, then you are missing out!

We had just been to the beach the evening before, and it was rather cool

and so some of us weren't even expecting warm weather.  Hence the reason everyone is fully clothed.:)



 Is it creeper that I took a picture of this boy that I don't even know?  Probably, but I just couldn't resist. He looks like the son we've never had. :)  I DREAM of having babies with this hair color…..stinkin' dominant brunette genes!!!


 Our little Charlotte-babe, whom I couldn't stop photographing.  The light was reflecting off her sandy blonde curls and making them appear even more red, and with the contrast of the turquoise of the ocean and the blue of the sky…well, you can see why I kept snapping.


 

   Back at our uncle Larry's house, they had a delightful screened-in pool right in their backyard.  Between that, the pool at our motel and the beach, the only problem was deciding where to swim!











     Then it was time to say goodbye to my sister's family and see them off for the 2nd leg of their journey home.  No, this was not a shuttle van to the airport….they DROVE all the way from Oregon to Florida and back again!  With 5 kids under the age of 9!!! And lived to tell about it!  And are still smiling!  I am in awe.

  And in closing, I bring you some Instagram moments of Florida parts 1, 2, and 3.…….


1. The joy of packing. 2. Holiday travelers packing the airport before the sunrise! 3. Retro beach babe. 4. Sand castle making. 5. NOT our sand castle. 6. Twinsies. 7. Christmas light display. 8. They LOVED Hannah. 9. Randy's cousin Amanda and her husband Aaron. 10. One of the family games at the retreat. 11. Waving Florida goodbye.  And would you look at those curls?! The effect Florida's humidity has on our hair is reason enough to move there.

   O.k., that about wraps it up for our time in Florida!  Before I go, remember that contest I was telling you about that Connie's son (Joshua Beachy) is in? Well, you can actually vote EVERY DAY and he's within spitting distance of the leader but he needs your help to win!  So head on over here to cast your vote.  Deadline is January 13!

Over and out.