Florida Trip- Our Rad Hotel

Amidst all the business of buying a house, moving, and holiday preparation, Jarom was invited to attend and present at a manufacturing and engineering expo at the convention center in Orlando Florida with his expenses paid. Pretty sweet! So we paid for my plane ticket and made it a family vacation with really bad timing.
Here are some pics of our AWESOME hotel, The Gaylord Palms Hotel. It was huge to start with, and was divided into 4 regions: Key West (the pics with the boat) with a Caribbean feel, The Everglades with lush vegetation, mist, and sounds; Emerald Bay with a giant octopus pool and waterslide (in picture), and St. Augustine complete with a Spanish castle. All the vegetation in the pics is real and amazing.

Florida Trip- Yoda Sighting

Our flight to Orlando left on Halloween night. This was going to be Isaac’s first Halloween that he was old enough to participate in, and we didn’t want to miss out, so he wore his Yoda ears on the plane (a red eye flight) and to the hotel the next morning. He was a sight to see with his giant ears, pj's and monkey backpack; he got a lot of laughs and waves, and even some candy!

Florida Trip- Jarom and The Expo

Jarom was invited to present the design of an electric leaf vacuum that he and a couple teammates from school designed for a nationwide competition put on by the Air Quality Management Department which they placed second in. The expo is a big to-do and people pay a lot of money to attend. Jarom presented very well and was even offered a job (in Arizona). I am very proud of my genius sweetie!

Florida Trip- Kennedy Space Center

We visited NASA at the Kennedy Space Center. The weather was not real cooperative but we still had fun. Very interesting stuff.

Florida Trip- Magic Kingdom

I didn’t realize before that Magic Kingdom was almost exactly like Disneyland: same rides, attractions, shows, etc. However, it was a totally experience going as Mom and Dad. Isaac, thankfully, had a great time. There was always something to see, hear, do, eat, or play with that he was constantly wide eyed, entertained and happy. It was as much fun for us to watch him as any of the rides. Isaac’s favorite part of the day was the water play area in Toontown. He could have played all day trying to catch that water shooting up out of the ground! It was great for us just to sit down and relax a bit.

Florida Trip- Epcot

Epcot was fun too. I think I was a little pooped by this day and the weather was cold and drizzly making for an ornery combination. We tried to make the best of it. Our favorite part was test driving Segways! Totally cool! Jarom did REALLY well; in fact the instructor told him he was the best first timer he has ever seen- a natural!

Florida trip- Gatorland

The last day of our trip we visited Gatorland. We saw amazingly Huge alligators (the pictures really do not give them justice), Gator Wrestling, ate "boiled peanuts" (which Jarom had frequently on his mission in Florida and I really wanted to try), and saw Gator Jumparoo- Gators jumping out of water to get chickens. This was one of my favorite days!

Thanksgiving in Saint George

We spent Thanksgiving in Saint George with Brenda, Kaelin, and Mandy's family. Isaac, Anna, and Nathen have more fun playing together each time we get together. There is an awesome park by Mom's condo where we couldn't resist taking a million pictures. Mandy put Anna and Nathen back to back in a swing as was pretty stinkin' cute. Isaac just loves to run free and explore.

This was one of 11 shots trying to get the three cousins together. This was as good as it got. We need professionals!

Catching Up- Mom's 50th Birthday!

In an effort to catch up the last 5 months void of posts, we begin with Mom's 50th birthday adventure! We took her sky sailing. The glider was towed up into the air by a plane and then released to fly on it's own. It was like awesome roller coaster x10! Mom had a blast and screamed her head off. We then went into Jullian to explore the town and have some pie.