Family in Florida

Another bonus about being in Orlando- it attracts the family members!  My mom, brothers Aaron and Scott, and Scottie's friend Taylor flew down to visit for a few days. Scott and Taylor came mostly for the wakeboarding park, but it was great to see them! We had a fun time watching the boys wakeboard at the park, playing at the beach, shopping, and hanging out with our friends, the Larsens, from Utah who actually live just a few minutes away. I'm sure my dad will make it here eventually- he was working hard, flying to Tokyo and Guam. Tough life. :)

My family tends to take a lot of these pictures.

The last-minute-just-to-prove-we-were-here-all-together kinds of pictures.

And yes, they're always taken just before we go to the airport

And yes, the camera is always on the timer setting. In this case, set on the car door.

But hey, it works!

The boys at the Larsen's house, launching off Scott's water rocket... just before we drove to Port Canaveral to watch the real thing... which we didn't actually get to watch. ha!

The beginnings of our sand castle. When Aaron decides to build a sand castle- he builds a big one! Oh yeah, another bonus about being in Orlando- it's close to the beach!

The final touches before the storm came- hence, no shuttle launch. But the beach time was totally worth the trip!

Scottie and Taylor at OWC

Aaron and I at OWC watching the boys at the "pro" park

Scott was so nice to take us all boating (sans Nicholas- he's such a hard worker). But it was awesome to see all of the HUGE houses along Lake Butler and the other houses in Windermere... including the Temple! Such a great sight to see while boating. 

We got to go through eerie/jurassic-park-looking canals that connect all the lakes

Like I said- HUGE houses

Shaq's house- according to the wikipedia, it's over a football field long. I definitely believe them.

Lead singer of Creed's house

One of Tiger Wood's houses

And last but not least, my "Family" post wouldn't be complete without mentioning my brother-in-law Casey. He moved to Naples just a couple months ago for law school, but comes up to Orlando every Friday to work in the temple. The first weekend he visited was the 4th of July and we spent our after-fireworks party at Joe's Crab Shack. The Potter brothers LOVED their steam pot of crab, shrimp, and most of all- sausage. (Ew. I hate sausage). But they were in heaven- bibs and all. 

The fireworks show in Celebration Town- probably one of my favorite places in Orlando!

Home Sweet {new} Home

4 moves in 4 months- I think I'm getting it down to a science! But life is all about change, right? 

We've been here in Florida for about 3 weeks now and we really love it here! Everything with the move and shipping our car worked out like we hoped, and everyone in the office here is awesome. We've made some great friends! 

The weather is amazing, along with our pool and our complex. It really feels like I'm on vacation everyday- and I hope Nick feels that way too... at least for a few hours during the day when he's not knocking doors!

Our luxurious pool- where I spend a lot of my time. 

Something about palm trees just makes me happy. :)

Our front door. Maybe I'll post some pics of the inside later. But we have a guest bedroom.. and we love visitors!

View from the balcony of the gym

What I see when I walk to the pool...

Goodbye, New Jersey

As it happens, another chapter in our life has come to an end... or begun. However you want to look at it. But to make a long story short, we are no longer living in New Jersey, but are now in Orlando, Fl. It was kind of a last-minute move, but we are definitely glad that we took the opportunity.

Here are some pictures from the last couple months in Jersey that I've been needing to post. There's quite a variety, so I hope you enjoy them! :)


Looking across the George Washington Bridge on an afternoon run. It may not look like it, but it is a LONG way down to the water.

I never got sick of seeing the GW bridge- it is absolutely huge!

Another sight that I never got sick of seeing- the city skyline. You can barely make it out in this picture- but it was so amazing to see while you were driving on the highway across the Hudson.

We took a trip to the Jersey Shore on a sunny Sunday afternoon with some of our friends. Blue skies and sun were hard to come by in the two months that we lived there. We saw LOTS of rain!

On the Asbury Park boardwalk

Playing football on the beach

I wish I could have seen these places 50 years ago when they were in their prime. The buildings along the boardwalk were amazing!

Nick took a day off so that the two of us could go into the city together. We went to Madame Tusaaud's Wax Museum because Nick had never been there. It's definitely a sight worth seeing!

Usher

Princess Diana

Obama.... and Nick's "half" thumbs-up. haha.

Yao Ming- I think my head went up to his stomach. Yikes.

Sitting on Broadway in Times Square

Giant chocolate syrup at Hershey's in Times Square

Speaking of Giant- Nick's favorite candy is Twizzlers. We found this at the CVS by our apartment and couldn't resist. We had a month's supply.

Girl's trip into the city

Another girls outing to the famous iris memorial gardens. I had no idea that there were that many types of iris- there were literally thousand of different colors and blends!