December and holiday recap

Happy New Year! I don't know about all of you but to me it feels like the past 2 months have completely flown by! I'm actually excited for January to be a bit slower so we can all catch our breath! So much happened in December - I spent a week in Chicago (BRRRRR!) on a last-minute business trip. I worked crazy-late every night and it was freezing so pretty much went from the office straight back to my hotel.

Right after Chicago we headed out on our annual Christmas trip to Florida. The weather was absolutely perfect - high 80's every day. We loved getting to spend time with family and relaxing at the beach. The kids also made some new friends at the pool, which is really fun to watch.

The princess in her special "Christmas swimsuit"

 Fishing time with Daddy

 Christmas Eve at the beach

 Our third visit from Santa! How does he always know where to find us?!?

 Lots of quality time building Legos with Bubba (patience of a saint!)

 Hanging with new LBK friends Aidan and Ellie

 The Summa gang

 Christmas morning with Frick and Frack

We came home from Florida and found out the water main in the front of our house had broken. Thank goodness we have some truly lovely neighbors who found a way to turn off the water. Otherwise our entire yard (house?) would have flooded! We spent the next 2-days playing "pioneers", which means we had no running water, no toilets. I will spare you the details. Let's just say water is an under appreciated necessity!

New Years found us exhausted. We stayed home and were asleep by 9:30. But it was a glorious way to start the new year as a family, huddled together on the air mattress watching a movie. Exactly one year ago Dan was prepping to get on a plane to Afghanistan. We are humbled by how much life can change in the blink of an eye and try to remind ourselves to count our blessing and say thank you for all of the good things in our lives.

May 2014 bring you much love, happiness, adventure and joy!