Lynnlee's Blessing

We blessed Lynnlee on Sunday, July 4th. It was a wonderful day. We also took the opportunity to get some pictures of Lynnlee and our family.

She's discovered her hands and can't get enough of them.

Florida Part 6: Orlando

This is the last post on our trip to Florida. We spent our first week in Siesta Key and then spent three days in Orlando. Saturday morning we drove to Orlando and went to Sea World. I never would have thought I'd go to SeaWorld so much but in the last year I've been 6 times. With Marshall's old job he traveled to Florida a lot and since it was the most fun for James and we could get in for free it just worked out the best. So since I've posted so many pictures of SeaWorld in the past I only included a few pictures in this post.

Luckily Lynnlee had adjusted to the heat after being in it for a week. She was a happy girl at SeaWorld.

Sunday we went to church and it was across the street from the temple. We went and took some pictures afterward. Here is one of them. James knows to say "Cheese" when we take pictures but rarely does he actually look at the camera while doing that.

That afternoon we visited a park called Big Tree Park. It has the biggest Cyprus Tree. You walk on a board walk for a ways to get to it. James had fun running around. That's not chocolate on his nose it's a scab from falling at the fountain.

Here we are in front of the tree.

James playing at the park after.

Thanks again Mom and Dad for an awesome trip!

Florida Part 5: Fountain

This fountain was not too far from where we stayed. James and his cousins Ashlyn, Taylor, and Lily had a great time playing in it.

When we were getting ready to leave he fell and skimmed his nose. He cried a little but then got over it quickly. Him and Ashlyn were making each other laugh the whole way home.

Florida Part 4: Grace's birthday and Cousins

We celebrated Grace's birthday on Tuesday. It started off with going to IHOP.

James and his cousins had a dance party after we finished eating. It was pretty cute.

That afternoon we went to Toy Story 3. My Mom stayed back at the condos and watched the 5 youngest grandkids so the rest of us could enjoy the movie. Thanks Mom!

That night we had a birthday dinner and cake. Happy Birthday Grace!

The rest of the pics are some shots I got of James and his cousins. James loved spending time with his cousins. When we first got to Florida he would cry when we would part from them. For example, on Sunday he was playing with them before we left to church. Then we had to get in our car to go to church. He had a melt down and wouldn't stop crying because he had to leave his cousins. We kept telling him he would see them at church. The same thing happened after church. We told him he would see them again but he didn't understand. Luckily after seeing them all day he realized he would get to see them again.

Betsy was so cute with all of them. For some reason our condo had 3 extra remotes. James and Miriel thought they made great cell phones.

One night she painted all the nieces toenails and fingernails. They loved it.

Betsy-I think you should open a salon for little girls!

The kids entertained themselves by playing Ring-Around-the-Rosies while we were getting dinner ready.

Our condos had a pool. It was a nice break from the beach.

Lily, Sid, Grace and Ashlyn.

Lily, Grace, Taylor, and Jack.

Grace, Taylor, Lily, Sid, and Jack making Sand Angels.

Sid, Katelyn, Grace, Ashlyn, Jack, Lily, Lucy, and Taylor.

James all sandy at the end of the day.

Florida Part 3: Family Dinners

Not only were all of my siblings and parents in Florida but also my Mom's side of the family. Two of her sisters live in Florida so it was convenient to have a family reunion since we were all going to be there. We had a few family dinners with everyone.

My sister Ali designed family reunion shirts for everyone. In this picture we are walking to a BBQ at the beach.

My Mom and Ashlyn

James


Family at pavillion by beach where we had BBQ.

In picture are my cousins and Aunts. I haven't seen some of them in over 10 years!

Friday night was our last night at Siesta Key so we had one last huge family dinner.

My Uncle Joe gave James $1. You would think he had never seen $1 before by the way he was checking it out.

Yes this is the whole family including aunts, uncles, cousins, my parents, siblings, nieces, nephews,...except my brother Kasey and his family. They got sick and had to be quarantined.

Florida Part 2: Sunday and Monday

My Grandma lived in Florida for many years so it's always fun to visit her old ward. My whole family went to church there. It is a small ward. I think we doubled the number of people there.

This is my friend Megan. We met when we were in high school one time when I was visiting my Grandma. We've been friends ever since. It's always good to see her. Her parents happened to be speaking in church that day so that was fun too!

Monday night my Mom prepared a really cute lesson for everyone but mostly the kids. Even though James looks mad in this picture He really did have a good time with his cousins.

Florida Part I: Sunsets

My parents have been planning to take my whole family to Florida since they were on their mission. Marshall and I didn't know if we would be able to go because of Lynnlee's condition. We asked her doctors at her monthly check ups and each time they told us that we needed to wait and see how she was doing because it can vary so much from month to month. Two days before the big trip her doctor told us that we could go. We were a little stressed trying to get ready but were so happy we could join the rest of the family in Florida. It was a much needed vacation.

We stayed in some condos about a block from the beach. We enjoyed playing on the beach and watched the sunsets most nights. These are my favorite sunsets. It's amazing how different the colors are each night.