Happy Birthday Inez!

Here's a fun birthday party we celebrated with our friend Inez. She is a fellow law student with Jared. She has been a visiting teaching companion to me. And she is a great supporter of the boys. For her birthday cake she had the boys involved in counting exercises before they stuck the candles into the frosting.



66 candles! What an inspiration!
It is a bonding experience to go through law school together with these other students! There are memories of starting out together two and a half years ago in Michigan. We survived and thrived together!

Who are the people in your neighborhood?

Here are some sweet friends we went with to the county museum.

--and to the beach... lots of fun!!

This water isn't warm-- Michael is in attack form! He and Heidi were pretty tough!

Pelicans are big! wish you could see better from the photo-


These seagulls swarmed around us trying to get a cracker out of Tessa's hand! -the whole flock! They wouldn't give up till we gave up on crackers..

New Day

Well, I have done a very poor job at keeping in touch with family and friends lately.
I had hoped to send out a few letters at the holidays. Christmas cards are a nice way to keep others a part of our lives although we are distanced by space and time.
It was nice to visit more often with family throughout the holidays and to hear updates from some friends.
The New Year is upon us now and it promises to be significant, to say the least. Jared will finish law school in May and prepare for the bar exam that takes place at the end of July. At that point he will be in the world of full-time employment again! We plan to take the bar in Utah and are looking for a job there. With lots of changes ahead we are already in a mode of preparation.
Our time in law school has been a time of adventure and learning. We are grateful that our family has grown in lots of ways. Here are a few updates.
This past summer Jared and I celebrated seven years of marriage. We are getting a little "older" together and we're waiting for the "wiser" part to set in. It's a great blessing that I can stay home and try to focus on the varied roles of homemaking. Lately I appreciate picking up a book or trying a new recipe. Jared really enjoys molding his own education out of law school. He especially enjoyed classes in constitutional law, jurisprudence and international law. Currently he leans toward going back into real estate sectors of law such as land-use planning.
Michael is six and is becoming very responsible and thoughtful. It has impressed us how self-motivated he is to read and write. He also loves to swim and ride his bike.
Jordan is four and is full of stories and ideas. He loves learning about animals and building neat creations. He likes to help me cook. And he has a mean cartwheel.
Jordan and Michael are quite the busy duo together and they love their sister. Tessa turned one last year. She easily keeps up with her brothers energy and commotion, but the little girl in her definitely charms us.
A little while ago we decided to try school at home. That has been a great new venture! Our community full of other homeschooling families prompted us to try a new direction and the also the timing that just seemed right. It has been very satisfying to give learning a greater place in our home.
Another new avenue we have been trying is healthier eating. Mostly it entails cooking more from scratch and using more legumes and whole grains. I triumphed in trying out a new salad with kale, and Jared (mostly) gave up oreos and other treats. Thank goodness the boys love vegetables and fruits, but it will take some more work to get them to give up fluffy "wheat" bread and chocolate milk....
We can't finish our time in Florida without taking advantage of every opportunity. We are striving to keep that balance of remembering past blessings, living an inspired today, and moving toward a faithful future.

Sea World 2010

We made it back to Orlando this week to visit the temple and Sea World.
It has been a year with several fun trips! I think we definitely got some good use out of our passes.
This time we went to a bunch of our favorite shows, tried a new rollercoaster, and enjoyed some special holiday events.



Jordan really gets into meeting different characters. He was really sad after the Sesame Street Christmas show that he didn't get to say "hi" to Elmo. We walked out of the theater to leave and realized that he would be able to after all! (Just one of the many things that worked out for us on the trip.) You can tell in the photo that Jordan is way more into it than Michael. Jordan was so happy to tell me after the photo that Elmo felt really fuzzy and soft. Sorry for the other fuzzy pictures again....


We all found so many things to enjoy-- pictures only try to capture some of the memories!

Team Gingerbread

I decided this year I wanted to make a simplified version of the L.L. Bean Gingerbread Lighthouse.
"Seize the day!" We won't be in Florida forever. Enjoy Christmas --Florida style.
The kids helped to eat the candy as usual and Jared's friend, Richie, spread the frosting.
Sorry the camera is so fuzzy.


Tessa helped herself to this one....


I guess we need a gingerbread man cookie cutter. But I can vouch that they taste good either way.

Christmas Thanks

To Grandmas and Grandpas who make Christmas extra special:
Here are a few pictures that show the kids enjoying gifts and excitement from you.




Tessa with her baby Snow White



It took Jordan twice as long as Michael to open gifts(although we took turns...), because he played with every one for while. Michael was busy orchestrating and sifting....

Jingle Bell Time

A fellow student invited us to a little Christmas concert/sing-along last week.
It was really good for our family to practice and put together a song to perform. We wouldn't have done it if we didn't have an event to perform for (and Grandma's help). Now every time we hear "Jingle Bell Rock" the boys say, "Hey it's our song!"
We also listened to vocal, piano, flute, violin, guitar, clarinet and saxophone musical numbers. Lots of talented, fun people!
Jared performed at the sing-along and with the ward choir a few weeks ago. He REALLY enjoyed getting his instruments out and practicing!
We are so grateful to the Seegmillers who put the night of music together. I didn't get many photos, but I want to post this and remember the tradition for future. To me music plays a major part in bringing the Spirit of Christmas.