Christmas...delayed!

We finally got back to the Porterfield's for dinner and belated Christmas gifting. We had the kid's presents before the holiday but schedules just never worked so we ended up giving them their gifts on January 24th. Whoops! They did not seem to mind one bit! Heidi was kind enough to make a fierce pot of chili with all the fixins and a mean chocolate lava cake for dessert. That girl. She outdoes herself 100% of the time.

We spent time playing the kid's new games (for the record, Jossi cheats! HA!) and the boys all played football. The kids schooled Jackson in some racing games on their Wii before we had to call it a night.

Late? Don't care. Let us at 'em!

"We already have this!"- Jax LOL

Momma helping put things together
Gunner helping, too!

Jossi's shirt! I cannot! I love it and her too much!

Jossi sandwich

She loves taking photos of herself!

Being silly!

Hanging with Uncle Jack

Sometimes I take videos of our time there just so that we never forget this time in the kid's lives. They are at such fun ages!

We just love this family. Thanks again for dinner, Porterfield family. We hope to see you again soon! 

I like my husband.

Do you ever have those times where you know you love someone but then you realize that you also just genuinely like them? I had that this weekend with Jackson. I just really enjoy this guy! 

He worked in Hartford City on Friday morning so he came to Muncie to join me for lunch at Greek's (so good) on short notice. I was having an annoying day at work and needed a break. Time with him is just what I needed. 

Greek's

He then accompanied me to the hospital to meet Ms. Thea Parton (shown on another posting) even though he claimed to only visit IU Health locations during work hours. HA! :) We stopped for dinner afterwards and just enjoyed hanging out.

Saturday we felt a little stir-crazy so we bundled up and took MacKenzie to explore a new trail by our place. She LOVED it and so did we! We even stayed fairly warm in our 19 layers of clothing each-ha!

Let's play!

Can you even handle the cuteness
shown in this photo?!

Playing on an icy pond
Yes, this did give me a panic attack 

Thoroughly exhausted

Hot cocoa to warm back up!

There are about 2 miles of new trails down the road that we will certainly have memorized by the end of the summer but for now all the new smells had MacKenzie very busy! She took a tennis ball with her and got some games in during our two hour adventure. It was just plain fun to be out there together. It did not cost us a thing but we all had so much fun. Until MacK learned she'd have to now have a bath and then she was not a pleased as she had been. Whoops. :)

Testing the new Wi-fi from the office (me)
to the bedroom (MacK-previously sleeping)
via FaceTime. She was not impressed.

And something silly- we finally got all of the equipment we needed to stop renting from Comcast and just have our own wireless router. I got it all established fairly easily and we had fun testing its range. Again, MacKenzie was not impressed, but we had so much fun just being silly. It struck me that evening that I just enjoy Jackson so much. I feel quite blessed to get to do life with this guy!

Meeting Baby Thea

Kyle and Megan, my dear, dear friends from my time at Indiana Wesleyan welcomed their second child, Thea Emelyn, into the world on January 20th. Ms. Thea (rhymes with Leah) came as scheduled on the 20th so we hopped in on Friday night to get some snuggles. I'm so glad that we did. She's just the sweetest little lady!

New parent survival kit: tons of candy, more candy,
fresh oranges and homemade chocolate chip cookies!

There is no greater sweetness

Kyle, Thea and Meg :)

Meg just had a baby and looks amazing. If I didn't love her, I'd hate her. They were just so happy to have their newest little bundle to hold and it was great to share this special time with them. I'm looking forward to many more hours snuggling this sweet girl! 

Note: We met Baby Thea on the 4 year anniversary of my sweet Grams' passing. The circle of life starts so beautifully and ends with such sorrow. I don't think I'll ever get used to that part of growing up.

Last day in Naples

We had almost an entire day to hang out before catching an evening flight back to Indy. Jackson was craving a burger so we hit up a new restaurant we'd read rave reviews of on TripAdvisor: Brook's Gourmet Burgers and Dogs. This place was not typical of Naples in that there was nothing fancy about it. The sandwiches, though, were amazing. I had an incredible french dip and Jackson thoroughly enjoyed his "Todd-style" burger (which was their term for a burger with a fried egg on it). If you're ever in the Naples area this place is worth a stop! 

Excited for a burger!

After that massive lunch we headed to the beach to try to burn off some calories. We continued to be amazed at how strong the winds must have been Saturday night (we slept through that storm!) so knock over entire boats that had been parked on the beach.

Storm surveyor 

It was a lovely day to walk to beach and we put in about 4 miles before heading back to the condo to pack up.

This view never gets old!

An awesome place for a walk

We made a quick stop at the orange grove to get some fruit to bring home and then caught our flight. It was uneventful (my favorite kind) and we were home, unpacked and in bed by 11:30. We had a great trip. Thanks again to Susie for letting us stay!

Chilly day in Naples

We woke up to some chilly weather. Jackson and Susie were supposed to play golf but the course was closed so they rose early for no reason. I did not make that mistake and stayed warm in bed the entire time. We did finally get up and hit Skillets for an excellent breakfast before hitting the beach for a windy walk.

On the beach in sweatshirts- BOO

A small place being built on the beach

Mr. Handsome

Seriously, Jackson is just a doll!

We gave up on the chilly beach and headed to Badass Coffee for an afternoon treat. The sun came out and we basked in it before coming back to the condo for a quick nap. We looked out after our nap and decided that it was likely to be a gorgeous sunset so we headed back to the beach. It did not disappoint.

Sunset 

Hanging with the sea birds

Snuggled up for sunset

Storm damage on the beach

After sunset we went to see the new movie "13 Hours" at a nearby theatre. It was a really great film and I'd highly recommend it. We'd love it if tomorrow was supposed to be a warm day but it is only to be 60-ish again. Tear. It is better than being in Indiana right now- brr!

We're going to Miami...

There was some kind of wild storm overnight that did plenty of damage to trees and tore some roofs off nearby buildings. I, of course, slept through the entire thing. Anyway, the storm seemingly brought some chilly weather so we decided to hit the road to find some warmth. 

The storm knocked power out for most of Naples so when we finally found an open place to eat breakfast- McDonald's. It was the busiest restaurant in the nation. That's not a lie. From there we got on the road to cross the state and hit Miami. We made it to South Beach and grabbed coffee before heading out to the water for a walk.

Petefish on South Beach

Susie came along for the tour

Miami did not disappoint and had Ocean Boulevard closed down for an art show. The people watching and shopping was amazing.

The man in the red sweatshirt was the snake handler
That girl looked so unsure

After we walked around Miami soaking in the sights and sounds we headed about an hour up the road to show Susie the wonder that is West Palm/Palm Beach. It did not disappoint. The sun was shining and it was a warm 80 degrees on the beach.

Jackson and Susie on the Atlantic

MY HAPPY PLACE

Playing in the waves

We left the beach and went to shop at a former roommate's clothing store in Jupiter. It was a really cool store but we didn't end up buying anything. From there we went up to a restaurant that we've enjoyed in the past, Guanabanas. 

Dinner by the water

We headed home from there- we drove about 400 miles in one day, but we had a ton of fun and got to see a lot of our favorite places.

Naples in January

Our flight got in on time and all was well. We made a quick stop at Tropical Smoothie before coming to the condo for a quick change to get ready for the beach.

Gorgeous lunch date

The beach was much busier this time of the year. Boo. Hiss. We had to park down the road and walk in to our favorite spot. Bah humbug! Luckily we had time to stop at BadAss so we were caffeinated and up for the challenge after that 4 a.m. wakeup call!

Ahh the beach

The water was freezing and the waves were actually breaking today. Jackson actually got in the water!

Jackson playing in the waves

I was content on the sand with my book.

Gorgeous afternoon

After we got our fill of the sun we came back, got cleaned up and headed to dinner with Susie on 5th Avenue. Our dinner was amazing! We sat right by the open doors and got to people watch- my favorite!

Dinner at Yabba Island Grill

Busy day- we are ready for bed! Off to Miami Beach tomorrow!! :)

Calm New Year

January has been an incredibly slow month for us! We aren't really New Year's Eve celebrators when we're in the United States.

NYE destination: the couch!

What is New Years Day without cabbage rolls?!

Allow me to explain the whole qualifier of when we're in the U.S. as it seems odd. Where would you celebrate around these parts? NYC always looks so darned cold and the idea of standing around unable to pee (they wear diapers!) or eat anything other than what you pack (I've never been good at planning snacks ahead- to the point where I get jealous of little kids with a parent who thinks of that for them. I'm sometimes the parent's age and my ability to pack snacks still hasn't kicked in yet. Must come with the birthing process or something? Jackson just leaned over and asked me if I had packed snacks for this flight because he's hungry. He was visibly disappointed when I told him that I have not mastered snack packing yet. Anyway, I've seriously digressed here. Blame it on the altitude?!) I am fresh out of ideas for any other domestic destination for an amazing experience.

Also, honestly, once you've rung in the new year in Paris watching the Eiffel Tower light up and shoot off fireworks is anything else really special? Perhaps ringing in the new year a day earlier than our friends in the U.S. in Sydney, Australia would fit the bill? That's the plan for NYE 2017!!!!!! (INSERT UNCONTAINABLE EXCITEMENT HERE!)

I'd return to blogging but I'm busy looking at photos of koalas, kangaroos and fireworks over the Sydney Harbor (yes, I am an American, why ever do you ask?!) that I've been googling and sending to Jackson at random intervals.

I cannot deal. TOO CUTE!

This only looks mildly awesome

Seriously.

Moving on. Besides not really celebrating the ushering in of 2016, we've been hiding from the cold Indiana winter. We got weak and started using the fireplace. This pleases MacKenzie beyond measure.

We are still recovering from the Petefish Flu of Christmas 2015. This illness deserves a name. It was a force and it knocked us out hard! Thankfully we subscribed to Hulu since we still don't have cable (pats self on back for fighting "the man") and have had some entertainment from that. After reading both of Mindy Kaling's books we started watching her show, "The Mindy Project." Ok, season 1 was the funniest stuff is ever seen. We are in season 4 now and things have sadly slumped. I guess you can't expect comedic gold forever. Side note: binge watching a series might be more addicting than crack cocaine. Whoa.

Cutie playing with new toys!

TV and snuggles

MacK hates the snow, too!

We did finally buckle down and print out our color travel photos for the blank wall in the dining room. I am really happy with how it turned out. Yes, we will take a last photo to make it complete.

From the top right: Chimney Rock, St. Louis Arch, Sedona church in the rock,
Chicago's Navy Pier, Golden Gate Bridge, Naples palm trees
Toronto from the river, Las Vegas and empty

Love this puppy!

I'll be by the fire if you need me

Handsome Jackson

MacK & Sherri

We've been home for about three weeks and got itchy so we are off to Florida this morning. Actually, this weekend has been on the calendar forever as a girl's getaway to Naples to celebrate my friend Amber's birthday. Last week she decided she couldn't come due to some personal issues so Jackson came in her place. We were lucky that one of my co-workers signed on to watch MacKenzie (Grammy being in Florida really throws a wrinkle in her schedule!) so she didn't have to go to a kennel for the long weekend.

Jackson talking, me trying to concentrate 

We'll be here until Tuesday evening and then we'll be home for 2.5 more weeks of tax season before heading to Puerto Rico. We'd planned to be in Naples again for Super Bowl Weekend but thought 3 trips in 3 months was plenty for now. Did I mention tax season?! It has come on with a fury this year. I guess this should not surprise me anymore but each year I go from just being in the "in crowd" to Ms. Popularity in January- April 15th. Woe is me. ;)

We are excited to explore Puerto Rico for another week and to stock up on their coffee beans to grind at home. That's right, coffee tourism. Does that make us old? Don't answer that.

Alright, off to the beach we go! Happy weekend, friends!