Florida 2014

Hello?

You still there?  Well, that is amazing!  I am impressed with your commitment!  Sorry I've not been around.  Sigh.  I could go on and on about why, but frankly I am tired of all that.  Let's just pick up right where we left off, mmmk?

Alright.  So the last two weeks we were stateside for the first time in a year an a half!  Well, that is unless you count going to the US embassy.  Wait.  Is that just an urban legend?  I don't know. Anyway.

The first couple of days we spent time with dear friends from Barakel that now live in Orlando (Hi Rob and Elizabeth!!!) and they spoiled us rotten!  If you ever need tips on how to love on missionaries that come to your church, Elizabeth is the woman to talk to!She even has a song about being a missionary helper!  She asked about favorite foods, what would be good for the boys, navigated me through shopping Stateside, helped us pack up at the end of our time and just generally took care of us.
 

There was this hilariously weird culture shock moment when we were driving on a toll road (what is with the toll roads in Florida?) and we didn't know how much the toll was.  We had a small amount of US change with us and we just kept throwing quarters at the toll machine.  I think we got up to about $2 worth and decided surely that had to be enough.  And yes, as we drove away there was a buzzing sound.  And Forrest started screaming "WHY ARE THERE NO PEOPLE IN THE TOLL BOOTHS?"  Oh man.   Rob decided he could help with this all and got us a SunPass, one of those things you stick on your windshield and it gets scanned as you drive along so you don't need to have cash or be able to figure out how much the toll is.  It was a huge help.

After a few days with Rob and Elizabeth, we got to spend some time with Noah's parents and one of his brothers and his family.  It was so good to be with all of them.  We hadn't seen Noah's parents in a year and his brother in almost two.  There was lots of good food, games, swimming, visiting our favorite orange grove, and just generally being a family.

Next we headed to the coast to spend time with my family.  What a sweet time!! Again, aside from my parents, we haven't seen my sibs since we moved back in the Fall of 2012.  We spend some time on the beach, laughed, cried, played, got sunburnt and were a family.  It was good to be known!
 

One of the things the boys had been patiently waiting for over the last six or eight months was LegoLand!  And it did not disappoint!!  Every ride was a Lego vehicle, they got to talk with a Master Builder, experienced their first roller coaster, and built and raced Lego cars.  One of the coolest things was every employee at the park has a minifig or two on their name tags.  You can trade any of them for any minifig you have.  So the big boys brought 3 of their least favorite ones and traded up during the day.  It was such a fun touch!

One of the funniest moments of the day was when Quinn discovered the Lego Firefighters the same size as himself. He would pat them on the back, hug them, and then kiss them!  So stinkin cute!!

By the time we left, we were feeling rested, and restored.  It was a good trip, at the right time!