A Hike and A Day at the Beach

Tuesday we went out exploring and found a small state park to take a hike at. It was fun to see what "wild" Florida looks like, and we even saw some Gopher Tortoise Burrows, but no tortoises

Then, yesterday we headed to the beach for the afternoon. It was a beautiful day, about 70-75 degrees and sunny, and we just walked along the water, picked up shells, took pictures, and watched the sunset.

We also made a stop at a maternity clothing outlet store, and found the latest fashions!
Now it is off to home, we have a night in a hotel in Tampa, fly out New Year's Day at 6 a.m. Uggh! Back to the real world, I guess!

Warm (???) Florida

Well, yesterday was very cool and cloudy, but today came through. Not really that warm, but at least sunny. We headed north to the Crystal River to swim with the Florida Manatees. It was a pretty incredible experience. They come in to the river because it is spring fed and stays 72 degrees year round. They like the warm water, and we saw probably a couple hundred of them in the couple hours we spent in the water. 72 degrees sounds pretty warm, but by the end we were pretty chilly, actually we didn't feel that cold until we got out, but it was worth it! You are not allowed to approach the manatee or pursue them, but if they come up to you you can pet them and hang out with them. They are pretty curious and very trusting of humans. We also got to see a lot of fish, and some beautiful scenery.

Merry Christmas from Florida!

Greetings from warm (if not so sunny) Florida! We arrived at 6:00 this morning eastern time (yes, that is 3 a.m. our time!) to pouring rain and 70 degrees. The rain dried up and we even got a spot or two of sun throughout the day, but not really clear. It stayed right around 70 the whole day, though and was very enjoyable.After a short nap...well, it was short for some of us, others required a little "convincing" to get up and make the time change adjustment, we had Christmas breakfast and then Karen and Carole enjoyed a walk around the neighborhood.Although we didn't do any Christmas gifts because getting/being here was our "present" there still seemed to be a lot of non-Christmas gifts to unwrap, hmmmm. Several cute maternity outfits and lots of adorable baby goodies were a lot of fun to open and ooo and ahh over. We also got numerous gift cards for Lowes and Home Depot, so I guess when we get home it is back to work!

The house we've rented with Brandon's extended family is very nice, 5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a nice big living area with a huge TV that is currently being used for some Wii MarioKart action. Brandon also got Mario Brothers from Melissa for Christmas, so that has already been getting a bit of a workout, too. Carole has found she is at a distinct disadvantage since she was not allowed to play videogames as a child!
We did get in the pool for probably an hour this afternoon, just floated and talked and enjoyed eachother's company. It was very nice, and how often do you get a family Christmas photo in the pool? We rounded out the day with a fantastic Christmas dinner with all the delicious trimmings, and Carole ate way too much. Now about 1/2 of us are headed to bed and the other 1/2 are still Wii-ing...hmmm, that sounds like they are all in the bathroom....

The last 2 months....

The Seli-Scheer clan, or at least part of it, at Thanksgiving!


The weekend after Thanksgiving we took a trip up to see Mt. St. Helen's, and it was a beautiful drive despite some clouds moving in and out and only getting occasional views of the mountain.


Out with the old...and in with the new. Brandon's new skill of installing a toilet was forged as we replaced a bad toilet in the main bathroom. We thought the classy decision was to put it on the front lawn, and I am sad to say that not only is it still on the front lawn, but now the toilet from the master bath is sitting right next to this one. His and hers, I guess!

A mostly new bathroom, new paint, new floor, new toilet. The new sink has yet to be installed, though.

A Bit of an Update

It has been a while, sorry! We have had quite the few weeks as we moved into our new house, got an ultrasound of the baby, and try to get ready for our Christmas trip to Florida with the Scheers. We also have had lots of guests, Dad Scheer until the 10th, then Selis starting on the 13th, then Jess from Captive Free arrived on the 17th, tonight will be the first night in a long time with no guests!

Things are going well, but slowly with the house. Brandon installed his first toilet, and we've gotten flooring in two bedrooms and one bathroom done. Some unpacking has happened, but honestly not as much as we'd like at this point! There is still a garage full of boxes, and a lot of empty space in the house! Right now we are just focusing on finding suitcases and mild weather clothing and shoes for the vacation.

Baby life is good, we got an ultrasound a week and a half ago and all is well. Carole is showing, she thinks, but maybe it is just fat. Not much weight gain yet, but 2 inches bigger in the waist. Today marked the first day of maternity jeans and boy, were they comfortable! We've been doing a lot of reading and enjoying seeing what the baby is looking like and how she is developing each week.

We leave Thursday for sunny Orlando and can't wait to have a week to ourselves, no work, no house, no commitments, just relaxation (and sleep!) We'll be there for just over a week, and one of my goals is to get some pictures uploaded to the blog, so hopefully I do some catching up! We hope you all have a happy Christmas and New Year, 2010 will be bringing lots of blessings, for sure. You will most likely be getting, well, maybe Easter cards from us this year, our apologies!!! Love you all!

FINALLY!!!

We are out of money and the keys are on our rings! Must have bought a house. It is finally official and we are home-owners, now the real fun begins!!!