Merry Christmas

Days 47 - 69 - MAINE to FLORIDA - COLD to COLD:

Sorry it has been so long since we've posted. Things on the trip changed a bit while we were in Key West....we ended up leaving a day early to surprise everyone and be home for Christmas. We arrived home on the 18th. It was quite fun, we surprised my brother and my aunt Janet. I wish I had had a video camera to tape her response...it was so funny! On Saturday we hung around before heading to our first Maine Red Claws game. Before the game we had a great time meeting up with Bob, Jen, Pat, Whitney, Sarah, and Mick for dinner and drinks before the game. We all (with the exception of Mick and Sarah) headed over to the game after dinner, Bryleigh is a dancer for the team and so we surprised her by showing up! She was excited. The rest of our week consisted of visiting everyone and "enjoying" the cold weather. We Christmas was fun except that I was a bit sick on both Christmas Eve and Christmas day. We did our best to enjoy our time either way though. We were spoiled as usual and are having a good time enjoying our gifts.

Our original plan was to head back to Florida the day after Christmas but due to circumstances beyond our control we ended up not being able to head back until January 9th. This of course meant that we would not be able to meet Andrea in Nashville for New Years Eve :( we were quite bummed but there was nothing we could do about it. So in the meantime I spent a lot of time learning how to make pajamas...this was very much to my mother's delight. I ended up making approximately twelve pair or so...I outfitted the LaCasse clan, Gug, Nancy, and the Walsh crew all with new winter sleepwear. We also got to visit more friends. We made it to Mike and Theresa's for a homemade pasta dinner. I do not recommend the pasta making attachment for the Kitchenaide Mixer...it took three of us to make spaghetti using the attachment that was supposed to make elbow macaroni...it was a sight to watch us work the machinery!

We ended up spending our transition into 2010 with Anna, Jesse, Brady, Rylan, Mike, Mary, Lydia, and Cameron. We enjoyed a meat fondue...it was a first for both Ben and I and chatted while we all played with the kids. Mick and Sarah made an appearance at the end of the evening just in time to ring in the new year. It was a fun night and we were happy to be able to spend some quality time with Jesse, Anna, and the kids before they head off to Germany in March. On New Year's Day Ben, Brady, and Jesse spent the day ice fishing...it wasn't the most productive day as Jesse got two flags...nothing worth catching though! It was nice for Ben though to be able to get in one day of fishing.

We got our fair share of snow while we were home and even managed to get in some snow shoeing with Molly. It had been MANY years since I had been and let me tell you it is a WORKOUT! We learned that Gunner loves the snow. Ben took him out to play and he dove right in digging out toys no matter how deep the snow. He also loves the snow blower. I told my parents they should video tape it as they would likely win some money on America's Funniest Home Videos.

Our last week home was spent working for Ben. He decided to help Jesse take down the Christmas lights at LL Bean. I did two days of work at the hotel and spent some quality time with Bryleigh. She is turning 21 this week...it's CRAZY that she is old enough to go to a bar.

We headed back to Florida on Saturday just in time for the FREEZING cold weather. I mean it too. It was just as cold getting off the plane as it was getting on the plane. We got back to Mark and Becky's just in time for dinner and a basketball game. We went to see Florida Altantic play Louisana. They have a friend who plays for FAU and it was a fun game as the Owls got the big win. After the game we grabbed a drink at a local restaurant before heading back to the house for the evening.

It was a great trip home...we are sorry to anyone that we were not able to see....it was a bit tough as we had no car. We are back to the blog and will keep everyone updated as best we can.