Juno Beach, Florida, February 15 - 18, 2011

Juno Beach was great! We took long walks on the beach and enjoyed the sun. It is so strange seeing the sun rise on the ocean instead of the sun set on the ocean! We loved West Palm Beach. There were huge mansions on the beach and each one had a Rolls Royce and a yacht. I can't believe how much money there is in that area. It is a gorgeous area. We were tempted to stay!!

Fort Lauderdale, Florida, February 12 - 14, 2011

We came back from the Bahamas worn out!!! We all had a great time but we were all so tired that we checked into a hotel and did absolutely nothing!! After the first 2 days we finally drove around and saw a little bit of the area. Christopher celebrated his 10th birthday here. We went bowling and had a lot of fun!!

Bahamas, February 7 - 11, 2011

WOW!! What an amazing adventure!!! We took a 4 day cruise out of Miami and went to the Bahamas. It was gorgeous!! We got on the ship at noon on Monday. The boys couldn't believe you could just go to the buffet and eat and then just leave without paying. We had been on the ship for about 4 hours and they had already gone to the buffet 3 times!! Pizza and ice cream!!

Our first stop in the Bahamas was Freeport. We got off the ship and took a taxi into town for some shopping and then a day at the beach. The water is the most unreal turquoise blue. It is beautiful!! The boys had fun jumping on a big trampoline anchored out off the shore.

The second stop on the cruise was in Nassau. They had a very nice city with lots of shopping and lots of nice jewelry stores. I had fun LOOKING ONLY!! We headed over to Paradise Island where Atlantis is located and hung out at the beach there. The guys all went on a banana boat ride! The gorgeous white sand beaches with the blue, blue water is like a dream.

Our last stop was at Norwegian Cruise Lines private island Great Stirrup Cay. There is nothing on the island until the cruise ship comes. We had to take small boats in to the island. The boys enjoyed playing on the huge water slide they had there. Steve and Christopher had a great time snorkeling. They saw a ton of fish and sting ray. That was Christopher's highlight of the trip.

We had a great time on the cruise!!

Florida Keys, Feb 2 - 5, 2011

We drove across the Big Cypress National Refuge. We saw tons of different birds and a bunch of alligators! It was so fun seeing them in their natural environment!

The Keys are incredible! It is so relaxed and beautiful here! Our hotel is right on the Gulf and has steps that lead down into the lagoon. The guys all took a dip in the water after checked in. I was having fun taking pictures of all the gorgeous scenery!

Christopher has begged to fish every time we see any water on our trip. Finally his dream came true! We went out on a fishing boat this morning and he was able to catch one big king fish and five or six small grunts. Riley caught two king fish and then the rocking of the boat took over and he turned a little green and had to sit out a while because of sea sickness! We had a lot of fun! It was hot! About 80 degrees. I loved just hanging out on the boat watching the boys fish! It is gorgeous here! We came back to the hotel and cooked the fish on the grill (hot dogs for Riley and I!!).

Naples, Florida, Jan 31- Feb 1, 2011

Beautiful! Great beaches! It is so nice here in Naples! We had fun going to the beach and hanging out downtown in the shopping district. I found some really fun shops!

There are waterways everywhere. I think everyone who lives here has a boat in their backyard!!

St. Pete and Tampa, Florida, January 24 - 29, 2011

We arrived at our hotel in St. Pete just before a HUGE storm let go. It poured rain, the lightening flashed, and the wind was blowing so hard that there were roofs that were blown off. There was even a tornado that touched down close to where we were. It was fun to see but a little scary!

We drove up the coast to Clearwater and visited all the little towns along the way. We stopped in Maderia Beach and had lunch on the bay and watched the dolphins play in the water. What fun!!

We decided to stay a few extra days in Tampa because they were having the Gasparilla parade on Saturday. They have an invasion in the morning where the pirates sail into the bay and take over the city and then in the afternoon they have a parade and the pirates throw beads to all the people along the parade route. It was a lot of fun but a little wild!! The parade was almost 2 hours long and we got TONS of beads!! What fun!!

Panama City Beach, Florida January 21 - 24, 2011

Wow!! Is it ever good to be back at the beach. We feel a sense of being home. It is a beautiful beach here. The sand is so white and fine and the beach is very wide. Our hotel was awesome. We played volleyball on the beach, we hung out playing pool and ping pong, we took walks on the beach, we sat on the balcony of our room and watched the beautiful sunset over the Gulf of Mexico. It was a great time! It is still cold but hopefully the cold won't last much longer. Christopher finally got to go fishing. He has wanted to fish everywhere we see water. He FINALLY caught a fish!! Yippy!! He had to throw it back and couldn't keep it but at least he caught one! When we went to church on Sunday, we got there and there was nobody there. What a strange feeling. The building was being remodeled and they moved the meetings to the stake center.