De-Planes, De-Planes! (March 2022)

Towards the end of March was the huge MacDill Air Show, where the base puts on a huge two-day event with its many planes and opens it up to the public.  There were fighter jets, older planes, and even the Blue Angels!

We didn't want to fight the massive crowds at the airfields and instead decided to enjoy the show from our very own backyard (where we could see about 70% of the show).  Well done, MacDill!  You did us proud.

Another fun surprise was that our good friends from Kentucky happened to be in town for their spring break, and we got to hang out with them for an evening.  It was like we'd never been apart.  Love these friends that become family.

Another great visitor we had at the end of March actually was family - my cute niece, Ella.  She came to town for a few days to soak in some sun and hang with her cousins.  Lise and Ella went to the beach and we also visited Ella at Lise's work and got acai bowls.  

The girls also had a lot of fun just chilling (giggling), making homemade pizzas, watching movies, etc.  Love the cousin time!

On the day Ella was supposed to leave, we had a massive severe thunderstorm rolling through, canceling Ella's flight.  Which means. . . she got to stay with us for a couple extra days!  Whoo-hoo!  We loved having another girl to hang with our crew.

And finally, after much debating and a pros and cons list, Lise made her decision to attend BYU in the fall!  Woot, woot!  Super excited for you, Lise, and all the wonderful experiences and adventures that await you!

Spring Break! (March 2022)

One of the things on my Florida bucket list was to see the Everglades and the Keys.  Spring Break seemed like the perfect time (before things got too hot!)  Do I hear road trip??

The first stop was the Everglades (we hit the Gulf side) with an airboat tour through the mangroves.  It was really pretty, and we saw a few alligators as well (and an albino raccoon!)

Even though it was March, it was still in the 80s, so we grabbed some ice cream to cool us off.

Next, it was on to the keys!  The drive down was beautiful.  We stayed in a nice hotel in Marathon that was right on the water with a delicious restaurant.  Just what we needed after our long drive.

We found a fun beach to play at.  The beach itself was pretty rocky, but the coral reef was fun to swim to and climb on.  Plus, there were a ton of fish swimming around to look at too.

Of course, we made sure to hit Key West.  You could basically walk everywhere, so we did some souvenir shopping, while also giving ourselves a walking tour of the island.  We hit the famous "Key West Key Lime Shoppe," where you could get key lime pie dipped in chocolate on a stick!

There were tons of animals everywhere, from chickens and roosters to iguanas in trees.   

We strolled past Hemingway's home, a lighthouse, and some amazing trees.

We even found the beginning of Highway 1 and made it all the way down to the Southernmost Point of the Continental USA.

On another day we scheduled a sailing snorkel cruise.  It was great!  We saw dolphins and tons of fish, an eel, and even a baby shark while snorkeling.  A lot of other people on our boat got seasick, but our crew did alright.  The thing I liked about this trip was that there were things to do but we weren't rushed.  There was good food and it felt great to be outside in the sunshine.  It was a great getaway.  Another successful Spring Break is in the books!

New Friends, Old Friends (March 2022)

By March, the girls were starting to feel more comfortable with the youth in our South Tampa ward and starting to make new friends.  Lise and Kate nailed it by belting out "sweatshirt" at the youth karaoke night.  The YW also finished their photo mosaic picture of Christ, which turned out amazing. 

Lise was still working a ton to save for college while finishing her last semester of high school and dual enrollment classes.

Kate was making it work with the service hour requirements for the IB program and slugging through the insane amount of homework.  She wasn't loving it, but she was getting the hang of it, and her grades were improving.  

Kylie had found her peeps and enjoyed having them over for a movie night every now and again. 

I had moved on to my next semester of school and was fitting in the work wherever possible . . . like while waiting for repairs at the car dealership!

Chris and I got to go out for our Valentine's date to a high-end steak restaurant.  Delicious!  Chris also had to do a little traveling to the middle east at this time, so it was nice to sneak in time for the two of us when we had the chance.

While Chris was gone, the girls and I took the opportunity to take our belated trip up to Niceville for a weekend.  It was tons of fun with a classic pool party, ladies' night dinner, and seeing everybody at church.  Lise and her crew hit the beach, Olive Garden, and shopping.  We didn't get much sleep, but getting to see everybody again was fuel for our souls.

Oh, and of course, we had to do a creepy drive-by of our old house!

After it was over we crashed - tired and happy.