Weekend with the Brenchley Clan.

We spent some time with my family this weekend. Jason starts school tomorrow so it was kinda like his last big weekend. We attended an orientation at his school Friday morning and I was super impressed with the school. We got tours and met the professors. It was quite the day and they kept reminding everyone that it was going to be an intense 27 months. Thank goodness we live so close to the school so we at least get to see him on his lunch break. One of the highlights of that day for me was when he got fitted for his white coat. It really hit me that this was all happening. Saturday we went to Siesta Key Beach...and it was a beautiful day. This beach was voted second as the best beach in the country. We were so glad we got to go. It was great to spend time with family. We even got to spend time with my Granddad, he came up and had lunch with us.
Jack spent equal time with everyone and we all enjoyed seeing him enjoy the sand and the waves. When we were leaving Jack said "bye beach, I'll be back." He has turned into quite the beach baby.

Jack loves dad's Mercedes and calls it Pepi's cool car. Of course he had to sit in it and drive. Then he requested the presence of Pepi and then Kate. It was hard to get him out of that car, even though we knew he was super hot. That boy loves cars.

Kate took Jack to Sea World with some friends while Jason and I were at orientation. Look at the way Jack looks at her.

Tomorrow is Jason's big first day. I guess all I can say is here we go....Good Luck Jason!

Oh and a shout out to Papa Seth! Happy Birthday! We love and miss you!

Pool Day.

We got a break from the rain this morning so we took advantage and headed to our pool for the first time. Here are the boys headed to the pool. Thank goodness for a nice day but I am betting around three this afternoon we get another thunderstorm. I need to get my plants in my pots....this rain would be wonderful for them...all in good time, all in good time.

Grandma Pat your package came today and Jack loves his new movies. (He is enjoying the jungle book in this picture!) Thank you that was so sweet of you!

update: The storm rolled in around 4:15. not three like I suggested.

Our Work In Progress

This weekend our apartment got quite the face lift. We finally got to the painting! We have been waiting for a long time to paint walls again. The colors are quite bold...but we love them...we are a fan of color. At first I thought there were a little too bold but we are in Florida and the Cuban influence is everywhere. Mind you there is still a lot to come such as curtains, I have my fabric to make pillows and such that will tie the colors together but here is the progress we have made so far.
Dad, Kate and Mom came to help today and the Men did a great job finishing the painting. We occupied Jack by playing with cars and we took him to the mall to get out of the apartment and for mom to hit the sales. I think Jason really loved the assistance from my dad. I tried to help but I am still feeling under the weather and I am not the spring chicken that I once was.

Mom entertaining Jack. He brought out all his cars and wanted his "road" quilt put on our bed so he could drive. The view from our bedroom.

The view from the kitchen, by the front door. The blue looks different in person than in the pictures it is not as light.

A sneak peak of Jack's room. Dad and Jason stayed home while we went shopping and painted the road in Jack's room. Dad made some great car stencils that we are adding tomorrow. Pictures of the final product to come!

Today it felt like my childhood again... home improvement projects on holidays with my dad. I am still getting used to seeing my mom, dad and Kate so often. We are also still getting used to thunderstorms. I think I have seen more lightning and heard more thunder this week than I have in my entire life! In fact Jack said yesterday when a huge thunder clap occurred "thunder again?" It is quite the new experience for us all.

Update.

This is what we have been up to today.....it has been raining, or I should say pouring all day so we have been munching on Jason's fresh guacamole. Jack sat on that stool for like an hour just munching away. Watching the rain...to bad there are no plants in the pots yet they would enjoy all this rain. Jason has been a cleaning fool...and I have been a sick fool. Allergies and bad Sinus junk...I have been pretty out of it. Yes so there is the Balls update for now. I am trying to muster up some energy to paint this place so we can hang stuff on the walls, but on the unpacking front most of the boxes are gone. Yippee!

Our new Temple.

This morning before the Balls left on their flight we went and saw the Orlando temple. Since we now live here this officially is our new temple. It was a beautiful day and fun to walk around the temple grounds.

Seth was trying to catch a little lizard...they are everywhere here and he had...

Success! I absolutely love this picture.

Once again Jason with the squinting face...we had to get a picture like lovebirds in front of the temple because that is where all of this eternity stuff with this man began,in the Temple.

Animal Kingdom

We went to Animal Kindgom today with my parents and sister and the Balls family. This is a picture from lunch. It is one of my favorite moments of today. I sat at the end of the table and looked down at all the people who were surrounding it....and my heart was full. It was great to see what a great support system Jason, Jackson and I have through our parents and family. Jack is very lucky to have two sets of grandparents that love him to pieces and some wonderful aunts who love him and take such good care of him. I just had one of those moments where I was so thankful that I could be there with them all, alive, healthy and enjoying a meal together like any other family. It was a great moment. I really just wanted to include that picture but we had a great day at Animal kingdom and Jack got over his fear of characters and really warmed up to them so I got some great pictures of those to share.

Jack has kept saying that Donald Duck is scary since our trip to Magic Kingdom where we watched a show were he was crazy. I guess that really made an impression on him so whenever he would mention Donald Duck he would say he is scary....to help him realize that he was not scary but funny,cuddly and cute we took our picture with him. This was our first attempt with characters after our Easter Bunny incident. He was hesitant and clung to Ranell even switching sides halfway through to be a little further away. But by the end he was at ease with all the other characters we saw.




after we left the park we had to take Seth, Pat and Ranell to Steak n' Shake. It was some good eating and Jack played more with his paper car that came with his meal and his hat than eating.

Connected Once Again.

I have internet again...and I am now again connected...it was a long four days without access to the internet. It has been a busy week. We finally got into the apartment Monday afternoon it was a long struggle with the management but in the end it all worked out. It was a stressful day and I did not take any pictures of the moving in process. Jason, Seth, My dad, Kate and her friend Alexia all helped move us in. They had that truck unloaded in an hour and a half....without a ramp (because the moving people forgot to put one on the truck) Washer, Dryer and all. They were amazing. We took a break from all the stress and moving by experiencing all that Florida has to offer. We have been to the Magic Kingdom, Kennedy Space Center, Cocoa Beach and Epcot. Today Ranell, Jason and Jack are headed to the beach and Pat and Seth are headed up to his mission area. I am sick sick sick of the car and decided to stay home and unpack and such.
We have enjoyed exploring our new city and have gotten lost numerous times. Thank goodness for our GPS...it is hard to know what direction you are going when there are no mountains. We have already experienced some great rain storms with thunder and lightning and big fat rain. We have a pond in front of our complex and the bullfrogs go crazy at night after a good storm. It is already super warm with a lot of humidty but the pool had been great at easing our pain. The apartment is still a work in progress with boxes everywhere so for now here is a picture of Jack and Jason on our balcony. I am still in shock that we are finally here and they long trek from Utah is behind us. Each day as we unpack more things it feels more and more like home and that is a good feeling to have.

Mothers Day

Gotta love Mothers Day. My mom got a new toy for the kitchen can you tell she is excited? We had a great brunch before church and opened gifts. She was so excited with her gifts from her children. While we were with Meredith and Jake they found a puppet that was a frog that turned into a prince. We brought it with us for them and she opened it and just gasped. Two things my mother is....amoung the many things of course...is a great cook and a great teacher.

It was off to church and my dad made my mom and I some beautiful corsages. Mine was in honor of Jack today before he gets here.....(he is in the air as I type this!) It was a great meeting and it was great to be with my amazing mother.

Gotta love the family picture. Jason is always squinting in the sun, I am thinking this is how most pictures will be from now on of him. Happy Mothers Day out there to ALL the women. We are off to go pick up the one who calls me "mama", oh how it will be good to be with him again.

A Blueberry Saturday.

Today we had a great adventure. We went to Plant City, Florida and picked blueberries at a blueberry festival. Last time I was here in Florida visitng I fell in love with blueberries. They were so very wonderful I ate them every morning. When I got home to Utah not only did I pay a leg and an arm for them they also didn't taste the same. My dad casually mentioned the festival last night as we were deciding what to do today. We had planned to paint and such at the apartment but we cannot get in until Monday. So this morning we headed to the festival.

We had a great time picking the berries. My mom was going crazy eating two and putting one in her bucket. She kept saying that the blueberries were "natures candy" and "oh there is a big one, come to mama!" It was fun watching everyone pick the berries and everyone was on search for the biggest ones. After we had our bucket full we had blueberry lemonade and a bluberry funnel cake. It was awesome. We came home with enough blueberries to last us a while.

It got pretty warm there at the end, we were all feeling it and spoke with excitement of mom and dad's pool that awaited us at home.

Our bounty...so great. (please excuse the huge sunglasses, I am in the process of getting prescription sunglasses until now I had to find big enough ones to cover my glasses.)

Sooo very good. I could eat them by the handful.

We ended up with close to ten pounds! That is some great teamwork!

On the way home we stopped at a fresh fruit and vegtable stand. I had to have documentation, t because this what I truly picture when I think of Florida. Fresh Produce!

So Monday we hope is the day we get into the apartment. There have been some hiccups on getting into the apartment. Thursday when we went down there to sign the lease and everything things were not all done like they had told us when we left Utah. Luckily we were there when all our stuff showed up at the complex and we got it delayed till Monday. It has been a crazy couple of days. We are so glad that we are able to stay with my parents, so we are not totally homeless. We are looking forward to tomorrow when Jack, Seth, Pat and Ranell fly in. It will be a great mother's day.