Christmas Break and Ringing in a New Year!

Team Neck and Neck www.teamneckandneck.org
I've loved Chip & Dale since I was a kid and took trips to Disney's Fort Wilderness with my siblings & parents in our pop up camper :) It was so special to run this Marathon Relay with my sister Jules. Hoping Scott & Ash can join us for a Disney run one day too.

Julie's first Half Marathon, we ran the full Marathon as a relay team where she ran the 1st half and I ran the 2nd. We came in as the 17th female team out of 259 female teams :)- Go Shufflin' Sistas!

We stayed at Lake Buena Vista Resort (scored a REALLY good deal on Hotwire on this 2 bedroom condo, very nice!) Spent the day before the race at the outlets. A little role reversal going on with me & Jules. She bought out the mall and I didn't buy a THING!

We hadn't visited Grandmom & The Cagnis since we moved to FL 5 months ago, so we took advantage of the break to have a quick overnight trip to Clearwater. We had a wonderful time catching up and going to some of Grandmom's favorite eating spots (Frenchy's, E & E Stakeout)

My kids LOVE their cousins (I guess they are 2nd cousins to my kids because they are actually my first cousins!) I can't believe how old they are getting. Garrett just turned 21 and Heather will be 18 in a couple months. They are so sweet to take time out of their high school and college lives to hang with Toby & Arielle :)

For church Arielle is to take photos of her "choosing the right" with the green 'CTR' superhero. Here she is pictured 'CTR' as she visits with her Great Grandmom.

Arielle loving on Dali. It's so cute- Dali talks to her! When she comes to the stables she'll walk up to his stall and say hello and he winnies back when he hears her voice. He won't respond to me, only her! I've witnessed this a couple times and it melts my heart.

Here is Arielle 'choosing the right' again by working hard on her science project over the break (which is about horses, of course!)

The lazy days of Christmas break allowed Arielle and some friends from Robertson Ranch to take time to trailer their horses over to Wickham Park for a trail ride

Jim gave me a lovely Hydrangea plant for our anniversary. We also went to Olive Garden. I told him we need a night away later this year once we can fit it into our budget. 16 years- whoo-hoo!

Christmas Day- Fun foods- eggs in puff pastry, blueberry bread, fruit, sherbert punch, Tofurkey, mashed potatoes, salad,chips and onion dip, cheese and crackers, chocolate eclairs, pumpkin cheesecake. Yes- there were only 4 of us- haha! (see why I need to run?!)

Christmas morning! Xbox and soccer stuff for Tobes, Saddle for Arielle

Even Jim got PJs for Christmas Eve this year. The first PJs he's owned since he was a kid :)

Christmas Eve was spent in Legoland! We had bought some discount tickets back in November and planned to use them with the Sloans when they came to FL in Nov. Then came Toby's collarbone break! So we put off the trip and went just the 4 of us on Christmas Eve. Although the park is made for kids 6-12, we all still had a blast.

Dinner the night before Legoland at Giordano's. This is Jim's favorite deep dish pizza place. Everytime we go to Orlando he wants to go there. It is DELICIOUS, (however...the 40 minute pizza bake time makes me want to pull my hair out, esp. when waiting with kids...)

Arielle finds horses (or in this case a Lego donkey) to love everywhere she goes!

Jim, Toby & I were too big for this ride at Legoland, but Arielle had to ride the horse, of course.

Toby got really into the building zone at Legoland. Here he is making the biggest Lego tower possible.

Cypress Gardens is now part of Legoland, FL. Jim & I really enjoyed walking through the gorgeous gardens and reflecting back on going there as kids. This was also one of my Grandmom Lovelaces favorite places to go.

My kids are the bomb!

Simple gestures like this horse ornament that Kristen Shean sent me, made my holiday. It was sweet and thoughtful of her to choose and handpaint a 'Paint' horse for us. Arielle hung it on a prominent place on the tree.

I'm getting ready to start another semester of school and possibly an internship. I fear I may never cook again! haha. I am savoring the free time I've had the past couple months to try my hand at being domestic. When things turn out I have to take a picture. These are the Spinach Cheese Roll-Ups I brought to the Blumhauer's New Year's Eve party.

I really miss the snow and mountains, especially during the holidays. However, Christmas in Florida does have it's charm...

Christmas Day homemade blueberry bread and puff pastry cups for alfredo eggs. Yum.

Mom gave me this little bracelet in the fall and I wore it alot over the holidays to help me feel festive :)

Oh how I love Christmas Break! Sleepin' in, lazy days, time spent with kid without the scheduled madness. I was a little sad that we couldn't afford to go to Utah to be with my family, but we made the best of it and had a wonderful break regardless. We have so much to be thankful for as 2011 wraps up. Jim graduated CRNA school and he has a great job. My kids are healthy and Toby is recovering well from his collarbone surgery. We have wonderful parents and family that support us and we enjoy being with. We are learning to make new friends and adjust to life in Florida. We have the gospel of Jesus Christ in our lives to anchor us. May 2012 be a joyous year for you, my family and friends! xoxo- C

October & November 2011 Catch-Up

Thanksgiving car ride with Grandpa D
Getting a kick out of old Dieckman family photos

Dig in! Much to be thankful for.

Jim prepping the Tofurkey as Grandma D looks on

St. Pete Times Turkey Trot (Heather, me, JB)

Thankful for friends who have such cute collages I can steal (Rollerskate GNO- Melissa, Sara, me, Maria) bunch of other fun gals were there also, not pictured here

Always wanted to see what Jim would look like all decked out in the OR....but not under these circumstances :(

The break

Toby in his sweet koala bear hospital gown, made for a 6 yr old

Taken about a week before the break in his SHS soccer uniform, all jazzed for season

Dad, Mom, Arielle, Toby

Mummy Pizzas

Halloween FHE and pumpkin carving

Melbourne GNO at Jill's house :) I went as "Daniel-Son"
(Jill in back row all the way left, Maria in dalmation 80's get up, lol)

Clark Kent, Hermoine, Computer Head (friend Holly)

Arielle, Niko & Skyler at Mom/Daughter Camp Out (Church Ranch)

Girl's just wanna have fun!

(Maria, Melissa, Vanessa, me)

At mom/ daughter camp out

Well the family is at church and I'm home sick so I figured it's a perfect time to catch up on Oct & Nov.'s many adventures. Highlights (and lowlights): Mom/Daughter Camp Out, Halloween, Mom & Dad visit, Toby breaks his collar bone :(, Girls Night Out Roller Skating, Thanksgiving in Clearwater, and many days spent at the horse stable...

Melbourne ward has a fun tradition of mother/daughter campouts. This was a first for Arielle and I and we had a blast. Luckily it was cabin camping with full baths and only one night so it was easy for us first timers. We went with a group of friends and had a great time chatting around the campfire, making s'mores and the girls climbed trees and ran around until 2am!

Halloween was nice and warm. Toby was Clark Kent, Arielle was Hermione from Harry Potter and her friend Holly Carter was a computer head, lol. Holly came with our family to the Melbourne ward trunk or treat at Wickam Park. The kids enjoyed a hayride and we all enjoyed the potluck chili supper. That was a couple nights before Halloween, then on Halloween we walked around Martesia, which the kids were told is "the place" for treat or treating. One nice thing about Halloween in FL is that it is warm enough for Halloween to be like a block party! Lots of older couples were sitting out front, no need to ring bells, just float from house to house. Some homes went all out serving drinks and providing haunted houses. Jim & I walked Teddy and trailed Arielle and her friends as to not embarrass her (heaven forbid we should be SEEN by her friends- gag!)

November started off mellow enough. Arielle was going to the barn in Rockledge (30 min away) to visit Dali a few times a week and Toby was playing lots of soccer. HS practices had started he was wrapping up his u14 competitive season. Mom and Dad came to visit Veteran's day weekend. We enjoyed going out to dinner at Texas Roadhouse and River Rocks. They also met Dali, and met up with Uncle W and Aunt F in Viera at the Avenue shopping center where we all relaxed by the fountain and had a nice lunch. Then, their last day here they were watching Toby ROCK his soccer game, he'd scored 2 goals and their team was winning. He started to get guarded HARD. A little TOO HARD. BAM! He got sandwiched between a couple guys and fell onto his shoulder without the use of his arms. Looked kinda bad, but things tend to be physical in these games. When he stayed down a couple minutes I thought he was "flopping" . He got up and walked back to bench. Jim decided to go check on him. Next thing I know Jim is walking over to me quickly with Toby and asking me for the insurance card. NOT A GOOD SIGN. We end up in the emergency room where sure enough he's got a nasty break on his collarbone. They throw a sling on and send us home. It pays to have connections in the OR. Jim showed 3 orthopedic surgeons the x-ray and they all said- operate! This was a bummer since often collarbone breaks don't require surgery. But Toby got a plate and 4 screws and he's out the rest of the soccer season, not to mention missing almost 2 weeks of school and trying to catch up....Ugh.

Luckily he felt good enough to venture to Clearwater for Thanksgiving. We enjoyed a big spread by Chuck & Karen. They are such great cooks! Turkey, dressing, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, green beans, cheesecake, pumpkin pie and these wonderful little pearl onions in a creamy sheri sauce that I had never had before (they were my favorite!). Chuck & Karen don't like pics taken of them, but I was able to snap a couple. We had fun laughing at some old Dieckman family photos, and Chuck took the kids for a spin in his convertible. The morning of Thanksgiving Julie, Heather & I ran the St. Pete Times Turkey Trot 5k. We orginally planned to do the 10k but Julie was sick and we knocked it down to the 5k. It was a really fun and well organized race with a decent dry release race shirt. Our visit with everyone was too short since we only had about 24 hrs in Clearwater due to Jim's schedule!

I also had a blast with the Melbourne GNO group at our Roller Disco Party :D. Besides falling and getting some sweet bruises, it was a really fun night skating around and grooving to some 80's tunes.

Arielle and I have now moved Dali (the horse!) to a barn closer to us and we go out there everyday to turn him in from pasture and feed him. I love my barn time with Arielle. We listen to country music on the way there and I just relish in the peaceful, homey atmosphere of the barn. Jim...not so much. He loves to see Arielle ride but I think he is seriously SICK of hearing the word horse around our house!

We hope Toby will survive the winter without going stir crazy. He plans on dressing out and sitting the bench for a few games and he'll probably sit around the house and play way too many video games and I'm going to let him.

Time Flies When You're Doing Nothin'

Lovelace Lake Powell Trip 2011 (for more pics see my facebook)
Beach Run w/ the Girls: Vanessa, Melissa, Emily & Jaqueline

see the turtle?


Jimmage

Jumping Dali

Giving Prince TLC

Arielle & Shea playing in the rain

1st day of school (Arielle left before I could take hers)

Go Lightning! (in red & white)

Disney Wine & Dine Half

Airboatin' with gators

Harry Potter World at Universal (Butterbeer)

Well, Jim & I have been unemployed for about 2 months now. It has been a much welcomed break from grad school...however....it's time to go back to work! Jim starts his new job on Halloween. It will be nice to have a paycheck and we feel really blessed that he has a good job secured. I am on a break from school until January- par-tee! :D (or...uh...maybe that means I should be cooking nutritious meals, cleaning house, doing laundry etc? nah!)

So you know we can't just really sit around and do nothing for a couple months! Here's what we've been up to, 1st off:

Lovelace Lake Powell Trip! We have my parents to thank for a wonderful trip on gorgeous Lake Powell! They spoiled us with the trip for Jim's grad gift. As if they didn't already do enough..but who were we to decline their generous offer? ;-) Thank you Mom & Dad! Lake Powell could be a few posts all on it's own, but my blog pic uploader is a bugger- check out facebook for tons of great pics of this trip. 20 of us on a houseboat, swimming, surfing, wakeboarding, waverunning, tubing, grilling, playing in the sand, primping (gel nails), blackjack= priceless family time!

Arielle: has been finding a couple horses to love. She was heartbroken when we left her lease horse Playboy. She was able to work with a rescue horse for a month, and now she's onto a new love- Dali. He's a really good jumper and up for sale....we'll have to see about this...

Toby: has been playing all the soccer he can. He's now on the Satellite Beach Lightning Comps teams u14 & u16 and he's trying out for school soccer this week. SB has great soccer fields just 10 minutes from the house. Toby's also enjoying the kids from the ward, we have a great group of kids & leaders here!

Me: I just survived 8 weeks of two brutal grad school classes- glad that's over! No more big research papers til January when it will start up again. Aunt JB has come to visit again, this time for the Disney Wine & Dine Half (I registered for this expensive race back when I had a job! lol). We had such a blast! First, I took her gator hunting (hunting with a camera guys- no guns) on an airboat, then we headed to Orlando for the race. We came in 11th out of 400+ teams, yah...we're pretty humble about it...I have also been enjoying working out with Vanessa, Tina, Melissa & Emily. We have a great early morning run/sculpt group & we have a great social hour while getting fit.

Jim: has been surfing his butt off- literally. This boy looks good! Getting tan & toned :) Me likey...OK, enough about that...Jim & I ride our bikes almost daily either to the beach or to get a cheap burrito or slice of pizza. It's ton of fun and I'll really miss our lunch dates when he starts working again.

We had bought discounted Universal tickets before we moved here and last week when the kids had a day off school we surprised them and took 'em. Harry Potter world is very cool! We had a gooood time, even if it did rain on us.

Phew! And the blog is updated! Should have more time to keep up now that I have a break from school.