Whew, back to the grind, a five day work week - first one I've worked in several weeks! I've been working on this post for a couple of days, and just haven't had the time to get everything in here... And I have to get all the pics in here, for certain... that's the bloggity-blog feedback I heard from sis Annie, who vacationed with us in sunny Florida. She informed me that she would read my blog more often if I had more PICTURES, like our brother, Rob, does! Well, Annie, here it is, complete with a few pictures of you, so hope you enjoy!

We're home from spending four days in Florida, and brrrrr, with this freezing 2 degree weather here, we're ready to go back! Unfortunately, the weather in Florida was cooler than normal, but not near as cold as it was here in MO. The temps were in the 50s for most of our visit, and here's one of the main reasons why we were in beautiful, sunny Destin:

Dave, Neil and my BIL Matt had a great time fishing, even with the cold weather. What kind of fish is this, you ask? I'm not sure... apparently they caught some sheepshead, red fish, speckled trout, and also some bait fish (little guys that are then used to catch the BIG guys!) And Ann and I had to go to the harbor midday Saturday to meet them with some bait (a bag of sand fleas -blech!!) that they forgot in the freezer at the condo.

In addition to the fishing, there was a little of this:

I said a "little" of this, because you will notice that only one of us was in the water; it isn't surprising that an 11-year-old had no qualms when it came to the cold water, while the rest of us sensible (and boring) grownups only got wet up to our ankles! These were taken on our first full day there, when the weather was sunny and mid to upper 60s. Jace met some other kids from Indiana and had a great time in the surf.

We made it to the beach all three days we were there, and although it was too chilly to swim, it was still beautiful!

We had a quiet New Year's Eve; we all went to eat at a local restaurant, and then the five of us ended the evening at home, while Ann and Matt stayed and listened to a band and rang in the New Year. We enjoyed the rest of our meals in the condo, which was beautiful and roomy, with our own private hot tub on the roof.

It was a great time, and I was so glad that Paige and Neil could both go with us, despite their busy schedules. We will only have Paige at home for another couple of weeks and then she starts her second semester at Jewell. It was wonderful to have Ann and Matt join us; I thought it would be fairly close for them, but it was still an 8 hour drive from Charlotte NC, but I think they were glad they made the trip too.

Jace (not surprisingly) said the ocean was the best part of the trip, and he can't wait until we go again. Hopefully we will go again this summer, when it is much warmer!