Florida Keys

This past Christmas, Ryan's parents blessed us with the gift of a family vacation. We knew they were planning this, but they kept us in suspense about the location until Christmas Day. They presented us each with a manilla envelope containing a brochure they created about the location: the beautiful Florida Keys! They rented a home on the water where we would stay for a week. Ryan and Dusty were also given scuba diving lessons so they could dive with their dad and other brothers while we were there.

The vacation was this past week, and it was absolutely wonderful. The home was even more beautiful than the pictures, and we had such a good time! Abram and Oliver did really well, and it was so good to just relax and enjoy our family. Following are some pictures documenting our trip:


Abram and Oliver watching the action during our layover in Atlanta. They both did awesome on the plane!



Pool time with daddy! Abe absolutely loved the water--he wanted to go swimming every single day, and he was much braver than last summer! We had the pool all to ourselves, which was especially nice with the little boys.



With mommy.



All by himself with water wings! He caught on really quickly, and it was fun to watch him. We could tell that he recognized that he was floating without being held by us, and when he lit up with a smile, it was so neat, like he knew he accomplished something! It's a little hard to describe, but it was special to see our son accomplish something like that, where he was initally afraid, but then did it, and was excited by what was done. Hopefully that makes sense :)



Watching daddy take a fish off the line.



The next pictures are of the beautiful scenery:




















This one would be a lot better if he wasn't wearing his P.J. pants, but I thought it was still a neat photo! As soon as he woke up in the morning and had his milk, he wanted to go outside!



This one is just because it's precious :)



The boys in the pool.



Abe and Ollie playing in the kayak.



Abram in the hammock. This hammock made for some wonderful reading/napping!



Sweet Ollie with his deep blue eyes.




Watching a street performer in downtown Key West.



Boats in the harbor at sunset.



Watching the sunset at Mallory Square.



Dusty, Erin, and Oliver.



Ryan holding me so I could see the sunset over all the people!



The little boys at dinner one evening.



Ryan and me at dinner, the Hogfish Grill; I had a hogfish sandwich; it was a delicious, incredibly mild fish. It's caught fresh three times a day using a spear, rather than a line or net.



The three of us before we left for the airport.





Abe in the Orlando airport. Our flight out of Key West was delayed, so we missed our connection in Orlando by 15 minutes. They couldn't get us on the last flight out that evening, so we ended up getting a few hotel rooms in Orlando Monday night.



Our sweet boy, still in his jammies on Tuesday morning, finally flying home.



It was a wonderful week. We enjoyed laughing and relaxing and spending quality time with our family, and of course, since we were in the Keys, eating lots of fresh key lime pie. The boys had some awesome scuba diving excursions (which I hope to get pictures of later), and we all came home with a sun-kissed glow. Mom and Dad, thank you so much for your love and generosity. We love you!