When we get to Florida Cait, we get to take our coat off...

The warm sun on my face, the feel of the sand beneath my toes, the smell of the ocean...Cait's hand always ready to grab mine. The illusion of Florida in January is that it is warm...warm by Michigan standards, but not by mine. I actually packed shorts, sundresses...we used sweaters, jeans and long sleeve shirts. The water that touched most of us was found in the hot tub...Cam who has the least amount of body fat loved the ocean.

We live a good life one that is filled with work conferences in sunny places at resorts that cater to children. Cam and Cait were able to go on this one with us and they had a blast getting to play at the kids camp in the morning while we were in meetings and exploring the resort at night with Nikki their babysitter. The Breakers in West Palm Beach is a gorgeous place that knows how to take care of a family.

Cait has turned into my little model...and I love her spunk! I love her ability to throw her hair back and smile at the camera, to get lost in her eyes. She brings new life to my brown-eyed girl.

Double JJ...55 in January, what???

Well we started our journey on December 31st to Rothbury, MI...home of Double JJ. The morning started out at the lake house where we had hoped to get some sledding in but this warm weather melted all the snow. Who would have though Michigan would have 50 degree weather in December...maybe global warming is finally kicking in :-)

So having a family vacation up north where there is no snow...and you plan to go snow tubing and dog sled racing....hmmm problem! Well at least they have an indoor waterpark.

This has become a family tradition and we had a blast snow tubing on the one remaining lane that had snow which turned to mud. To be honest i love snow tubing at 50 degrees it reminded me of skiing in Chicago when it was 60...all the beauty of the snow with warm fingers.

New lens for Christmas from Tony created some of the best firework pictures that I have ever taken...we spent two days resting, playing in the waterpark, and enjoying all the fun the Double JJ brings.

Christmas and New Years Eve

Huge delay in getting my latest blog post out as our internet has been offline since the beginning of January...kind of feel lost with all of these pictures and nothing to do with them. Thankfully I am at a wifi spot :-)

Christmas went by fast as usual but this year brought some amazing moments. We tried to do a lot of good deeds this year, giving things to homeless people like blankets and gloves, dropping medications off to the local women's shelter...trying to do little things that mean a lot to people but also show my children that there are things out there that are more important than the presents they open. Lots of questions arose some which were amazing, others that made me laugh uncontrollably...mostly just made me stop and think that we were making a difference.

Random acts of kindness....that is the goal for 2011. This is a hard concept for my children to understand but hopefully they are present for some of my random acts which can only bring smiles and warm hearts. To think of me second and put everyone else first...

Highlights of the season included many visits with family and friends, learning how to make cannolis from Grandma Tina (only took me 20 years...but I got it), Cait getting her own TV and a new American Girl doll, Cam getting a bow and arrow that he loves to shoot even though it is zero degrees out, and our annual trip to Double JJ...great ending to 2010.

Surgery Day for this little one

Here we go again surgery #4, and somehow we are all taking it with stride.  Cait's ears continue to be a challenge but my little one rolls with what comes her way.  Hopefully today we start again another 2 year journey and that her eardrums mature a little bit more and her hearing continues to improve.  Her strength and good mood fuels the both of us to persevere and know that one day this will all be done :-)

  The worst part of the surgery is the oxygen mask...she hates it mainly that they flavor it thinking that the kids will like it better but in Cait"s case her first surgery the mask was flavored with watermelon and to this day we do not eat watermelon.