Mallard Nest: Escape from the snow

Hope and I left a snow covered Missouri in February to head to sunny Florida.

Our welcome committee!
An "10" foot gator!
(Ok, there is a dispute between my mom and me about how big the gator was. She says 8 and I say 10!)

We took a detour from the airport to Blue Springs to catch a glimpse of manatees in the wild.

We were blessed to see 3 sea cows grazing in the springs. There is one behind Hope in this pic, but it is hard to see.

We were so thankful to be able to enjoy Christa's bridal shower and Jessica's baby shower in one weekend! What joy for all of us girls to be together to celebrate life and love! I so wanted Charlie to be there with us, but he was busy with the first couple weeks of training brand new soldiers to the military.

Two peas in a pod! Hope is a mini Christa!

Fun at the park!

Stealthily Fishing...

for minos!

Jumping for joy

We visited Fort Matanzas,

On Top of the World

Sneaked a Peek of some baby owls

Hope and I escaped to the beach to watch the space shuttle launch.

While on the beach, Hope spotted a star fish that was left by the tide. It was still alive and we were able to put it back in the ocean.

Charlie drove the 17 hour drive to join us when he got a break at work. He was so ready to see us that he left as soon as he got off work to drive through the night. He would get so tired that he'd just stop on the side of the interstate. Twice he was woken up by a cop asking him what he was doing and encouraging him to head to the next exit. What a story! I am so thankful for God's protection!

Hanging with Cousins

Charlie and I took the kids to the lake to enjoy the sunset. They enjoyed posing on the dock and playing tag football.

Sea World

I am so thankful for Sea World's support of the military. We enjoyed a full day there with Charlie's family! Rides + shows + food=great family fun!

Charlie, John and Cliff

John, Hope and Kat

Christian and the rest of the kids enjoyed the water park and playground for hours.

Nothing like ending the day with the Shamu show!

We are blessed with so many great friends! We are thankful for the time we were able to spend with some of them. Charlie had a golf day with some high school friends and then the families got together for dinner. So cute to see second generations getting to know each other!

The main event! Christa and Robert's Wedding!!!! Our family keeps growing! I was so happy that we were able to be there the weeks leading up to their wedding to help and be a part of the planning! Christa did an amazing job with the help of her wedding coordinator and great family friend, Dianna.

Hope enjoyed playing with the ring barer.

The wedding party and family the day before the wedding.

They were married at Princess Place Preserve in Palm Coast, Florida. A beautiful nature retreat! We absolutely love being there and Charlie was honored to be the one to marry them.

I told Christa I could do her cakes if she wanted me to. I thought it would help with some of the cost. Please don't tell her, but I was really nervous about how they would turn out! I had decorated about four cakes in my life, but never a wedding cake!

When they were looking for locations for the wedding, Robert had vetoed one of the parks thinking that they might have raccoons show up as wedding guest. So I added one to his groom's cake. PS. Those rocks are real chocolate!

Christa had a vision for cupcakes and a cake topper. We ordered the cupcakes from a craigslist add of a lady starting out her baking business. She did a great job. I decorated the cake topper with fondant! I couldn't have done the cakes without Mom and Aunt Donna's help. They baked the cakes while I worked on the decorations!