Jason & Clarissa: Florida for the New Year

So, when I said details on our trip to Disney were coming soon, you knew that meant in about a month right? When it seems I have all the time in the world, suddenly it's a month later and I have not been able to share the experiences we've had on our adventures. Just remember for next time soon=a month or so...oops.

Well, our time here in north Carolina has been nothing short of a grand adventure. We've really enjoyed every minute of being here. We've been able to meet amazing people, have great experiences, learn tons of history, and have been so grateful for all that we have been blessed with. Sometimes it may even make us sad for when our time here is up. Don't worry though Utah friends, we still miss you all the time!

So let's get down to business.... Our weekend trip to Disney world was so much fun! Memories we will always have of first roller coasters (for Jason), being able to be a part of special events in our friends' lives, feeling a little red neck (if that is what you would consider going to an alligator farm), meeting family for the first time, and creating memories that will always be with us. It was our best adventure yet!

First off, Disney world. Jason decided as one of his birthday presents, we would go to the Animal Kingdom at Disney world. We were already headed down that way to visit Jason's brother, and so we thought why not. Who knows when we'll get this opportunity again, so off we drove to Orlando Florida. Animal kingdom was awesome! We saw cool animals, saw amazing live shows, went on fun rides, got wet, and loved the 80 degree weather in December! There might have been a few laughs, a scary moment with crying for Carter, and one exhausted family afterwards. When we first made it to our hotel, we put sleeping Carter to bed without changing him into pjs and had a quick sip of sparkling cider before midnight. It was a great day!

The parking lot.

Riding out of the parking lot to Animal Kingdom

Carter would have been happy riding all day

We got to ANIMAL KINGDOM!!!

Carter and I on the safari

At the kids zone, having adventures.

Dinoland riding the rides :)

This man made mountain was a hot spot for pictures

The Tree of Life.

Pre-Midnight toast... yes I had just woken up.

The next day, we got to start off our new year with seeing old friends, and being a part of a very special day. Our little friend was baptized a member of the church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints. Not only that, but I sat next to Abe Mills from Jericho Road! Ahh it was amazing (the baptism was too of course ;) lol). In all seriousness, we were so happy to be a part of such a special event. The best part too, was that we got to spend the next couple of days with an awesome family. We loved it, and Carter was so sad to say goodbye to his friends when the time came. The mention of going to see alligators might have helped him leave with out too much of a fight.

Go glad we could be a part of her special day!

He was so sad to say goodbye to his friends

The alligator farm was our next stop, and I must say I never thought places like that existed. In st. Augustine Florida, there is a fascination with alligators and in fact a farm with hundreds of them. They don't do much, so watching them move was an exciting event. We were even there for feeding time, and boy was that an experience lol. We got to see many other animals as well, but we left with a little boy that was happy he got to see his gators ha ha.

Alligator Farm fun.

Carter thought this gator was real.

He had to see everything. Even the little fishies.

My little alligator wrestler. He had the time of his life at the Alligator park.

At the Alligator Farm. Not a good pic, but there are 350 alligators getting ready to eat.

After the alligator farm, we made our way north and visited Jason's brother in Jacksonville. It was the first time for me to meet any of Jason's immediate family members and only the 2nd time Jason had ever seen his brother. We had a wonderful night of a delicious dinner, lots of talking, and plans to meet up again soon. Carter even made a friend and cried when we had to leave. I cannot tell you how thankful I am that we were able to make that trip. It was so good to meet Scott and his family! We were major failures for not getting a picture!

We stayed in Georgia that night and drove back to our north Carolina home the next day. We really wanted to visit some historical places and visited Fort Pulaski. It was really neat, and Carter enjoyed stretching his legs and walking around "the castle". As we walked around the outside however, we met some not so nice bugs and ended up racing to our car. I never thought I'd say we got eaten by mosquitoes in the middle of winter, but we did. It made for a not so comfortable ride home, but we still had smiles on our faces.

Since that trip, we've seen north Carolina in the state of emergency over 8 inches of snow, had church cancelled for the second time we can ever remember in our married life, have been to a few dozen story times, a few new museums, and can't get enough of our 70 degree winter days. I have had moments when I can't breathe because I miss our baby girl so much, but I think this trip out here has been exactly what we needed at this time. We've been able to heal if only a tiny bit, but it has been good. Our next big trip will be in a week and a half. We will be making a trip back to Utah for my little sister's wedding, and we are getting pretty excited about seeing our awesome friends! Until the next time I finally have a few minutes to relax :) happy reading.