A warm holiday vacation!

Christmas morning was so fun! It was our first Christmas together as a family of eight! As siblings, we had each drawn names and given one special gift to one of our siblings. I think it was the most special sibling exchange we have ever had...

Our youngest sister was SO excited to give a gift to a sibling! It was her first time to buy a gift for someone else! She & mom had gone on a special shopping trip and she had thoughtfully picked out a gift. On Christmas morning, it was the first gift to be opened - oh, how sweet it was to watch her joy to give!!

 The came our younger brother's turn to give his gift! It is so fun to watch him grow up. :)

Christmas was full of great memories...








On the twenty-sixth, we headed south to Florida! Our sweet Great-Aunt has a condo on the gulf and she graciously invited us to stay there while she was in Indiana for Christmas!

It was our little sister's first time to go to the beach! She loved it...

This cool & creative guy built a bridge to his sand castle. :)

The water at the beach was a bit chilly, so we spent more time enjoying the sunrays by the heated pool!

We did so much reading on this trip! It was great & wonderfully refreshing!

Oh, so wonderful to have our favorite law student home for Christmas break & all be together!!

One day, we visited an Orange Juice factory called "Sun Harvest." They had ice cream which was such a fun treat for us!

At the end of our time in Florida, we went to Sanibel island for part of a day...

Our only rainy day brought a beautiful rainbow!

A highlight of our time in Florida was a mother/daughter date at starbucks, disguised as our favorite names! We chatted about life, new year's hopes, and treasure memories. I am so thankful for the women in my family. :)

Looking forward to a new year of God's grace ~