Angelica Grace Designs Blog

Friday, January 04, 2008

WE ARE HOME!

Yes, the "Griswald's" are home. :) We had a terrific time. We couldn't have asked for better weather (other than the last day when it hit the 50's as we were leaving) or had more fun. When it got chilly, Brent, myself, and our kids as well as Brad and Aubree hit the Dillard's sale in Bonita Springs at the Coconut Point mall. WOW! All of you know how much Brent and I love Dillards. Well, this Coconut Point mall is awesome to look at from afar as well as to shop at. It's an outdoor mall done with a Floridian flair. It is nothing short of gorgeous. I found shoes for $20 bucks, rockin' clothes for Brennen, and Brent had a ball shopping for himself too. It is really the only place that he will shop at because he swears he can't find anything he likes anywhere else other than Dillards. They just have a ton of things that are unique to their store that you can't find in other stores. I would kill to have a Dillards here in Indiana. We travel all the way to Louisville to do our shopping at the one there. It's the closest one to us. The 500 acre open air Coconut point mall now includes over 130 stores, shops, and restaurants combined with living and office spaces in an aesthetically pleasing community setting. Visitors stroll down Fashion Drive at their leisure taking advantage of the eclectic mix of offerings. From coffee shops and book stores, restaurants, boutique shops and mass merchandisers, there's something for everyone at the Coconut Point Mall. Throw in the monthly jazz concerts, art shows, and the Movieplex and it's easy to understand why the mall attracts families like crazy and has become a boon for the community. All in all, our whole vacation was such a blessing. I'm sitting amongst 4 suitcases that are packed full and need put away, Laundry up to my nose, and a ton of things on my to-do list now that we are back. Welcome home to reality, eh? Life must go on. Paradise and palm trees trick you into thinking that it will all be sunny and grand when real life returns. Not a chance! Ha ha! I'm already counting down the next 12 weeks until we leave for our Spring Break trip. I need a vacation from this vacation now. :) Either way, I promised photos so here they are. I only posted a few out of the 90 something that I took while there. Lucky for you! ABOVE: Kenidi on Christmas night. She wore this fancy little number to the "Dolce Vita" restaurant on Sanibel Island when we ate there for Christmas dinner that night. Needless to say, as she strolled her little self thru that restaurant, everyone in sight was making comment after comment and complimenting her attire every step of the way.Brennen & Kenidi - Christmas 2007
Above: Grandma "D" and Papa Ron with our kiddo's right before Brad and Aubree's wedding.
Below: Mommy & Brennen cheesing it at the Michael W. Smith concert BELOW: This is the living room view of our condo. It was a three bedroom that was just stunning on the inside. Papa Ron and Brennen are below showing off their arm wrestling skills and their strengths in the kitchen. Too funny!


This photo below would be of my husband (and son). This would be my husbands back on sun without "SUNSCREEN!" We warned him!
The wedding went wonderful! I mentioned how beautiful it was in my blog post a few days ago. Here are just a few of the photos to prove it.
ABOVE: Papa Ron (the minister who married Brad and Aubree) as well as my wonderful Mother in law, Debbie (Grandma "D").




ABOVE: Brennen with his uncle Brad

These next few were of all of us on New Years Eve. We went to dinner at the South Beach Grille on Ft. Myers Beach first and then headed south to Naples. They had a fantabulous fireworks show and huge party there for the evening. I've never seen so many people in one spot in all my life. We had a ball. Unfortunately, these photos didn't show up well because they were late at night around all of the lights. Either way, you get the drift.

ABOVE: With our Happy New Year hats and our 2008 glasses on - looking like goof balls but having fun!
ABOVE: The "Fam" in downtown Naples-New Years Eve
At one point in the night, all of the street lamps up and down the streets starting shooting out fake snow or sud bubbles so to speak. Brennen had a blast in them. It was a beautiful sight. The photos do not do the "fun" justice. We forget how much people love the look of snow beings that we are around it every winter. I guess we take it for granted.
ABOVE: Brennen being showered by the fake snow.
ABOVE: Brennen showing us the bubbles all over him.
And last but not least...my new "baby!" The photo below shows a Christmas gift from the Brentster. It's a new Nikon digital SLR camera. I had been wanting a digital SLR for a long time but the cost was hard to stomach on them. I waited and bought it while in Florida with a gift card Brent had given me. I wish I would've had this baby when the wedding took place and during the rest of our vacation but I didn't. What a bummer! Stay tuned...I am practicing with it and the two new lenses on anyone and everything. I can't wait to share all of my new photos with it. It has so many bells and whistles/features. I should have moved to this camera a long time ago.

I'll post again next week once I've unpacked and am back on track. Have a wonderful weekend! Blessings, Angie

5 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Great photos!
You will love your new camera. My brother Jim has one, and we teasingly call the shots he takes with it "art shots." They're almost always beautiful.

Have fun with it and welcome home,
e

1/05/2008 9:30 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi,

Just love the pics and your wonderful stories. You do such a good job of keeping us all up to date. Looks like everyone had a wonderful time. I have to agree, that Dillards is the best! Lucky for us we have 2 less that 10 miles from us.:-) As always, thanks for sharing!!

Beth

(Can't wait to see what you do with your new "toy". Looks like fun!)

1/05/2008 9:31 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Angie,

Thank you for sharing the pics of your vacation. I actually commented on some on your myspace. I am so glad that you had such great weather while you were there. Good thing the cold weather came in when you were leaving!!

Blessing to you and your family in 2008!
nina

1/05/2008 10:08 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

You all look so tan and rested... lovely! No wonder Kenedi was the hit of the room- she is ADORABLE!

1/05/2008 10:38 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hello! I have been reading your blog for quite some time now
and I just want to say how inspiring you are. I just love reading about you and your family! I am a stay-at-home mom of two little girls and I make and sell girls clothing I have a website.
I saw where you said that you have to go to Louisville to go shopping some times and we are about 45 minutes from there. We live in s
small town of only 800 but I grew up here and I love it! So when we go somewhere we have to go to Louisville. Well I just wanted to say keep up the wonderful work!
God Bless!
Jeannie

1/07/2008 8:45 AM  

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