Christmas Time

Here is my attempt to decorate our house for the Christmas Season...

Oh Christmas tree...so glad that its December and we actually have something in the dinning room since we lack a table...

Mini-Murdock...(special thanks to Debra and Robbie!)




Christmas dinner/family photo day...

We have already had three Christmas dinners and it is only December 16!!! I have to say I feel so blessed to have such a great family. I'm am especially blessed to feel so close to my husband's family, not only his mom and dad but his siblings, cousins, and grandparents...how did I get so lucky??? Merry Christmas!

The Girls Vacation

Every year Silas takes a hunting trip to Kentucky and usually his dad and brothers go with him. This is their tradition and what they do for thanksgiving. The girls in the family decided to make our own tradition and this is the second year we have taken a trip while they are gone.

Kathy (my mother-in-law), Shama and Cora (sisters-in-law), Gavin (nephew) and Kimber ("aunt") all went to Captiva Island. We stayed at the Southseas Resort. It was so fun and relaxing. We had a condo right on the ocean. We went shopping, laid on the beach and ate...ALOT!

Before going to Captiva, Kathy, Shama, Gavin and I went to Orlando, just to pass some time before everyone else could meet us, and since it is our men who are gone hunting...

We didn't visit any parks while we were there, but we did visit all the outlet malls :) We visited some of the Disney resorts. We ate dinner at the Wilderness Resort. That was really fun, it would be especially great if you have kids, its very loud and entertaining...

Gavin's first trip to Disney!! (well...he got the button but we didn't really go to the park)


We ate in downtown Disney at the Rainforest Cafe. We walked around that night, it was freezing and I definitely did not pack a heavy enough coat, but we got some hot chocolate and explored Lego land before leaving. This is a Lego Santa built out of the tiny Lego's!

Here we are outside of Disney on our way to the Wilderness Lodge. If I could ever afford to stay there I would, but I don't see that being in the near future. It was amazing. Somehow you know you are at Disney but feel like you are staying in the middle of the woods in a beautiful cabin. The restaurant was Disney inspired for sure. The whole dinner was a big production. As soon as you walk in you are involved with the whole dinning room. The waiter had us yelling "yeehaw" and our neighboring table judged if it was good enough or not...at several points throughout the meal all the kids were invited to ride wooden ponies around the restaurant, and if you wanted ketchup it was announced to the whole place and you received every bottle of ketchup that was available. We also had to stop eating a couple times to stand up and dance...Then it was on to Captiva.

This was the third time I have visited Captiva. It is a small island and doesn't have much to do besides the beach, shopping, and eating. It was perfect for us girls just to relax for the weekend. They are famous for their gorgeous sunsets. The white beaches and blue water are relaxing, unless getting attack by the sea gulls...

The birds at this resort are not at all scared of people. We all decided since the weather was so nice we would take our lunch to the beach to eat. We all sat down on the lounge chairs and I happen to put my plate on my stomach. All of a sudden a bird swoops down and grabs some chips off my plate! This startled me and I jumped up and tried to run under the umbrella. Shama jumped up to shoo them away and Cora followed me. Well, by now there are probably 15 birds looking for our lunch and we have attracted the attention of the whole beach. Shama shooing them did not scare them, I think it motivated them and another one swooped down and took half of my sandwich from my plate that I was holding under them umbrella!! This ruined my lunch and I have a new hatred for these birds...I wish we had a video of this because judging from the reaction of the people observing us...we could have won some serious money from America's Funniest Home Video....

Shuttle Launch

As long as I have lived in Florida I can not remember ever going to watch a shuttle launch. While Silas was in Kentucky this year this is one of the things I did to keep myself busy.

Lift off...

My shuttle watchin' buddy...