Christmas 2012!

We just got back from Florida where we spent five nights with our family. It was a great trip- Toby got to come too! I took lots of pictures of our journey... 

First stop: Gainesville. Brian dropped me off at Natalie's house on Friday night where I spent the night. My mom had been there for a week doing wedding stuff with Nat. Her house was so festive for Christmas! 

Next stop: Orlando/Winter Park. My mom, Natalie and I headed to Orlando for a little shopping, and then to Winter Park to see Natalie's wedding dress! She ordered it several months ago, but I hadn't seen it in person. It just recently arrived at the shop, so we all got to see her try it on! It is GORGEOUS! She looks so beautiful in it. This is the shop where I got my dress four years ago. She even had the same consultant as I did for her fitting!  

We stopped for coffee afterwards to relax and look at pictures of the dress. :) This was my favorite part of the day.

Brian and his parents met us in Winter Park and we had a really great dinner downtown. Then we headed home to Leesburg... the "land of the watches" as I now call it. Brian's grandfather owned a jewelry shop in Leesburg where he also repaired and restored watches and clocks. There are tons and tons of watches in this house, and Brian LOVES looking at them and studying about them.. as you can see.  

Lloyd gave me this antique watch.. I just need to find a band. It's a men's watch, but it's way too small for Brian. 

Next stop: Renningers Antique Market/Flea Market in Mt. Dora. This was such a fun day! I found a few treasures here. :)

That night, Evan arrived from Asheville! Toby was excited to see him.

Christmas break falls at the very end of my marathon training which meant that I had to fit in a long run on our trip. Lloyd and Susan drove us to the Withlacoochee State Trail where I ran 14 miles and they biked. It was nice and flat- perfect for running! 

The next day was Christmas! Toby loved unwrapping his gifts! It was a fun morning! 

Lloyd's reaction when he saw the scent of the candle we gave him is "2x4." You know... to help him remember his shop when he is away from it in NC. That thing really smelled like wood! 

 Toby took his present outside to open. :)

Lloyd smoked a turkey for Christmas dinner, and Susan and I worked on making the side dishes together. It was the year of experimental recipes, as everything was gluten free. All of the food was fabulous, in my opinion, but I do believe Lloyd would disagree about the stuffing... There was debate on whether it was edible as it was a bit crunchy... There were lots of laughs! We visited some of their family friends in the area which was great, and then we headed to The Hobbit. It was good, but really long! I still want to see Les Miserables. :) 

Next stop: Ormond Beach. On our way back to Atlanta, we stopped to see John, Tiffany, and Silas. Dan and Natalie met us there too on their way back to Gainesville. We had lunch and hung out for a few hours. It was really great to be together! We missed Scott, Shelby and my parents!

 Showing us his rock collection! One rock was painted.. Silas said, "That's art!" :) 

As we were walking out to leave, we found a small snake on the driveway. Silas said, "Yep, that's definitely a baby boa constrictor!" 

We made it back late on Wednesday night, and we're heading out again for New Year's in Raleigh! I am in the process of taking down Christmas decorations. I wish they could stay up all year!