Look Who's 31!

I can't believe we are passing the 30 mark! Well Jeffrey is, I have 8 more months to go! lol

We were so lucky to have Jeff's mom and stepdad here to celebrate with us, otherwise it would have been pretty quiet!

The kids and I decorated the house with a few things I picked up the other day. After I picked Jt up from school yesterday, I let him get Jeff some balloons. We didn't do gifts being Jeff got a new surf board when we got here and some new work boots! We just showered him with love this year! He seemed to be happy with that and told me that this was probably one of the best birthdays yet! Really, I was surprised to hear that! I'm glad that we ALL made him feel that way, it means a lot to hear him say that!

We went out to dinner and had Jeffs favorite dinner, teppanyaki! I think we all thought it was the best so far! We didn't leave anything other then some veggies and rice. They definitely pile it on here, no holding back on waisting!

When they sang Happy Birthday to him, they made him stand on the chair in front of the whole restaurant. He was so embarrassed! lol He kept saying, 'Can I get down now?' lol the lady kept telling him no! So funny!

Not quite 31, but they'll do!

Hey look, a family picture!

Jeff let Jt help blow them out!

Some of the decorations we did! Jeff loved it!

To many more years! Can't wait to see how handsome Jeffrey will be when he's 50! When I met him, he was so goofy. Skinny, full head of hair, a big nose and surfed a lot! He now has filled out in a fit healthy way, loosing some of his hair, grew into his big nose and still surfs when he can. I do have to say that he knows I always joke about his nose and isn't to happy about loosing some his hair, but I think he's more handsome then the day I met him!

Love you babe and Happy birthday.......

Our Temporary Living Facility In Florida

This is the house we call, "Home!" I really like this house, it's nice and big and I absolutely love the family room! If I could take that part of this house home with us, I would be one happy camper!

When you walk in the door, there is a living room and a formal dining room. We've made one a computer room and a little sitting room. The sitting room is used by the boys when they play.

(to the right is the sitting room, in front of you is the computer room and if you make an immediate left, you will end up in our room.) That entry way by the window leads into the kitchen.
the sitting room

Hallway leading to spare bathroom, boys rooms, laundry and garage. Oh and an entry way to the kitchen.

This is where the magic happens! lol

This is almost the same color our living room was in Fresno! Crazy

Our bathroom

This is the entry way from the sitting room. Leading in to the kitchen.

Looking in to the kitchen from where we eat dinner.

Looking in to the Family room from where we eat. I love this room. Its so big and I love the space and the built in book shelves.

Just another picture of the family room.

Looking in to the kitchen from the family room. The house is set up kind of weird. If you look through the door ways, you can see our bedroom door. It's like big cubicles!

Sorry, I deleted the backyard picture! Its huge and probably a quarter of an acre. There is a play set that the owners left. The boys love it, especially Tanner. He loves the swing and will fall asleep in it often if I let him!

I absolutely love this house, it's going to be hard going back home to a 1500 sq ft house when we've lived in these big houses. The only good this is that I won't be mopping this much floor when we move home. I'm going to need a knee replacement(s)!

St. Augustine Alligator Farm

While grandma Kathy was visiting us a couple weeks ago, we decided to head on over to St. Augustine and take the kids to an Alligator farm. I've been dying to go and see these beasts. I think Jackson has anxiously been waiting to spot one as well, but we unfortunately haven't been graced by their appearance yet! So what better place to see one and with a wall in between us! This place was awesome, they had the safari theme again, beautiful parrots just hanging around in the open, awesome reptile exhibit, zip lines all over the park and much much more. We spent most of the day here and when we were done, we drove downtown to see what it looked like. Beautiful!

Jackson and Tanner just as we were heading in the park.

This albino alligator looked like it was made out of clay. Kind of creepy looking!

One of the many open areas with alligators. I'm not sure what kind they are, but you'll see the difference in some that are pictured below. These aren't as dark and the snouts are shorter then some or these may be longer. Who knows, I'm just showing the pictures! lol

There was a lady in this exhibit touching his tail and taking a picture with him! She was nuts, that thing could have whacked her one!

He was being nice and smiling for me though! Maybe he was saying aaahhhhhhh!

Isn't she pretty! lol This one totally reminds me of the movie Ice Age!

I really like this picture, thank god there was glass between us!

Jackson was so proud of the lizard he caught. My nature boy, he must take after me!

Wow, your almost there Jackson!

These are the darker of the gators. There had to have been a hundred of them in there. Some in the water and a ton on the land.

This particular alligator had to have been King Kong of them all. He was not only BIG, he was GINORMOUS! I'm not even kidding. His paws were 3x the size of my hand. He was a beast. I wouldn't want to fall in the water with this guy.

Tanner exploring everything. It was nice that we went on a weekday. The kids got to run around and not really bother anyone.

Aren't they cute? The kids that is! I love how Tanner didn't even bother to touch it or bother it much. He just sat there and let Jackson do his thing. Jackson loved that he got to hold this little guy. He once saw one at the Mississippi State fair, but he was Tanner's age and only looked at it. He wasn't to sure either.

After we were done at the farm, we headed over to see this beautiful light house. Not to sure on the history of it, but its got to be super old. There really are so many things to see here. So much history and so much beauty. The coast line on the East coast is so different!

Jacksonville, FL Zoo

(Being that I am so far behind on my blog timeline and I feel like nobody really reads it, I am keeping this one super short)

Our first weekend of being settled in Jacksonville, we decided to take the kids out and let them enjoy themselves. I do have to say that we have had a great time exploring the zoos of where we have lived. This particular one had a safari theme. being we live in the swamp, the pathways were of wood and on stilts, probably because the soil is to soft and the rain. They had pretty much the same animal as most zoos! (Rhinos, Okapi, Giraffe, Lion, etc.) So I am only posting pictures of those that are Native to Florida. I posted the written information followed up by a picture, and of course some random pics of the boys! We had a great time exploring and the boys loved seeing everything, having lunch, train rides and of course the carousel!

(random) I had to take a picture, the color and THOSE eye lashes! I was jealous!

(random) When I was watching this ugly thing chase all the other birds away from the food, I couldn't help to think of all the scary movies they've put this animal in. No wonder, I would be scared too! Oh, and the zebra is fake! lol

Oh look, an alligator!

Yep, they have Bald Eagles here. They had 3 that were rescued and they even had a nest over by the Giraffes. That nest were of wild Eagles. The 3 that they had either been shot or hit by a car. Not sure what happened to this one, but geese their beautiful. So hard to believe that they're this big when they look so small flying in the air.

Florida Native

He wasn't in the mood for photos!

I had no clue there were Bears here.

It was naptime!

When you think of Panthers, what color do you think they are?

Looks like a Mountain Lion to me!

Ok, Monkey's are one of my favorite animal. I don't know if it's because they are so similar and they actually have expressions or emotions, but they just fascinate me.

Like this for example. There is nothing like a newborn child and a mother, but look at how she is kissing her baby and cradling it just like we would. So awesome and I could have literally watched her all day love on that sweet baby. Other than her butt hanging out.

This guy was huge! He even slammed his hand on the glass window while Jeff and Jt were watching him. I missed it:( I was watching the mama Monkey and her baby.

Me and my boys

Tanner and his best buddy! He loves his daddy!

My handsome big boy!

He had a great time exploring and asking all kinds of questions. This age is so awesome when it comes to doing these things. They are so eager to learn and tell you what they know. Awesome!

The Famous Saint Louis Cemetery # One, LA

Call us morbid, but come on. How can you go to New Orleans and not see one of these famous cemeteries. I believe this one has been in movies and Nicolas Cage has his very own tomb waiting for him! Kind of weird to have one already built and your not even close to dying! I guess he was just dying to have it built! Lol

Jeff and I have always found cemeteries beautiful and humbling, especially the old ones.

Kathy and I walked around for a while and Jeff waited in the car while Tanner took a snooze. He later brought the boys in to explore and see this beautiful place. I did however get some info from Kathy. She said that when the bodies were layed to rest here, they were not in caskets, their bodies went into the tomb and covered or closed up. We did see some that had been open or opened, but nothing was in there. I understand that they're so old and their bodies have turned to dust, but how weird and scary to be able to look in the actual tomb.

This particular cemetery # 1 is the oldest and most famous out of the 3. It was opened in 1789 replacing the St. Peter cemetery that no longer exists.

Besides walking around and just looking, I took a ton of pictures and I wish I would have known where some of the famous New Orleanians were, but we opted out of the tour. I am not going to name these people, but I will tell you why they were famous. The wealthiest pioneer, first mayor of New Orleans, the plaintiff from the landmark 1896 "Plessy Vs Ferguson (racial segregation)and the first African-American Mayor of New Orleans lay on these grounds. Those are just a few famous to New Orleans. There is also the renowned Voodoo Priestess. I have a picture of her tomb below.

This was me entering the cemetery

Just 1 of the many sign posted around the cemetery

Please feel free to click on the picture. You will be able to see and read these signs and know what the shapes of the tombs mean.

I took a lot of random pictures. All mentally tucked into my travel brain, but there's nothing like looking at them on film. This place was truly beautiful.

Not sure if that's an open spot or someone was taken out.

Probably a more wealthy New Orleans family. Marble and lots of it.

This is a picture of the tomb pictured above, but at a distance. Beautiful

One of the many rows through out the cemetery

Ok, I don't know who this was, but we were told when leaving these thing, especially alcohol or beads, it supposed to make their spirit very happy. We were also informed not to remove those items. Who in the right mind would remove ANYTHING! You have got to be crazy. I don't want anything bothering me!

There were business cards, lipstick, poker chips, you name it was there. We even saw pages saying something that were from California!

This particular tomb is probably the most visited tomb for people who practice Voodoo. Anyone who practices never leaves without marking it with the famous Voodoo X.
I thought this was pretty
The renowned Voodoo Priestess Marie Laveau

She had all of these Xs written all over her tomb as well.

This is the famous Nicolas Cages tomb. It says, "I'm the one" on it. Really, your the one, whatever. These are the tombs I was telling you about in the beginning. Creepy if you ask me. I was hesitant to walk up and look inside, but I figured it was out of curiosity and not to harm anything or anyone. Just trying to be respectful.

Just some random pictures

Jackson walking back to the car! He looked so cute that I had to take a picture of him!

I hope you enjoyed the history lesson! I have always wanted to visit one of these cemeteries in New Orleans.

Some have called it one of the most haunted graveyards. We didn't see anything, but its definitely a different feeling from any other that I have been to.