Great Smoky Mountains National Park, TN

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Our family enjoyed a nice weekend getaway during Mia’s Spring Break. This was the first time for all of us to visit the Great Smoky Mountains. It has to be one of the most beautiful places on the planet. We all felt so relaxed and enjoying having our family together again. The pictures below show how peaceful and beautiful this area is. It was breathtaking! I hope that we will have the chance one day to spend more time there and see the rest of the Smoky Mountains National Park.

On our last morning there right before leaving to catch our plane back to Orlando, it started to snow… We thought the first time that Mia would see snow would be after we moved to Finland. She screamed with such excitement when she saw the snow coming down out the window. She had the time of her life trying to catch all of the snowflakes. Such a special memory that we will never forget! ♥

Mia and I at the John Oliver cabin (Cades Cove).

Mia and I at the John Oliver cabin (Cades Cove).

The view from the John Oliver cabin.  Such a beautiful sight!

The view from the John Oliver cabin. Such a beautiful sight!

Mia and her daddy having fun at the John Oliver cabin property.

Mia and her daddy having fun at the John Oliver cabin property.

Mia and I at the John Oliver cabin.  I'm ready to move in... so relaxing!

Mia and I at the John Oliver cabin. I’m ready to move in… so relaxing!

Me in front of the John Oliver cabin.  It was a nice long walk up an unpaved driveway before getting to the cabin.

Me in front of the John Oliver cabin. It was a nice long walk up an unpaved driveway before getting to the cabin.

Mia and I sitting on the porch at the John Oliver cabin.

Mia and I sitting on the porch at the John Oliver cabin.

Mia and I in front of a pretty little waterfall on the drive through the Smoky Mountain National Park.

Mia and I in front of a pretty little waterfall on the drive through the Smoky Mountains National Park.

Mia looking at all of the cool rocks at a river on the drive.

Mia looking at all of the cool rocks at a river on the drive.

Mia and her daddy having fun skipping rocks on the river.

Mia and her daddy having fun skipping rocks on the river.

Mia in front of the beautiful river.

Mia in front of the beautiful river.

Mia and I at one of the stops along the drive through the Smoky Mountain National Park.

Mia and I at one of the stops along the drive through the Smoky Mountains National Park.

The Gatlinburg sign on the drive to the Smoky Mountain National Park.

The Gatlinburg sign on the drive to the Smoky Mountain National Park.

The beautiful place we stayed at. It snowed the last morning we were there.

The beautiful place we stayed at. It snowed the last morning we were there.

Mia catching snowflakes!

Mia catching snowflakes!

Mia in front of the place we stayed... loving the snow coming down!

Mia in front of the place we stayed… loving the snow coming down!

Mia catching snowflakes with her hat.  This is the back of the place that we stayed.

Mia catching snowflakes with her hat. This is the back of the place that we stayed.

Mia getting ready for our first snowball fight! :)

Mia getting ready for our first snowball fight! 🙂

Mia and I at the Titanic Museum.  What an amazing place!

Mia and I at the Titanic Museum. What an amazing place!

Mia getting her cookie signed at the Lumberjack Feud show!

Mia getting her cookie signed at the Lumberjack Feud show!

Mia at the Ripley's Aquarium.  One of her favorite things are sharks, so she loved this place!

Mia at the Ripley’s Aquarium. She loves sharks, so she had a blast here!

A beautiful deer on the drive through Cades Cove.

A beautiful deer on the drive through Cades Cove.

I will end with a beautiful sight on the drive through Cades Cove!

I will end with a shot of the beautiful Smoky Mountains on the drive through Cades Cove!

Central Florida Bucket List… Monster Truck Jam!!!

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Mia and I were invited by my brother and his girlfriend to attend the Monster Jam on Saturday evening at the Florida Citrus Bowl in Orlando. I have heard about this event, but never actually went to one until this weekend. It was a very exciting experience and Mia had a blast! She has always loved trucks, trains, and superheroes… so the Monster Jam was a perfect event for her to see.

I believe that the Citrus Bowl holds over 60,000 people and the event was sold out. I was so surprised to see so many people at this event and so many families that brought their kids along. Luckily, I was warned by one of my friends right before the event to bring earplugs. It was very loud and the earplugs were a must have. Overall, it was a great time and certainly something to see at least once in your lifetime!

Mia and Christine watching the Monster Trucks!

Mia and Christine watching the Monster Trucks!

Richard (my brother), Mia, and Christine having fun watching the Monster Jam!

Richard (my brother), Mia, and Christine having fun watching the Monster Jam!

Richard and Babs enjoying the show!

Richard and Babs enjoying the show!

Mia getting reading for the Monster Jam to start!

Mia getting ready for the Monster Jam to start!

One of the amazing Monster Trucks (Iron Man)!

Wow! The Iron Man Monster Truck!

The amazing Monster Truck girl driver (Madusa)!

I was surprised to see a girl Monster Truck driver (Madusa).                                                           She did a great job during the freestyle event!

The Amazing Spiderman Monster Truck!

The Amazing Spiderman Monster Truck!

Central Florida Bucket List… before we move to Finland!

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Christmas morning! 2012

Christmas morning ~ 2012

We are slowly working on our Central Florida bucket list before our move to Finland this summer! Danny and I have both lived in the Central Florida area for about 25 years and we wanted to make sure that we visited a few places that we have never made it to in the area. One of the places that all three of us had never been to was Gatorland. We were very surprised at how much we enjoyed the park and really wished that we had visited sooner. Mia was thrilled to see all of the gators, crocs, and wildlife at the park! Mia had never been to Kennedy Space Center and her daddy had to attend a meeting there, so it was great that she was able to experience it. We also made a trip out to the House of Blues this past week and had a great time at their Gospel Brunch. We really enjoyed all of the yummy southern food!

We had a great time spending time with our friends and families this past week. 2013 is going to be a big year for us with many changes and lots of new challenges to overcome. Danny and I are both grateful to have each other and our amazing daughter to experience it all with. We will be together 17 years next month and it is truly amazing all that we have been through and all of the wonderful places and people that we have met over the years! We wish everyone a great 2013! ♥

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Being brave at gatorland… What an exciting experience!

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Mia and Christine at the entrance to Gatorland!

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Gators lounging and a beautiful crane walking by in the background.

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A beautiful parrot at Gatorland.

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Mia and Danny having fun with the birds at Gatorland!

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Our family at Kennedy Space Center.

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Mia and Christine at the House of Blues Gospel Brunch.

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New Year’s Eve Party/Show at the Cavallo’s.

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Mia and her friends on New Year’s Eve.

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Bowling night out!

 

Wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

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Mia and her Grandma are getting ready for the big day! We are very sad that Mia’s daddy is in Finland this year, but we are excited that we will be celebrating turkey day in Finland next year. This will be the first Thanksgiving that we will not be together in 17 years and we miss him so much already! Wishing Jimmy, Kelly, Richard, and Babs safe travels this week! We are grateful to be spending Thanksgiving with my parents and enjoying a relaxing couple of days with them! Wishing everyone a great time with their families tomorrow! ♥

The beginning of our journey to Finland!

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We flew to Washington, D.C. earlier this month to apply for residency in Finland! Danny will be working with Rovio Entertainment and our family will be moving to the beautiful city of Helsinki, Finland! We are very excited about this new adventure that our family will be taking in the upcoming months.  We plan to make the final move over to Helsinki in the summer of 2013.

Hello world!

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Welcome to my blog! I am very excited to be starting my very first blog. I plan to post as often as possible and will use this site so that my family and friends can follow along and be a part of our new adventures! I am really looking forward to this new experience of blogging! 🙂