Closing Out a Great Year

I want to close out 2013 with one last compilation of pictures and memories.

We found a fun Cuban place with possibly the most delicious plantains I've eaten. (And since coming to Miami, and visiting Costa Rica, I've eaten a fair share. They are one of my favorite things to eat here.)

Also, I felt a little like I was back in Vienna, with what looks and has a somewhat similar taste to the giant Wiener schnitzel of Wien. 

 We also had a fun surprise visit down here. We saw a Panda Express one day and decided to stop. My fortune cookie said that I would have an unexpected visitor. Later that same day, I open my facebook and had a message from one of our family friends in Brigham. She said they were coming in a few weeks for a cruise that departs and returns in Miami. She asked how close that was to us, and since it is very close, we were able to meet up after their cruise and before their flight. It was a treat to be able to have a brunch with them and catch up before sending them back to the cold of Utah.

Marc's Birthday:

He's taken a liking to my favorite candy bar cake. So I made that for his birthday, however, he wanted to mix it up a little with a strawberry cake instead of chocolate. It was a pretty tasty switch up! He got some fun presents, which we didn't take pictures of, besides the projection of his mini projector I got him. It's a fun easy to transport t.v. for us.

His coworkers also got him a cake for his birthday, and the missionaries stopped by with WAY too much chocolate in a box for him! Delicious, but we are still trying to eat it!.

Christmas in Miami:

I tried out my new sewing machine and made a simple tree skirt and matching stockings. Marc and I decorated the skirt together which was a lot of fun! Then we bought a little tree for our little apartment and decorated it. It was just right!

We haven't found the right ornament for the top of our tree yet, so we just put our first Christmas ornament on the top. (Wendy, I hope you notice you are remembered, with your ornament right below.)

 These pictures are just to showcase some of the beauty all around. Marc took this picture at a parking lot where we were looking for a Christmas tree. It was just so perfect not to capture. There are some things, like the crazy traffic here, that we do not enjoy. But it can't be denied, that there is a lot of beauty here.

These pictures are around a shopping complex. The car on the left is driven by a man dressed as Santa Clause. We saw him several times as he made his rounds along the streets. 

We used the fun gingerbread house molds my mom sent me to make a Miami style gingerbread house. The design/idea was Marc's. He got pretty creative, making palm trees from air heads, etc. 

Unfortunately, a few days later I had put it in the over while I was cleaning to get it out of the way and left it in until the next day. An of course, later I decided to cook something and absentmindedly set the oven to preheat. It was until I started smelling gingerbread that I realized the mistake. Our ocean turned pretty liquid, the palm trees melted to green and orange pools, and the skittles poured down the roof.

Santa came! Thanks everyone for the fun presents you sent! We had a fun time opening them.

Between Marc's birthday and Christmas, we now have a good addition to our library. Now only to remember to stay productive and not read them all at once!

To those who we didn't get our Christmas card out to, we hope you had a great Christmas, and have a happy new year!

Welcome 2014! It will be hard to match how great 2013 was for us.

(We had a fun time at a friends new years party, where we got to dance and welcome in the new year. Yes, it was a little weird to have a new year's party outside while wearing shorts, but it was delightful!)