One Of the Most Beautiful Things You Will Ever See!

There is nothing quite like watching a sunrise over the ocean. Last Saturday, we decided we would watch the sunrise out at Atlantic Beach, FL. I had seen quite a few sunsets over the ocean in California, which were amazing don't get me wrong. But there is something special about seeing the sun rise. The anticipation of seeing the first glimpse of the sun poke through the horizon. It was really special watching it as a family as well. Gavin was really excited when the sun "woke up". He loved it!

Our First Weekend in Jacksonville

Our weekend was really great! On Friday night, we went out to dinner with Jayden's boss and wife and another coworker, his wife, and their baby. We went to a place called Clark's Fish Camp. It was unlike anything we had ever been too, but a lot of fun! It was a restaurant right on the river. It was kind of in the middle of no where, but it was really pretty. We were there at dusk and there was fog over the river and the place was lit up really pretty. Clark's Fish Camp is pretty interesting. It is the largest private taxidermy collection. They basically had a whole zoo there. They had a live alligator in the restaurant. The food was really good. Jayden even tried alligator and shark. I stuck with tilapia. It was a lot of fun getting to know the two couples we were with.

On Saturday, one of the couples that we went to dinner with invited us to hang out with them for the day. We ate lunch at a Mexican place called Tijuana Flats, it was pretty good, but nothing compared to Cafe Rio :) We also went to the beach that afternoon. Gavin LOVES the beach! After the beach we got frozen yogurt.

Gavin's cute little footprints in the sand

Gavin trying to feel his feet poking out of the sand

Sunday we found the ward that we will be living in. Our ward will be pretty small compared to Utah wards, about 100 people on average. The nursery is actually pretty big with 6-7 kids. Gavin stayed in nursery the whole time on Sunday and did great. To celebrate Father's Day I made Jayden a nice dinner. We had roast beef, mashed potatoes, rolls, broccoli and salad. We don't have a roasting pan in our temporary place so we improvised and used a big boiling pot and it still turned out great! The rest of  Sunday we just hung out and relaxed, which was much needed. We also took a walk Sunday night.

On our Sunday walk. We live right by what sounds and looks like a jungle! At night you can hear all of the frogs/birds/bugs and sounds like you are in the rainforest

Father's Day dinner

Jayden started his first day of work today. Not a bad first day though, their team went to lunch and the minor league baseball game, so he only actually went to work for a few hours.

Oh! We also found our place! After searching for a few days we have found our new home. I will share more on that later.

Greetings from Jacksonville

Well, we are here in Jacksonville and getting settled into our temporary place! We flew into Jacksonville on Tuesday and got in really late at night. That night we stayed in a hotel near the airport. The next morning we were able to sleep in, which was so nice. We then checked out of the hotel and ate lunch at Panera (yes! They have Panera). After we were finished with lunch we arrived at our temporary housing. The relocation company put us in a 3 bedroom 2 bathroom apartment for 30 days so it gives us an opportunity to get to know the areas and to not be rushed in finding a place of our own. When our belongings get here they will be stored at a storage facility until we move into our permanent place. Wednesday afternoon was spent unpacking and relaxing a bit. Late afternoon, we headed out to explore Jacksonville. First we drove out to the coast and walked along the beach. The beach was gorgeous! I can't believe we are going to be living so close to the ocean. Gavin was able to stretch his legs and run on the beach for a bit. We let him run around in his diaper and shirt so he could get his feet wet. The tide was out really far so the water was really shallow to a good distance of the beach. He so badly wanted to get in the rest of the way, but he didn't have his swimsuit or lifejacket, so he was mad when we told him no. haha. After the beach, we walked to a restaurant by the beach for dinner. It was a sports grill, we sat outside looking at the ocean and had burgers. It was really nice! Then after dinner we drove downtown to look at the city. We loved the city and how clean it is. There are a lot of really cool bridges too!

Today (Thursday) we went out to get groceries and to stock up on food, cleaning supplies, and essential items. We ate lunch at our place and then headed out to do some more exploring and to start looking for different places to live. So far we really like Jacksonville and are having fun getting to know the area.

lunch at Panera. Gavin loved the mac and cheese because the shells were the perfect fit to put on his fingertips. 

Jacksonville Beach

Gavin happy to play in the water

 

Dinner at Sneakers Sports Grille

The whole moving process was pretty exhausting! We did have packers and movers take care of all of our stuff so that was really nice to not have to pack at all. We didn't get a lot of sleep the 2 nights before we left. Saying goodbye to family at the airport was really hard to! There were a lot of happy and sad tears shed by everyone there. We all ate lunch at Cafe Rio before so we could have it one last time before we moved!

Saying goodbye at the airport

Endless boxes while packing up our apartment

Gavin watching as the moving truck pulled up

One last time at Cafe Rio before we moved!

Saying goodbye to our empty apartment

After a long day we finally made it to Jacksonville!