There were 18 of us today in Seffner: Our five plus Grandmommy, Daniel, Dawn, Micah, Bethany, Kayla and her boyfriend Ab; Uncle David and Aunt Barbara, Uncle Kelly and Uncle Nam; plus Aunt Janice and her boyfriend Tom who were down from Georgia.
Quite a spread!
My allergy safe plate!
And a new experiment for dessert: cranberry apple cobbler with dairy free topping
We celebrated Wesley's 18th birthday!
And Daryl's 52nd birthday!
Since this is the year that Grandmommy broke her hand, we spent some time afterwards getting down some of the Christmas decorations from the shelves to make setup a little easier for her.
Sarasota was the winter home of the Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey Circus and it is a circus town still today. It's home to the Circus Arts Conservatory which is a private circus AND a training school for the circus. And it is also home to Nik Wallenda of the famed Flying Wallendas. Nik is a 7th generation circus aerialist and each year for the last few years he has partnered with the Circus Arts Conservatory to put on a circus in a tent next to the University Town Center. On Friday afternoon, we went to the circus as a family. It was the first time for the boys. And it was wonderful!
The circus was narrated by Santa and an elf - who took us on a worldwide tour of Christmas traditions from different countries and cultures.
Chinese New Year Celebration with Lion Dance
Celebrating Hanukkah
Celebrating Diwali
Supposed to be Jack Frost - all kinds of balancing work on the ground and in the sky.
Celebrating Three Kings Day (with camels!) - these were the only animals in the show
The Morales Brothers were from another circus and were super talented on the Wheel of Death
And the Flying Wallendas - Nik and his wife, son and daughter doing several different stunts
Their grand finale was a 3 person pyramid
Afterwards we picked up Wesley's cookie cake from the mall and came home to celebrate him and Daryl again.
We got these lovely flowers delivered this week from someone at Daryl's church in Venice.
For the actual Thanksgiving day, we headed home to Seffner to spend it with family. Joyce made me some allergy friendly sides and I made a few others. Plus I brought a Thanksgiving punch (cranberry juice, apple juice, orange juice, sparkling water and Fireball whiskey!)
We celebrated Wesley turning 17 - actually on Thanksgiving day this year!
And celebrated Daryl turning 51 (on Friday).
The five of us in our Turkey shirts.
The cousins (plus Kayla's boyfriend Ab).
The cousins with Grandmommy and the great-aunt and great-uncles.
On Tuesday, we took Wesley down to Fort Myers for his first college tour at Florida Gulf Coast University. This is Daryl's alma mater. Wesley really liked the school - especially the casual south west Florida vibe and the dorms with all single rooms (and a beach in the North Village!)
The Allen Family was established in 1999 and currently resides in Fruitland Park, Florida. Debbie and Daryl are both ordained pastors in the United Methodist Church. They have three sons: Parker, Wesley and Davis. Join us for our Allen Family Adventures!
