Andrea’s Family Having a Birthday Party at Our House

Andi is the 3rd of 4 girls. Two of Andi's sisters live close by in Florida and another sister lives in Tennessee. Andi sees her Florida sisters a few times a month and her Tennessee sister about 2 - 3 times per year, but she speaks to all of them by phone nearly every week. Andi's mother lives in town and she can't wait to be a grandmother again; for the 12th time! Andrea's parents were married for 51 years before her father passed away 10 years ago. It was her parent's strong commitment to each other and their children that made her want her own family when she grew older.

Breakfast at Troy’s Uncle’s House for a Long Weekend Visit with His Family

Andi is very lucky to be a part of such a close-knit family. Her parents always had family get-togethers for every birthday, which still continue to this day. Her family also gets together for just about every holiday, but Thanksgiving lunch and Christmas dinner are the best traditions of all. During all of our get-togethers, we talk about the things going on in our lives, tell stories about our kids, and listen to the stories that Andrea's mom tells about her childhood. Her mother's stories are the most fascinating of all because she was born in the late 1920s and has witnessed a lot of important events in our country.

Troy has one sister. His parents were divorced when he was 9. He was fortunate in the fact that they kept a good relationship and didn't put the kids in the middle. For that he is very thankful. His dad remarried and comes over to his mother's house regularly to visit with Troy's sister and her kids. Troy's dad and stepmother invited his mother over to their house for Thanksgiving, before Andi and Troy got married. Now she comes down to Florida to be with Andi and Troy for Thanksgiving and they travel to North Carolina to see Troy's family at Christmas.

Troy talks to his mother and father on the phone at least once every week or two. His parents are very interested in their adoption process. Every time they talk they always ask how it is going and what progress they have made. Andi and Troy think they are excited to be grandparents again.

Our Home

We live in a custom built 4 bedroom, 2 ½ bath home, with an office, formal dining room, an extra large family room and a home theater; nearly 3300 square feet of living area. All doors in the back of the house open up to a large screened in lanai where we have a beautiful swimming pool and a Jacuzzi that spills into the pool. The pool is always fenced off to keep children and our dogs away from the pool. During the summer, we grill outside several times a week. We even cook out just about every weekend during the cooler months. We built our house so we would have plenty of room for a new family, as well as to have enough room for our families to come and visit.

Our Lanai and Pool

When we decided to build our new house, it didn’t take long for us to decide on where to build. There are less than 300 homes in our neighborhood, with no more available lots. This was important to us because we didn’t want to live in a neighborhood that was going to have a lot of traffic. Our house is on a circle and we’re right across the street from the neighborhood tennis courts. With us living on a circle, there is very little traffic so everyone’s children can ride their bikes safely. There is also a nature trail in the back of our neighborhood.

There are several family friendly parks and gardens in our town, with 1 park less than 2 miles from our house and another that is in the planning stages just outside of our neighborhood. Our town also has 2 museums, 1 of them dedicated just for children. There are also a lot of educational opportunities for children in our town, from elementary all the way to college. We have schools that specialize in technology, the arts and theater. We have known several people that have sent their children to these specialized schools and their children greatly benefited from the exceptional education. We also plan to utilize these schools as we believe education is extremely important.