Click here to view the embedded video.

Heidi is getting bigger everyday and is almost walking, she tries to go from table to table and then gives up and crawls and it is faster and man is she fast. Every time we turn around she has made it to another part of the house in nearly seconds. She will be going in for her 1 year check up next week and we will post her growth stats. Nichole and Heidi have been enjoying a swim group with a few Mom’s from church at their backyard pool and Heidi has really grown to like the water. She is keeping us busy all the time.

On a sad note this weekend we lost one of our dogs, Nevada, which was the blue heeler we adopted 8 months ago. She got extremely sick on a trail ride we took and passed away while I was trying to get her home. She will be missed and was a great friend even though we had her for a short time. I thought she would be Heidi’s friend for a long time, but it seems as though another dog might have to fill that place.

Derek, Nichole, and Heidi

Well it has a been a cold month down here in Florida, or what they call “cold” down here. However, the weather has killed most of the tropical plants around the house and the barn. Nichole, Heidi, and I have had a pretty normal month just going through life with work and playing with Heidi and the horses. We finally have dried out as well from all the rain, but it looks like we are going to get 2 more inches tonight, so I guess that was short lived. We also have been dealing with trying to get a house, we found a perfect little property north of town for horses, but have ran into hurdles with banks wanting to finance the property and a low appraisal. We should however, know today if we are going to get it and we are hopeful.

Heidi is getting bigger everyday and becoming more and more talkative. She has started to sit up on her own for longer periods of time and starting the beginning stages of crawling as she tries to get up on her hands and knees. She has also started to enjoy the jumper that her grandparents got her for Christmas and Nichole was able to catch her have fun on video which we have posted below. Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the winter.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Derek, Nichole, and Heidi

Derek will be starting to travel for work over the next few months for conferences, reviews and meetings so he will be busy. Also we have started to look for a house as we feel that this is the place that we need to be and we are really enjoying the area and the job. We are in a good position with where we are renting so we don’t have to be in any big hurry to buy. However, we have seen a pretty good prospect this week.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Hope everyone is well.

Derek, Nichole, and Heidi

I thought I would get on and give a quick update on our life in Florida. Currently we have about 2 weeks till Baby Tucker will be here and we are getting really excited. Nichole has spent time getting the baby’s room together sewing and crocheting. I have just been going to work and spending the rest of the time with the horses and projects around the house. I have really enjoyed spending more time riding and working with the horses.

It has really been sunny lately as we have not had rain for about three weeks and we have enjoyed time outside and playing beach volleyball with the branch. But tonight we have a thunderstorm forming and had a lightening storm that I caught on the video camera. It was pretty cool and storms like this was one thing I loved about the south on my Mission. Also I have purchased a weather station and will be putting up a weather page and webcam on the website that will give everyone a live feed at our house and the weather so you can see the weather here. We hope everyone is well and talk to you soon.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Love

Derek and Nichole

We also just purchased a new video camera in preparation for the baby so Nichole can capture some videos and share them on the blog with everyone. We were trying it out this afternoon while I was riding our two horses. So I posted a portion of the video below. It requires Quicktime, which most people should have. If it does not work let me know.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Love

Derek and Nichole