Disney Marathon

Matt and I drove to Orlando, Florida to watch Patrick, Katie and Ed run the Disney Marathon. My parents and Katie's family flew down to Orlando for the weekend as well. We all stayed in 2 Marriot time share condos.

On Saturday, we went to the Expo where Patrick, Katie and Ed picked up their bibs for the race.

Then we headed to Animal Kingdom to ride Mt. Everest and go on a jeep excursion. We all bought park-hopper passes so we could hang out together. When we were through with Animal Kingdom we made our way to MGM and stood in line for 70 min. to ride the Rock'n Roller Coaster. It was a long wait, but time seemed to go fast as we talked and laughed in line. The ride was awesome! We tried to ride it again, but it had been shut down for the night.

On Sunday, we left the hotel at 4 am for the race. Patrick, Katie and Ed headed off for the start line while the rest of us made our way to try and see them on the course. Last time Matt and I were at the Disney marathon we were running it, so it was neat to be on the other side of the marathon this time and cheering them on. Along with the Woods family and my parents, Matt and I ran all over Magic Kingdom and Epcot to see the runners. God's timing was amazing and we got some oportune moments to see them.

Patrick, Katie and Ed all finished and were proud of themselves. Way to go guys!

After the race we went back to the hotel and enjoyed some lunch. Although it was only like 1 pm it felt like 7 pm since we had been up so early. Later on that afternoon, Patrick, Katie and my parents were scheduled to leave on flights back to Boston. But due to a horrible snowstorm back in Boston, their flights were cancelled. We were excited because we got more time with them. Matt and I had already taken off Monday from work. They came back to the hotel and after dinner together we headed to the pool and waterslides. It was so fun!!

The weekend was so much fun and memorable. It made me realize how much I miss my family!

Roomies Reunite

Jenn and Dace stopped in Gainesville on their way from Naples, FL to Michigan. We met at Panera, an old favorite, for dinner. It was great to see them and Kaitlyn, who was all smiles and laughs.

Christmas PJs

Here are our nieces and nephews in their new Christmas jammies. Can you pick out the two families in this picture?

Denver, Colorado

After our visit with Matt's family in Salt Lake City, we ventured on to Colorado to visit our dear friends Amy & Tom Tanis and Janelle Behan. It snowed almost the whole time we were in Colorado except for the last day. It was beautiful to watch the snow fall. The roads were not plowed well and Matt and I kept joking about their plowing abilities.

Both Amy and Tom had to work on Thursday so Matt and I relaxed by ourselves. We watched all the Seinfeld episodes Amy had Tivo'ed and worked out at Tom's gym, Colorado Athletic Club. We also tried making coffee on Tom's new coffee pot, but somehow messed up the proportions and ended up with some STRONG coffee. :) So we went out to Starbucks and got cappuccino instead.

While we were laying on the couch napping and watching TV, Chai and Ash, Tom and Amy's cats, were also taking a nap. The life of a cat is pretty good huh? Don't they look so comfy?

After picking up Tom from work on Wednesday, he took us to see Red Rocks. I had always heard about this area plus I knew that Dave Matthews had played "Live at Red Rocks," but never seen it. It was really beautiful. To get up to the top we had to climb the seats (stadiums!!) in the snow! It was rather slippery and icy, but a fun adventure. Here are some of the pictures from Red Rocks. We made it to the top just as the sun was going down.

After climbing Red Rocks we went out to dinner. We wanted to make sure to eat at P.F Chang's, my favorite restaurant, while in Denver. I think the Denver Changs has the coolest design of all the other Changs. The entire restaurant is made up of giant windows with a gorgeous patio and the ceiling is made of wood beams.

On Thursday Amy came home from work sick, but still made time to make her famous caramel corn with me. It was yummy!

Thursday night Matt and I went to visit Janelle, her husband, Kris and brother, Sean. We went out to eat and caught up on life as well as laughed about old times. It was a mini Circle "A" reunion.

Janelle is due January 3rd and expecting a little boy, Brooks.

Matt and Tom enjoyed some beer together.

On Friday, Matt and Tom went snowboarding. I decided to stay home and sleep in. Amy ended up staying home from work because she was sick. We hung out all day while the boys boarded at Arapahoe Basin. Here are some pictures from the mountain. Isn't it gorgeous?

Here is Tom pretending to break his collar bone again. Real funny Tom!

Here is the Continental Divide.

We had a great time visiting Tom and Amy. Eventhough we had not seen them for 6 months we picked up right where we left off. They are such great friends and can't wait until we see them again.

Front row seats for UF basketball!!

Matt and I were given front row seats for the Florida basketball game. It was an incredible experience. We were so close we could hear what Billy Donovan was saying. I am not sure what I watched more the game or all the stuff going on on the sidelines. I even got put on the jumbotron for the first time ever.

Family Group Christmas Party


We had our annual Family Group Christmas party with the famous white elephant gift exchange was at the Sutton's house this year.



Matt opened about 3 of the white elephant gifts because each time he had one someone with a higher number took it from him. His first gift was this picture of bambi, but Evie wanted it, so Kristy's mom took it for her.


Matt's second gift were these Gator potholders, handmade by Lucy. Once again they were "taken" by someone else. I am not sure what Matt ended up with, but it was funny to see him open and then lose the gift.


Jenny got the fiddle cutting board which Sean and Laura gave to Matt and I before they moved to Lubbock, Texas as a white elephant gift. She looks thrilled huh?!


Everyone had a great time and laughed so much.


Zach opened the famous Turkmanbasi colon, which originated from Caleb and Sean mailed to us to put into the "game."







Here is the whole FG. My have we grown in numbers. It is neat that as some friends move away, God brings others into our lives. We are so blessed to have such fabulous friends. They truly have made Gainesville feel like home.

Christmas in Salt Lake City

Happy birthday Paul!! On Friday night we celebrated Paul's birthday at Cafe Rio, a Buman family favorite for dinner. Paul got a Chargers sweatshirt, a Gator t-shirt, gloves, and a board game.

On Saturday morning the whole Buman family, all 22 of us, met for family pictures at the Alta ski resort. We had to be up at the mountain at 8:30 am to take family pictures. It was so cold up there, 9 degrees farenheit to be exact, and we were all freezing. The kids were so cold many of them were crying in the picture.

After the pictures Kevin, Keegan, Mark, Julie, Christian, Daniela, Matt and Igrabbed our skis and hit the slopes. Once the sun came out it warmed up a bit. Here we are at one of the highest points on the mountain, the top of the Supreme lift, approx. 10,000 feet.

After skiing half the day we took a break and ate some lunch. The kids were ready to hit the slopes after being in ski school all mornnig long.

Saturday night we all came back to Paul and Marilyn's house and shared dinner together. Here Keegan and I are getting warm by the fire.

Here is Matt and I with Colin, Megan, and Alyssa coloring by the fire.

These were the Christmas cookies that Marilyn bought for us to enjoy all week long. They look so good don't they?

On Sunday we drove out to see where Emily and Markie are building their house. Then we came back and the kids went sledding. Later on Sunday night we celebrated Christmas with everyone. Before we opened presents we ate dinner while we watched the New England Patriots win their 15th game in a row against the Dolphins. Christian, Steve and I were the only Patriots fans. Oh well. Once dinner was over, the kids kept begging to go downstairs.

Pretty please can we go downstairs and open presents?

Now how can you resist those cute faces?

Before we opened presents, Paul and Marilyn read the Christmas story to all of us.

Here are the kids all listening intently to the Christmas story.

Paul and Marilyn Buman (Matt's parents).

Kevin and Valeri Buman (Matt's brother and his wife).

Melanie and Steve Harris (Matt's sister and her husband). They announced to everyone that they are pregnant and due in August. Now we've got 2 new nieces or nephews on the way. Matt and I won the bet that we had going with each other that we'd be the last of the Bumans to have kids.

Mark and Emily Schoenwald (Matt's sister and her husband).

Kevin, Matt, and I went running every morning while we were in SLC. Each run covered different terrain. Running here is so different than in Florida because the altitude is so much higher and there are hills, but the scenery is so gorgeous. We had to pull out our winter running gear switching from tank tops to Under Armor. The snow covered mountains are priceless!