To be honest, Christmas was a little LOT more awkward than I thought it was going to be. Ben and I are both still stressed and upset about it. Ben in particular because he has experienced a lot of this before with his own divorce, so it dredged up a lot of bad memories. In between the awkward moments, spontaneous blow-ups, and back-handed or rude comments, we did have a good time in Florida. Everybody received a lot of really nice presents. I got most of what I asked for and a few other nice things that I didn't ask for, but equally appreciated. On Christmas Eve, we went for a 20 mile bike ride with my parents (my brother and his baby lung slept in). We also went on a couple of walks (had to enjoy the lovely weather), one with my brother and one with everybody. I think my brother in particular needed the one on two walk with us to vent some of his own emotions and thoughts on the divorce. He is typically a very introverted person and rarely discusses his feelings, so we knew he was having a particularly bad time with the divorce considering how animated he was when talking about the divorce. Most of the rest of our time there was spent doing last minute Christmas shopping and trying to relax.

First, serious Christmas pictures...

But we all know we can't be completely serious for an entire five days...

Before going to my parents house, the basketball team had a tournament at Stetson. The coaches felt that the team has put in a lot of work, both on and off the court and hasn't been able to do anything fun and extravagent as a team in a while (last time was a tournament in Hawaii a couple of years ago), so they decided to take the team to Disney World while we were in Florida. I had been to Disney World once before, but I was 8 years old when I last went. It was probably more exciting to watch the girls who were experiencing Disney for the first time. 

P.S. I still think Disney World is over-priced. Other than taking my future kids once for the experience or for other free trips, I don't think its worth the $85 / day price tag. Ouch! I was definitely grateful for the chance to experience it as an adult and form new memories.