The Disney Cruise!!!

The 4 of us went on a 3-night Disney Cruise with Melannie (Marty's younger sister), Carlos (her husband), Alayna (their 11-month old daughter), and Mary (Marty's mom) this past week. It was the kids and my 1st time on a cruise. I must admit, I had mixed emotions about going at first (nervous, scared, and excited all in one), but once we got on, and the ship started moving, I realized all would be okay...and it was!! We had a great time, and no one got sea sick! The cruise took us to Nassau 1st, and then to Castaway Cay (Disney's own private island). While on Castaway Cay, we got to swim with and feed stingrays, and snorkel in the ocean. We had a room with a veranda, so we were able to stand/sit out there and enjoy the view of the ocean as we sailed....so relaxing/peaceful!! My only regret....that we didn't go for the full 7-day cruise! :)

The Summerville's Visit

Every since they moved back to Ohio (we're trying to get them to move back here all the time) our friends, the Summerville's, come to visit us every year. We had another great visit with them this past week. Their kids (Kayla and Camden) get along great with our kids. We are so blessed to have such a great friendship/bond with this family. You don't find that kind of friendship very often---where both the men and women actually "like" each other, and enjoy hanging out with one another. :) I pray we will always be close, and never take for granted what we have with each other.

We also had a small get together with old friends/family from our last church on Friday night...and even got to watch some more fireworks in our front yard (thanks to Bill and Lonnie)!!!

Nail/Hair Salon

Ang and kids came up last week for a visit. The girls "changed" Grace's bedroom into a hair/nail salon one afternoon. They did our feet, nails, and hair. Here are some pictures of their salon. :)

4th of July

OK, so every year (for the past 4 years now), we have a "Fitzpatrick/Parizek 4th of July party" here at our house! Even thought it's SUPER DUPER HOT outside, we seem to always have fun. Bill Parizek is in charge of the fireworks, and man...does he put on a show (this year's was the best so far!!). We have a cook-out, and every family brings some kind of side/dessert dish. The bonzai slide is put up for the kids, and now that we have the pool...well, that's even more fun (even though the pool temp has been like 94 degrees and feels like bath water). We are so blessed to have such great family and friends, and are honored to have this party at our house every year. We are looking forward to next years already! If you're in town on the 4th next year, stop on by! :)

Grace looses another tooth

OK, she now has her top 2 teeth out! So cute. :)

Martin A. Fitzpatrick, Attorney

Allow me to brag a bit on my husband.
He was named one of "Florida's 2009 Legal Elite". There were only 918 out of 63,000 people chosen for this. GO MARTY! We love you, and are so proud of you! Thank you for being an awesome husband and dad. Here is the article....

How the Legal Elite Are Chosen

Balloting for this year’s list began last October when Florida Trend invited in-state members of the Florida Bar to participate. Announcements in The Florida Bar Journal and The Florida Bar News publicized the ballot deadline and voting guidelines. We also notified last year’s Legal Elite, the lawyers who participated in last year’s balloting, the top contact at 148 law firms, local bar associations and Florida members of the Association of Corporate Counsel by postcard and e-mail that balloting had begun.
Lawyers were asked to name attorneys they hold in the highest regard or would recommend to others.
The ballots were processed, checked and tabulated by Bradenton-based Outsource America and Suncoast Opinion Surveys in St. Petersburg.
Each lawyer was given a score based on the number of votes he or she received and whether the votes came from within their firm (one point) or outside their firm (three points). Only lawyers who are currently licensed and practicing in Florida were considered eligible. Attorneys were also invited to submit names of lawyers for recognition in a separate Goverment Attorney category.
The list of top vote-getters was further examined using membership status and practice histories provided by the Florida Bar. A panel of previous Legal Elite winners, representing a variety of practice areas in cities across the state, reviewed the selection process and the list of finalists.
This year’s list of 918 Legal Elite attorneys represents less than 2% of the nearly 63,000 Florida Bar members practicing in Florida.

Fitzpatrick, Martin Andrew • Broad and Cassel • Tallahassee • Commercial Litigation

WILD ADVENTURES!

We decided to go to Wild Adventures in Valdosta, GA today (our 1st time). It was a beautiful day...great weather. We had a good time...just the 4 of us hanging out as a family. Loved it.