Photos by Sincerely Gone Photography at Haile Plantation Golf & Country Club

Chris, Andrea, Emma (7) and Lily (5)

Occupation(s): Chris is a middle school English language arts teacher at Kanapaha Middle School. Andrea is an ESE curriculum & inclusion specialist with Alachua County Public Schools.

Favorite family meal: Emma and Lily are always requesting steak, macaroni & cheese and edamame. It is by far their favorite family meal!

Favorite date spot: We love the restaurants in Tioga, especially Blue Highway and Saboré.

Our family is most like: A rock band. Emma and Lily are always vying to be the lead singers.

Movie in our DVD player right now: “Paddington.”

The kids’ favorite books: “Magic Tree House” series and any “Fancy Nancy” book!

Mommy and Daddy’s favorite TV shows: “Modern Family.”

Websites we love: Andrea enjoys Pinterest & Etsy, and the girls enjoy watching Ms. Booksy episodes on YouTube or doing activities on Starfall.

Favorite sports/extracurriculars to do: Running! We love to run local races and Emma runs Morning Mile daily at Meadowbrook Elementary. We are also involved with soccer at the Jonesville Soccer Complex and weekly gymnastic classes at Sun Country.

Favorite sports to watch: Any Gator sports are of high interest to our family! Emma and Chris really love to watch college football together. We also have fun watching UF soccer games and gymnastic meets.

Favorite family activity: We love going to Kanapaha Botanical Gardens on Sunday mornings as a family. Emma and Lily love running through the maze and we all enjoy the beautiful scenery.

Favorite local picnic spot: We love the parks and playgrounds in Gainesville, but most recently we have been picnicking in our backyard. There is a large wooden fort/playground in our backyard and the girls think it is the best treat ever to eat lunch or dinner out there!

Pets: We have a 1.5-year-old dog, Bailey. She is a sweet and incredibly energetic terrier mix that we adopted from Helping Hands.

Favorite day trip: Cedar Key for fishing and Crescent Beach for a beach day

Favorite family vacation destination: Last spring break we took an amazing family vacation to Asheville, North Carolina. We zip lined, mined for gems, toured the Biltmore, hiked to waterfalls and the girls experienced snow for the very first time.

What makes my kids laugh: We love to have family dance parties, which always end up with the girls acting silly. They are at the age where they are truly interested in entertaining us, and it is so much fun to watch them interact with one another.

Why we love living in Gainesville: We both grew up in Gainesville and are very fortunate to have our families living in town. In addition to family, the education and experiences that Gainesville has to offer are the perfect fit for our family. The girls both adore school (Emma is in first grade at Meadowbrook and Lily is in Pre-K at Gainesville Country Day School) and we’ve had the opportunity to make so many lasting friendships with people in town. We feel so lucky to raise our daughters in Gainesville!

Something that we want our children to have that we didn’t have growing up: Self-confidence — the ability to reach out and be friendly to everyone.

First word you think of when we say “family”: Happiness.

Must-have item(s): Running shoes, books and multiple water bottles.

Three words that describe our family: Loving, caring and creative