The Kelly Times 2016

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KELLY Times E-mail: askssk715@comcast.net

Kaley’s Corner

Above: Kaley at Clingmans Dome in the Great Smoky Mountains of TN!

Website: http://thisclicksphotography.com

What a difference a year makes! Kaley, now 15, has had many life changes this year. First and foremost, she no longer attends Coral Reef Sr. High. Three days into her 10th grade school year, she transferred to full time Florida Virtual School (FLVS). All of her courses throughout the rest of high school will be taken online. She’s currently taking all honors courses and is doing very well.

She recently joined the student ambassador program, which will allow her to speak out about her experiences at various events throughout the year.

Ambassadors get perks like trying out new classes and they also have the opportunity to learn how to be a moderator or presenter and assist students and teachers in other classes. Additionally, she joined Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA). With a change of direction towards a Business degree in college, this club will offer her travel opportunities, competitions, scholarships, leadership development, community service experience and a chance for social interaction and friendships. FLVS is more than the family expected and offers many new opportunities for Kaley’s future.

As many of you already know, Kaley has had some growing pains over the past few years, including problems with her knees and a diagnosis of mild scoliosis. Just last year she was running in races and competing as a hurdler on her high school track team (see Sports section). The impact of all that running may be the cause of a slight worsening of her curve, however, she misses her sport tremendously and is looking to do some more running events in the near future.

Back in late March, Kaley got her braces taken off and she now has the most gorgeous smile (right)!

Another big milestone this year was getting her learners permit (left)!

She has been driving since last June and has tackled most local roads, including the Tur npike, I75 and even the Palmetto Expressway!

Above: Kaley won a Marianne Kjos Award in Spanish I last April.

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Running & Track Events

Above: Insane Inflatable 5K event at Amelia Earhart Park in Hialeah, FL - December 2015.

Above: Disney Star Wars 10K - April 2016. Her first 10K run and her first Run Disney event. There were 12,169 runners and she was 3,445th overall. In her age division she was 20th out of 122. For gender, she came in at 1,307. Her overall time was 1 hour and 15 minutes, which included time along the way to take pictures with Disney characters.

UPCOMING RUNNING EVENTS: 1/6/2017 Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend 10K

Above: Miami Clean 5K at Tropical Park - May 2016.

Kaley crossed the finish line at 31:13 (her best 5K time to date) and she was the Top Female Young Adult Overall Winner! http://tinyurl.com/hmb8hb5

Right: In 9th grade, Kaley was a hurdler on her high school track team. She competed in both the 100m and 300m hurdles. She ran in several events between February 2015 - March 2015 and even qualified for the 4A District 16 championship in April.

In May she was presented with her Varsity letters at the end of year banquet.

Each of her events are up on the blog. Click on the months of February and March to see how she did. http://tinyurl.com/zabjpfp

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Halloween at Walt Disney World September 2016

At the end of September, Kaley and Amy went to their first ever Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party at the Magic Kingdom. Another first for the ladies was a stay at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort. They took advantage of staying at the hotel by attending an afternoon tea party in the hotel’s Garden View Tea Room.

For the Halloween party, Kaley went as beautiful Belle from Beauty and the Beast. Amy went dressed as a Mouesketeer. They had a lot of fun trick-or-treating throughout the Magic Kingdom.

While at Disney, they also attended the Food and Wine Festival at Epcot. Park hopping is just one of the many advantages of staying on the monorail loop.

Fall in the Smoky Mountains October 2016

With Kaley’s flexibility as a virtual school student, she was able to go on the annual fall vacation with her mom to Tennessee. The girls stayed in Pigeon Forge this year and took in a few of the fun activities in the area, such as the Island at Pigeon Forge and the Mountain Coaster.

The fall colors were very late this year.

Higher elevations were just past peak, but middle elevations were gorgeous. Lower elevations, such as Cades Cove, were still mostly green. It was unseasonably warm again this year and the area is having a severe drought. Many of the waterfalls were trickling, creeks were low and in some places, smoke from forest fires filled the air. The girls even had to forgo the Deep Creek waterfall hike in Bryson City due to the smoke in the area that day. As of this publication, fires did serious damage to Gatlinburg and GSMNP. In total, they drove 850 miles and stepped foot into 3 states: TN, NC and even SC. Whitewater Falls (pictured right) actually crosses state lines. The upper falls drops 411 feet on the NC side, while the lower falls drops 200 feet on the SC side.

There are 5 different blog posts for this trip, which you can find here:

http://tinyurl.com/z2qggmn

Christmas in November - Walt Disney World November 2016 Christmas came a little early for the girls, as they v i s i t e d Wa l t D i s n e y Wo r l d r i g h t a f t e r Thanksgiving weekend. Going early to experience Christmas at Disney is a great advantage if you want to beat the rush of the December crowds.

The weather was pleasant and they were able to fit 3 parks into a 3 day trip. They met many characters, including the two new princesses, Moana and Elena. They also went to their first dessert party at the Magic Kingdom, which gave them prime viewing for the Wishes fireworks show.

All of the photos were shot on Amy’s phone, nonetheless, they are up in the gallery for viewing.

http://tinyurl.com/j8ex5ts

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Kaley’s 15th Birthday at Disney World June 26, 2016 This year Kaley wanted to spend her 15th birthday in the Magic Kingdom. In what has become an obsession, they prefer calling Disney a tradition, the girls find that there really isn’t any better place to celebrate anything at anytime. They split their stay between the All Star Movies Resort and the Caribbean Beach Resort and visited all 4 theme parks and the newly renovated Disney Springs.

Amy Turned 50!

The Kelly’s, along with Lily and Penny wish everyone a happy and healthy 2017.

To view this newsletter online and for clickable links, please visit this website:

http://tinyurl.com/z855hkz

The family celebrated Amy’s 50th on July 15th with a wonderful birthday dinner at Alaines Osteria Italian Restaurant. Great food, great atmosphere and great company!