It might be the shortest month of the year, but we managed to fill it right up! We started off with a visit to Gary’s sister Judy (in hurricane ravaged Punta Gorda) and some driveway camping Ft. Myers at our friends Jim & Sue Taylor’s home. From there we hit Disney for our long planned Family Adventure. It was great getting better acquainted with Ellie (age 2) and Hayley (10wks) and it was wonderful all being together. I think we’ve all recovered from the exhaustion of so much fun! After a couple of stops along the way, we ended up at the SOWER’s Reunion at The Life for Youth Camp in Vero Beach. We’ve been hanging around here (after the reunion) and have just been enjoying the Florida sunshine and some of the local sights.
We made it to the beach – and got a first hand look at another hard hit hurricane coast. Here is Gary walking on the beach –
And this is the view looking the other way…..
The Blue Tarp roofs are everywhere! Hurricane season is certainly more than just a memory here.
Along with the beach we took in a local quilt show for me and the Navy SEAL Museum for Gary. And we got to spend time with our friends Dave and Edie. We have one more day in our little “campground†in the back of this Camp and then we head off to new adventures.
Here’s a shot of our camping spot – we enjoyed the company of those two sand cranes (on the right side) for almost a whole day!
See ya in March!
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A Sower’s Reunion
We’re here in Beautiful Vero Beach, Florida, where we’ve enjoyed several days of perfect Florida weather, great fellowship with many new Sower friends, and a time of spiritual and physical refreshment. We’re at the Florida Sowers Reunion being held at The Youth for Life Camp – a beautiful camp/retreat center. Since we’re so new to the Sower Ministry we’ve especially appreciated hanging out with friends from our January Project, Dave and Edie Williams. They’ve been showing us the ropes and introducing us to folks. Everyone one has been wonderfully friendly! It been a great chance to see how this ministry has impacted people for so many years. We are definitely one of the younger couples here – and it really is inspiring to see so many mature Christians really living out their faith in this ministry.
The reunion ended today, and most of the gang has headed off to their next destination. We’re hanging around at the camp until it’s time to go to our next project at the Teen Challenge Ranch in the Florida panhandle. We have some chores to do, but hopefully we’ll get to the beach while we’re here. Can’t beat this fine Florida weather!
Here are our friends Dave and Edie –
The Kids in Disney World
Did you know that cameras naturally gravitate to small children? Mine was no exception!
Ellie enjoying some time with her Uncle Woody (Josiah)
Hayley was full of smiles and contentment!
A kiss for a special friend
And posing with Mom with friends from Nemo!
On the other side of Disney….
What do you get when you take 6 adults and 2 small children, put them together in an RV and a tent on one campsite, add a five day Disney pass and almost perfect weather?
Eight very tired people who thoroughly enjoyed themselves (to the point of exhaustion it seemed at times) and each other immensely!
We truly had a special time as a family at Fort Wilderness and Disney World last week. It’s hard to believe that something we’ve talked about and been planning for over three years is now just a wonderful memory to be cherished.
Yes, we were a little cramped and
Yes, there was “stuff†everywhere and
Yes, our precious 2 yr old Ellie suffered a couple of meltdowns from excitement overload combined with late nights and missing naps and
Yes, we ALL went home with colds and the need for repeated naps,
BUT –
Hayley was content in her stroller for hours on end,
Ellie got to hug Snow White, Mickey Mouse, any number of Lion King friends, Winnie the Pooh, Stitch (or was it Lilo?) and even Nemo.
Toby, Tammy, Lara and Josiah got to ride the roller coasters and see the shows they wanted to. Gary and I even took in a few ‘coasters and shared some old people moments while we enjoyed the company of the grandbabies while the big kids took their turns!
We got to share meals together (even getting together with my niece Bethany who lives in NY City, but who happened to be in FL on a mini-vacation) and even agreed (mostly) on what kind of food we should be eating! (BTW, everything was delicious and while not a bargain, was not totally out of sight price-wise!)
We played miniature golf, sat around the campfire and sang silly songs with Chip and Dale, spent recovery time just hangin’ round the campground and never left the Disney Complex (except to do airport runs) the entire time.
It was a VERY WONDERFUL WEEK and one that I believe we will all cherish for years to come.
Lara’s back in California, Toby, Tammy and the girls are back in Columbus (trying to reestablish their routine, I’m sure) and Josiah is back in Doylestown. The RV is quiet again, and I’m missing them already!
Here we are at the Disney miniature golf course – with a trailer of course!
(There are a couple of new pictures of the girls on the family picture page – I must confess that most of the pictures centered around Ellie (and I’m sure you’ll be able to tell why!) )
The Next TEN Days
Tomorrow (the 4th) we head into Disney World for a 10 day vacation with all our kids and grandbabies! We’ll all be staying in the RV (well, Gary & I will actually be in a tent) right in Fort Wilderness, so there will be wonderful chaos abounding! If you don’t hear much from us for the next week or so, just chalk it up to Gary making sure that we see and do EVERYTHING, which makes for many exhausted puppies in the evenings! If you have any “must do†ideas, please feel free to send them along. Just remember, we’ll be traveling with a 2 year old and a 10 week old! That might even slow Gary down a bit!
We can’t wait!
OH – BTW – Go EAGLES!!!!
