We are still here!!!

 

Happy 1^st day of Spring!!! Mn is having wintery weather right now and we especially liked a picture Tim sent us this morning about spring.  Hope you do too.

I had a wonderful time in Minnesota from February 15^th through March 1^st.  Our newest granddaughter, Bricelyn, was a joy to see and hold.  We are so blessed to have such a healthy, lovely and loved grandchild.

A joint birthday party was held for Sophia (4 years old) and Aubrey (2 years old) at the Maplewood Fire Station where Tim works.  It was a beautiful party with lots of food, kids and gifts for the girls.  It was so much fun to see everyone and enjoy a relaxing afternoon.  After the party Corri (our 22 year old granddaughter) and I went to a movie.  It was great to be able to spend time with Corri.  I know she has a busy life.  She is a beautiful woman.

I spent the next two weeks helping Tim & Laura (although I think I did not help as much as I just enjoyed spending time with Tim & Laura, Sophia, Aubrey and, of course, Bricelyn).  I did take time out to see friends and attend Megan’s Open House. She bought a town home in Oakdale.

I returned to a busy schedule.  1. We attended “The Strawberry Festival” in Plant City, Florida.  They are famous for their strawberries. There are vendors, rides and of course strawberries.  We like to go to a church booth where they give you a bowl and a biscuit and you put on as much strawberries and whipping cream as you like.  2. We saw a “Harlem Globe Trotters” game where one of our fellow owners in our park, Bob Williams who was the first Black player to play for the NBA's Minneapolis Lakers (1955-57) was honored. He also played for the Globetrotters.  It was a lot of fun to be there with him. 3. We took our friends Dennis, Julie and Brent into Disney.  4. We attended a huge “Fish Fry” in our park.  A few years ago several people in our park fried up some catfish.  The word got around about how good it was and now it has turned into a potluck along with catfish, tilapia and chicken.  They sold 350 tickets at $10.00 each.  What a success this has become.  5. We took a road trip to Siesta Key (on the gulf side of Florida).  We met Lill, Ross and Andy and had a great day at the beach. 6.  We drove to Fort Myers where we spent a few relaxing days with our friends Dick and Louise.  We learned how to play Bocce Ball which we had never played before.  7.  We checked out a casino at Immokalee, Florida but they were not giving away any money.  8. We met Lill and Ross again in Fort Myers and attended a Twins Spring Training Game but it was ugly.  Our pitching needs a lot of work.  8. We finally got a Texas Hold Em game with our friends from Arkansas.  Whoppee – I won first place and Pete came in second.  That does not happened very often.  9. Celebrated St. Patrick’s Day by attended a Corned Beef and Cabbage dinner at our church (we became Associate Members in January).  It was made by our Pastor.

We skyped with Dan, Ana, Helena and Julia a few days ago.  We had sent Julia a package for her birthday (she will be 10 on March 20^th) a while ago.  She probably looked at it every day and wondered when she could open it.  I had a feeling when they called that Julia might want to open her present early.  So it was great for us to see her open it, try on her shirt and look at her magazine.  She is into a new boy band called One Direction and she liked her One Direction things we sent.  We also talked with Helena who smiled a great big smile for us showing us her pearly white teeth with no braces.  We are so excited about them all coming again in August this year. 

We are now at Jetty Park (1 ½ hours from our park) by Coco Beach on the Atlantic side of Florida.  We spent time on the beach yesterday where it was warm and sunny.