Finally, Florida

I really did get to travel to Florida but it has been a while. I flew there at the end of April to visit my daughter,Tori, and her family. I can't believe how quickly the time has passed!

Jacob joined me in the Florida adventure. It was his graduation present. For the first few days, we stayed in a spacious condo on Merritt Island with Tori, Ryan and little Owen. We went to the beach every day and basked in the sun. It felt so good! Owen loved the beach even more than I did I think.

We treated ourselves to lunch one day at a crab shack on the beach.

The view from our table was stunning.

Grandma loved the rare snuggle with Owen.

Owen would sneak up to the beach tent that was set up in front of us and would peak around the corner. Soon, he was brave enough to boldly stare at the occupants.

Owen loved chasing bubbles and reading his favorite truck book. One day his book disappeared. We couldn't find it anywhere. We decided that he must have thrown it in the garbage.

One morning, we took a walk along the lagoon....

...and through a park. We didn't see much. We spied our condo and had a nice visit with some kids fishing with their Dad. It was a short walk.

Owen's favorite toy at the time was this turtle that he could ride around on. The seat was a container with a lid. He loved putting things in it--books, the remote, toys, etc. It didn't bother him if the item was too big. He would slam the lid down on it and try to sit on the seat. Tori found her lost keys in the turtle. Ryan found his missing retainer another time. One day, I saw Owen pull a banana out of the turtle seat, take a bite and then replace it. I found that banana, much browner, still in there a couple of days later.

We got to see some interesting wild life. From the condo balcony, we could watch dolphins swim in the lagoon below. This frog, which we noticed on our hood at the grocery store, somehow found his way to the handle and rode several miles to the condo.

We spent a couple of days in Gainesville. We watched millions of bats fly out of the bat house at the University of Florida. It was an amazing site.

Cowboy Owen showed off his horse.

We explored the alligator preserve.

There were alligators everywhere!

The wild flowers were beautiful. In our wanderings, Tori almost stepped on a snake.

We didn't come face to face with any alligators, though. The closest alligator, under a bridge, was about 8 feet away.

We wanted to eat lunch at Tori's favorite pizza place but it was closed. We settled for a tour of that fascinating place created from junk.

We took an ice cream break in the afternoon after doing some shopping.

Tori bought Owen a leash with a doggie backpack. We had to try it out. We put on his cowboy boots and went for a walk.

We found a real dog to pet.

The last evening of my stay, Owen and I had a squeal-filled game of hide and seek. We also created playdough balls. Owen would hand me a piece of dough and say "ball". That was my cue to make one.:) Love the boy! I sure do miss him.

Three Trips to Utah in April!

In trying to catch up on all the news that I've missed, I can't leave out the three trips to Utah in April!

During the first week of April, we watched our grandkids while Elly and Brian were in the Bahamas. That was quite the adventure! Maggie (3) was my little shadow except when she was asleep or playing with her friend next door. She kept me entertained with her stories! Becca (1), who was recovering from an illness and missing her parents, was pretty cranky. She was usually happier in her bed which is where we put her when she started getting grumpy. The boys had a grand skiing adventure with Grandpa (Jim). They also entertained us with a magic show which they diligently practiced for. The stage was a towel covered piano bench set up in the front room in front of a row of chairs. The "spotlight" was a flashlight. With lights turned off, one of them would perform a set of tricks while the other held the "spotlight". They performed at our Friday night dinner party for Alisha, Jacob, Satoshi, me and Grandpa. Afterwards, we played Wii. It was a great party! The boys had a slumber party in their room but were so exhausted that they were asleep before 11 pm. We awoke to a snowstorm the next morning!

We drove to Utah, again, the following weekend. We met with Elly and her kids at the care center to visit with Grandma Wilson. Grandma loved watching the kids play with balloons and balls. She laughed at our jokes and made funny faces in response to our comments. We joined her for a snack of brownies and strawberries. We had a great visit!

We traveled to Provo and had dinner in the Cannon Center with Cami, her friends and Jacob. We then went to Jacob's last choir concert of the year. All four choirs sang and the orchestra performed with them in the last half of the show. It was amazing! I especially loved "Come, Come Ye Saints". Another favorite was a new arrangement of "Have I Done Any Good".

We spent the night at Sam and Hilary's. The next day we stopped by to check out Gordon's new baby chicks, ate lunch with Cami, Jacob and friends at Gloria's in Provo, stopped for a visit with Dale and Maureen in Ogden and then headed back home. We crammed a lot into two days!

The final trip to Utah was for Jacob's graduation from BYU at the end of April. We attended commencement in the Marriot Center. It was packed! We had no clue where Jacob was located but we really enjoyed the talks. We gleaned so much inspiration and worthwhile instruction.

After commencement, we took pictures....

...and then grabbed an ice cream cone in the Cougar Eat to tide us over until our dinner reservations at 8:30. We spent some time helping Jacob move out of his apartment and then joined some of the Harris family and Jacob's friends for dinner.

Convocation took place early the next morning at the Provo tabernacle. Jacob sang "When You Walk Through a Storm". It was beautiful! Sam, Hilary, Elly, Maggie and Becca joined us for the event. We enjoyed visiting with each other afterwards and meeting many of Jacob's fellow classmates and professors.

We spent the afternoon moving Cami out of Helaman and cleaning her apartment. That evening we watched Matthew play soccer. It was cold, wet and windy but he enjoyed every minute. He played the goalie position for part of the game. He was rarely at his post because he was off chasing after the ball. He was so proud of the fact that he, as goalie, was the only one that could pick up the ball and kick it; which he did every chance he got. Maggie had her first soccer practice the next day. We didn't get to see her play, though, as we had to travel back home. We hear it was quite entertaining, though.:)

We enjoyed each and every Utah adventure!