Another beautiful 80 degree day on Anna Maria Island.

 Well because of the time change, this is what the beach looked like when I started my morning walk at around 6:30 a.m.  It wasn't long before it started getting light out.

 These two pictures were being taken as a wave came in and all of a sudden, my flip flops were washed away by the waves.  I was blessed though as another wave brought them back to me.  Happy Happy Feet to have my croc flip flops back.

 I walked up to those big hotels and then turned and came back.  I had already walked a ways as you can see how light it is now.

 When I turned around to go back, this is what the sky looked like.  In the picture below you can see the moon.  It was absolutely georgeous.

 These birds are waiting for food from the gulf.  They let me get pretty close.  Never even moved and I went right by them.  Picture is taken without zooming in.

 We had a relaxing day at the pool.  Joel is enjoying his nap.  I did a lot of swimming today so got lots of exercise which I need after all the food I am eating.  A friend of Wes and Gayla's, Ronnie, came to spend the day with us.  Wes grilled hamburgers that were delicious and we also had, cottage cheese, watermelon, honey dew melon, chips, cole slaw, and fresh strawberry sundaes for dessert.

 We headed next door to listen to music and wait for the sunset.  Ronnie treated us to onion rings and french fries, pop and coffee.  They have huge delicious onion rings.

 The music was done by two guys.  One sang and one was the drummer.  They both are really good on the drums and had people sit in a circle later and play bongos for about 1/2 hr.  We did it 2 yrs. ago, but not this year.  The lady at the end of the table was Mary Mirons niece.  Mary sold us our house with the pit in Hemlock and was our neighbor next door for a while.  Small world for sure.

We came back to our place and sat around the gas fire pit.  Then we headed in to play cards.  Gayla was the winner and I was second place.  Barely beat dad...only because I went out the last hand right away.  We had a very nice surprise today.  We got a phone call.  At first I thought it was Hailey be cause they sounded so grown up, but then thought it sounded like a boy so couldn't be.  Plus she was in school.  Then I asked if it was Jack and he said yes.  He was so sweet on the phone.  Melissa said he told her he wanted to call us.  He talked to me quite a while then wanted to talk to Papa.  It made our day.  Got to face time with Peyton and see her beautiful dress and leotard, then saw Isaac and his cute bow tie, then Kenzie with her lovely lizard.  Love face time and getting to see my family. I got to show Vikki and the kids the waves and the beach.  No good sunset as it was too cloudy. Last night I got to show Kimmy and Jacob the sunset.   Had already shown Melissa and the kiddos.  Need to see Adam and Eli and show them now.  Kimmy and Jared have a total of 5 lambs born now.  More to come.  Looks like they are going to be very blessed this year.

Visit at Dave and Sandy's

 Today we went to visit our friends Dave and Sandy at their beautiful home in Port Charlotte.  This is Bill on his phone in Sandy and Dave's Back yard. We are in the Lanai (huge screen room) in the back.

 Dave, Bill, Wes and Joel .  A lot of the homes in Florida have lanai's.  They are huge rooms and have a screen top over the whole thing.  Some have pools in them.

 Sitting around visiting at Dave and Sandy's.  They had this beautiful home build in 2003 for only 129,000.

 Sandy getting a phone lesson.

 After our card game at Dave and Sandy's.  Dave one, I lost and everybody else was in between.  I did win at Louise's yesterday though.  Lost pretty bad today though.  We made it back just in time for the Sunset.  I was happy I could face time Kimmy and Jacob to watch the sunset and show them around outside our place. Dad really enjoyed talking to them too.  Miss our family tons  Exciting news today.  Kimmy and Jared's 1st sheep had triplets.  Jacob is old enough to check their mouths to make sure they are warm. Kimmy said he is a big help.  Love that the weather is beautiful there for these sheepees to be born.

Went to the Red Barn then to visit dear friend Louise!

 We picked these donuts up at Turner Donut Shop before we went to the Red Barn for Breakfast.  We took them in with us for our dessert.  I put dad's hat in the picture so you could see how big they are.

Thought the kids would like to see this alligator ride in the Red Barn.

 This where we ate breakfast.  Dad and I had egg sandwiches and coffee and donuts of course.

 I took these pics inside so you could see the size of the isles in the Red Barn.  There are many many aisles and they go for a long way each way.

 Outside they have beautiful flowers...and

 Vegetables too.  You walk and look for the best deals then buy at that stand.  Those in the blue boxs are strawberries.

They also have lots of other items outside too.

 We had a nice visit with sweet Louise.  She is 90 but is a young 90 like my dad was.  She prepared a feast for us and had her good dishes out.  Moved her to recliners to the kitchen and moved her table to the living room so we could have lots of room. Her daughter and husband came to eat and spend time with us too.  We also played 3-13.

 This is Louise's Florida place.  It's very nice.

 This is more of the park she is in.

 Joel and Louise.  Wish I would have gotten the whole picture in behind Joel.  Louise Embroidered it.  She's talented like Aunt Carol.

 Louise when we went for our walk.  It was 92 degrees.  Below is Becky (Louise's daughter) and Dave's place. After we left, we went back to the resort and swam for a while. A cute 6 year old boy was in the pool and he was a talker and adorable.  Made me miss my grandchildren.  Ate, then watched the sunset, then watched a movie.

Fun Shopping Day

 Bill and I on the beach for an evening walk.  It was nice and warm out so didn't need my sweatshirt.

 Gayla took another picture as she thought the first one would be too dark, but they both turned out.  I put them on because they had different backgrounds and also love being together with my sweet husband!

 Dad, a big sand castle and a big bird all in one photo.  Have a close up of the bird below.

 Dad had me keep backing up to get close to it.  It kept taking steps with me but I did get pretty close.

 It was a beautiful sunset tonight.  We sat by our resort instead of walking down where they play music. We could still hear the music just fine.

This big bird was up in the tree making a nest!  Didn't think the picture would turn out because it was so high up and was starting to get dark out.  The bird's eye is glowing though. Ha Ha


We started our day with breakfast and a devotion.  We all do devotions together everyday which I love.  Cleaned everything up, did dishes and headed to Bradenton so we could shop.  Dad and I went in our car as we all knew it would be easier to divide up for this activity.  We went to Be ll's.  I left a space because there is supposed to be a bell in the middle.  It is pronounced Bells.  It is a huge store with more clothes in it than I have seen anywhere else.  Very nice clothes too.  We each found lots of stuff and we found something for Kenzie, Hailey, Peyton, and Evan.  Now to find something nice for the rest of our sweeties. We got 15% off for being fabulous and 50+.  We also got Bell's bucks back so have to go next Monday to spend them.  Wes and Gayla gave us theirs too so that is nice.  They have several of the stores here.  We also went to their Outlet Store and got great deals.  We ate at the Cracker Barrell.  I had the meatloaf dinner for 5.99 and dad had a chopped steak dinner.  Very good.  We went to the Manatee River Harley Dealer.  I had my camera ready to take a picture of the sign, but the H in Harley was missing and a guy was fixing it.  I still took a pic but will have to put phone pics on when I get home.  Took a pic of downtown Bradenton when we drove through,the bridge to Anna Maria Island that we always cross, and Joel with a squirrel on his lap.  The squirrel came up to me this morning when I was outside reading my Bible.  I fed him some peanuts and he jumped up on the table and onto my Bible and tried to eat the highlighter in my hand.  Silly thing.  I put the cover on the highlighter and let him smell it.  He had a friend come too but it doesn't get closer than 2 feet.
The rest of our day is written by the pictures.  I love and miss you all so much! HUGS and MUCH LOVE!

More fun on Anna Maria Island

 Dad and I eating a fish dinner next door where we watch the sunset almost every night.  We shared a meal and it was very good and very filling.  Dad just moved Wes's by him so it looked like he had a plate. Ha Ha!

 Such great friends to share a meal and music with!

 The singers are under the canopy.  They have different singers and musicians each night.  That's dad's elbow in the lower right corner because that was where we were sitting to eat.

 This is just a view from father away.  This building has a large souvenier store in it and an ice cream shop.

 It was a beautiful sunset.  The sun had been behind the clouds above.  I took this just as it came down in the clearing before the water.  Facetimed Melissa and kiddos at this time so they could watch it with me.  Loved seeing them and hearing them.  Kimmy and family and Vikki and family will be next!  Can't wait.

Gayla taking a picture of the beautiful sky.  Lots of college kids playing volleyball on the beach!

Thurs. February 26, 2015

Thurs. Feb. 26, 2015 We started out for Florida at 7:00 a.m.  We met Wes, Gayla and Joel at Tim Hortons, got coffee and a capaccino and started on our way.  When we got to Flint the roads were slick from blowing snow.  Stayed that way until just past the Ohio border.  We stopped for lunch and got to the Hampton Inn in London, Kentucky at around 5:30 p.m.  Got a call from Jeff and Vicky Eagle who were heading back to Michigan.  Amazingly they were only 35 miles away so came to stay at a hotel close to ours.  They had their dog so couldn't stay at ours.  Our hotel was elegent!  Juice and coffee out all the time.  They had Meatballs and sauce in a crockpot and sub bread out for free sandwiches until 8 p.m.  We went over to the Cracker Barrell to meet Jeff and Vicky, but were too full to eat.  Went back to our hotel and played 3-13card game with Wes and Gayla in their room was twice the size of any room I've seen.

Snowed in and freezing record setting temperatures!

12/6/13  Yesterday and last night we got 8.4 inches of additional snow.  We had gotten 4 inches yesterday.  Today we have record low temperatures.  -34 degrees with wind chill.  Hibernating today.  Vikki, Kenzie, Peyton and Isaac came over.  I was going to keep Peyton and Isaac overnight, but instead everybody stayed and we had movie night.  Watched Anne of Green Gables and Father of the Bride.  Loved spending time with them and watching Peyton and Isaac play together.  So much fun.  We kept a fire going in the fireplace to help keep us nice and toasty.  This will be one of my fond memories.  Will post pictures later.