First Month Was a Flurry of Fun

We arrived in Florida the end of February and moved into an empty cowboy house for two weeks, while the bed bug issue was resolved in our home....old mattress , old carpet and couch removed, everything sprayed, etc.  We are now in a 4-plex with 3 other missionary couples; two homes in front and two in back.  Each home is 450 sq feet,  with two shared laundry rooms.  Not much room, but it works.

Rachel and Trent visited the second week we were here.  They were on their official "Honeymoon", spending it with her aging parents.  We were flattered.  We went on an airboat ride, saw lots of cows, played with Trent's radio controlled boat, visited the rodeo grounds, and much, much more.  They spent a lot of "alone time" at Disney and the beach!

This is the Visitors Center is where the tour starts.  It is housed in a historic cracker-style home built in the 1800's and remodeled in 2000, so it has running water, toilets and air conditioning :)    I usually dress up for the tours (I wear sneakers instead of the Crocs, and try to brush my hair).    

 
















We generally start the tour at the big map which shows the scope of our 290,000 acre ranch.  It is 50 miles from top to bottom and 30 miles across.  That's a lot of land!







This is Gus, our Visitors Center main attraction.  Some years ago he was intimidating some of the orange pickers, so the security men had to find a new home for him.  He's pretty quiet and doesn't eat much.  Gus is 12 1/2 feet long.  Elder Fillmore added the hat for this photo.

This is the bus I drive for tours.  One day a tourist asked, "Is anyone driving this bus?"  Because I'm so short they can't see my head.  We always see at least a couple of alligators on the tour, as well as birds, turtles, ducks, and lots of cows.

Elder Fillmore works on rebuilding houses, fixing tools, and anything else that is needed. On the houses they totally gut the interior, block up old doors and windows and change the entire floor plan.   The finished product is amazing, with 4 bedrooms, 3 baths, a large family room, etc.

Recently he has also been helping out at the swimming hole, making sure things are safe for the Ranch families.  

We have seen two rockets take off from Cape Canaveral while standing in our own front yard.  One was a supply rocket heading for the International Space Station, and the other was doing experiments. You can see some of the cowboy houses across the street.  At the time of this launch we were living in the one with the big palm tree in front of it and the blue van in the driveway.

Mark and Cadence visited with their kids over Conference Weekend.  We went on another airboat ride, checked out the Ranch Rookery (bird wetland preserve), took a canoe ride at the Family Camp (which is on the ranch and where they stayed), shopped, walked around the Ranch Rodeo grounds and enjoyed Conference together.

Beau in a bucket with a bib (tongue twister)

We have been set apart as ordinance workers at the Orlando Temple.  We drive up every other Wednesday on our P-Days.  

One of the highlights of the month was attending and preparing for the Ranch Rodeo.  Elder Fillmore and the other Senior Elders helped groom the grandstands and walkways and mowed the parking lot.  The ranch cowboys, teenagers and kids did a great job with all the events, and it was a fun event.  All of the proceeds went to the Boy Scouts of America.

Our 39 grandkids pictures have outgrown the fridge door, so I found a lovely spot for them on the wall.  Four more grandkids will be arriving this year!  We saved a spot on the upper corner for Rachel's upcoming addition.   What a blessing our family is!

Stay tuned next month when we will discuss our new church callings, our "pet" Sandhill cranes, and explore more of Bruce's projects.