Christmas in Weston

We live in a community called Weston. It is a beautiful place. Everything is kept so trimmed and clipped-it's a pleasure to drive around here. There is a city center with cute shops and fun restaurants; the kind of place that is fun just to walk leisurely around.

We spent a lovely evening before Christmas with our new landlords, Henry and Dina. They are both originally from Columbia. They are both so gracious. We went to a Mexican restaurant. I had red snapper with the head still on with eyes and teeth (cringe) But it was actually really delicious and I just tried to ignore the eyes and teeth.

Afterwards Henry drove us to the city center. It was beautifully decorated for Christmas. We got dessert at the yogurt shop. Henry had me try the lychees, a Chinese fruit. It looked like a large white oval grape, but it was quite good.

It was truly a delightful evening and I enjoyed Henry and Dina very much.

Christmas was different for us because we have always had one or more of the kids home sharing it with us. This year we were all alone. But we still had a lovely Christmas. We got to talk to each one of the kids and grand kids and both sets of parents. At church our Stake President's wife, who is also in our Weston Ward invited us to share dinner at their house. We had such a great time just visiting with them and enjoying their wonderful meal. And the amazing thing is I discovered that President Bartholomew is related to me! We both have the same great great grandfather. What a fun, amazing coincidence! What a great day!

The Drive

Our trip to Florida took seven days. We left on a Tuesday evening with our car filled to the gills with stuff and three plants. We decided we would try to travel around 500 miles/day. Since we left in the evening, our first stop was Price, Utah. The second stop was Albuquerque,New Mexico. The third day we were able to go to Lubbock, Texas and see Sean, Amber and the kids. We had brought Christmas for them and some things from the storage unit, so that left us with a little more room in the car. Texas is HUGE and it took us all the next day to drive through but we finally got to Shreveport, Louisiana. There was a cute shopping center near our motel and I was also surprised to find that we were right near the Mississippi River.

Saturday we drove to Pensacola, Florida. Our motel was very close to the beach. We decided not to travel on Sunday. Pensecola is on the Gulf side of Florida so I was kind of hoping we could walk along the beach after church. But it was so cold we ended up staying inside the lobby near the fireplace, just reading most of the day after church. Monday we drove to Orlando and Tuesday we reached our motel in Plantation (near Ft. Lauderdale).

It was a long drive, but also interesting to see all the different parts of the country. From the eastern part of Texas to Florida there were so many trees lining the highways that we could hardly see what lay behind. I was also amazed at how cold it was all through our trip until we got to Orlando. I’m so grateful I had my big coat!

We spent three days in the Fairfield Inn in Plantation where Mark has stayed on all his trips here. When we finally got into our condo it felt so great to finally be away from motels and into our own space!! Our boxes and furniture arrived Friday December 16th. The boxes just kept coming and coming and coming! We filled the spare bedroom with boxes and furniture pretty much to the gills!

Little by little we went through boxes and put everything away or got rid of more stuff. It was pretty chaotic for awhile! I thought I had the kitchen completely done at one point and felt so elated until the next day when I opened a couple of other boxes and found more dishes! Oh well.

It took about two weeks to get everything completely put away. Mark helped me hang pictures. I switched picture frames with recent kids and grandkids's pictures and
it feels like home now.

As for my three plants. One died and another almost died, but revived after several weeks. My Christmas Cactus suffered the least amount of damage. I'm glad I have it because it's probably at least 20 years old! I got the start from my mom in California. I was actually trying to kill the other one, but the moist air has been keeping it alive and it has some new growth, so I cleaned it up and watered it today.

It's so great to be here!

Catching Up

The first few posts will be from my journal: our trip here and things that happened as we were getting everything put together.

Welcome to South Florida!

Sometimes I almost have to pinch myself when I look around this lush, gorgeous area we live in.  Being in Florida feels a bit like living in Southern California, only more humid.  We are living in a town called Weston, which is west of Ft. Lauderdale.  We have been told that it is one of the best places to live in this area.

When I think of the many years the Lord has been leading us to this place at this time, I am deeply humbled and grateful.  All those years in Idaho, California and Utah-- everything Mark has learned over the years through all the commercial projects and all his associations with so many wonderful people has led us here, working for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, building the Ft. Lauderdale Temple in Davie, Florida.

This, we hope, is just the beginning of a new wonderful adventure.