We were lucky--we got parking right near the beach and near bathrooms. There were quite a few people there, riding bikes like us, roller blading, walking, some were sun bathing and some were playing in the ocean. I think many were spending their time there until it was time for their turkey dinner. At least that was the case with a friendly couple who stopped to talk with us while we were sitting on a bench looking out over the beach.
We rode our bikes for quite a ways and ended up at Dania Beach and the pier. We paid to go up onto the pier where we could really see a lot more. It was interesting to notice how green the water was. The water is quite shallow until quite a ways out. Naturally, the water gets a darker green as it gets deeper. There was a wind surfer out on the water. His board reminded me of a snowboard, with places for his feet. He looked like he was having a lot of fun with his parachute.
The wind was whipping pretty good up there on the pier. There were a lot of fishermen--and birds--probably hoping to get lucky with someone's fish, or fish innards. I was delighted to see a pelican! I'd never seen a real one. It seemed pretty calm, it was probably pretty used to people. I took several pictures, but when it hopped up on the bench, Mark sat down and they just looked at each other. That was perfect!
Miami in the distance
Fort Lauderdale in the distance.
By the time we left, there were two wind surfers.
Our Thanksgiving dinner when we finally went for one was at Ruby
Tuesdays. It wasn't a traditional dinner, but good nonetheless. It was
a wonderful ending to a wonderful day. ( I always think of that
Beatles' song when I think of Ruby Tuesdays.)
It was nice having the weekend off. We went through
stuff to get rid of, or give away. The job trailers are
being taken off the job site at the temple and we needed to make some
space for stuff he needs to bring home.
Right now we are working inside the temple in the
administration area. The earthwork guys graded the employee parking lot and will move
the original top soil back so everything can regrow. The trailers will
be gone soon.
The furniture and paintings arrived last week, along with
the church's designer. Everything moved along pretty well and by the
end of the week, everything was in and the paintings hung. Things went
so well, everyone from Salt Lake was able to go home.
There are just odds and ends things that need to be done now.
It's
interesting how some people think it's okay to come onto a job site and
come in, because they happen to be members of the church. The sign
outside the gate warns people that it is a felony to trespass, (in
Spanish and English) but that doesn't seem to faze some people. The
best story was a man who brought his son in and wanted to do baptisms
for the dead! I don't think the font was even completely done at the
time, but there certainly wasn't any water in it! I just shake my head.
We got our Christmas stuff up, what little we have.
Actually, we put it up the day after Thanksgiving. I did something to
one section of lights as I was fluffing the tree, so there's only lights
on one section of the tree because the top part is out too. Oh well.
It's fine. I had a hard time with all the Christmas stuff before
Thanksgiving. Now, that Thanksgiving is over, I listen to Christmas
music all the time.
Mark flew to Atlanta on Friday. He's taking care of a remodel project there. He flies home to Salt Lake on Wednesday.
Donny
and Marie Osmond had a concert last night in Plantation. Members of
the Church were offered free tickets, so Mark and I went! It was
fabulous! They did a great job. Donny likes to go into the audience.
So many women give him hugs. It's amazing how many people still have
memorabilia of him. When he came down our aisle, the lady sitting next
to us thrust her Donny doll into his hand so he could see it. He looked
at it and then took my hand (I was sitting near the aisle). So I can
say I got to hold Donny Osmond's hand for a second.
He was laughing when he got onto the stage the first time he went out because some lady had goosed him!
It
was such a fun concert! We thoroughly enjoyed it. It was after
midnight before I got to bed. (football game for Mark=2:00am)
We had a lovely dinner at some friends this afternoon.
They are originally from Brazil, but have lived here quite a while. We
got to know them shortly after we first came. Bernadeth and Victor
Silva.
We also got an invitation to Christmas Eve dinner today
from a friend who's the Stake Young Women's President. We've worked
with her and her family through the youth programs and Savior of the
World. I'm looking forward to it.
I saw that St. George got snow and someone was saying they were talking about cancelling church. (I'm rolling my eyes, but there must be a lot of people who really don't know or remember how to drive in the snow.) As we hear
about your snow and cold, I can't help but feel grateful for the warm
weather here. It was 83 degrees on Friday! I'm looking forward to going home, and yet, every day we're here is a gift. When the time comes (sometime in March, we think), it will be hard. We will miss the wonderful people we've grown to know and love here. We are so blessed!
I love this quote from President Monson:
"...to
express gratitude is gracious and honorable, to enact gratitude is
generous and noble, but to live with gratitude ever in our hearts is to
touch heaven."("The Divine Gift of Gratitude," Ensign, Nov. 2010)May we all live in gratitude, no matter what.
