"Happiness is a butterfly, which, when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you sit down quietly, may alight upon you." – Nathaniel Hawthorne First, let me begin this blog by saying "HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!" My dear Dad is 81 years old today (February 7). He has suffered through a number of difficult issues in the last few years - - the death of our beloved mother, heart problems, shoulder surgery, and yet he's still going strong. Our dad is always there for us with a helping hand or sympathetic shoulder to cry on and my sisters and I love him very very much. So I wanted to take this opportunity to let you all know what a great guy he is. This quote above reminds me of him because he is always looking on the bright side of life and finds a way to be happy, no matter what life circumstance befalls him. Even his crazy dog Sandy makes him happy!!! Ok, now on to our journey. This past week we were in Sorrento, Florida at one of the best KOA's we've ever been too. It's Wekiva Springs RV Resort and we highly recommend it. The park is huge (800+ sites) and has a spring-fed water feature right in the middle of it. This KOA also has a great clubhouse and pool as well as a nice river to kayak, fish or canoe through. They provide a number of activities, which we took full advantage of with my mother-in-law Connie who visited us this week. We had a great time just hanging around the campground and playing Bingo, getting some sun, talking with our fellow campers (many of which were snow birds from Ohio and Michigan who stay there for the entire winter). Let me say this about Bingo, IT IS A TOTAL RIOT. I won $32 too which didn't hurt my feelings either. Connie enjoyed herself as well and Steve and I spent the week pointing out all possible boyfriends for her at the campground. Alas, she was not interested in any of them, but hey, we tried. :) One of the things that we did was visit an attraction called the "Holy Land Experience." Steve and I visited here a few years ago when it was just beginning and I must say that they have done an excellent job of building it up since then. You enter through stone gates into a recreated Jerusalem street market. Throughout the park are very interesting stops that are all Biblically themed. As you know, I am a seminary student so, of course, this is a place that I would enjoy, but Connie was particularly interested in visiting it. Our first stop was learning about the wilderness tabernacle of the Israelites as they wandered through the desert those 40 years. This was very interesting to me because I have always been fascinated by this structure and to see one recreated really caught my attention. From there we went into a room that had a long table set up for the Last Supper. we were handed small communion cups and a piece of unleavened bread. Then a character portraying Jesus came in and shared the bread and wine with us. Next, we saw a stage production of three Bible stories - - Daniel in the lion's den, Peter walking on water, and Peter escaping from prison. This production was very well done and Connie loved it. After lunch, we checked out their new glitzy auditorium, then attended a recreation of The Passion. A hugely emotional experience to say the least and while it was difficult to watch at times, I am happy that I experienced it. This is a story we hear a lot about during the Easter season, but to see it recreated with real people right in front of you was very impactful. While waiting for the production to start we noticed a little boy about 2 years old jabbering in that baby talk and waving his arms about. Then he stood up in his stroller and started "preaching" to the crowd. It was fun to watch this little guy go on like a TV minister. Lastly, we went through the wax museum that depicted several scenes from Jesus' life. I must say, this was exceptionally professionally done. The costumes were gorgeous and the scenes, combined with the corresponding Scripture that would appear on the wall within the scene, made the displays very interesting. My mother-in-law loved every minute of our visit there and that made Steve and I very happy. Other than that, we pretty much just hung around the campground and played putt putt. Steve and I had such a great time at the Congo River Miniature Golf that we took Connie there with us and played again. The final score - - Lauren 58, Connie 57, Steve 56!!! She did great and she only played putt putt once before in her life and that was years ago! You go girl!!!! So that's it for our past week. We loved having Connie with us for a week and are looking forward to her visiting again soon. From Sorrento, we head to Punta Gorda for two weeks to visit our friends Dave and Deane Luce and to see my aunt Bonnie Klott. Until then . . . . . . . . . . . later gator!!!!!!! P.S. It's 84 degrees as I write this. What temperature is it where you are?????????????????????????
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December 2013
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