Christmas is in the air...

Stan and I went for a walk...

and this is what we found...

 Next 3 pictures the mission home.

That is a tree in bloom

Yes those are flowers

Apartment dwellers...
do some really creative things with patio's

 This is the home by the East Missionaries.

 I took one earlier with fall decorations.

I really took this one because of the hanging pot of petunia's

 I walked past these trees at the grocery store...

I had to stand there and inhale

Yum.....

 Around the corner from the trees...

are newly planted petunias.

 Poinsettia's Snap dragons and petunias at the temple.

 Our Patio

Christmas at Leadership Training

 Angels that help each time the missionaries need to be fed.

Yours truly...

 Relief Society Christmas Party and Program

 

Rose (10)

Emma (5) - Margie (7)

Becca... (2 1/2)

 Pease

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 No not Christmas...

Fuddruckers....

 Elder Lewis Fullmer Wood and Schow

 Elder Lewis Jensen Fullmer Wood and Schow.

Elder Schow is going home.

He has been a fantastic 'office Elder'

It will be a miracle if we get another Elder who is happy...

in the office.

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Okay I know this is very warm to most of you...

But here...
in Orlando...
we are freezing.

I checked on line..
  our humidity isn't as high as most of you either.

No mending except Stan's pants..
but I cut hair and had a lot of fun with the missionaries.

Stan took the missionaries and an investigator

to the temple tour.

I had to stay..

No room in the car for me  :-(

The temple was open and we did go early Saturday morning.

Nativity at the temple

The Christmas season is wonderful in many ways. It is a season of charitable acts of kindness and brotherly love. It is a season of being more reflective about our own lives and about the many blessings that are ours. It is a season of forgiving and being forgiven. It is a season to enjoy the music and lights, parties and presents. But the glitter of the season should never dim our sight and prevent us from truly seeing the Prince of Peace in His majesty.     UAdd a Note 

Let us all make this year’s Christmas season a time of rejoicing and celebration, a time when we acknowledge the miracle that our Almighty God sent..
His Only Begotten Son,
Jesus Christ, 
to redeem the world!

By President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Warning....Big Blog....

Signs of the Season, maybe at last?

 Leaves are turning..

In our travels we see some of the beauties of color.

The Oaks are producing...

I was told this only happens this abundantly once every sixty years.

 The acorn are everywhere...

Cypress turn and lose needles...

Yet we still have beautiful flowers...

Wait a moment!

What is this.....?????

The first dandilion I have seen in Florida.
November 28 2010.

But there are signs of the season...

One of the few 'traditional' decorations I have seen.
This was in Altamonte...
We were driving in all this traffic and business and eating and entertainment...
then we turned off on a little road.
All of a sudden it was quiet and we were in an older established neighborhood.
What a contrast in just seconds.
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Finally rain came Wednesday evening....

 Traveling Friday we could see the storm move in...

 Traffic slowed to 30 miles an hour...

 Then when it was over...

A rainbow at the end of a beautiful day.

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Life in the office never seems to change...

New phone books were left at each door...

So there will be a lot more of this.

 Spectators...

 Sister Ellsworth

Elder Campbell and Sister Snyder.

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I don't think these guys ever get full.

Elders Fullmer Trotter Brown and Wood

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Elder Fielding.

 We went to Inverness to get a bike that wasn't being used.

Elder Kupher and Fielding.

(Becky tell Amy what a good kid and missionary he is.)

We found this on our trip to Inverness.

A tanker full of grapefruit juice...

or maybe orange juice.

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Yes it is the Holiday season...

We did have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

The Pease family invited anyone who needed a place for Thanksgiving.

We were invited to be with the Seniors and assistants at the mission home.

But Sister Pease needed some help and we jumped at the chance to be with...

ward members and...

FAMILIES!

 Sister Collette Pease

Brother Quinton Pease

 Rose 10  and Maggie 7
They are making cute cards for table settings...
one for each person.

 Emma 5...
after we played a game

Becca 2 1/2

I took a lot of pictures or her, she reminds me so much of

Audrey...
(without the squeal)

The Hahn family joined us

Jaimee and Mark Hahn..

they brought Allison Kelsey and Keaton.

Marta's hubby is a pilot and she is a few weeks away..

from having that baby. He is gone on a flight to California.

Kids table...

That is where all the fun is.

Allison far Left then Margie Emma Kelsey and Rose

Keaton

 Sister Ellsworth and Snyder

Elder Trotter and Brown

Remember Othello?

Gathering for games...

So much fun.

We were so grateful to be with families...

Children...

of course missionaries...

and share their day

of 

Thanksgiving!

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Friday we went to Oveido to get Sister Lovejoy a new bike

Sister Davis and Sister Lovejoy with her new bike.

Sister Higginson and Pereira (Padeda)

from Waterford Lakes to show us where the bike shop was up there.

 Sister Pereira showing us the best kind of seat for a bike.
Soft and confey.

 

Sister Davis...

 Demonstrated the helmet...

And the child's bike seat.

Of course lunch at Panera bread after all that shopping.
Sisters Higginson Lovejoy Pereira and Davis.
(This is black Friday...the crowds were heavy except in the bike store.)

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Meet the Gauvin's

What a wonderful family.
Nine children 47 grandchildren (and a dog).
They are Roman Catholic...
Before it was changed to the modern Catholic church in 1963.
They are wonderful Christian people.
He is also called the 'Sewing Machine Doctor'
A series of events led us to them and how grateful we were to find them.
The whole story is in my journal, if you want it I will send that to you.
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During the Holiday Season we think a lot of family...
Elder Bednar in the April Conference gave a talk...
'Watching with All Perseverance'
It would be worth it to read.

At the end he makes this promise...
I bear witness that parents who consistently read and talk about the Book of Mormon with their children, who share testimony spontaneously with their children, and who invite children as gospel learners to act and not merely be acted upon will be blessed with eyes that can see afar off and with ears that can hear the sound of the trumpet.  The spiritual discernment and inspiration you will receive from the combination of these three holy habits will enable you to stand as watchmen on the tower for your families--"watching...with all perseverance""  (Ephesians 6:18)--to the blessing of your immediate family and your future posterity. 
I so promise and testify in the sacred name of the Lord Jesus Christ, amen.