Another week in Paradise

This past week has been a quiet one compared to the previous weeks--I think. Pa was busy with meetings all day every day and sometimes into the evenings. This gave me a chance to work on a couple of projects I brought back with me.

I finished the quilt I had tied in Evanston just in time for some cooler weather. It's not a Wyoming warm quilt, but just right for a cool Florida night. I really like the color and it is perfect for nights when Pa is away on business.

After our ward's Relief Society Super Saturday, Pa and I went shopping to pick up a couple of things we needed for the house and brought home a couple extra items. This little guy, our hermit crab, sits outside on our porch ledge. He is much bigger than a real hermit crab, but perfect for our house. He was just what we were looking to give our outdoor space the beach look.

We couldn't resist this colorful tropical plant either. Its pot is a coconut shell. Very unique and very Florida looking.

I also finished scrapbooking our Arizona hike, too. I'm not really good at scrapbooking, but by the time I finish all the pictures I have to do, I'll be pretty good at it.

I can't believe it is November already and the way time flies it won't be long until we are flying to Wyoming for Thanksgiving. Can't wait, but I am not excited about the cold and the snow. I guess I am too soft for the winter.

FLORIDA=Travel

Ma Turner has been in Florida now for two weeks and I have seen ALOT of the state. Florida is not at all what I pictured it would be. I thought palm trees and swamps, but it is a lot of pine trees and brush, too.

Pa's job is much like his job with CWI when we lived in PA, only on a much larger scale. He has jobs all over the east coast and since we are living in Florida now, I will take the opportunity to travel with him to check out some of the jobs in Florida.

Our first trip took us to the "panhandle" to check out the work in Panama City and Destin. (While he went to work, I stayed at the hotel which was right on the beach.) Tough job, but I was up to the challenge.

We left Wed. afternoon and arrived in Panama City about eight that night. We stopped at a restaurant that featured "head on" shrimp. It's not so easy eating shrimp that have eyes staring back at you.

Sun setting on the panhandle. October 20, 2010

After Pa checked out the job in PC, we headed toward Destin, but first we stopped at a beach along the way. (Beach #1 for this trip) Sorry, no pictures.

This is the beach at SanDestin, where we stayed. (Picture taken from the balcony of our hotel.)
Beach #2 for this trip.

While on our way home on Friday, we stopped at St. George Island State Park and had a picnic, walked along the beach there, and took some pictures. (We stopped at the local Piggly Wiggly store for our picnic supplies. Yes, that is the real name of the grocery store.)

Pa walking along the St. George Island beach. Beach# 3 for this trip.

Light house on St. George Island

We arrived back home late Friday night aftera very fun trip to the panhandle. But, the weekend was not finished.

We got up early Saturday morning to head to Orlando. Pa had volunteered us to be chaperons for the the youth temple trip. It was a GREAT day. I'm glad he made arrangements for us to do that.

Just let me say that I really, really, really like our ward here in Sarasota. We are in the Lakewood Ranch Ward. The members are very friendly. Pa is the ward mission leader and so we get to spend a lot of time with the missionaries assigned to our ward. Right now it is a set of sisters, Sister Turner from Ogden and Sister Fox from Kanab. I love having them come over for visits which they do quite often.

(The first Sunday I was here, it would have been the 17th, this ward had a baptism and Pa Turner did the baptism. Pretty special night.)

On the 25th the sisters and the sister that Pa had baptized came over for family home evening. It was a very fun evening.

On Wed., the 27th it was time to pack up again for another road trip. This time we were heading for the Atlantic Coast. Our first stop was in Orlando to look at a job not too far from the Disney Theme Parks. Sorry we didn't have time to stop to see Mickey and friends. We traveled on to Daytona Beach. We stayed the night at the hotel next to the speed way. I'm not much of a NASCAR fan so I didn't get too excited about that. The next morning we drove to a job just south of Daytona and then traveled on to Boca Raton to spend the night. After a delicious pizza dinner, we went over to the DelRay beach for a night time walk along the beach. I love walking on the beach.

The next morning it was time to check out another job and then we drove to Fort Lauderdale. We stopped at an outdoor kiosk and started our Christmas shopping. We had a great lunch of crab legs and then slipped over to the beach.

Fort Lauderdale Beach

We headed for home, driving across Alligator Alley--no alligators were seen, but I saw some interesting birds along the way. We stopped in Naples for the night and then drove home. After a nice nap, we went over to Lido Beach for an evening walk. Apparently, At. Armand Circle is the place to go "Trick or Treating" because it was packed with kids and grownups all dressed up.

After church on Sunday we headed over to Siesta Beach for the afternoon. We took the beach chairs and had a very relaxing afternoon of reading, dipping in the gulf, walking along the beach and listening to the drum concert that is held every Sunday evening. It was a perfect way to spend a bright sunny afternoon.


We have done a lot of traveling over the past two weeks, but now it's time to slow down a little and work on some projects I want to do while Pa spends a lot of time working in the office. I have been asked to do a class at the ward super Saturday this week and Pa's bosses are in town this week, so we will be staying home.

Visit to SUPAI , Arizona

Leta and Dave Hardy invited us to go along with them.. (Leta is Roy's sales manager in the Florida office. ) They were alot of fun to go with. Leta and Dave hiked out of the canyon instead of helicoptering out with us.

You can see the trail as it winds through the desert. And yes we had to hike down to the bottom and keep right on hiking. The hike to the Supai Village is 8 miles from the starting point, Hualapai Hilltop, and the campground is another 2 miles from the village. The first 1.5 miles is long and hard--switchbacks and steep. The rest of the trail is sometimes sandy and sometimes very rocky. It was a very hard hike.

Mules can be rented to carry gear down to the campground. Next time--the mules carry all our gear down.

Here we are--The happy hikers

The canyon was so very beautiful

Another picture of the scenery of the canyon

Havasu Falls

(there are four falls in this canyon. The first is Navajo Falls, then, Havasu Falls. Mooney Falls is another 1/2 mile from the campground and finally Beaver Falls is another 3.5 miles from the campground. We saw the first three.) I love the rock that has been eroded away by the spray from the falls.

Navajo Falls (a flash flood changed the run off from the falls in the background to the one in front.)

The pool at the bottom of Mooney Falls

Mooney Falls

The landscape from the helicopter

The helicopter that flew us out of the canyon

Adventure in Florida

Sunday afternoon after church, dinner, nap, and watching th O's beat the Rays, hubby and I headed out to see if we could have an adventure here in Florida. We didn't know where to go to look for an adventure so we headed south on Tamiami Drive, which is the usual route to the beach. (By the way we were in the big car as it had almost a full tank of gas.)

Using the navigation system in the Maxima we headed toward Venice and Englewood and evenually ended up on Gasparilla Island. (You can look it up on a map to find it exactly.)

We waded out into the gulf and gathered some great shells. The last couple of times we have gone to the beach, I have found pieces of sand dollars, but no whole one, YET!!

At the end of the pennisula, there is a lighthouse, but it had already closed for the day, so we didn't get inside to see the inner working of lighthouse.

We would have liked to stay longer and explore this island, but we headed home, planning on returning sometime in the near future for a longer stay.

I'm Back

It has been forever since I was able to post anything on the blog mainly because my trusty old computer finally bit the dust. I have been unable to download any pictures and what fun is a blog without pictures. Here are some pictures from the camping trip that Chelley & Jon, Cheryl & Jason and Ben and Spencer and I took a few weeks back over by Bear Lake.

I'm glad Tinkerbelle came with us.

Jon worked really hard to keep us supplied with firewood.

(The only reason I put this picture in was so you could see how big Spencer is getting.)

At the lake

Sorry Jason; I didn't get any pictures of you at the campground or at the lake. I'll do better next time.

I will be posting other pictures from the many trip I took, along with family members later. I did have a great summer with my kids and their families.

Florida Townhouse

I wanted to share some photos of our new home in Florida. We are very pleased with it.


San Michele Townhouse: Home of Roy and LeAnn Turner 3790 82nd Ave. Circle E. Unit 104 Sarasota Florida 34243

Living room wall with the accent color--sliced cucumber

The lake outside our front door

Our living room curtains.

This is the view out of Nate's bedroom window. The tennis court and there is a basketball hoop hidden behind the palm tree. The pool is to the right of the tennis courts.

Prom Night

Tonight is the big night . It is the Evanston High School Prom and Nathan's friend from York, PA came out for the big event. Here are some pictures. Enjoy. Grace and Nate do make a cute couple, (but they are just friends.)

Spring Break

Last week was spring break. No School; I have looked forward to this for a long time. I knew I was going to Rigby to help Cheryl get ready for their baby, but we had no clue what Nate wanted to do. I had hoped he would fly to Florida, but instead he wanted to be independent and go to Magna to spend the week with his friend Jeff.

I left Monday morning to take my dad to the eye doctor. I love spending time with him; even if it means sitting in a doctor's office. After his appointment I bought hamburgers for lunch and then went over to his place to eat. Then I started off for my vacation. I was in kind of a hurry because the weather was supposed to turn bad. I got to Cheryl's before it turned stormy and my sister, Carma, who lives a short distance from Cheryl came over for a visit.

Tuesday morning we woke up to about six inches of fresh snow on the ground and with the wind blowing it was cold. Ben and I went out to play in some of the white stuff. It was a good day to start a sewing project Cheryl had asked me to do for her. (A mei tai baby carrier.

Wednesday morning was a little nicer, so we headed to Rexburg to do a little last minute shopping for this new little one. After a stop at Walmart and McDonald's for lunch we headed back to Rigby. I had started a sewing project Tuesday and I went back to finishing that while Cheryl and Ben took a nap.

Thursday I knew was going to be a busy day. Cheryl had a doctor's appointment in the morning and Ben and I stayed home. I had also planned to drive to Idaho Falls for lunch with my sister. When I got a text message from Cheryl saying my lunch appointment might not work, I knew something was happening. Cheryl's blood pressure was high and so her doctor wanted her at the hospital at noon. She came home and packed her bag and Jason came home and off they went.

Ben and I met Carma for lunch anyway. Ben was a great guy. He ate his quesadilla and part of my chicken enchilada. We headed back toward Rigby, but Ben fell asleep in the car. I did what anyone would do with a sleeping baby--I took a drive. Yellowstone isn't open yet for the spring season, but the drive to Ashton is a fun drive, so I drove to Ashton. By the time we got home, Ben was just waking up.

The rest of the evening went fine. Ben even went to bed without a problem.

At 3 am I got a pic message from Jason showing me a picture of the newest Kimber.

Friday Ben and I drove to Rexburg to meet the little guy and to check on Cheryl. Ben quite liked the little guy. After more mcnuggets, we headed back to Rigby and of course Ben feel asleep in the car. I didn't feel like driving any more, so he didn't get much of a nap. The night ended peacefully when Ben fell asleep watching a "Thomas" movie. At 5 am I was awakened when Ben woke up and went looking for mom and dad. His scream certainly woke me up, quickly.

Ben checking out little brother

Saturday morning about 11, the proud parents and the new little one came home. I had Ben bouncing off the walls, full of excitement about having them home. I was thinking about my boy at home, he had been home by himself since Friday morning, so I jumped in car and started for home. I got 20 miles out of town before I glanced in the back seat and saw Ben's car seat. I turned around and delivered that and finally headed for Evanston.

Spencer asking for something to eat

I couldn't have had better spring break and now I am packing for my vacation to DC on Thurs.

Thanks to Cheryl and Jason for letting me spend this week with them and for that new little grandson. Thanks to Ben for having patience with grandma. And thanks to Michelle for going to Idaho to help this week and then coming down here to make sure Nate gets off to school on Friday. Thanks to Nate, too, for being a responsible adult during the week.

Daily Walk

Bald Eagle in the Tree

Young Moose nibbling on the Willows

Mama moose across the River

Since the first of the year I have tried to on a walk every day. I think I have only missed two days and that was because the temp was 20 degrees and the wind was howling. I go out to the state park to do my walking. I'd rather be skiing, but this year there isn't enough snow to go skiing so I walk. I hadn't seen much wildlife until this week.

Sunday afternoon I thought I saw an eagle soaring, but I hadn't taken my binoculars so I couldn't tell for sure. And for the first time for a long time, I saw fresh moose droppings.

On Monday I saw more fresh droppings and as I came around a bend, there lounging in the willows was a small moose. She was about 20 feet off the trail and I didn't have my camera and I didn't know if mama was close by, so I walked fast.

Tuesday when I went out, I was prepared with camera and binoculars. I saw mama moose across the river. She was far enough away I was safe.

I passed the place where the little one was on Monday and she wasn't there, but I soon I saw her nibbling on the willows. I got some great pictures of her.

When I got closer to the car and the end of my walk, up in the tree was one of the eagles I had seen earlier. As you can tell by the picture, it was a beautiful winter day in the mountains.

2009--The year in Review

2009-where did it go and why did it go so fast. If I had to summarize it in one word it would have to be TRAVELING. I did a lot of that.
January and February started out slow-they alway do due to the cold and wintery weather. But come March and April I am ready to get out of the house.
Roy moved to Sarasota Florida to oversee the Florida division of Valcourt which meant he would be going between Maryland and Florida on a regular basis. It also meant Nate and I would travel to Florida whenever we could. Our first trip was over spring break and "we" had a great time. The beach was wonderful and we could always slip over to the pool for a dip.
Over the course of the year, I flew to Florida 3 times and Nate made it 4 times. Over Thanksgiving we decided on a townhouse and it will be finished in mid May.
In May, Roy bought me a new Hyundai Santa Fe which I love driving. I drove it Cheryl's a lot over the spring, summer, and fall; to Michelle's for fun times with her; Yellowstone/Grand Teton National Parks 5 times, but the best trip of all was when Michelle and I traveled to Albuquerque with Allyson. Allyson had come to spend 2 weeks with me. I had a blast. We visited Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Canyonlands, Arches, and Mesa Verde during that time and went camping with Cheryl, Jason, and Ben.
In the fall, Nate and I met up with Roy in Baltimore for a long weekend. I got to see some of our PA friends while we were there.
We spent time with all the kids; Dave and his family when we traveled to Albuquerque for Ryan's baptism in August; Carolyn and Stew for the 4th of July with Chelley, Jon, Cheryl, Jason, and Ben; All the kids, except Carolyn and Stew for a long weekend at Bear Lake, and Thanksgiving with Carolyn and Stew in Florida.
2009 was a great year with many wonderful blessings, but 2010 will be a great year, too, with Nate's graduation coming up, another grandson, a family vacation with everyone to Yellowstone, and the move to Florida. (And traveling back and forth to Wyoming.)