Tom & Brenda's Family Journal

We are staying at Lake Bonnet Village in Avon Park, Florida. The park, which includes RV's, park models and modular houses, has around 400 - 500 residents. Lake Bonnet is home to lots of fish, birds and even some alligators. There is a pair of sandhill cranes which are quite tame and come up into the park to eat at bird feeders early every morning. I observed them up close while out on a run this week. South Florida Community College of Avon Park has begun softball and baseball season. Tom and I have taken in a few games. Nothing better than sitting out in the sun watching a ball game. We awoke this morning to a chilly 37 degrees. 37 is cold when you are riding on a golf cart to church, however, it is a very short ride and church was warm and welcoming. Our days are spent with lots of fellowship with friends, family and new friends that we seem to make every day. Here is Carol, (from MN), Merrilyn, (from Ohio) and Marge from Gaylord, MI. These are dear Christian friends no...

We've just completed our first week in Florida and we are still working on getting completely settled. Yesterday Tom got our water heater fixed. It had been working on gas but we wanted it use the electric element which had to be replaced. Our cable TV was installed last week but still isn't working well. A technician is supposed to come today. The final straw was yesterday when ESPN stopped working. Our days haven't been all work-lots of play here. There are activities available morning, noon and night. We have been part of several including an afternoon 'happy hour' every day. A group meets daily at 4 pm and shares the events of the day always with lots of laughs. We have a variety of people which adds to the fun but every one seems to have a positive outlook. I've also attended Hands of Love, a women's service group. I worked on teddy bears for use at the hospital. Ladies Bible Study is on Monday morning and was a group of about 3...

Essential Bean in Caledonia is always on of our last stops before leaving town for a trip. We think their coffee is the best we've found anywhere. It might be the cozy, friendly atmosphere and all the friends we see there. It is a tradition to take our picture showing the excitement we feel as we are 'on the road again." The new owner, Justin, cheerfully took part in our tradition. We left a guardian to watch over the farm while we are gone. Graham, our cat, seems to be working hard watching for intruders. Of course, Jennifer and Eric are there to care for Graham. Our first stop was in Canton, Ohio to stay with Kristen. We did lots of planning for the upcoming wedding. We went out to dinner with Kristen, Chris and his parents, Tom and Sandy Liggett. We also visited the Liggett's home. They have the most wonderful vegetable garden in the summer. It was a wonderful way to start our trip. These next photos are from our trip in October but will show ...

I woke this morning to see the roads covered with snow. Jennifer was apprehensive about driving to work on the white stuff. Her stay in North Carolina has left her out of practice. She made it to school safely in spite of icy roads. I'm cozy in my chair with the heater going. I'm drinking coffee and I actually have time to do an update on this blog. I had to rearrange my schedule at Hopkins Middle School this week because there were special Christmas activities today. I usually work Monday, Wednesday and Friday but I worked Thursday this week so I'm enjoying a Friday off work. Tom and I spend two weeks in Florida this fall. This picture is from our spot in Lake Bonnet Village. We left our 5th wheel there and we are returning the end of January. Lake Bonnet Village is near Avon Park and it is a 55+ park. The residents are great fun and we are looking forward to getting back there. Last weekend Tom and I took Anna and Jack, our youngest grandchildren, up to the Soo...

We are now moved back to Alto and have left the leisurely days at the Cabin behind. Actually there weren't too many leisurely days at the Cabin with all our projects but every day started out slowly and we savored our morning coffee watching the river. I've posted some food pictures that I took because they help me remember some of our highlights this summer. This is the meal at my dad's 65th Sault High School reunion in August. Tom and I attended with him and my mother. It is their last reunion because they have lost so many classmates especially those who did the planning of their annual get-together. There was enough money in the treasury to pay for the classmate's meals. Only guests had to pay. The reunion was at Lake Superior State University. The food service director, for some reason, decided to provide everyone with two meats-even though we had to choose between chicken and steak on our RSVP. It was a good will action. The reunion was touching, fun ...

We have had a small metal barn in the middle of our property here at the cabin. Tom has had plans to move it for a long time so we would have a spot to build a garage. Well this is the week the job was completed. Here are a series of pictures and a video of the process. It was hard to watch Tom and our neighbor Paul work so hard for so many days. They did all the work from emptying the barn until it was all completed. My brother and brother-in-law came by Monday evening for the actual move. The actual move did not go smoothly because of several factors. The first few feet went smoothly. The guys were able to push the building as shown in the picture below and the video. It took a whole day to empty the bar and another half-day to build the bracing inside to prevent a collapse when moving. The contents of the barn were put in the trailer and in our yard. Tim is doing the site work to make a smooth path. The move was completed yesterday afternoon. My part was keeping the work...

July has arrived here at the cabin but are continuing to have warm day-time temperatures and cool nights. It really helps the flowers gardens. They love that kind of weather. This is my backdoor shade garden. We had a 4th of July picnic at my sister, Susie's, house at Birch Point which is right on Lake Superior. We enjoyed the fellowship and the good food. After eating, we sat on the deck overlooking the beautiful lake. But the cool breezes sent us all looking for sweaters even though it was afternoon. My parents and Mary Clark stand with their granddaughter Areka and her finance Travis. Robbie, our nephew, and Tom share birthdays on the 4th. We went to two parades-Brimley in the afternoon and the Soo in the evening. The Bell Family had a float for the Soo parade. There were three generations represented here. We are having a good time here at the Cabin with lots of visiting, boatwatching and eating good food. I'll post more later.