Home From the Sunshine State!

Hi everybody!
We got home from Florida last night at 6:00. Our flights were all on time, we only had 30 minutes between connections in Salt Lake City, so our luggage didn't get on the plane. We picked it up at the Twin Falls airport after the 10 pm flight came in last night so it wasn't a big deal. We were all really tired and went to bed early.
Julia was glad to be back in school today ;)
We all enjoyed soaking up the warm sunshine. We took lots of warm walks, had breakfast on their patio, went to church with them on Sunday, New Year's Eve.
They hosted a New Year's Eve party at their new house. It was good to be able to meet lots of their friends. It was a fun time, we even had fireworks at midnight.

S & D's new home is beautiful, they had only been living there for 4 days when we arrived, they already had everything in place! They even got new living room furniture! They have a big hot tub that we soaked in 2 nights.

Our schedule was busy while we were in Pensacola, but we still had lots of time to relax. Sharon took us to Destin on Thursday, it's kind of a resorty area near the ocean. On Friday while S & D were at work, Julia, dad and I took Derek's truck and drove down to Pensacola Beach, walked around the pier, and the beach. We had a nice southern lunch at the Seville Quarter, a old, old building. There was a tour of an old ship, the Nina, that dad and Julia went on.
On Saturday it was on to a Navy Museum. That night we drove to Foley to a great southern restaurant called Lambert's, home of the throwed rolls. And yes, they do throw the rolls to you!
Dad ordered Hog Jowls, there were black eyed peas, sorghum and apple butter for the rolls, and lots of other unusal foods that are usual in the South. It was a really fun experience, worth the drive!
On New Year's Day Derek's parents and grandma came from Florala for the day. Derek's mom Saxon made a delicious dinner, Sharon and Julia helped. That night I made Oilie Ballen, our usual Dutch new year traditon, they were yummy.
Thanks S & D for a great time, and for letting us stay with you. Your Sweet and Sour Chicken was the best Sharon! You both went way out of your way to make our stay pleasant! We have fond memories of playing cards and games, especially Pictionary. Dutch is such a grown up and well-mannered boxer dog now. We miss all of you already!

Johanna is making decisions about her wrecked car now, it looks like she will let the insurance company total her Passat and she will get a different car with the money. She wants to get something that will last her for a long time, buying a car is a big decision, and it takes alot of time.

I've been busying doing year-end dairy book keeping, cleaning out my files from '06. I'm gathering all of our info from last year so it's ready to hand over to our accountant. He indicated that we won't have to pay much tax this year, I'm hoping that he is right. I should have all of that finished within the next few weeks.

The weather here is cold, most of the snow has melted. It's nice to know that it is warmer in other parts of the world, places that we can visit in the wintertime.

We now will get back into our regualar schedule as we start the year 2007.
May God Bless you all and keep you safe in the hollow of His hand.
~mom~