Let the Fun Begin

I think I've hinted around that next week is my birthday, and it is going to be a big one...a new decade!

And so it only makes good sense to spread out the celebration over a longer period of time, especially with "social distancing" and long distance between families.

So today was the beginning of the "celebrations". We knew it was going to be a fun day when we saw this sign as we entered the Ocala National Forest on our way to our destination.

I hope our friend Diane from Lavender Dreams sees this picture, because I was just telling her in my comment on her blog this morning that this is the season for high bear activity...and guess what sign we saw flashing at us as we entered the forest!:

Yep! Proved me right! And then the next announcement flashing on the same sign said:

Oops! Too Late!  We had to stop to take this picture! But there wasn't any sign of bears around at that location, however...

When we reached our destination guess what we saw?

Yep! Some "High Bear Activity" all right! LOL.

My hubby decided to swap secrets with this bear:

And the bear told him a few bear tales...unbeknownst to them there was a photo bomber:

I think they were discussing the "Appetizers"...

Thankfully they didn't become the appetizers! LOL.

At least this is a patriotic bear. 

Yes, that is our son, who came along for the festivities. Unfortunately his wife had to work today, so we took lots of pictures so she would be able to see the fun.

While waiting for the rest of our party to arrive we enjoyed looking at the many different old pictures on the wall in the lobby of the restaurant.

This one in particular caught my eye, because I knew most of those men in that picture. You see, my mother used to be a secretary in the Sheriff's Office  many years ago, and this was the infamous Sheriff Willis V. McCall and his deputies. Sheriff McCall is the one in the light suit with the big hat. These deputies all worked in the office at the same time as my mother worked there, and so we heard a lot of stories of things that were going on.  My mother had to close her ears to some of the goings on of the Sheriff and crew.  Anyone familiar with this man and his reputation back in the 50's and early 60's will understand why. She was thankful to have a job, but some things were difficult to handle for my "Yankee bred mother" in a very different kind of old southern "dixie" atmosphere. Law enforcement tactics were much different then, and what was considered "acceptable" then would never be acceptable today. It was a very different time and place.

This was another picture that caught my eye. This man had just wrestled this alligator. I am sure that alligator was a real prize for both his hide and his meat.  Again, times were very different then.

Back to the present. Our party finally arrived, and we had lunch with our family.

Below is our nephew Nick, my hubby and his brother Bill.

Here are the cousins:

Shannon, Ben, and Nick. What's interesting is Ben and Nick were born on the same day, only 31 years apart.  They are each the first born child of their fathers, who are the brothers above. So they are first cousins, just pretty far "removed". 

And here we are:

And here is my brother in law and his family.

Please keep these young people in your thoughts and prayers. With all of the covid 19 issues surrounding going to school, etc., they are having to make some pretty difficult adjustments in their lives. Nick is a senior and Shannon is a junior. They are missing out on a lot of the normal activities that should be happening with these last years of high school and the transition has had some major consequences in their lives. So please just lift them up in your thoughts and prayers, along with all young people who are struggling with all of the changes in their lives these days.

We had a wonderful time together. It is always great to be with family. We haven't seen them since February, so this was a grand reunion.  We are hoping it won't be that long again before we can be together. The kids are growing up way too fast.

Some thoughts and a prayer for our young people:

Jeremiah 29:11-13

11.  "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, 

thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

12.  Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.

13.  And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart."

Hope you are having a great weekend so far! 

Oh, we received an update for another young person we have been praying for, my friend's grandson Jimmy.

"The bad news is progress is slow.  The good news is there is progress.

Jimmy opens his eyes and moves his arms and legs but until yesterday did not respond to stimulus. Yesterday when they applied pressure to pressure points he reached to try to remove the source of the pain.  This has renewed our optimism."

Thank you for your prayers! There is a link for a gofundme.com account on Jimmy's behalf. 

Here is the link if you are interested:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/james-fast-recovery

Thank you again.