our family life and God's blessings on us
Congratulations to Josh!
He was inducted today into an international Mechanical Engineering Honor Society, Pi Tau Sigma. Only the top 10% of mechanical engineering seniors at UF are invited to join the society. Josh was also required to do community service to qualify.
Mike and Sus had an opportunity to go to Busch Gardens for a day. We wanted to see their Christmas shows and their decorations. We were not disappointed.
We enjoyed a very good Gospel-style Christmas concert and a great ice skating show. Both shows were very well done.
For dinner we also recommend the Zambia Smokehouse in Stanleyville. We were able to share a meal because of the portion sizes and the food was delicious!
At the end of the day, the lighting was fantastic… a photographer’s delight! We were really pleased with our photos and have posted several animal photos in a “Busch Gardens in Tampa” album in our family web photo album collection.
Josh made it into the UF Gators football ticket lottery this year and has been enjoying going to all the home games. He wanted to treat Mike to a game and was finally able to get two tickets for this last Saturday as a belated Father’s Day gift.
Mike was pretty excited! He made it to Gainesville before dinner and went to David’s Real Pit BBQ with Josh and his roommates. Afterward, Mike and Josh headed for the UF Stadium, a.k.a, The Swamp.
They had a great time watching the UF vs. Vanderbilt game together. Mike made it home by 1:30 a.m. Sunday morning. This was his first non-Penn State college game.
Sea World, very generously, gave Jenny some passes for the weeks she worked there this past summer. So, she came down from school with her roommate, Emily, and with Jenny’s boyfriend, Ezra. The five of us enjoyed a great day at the park. We especially recommend The Journey to Atlantis ride and A’Lure, an acrobatic show.
Jenn and Ezra just started dating this weekend, so we are introducing him to you here, since you will be seeing more of him. An Eagle Scout from Central Florida, Ezra desires to walk closely with the Lord. He is a digital arts major and is studying Russian. He loves music and Jenny!
Avast there, me Hearties!
Jenny, her roommate, Emily, and some other Stetson shipmates had fun a-dressin’ up and a-talkin’ like pirates on International Talk Like a Pirate Day.
You can make merry every September 19th, too, Matey.
Jenny made friends with three Taiwanese girls while working at Sea World this past summer. One friend, Lily, asked if she could go to church with Jenny. Elaine had been in a church service once before in Taiwan. Lily and Ivy had never been.
Today, we picked up Lily, Elaine, and Ivy and took them to First Baptist of Orlando, which has 14,000 members and has a 130-acre campus. They were impressed how big the church was, but it certainly was not a typical church experience!
The girls are leaving Orlando soon to spend some time in Washington, D.C. before returning home.
I am sitting at the kitchen table with a laptop instead of using my computer in the family room. I can see the family room from here and am hoping a small skink (lizard) will follow the trail of tiny romaine lettuce leaves I put down from the sofa to the porch door. I also am praying something else doesn’t come in while I have the door open a crack!
Also, a few weeks ago, a small frog got in the house right when we were trying to pack the car and take Jenny to college. I wanted to catch it, or chase it out while we knew where it was. Once we left, it could be anywhere! After a few failed attempts, we were finally able to scoot the frog out the front door.
One of the hazards of living in Florida!
This past Saturday, Josh joined us and helped move Jenny’s things up to the third floor of her dorm. (Mike counted twelve trips up and down.) Stetson also held a convocation and dinner for their incoming students.
Jenny has orientation for a few days and will begin classes on August 20th.
Josh is holding on to his part-time job, plus taking 30 credit hours of mechanical engineering for his senior year at the University of Florida. To help him manage his schedule better, we sold him our Toyota Camry. He is planning to drive to work and bike to classes.
I took this picture after Josh spent over three hours scrubbing his first “wheels” inside and out.
Ben and Josh had frequent flier miles that were going to expire this year, so they went to Seattle for a five-day trip to spend time with friends. They had a great time and apparently liked this caterpillar statue in a museum.
Our visitors