HUNTING ON THE CHURCH RANCH IN FLORIDA

Dear Family,

We traveled to Florida to visit John and Kaley and their new baby, grandchild # 70 who arrived on Christmas Day. The trip was to attend the blessing of the baby in church but we had some other fun things planned. Mom wanted to spend time helping Kaley with th new little guy.

Kaley's uncle Randy is an avid hunter and belongs to a hunting club that leases 20,00 acres to hunt on our church ranch in Florida. Here is a photo of John and Randy on the ranch looking for game.

They don't talk about this much but the church owns a huge chunk of central Florida from Orlando to Coco beach and I am not sure how far north and south. I think it is about 300,000 acres and I can remember when they bought it. My uncle Joesph L. and Elder Henry D. M. bought it about 1947 because they stopped off in New York to visit us before they went down there. Once purchased they sent in the engineering crews and drained swamps and started a cattle ranch on some of it.

Randy hunts on a section called K6 which has cattle. This is 20,000 acres and is the biggest of the 30 hunting leases on the rest of the ranch. There are lots of deer, wild hogs and there are alligators in little puddles of water. The bush is thick and as we drove around the roads, it reminded me of parts of Africa we hunted in the past.

There are 30 hunters in this group who pay $300,000 total a year to lease this hunting property. We drove around the main roads with a 4 wheel drive truck as it had rained heavily and everything was soaked and of course there was no movement of animals. We saw a small buck that was too small to bag. The other way they hunt is with stands and Randy has 30 stands of his own.. these are like the German Hochsitz.

The other way to hunt is on these "Swamp Buggies. These are built on truck chassis, lifted and are about two stories high. The tires are from huge front loaders. We met some of the other hunters in their camp and although they sounded like that guy in the movie, Water Boy, these are successful business men and lawyers who love hunting from these tree stands on wheels. This church ranch is really something!

John and I found a real old fashion raw oyster bar in Orland, the kind my Dad used to take me to in Baltimore. We ate a bucket of oysters and a dozen steamed clams and it was so good. The next day we found another site in Ocala and that one may have been a mistake. In the evening, we went with Kaley's parents to a really nice restaurant and I had fish. Well by 1 AM all the seafood tried exit my body quickly every hour and I was really down. Could not go to church the next day so they decided not to bless the baby this time and I have spent the last four days getting over this seafood binge. We were able to travel home on the plane. Rob and I discussed the antibiotics and he called in a prescription.

Mom visited with Kaley's parents who put on a huge dinner of smoked meats. I can't believe I am well enough to write about all this. We had a great time apart from the above. I had a lot of fun with little Grant. We will probably go down in May for John's graduation from law school. I will probably not eat so much sea food.

Love, Dad and Mom

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST

Dear Family,

We have season tickets to the Hale Center Theater which is a theater in the round. There is a small central stage and the seats are arranged around this circular stage.

They do marvelous things with the stage settings. They do great plays and musicals and are thoroughly delightful. They do "Guys and Dolls', 'Fiddler on the Roof', and 'Phantom of the Opera' and they are all well done.

Friday Mom and I, along with Dave and Ann W., VL and Marilyn K. went to see and Oscar Wilde play, "The Importance of Being Earnest" which is a classic.

This little group are friends from our old missions 54 years ago. It is a dinner date with wives and then to the theater. We try out different places. VL brings chocolates for the intermission.

The play is about mistaken identity and even unsure identity. It was so well done. The old movie about this play followed the lines perfectly and is worth watching on Tuner Classic Movies.

After the closing curtain, the actors and actresses are lined up in the lobby where all can chat with them. The costumes are great and can even be rented. We had a fabulous time.

big family news:

Al of course was waiting to have her 7th baby. She called me late last night and reported she was making waffles for the family in case she had to go in. She made 64 waffles and a bunch of beans. That in itself was a sign that birth was near. She went into my old hospital, Providence on nine mile in the middle of the morning and delivered a 9 pound baby boy. This was an easier delivery than the last one. She sounded so great and happy and what a blessing it is in every case.

That was grandchild # 70. Way to go Al!!!!!

We are off the Temple for two weeks as they carry out refurbishing. We are going to Florida to visit John and Kaley and participate in the blessing of # 69.

Plans for our big family reunion on our 50th wedding anniversary are moving along. Am also keeping busy with my new church calling.

Love, Dad and Mom

NEW YEAR AND CATHY'S LIGHT SHOW

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Dear Family,

We have ushered in the New Year and I can't believe it is 2010. It will be a big year for us. We will celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary with I hope a total family reunion that Mom and several of you are diligently planning. It will be great.

New Years Eve was spent at Cathy and Pete's. Cathy went all out and prepared a German dinner with Wienerschnitzel, Spaetzeli, Sauerkraut and Rotkohl and it was delicious. It was fun being with her kids and just blarbing the time away.

Cathy and Pete go all out on Christmas with decorations. They decorate their whole front yard with colored lights. There is a Charlie Brown Snoopy Creche (Krippe) and the whole thing is computer linked to a FM radio station that plays Christmas music. Cathy is using my mission laptop to coordinate music and lights. The video tells it all.

It is winter now and it is cold as it is around the entire country.

We have had snow and the deer have moved into the backyard again. Little Maryanne once asked, "Opa are those your deer?" I suppose they are for a while and they do not realize how dangerous it might be. These are Mule deer with their huge floppy ears.

We had our former sister missionary now Liza Egburt, her husband, Jared, and little guy Caleb over for another German dinner and with the Austrian and German holiday music in the background we were back in another place and time. She is tutoring college level organic chemistry and keeping track of their little "scooter" of a boy. Jared, works for Wels Fargo bank. It is such a thrill to observe the lives of our former missionaries unfolding.

We wish you all the best in the New. May Heaven watch over you all. Oh, I have begun to give the grandkids their Blessings and it has been such a sweet experience.

Love, Opa and Oma