Jan 1st...

Happy New Year!! 2016 here we come can hardly believe 2015 is over. And you know what else Jan 1st is? My 4th year in the work. My worker anniversary , a joyous day for me. Happy way to think about starting a new year. Been such good 4 years... So diff and much better than I ever thought and also more struggles than I ever thought. But isn't that life serving God?  God has kept tho and it's the best life ever!! So many others to help hold my hands up along the way too. 

     Today our day consisted of starting off in a  Trinidading home. Great fellowship, laughter and food. 

Lots of garlic & ginger they used. 

Fried Plantains ... Which I love! Shrimp , fish, rice & lentils. Use ham bone to flavor rice & lentils .

Then we came to a Jamaican family for supper. 

Fresh sweet corn picked yesterday ... Boiled w Ham bone, curry chicken, beef foot(my first time ), squash, sweet & regular potato , 2 other root veggies, salad, beans and carrot, Apple ginger drink . 

More good fellowship and warm welcome , taught this sweet smart gal to knit! She's a quick learner  , fun to see her enjoy it! 

That's my New Year's Day, off to a good start for a good year.  Hope yours was also !!😀🎊

A family fun night

Tonight staying w a dear , fun,  sweet & great family ! 

A little Chinese food, Turkish coffee 

Lively fast Catch phrase game 

And umpa umpa game, and measured her for her casket. Some fun games to cool her off, she was a good sport 😉. 

   Umpa umpa is where you have two ppl facing each other sitting on a chair. The one does some moves and sounds and the other follows along doin the same thing . In the part where they are standing up the person standing by (me in pic) puts a wet washcloth on the chair then the person sits down on it they are very surprised ! This pic was after she sat down . 

Just the evening I was needing !! It's great to be able to join in and be a part of ppls families !! Serious talks, fellowship and fun. 

FL snowman

Baking baking baking

Today I got to bake! Doesn't happen to often , stayin w a lady who bakes all sorts of pies & cookies . She had a fun Cook magazine called " 100 best cookies" . Looking through it I got inspired so this is what came out ! 

 

Melted snowman cookies ... Mixing MN & FL together !!

Heath crunch chocolate biscotti

The snowman looks neat and are fun and the biscotti taste good 😜 can't always get both together ! 

Gator land

So much to show from gator land it needed its own blog . Brought my parents and Sheila there too !! They have over 1000 gators and some crocks too . 

Was awesome 

Baby gators 

Young gators 

Gator wrestling , showing how easy it is to open the gators jaw.

There was a fence between us. They had lots of water and sunny places to lay.

We saw em & we ate them . Gator tail... A little chewy and rubbery but not bad. Deep fried helps too I'm sure.

 A show where they would feed them chicken and get them to jump for it. 

White gators !! Who would have thought 

Friendly gator 

We left w all toes and fingers too !! Was really neat to see. Big area and very natural . Also had goats, birds, Panther, deer, turtles and other animal. Lots of shows and comedy.

Parents flew south

My parents came to visit me !!!😃 Or maybe warm Florida , eaither way I was happy to be w them . Early mornings, late nights, sight seeing, good fellowship , laughs and lots of running around . Great families to be w too here .

Dad got to see how farming goes here. Didn't want him getting homesick !

     First we went to Epcot 

  

Good foods, fun rides and lots of walkin around. 

French sandwiches for lunch 

Marco for supper, lamb & grape leaf wraps.

Mama n me.... Dad is really learning how to become a photographer he even thought of it on his own .

One of the friends took us up flying around Orlando . This is cut in someone's tree grove . .... Yes close to Disney .

Got a day w some friends at the lighthouse , lunch by the water . Saw dolphins swim by.

Only 90 mi from Cuba, this is what they used to try and make it across .can you imagine.

Kennedy space center 

So you see we had a wonderful crazy busy yet relaxed week!! 

The grand arrival

They came out in a blurry but they are in FL for a week!! Happy they are here. 😀Now to introduce them to the friends here and a taste of FL. They brought a homemade treat too ...Gmas lefsa !!