Vanishing Turtles

     My granddaughter, Hallie, has been dying to see the turtle that lives in the canal near my home, but as soon as she takes a step towards the canal, he vanishes under the water.  Aiden was actually with me when I took this picture, but I am not sure if he actually saw the turtle or not. I didn't dare say anything and being only 2, Aiden couldn't tell me afterwards if he had seen the turtle or not.

      I have discovered that now there is actually a whole family of turtles living there. On a sunny afternoon, they will all be out sunning themselves, but as soon as they hear your footstep, they vanish all together. It is amazing how synchronized they are.  I was able to take this picture by parking my bike further down the road and then tiptoeing back. I got one picture. Then I took one step to see if I could get closer and they were gone.

Florida

     
     After a week up north, I am really glad to be back in Florida where it is warm.  How could I have forgotten what it was like to be cold so much of the time? The monarch butterfly in the picture above was waiting for us in our enclosed porch when we came home. He had come out of his chrysalis while we were away.  
     We have been here a year now.  Last year we were still getting unpacked at Christmas, so things weren't done in their usual way. This year I felt like I was experiencing a Florida Christmas for the first time. It was a novel experience to listen to Amy Grant singing "Emmanuel" and turn up the sound loud to hear it in the back yard while I watered the garden. Now I am putting decorations away and wearing a tank top. It is nice to be too warm instead of cold in January. I hear the birds through my windows and wonder how anyone could miss the cold snow.
     

Treasure Coast Hot Dogs

     I am sorry to say we had to close Treasure Coast Hot Dogs. We tried to find a way to keep it open, but it just wasn't working out. Despite a lot of positive feedback from customers who loved our restaurant, there weren't enough of them to cover our costs and we can't afford to stay open. I think that in time it would do well, but the expenses are just too great for us to keep paying them in the mean time. John will go back to working for Schmitt Sales as a part time gasoline sales rep. Hopefully, we will be able to find someone to take over our lease on the restaurant.  
     It is actually nice to have things back to normal now that the restaurant is closed. John was working way too hard for too many hours a day and it was too much for me to babysit Aiden 4 days a week. Although we now have financial issues, they are actually less worry than it was to worry every day that there would be enough sales to pay labor costs and not increase our debt. It was nice having a place to play my music, but a lot of the music I like to play wasn't appropriate for a hot dog restaurant and I didn't always do very well playing instrumental arrangements of pop music.  Now I have time for my renaissance guitar and my new ronroco. I even have a gig next week playing my renaissance guitar for an afternoon tea at a retirement community. More about the ronroco later.

Ringing in the New Year

     We left Florida Wednesday morning, December 28th,  at 6 am and drove to my son's home in Maryland, arriving at 10 pm. My husband and my daughter, Marie, took turns driving and I helped to occupy Hallie & Aiden. Hallie was extremely good on the long car ride and Aiden was pretty good for a 2 year old. In Maryland, we finally got to see our new grandson, John Paul, who was born November 20th. We exchanged Christmas presents and John D. gave us gifts he brought back from his trip to China. Thursday night we went to see the festival of lights they have at their botanical gardens.  It was very cold walking around the gardens, but the beautiful lights were worth it.  Hallie & Aiden had a great time. 

Cousins

Hallie dressed as a Chinese Princess

John J., John D., & John Paul

     Friday we drove to my daughter Ruth's home in Pennsylvania and there was just enough snow left for me to help Hallie make a snow man and a small fort. We couldn't believe how much Lorelei has grown since we saw her at Thanksgiving. That night we rang in the New Year with Ruth & Jimmi and some of their friends. 

     On Sunday, January 3, Lorelei and John Paul,  were baptized  at a special mass concelebrated by a priest who is a friend of our family, Fr. Jeff Rott,  and a priest who is a friend of my daughter-in-law. I played my renaissance guitar at the mass and my niece Dominique played with me on some of the songs. I brought the renaissance guitar because it was easier to fit in the car with everything else we had to bring and it's unique sound was a nice touch for the mass in the chapel.  After the mass there was a nice celebration in one of the church's meeting rooms with lots of food for everyone.

John Paul's Baptism Gown is from Assisi, Italy & his blanket made by Sara's Mom.

Lorelei's Baptism Gown was made by my Grandma Sausner

I made Lorelei's sweater and hat.