First Day in Florida with Grandpa Marvin 1/10/2014

On the morning of January 10, 2014, Grandpa Marvin, Janna, Ammon 

and I headed for Blue Spring State park to see the manatees.

This sign reads in part: " Manatees are rarely seen here during the warmer months.  

The temperature of Blue Springs is a constant 72 degrees while the St.Johns River

 may vary from 85 degrees in August to 50 degrees in February.  When the river 

temperature drops below that of the spring run, the manatees return to stay in or 

near the source of water water.  Escape from the cold is essential to manatee survival.  

Prolonged exposure to water below 60 degrees kills them...Manatees give birth to a 

single calf which is suckled at milk glands located at the base of the flippers.  

Though the calf beings feeding on aquatic plants when about two months old, 

it will continue to suckle and be carefully guarded by its mother...

 This is a unique spring.  This sign reports, "Blue Spring...is the 

largest spring on the St. John's River.  Each day, about 100 

million gallons flow from the spring to the river between the 

evergreen banks of Blue Spring run..."  That is enough water 

for every citizen of the Orlando metropolitan area to consume 

50 gallons of water per day, with some left over. The Blue Spring 

water source is the Floridian Aquifer which is 

replenished by the annual rainfall in the area.

There was a manatee mom and baby near where 

the water bubbles up out of the ground.

This dark spot is the entrance to the under ground cave.

Beneath the surface is an underground cave that scuba divers can explore. 

This spring is really without bottom as it opens into the Floridian aquifer itself.


Grandpa, Ammon and Janna near the signs
with information about the park and spring.

  Grandpa and Ammon are headed back along
the boardwalk to the Blue Spring outlet.


We stopped at the gift shop that features this amazing mural.

Grandpa and I paused long enough for a tourist's picture by the mosaic manatee.

 Here is another manatee we saw along the way.  There were over 270
manatee counted in the park the day we were there.  A cold snap before we
 arrived forced more than usual numbers of this gentle, but odd creature into the park.

A single family homesteaded this area and build this home in the Civil 

War days.  The husband was taken captive for being a northern sympathizer

 and left the wife and children to survive on their own until the war was over.

Grandpa, Ammon and Janna near the out let into the St. John's River.

This shot shows where the spring meets the river. 

Of course we stopped before leaving the park for a picnic.

Just as we were about to start eating, this beautiful cardinal
appeared out of nowhere.  Its appearance was so sudden it almost
took our breath away.  As Janna has alwaysassociated Grandma Marvin
with cardinals, she felt this was a sweet symbol to let us know that Grandma
was pleased that we were there together and had stopped by to check on us. :) 

January is considered one of the "Fall or Autumn" months in Florida.  

This shows some of the autumn color that we saw.

Like Washington, even the dead wood in Florida
is green as new life springs our everywhere.


The vegetation is as incredible as the animal life.

Spanish Moss is every present--making the trees
look bearded and a bit spooky in dim lighting.

 

 This tree has new life growing around it although it was destroyed by lightening.

AFTER OUR PICNIC WE HEADED FOR PARADISE BEACH!

This was Grandpa's first view of the Atlantic Ocean.  He has seen 

the Pacific Ocean many times in his Navy years, but Amy's 14th 

birthday was his first chance to experience the Atlantic.

 It was high tide and BIG waves pounded the shore.  

 Grandpa Marvin and I.

 We just stood on the beach and tried to take in the energy,
majesty and power that confronted us.

 There were few shells that day, but we did
see a small jelly fish that had washed ashore.

The foam around this seaweed disappeared within
seconds as the porous sand gobbled it up. 

A few fearless surfers worked to get beyond
the pounding waves to do snatch some action.

Janna and Ammon as we head back to the van. 

Grandpa stopped to talk to the life-guard who obviously thought 

it was chilly as she hadn't donned her usual bikini attire.  She gave him 

a very rare piece she had found along the shore. 

Grandpa and Ammon visited while Janna and I sprayed off the sand and sea water.

Ammon with the shells he found.  He carried them clear home!

That evening, Grandpa and I attended the Orlando Temple with Scott, 

Janna and Glen Sullivan, Scott's friend from Malaysia.  The Bishop's wife
came along to entertain Ammon while we did an endowment session.
We stopped for a Firehouse Sub on our way home. :)

Andrea's graduation from MATC 1/8/2014

Andrea officially graduated from MATC on January 8, 2014,

at the Mountain View High School in Orem. (Home of the Bruins!)

 Yes!  The pink high heels were a necessity! 

 Andrea receives her diploma from MATC's President: Clay Christensen, 

with Utah County Commissioner, Gary J. Anderson next in line.

Apparently Dad was surprised that she made it! 

 But her head instructor: Shelley Merryweather had no doubts!

We decided to go out for a milk shake at Arctic Circle to celebrate.

This is the look of anticipation! 

Let the celebrating begin! Dad had a LARGE raspberry shake, 

Andrea a Twix shake, and Mom a caramel pecan shake.  YUM!

This is the look of supreme disappointment as the last spoonful disappears. :)

New Year's Day 2014

A snow activity has been our New Year's Day tradition.  So...we decided 

to hike at Bear Canyon Campground, but there was a big gate barring the way!

 It was a gorgeous winter day on the left...

and on the right!

Andrea, Dad, Colton and Malea were undaunted by the gate. 

 We hiked up to Ponderosa Campground.  We saw some mountain lion

 hunters on our way.  They had metal sleighs hooked to the back of 

their snowmobiles.  That's where their hounds ride!

  Mom at Ponderosa Campground.


 The fabulous four!
 

 There was definitely some fun brewing, but who was the mastermind?

 We had some daytime fireworks left over from July 4th.  They each have 

a little parachute in them.  We used the fire pit grill as the launching pad.

 The smoke indicates a successful launch!

 Notice the tiny blue parachute fluttering down, slightly right of the picture's center.

 Andrea gathered up the only two survivors.

Colton was all over the next event: Building a Sparkler BOMB!

Dad and Colton taped a whole box of sparklers together to 

get a feeling for how dangerous this experiment would be.

 Andrea was our ignition tech!

 Wow!  That was it? 

 So--- Dad and Colton taped two times as many together with a slightly new design.

 Our ignition tech pauses to document the 2nd generation sparkler bomb.

 We got twice the flame but no explosion. ):

 So we made the BIG Kahuna with all that were left! It was high 

tech and as you can see-- required the proper positioning of the tongue.

 The BIG Kahuna was launched from the pole fence. 

 Dad takes cover just in case!

 We have ignition!

 We have a BIG flame...but no explosion! 

 These are the BIG Kahuna's charred remains.  Our conclusion is that an 

actual sparkler bomb would require the larger sparklers and many boxes 

taped together.  Do not try this at home without an adult present.  

Preferably a responsible adult.  (That may cut some out:)

 We were too tired to make a toast when we welcomed the New Year

 at midnight, so we packed our sparkling juice in for a toast in the out of doors.

 We made a toast for prosperity, happiness, growth, success and world peace! 

 We wrote "2014" in the snow in honor of the occasion. 

 Andrea plans on another year of......Attitude!

 This was a lovely little spring that we passed by on our way back to the road.

Malea and Colton bringing up the rear.

 This is a panoramic shot taken while we were talking about all the

 events we anticipate in the New Year.  We suspect 2014 will 

be another wonderful year for our family.  We can hardly wait!