Picking wild grapefruit in the jungle

Grapefruit season was past when I arrived, but the missionaries 

had found some trees just inside the jungle that still had fruit.  

The meat was white and some had 50 + seeds, but the taste was divine.

The root systems were fascinating.

Abby is holding the ultimate grapefruit picker.

This was the picking crew!

Picking your own was part of the fun!

By our 2nd picking trip, only the super high ones were left.

That required a ladder and the ultimate picker.

Who in this case was Janna....as you can see!

Trip to Orlando Temple

One of my favorite memories of this visit was a one-on-one trip 

to the temple with Janna. That time with just the two of us meant 

so much to me.  We did initiatory names found by the Smith family.

A selfie together at the temple.

The beautiful stained glass windows.

We had lunch together afterwards.

It turned out to be a nearly perfect day!

Easter 2017 in St. Cloud

I was in Florida for Easter 2017

I got to be a part of the Smith's first annual Sader's dinner.

This is what perfect unleavened bread looks like!

The Easter Bunny left a surprise on Saturday morning.

Ammon                                              Sam

Abby                                     Caden

At noon that day we attended the annual

Ranch Easter Potluck and egg hunt.

Andrew goes solo on the homemade teeter totter.

The older kids got to hide the eggs.

NOTE: This seemed like a great place to hide an egg or two

until the ants started biting Andrew's legs. 

The younger kids were the finders.

Sam was a professional hunter in no time.

Caden

Abby was extra beautiful in her new Easter dress on Sunday morning.

Caden, Scott and Abby

There is only one Andrew!

Abby had a special Easter dream.

This is her journal entry.

The Smiths had a private egg hunt at the Church on Sunday evening.

Scott, Taylor and Andrew did the hiding!

The Smith kids on Easter 2017.

Sam had egg finding down to a fine science.

Abby found an egg or two in a tree.

Scott called for an egg hunt to see if all had been found.

Some were unaccounted for so Scott joined the search.

One egg had a $10 bill in it.

Taylor found only one egg, but it was worth it!

One final egg count!

An Easter Family portrait before heading for the Rookery.

The Rookery is a protected area of the 

ranch where 1000's of birds roost each night.

The mote around the area is gator invested

 and keeps other predators away.

I got some amazing gators shots that evening.

Note the over bite on this one.

One of the gators was over 10 feet long!

At one point we counted nine gators watching us closely.

It was a bit unnerving.  

There was some speculation that someone has been feeding them.

It was a lovely place to be at sunset!