Dear family and friends,

 

We are doing well in Florida.  Dave still likes his job. I still like taking care of the home.  And boy do we LOVE our first Florida winter!!!  The air is usually warm enough to go without a coat, and since we left the rainy summer season, it sure is sunshiny!  There are a few more people around, here for the golf capital of the US, the warm fishing waters, or the weather and greenery.  But not trying to rub it in, I'll move on...

We have been reading a lot. Dave is reading Who's Who in the Doctrine and Covenants and Wood as an Engineering Material. I'm working on the Horatio Hornblower series, No One Can Take Your Place (Sheri Dew), and botany books. We're both working on the original 1808 Young Sea Officer's Sheet Anchor (which grew from our interest in the Hornblower adventures) and The Work and the Glory: Pillar of Light. I never imagined I would have such a long list of books to I want read. Perhaps our lack cable TV contributes to it...

We are also reading about home loans. And we are realizing that we want a house, we just don't want to pay for it. But perhaps soon, or perhaps next year, we'll bite the bullet. And it's a big one. Home prices here are double what they were in Texas. But I learned something at a home buying seminar recently: it's a lot of money, but with Florida's fast-rising home values, it's a good investment. But the initial sticker shock - it's just so many zeros...

I enjoy my calling in Young Women. They have done small service projects, planned little activities, and learn gradually. We have a big production in March for New Beginnings. We just won the stake basketball tournament. I am surprised at how excited I am for them every time they accomplish anything. Dave and I have gone to their soccer games, plays, and performances. (Who says we don't have kids yet?) I really like the women I work with, too. Without a loving church family, moving so far away to Florida would've been so much harder!

Dave works in the Elder's Quorum presidency. Dave joins the scouts occasionally on canoe trips or campouts. He and a work buddy went kayaking up the Loxahatchee river one day. They saw a few small alligators, portaged their canoe around the spillway, saw lots of new birds and plants, and stopped at the famed "Trapper Nelsons" old cabin for a tour. And Dave only fell in the river once.

We hope to be in Utah this summer and see many of you. We'll keep you posted on our plans. We are grateful for the emails, and especially for all the Christmas cards and news.

Love,

Dave and Liz Robertson