Florida Trip 2011 ~ Mark and Carrie's Sealing!

In August Landen and I were lucky enough to go back to Florida for a VERY special event.  I was privileged to teach Carrie Paxton while on my mission.  Her husband, Mark, was a member.  Well...a little over 2 years after Carrie got baptized her and Mark were able to go to the temple to be sealed for time and all eternity!!!  It was the first time through the temple for both of them and Carrie wanted me to be her escort.  Wow.  That was such an incredible experience.  I felt so loved :)  She is so special to me.  When she told me they were going and that she wanted us to come I wasn't sure how it was going to happen...but in all good things the Lord provides a way.  He definitely made this trip possible.  I learned a valuable lesson during this time also: There are just some things in life that are wwwwaaayyyy more important than a couple more dollars in my savings account!  It was worth having to work a little harder with the finances to be there in the temple to see these amazing people become a forever family.  Thank you, Carrie and Mark, for letting us be part of your amazing day!!!  I'm so grateful to have you in our lives!  I can't wait for the day when they are able to get all the kids sealed to them also :)  I'm so thankful for the blessings of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Here are some pictures from the big day:

Orlando Florida Temple

The next day we had a party at Siesta Key Beach to celebrate their sealing with family and friends!  Believe it or not, I didn't take one picture at the beach!  AH!  I don't know what I was thinking.  But here's one a friend took while we were there:

Lara, Jenny, Abby and Me :)  I love these girls soooo much!

After we ate and chatted Landen and I went out in the water with Lara to just float and relax and talked! Love that lady. We were out there for quite a long time!!!  It was beautiful!  But I made two teensy-tiny mistakes before we went out there..1. We watched "Soul Surfer" 2. We watched Shark Week all week!!!  Dumb. I know.  One of the interesting facts we learned was that Florida was ranked the #1 Deadliest Waters for shark attacks...luckily we survived!!!  I tried not to let my legs dangle too much.  HA! 

It was such a short but fun filled trip!  Our plane left Utah at about 1:00 am and we got to Florida at about 9:30 am.  We tried to sleep on the plane, but you know how that goes!  We actually did a lot better with our energy levels than I expected when we got there.  We first visited my friends in Tampa, the Hopegood Family.  I just love them!  We relaxed and chatted and then went to lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings (Landen was sooooo happy!).  We were able to visit some friends in the Sarasota area while we were there: The Santos Family (some of Landen's friends), The Parisi Family (even if we had to stand outside so we didn't go into the sick contaminated house!), The Dixon Family, and Chrys Daniel's family (Bo, Allison & Todd & kids).  It was awesome!  We stayed with Chrys and Bo a few nights and she made us some amazing food...oh how I missed her food!!! It was the nicest thing for her to open her home to us...we're pretty much family.  It was great to just be able to HANG OUT with all these people now that we're off our missions.  I loved every minute of it.  Of course we spent time with the Paxton's which was wonderful.  On Sunday we went down the the area where I spent 9 months of my mission.  We went to church in Port Charlotte/North Port.  It was great because I got to see so many people all in one place.  It brought back so many memories.  We visited with one of my friends, Vic. I became very close to him and his wife (who passed away this past year) while I was there and it was like old times being able to visit with him, though we did miss having Jen there. 

It was such a packed vacation and I am so grateful we were able to go!  It was sad to leave.  I can't wait until we can go back again!  Next time we'll plan more ahead so we can stay longer :)  I love Florida!

Now get this: 2 of the people I wanted to see when I was in Florida were Margaret and Joni.  (I taught Margaret and helped teach Joni's husband Bob)...but guess where they were???  UTAH!  What are the odds???!!!  It was so random!  They had come out here to go to Education Week at BYU.  Luckily we got back and were able to go to dinner with them and some of my companions.  It was incredible to see these 2 women.  They are such strong members of the church and have fully embraced the gospel and have gone to the temple and fulfill their callings...I just love them!  It was fun to talk and catch up and see them in this stage of life.  They are such incredible examples to me!  I didn't get to talk to Bob while I was in Florida, I saw him but wasn't able to meet up with him.  I was telling Joni that and she said that was too bad because Bob really liked me...she said that I did something special for him while I was there.  I had no idea!  Wow.  I love these people so much!  I'm so grateful for the time I was able to spend in Florida.

Me, Michelle White (Sis. Kinyon), Tiva Palmer (Sis. Harash), Margaret, Joni