Trip to Florida

I just got back from a week long trip to Florida with my mom, aunt and sister. It was a really wonderful time. The four of us flew to Jacksonville and drove an hour to Lake City so that we could have a funeral service for my grandma. When we got there on Tuesday, we checked in with the funeral home, bought flowers and headed over to the cemetery so we could look at the different grave sites of family members. We cruised the mall and just hung out. We also drove by the house we lived in with my grandparents when I was in the first grade (my dad was in Thailand that year) and I was so surprised to see that it was abandoned and so small from what I remembered it being. It was so crazy.

Wednesday we had the funeral service in the morning and were pleasantly surprised to meet some of Grandma's cousins. Several of them came to the service and it was nice to see them and talk with them. After going back out to the cemetery we changed clothes and headed down town for lunch. We met Helen and Polly (grandma's cousins) at another cemetery to see grave sites of more ancestors. I evidently come from a long line of Latter Day Saints. In fact, Arthur Douberly and his wife were baptized in 1897 and were considered pioneers in that area. Who knew? We had a crazy ride looking for Jeanette's house and laughed until we had tears. We did eventually find her and had a great visit with her.

Thursday, we headed to Ft. Myers to see my mom's cousin Bonnie. We spent two days with her and her family and laughed alot while she shared stories with us about my great grandparents, grandma and Inabell (Bonnie's mom and grandma's sister). Bonnie took us to do some souvenir shopping and to the beach. We ate lunch on the water at a place called Nervous Nellie's and it was really good.

Saturday we headed back to Lake City where Mom, Ink Dink and Missy dropped me off at Helen's. They headed back to Jacksonville since their flight was leaving Sunday morning. I spent the night with Helen and had a wonderful time getting to know her and learning more about my ancestors. We went to church together on Sunday and I was able to meet more relatives. After church, Helen and I ate lunch and visited with Geneva until it was time for me to head to the airport.

I had the best time with the four of us being together. I know my grandma would have really liked that we were able to take this trip together and spend time reminiscing about her and her relatives. I was also excited to learn that so many of our relatives are LDS and that I actually come from mormon pioneers. So exciting. I love my family and I will always remember this trip and the great time my mom, sister and aunt and I were able to spend together.