Remembered Blessings: Our Florida Trip 2009

From the beginning our trip to Florida we felt blessed. Stan agreed to drive Triece, my mom and I to Florida on October 17, 2009

We felt that 2 more were with us on this trip...Dad and Jeremy, Triece's son who passed when he was 15. They would have been so pleased that we were taking this trip. They were with us in spirit, I am sure of that. Everytime we turned around there was a wonder, a perfect experience, or a sign. We were blessed.

We stayed in a suite right on the gulf with a great view of the beach and sunsets. It could not have been better. We were all comfortable there.

We arrived at Sunset Beach Suites just before the sunset. We actually watched it from the balcony. ****It was beautiful, as it was for every night we were there. I felt we were blessed.

Next day we went to Honeymoon Beach and Mom picked a bench to sit on while we looked for shells. *****Later when I got the photos back I noticed the bench she was sitting on had Dad's birthday carved into it.

Stan, Triece and I found the most wonderful shells on that beach. It was amazing to me...starfish, pin cushion, tulip shells, conchs..**** I felt we were being blessed with such a variety of shells.

One morning Triece and I got up to watch the sunrise from the beach. *****A seagull came to us and stayed with us for an hour and a half. It was an amazing experience. He would chase all the other birds away and come back. We did not have food. (Seagulls are Jeremys sign) He just wanted us to wait.....for the dolpins. *****5 dolphins came and played in the water in front of us. It was amazing...Triece and I followed the dolphins down the beach for half an hour. Amazing experience.

As we were walking back to our suite Triece said "Well,**** zip a dee do dah" She didn't realize that was a sign from my dad...he would sing that to Cindy.

We went to Siesta Key. Very nice beach. Triece and I waded out to a sandbar. While we were out there we could see something in the water below the surface...****It was a Shark...as big as us. It swam along the shore line and then when it got to us it turned and came directly to us...3 feet away. We prayed...prayed...prayed and it turned and went on it's way. Amazing experience. We were blessed...it wasn't hungry.

While we were at Siesta Key there was a large number of seagulls that came and circled Triece...round and round they went.*****Seagulls are a sign for Jeremy. It felt like a blessing. I stood there amazed at the sight.

We went to Fort Meyers and as we walked along the shore a live starfish floated on the wave to my feet. ****I felt blessed.

Triece and I decided to enjoy this trip from above and we went parasailing.

1200 feet up. It was fantastic. What an experience!

Blessed to have someone to oh and ah with in this moment.

As.we waited for the sunset at Venice it started to sprinkle. It sprinkled enough that Mom put on her rain bonnet. ***Blessed with a Beautiful sunset and a string ray that jumped out of the water....on the way home I realized if I had turned around there would have been a rainbow behind Mom.*****Rainbows are Kayla's sign for my dad.

As we were traveling home I thought of that and then it started to sprinkle. There were trees blocking the view but I knew there would be a rainbow. I even got out my camera and waited for a part in the trees*****Sure enough, there it was..the Rainbow....later as I looked at the photos I even saw gold at the end of the rainbow.....McDonalds golden arches:)

Our last evening we went to Clearwater for the Sunset Festival. Crafts on the pier and musicians playing. As we got to the end of the pier there was a man playing a guitar. ****He was playing "Will the circle be unbroken" the 3 of us knew once again this was a special moment just for us. We stood in quiet emotional rememberance for Dad and Jeremy. Their spirits were with us.

We went back to our suite and Triece, Mom and I toasted to a wonderful trip. **** As we sat on the balcony and talked about our amazing experiences suddenly there was the brightest falling star I have ever seen.

Falling straight down in front of us. Another blessing from above.

When we were heading home we crossed over Tampa Bay bridge and I turned to tell Mom and Triece that when we were in Orlando with Cindy, Tadd and KK. Kayla and I had seen an eagle on one of the poles beside the road....Just as I said that we saw it....*****Oh my gosh..... "Well, there is an eagle flying right there!"

After seeing the rainbow Mom was talking to Marvin on the phone and telling him all that we had seen. She stumbled over her words when she was talking about the dolphins and it came out elephants.

We said that we had seen it all on this trip...What more could we even ask for? And Triece, remembering Mom's words, said we could ask to see an elephant. That would really be a sign from above. Silly Triece.

The next morning we were deciding what to have for breakfast. We drove for a while and I was watching for a Panera sign. Finally we came to an exit that had one...but it was 4 miles away....We never go that far out of our way but this time we did....that is unusual. We finished breakfast and a joke was even made about an elephant before we left. We were going back to the interstate when Stan said "There's an elephant!!" *****Unbelieveable....it was the perfect elephant!!! It was a M.T.Sowers elephant. It was made out of scrap metal and welded together. 15 feet tall and 6 tons of elephant. Yes....this was truly a sign .....