GREAT NEWS!!

Jared got engaged to Amelia!!!!! He proposed on the Jungle Cruise at Disneyland. She is a wonderful girl and we are very excited for them. They are getting married on Jan 15, 2010.

Jared worked as a guide on the Jungle Cruise last year. He still works for Disney in the travel department. Amelia has worked there for over five years and that is where they met!

They were so lucky! They got "We are engaged" pins to wear all over the park.

JoAnn went to Utah for Thanksgiving. Rick had to stay and work which was not what he wanted to do but hopefully we both will be coming for Christmas. (We Will!!) Someone is missing in the picture! If anyone has a picture of JoAnn at the table send it to me!

Grandmother Petterborg just loves her great-grandchildren (All of them)

JoAnn and Lori and Grandchildren

In our ward I get to play Scoutmaster and we had some fun this last month trying to build a catapult to learn knots. And we had a court of Honor.

Better late than never. It is about time to update the blog. First, have you ever seen a more handsome grandson? This is Gavin, Lori and Jarom's son and Adia's brother.

It has been a busy couple of months. We had Hurricane Ida (or tropical storm Ida), which caused some great surf and some rain and winds about 40 mph. They did shut our water and sewer off to our home for a while, so we left and went north for the night. I guess the water off the coast was so cold that it couldn't sustain it's wind speeds. That was fine with us.

The sea birds were all facing the wind and would get up and fly in-place for fun. The waves were sometimes 10 feet high, which was twice the usual size.

I came home for lunch and took this picture of what was left of the Eye of Hurricane Ida, right over our condo! We live in the left-most condos on the fifth floor. There was almost no wind as this passed overhead.

This is for our granddaughter Adia! Grandpa and Grandma received your pictures that you colored for us. We put them on our wall in our home. Here is Grandma when she was talking to you today. Thanks for the pictures!

Yesterday we went to the beach and set up our umbrella near our chairs and a little wind came up and our umbrella went flying 20 feet from us and ended up like this! It was funny.

Then we went to the Bawdwin County fair in Robertsdale, Alabama which is about 30 miles from our home. It had the worlds biggest horse and a midway with rides that I bet are 100 years old.
They also had a shooting range and I tred it but I didn't win anything. I need more practice.

They did have some old tractors and I took a picture of this one. It looks like Grandpa Drakes old tractor. I guess my Dad and Uncle Gene also have tractors like this one. I hope someday to get one and drive all over the place and do some farming.

Hi again, from Florida. It is so hard to live here. There is nothing to do. And it is so ugly and dry. I am sure you don't want to come and visit. If you do come be sure to bring your snow gear, the ground is white all over.

Well, we made it a year!! I can't believe that we left our home over a year ago. It really has been an exciting adventure and we have had a blast. Our home here in Florida has the best view and it is so bright you have to wear shades.

We even have experienced near 100% humidity with 90 deg heat. It's not so bad. But my air conditioning went out in my little car and I went right in and had it fixed. And did everyone but us know it rains in Florida? It has rained almost every day the last month or so. It doesn't last all day and it varies what time it rains but when it does it really comes down. The other day there was over 5 inches of rain in a couple of hours. We can hardly see the ground out our windows.

On Labor Day we drove to Biloxi and Gulfport Mississippi to see the area. Hurricane Katrina destroyed quite a bit of the town. Along the gulf coast highway there were only a few old homes and hotels and other buildings left standing. Here is what is left of a motor inn. There is concrete where the parking lot is and here is the swimming pool. There were lots of front porches left but nothing else.

To celebrate our year anniversary we went out to dinner at a neat place called 'The Warf" in nearby Orange Beach, Alabama. And then we had our picture taken in front of our 57 ft yacht. I guess I can dream.

We had the best August you could ask for. Holly and Blake were married on August 14 in the Bountiful Temple. We were lucky we could go and wouldn't have miss it. I am very glad that they came down here in May so we could get to know Blake better. He's the best. It was a very busy and fun time for all of us. They sure make a great looking couple!

Here are a few more of our favorite pics from the wedding.

Guess where we went?

A month ago we went to Orlando and had a blast! It is a short seven hour drive there through the woods of lower Florida. Here in the South we have found that the freeways are lined with lots of trees and bushes and you can't see any cities unless you get off the interchanges.

We had two days to spend in the Park. Jared gave us passes for our anniversary. We visited the MGM Studios and loved the Tower of Terror ride. The same day we went to Animal Kingdom and enjoyed all the bugs (Bugs Life) and the Safari Ride.

The Everest roller coaster ride was Awesome!!

The next day we went to Epcot and boy was it hot and muggy. Of course we visited the China exhibit and ate at the restaurant there. We rode the Test Track and Jo wanted to drive the car but they wouldn't let her... Then we went to Magic Kingdom and rode all our favorite rides even with the large crowds. We heard the electric light parade and luckily we were on a ride and didn't see it (Remember Christmas Day kids). And we saw the fireworks that night.

We are still on the beach enjoying the Sun and Beach here in Pensacola Florida. We went out to eat at "Crabs, we got 'em" at Pensacola Beach and enjoyed walking along the white sandy beach. Last week we returned from Utah and the wedding of our daughter to Blake. It was a great time and we are so happy for them.

We thought we should go eat at the cafe below but it was closed. The 'Road Kill' cafe.. There seem to be armadillos all along the roads wherever we go. I counted 8 one Saturday. I have to say that the cafe was in Southern Alabama, not Florida.

On a serious note yesterday was my Grandmother Emily Drake's funeral. She passed away at the age of 97! She lived a full life and was quickly taken by our Heavenly Father after an unfortunate fall in her home a few weeks ago. She had 169 descendents at the time of her passing! That is quite a tribute to her.

Holly and Blake Visit us in Perdido Key

We has some visitors this past week. Holly and her friend Blake came and we had such a great time showing them around and just having them at the condo. We played some golf (not enough) and did some shopping and did some sight seeing. We went to the beach and got rained on. Holly and Blake did catch some sun around the pool and got a tan. We went to a town called SeaSide that was used as the set for the movie 'The Truman Show'. The trees had all grown up around the houses but it was still cool to be there. We also went on a Dolphin Cruise and saw lots of Dolphins swimming in the bay.

Our move down here from St Charles, MO included a stop at Graceland! It was quite the tourist attraction but it was worth it. He was quite the entertainer and musician and movie star.

Home in Perdido Key, Florida

Well, we moved to Perdido Key, Florida last month to continue with our adventures. Our home is in the greater Pensacola, Florida area and about 5 miles from Alabama. We are living in a 10 floor Building on the Lost Key Golf Course, about 1/2 mile from the beach on the Gulf of Mexico.

We are on the fifth floor and have a great view from the front and rear of our condo. It is a two bedroom with a deck off the living room and master bedroom. We just love it here.

We are about 8 miles from Rick's work and about 10 miles from the Church. We are in the Perdido Ward. There are four missionaries assigned to our ward, which is about 17 miles from top to bottom and about 10 miles wide. Lots of great members. Quite a few are military families.

Hi everyone! I just thought it might be a good idea to start doing a little blog so we can all keep up with the Twitchells'. Their blog is so great!

We have been having lots of fun here in Missouri in our little townhome here in St Charles. I hope to post more pictures of our trips and activities.