Friends come for a Visit

This morning we thought of a wonderful lady who has gone on to be with her maker.  Our youngest 2 daughters Kaitlyn and Karalee are actually step daughters of mine.  Their biological father is Ed Aarhus and he has always been a friend of ours and we like to keep him in the family.  I never refer to them as step daughters but I am not their biological dad and because of that they were blessed with grandparents who are not directly related to me.  Ewald and Dorothy Aarhus were those grandparents. Ewald has been gone for a couple years now, and last week Dorothy went to be with the Lord and Ewald.  I only met them a few times myself, but it didn't take long to feel like they were a part of my life as well.  She was a wonderful lady, and a shining example for all of her kids and grandkids.  She loved each and every one of them unconditionally.  She was a lady who lived for everyone else.  She had few needs herself, but rather spent her time making sure everyone elses needs were looked after.  I know both of them will be missed by everyone and I hope that her example will continue to shine down on everyone and that her godly ways will in some way influence everyone who she touched in life.  Our heartfelt sympathies to the whole family and a couple big hugs to my girls.

Ewald and Dorothy Aarhus

Today our friends Ed and Lessie came to visit.  They have been in the shop over near Tampa for a long time and so we haven't seen them as much as we had originally planned.  We were tickled pink when they said they were coming to see us.  We spent most of the day hanging around the Ponderosa chatting and catching up and then headed out to Gator Joe's for supper.  If you remember, we were at Gator Joes a week ago with Laurence and thought it would be a good place to spend the evening with Ed and Lessie.

It was a bit windy on the patio, but it was warm and the view was amazing.  We were out over the water at the far end of the pier so we could look at the lake or back in at the restaurant.

If you have a boat you can come right up to the restaurant and grab your food and either take it away or sit there on your boat and have dinner.  On the other side is the swimming area and you can take your booze or food down on the beach because it is all their property.  The place was packed so it is obvious that everyone loves it.

The young lady who served us and took our picture was excellent and she even stopped for a picture with Ed.  She told us she didn't often allow pictures of her for customers so he must have been special.  

We just spent our evening sitting there, eating and drinking and enjoying the view.  It is a great place to be.

We chatted long enough that the sun began to sink in the west.  Good friends never run out of stories.  Here are a few pictures as it goes over the hill.

Lots of bikers around this area, but they are not really the Hells Angels type. lol  Maybe retired Hells Angels.  

We didn't make it home in time to show you out our window tonight so here is what we saw from the restaurant window instead: