This was another exciting year. We moved across town, from the north side to the south side of Plant City. My grandparents who had been living in Missouri were moving to Florida and would be our new next door neighbors. My grandfather had always been into real estate and developing new properties. So the property we moved to was part of a bigger piece that was subdivided and trailers moved in. My brother Cody returned from his mission and my sister Mitzi decided to go into one of the houses with him.
Our property was HUGE. There had been an extremely run down house on the property which we tore down and brought in a new trailer. The cement foundation from the old house was so small we turned it into a half basket ball court. There was an old workshop and poll barn that we kept and used for raising chickens and rabbits. There were green houses built from pvc piping and plastic covering. They were really run down. We tore them down partway but there was water piping that had been run underground that we never did pull up. That part of the yard somehow always looked shabby... There was a line of fruit trees in the back yard and a line of pine trees in the front yard. And the road we were on was FULL of pastures with horses and cattle and orange groves.
Before my grandpa moved down from missouri we had gone to visit him and we brought home a new pet. His name was Figaro. He was a black and white tom cat with the same markings as the little cat in the disney movie, Pinocio. Figero loved the new place!
The new house seemed enormous to me! It had two living rooms, one with a GREAT fireplace, an eat in kitchen AND a formal dining area. A master suite and two bedroom with huge walk-in closets that were pretty much half the size of the bedroom. It took a while to get used to all the noises of the new house but it was worth it.
With Grandma and Grandpa next door it was nice to have them at our family dinners and holidays.
This year was one of the first times we had a family reunion at Christmas time. It was a year none of us would forget. It was a hot December. even for Florida, and a lot of our family was miserable about the heat. We went to disney world and had a blast. Then right before Christmas everyone got pink eye. It was ugly but at the same time it kept us all together.
On Christmas Eve they put all us kids to bed in the same room together. I didn't believe in Santa anymore, I had figured that one out. But a lot of the younger kids still believed and that made it magical. Then my brother had a brilliant idea and snuck away. While someone else told everyone to be quiet and listen for Santa's sleigh bells he ran outside past the house ringing some bells. The room went CRAZY with excited children but the adults warned that Santa couldn't actually come to the house till everyone was sound asleep.
I was super excited. I received a beautiful porcelain doll that year. I had wanted one for so long and I look back now and think how silly... I could even play with the pretty thing... But I was happy anyway.
