Hi Family,

As I'm sure you've noticed, the posting frequency on this blog has taken a plunge.  I know everyone stays really busy with life, but Andrew and I miss hearing about what is going on, so we decided to try something new.  We will pose questions to all of you in this post and you can answer them in the comments.  That way everyone can see them.  It will almost be like chatting on the phone (almost).

Dad, Mom, Maria, and Anna: How have the animals been?  Any new ones we should know about? How is the new roof coming? What kind of projects are the girls working on in school/class?  Any new plays for Maria in the future?

Holly and Paul:  How are the boys adjusting to their new home?  Are they enjoying exploring all the land?  What has been the biggest challenge to getting settled in for you guys?  Do you feel like you are (getting) more organized now than before?  Have you planted any crops?

Sandy and Matt:  We do pray your home sells soon and it looks amazing after all the work you've done on it. Have you closed on the new house already? Do you know when you are moving? Have you guys traveled or had any visitors this summer (is it the year for Matt's family reunion?).  How is your carpo tunnel syndrome doing, Sandy? How is Ellie's dog agility training coming along?

Heather and David:  I bet you are getting excited to meet your new little one.  When is the due date? Next month, right? Have any of the kids made any recent bedroom swaps (i.e. David getting his own room, or all three moving in together?).  Do David and Amelia take any classes like dance, gymnastics, karate, T-ball etc.?  What are their favorite activities?  Do you like your new neighborhood?  Are there more kids around than at the town home? Have you gone to any balls or galas recently?

Daniel and Regina:  Don't you finish up your course work soon, Dan? Do you graduate end of summer or end of next semester? Congratulations! How is work for Regina going?  Has she made significant advancements in the past couple of years with her job? Is she still in the same job as when you guys first moved there?  Do you guys get to travel around the New England area alot? Do you have a favorite little getaway spot?

Tristan and Elizabeth:  How has the summer internship been going?  Are you in NY or is it some other place?  What is Alistair up to these days?  Does he have a favorite TV show, genre, or character?  Do you get to visit with the Bartons a good amount (They are pretty close, right)? Has the weather been pleasant this summer for many outdoor activities?

Ok, as for us: We just did a big bike trip recently where we followed the Danube River all the way from Regensburg to Vienna.  The kids had a blast and we met lots of interesting people along the way.  It was so nice to get to really see and experience the Austrian countryside. Philip has been taking Ju Jitsu for about 2 months and he loves it.  It is really teaching him how to pay careful attention to the instructor and implement the moves.  He does it for an hour from 5-6 and then he stays at the gym while Andrew does his class from 6-8.  All in all, ju jitsu nights are really fun for him!

Well, I hope you like this new format we are tying.  We hope to hear back from you guys and feel free to post your own questions in a separate post!

Love,
Andrew and Amanda

Dorothy was helping me put away her pajamas and spied a pair of Black Patent Leather Shoes I had put away for winter at the back of her drawer.  She said "oooooh shoes", and immediately sits down to put them on.  Some of you may remember that Ellie had a fascination with shoes and Dorothy is following in her footsteps.  

Spring in South Carolina

It's finally spring here in South Carolina.  Normally I spend all my free time outdoors in springtime, but this year I've been inside so much that I almost missed it.  We started planting our vegetable garden in late February, and then we got serious about selling our house and the remodeling began.  The nice big garden Matt and the boys tilled for me lays pretty much empty. Perhaps someone else will enjoy the spot. 

My fruit trees don't need any help form me to produce though, so they are heavy with figs and peaches.  The apple trees are bare, I think the buds were killed by a late frost.  Oh, and we'll have late raspberries.

  And our chickens are thriving.  We added a few Black Australorps to our flock to replace the hens that did not make it through the winter.  They are extremely gently chickens that do well in captivity so I think they will do well for us.  And the kids really love them.

We are hoping to list our house next week, so please keep us in your prayers.  We still have some finishing to do, and lot's of painting.  It's been difficult for me because I've developed Carpel Tunnel Syndrome, and anytime I work with my hands it get's worse.  The hard part is sitting around looking at all the work that needs to be done, and not doing it.  There's an upside to everything though, and it has allowed me to get more reading time in with the kids(as long as one of them holds the book). 

Cruise to the Mediterranean

Hi everyone!  Amanda, the kids, and I went on a cruise out of Rome recently, stopping in Turkey, Cyprus, Israel (2 days), Crete, and Naples (near Pompeii).  I posted some pictures on facebook, but here are some Boyd family specials.

Philip was overjoyed to be at a train station.  He has been looking sharp as every with some David Ermine Jr. clothing brand jacket.

We found a roman catholic mass on Crete.  They sang one English song, the Sactus and Our Father in Latin, so we were able to follow along a bit.  I butchered the songs in Greek as I tried to pronounce contemporary Greek with my limited education in Biblical Greek.

Philip and Amanda are trying to found out way through Pompeii.

This is a Roman road in Pompeii, covered for nearly 2000 years by 20 feet of ash.  It was very well-preserved, and one can see the ruts from chariot wheels that slowly wore down the stones.

Entrance to the amphitheater.  Tristan...Dan...want to try and translate this?

Amphitheater.

Philip and Amanda on a castle wall in Alanya, Turkey.  The horizontal space above was where a large piece of wood...would have been to hold the stones and mortar as they settled.  It has since rotted away.

Stella at the beach in Turkey.

A monastery in Cyprus.

Stella at n Amphitheater in Pafos, Cyprus.

Philip and I at the Jordan river.  This site is where some entrepreneurial Israelis have turned baptisms in the Jordan river into a ridiculously over-commercialized business, totally targeted for American evangelicals.

Jerusalem

At Golgotha.  Philip didn't make it to the 11th station.

Our last day in Rome, we had lunch with 5 of my classmates from ICAS in New Hampshire.  They are studying theology there, less than two years away from ordination.  It was a lot of fun and we shared a lot.  Too much detail to divulge here.  For those that are interested, we can talk on the phone.

Happy Birthday Eddie!

Our darling little Eddie has turned two.  Happy Birthday to the little joyful rascal that can always make us smile.

Happy Easter!

We went to the Easter vigil tonight at Most Precious Blood.  I have always loved the Easter vigil Mass since the first time I was involved with RCIA about 5 years ago.  Beautiful ceremonies, beautiful reading, beautiful psalms.  We had 8 new Catholics with big smiles.  I hope you all enjoy/enjoyed your Easter Mass as much as I did.

May the Lord bless you and keep you

I love you
Dad/Grandpa

Squirrel trouble.

About 8 years ago, Daniel and his friend Josh (Andrew's friend too) were building a pew for some lady friends of theirs that prayed together.  One of the them bought a one gallon jug of wood glue. I have used some on and off over the years.  The last time was about 3 weeks ago to fix one of the kitchen chairs.  I left it out on top of a box I had built to hold my collets for the lathe.

I went out this morning and noticed that my box was covered with glue.  a squirrel had chewed a hole in it, and of course it didn't chew the whole near the top.  The box had a slide in slide out lid which mean that on 3 sides the sides are higher than the lid.  The glue had puddled up about 1/2 inch on the lid and very little had actually flowed over the side.  Fortunately the glue was only partially dried.  It took me 20 minutes or so to scrape the glue off the top.  I spent another 15 minutes trying to scrape out of the groove, the glue that was holding the sliding lid in place.  I finally ended up breaking the lid in pieces and prying it out the best I could.  I still need to chisel out some of the residue and make a new lid.

I hate squirrels.

May the Lord bless you and keep you

I love you
Dad/Grandpa

A little of this and a little of that

 

We have been so busy, I realized that I never posted pictures of Miss Dorothy's Birthday, so here she is!  We celebrated with a small family party and lot's of cupcakes.

After Christmas I talked Matt into a bathroom remodel.  We had fun and learned alot along the way.  Above is what it looked like after we had replaced the subfloor.  And below is what it looks like now.  We just have to finish up a few minor details like replacing he outlets and adding transitions. 

And last weekend I pulled up my old raised beds in the garden and Matt tilled up a larger garden area.  The boys helped with the tilling, and later raked it all smoothe.

And last, we added a new member to our family.  A standard poodle Puppy, Dreamer.

And because it's cute, here's Dorothy riding Nava.