Impromtu Visit From Amanda, Philip, And Andrew

Friday evening Andrew called and asked if he could come for a weekend visit. We had a lot of fun with the three or them. Dan and Regina spent a lot of time with us as well. Here are some pictures and a video of Philip on the Zip Line. (now what does that remind you of???)

Follow Up on My Traffic Violation

I wanted to let you know that the situation with my traffic citation had a happy resolution. I hired a lawyer, an attorney who lives in that county and specializes in this type of thing, and he represented me at court. I did not have to appear myself (thank goodness, since it's 3 1/2 hours away) and he was able to get my charges reduced from "wreckless driving" to "defective equipment", a non-moving violation. What a relief!

But you can bet I will be keeping a close eye on my speedometer from now on! I ended up spending in excess of $500 after the fines, court fees, and the lawyer. I am just grateful that I will not have any negative points on my license or a misdemeanor on my permanent record. Hiring a lawyer was definitely the way to go!

Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers, and be careful not to speed ;)

The Ermine Castle

Hi Everyone,

This is an old post from Heather, from early January, that she tried to post and then lost. She didn't realize a draft had been saved. Thank goodness for Google Blogger :)

Dear Family,

As I have been completly negligent in posting to this dear blog, here is my first contribution. The children and I have been constructing a snow castle in the bach yard with a brick maker our neighbor Tammie gave us as a gift. It is really fun, although the result is a lot of contractions for me and poor baby Edward.

I am the one doing the constructing, and the children like to sit and eat snow. It is fun though.

- Heather

A Winter Day

Hi Everyone,

I hope Anna had a wonderful birthday yesterday! Anna we love you! It's so hard to believe you are 10! Anna sure likes her stuffed animals. Paul and I were talking last night about how she used to come over to our duplex in Orlando and play with all the beanie babies we had. She would put each one into its own hole in the back of those old rattan chairs. It was so cute and we took a picture of it. I am going to try to find that picture and post it later.

We had what might be our last snow of the season last night; it started out as rain, turned to hail (or a "light wintry mix" as they call it here), and finally to snow. The boys were distracted and so was I so we didn't do any school work.

There is a creek behind our townhouse and some woods. We play in the woods all seasons except for summer when there is poison ivy growing everywhere. The creek is especially fun in the winter when it is frozen. Unfortunately, it hasn't been frozen much this winter, and it isn't frozen now as you can see in these pictures, but the woods are always great for exploring.

Anna's 10

Well it's actually tomorrow, but we had Dan and Regina over tonight for steak and cake. Anna had ALL her stuffed animals lined up on the couch. She won't believe me that she has too many. Some of them actually belong to you older children

God Bless you all.

Grandpa

Please PRAY for this woman Tara.

Dear Family,

I meet this woman on Valentine's Day at a candle shop in the mall. She told me, within the first few moment of speaking with her, that she was going on Friday to have an abortion.

I am venturing back into the mall today to see if she is working. I want to talk to her more, so that perhaps she will be persuaded to keep her child.

Please pray for her and me!

Love, Heather

Happy St. Valentines Day

Dear Family,

Happy St. Valentine's Day. We managed to get in a few homemade valentines. The top one is from Amelia to Jesus. She actually said that all of her valentines were for Jesus. Maybe she is his alone! We will see.

Love, Heather