Just a few of the family updates this winter:
Well, this is the winter that never was. We have enjoyed a nice, mild winter so far and the
forecast looks pretty promising for an early, warm spring. (Based on the fact that the groundhog saw his shadow!) That means there was little snow to be shovelled/blown and barn chores were not as demanding as they normally would be. And, using the round bale hay net has saved me a TON of work. Not having to toss several small bales twice a day is great!
Andrew is gearing up to leave for his missions trip to the Dominican Republic very soon. Thank you all so much who have financially helped him make this happen. Please pray for a safe trip and good health. He is also planning on starting back roofing next week. He has been working at Wendy's since January to be able to pay his car insurance and gas bills. He is much happier working outside (takes after his mother!)
Hannah is very happy to have passed her final stage of driving. She now has her full G license, and that means she is legal to drive anywhere at anytime. This is a big accomplishment for her since she has done the whole process in a little over 1 year. For a 17 year old, that is awesome! She continues to enjoy her job at Anna Mae's and is saving up to go back to France next year. She graduates from High School in June, so she is praying about what to do after that.
Leah recently bought her project horse for this year. He is a 7 year old Palomino gelding. He looks like Dixie's twin brother. That is where the
similarities end, though. He is a forward moving horse with great jumping skills. He is also a spoiled brat! His previous owner was a young girl who "spoiled" him by letting him totally dominate her. When we were loading him on the trailer to take him home, he dragged Leah across the lawn several times, tried to bite her, kicked at me, and reared several times. She will have her work cut out for her and hopefully she can do it safely. She has now brought Blaze home from the neighbor's place where she was boarding him for the winter. He has progressed in his Dressage quite well. She is looking forward to starting her show season next month.
Daniel is settling into high school routines. He is quickly learning how to do homework
every night since this semester he has English, Math, and Science (all lots of homework). It is probably a good thing his job is seasonal so he can focus on learning to manage his time. He is still enjoying his photography and
BMX biking. And since winter has been mild, he has had more practice time outside than usual.
Julia is turning into a young lady very quickly. Grade 6 is a transition time for that in school. She has big goals for the summer; find a (paying) job, show her pony, and play softball. She has done a great job being responsible for morning chores and getting herself off to school when I have to leave early for work.
I (Laura) have had a very busy winter. I recently got accepted to a new position, so I am going through a lot of training courses for that in the next two months. I am also taking on the big project of re-doing our kitchen cabinets. This has taken a long time since I am putting on an extra piece of trim around each door/drawer. I do not have enough wood clamps to do more than one door at a time, so each day I glue one more door and wait 24 hours for it to dry. There is a positive side to not having doors on the cabinets. . . it is very easy to get what you need and NO slamming of cupboard doors!
Jim has recently bought a new dirt/road bike. He has been spending many hours getting it ready to go for the nice weather. Since next week's weather
forecast looks warm and sunny, he may get to try it out sooner than expected. That will free up one vehicle for the kids to use and since Leah is going for her G2 next week, this will be really useful.
All in all, it has been a great winter and we have been pretty healthy. (Praise be to God!) Leah avoided a serious injury when she fell off Blaze a couple of weeks ago. No one has had to flu this winter. Andrew avoided serious injury to himself and his car when he
rear ended an SUV in Feb. Just glad to be able to enjoy all of us at home for a few months longer. Next year could be totally different that way!
Andrew recently returned from a missions trip to the Dominican Republic with his SLI class. He had a wonderful trip and thanks all those people who supported him financially and with prayers. Andrew was surprised that these people were soooooo friendly and even with the language barrier, they were always smiling and wanting to play with them. Their team travelled to different schools and ministered to the kids through skits designed to tell them about God's great love for them. The message was translated through a local interpreter and there were over 200 kids that stood up to accept Jesus. There is also a local program to help disciple those same kids in their new life in Christ. One thing he could not get over though was how they drive. He said it was CHAOS everywhere on the roads, especially at the intersections. The vehicle with the loudest horn and craziest driver had the right-away. He said they drove on the wrong side of the road (even at the risk of a head-on crash with an on-coming vehicle) to pass if you weren't going fast enough. No one seemed to obey any traffic laws or lights. Good luck trying to cross the street in town and motorcyclist were "death waiting to happen!"