| 5-14-05 Hello All, Well I am so far behind in these newsletters it�s not even funny. I need to write about the last year and a half!! Instead of boring you with a 15-page document (which I will not take the time to write anyway), I will just try and hit the high points. We made it through the ordeal of building a house and living in a travel trailer for 8 months. It was the worst winter (2003/2004) in 20 years around here! We had weeks of weather in the teens, we had over a foot of snow. Our power was out for days, our water lines froze, our wellhead froze, and the sewer line froze. The car was stuck in the driveway for 2 weeks, and all this while living in a 32 ft travel trailer, boy did we have fun! Somehow we made it through the winter and dealing with the homebuilder and sub contractors, we did need to insist on several occasions that they follow the blueprint and we did stress to the plumber that the drain on the bathtub needed to go downhill! It was our job to paint the inside and outside of the house, ask me how much paint, raw drywall can soak up! It took us nearly two weeks part time to get all the painting done. We finally moved in last spring. It�s a well built, simple home that meets our needs. Well after that we went on a selling and buying spree! We sold the travel trailer, tent trailer, Nissan pick-up and my trusty fishing boat! We paid cash for a 99 Ford Expedition and a 1976 19� cuddy cabin boat. This gives us a bigger rig to haul kids around when needed and I hope the bigger boat will encourage the family to go with me boating. Other family stuff, Cody has been home schooled this year (first grade); he and Lorelei are doing a great job. Not sure if they will continue next year or not. Lorelei has been babysitting 2 little boys, one 3 yrs old and the other 18months, she has had her hands full! Lorelei went through some treatment for skin cancer. She had a spot cut from her face up near her left eyebrow, and then she went through a treatment where she applied a cream that interacts with the cancerous spots on her face. She spent four grueling weeks, enduring pain and discomfort. Her doctors were surprised that she completed the treatment (they said many do not because of the pain). They next want do the same treatment on her chest, but she says after summer she will do it, the idea is for the surface area cancer to be removed before it goes deeper (that�s probably not a good explanation, but it�s the simple way I understand it). Jonathan has a mouth full of braces! He has not really complained much except that he does not like some of the food restrictions placed on him (Jon does not like food restrictions!). Recent family stuff, Jon just finished up track season. He is 13 and in 7th grade, he competes in middle school, which is 6th thru 8th grade. He is an awesome runner and jumper. Coaches and competitors are taking notice. He high jumps 5�2� and runs the 400 in just barely over a minute. He runs the 1500 in 5 minutes 2 seconds. At the recent regional finals he took first place in the high jump, first place in the 400 meters and 3rd place in the 1500 meters behind two 8th graders. He is also on the 1600-meter relay team (4 members, each run 400 meters, which is once around the track), these guys are awesome! Each member can run the 400 in about 1 minute, it doesn�t really matter who runs which leg. They are undefeated and easily won the regional race. Adam (15, freshman) is really into music these days. He saved his money and bought a drum set around Christmas time, (boy is it loud!), he has them set up down in a covered area near the shop, he practiced constantly throughout the winter, even in freezing temperatures. For the past month or so he has been playing the guitar as well as the drums. He has been practicing after school at one of the local churches with some other young people. His band played at the annual High School May Day festival. He plays Christian Rock type music. He has been asked to be a part of the youth music group at the local church on Thursday nights. Keep in mind this young man has never had a formal music lesson! You would never know it to hear him play. One nice side note to his music, he often asks his mom to sing with him while he plays the guitar, what an awesome sound they have together! Cody is doing great at home schooling, he reads, spells and does math well beyond what he would be doing in public school. He does yearn to see his friends though, and because we are so far from most of them, we may decide to return him to public school next year. He loves legos and art projects and he keeps us challenged and laughing on a daily basis! Around the ranch I am just trying to keep my head above water, mowing, weeding, planting the garden! The boys and I built a �chicken tractor� (a moveable chicken coop, chicken yard, nesting thingamabob) the idea is to move the chickens around the yard so they will eat the weeds, which cuts down on the supplemental food they need, they will also in turn fertilize the grass. So of course I �overbuilt� it, which makes it heavy and hard to move, oh well, I didn�t want it to fall apart! Any way it�s big enough for 5 of the chickens and the other 4 now have the run of the old coop. In other animal news we have one duck sitting on a bunch of eggs! She hatched 5 or 6 ducklings last year. We will need to find homes for most of them if she hatches more this year. Anyone want a cute little duckling? Shaq the cat has been missing for several weeks now, we are not sure if he is out on his annual spring romp or if he is gone for good. Queenie our new Australian Shepherd is a great dog and she is good company for Buddy the old Golden Retriever. Other projects on the list for this spring is to finish getting the boat ready for the summer, put a roof on the �boat port� the boys and I built last fall, put in a sliding glass door in the master bedroom and finish up the �outdoor kitchen�, OK I will stop the list there because I think I have already surpassed the �what is feasible to finish� point. I have left out a bunch of stuff, but I had better stop for now before you all fall asleep! Glynn Jr. |