Highlights in February:  The new blinds arrived, and I finished arrangements for the curtains in our breakfast room to be completed. 

We went maple sugaring at Tyler Arboretum, and got to see where maple syrup comes from, and to taste some as well.

We made crepes.  I couldn't believe how easy it was, and here I always thought it was something amazing.

We got to visit Joe and Joan and their little one, plus Lisa, all old friends from Baltimore;  Capi and Nathaniel and Janalyn, friends from before I was born, stayed with us for a fun weekend, too.  It was good to catch up.

March began with a bang with a trip to babysit our rental unit in Baltimore.  John joined me to make a weekend of it, visiting old friends at Faith Christian Fellowship, and tooling around the inner harbor in the Water Taxi.   We are officially now a two-unit rental, and hopefully the inspection board in Bal'more will leave us alone.  It felt like home to visit our old church, and re-connect with special friends and of course, show off our children. (:

Hannah, the 16-year-old daughter of  friends of ours passed away after a four-year bout with an auto-immune disease.  Hannah exuded love and joy in  her interactions, and encouraged others whose situations were much easier than hers.  She carried in her medicine pack a FROG, to help remind her to Fullly Rely On God.   The other theme running through Hannah's life was "His Banner Over Me Is Love." from the Song of Solomon.  Hannah lived with an eternal perspective and rare faith,  yet the positive impact on the here and now in my life, and in the lives of my friends is tangible and positive.  I am a better person because of her example, and the example of her family who is mourning, yet not without hope.   Hannah is no longer suffering, but rather rejoicing with Jesus.  Her funeral defies description--I wish that the whole world could see the triumph of love and faith in the face of human suffering in this precious family's life.  I am humbled and in awe of their humanness and God's grace and power in their lives. 

A very special treat this month was to have John's dad visit for 13 days!!!  (:  It was wonderful to have Grandpa here, who is always up for a tease or good joke.  He and John spruced up our garden a bit, and Hal planted many bulbs, getting by with a little help from his single-digit friends.  We all went down to Orlando, FL for about half of his visit, where we stayed at Regal Palms Resort which was a very inexpensive place to stay, with great facilities and little service, which is just about right. 

We did visit the Kennedy Space Center, which has ignited our interest in outer space and rockets, and other than that, we mostly visited the pool, which was equipped with an awesome twisty water slide, a "river" loop, and a hot tub. 

The weather was mostly pleasant, and Christopher learned to put his face in the water and blow bubbles, go down the slide by himself, and propel himself by kicking (all pre-swimming activities).  We went to a Lioncito (The Lion's Den), for Mexican food, which was really good, and we went out to various other places, although mostly we were able to eat at the townhouse we rented, since it had a fully-equipped kitchen.

I can't believe I've stayed up all night.  I still have 7 pages of e-mail that require some sort of response, and I have the art class coming in a few hours--four and a quarter to be exact.  Maybe I'll sleep for a half hour, and run out and buy some Red Bull.

Take care!

Lori