We’re here at a rest stop just outside of Orlando, nestled between two semi’s (who will run their generators all night I am sure), listening to a Jim Brickman CD. We had tomato soup with croutons (no saltines) for dinner (served with a glass of nicely chilled Pinot Grigio, thank-you, Lara!) and played a game of Cribbage (I won!!). Ah, the simple life!
Tomorrow we report to the Green Isle Children’s Ranch in Clermont, FL (just west of Orlando) for our January Sower’s project. Don’t know what that will look like, but I know it will be new and exciting. This project, instead of having just two couples working, has 12! Lots of new friends to be made! We’ll keep you posted…..

Just wanted to say again that what a lovely Christmas Holiday we had visiting family and friends. We hope yours was just as special and that Christ remained in the center of it. And in case I don’t get to post tomorrow – Happy New Year to all of you , my dear friends! God is Good – ALL the time! May you walk closely with Him this year!

As we headed to Columbus we learned that we were driving into a major snowstorm. We didn’t hit the storm until we were almost to Columbus, but when it started in really got going! Don’t know who ordered the White Christmas, but Columbus got SOCKED!!! Toby and Tammy live a little north of the city in Marysville, and they got about 15 inches by Thursday noon. Columbus “proper” got about 6 inches of snow and then about an inch of ice. What a MESS!!! Josiah made it safely, Lara arrived from California, and soon we were all snug in Marysville. It was a wonderfully special Christmas. Little Ellie (just under 2) was delightful (of course!), and the newest Conrad, Hayley Elizabeth, did just was 4 week old babies do best – eat, sleep, poop, and mesmerize her grandparents and aunt and uncle! Santa was good to all, and I must admit that as long as we didn’t have to go anywhere, it was kinda nice having that White Christmas. By the 26th the roads had cleared enough for us to go into Columbus for a joint Birthday dinner for the kids (Toby’s b-day was the 26th and Lara’s is on January 4th). Check out the Family Photos page for a selection of the quadzillion digital pictures I took! Ah, Technology!
(Other pictures from our trip home are on the Travel Pictures page….

What a lovely time we had on our “Northern Holiday”. After we closed up Lizzie for her lonely stay in the south, we headed to our first stop – Hanover, PA. We had a great (though short) visit with my college roommate and her husband. The next morning we headed on to Lancaster Bible College for Josiah’s graduation. It was a very proud moment for us (and him). After a nice post- graduation dinner, we headed to Doylestown. It was lovely to spend time not only with our good friends Joe and Janet (where we took over their basement for 10 days!), but to also have a chance to connect with many other friends and work buddies. We headed to Columbus on the 21st, stopping at my sister’s (north of Carlisle) just for nice overnight visit (and the chance to meet my newest great-nephew, Pierson Bookamer).
Other fun things we did before we left for Columbus….
-Christmas Shopping
-Worshipped with friends at First Baptist Church, Doylestown
-Bought fabric for Hayley’s baby quilt (at my favorite fabric shop in Lancaster)
-Enjoyed the HPI Christmas party (my employer in my previous lifetime) and was able to get together with work friends several times.
-Had breakfast with a niece and nephew and niece-in-law
-Gary got to “pick up the tools” with his friend Joe Czop, and then we joined Joe and his wife -Dawn for dinner one night.
-Helped make Perogies and Opera Fudge with my buddy Janet
-Got to go to Monday Night Quilting TWICE!
-Spent time with Josiah
-Stopped at Valley Forge National Park and Hopewell Furnace National Park on our way to Carlisle. (Why are these places so much more interesting as adults than they were when I was in 6th grade?!)
-Had Nat’s Pizza TWICE – boy were we missing that!
-Had breakfast at Daddypop’s (in Hatboro) – the best home fries we’ve found!

It was so good to touch base with friends and family and favorite places, but Columbus was calling, so off we went to see the Fam in Ohio!

Here we all are – the day after Christmas! Geez, I love these guys!

Ellie is enjoying her little sister – well, at least most of the time!

We could see changes in Hayley in just the 5 days we were there! These little ones change so fast – we’re really looking forward to when we’ll all be together in February at Disney.

Finally – a shot of Ellie with out her scrunched up “Smile, Ellie” face. She is a delightful almost two year old – charming and brilliant, of course!

We had a great time at this Sower’s project. The staff was great, the work interesting, and while we didn’t have too much opportunity to get to know the kids, we did have a final BBQ dinner on our last night there. Here’s a shot from that evening – the food was great, and the fellowship was even better!

Can you pick out the other “Sower” couple – Bill and Barbara Starrett?