Merry Christmas

The Hines Family had a wonderful Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We spent much of the two days together. The kids were all thrilled with their gifts from Santa and Nana and Papa. We hope you all had a great day.

Remainder of Money for Orphans

Hi family. I have been told the box Ken and I sent to Nina for her Holiday arrived, but the 3 we sent for her family have not. I am a bit unnerved. I'll let you all know the minute I hear they are safe at the orphanage.

We have $220.09 left of the $1030 we donated. I contacted Laura and Apryl from the Antares Foundation asking for areas where funds are needed. Here is where I thought a donation would be a great help.

We donated $50 for meat for the children's Holiday meal. Diane, who has diabetes, we sent $20 for sugar free snacks for the New Year's party. She doesn't usually get snacks unless someone sends them to her.

The Foundation sets up Siblings Reunions where siblings living in different orphanages are brought together for a few hours to spend time together. Please go to the Antares Foundation blog (link is on right side of our blog) and look at the pictures of the last reunion.We donated $50 toward the cost of the next reunion.

The Regional Boarding School Orphanage is also in need of plates and bowls. They do not have enough for all the children. We are donating $50 toward purchase of these necessities.

That leaves us with $50.09. I will hold this money until a request is made that will make the lives of these orphans a little easier. (The $.09 will go into next years pot!)

Again, thank you for your generosity. These children will have a Merry Christmas because our family and Ken's family cared:~)

Kiki and Scott's address?

Can someone email me their address so I can send them a Christmas card? Thanks!!!!
Shelley

December '08 Ice Storm We Won't Forget

December 12 at about 12:30 am the power went out at 16 Bentley Drive and ice started forming every where. Trees and everything green were encased in thick ice. By morning the sound of branches breaking and trees being uprooted was all you could hear. It actually sounded like guns being fired.

The first picture is the tree outside our living room windows. We lost limbs from it, but fortunately when the temperature warmed up and the wind started howling Sunday, the ice disappeared and our tree returned to its normal shape.

The second picture just shows the weight forcing the tree limbs downward.

The third picture is of our back yard. It looks like a winter wonderland. But, believe me, Ken will be cutting up trees for quite a while. We will have lots of wood for fires.

Our power came back on Monday afternoon. We can not believe the devastation caused by this storm. There are downed trees every where and gigantic branches just hanging from mature trees. It is very sad to know some of these trees took years to get to their size and a minute to be destroyed.

I don't think I was ever so frightened during a storm in my life. I thank God we had the fireplace to keep us somewhat warm.

Happy 60th Birthday, Tim!

Naturally, there is a story behind the gift Ken and I gave Timmy for his 60th birthday. Last summer while we were on that infamous vacation in Deerfield Beach, 5 days were spent at the Boca Raton Hospital. You know how all the hospitals have those wall mounted hand sanitizing soapless cleansers? Well, Tim could not pass by one without using it. He must have cleaned his hands 20 times a day. So much so, you wanted to smack him on the back of the neck.
Of course, I knew as soon as he got home he would find them on the Internet and mark the site as a favorite place. Low and behold, he did just that. So now Tim has one mounted on his kitchen wall. So far I have seen him use it at least ten times.
Happy birthday, Timmy. May your hand cleanliness provide you with a long, healthy life:~)