The Howerter Family Homepage

Yesterday was Jay’s birthday.  He turned 28.  Oh my gosh, where did the time go?  I cannot believe that my baby is 28.  Wow.  He and Kat came over last night, and we enjoyed their visit.  He opened his presents, and then we watched Swamp People on the History Channel.  It is quite an unusual show.  If you have never watched it, give it a try.  I hope your birthday was fun Jay.  We love you!

Yesterday was Lily’s 3rd birthday.  I cannot believe that she is already 3 years old.  Where did the time go?  John and I went over to their house after work to give her her presents.  John decided that we needed to take Annie because Lily loves Annie.  Needless to say, she was thrilled. 

Elijah and Josiah were just as excited as Lily was.  Somehow we got them to finish their dinner before we opened presents.  Grandma Betty came in just in time for the gift opening.  Lily was so happy and excited with each present that she opened.  She would say, “my favorite” to almost each one.  It was great.  After presents, we had cupcakes.  She sat very patiently while we sang to her, and then she blew out the candles.  It took her a while and many blows, but she finally got all 3 candles out.  I think her brothers had to help her in the end. 

All the time we were eating our cupcakes, she kept saying, “It’s still my birthday.”  When we left, they were getting ready to watch her new Veggie Tales movie.  I hope they went to bed for Grandma Betty.  They each had lots of sugar, so they may be up all night!

Thank You Lord for our beautiful granddaughter Lily!

Well, the end of summer is nearing.  School starts for my grandkids tomorrow.  Elijah will be in second grade ,and Josiah will start Kindergarten!  I cannot believe that Josiah is starting school.  Lily will also be going to preschool in September.  They are growing up way too fast!  They will be going to school in Chatham because Ryan and Sara are buying a different house.  It is only about a block south of their current house, but it is in the Chathm school district.  It is a great house with a huge fenced in back yard.  It has 4 bedrooms, so each of the kids will get their own bedroom.  It will be nice for them to each have their own space. 

John and I are loving our new house.  We are still awaiting our family room furniture, his desk, my desk and our kitchen table, but we have pictures hung which helps make it feel like home.  I am hoping that by my birthday, we will have it all together!

We had a busy Memorial Day weekend. We left Friday to head over to Indianapolis with the Hendricks for the Indy 500.  Jeff and Judy are so nice to take us for the race.  They have fabulous tickets right in front of the first pits which allows us to see the fastest qualifying cars as they pit, the start of the race and the finish.  Every year I enjoy the race more because I understand a little more of the strategy and rules.  We also went to a great German restaurant downtown Indy called the Rathskellar.  We had a wonderful meal and spent some time in their beer garden listening to the Polka Boys.  They were a fun band, and there were lots of people there to listen.  Then, last night Brandt, Angel, Oliver and Weston came over for dinner because they were heading to Witchita, Kansas, later in the evening.  Ryan and family and Jay and Kat came over to say goodbye too.  We had a good time visiting, but it was pretty hard when they got ready to go.  Sara suggested we send them off with prayer, and Ryan prayed over them.  It was very cool because we were in a circle holding hands, and it just happened that they twins were in their seats in the middle of the circle.  Then it was time to say our goodbyes.  It was very hard for me to let go of Brandt when I hugged him.  We were all crying like a bunch of babies!  We are so proud of Brandt and wish the best for he and Angel and the boys, but we will miss them!  Today, it’s back to packing and getting things in order to move.  I cannot wait to get this over with!

On Saturday Brandt graduated from medical school!  We are so proud of him for all the hard work he has put into this.  Jay, Katherine and I went to the ceremony, and it was very nice.  John was on his way back from Europe, so he was not able to make it.  It was so nice to see all of Brandt’s family there too.  I got a little emotional when they were taking pictures of Brandt, Angel, the twins and Brandt’s brothers and sisters.  I know how proud and happy Lisa, Carlos and Curt have to be! I am just thankful that God allowed my family to have a part in Brandt’s life.  Good luck Brandt, Angel, Oliver and Weston!  We love you.

We have sold our house, and we will be moving out by the end of June!   Yippee!  We have not yet found a house to buy, but we are looking.  I have been packing some - china and Christmas stuff.  It is kind of hard to decide what to pack and what you will need in the next couple of months.  We have quite a bit of work ahead of us in these next couple of months because we have acquired qutie a bit of stuff out here in the country.  It will be an adventure trying to get it all done by moving time!

Saturday night John and I went to visit with some long-time friends that we had not seen in almost 20 years.  It was a reunion of our Sunday School class from our church in Decatur.   It was wonderful seeing Jerry and Deborah.  They left before we did, so it has been 20 years since we have seen them.  We had a great time visiting with everyone, and it was not long before we were all talking and laughing just like we used to when we all went to church together.  Thanks Bud and Amy for hosting!  It was a great party.

We have a contract on our house to close on or before June 30!  We are cautiously excited about this because there is a contingency in the contract.  The buyers tell us the contingency should be removed anyday now, but I know that anything can happen.  We started looking for houses to buy yesterday, and it was an awful experience yesterday.  Today was much better, finding one that we are going to go back to see again tomorrow.  I am praying that things will all go through, but I know that God has a plan for us which is what is best for us.  I just hope that His plan is my plan:-)

John and I spent last week in Las Vegas with Jeff and Judy to celebrate Jeff’s new job, and we had a great time.  The weather was warm and sunny, but cool in the evenings.  It was so nice to be able to walk around and enjoy the sun.  We saw Terry Fator, the ventriliquist that won America’s Got Talent last year.  It was a great show and a lot of fun.  We went to the Valley of Fire State Park which is beautiful.  These huge red rocks are just jutting out of the desert, and some have Indian etchings on them.  Very cool.   We drove by Lake Mead on the way out and headed back to Vegas to the Gold and Silver Pawn Shop which is featured on the show Pawn Stars.  Jeff and Judy watch the show, and they got to see one of the guys at the store.  Then we went to Cafe Heidelburg which is a little German deli and diner in the older part of town.  Jeff and Judy ate there 12 years ago, so we looked it up.  It was delicious.  We also went down to the old strip and saw the Gold Nugget and the old, old casinos.  It was pretty cool, but I don’t think Iwould stay down there.  (Sorry Judy.)  We went to the Minus 5 bar near Mandalay Bay which is a bar made out of ice.  It is 5 degrees below 0 Celsius, and the bar, walls, glasses, signs are all made of ice.  We put on big coats and gloves and went in.  It was very “cool”.  We also did the ultimate in “supreme hogery”.  The hotels have buffets that you pay a daily price, and you can eat as much as you want the entire day!  I was mortified that we were doing it, and then they made us wear a wrist band the entire day!  I called it the “the mark of the glutton”.  It was great food, but we obviously ate more than we needed to.  All in all, it was a great trip, but we were glad to be home.  I missed the kids so much.  It is always nice to get back to see them.