The Howerter Family Homepage

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!

Brandt was matched yesterday to University of Kansas School of Medicine in Wichita, Kansas, for his residency in General Surgery.  I think they will be moving sometime in May.  Congratulations and good luck Brandt, Angel, Oliver and Weston.

Brandt and Angel’s baby boys, Oliver Elijah and Weston Nathaniel, were born last night, and Mom and boys are doing  fine.  I went to visit them this afternoon, and Angel looks great.  (You do too Brandt.)  I got to hold Wes, and he slept the entire time.  Congratulations Brandt and Angel!

Saturday night we went to Guzzardo’s in Lincoln for dinner with Don, Wendy, Randy and Dixie Merker and Greg and Janice Walbert.  The ride up was a blast with Don and Wendy.  We always have such a good time with them.  Don had brought over the recordings of a bunch of singing voicemails that John has left him over the years.  We put them on my MP3 player, and listened to them on the drive up.  They were hilarious, and we laughed a lot.  Those two are crazy.  Dinner was wonderful.  I had the crab-stuffed flounder, and John had the large prime rib which is the special on Saturday night.  ( I have included a picture of John’s prime rib for you viewing pleasure.)  It is always fun to see Randy and Dixie, and we definitely don’t get to see them enough.  It was a nice evening on a cold winter night.

John's prime rib at Guzzardo's

The sun came out today, finally!  It is almost 5:00 p.m., and it is still light and sunny!  Hooray!  This should boost everyone’s spirits for a while.  Hang in there everyone.  Spring will eventually get here.

John and I went to see the movie Sherlock Holmes last night.  Ever since I saw the first preview, I wanted to see this movie.  Since we don’t go to the movie very often, it took this long for me to talk John into going.  It was good, but not as good as I thought it would be.  It was a little slow for me.  The special effects were good, and, of course, Robert Downey, Jr. was good.  I don’t know why I was a little disappointed, but I was.  I really wanted it to be fantastic!  It is definitely worth seeing, though, especially since it is now a $5 movie.  Let me know what you think.

This morning when I got up, it was 24 degrees outside!  Wow, it has not been that warm for quite a while.  I was reminded this morning that the days are getting longer, so warmer weather, and even spring, is coming.

My nephew Brad graduated from U of I in May and just got a job in Washington DC.  He left Saturday morning, and his first day at work was yesterday.  He has a good friend that works at the same place, so he will be staying with him until he finds his own place.  Everyone is excited for him, but we will miss him.  My brother Bart will miss him most of all.  I know that it is almost killing him to have his son move so far away.  The good news is that Bart makes quite a few business trips to DC.  I am sure that these meetings will become more frequent!  Good luck Brad.  We love you and will be praying for you!

It seems like it has been raining now for a month.  I am so tired of these dark and dreary days.  I know that Jerry, my old boss, would hate to hear me say this, but if it is going to be wet, I would much rather have snow!  Anybody with me on this?

Do you recognize this mild mannered builder?