Hi everybody.

I just thought I'd write a little as I was gone and didn't even have a chance to check in lately. I went to see Aleisa in Texas March 10 thru sixteen, I had to leave early Sunday morning which was her birthday. We had a good time celebrating the night before as I and Aleisa, Amy (her roommate), Jordan, and six friends of theirs, all went to a Mexican restaurant called "Jo T's." They only had two items on the menu, fajitas and burritos. However, they were good and the restaurant was set in a walled in patio with fountains and open sky overhead and lots of flowers. We all enjoyed ourselves and everyone was invited over to Aleisa and Amy's for cake afterwards. Aleisa and I went to buy the cake and trimmings and just before we got back to her apartment Jordan called and said the dog had had a major accident and the place reeked and needed cleaning up. Not up to snuff for company.:( (I had made the mistake of feeding it ham bones when I was making pea soup the day before and it wasn't used to anything but dog food.) Anyway, being the normal Mom (and it was really my fault) I went with Aleisa and had cake at Jordan's apartment and then went and cleaned up the mess. Most of it was contained in the kennel so that was a good thing. No more ham bones for Geoffry! Other news, Robben"s team got to the final four at the NAIA bball tournaments at Branson. Robben played only a couple of minutes due to his still screwed up foot. He's got one more year at this college basketball and we are praying for an injury free one. Believe me, he can play well when he's in his zone and it's a lot more fun than nursing an injured body part. Robben is also trying to make up for missing 25 days of school with Basketball tournaments, Easter and spring breaks. I talked to him this morning and his voice was weary. He is looking ahead to the end of May when he"s scheduled to go on a Summer of service project which Luke Society sponsors. He'll be working with a Dr Martin Luther, a black man who grew up in the area and is now a Dr. to seven villages in Benin, Africa. I bought him a sleeping bag with a pad built in while in Texas as the last guy Robben knows who went on a service project like this only slept in a bed three nights of the six weeks he was gone. That's hard on the bones! If everyone could keep him in their prayers while he's there I'd appreciate it. Well, I think I've written enough. Who else is out there? I hope you're well in every way. Love Laura

Arizona Reptile

Uncle Loyal (Felicia's husband) manages a reptile store in AZ and every year we make the pilgrimage. Hayden really likes the snakes and lizards, Luke tends to stand outside while we're having show and tell. This year Luke really upped the antie by telling Loyal that if he delivered it to our house, Hayden could have a reptile. Now Hayden is on the Uncle Loyal hunt (Loyal doesn't know that yet) and will probably pester him to death until he delivers. There are some fun pictures of an overnight trip we (sans Hayden) took with Feefa and Loyal and when I get those from Felicia I'll post a couple.

It's March...let's not let this slide.

Hey Everybody! I've been checking for any updates and haven't seen any for a while. Does anybody else have something? Remember I said we had a Renter. Wrong. In fact, wrong twice. Now that I know about background checks and all the info a person can get from them, I feel less stupid.

Randy has been spending a lot of his free time over at the other house. He's painting this week. (He's become really good at texturing.) The place keeps looking better and better. If it gets much better, we might move in. (Not really)

Gramma VanderStoep was here, along with Glenda, Ben & Kari, for her 85th birtday on March 14th and 15th. I think it's fair to say that we had a pretty good time. (The carrot cake had a REALLY soft spot in the middle, but we ate around it.)

Does anybody have any contact with Carol's kids?

My life has been pretty much the same lately. I've been working alot of hours. It's a good thing that I enjoy my job.

okay how.....any body else out there? Love, Rachel