Winter is here at last!

We finally have a gentle introduction to winter! On Friday we awoke to a dusting of snow and the kids went wild! This morning the schools had a two-hour delay because there was more snow. Not enough to build a snow fort, but enough to be very careful on the roads.

Our weekend was busy, following a rather full week. On Friday I took Erin to the doctor for the second day in a row trying to determine the source of the spots covering her body, oh yeah, all over her trunk. To make it more interesting, the neighbor girl, also named Erin, with whom our Erin spent the night a couple of times over the previous weekend, was also afflicted with this mystery illness! After blood tests and throat swabs all known contagions were ruled out and the puzzle was solved when the doctor asked if they'd been in a hot tub. Bingo! Hot tub folliculitis, (sp?) it is! Non-contagious, self limiting, and a result of sitting in a hot tub. So Erin did a week's worth of homework over the weekend to catch up for returning today.

Something else that came out of our doctor visit is that Rebekah's spine has a 21 degree curve which warrants a specialist's attention. Our Bible Study leader, John Sallade, is a Physician who has a number of orthopedic and physical therapy practices in the area, the office closest to us manned by a spine specialist who often deals with scoliosis patients. We're making an appointment with him today to pursue treatment.

Friday evening Jim and I joined the Sallades and a woman from our study for dinner and a concert. The Woman's Club of Reading hosts free concerts on a regular basis and Friday we enjoyed the (world renowned) Mendelssohn Quartet. We are learning that Reading is quite friendly to the Arts and there are a number of venues to access concerts and exhibits year-round. The quartet was splendid and well worth a costly ticket, yet offered for free. What a treat.

Saturday found us going in various directions as Kate went skiing with Laura's host family's church youth group. Jim and Isaac headed out early for the annual Kub Klondike scouting event where they participated in a number of events from shooting to sledding to cooking in the frozen outdoors. (That's Isaac in the red coat- what a ham!) The afternoon was spent working on the new shelving that Jim is putting in the laundry room which will make us a bit more functional and is a small step into making the house our own through "renovations". For the evening Jim, Isaac and Erin went to watch the Reading Royals ice hockey game with the rest of the scout pack. Bekah went to a youth group party and BA enjoyed a quiet evening at home cooking up some Bolognese sauce for our Sunday lunch.

Yesterday we had the Heinly family over after church. They are not only part of our Bible Study group, but the very first people that we met at church. They have three sons, 16 year-old twins and a 14 year old, and a 10 year-old daughter. We enjoyed a lovely afternoon of food and fellowship.

Now the kids are almost all off to school, this delay throws me off as well! I need to get back into a walking routing with my sweet Vali, but there are many phone calls to make and doctor visits to arrange. Life is full, wonderfully full!