Thanksgiving Weekend

We had a very nice Thanksgiving. On Wednesday, Aunt Rhoda Valentine and her boys, Jonathan and Nathaniel, and Julie Miller came by for a short visit and church on their way from Hobe Sound to Summerfield. Thursday morning, our family and Suzanne went up to Summerfield for Thanksgiving dinner. There were 16 of us for dinner: the 8 of us, Aunt Rhoda and her 2 boys, Julie, Suzanne, Sis. Horsely and Cheryl, and Aunt Esther. We had turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, acorn squash, squash cassarole, broccoli casserole, gravy, cranberry relish and jello salad. For dessert we had pumpkin whoopie pies, oatmeal cupcakes, blackbottom cupcakes and a yellow cake with vanilla/pecan icing. Everything was good. We had a lot of fun visiting. David, Jenny, Suzanne and I spent the night while the rest of our family went home. David and Suzanne got up real early so David could have Suzanne back in St. Pete by 8:00 am for work. He came back up to Summerfield and spent some time playing ball with Jenny, Jonathan and Nathaniel. Aunt Esther and Julie did some shopping but didn't go until about 9:30 am. Around lunch time the rest of the family came back up. David decided to spend the night again and the rest of us headed home about 8:00 pm. Friday Evening 11/24/06 Grace watches David hold Aunt Esther's Christmas Tree up while Andy checks out the base to see what is wrong with it. It is supposed to rotate but for some reason it would only rotate the tree part way and stop. If we would turn the tree to a certain spot it would continue rotating about 3/4 of the way around and then stop again.

Aunt Rhoda and Grace look on as Andy works on the Christmas tree base. He took it completely apart and we regreased the bearings.

Becky and David hold Aunt Esther's tree while Dale looks on.

French Anniversary

Happy 6th Anniversary to Bill & Marilyn French! This is a little early but in Taiwan it's already the 24th so we'll go ahead and wish them Happy Anniversary anyway.

Congrats to the Joseph Miller Family!!

Congratulations to Joseph and Marile Miller on the birth of thier son, Gabriel Stuart Miller.

DOB: 11/15/2006

Weight: 6lbs. 14 oz.

Length: 20 in.

Proud Grandparents: Paul & Ann Miller

Proud Great-Grandparents: Jacob & Ruth Miller

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to Rachel and Sara Heintzelman!!

Andrew and Hannah's Webpage

Click here to go to the webpage that Hannah created for thier wedding.

Fire at Gatorland

When we got ready to leave for work around 6:00 this morning we heard that there was breaking news: Gatorland was on fire! Gatorland is one of the oldest, if not the oldest attraction in Central Florida. Located on US 17-92 between Orlando and Kissimmee is Gatorland with the famous gator mouth entrance. After 2 hours of fighting the fire it was determined that the fire was basically contained in the gift shop. The owners plan to reopen with in a few weeks.

Fall Jamboree at Barberville

On Saturday, November 3 we went up to Barberville, Florida to the annual Barberville Jamboree at the Pioneer Settlement for the Preservation of Creative Arts. The complex has an old bridge house, school house, church, depot, working blacksmith shop, print shop, barn, log cabin, wood working shop, pottery house, post office, fire dept., etc. There are people there demonstrating spinning, weaving, candlemaking, wood carving, smithing, pottery, quilting, etc. There are also craft booths set up with crafts for sale, a portable sawmill, Timucan Indian camp site and a Florida cow camp. There are different stages set up throughout the complex as well where musicians perform. The different groups that perform are mainly bluegrass and folk artists. This year one of our favorite groups, the Keili Kids were there. They are a group of young people that range in age from 3 to 18 and play violins.

A lady demonstrates spining Angora yarn from an Angora rabbit

Angora spinning

The Keili Kids perform in the old church

The family at Barberville

Andrew and Hannah, David and Suzanne behind the old church at Barberville

Our Weekend

We had a nice time this past weekend. School was out on Thursday and Friday since it was the end of the nine-weeks. Dad took off his last two vacation days as well. I house/dog-sat for a friend from Wednesday evening to Saturday afternoon. Thursday, Grandpa Miller came up from Hobe Sound and visited for a few minutes. He had come up for a memorial service for Luis Stence in Kissimmee and had stopped to see Sister Smart on the way from Hobe Sound to Kissimmee. Friday night, everyone but me went to Seffner to the Fall Retreat that Brother Smalley was having. Brother James Bates spoke in the service. After I got home on Saturday, we all went down to Seffner again. Our pastor, Richard Holliday, was to speak at the service that evening and our church was to provide the music. David, Andrew and Grace along with Warren Fink sang two specials: "Power in His Name" and "The Cross Road". Dad, David, Andrew and Warren all took their instruments and the "Orlando Strings" as Brother Smalley calls them performed. Brother Kready was unable to attend as he had a previous commitment. Bro. Plank says that our church is "the Spanish church with the Nashville sound" since our church is a Spanish style building and the guys all play string instruments every service. Bro. Smalley requested prayer for the Smarts as Sis. Smart was very low. Sunday morning Bro. Holliday announced that Sis. Smart had gone home to Heaven. He told us that the Sweitzer's had been with them Saturday evening and that when they would sing hymns and different songs, then Sis. Smart would brighten up, smile and raise her hand.

AHD Ranch Update

Saturday, October 7, 2006 we moved Sir Loin and Buster from Summerfield to Groveland. They joined Bandit in the fattening pen and will stay there until the end of January most likely. I'll try to post pics of them soon. Our baby, Frisky, is growing fast. He likes to run around with the other calf in the field that is about 2 months younger than him.

Hickory Bridge Farm

This farm was originally my Great-Great-Great-Grandfather's (Andrew Heintzelman) farm. It is now a restaurant and bed and breakfast. When we were in Pennsylvania about 12 summers ago we stopped by and Daddy took a picture of the five of us kids in front of the barn (restaurant). While we were there the owners came out and when they heard that Andrew Heintzelman was a relative of ours they let us go in and look around. We had seen pictures of the inside after my Great-Grandfather's 90th birthday party and it was neat to really see it in person. I can remember my Great-Grandfather talking about playing in the hayloft when he was a kid. He died in 1998 at the age of 101 1/2.

Update

Things are going well with us and we have finally started getting the rain we so desperately needed. Instead of our summer rains starting in June, they started in August. We have had several afternoons or evenings where we had a thirty minute to an hour or more downpour that left ditches and parking lots flooded. Several things have happened since I blogged last. David started dating a young lady named Suzanne. We are enjoying getting to know her. Andrew is an apprentice electrician and was recommended for a new position at work. His company was looking for an estimator to train and Andrew interviewed for the position. He accepted the job and began last Wednesday. He is learning all about color coding electrical fixtures and wiring, counting the number of parts needed, calling different suppliers and getting prices and then estimating cost so that his company can bid on projects. Even though his hours are a little longer, he is going to enjoy not having to be out in the hot sun during the summer and cold in the winter along with rain on occasions now that he is in the office.

Congratulations Andrew and Hannah!

Andrew and Hannah got engaged June 27, 2006. The big day is June 9, 2007. This picture was taken by Marlin Knable at Padua Horse Farm in Summerfield, FL on July 3, 2006.

Back in School

We've been back in school for a week. Things seem to be going well. Last weekend we went to the funeral of a man from our church who has been sick for years. David, Grace, Mom and I sang "The Eastern Gate" and "It Will be Worth it All" at the funeral and "Another Soldier" at the graveside. Afterwards, Dad and I went straight up to Summerfield to get feed for Sir Loin and Buster. Everyone else but Andrew came up a little later. Andrew has been battling a cold but seems to be feeling a lot better now.

Happy 4th

Wishing everyone a Happy 4th of July! Happy 230th Birthday, America!!

AHD Ranch Addition!

Our heifer Shadow

Bandit has been moved down to our friend's property in Groveland and is doing really well. He is growing fast and will soon be ready to fatten up and put in the freezer!

IT'S A BOY!

Flossie with her bull calf, Frisky

Born: June 27, 2006

Approximately 6:00 am

These pictures were taken 6/27/06 @ 7:04 pm

AHD Ranch Happenings

Well, summer school is half over - 10 days down and 10 to go. TS Alberto brought some much needed rain to our area. Central Florida got anywhere from 2-4+ inches of rain Monday and Tuesday. When I left for work Monday morning it wasn't even raining, but it switched between sprinkling and pouring all morning. It cleared up for a few hours in the afternoon and then started back in raining again. Tuesday was more of the same. Wednesday and Thursday we didn't get much rain, if any at all. Friday, we got a light to moderate drizzle for about an hour or so. Friday night David, Jenny and I came up to Aunt Esther's. Andrew had to work today, but Mom, Dad, Grace and Rachel came up this morning. On Wednesday, Dad, David and Grace went out to Groveland and picked up the livestock trailer and then went up to Summerfield and got Buster and took him back down to Groveland. They put him in a large holding pen until he gets used to being in a new place. We moved him because he kept trying to get over the fence where he was. Also, it looks as if Flossie is due to calve in the next month or so.

What's New Here!

I'm working this month at an elementary school in Apopka doing Extended School Year for Exceptional Education Students. There are 7 preschoolers enrolled in the class but so far only 5 have shown up. The summer school session is from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m., Monday through Friday for 4 weeks. We have finished 1 week and have 3 more to go. I'm house sitting and dog sitting again this week. God has sent TS Alberto with much needed rain for the area. During the day yesterday there was lots of smoke in the air from a fire down near Disney. It rained last night and when I got up this morning most of the scent of smoke was gone. It poured again this afternoon and the chances of rain are pretty great for tomorrow.

SCHOOL IS FINALLY OUT!!!!

Yesterday was the last day of school. Woo-Hoo!! We had a pretty good year! Grace and I both had to work today but that is it for this school year. I will be working during the month of June at an elementary school in Apopka as an assistant in the Exceptional Education Summer school program as long as they have enough students show up during the first week of school. Pray with me that enough students show that I will be able to work all four weeks, since I really need the job. Two weeks ago I got some Painted Lady Butterfly caterpillers from Earth's Birthday Project that we could watch grow and change into butterflies. We started with 7 caterpillers and had 6 that formed a chrysalis. Sunday morning we woke up to two butterflies and another one emerged before we left for church. When we came home from church Sunday morning we had 4 butterflies. Monday morning the last two butterflies emerged. The wings on the last butterfly that emerged never unfolded correctly all day long. Grace had told us to put Fruit Punch Gatorade in for the butterflies to drink. She learned this at a butterfly encounter place in Oveido, FL. When we released them Monday afternoon, we would dip our finger in the gatorade so that the butterflies would sit on our finger to drink. We then took them out of the box and released them in our front yard. It is amazing to watch God's masterpieces at work in the metamorphosis process.

Weekend Update

We had a good weekend. Friday evening, David and Andrew took David's 4-wheeler and met Warren and Stanley Fink in Groveland at the Green Swamp and went exploring on the 4-wheelers. They must have really had a blast because I think that David must have washed 2 inches of mud and muck off of his 4-wheeler. The bed of his pick-up is totally covered in mud and so is our driveway!! Saturday, Andrew had to work, Jenny helped David wash his work truck and 4-wheeler, Dad helped David put the back bumper on his 4-wheeler, I sorted throught some stuff and cleaned and Mom did some yard work. I'm not sure what all Rachel and Grace did but we stayed at home and got some things done. Sunday evening after church we went down to Kissimmee to visit with Daniel McDonald's Parents, Sister-in-Law, niece and nephews. We had a great time. Today it is back to work for a few days.

School is Almost Out!

Things are winding down. We have 2 more days of school left this year and Summer Vacation will be here. We are counting the days!

Are We Having Fun Yet?!!

Grace, Hannah, Rachel, Aunt Esther and Grandma Pearl test out the love seat.

Bird Flu Hits Florida

From a strictly mathematical viewpoint:

What Equals 100%? What does it mean to give MORE than 100%? Ever wonder about those people who say they are giving more than 100%? We have all been in situations where someone wants you to give over 100%. How about achieving 101%? What equals 100% in life?

Here's a little mathematical formula that might help you answer these Questions:

If:A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Is represented as:1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26.

Then:H-A-R-D-W-O-R- K -- 8+1+18+4+23+15+18+11 = 98%

and

K-N-O-W-L-E-D-G-E -- 11+14+15+23+12+5+4+7+5 = 96%

But, A-T-T-I-T-U-D-E -- 1+20+20+9+20+21+4+5 = 100%

AND, look how far the love of God will take you

L- O- V - E-O-F-G-O-D -- 12+15+22+5+15+6+7+15+4 = 101%

Therefore, one can conclude with mathematical certainty that:

While Hard work and Knowledge will get you close, and Attitude will get you there, it's the Love of God that will put you over the top!

Baby Pandas

Grace sent me an email with these pictures showing the 16 baby pandas born during 2005. I'm a bear collector and really enjoyed seeing these babies. I'm also including a link to the National Zoo where you can view the Panda Cam and see the baby panda live! http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/GiantPandas/

More AHD Ranch

We have 2 heifers that we keep at a friend's 10-acre property in Groveland. Flossie is approximately 3 1/2 years old. We hope that she will have a calf sometime around Christmas. She is a Beefmaster cross I believe. Our other heifer is Shadow. She is a purebred Black Angus and is about 5 months old. Our friend, Rick, has a purebred Herford bull, 4-5 Hereford heifers, a Hereford cow and a Black Angus heifer at the property as well.

Shadow

Flossie

Rick's bull - Clarence

Our Weekend

On Friday Dad, David, Andrew, Grace, Jenny and I met Aunt Esther and 4 of the Kline children at the Central Florida Fairgrounds to watch the 4-H/FFA Youth Market Steer Show. Andrew had been working with a student at one of the area high schools as they got their steer ready to show. It is always fun to watch the kids as they show their steers that they have worked so hard with for 10 months to prepare for this day. It was nice to see that the judge was consistent in what he was looking for. He didn't favor any one color of animal and certainly didn't favor any of the students. He graded the animals on whether they were finished and ready to be eaten or not. After the show, Aunt Esther and the kids came to our house. We had friends that were coming up from Sebring to pick up their niece and a friend at the airport and were spending the night with us as well. (No not all of them spent the night! Aunt Esther and the kids left sometime between 12:00 and 1:00 am!) Saturday morning after breakfast, David, Jenny and I went with our friends from Sebring to Old Town in Kissimmee. We walked around, visited a few shops, looked at some of the old cars driving in for the Saturday Nite Cruise, and watched our friends niece, Brittany, and her friend, Elizabeth, ride on a few rides. We left them there about 3:00 and came home. David went back down to Kissimmee to go four-wheeling with a friend of his and Mom, Dad and Jenny went and got some stuff for the yard. I had gotten some bulbs last week and they planted some of the bulbs in one of the Water Trough planters that we have in the backyard. I relaxed and read!!

FFA members getting ready to show their market steers.

Remembering

Grandma Miller and Grandpa Heintzelman both were born in April.

This week Grandma would have been 80.

Grandpa would have turned 87 this month. He passed away 3 years ago yesterday.

What's Happening!

I house-sit for a lady that I used to work with several times a year. We had last Friday off from school and her daughter had a doctor's appointment in Miami and then they were going to Naples for the weekend, so she asked me to stay at her place and watch their two boys, Lucky and Boots. I had a bit of a scare on Saturday. I was sitting at the table by the sliding glass door working on one of my accounting lessons. Boots was resting in his crate and Lucky was on the couch and started barking. I figured that he had seen a lizard on the porch and asked him what was wrong. I had left the sliding glass door open wide enough that the dogs could go out on the porch if they wanted and when I looked down at what Lucky was barking at, I saw a snake. It was inside the house, against the sliding glass door. It was 2 to 2 1/2 feet long and probably about 1/2 inch thick. Lucky kept barking at it and I told him to get it, but he just sat there and barked. It finally turned around and went back outside and I immediately shut the door. Lucky got down then and sniffed where the snake had been. Needless to say I kept the door tightly shut after that! I didn't see the snake again after that either, so maybe Lucky scared it good, too!

Lucky and Boots barking at the water bubbling in the pool!

Lucky and Boots in their favorite spot in the family room looking out the sliding glass door to the back porch!

Boots

Lucky

Our Easter Weekend

We had a great Easter weekend. We went to Summerfield on Friday night for Doug Kline's 40th birthday party and spent the night at Aunt Esther's. Grandpa and Grandma Ruth came up for the weekend as well. On Saturday morning, Dad, David and Andrew got up early and picked up the oldest Kline boys and went to get feed in Wildwood and then ate breakfast at Hardee's. They picked up Jenny on their way back to Kline's and took her along to play with the Kline children. We all had fun riding David's new four-wheeler. He bought himself a four-wheeler for his birthday, but it was a racing model and was fast enough that it scared him so he traded it in for a utility model. Rachel and Mom are the only ones in our family who haven't ridden it yet. Aunt Esther really likes to ride it. Aunt Esther and Mom fixed an Easter meal for Saturday lunch. We had ham, green beans, mashed potatoes and gravy, overnight veggie salad, baked beans and iced sweet tea. Grandma Ruth made a Lemon Pie for dessert. We looked at Grandpa's pictures from his trip to the Holy Land as well. On Sunday we had to very good services at church. In the afternoon we went to the Assisted Living Facility where we go once a month and sang and read scripture.

Happy Easter!

Grace got these Daffodils at Walmart on Wednesday and I took this picture this morning. They were so pretty opened up like this.

We are going to Summerfield this evening for a birthday party for Doug Kline. He turned 40 yesterday!

Grandpa and Grandma Ruth Miller are coming up and we will be having lunch together tomorrow before we head back home. Hope everyone has a wonderful Easter.

HE LIVES!!

AHD Ranch

AHD Ranch is the name and symbol that Dale, David and Andrew came up with when David and Andrew were in FFA in high school. We don't have the property for a ranch yet, although we would love to some day have a small farm or ranch, but we are starting with some animals. We got the calves pictured below in March 2005 from a dairy in Umatilla, Fl. We keep them in Summerfield on Doug Kline's property and they take care of them when we aren't up there. We also have two heifers that we keep at another friends' property in Groveland, Fl. It was lots of fun bottle feeding these three calves and we enjoy watching and interacting with them. David, Andrew, Dale and Grace helped our friend Rick brand one of our heifers and his heifers and bull a few weeks ago. Last weekend he branded our other heifer and some other heifers that he just got.

Buster - about 1 year old.

Bandit - 1 year old, March 2006

Sir Loin - approximately 1 year old.

Buster - 1-2 days old, March 19, 2005

Bandit - 1-2 days old, March 19, 2005

Sir Loin at 1-2 days old, March 12, 2005.

Geico Anyone?

One afternoon a few weeks ago, Grace told me to get my camera and come out back. This birdhouse is sitting on the window airconditioner unit in my bedroom window and a lizard was inside looking out the hole. Grace said it would be a perfect Geico Insurance ad.

Close-up of lizard looking out of birdhouse!

Family

This was our Christmas 2005 picture.

Laura, Andrew, Jenny, Dale, Becky, David, Grace, Rachel

Here is a picture of Andrew with his girlfriend, Hannah, taken at the airport before they left to fly to Ohio for Christmas.

Revival with the Victory Trio

We had revival with the Victory Trio March 24 - April 2. Rev. Judy Williams brought challenging messages each service that made each of us search our hearts and all of us got help. Here is a list of the messages that she brought.

• Friday, March 24 - Warnings and Cautions for Conservative Holiness People - her text was either Jeremiah 13:17 or Lamentations 1:6 (I didn't write it down right away that night and when I went back to look it up I couldn't remember for sure which passage she used.
• Saturday, March 25 - Matthew 26:36-39 - Going a Little Farther: Not living on the rim of Christianity
• Sunday, March 26 am service - Hebrews 9:24-28 - Three Appearances
• Sunday, March 26 pm service - 2 Corinthians 9:8 - Grace: Preveniant, Saving, Cleansing, Keeping
• Monday, March 27 - Ephesians 4:17-25 - Holiness - Salvation is holiness begun
• Tuesday, March 28 - Continued on last night's topic of holiness and focused on Sanctification
• Wednesday, March 29 - Hebrews 2:1-3 - The Costliness of Neglect
• Thursday, March 30 - John 6:59-68 - The Thinning Crowd and Things that Thin the Crowd
• Friday, March 31 - Luke 16:19-26 - Two Sides to the Gate, the Grave and the Gulf
• Saturday, April 1 - Joshua 2:14-21 - Keeping Hold of the Rope
• Sunday, April 2 am service - Hebrews 13:8 - Jesus Christ the Changeless One
• Sunday, April 2 pm service - Jeremiah 23:12 - It Was Dark and the Way Was Slippery

On March 31 we had record attendance in the service, somewhere around 60+ people. Our attendance usually runs between 20 and 30 on Sundays. The churches in Summerfield, Sebring, Zephyr Hills, Lady Lake, and Pinellas Park were all represented this service.

Welcome!

Hello from sunny Central Florida. I'll be posting different things going on in my family as I get a chance. We attend the God's Missionary Church in Orlando and just finished a great revival with The Victory Trio on April 2. I'll post more details from the revival later.