Our Oldest Daughter Shelly & Husband Randy

This is Shelly (our oldest) and her husband Randy

Shelly and Randy's Children

Top: Calvin (11) Middle: Carlie (9) Bottom Colby (5)on the right

EXAM DAY

We arrived at PSI, the exam location in the Victorian Gardens building 45 min. early. Then we went in to register for our exam - in door 309. We were both anxious, after all this is a national exam! We had four hours in which to finish the 175 questions. I (Larry) finished in about two hours and Sandra finished in about 3 hours. Guess what! we both passed!!!! We are sooooooooo relieved! We have been studying for two weeks. We're getting closer to having a full fledged Home Inspection business with two licensed Home Inspectors on staff!!

Fire

Ever since we built our house we have had a pile of left over lumber which has been laying in the back yard getting rotten. So, last week I went to the County EPA office and procured a burning permit. Today Sandra and I burned the lumber, sticks and trimmings from the driveway. Sure is nice having that ugly pile gone!

Joelle's Wheels

This morning I went into our garage an lo and behold, here is what I saw. A dismanteled bicycle. You will have to visit Steve & Doreen's blog (look under Mystery Solved) to find out why this pretty bicycle was all apart in our garage. Hint -we have a compressor which is good for blowing up bicycle tires.

Springtime

We had a storm today but between rain downpours I took this picture of our dogwood tree behind our house. Then these two strange looking birds showed up to feed on some road kill. We can't tell what they are. At first I thought they were turkeys. They were quite big and have about a 3 ft wingspan. When they walk they lift their feet up high. Every once in a while their necks looked like vultures. Do you know what they are? This picture isn't very clear because I had to walk carefully out to the road trying not to scare them. Just after I took this picture they stuck out their necks jumped off the fence and took off.

Easter Pagant

Every year at Easter the students and community of, and around Southern Adventist University presents a very dramatic pagant. To experience the activities and times during Christ's life, the campus is decorated in tents, booths and areas with cattle, camels and sheep. A half mile walk winds it's way through these booths who are operated by actors dressed in sandels and robes. There was even a leper colony with beggars and sick people laying on the ground, Roman Soldiers, horses and crouds. The story of Christ's last days is acted out in a very professional way ending in the crucifixion and resurection. This picture is of Sandra and me with our youngest daughter (standing) and our youngest grand child (her youngest daughter) watching as the soldiers nail Christ to the Cross. It was very realistic and certainly brought the story to life.

Aint She Sweet

We had a little visitor today. Natalie has been a little under the weather so she has had to stay home from school. Today Mommy and Daddy were both busy, so G-ma and G-pa got to have company. After we had breakfast we played "school" (grandpa was the teacher) and then it was nap time (at school) so Grandma and Natalie both had a nice nap while G-pa studied for his exam!

Diploma

Here is a sample of our diplomas. Progress, huh? This is not our license yet. We have to pass the National Exam before we can get a license and we are diligently studying for that test this week.

Correspondence

This week we have been studying another book and taking two tests, one on the book and the other on the State Law. But we finished on Wednesday and received the next 30 hours of credit, so now we have the required 90 hours.

Now we are cramming for the National Exam. We purchased a preparatory review program on line with 500 questions and are spending a lot of time at the computer answering questions. It's tough but we're getting better. I don't think we'll be ready for the big test till next week!

Our School

Here is the school building where we spent all of last week. We attended classes from 8:00 A.M. to 6:00 P.M. But the days were broken up from Tue. through Fri., by going out and inspecting houses. So we had some practical experience and relief from sitting reading and taking quizes!

Getting Ready

We're getting ready to go home inspecting! Tomorrow we start our classes. Today I made a rack on the pick up truck to hold the ladder. I took some close ups of the design. At least it won't fall off!

Welcome

Here is a larger picture of the Welcome Sign. People can take a tour of the facilities by going to the space center building at the Welcome Center on I-10 exit 2 in MS. Any day but Sunday. They are closed that day.

NASA Spring

We deliver in the morning here at Stennis Space Center. This is the entrance and welcome sign. This picture is out through our front window. To the right is a wooded area and here is a picture of one of the azelia bushes all flowered out. It is 72 degrees with clear skies. We will be delivering in the morning and then heading home to Chattanooga to get ready for school!! That's right. We plan to go to home inspection school. We'll keep you posted on how well we do!

Smile of God

Isn't this an incredible picture? We are on the road a lot and often see beautiful and interesting scenes. This picture was sent to us by our friends Bob and Sherry. We are in a Super 8 for the week-end. Fortunately we have been avoiding the bad weather. Here in NC the wind is blowing but the sun is out. Monday we will head from NC back to TX. We have to go home for a closing on a lot we are selling by March 19. Sandra and I are also working up our attention and note taking skills since we are going to school the last week of March. We'll let you know how that turns out.

Remembering Jack

Here are three pictures that capture the Jack we knew. Top pic is Jack and his wife, Margaret. That smile is my brother - always trying to make people happy.

The second picture gives a little insight into Jack's sense of humor. Our cousin, Jim took this picture at uncle Bob's house. The antlers on the wall made it look like they were coming out of Jack's head. He had a good laugh at the rsults along with the rest of us.

The bottom picture is another one of me (on the left) and Jack at a reunion.

A Sad Month

On Valentines day my sister-in-law called to give us the bad news that my brother, Jack had passed away in his sleep. It was a bad shock to me, my wife, our girls, our grandchildren, and all who knew him. Many of you know the difficulty of this situation and the importance of family support. WE THINK ABOUT HIM EVERY DAY and will for as long as we live.

In this picture, I am on the right, Jack (3 years younger than me) is in the middle,and Lenn (Kevin) who is our youngest brother (12 years younger than me) is on the left. If you knew Jack you know that he was a very likeable person with a tender heart and a mischievious sense of humor. His daughters, Andria and Janelle are beautiful people and their families have a great loss too.

We are back to work now and are trying to carry on. More later. . . .