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4/25/07 Well, Easter has come and gone, and with it (finally) the cold weather. Spring seems to be here to stay now and the woods are turning slowly green and the forsythia, dogwoods, and redbuds are in bloom. We've been busy planting and cleaning up the yard, and since we recently moved the horses to a beautiful farm just a few miles down the road, we've been enjoying daily visits with hunt and queena. Hope that all of our friends and family are well and we hope to see you soon! 12/18/06 Merry Christmas everyone! Hopefully we'll be seeing you this holiday season, but if not we'll be thinking of you and wishing you and your families the best of the holidays and a luck and happiness in '07. 10/1/06 Well it is now fall, so time to recap the summer...Kill Devil Hills, farm, DC, farm, Baltimore, farm, PA, farm, Kill Devil Hills. Summer began with the World Cup and ended with a great US Open. Even though the lads fell out of the quarters and Agassi fell from the Open, both events were the perfect mix of sport and story. Speaking of, the Space Shuttle was back in action on the 4th - excellent timing - so Auter was pleased. Visits from Meme and Papa, Nana and Papa, Jen and Jon and the kids, Peter and Valerie, and sundry other friends and relations. We had some great trail rides on Hunter, Queen gave us our first real medical scare (she's fine now) and Auter retired Mr. Keebler, having turned 4 and ready, literally, for bigger things. Summary: a great time was had by all and time flew. Now Auter is back to school (having a great time) and we have our sites set on the fall holidays. Auter will trick or treat as an astronaut (of course) and in 3 months we'll recap Christmas and New Year's...and bless you Grand-Nana, wherever you are... 3/29/06 Hear Auter sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star... 3/13/06 Happy Spring! Well, maybe not yet, but the weather has been uncommonly warm. Our daffodils are beginning to sprout, and the forsythia is blooming. We have already been out cleaning up the garden beds...soon we'll be able to look out of the kitchen window at tomatoes, beans, lettuce and, most importantly, okra! And of course the bunnies, happily munching away on all of it. 12/12/05 Merry Christmas! After a very short fall (and a great time in Texas for the Thanksgiving holiday), it seems that we're firmly into the freezing temps and weekly snows of winter. Its good to see the mountain gone white again, and we're reminded of how good a thing it is to sit inside by the fire after a long day spent in the cold out of doors. We're all looking forward to Christmas, especially Auter, who watches Rudolph daily and who has committed at least six versions of jingle bells to active memory. Ramping up for the big day, she was an angel (albeit a cold one) in the Marshall Christmas parade, and will be singing Christmas carols with her friends at the Marshall United Methodist Preschool Christmas party. To all our friends and family, we wish you a happy Christmas season, and a terrific New Year. We love you all... 10/31/05 Happy Halloween! As you can see, Auter was a VT cheerleader this year. Her costume was a big hit with the hometown crowd at the Warrenton Halloween parade. GO HOKIES!! 10/2/05 It is hard to believe that another summer is behind us, and that Auter is now 3! She will be the first to tell you that she is a 'big girl' now. Besides growing, she is busy these days with school and her minnie pony, 'Keebler Cookie'. The weather has been uncommonly warm, but will hopefully take a turn toward fall soon. It seems very strange to be into October with green trees! Meanwhile, we have been taking advantage of the warm nights to eat outside, when cool enough lighting a fire for s'mores and a little fall ambiance. Soon enough, we'll be looking outside at the snow covered porch and wishing for warm, pleasant meals taken outside... 6/14/05 Happiness is a girl and her John Deere! See the Auter page for pics of her new 'birthday' tractor. Thanks Meme and Papa Buddy! After a cool and beautiful Spring, summer is finally here, with humidity, thunderstorms, and high temps - luckily, nothing a summer cocktail can't fix! So when we're not at the farm, riding the horses, we're raiding the fridge for the sour mix and then sitting ourselves in the shade of the porch. Auter has developed a real taste for Shirley Temples! 5/13/05 As usual, we've hit the new year running...removing trees, paving and fencing the driveway, remodeling the kitchen and planting Michelle's usual spring array of new trees, flowers, and shrubbery. We have also finally settled on what we hope will be the Thomas permenant "herd": Hunter, Craig's paint gelding, Queen, Michelle's aptly named QH pony, and Shania, the family's Tobiano pony. We have found a new stable as well, in Warrenton, and lots of new 'horsey' friends...Meanwhile Auter and Michelle have planted the garden, and have been enjoying what we all agree has been the prettiest spring we've seen thus far up on the mountain. Pictures to come soon!