2010 Recap and Catch Up....Sorry for Long Silence!

Sorry for the long absence. Let me bring you up to speed.

In late August 2009, we moved into our new 38-acre farmette 7 miles east of New Castle, Penna., off PA State Route 108. We love it here. (House pictured.)

During the 2009-2010 school year, we homeschooled the kids again with a lot of help from Blackburn Study Center in the North Hills of Pittsburgh.

Ellen ran cross country and track for Laurel School district as did Clint (photo is of Clint in his track uniform with Evelyn and Meredith in front). Clint, as an 8th-grader set a couple new school records (the 800-meter and 1600-meter...basically the 1/2-mile and mile). There is a strong class of 8th graders this year, so most likely the records will be broken, but it was quite an accomplishment.

Ellen is applying to colleges. She and dad (me), along with Ellen's good friend, Alexandra Clellend, attended a visitation day at Houghton College in Houghton, New York (about an hour south of Buffalo). (That's pronounced "HOE"-ton, not "HOW"-ton.) She liked it, applied, and was accepted. She also applied to Grove City College, just a week ago and we are awaiting their response.

Ellen and dad (me) also went to Shanghai, China, for a week in November. It was a business trip (my fourth and Ellen's second) and we thoroughly enjoyed the time. (Ellen is pictured being silly in a red dress I bought on my first trip to China. I bought it for her mother, but it didn't go over so well.)

Meredith started running cross country for Laurel during the 2010-2011 school year. She is actually very good and came in 2nd or 3rd on her team for most of the year. She's looking forward to track season which starts sometime later this spring. Meredith is the most social of the four kids, easily makes lots of friends and enjoys her time with friends. She could easily be a phone junky...talking with friends all the time.

Evelyn is rocking through the 2010-2011 school year. She's disappointed when all she gets on a test is a 100%. Evelyn is also our chicken-lady...meaning she is the one in charge of taking care of our 16 chickens which we acquired in August 2010.

Mary started working for Adoption Connection, a subcontractor for the State Wide Adoption Network of Pennsylvania. She does child profiles and child preparations (child preps). She really enjoys it and is very good at it.

Other significant news of 2010 includes Grandpa Glenn (Dave of Dave and Loa) had what we understand to be a stroke right around Thanksgiving time. He was admitted to the hospital for several days for testing. There appear to be very few side effects. He's pretty normal.....as normal as Grandpa can be.

Grandma and Grandpa Glenn are staying in Florida for 2 months this year. This is the first time staying two months.

Pap and Peg Kimpel are doing fine. Pap's Parkinson's is getting a little worse but he continues to have a GREAT attitude about it and is staying busy. Pap and Peg continue to remodel apartments in their building in Ellwood City.

2 Funny Stories

A couple of days ago, we had a guest, Mary Devine, over to our house for dinner. She met Pearl for the first time and could not stop laughing at how cute Pearl was with her tongue hanging out! Any how, she asks, "How old is Pearl?" To which Meredith, who is 12 now, answers that Pearl is almost 2 years old. Then Mary Devine ask, "Well how old is Duke?" Meredith (shown in the 2nd picture -- black shirt with reversed white ball cap) answers, "9 years old." To which Mary Glenn say, "No. We got Duke when Evelyn was 2 and Evy is now 10, so Duke is only 8." Meredith doesn't even pause for a second and she replies, "Yes, but he's been 8 for 2 years now!"

Then today, we had an interesting discussion around the dinner table about the law of diminishing marginal utility -- the law that says that each additional drink of water or lick of an ice cream cone delivers less and less satisfaction (utility), until you finally get to the point where you don't want another ounce of water or ice cream. The topic was brought up by Ellen who was wondering if she would every lose her love and zeal for Camp Susque (since she just got back from camp this afternoon). Needless to say, both she and Evelyn had a great week at Camp Susque (www.campsusque.org). Anyhow, we discussed long and hard about the fact that the law of diminishing marginal utility applies to pretty near EVERY aspect of life. So while we get "bored" of going to our own church, it always seems more exciting to visit other churches, mostly because it is new and different. But sooner or later the novelty would wear off no matter what church you'd attend.

After this long conversation, which was listened to by the entire family, Clint (shown in the top picture with his mother on his 14th birthday), later tonight before he went to bed stopped me in the kitchen and said, (really funny!) "Dad, I just want you to know that I had 2 full bowls of Captain Crunch for a snack and the second bowl was JUST AS GOOD as the first bowl!" I cracked up!

Farm Update

A very brief update. Assuming all goes well, the Glenn's will be relocating to a farm, but not the Tom and Ruth Rose farm as originally planned. By the end of August, we ought to be living at 260 McElwain Lane, New Castle, 16101. Just 7 miles west of the Slippery Rock exit north of Rt. 108. Google it and see the approximate property boundaries on the attached photos.

I'll give you a more detailed update in about a week.

Clint's 14th Birthday Party

Clint celebrated his 14th birthday yesterday (June 8th, 2009) even though his birthday isn't until June 11. A wonderful time was had by all. A few pictures are available at www.dougglenn.smugmug.com. Look for the album entitled "Clint's 14th Birthday."

Ellen's 1st Car

It is a sweet thing when situations arise when all four of a parents siblings work together peacefully on a common cause. Such was the case this last weekend (Memorial Day 2009) when all four of the kids helped clean and prep Ellen's "new" car. The car is an Chevy Corsica. It was prepared to be roadworthy by Pap with many hours of love and care. Ellen absolutely loves it! Show here are (l to r) Meredith, Clint, Evelyn, Duke (the dog) and Ellen.
Today (the day after Memorial Day), Ellen and Meredith washed the car together. Its a wonderful thing when one's children live and work at peace with one another!

April and May 2009

Nothing much new to report in April and May 2009. Our Berkshire Dr. house is still on the market after nearly a month so we have not moved any closer to buying the farm yet. The kids have one more week of Blackburn left before summer break. Ellen is driving now...with her permit, not by herself...and is doing a very good job. Clint landed two lawn mowing jobs for the summer here on Berkshire Dr. Big money for Clint. Meredith continues to be creative and is making good progress with piano lessons with Mrs. Kari Emerick. Evelyn is doing awesome. Tonight she is sick with a 102.2 degree fever. Mary made Meredith a lovely skirt this last week. And Pap and I are in the midst of rebuilding our front steps...a big project.

All in all, God is very good and things are going very smoothly. We're just waiting for our house to sell...which we assume is God's will...but we don't know for sure.

I (Doug) am headed to Philadelphia tomorrow (Wednesday, May 13, 2009) for a 3 day business trip. I miss the family when I am gone. They are at a fun age and I don't like not being here.

The picture above is of Meredith when she was probably 2-3 years old. Just thought I'd include it for posterity sake.

Buying a Farm

It has been Mary's and my idea for a number of years to buy a small farm. Since the kids are getting older, we've decided to make the move. About a month ago now, we learned that dear friends of ours, Tom and Ruth Rose, were selling their farm and we immediately contacted them. As of today, we are on track to purchase a 50-acre farm at 177 N. Spring Rd., Mercer, PA 16137, pictured here. Feel free to check it out on maps.google.com.

This is a lovely farm with gently rolling pastures and hay fields. There is no substantial wooded areas on the farm, but there is nearby. There is a small, spring-fed pond and on small stream.

We are thankful to the Lord for the opportunity to move and we are still praying that God will bring it about, but we are ready to take whatever God wills in this situation. We are currently waiting for our home to sell. If it sells, we should be all set.