To celebrate the new Administration, we went to the Old Post Office to help MAGA. The hamburgers and the service were excellent! It was a warm and comfortable setting. Hopefully, the tower renovation will be completed in 2018.In March, Heidi and Russ took a short trip to the DelMARVA Peninsula. We visited Hooper’s Island and the new and excellent Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Museum located near the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. Heidi is moving into new territory in her career (more on that next Christmas!) In March, she went to the Dominican Republic to judge at the location of the 2008 Pan American Games.Sadly, Charlotte (Lena’s sister and best friend) mysteriously disappeared in the Spring. She was a great cat, although she was a little more independent than Lena. Maybe her “independence” did her in – combined with a fox… Who knows? Well, Lena’s new BFF is Mango. It’s a very odd relationship but each morning they get together to “play.”
In March, Seth and Beto went to Guatemala on a short-term mission trip. The trip was organized by Seth’s church in Texas. This was a great opportunity for both of them!
In June, Beto became and Eagle Scout- the BSA’s highest rank. Here, Heidi is pinning on the rank during his Court of Honor. Beto’s Eagle project was a complex of raised-bed gardens for the local community center.Beto graduated from High School in June with a 3.5 GPA. He participated with other home-school graduates at a ceremony held at Blue Ridge Bible Church. We are very proud of him!During the Summer, Beto signed up for the U.S. Navy’s deferred enlistment program. He traveled to Richmond’s Military Entrance Processing Station and scored very well on the Armed Forces Vocational Aptitude Battery test – so well in fact that he was able to qualify and was selected for his job choice. After boot camp in April 2018, Beto will train to be a corpsman. Heidi and Russ have been getting more time together. Golf, shopping, traveling, golf, biking with friends, a trail ride, and golf. “WAIT! You said ‘golf’ three times!” Yes. I know.Russ and Heidi played a lot of golf this year… Next year may be a different story, however. FREE golf may be a thing of the past – we’ll have to wait to see.In October (after playing 18 at Black Rock), we had a great afternoon at Antietam Battlefield. We took the car tour and had opportunities to speak with interpreters at a couple stops along the way. This is at Burnside Bridge.
