Scott Hamilton here.  Sorry if I haven't written in so long; have been busy:  between raising eight rambunctious kids, working at my store (I own a hardware store; have done so for the past ten years), and attending church functions, I just don't have much in the way of free time.

Tabby (Tabitha), my wife, is just as busy:  she's a stay-at-home mom and a homeschool instructor.  She's also on the woman's board at church; if she can't watch the kids and I'm at work, then their NiNi Gladiola (her mother) watches them for us.

Our kids are not as little as they were when I last wrote.  They are all in school now:  two are in high school, four are in middle school, and the youngest three are in elementary school.  They are all mainstreamed into regular classes.  They are doing well, even with having disabilities that affect their learning capabilities (or in the case of Dmitri, our third oldest, their physical capabililties).  All but Dmitri have Down syndrome; Dmitri, meanwhile, has spina bifida and uses a wheelchair most of the time.

They all participate in the Challenger Little League program for children with disabilities.  They absolutely love playing baseball and/or seeing their friends again; they also learn that there are other kids "like them" out there, and that they can have fun, just like anybody else.  It's been a huge boost to their morales and self esteem.

We had some interesting weather this week:  we had some severe thunderstorms roll through our area, bringing extremely heavy rains, plenty of thunder and lightning, hail, and even hurricane-force winds here in Jamestown that knocked down a lot of power poles and caused a lot of damage.  We were without power until just yesterday.  I had meant to write a lot sooner, but was unable to; know you know why.  The storms certainly didn't help matters any.

The children were frightened of the thunder, rain, hail, and wind, but we made it a game.  We pretended we were on a campout, and we made a fire in the fireplace and sang Jesus songs to keep everyone calm.  Pretty soon, the storms were forgotten as we concentrated on singing for the Lord.  I think He was pleased because He kept us all safe and our house only had minor damage (shingles blown off and our side gutter partially blown off).

We still have some yard work to do (debris littering our yard), but at least we still have our house, and we have our power back!  Some people lost everything or had a lot of damage; for this, we can consider ourselves extremely fortunate.

I figured before we tackle the rest of our yard, I'd write in here to let you know we were still around.  We haven't died or left for outer space.  LOL  I just wanted our friends to know that I was thinking of them and wanted to let them know how we were doing.  So I did.  And here I am.  LOL

Well, Tabby is calling to get cracking on the yardwork, so I'd best go.  The kids are ready to get busy as well.  I will try to write in here a lot sooner than I did.  Please forgive me on this.  I'm just a lousy keeper of journals and never was a big fan of writing; my wife is more of the writer in this family.  LOL  Until next time, this is Scott saying so long and God bless!

~Scott Hamilton, Jamestown, California.