Good news and progress

After anxiously waiting for several months, our house mate Marcus was granted asylum in court yesterday. He is one happy guy. He can now move on with his life.

Michael, another house mate/asylee was recently informed by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services that his application for his family in Ethiopia to join him was approved. They only have to complete the necessary paperwork and interviews before they are able to travel to the US in the spring or early summer.

Congratulations to Marcus and Michael.

Yesterday was Joseph's birthday which we celebrated last night with him providing most of the treats for a party. Ellen made him a nice birthday cake.

The remodeling of the downstairs bathroom is almost complete. Three great guys (Bob, Merle and Jim) from Lancaster came down and put in a good day's work. Bob even brough his wife's pumpkin cupcakes for the house. (See the attached snapshots of Jim installing a towel bar, Bob perched on a step ladder and the whole crew sharing soup and bread with us.)

Only the shower door and grab bar need to be installed to complete the job. They did a great job. For the past few weeks, eight of us on the first and second floor had been sharing the two bathrooms on the second floor.