Ephrata Christmas Light Show
Garman Homes new home community near the Green Dragon on State Street has wired their model home for interactive Christmas lights that flash in sync with the music. Not sure of the hours. Probably like 6 to 9 each night.
Ephrata Fair 2010
It was a lovely night until the rain came! Until it rained, here’s what happened.
Your Friend in the health insurance business!
Mortgage Update 5/20/2010
The tax credit may be gone but mortgage rates in Ephrata, Lancaster and beyond are phenomenal! Conventional and Government rates are 5.00 or less. 15 year terms are 4.5 or less. 5 Year ARM’s are 4.00 or less!
At Cole Taylor Mortgage, a division of Cole Taylor Bank we are cranking out loans in record time. In Ephrata, yours truly Brian Weems Williams will gladly assist you in the purchase or refinance of your home. In Lancaster and elsewhere, reach out to me, Doris Good, Lesley Kuffel, Wayne Angelo or Mike Lafferty for a consultation.
As always, I’m a phone call away at 468-0130, or e-mail at broweems@ptd.net.
4 Months Later
Holy Moly, it’s been 4 months since I posted anything! There’s been a lot going on.
On the mortgage side, those of us at Beacon flirted with transitioning to mortgage bankers at the end of 2009. We didn’t make the jump for many reasons…until the end of March. We are now Cole Taylor Mortgage, a division of Cole Taylor Bank. Cole Taylor Bank is based in Chicago, and has been around for 80 years. The mortgage division is new, though spearheaded by industry legends from the legendary ABN-AMRO mortgage group.
We are the first retail branch in Pennsylvania for Cole Taylor Mortgage! While there may be a learning curve with systems and processes, the end result is already phenomenal. Local processing and in-house underwriting means quicker decisions on files and shortens the cycle to get a loan closed. Local appraisers. Excellent rates. It’s made things fun again!
On other topics, I have been on QVC a few times selling the world’s best hose products, those made in Oregon by Water Right.
I am once again coaching Kate’s Ephrata U12 Girls Rec soccer team. Got trounced in week 1, but every other game has been close, with 1 win and 1 tie to go with 3 losses.
Kate & Nathan Rip Open Their Christmas Gifts
They had so much stuff (as usual), but I shrunk the footage down.
Santa Tours Ephrata
December 12th was a cold but Sunny day in Ephrata, PA. Santa was making his pre-Christmas eve survey of the neighborhood in Clay Twp known as Countryside Estates. Why get the reindeer all tired out when the Lincoln Fire Company can provide transportation?
December Madness
Holy cow, haven’t posted in over a month. December is extra nuts at the Williams house. Nathan turned 7 on the 12th. Kate will be 11 on the 20th and I’ll be 48 on the 27th. Then there’s that little thing called Christmas and New Year’s too, and it makes for a blur of activity.
Nate’s birthday goodies were a big hit, and included a set of poker chips. Poker chips? Yes, he and I and sometimes Kate play a lot of Texas Hold ‘em. It is a lot of fun, unpredictable of course and makes the kids think about risk, reward, bluffing and reading people.
He got a dartboard, and is quickly kicking my fanny in Double in, Double Out. After playing with a 3 dollar mini nerf football in WalMart a 100 times, we finally got him one. It’s the small one that looks like an arrow is stuck in it. Much easier for him to throw a spiral with. I had plenty of balsa wood planes as a kid, and got him one with the propeller and rubber band. They still fly great! Available with hundreds of other nicely priced gifts on Main Street in Ephrata at the Fun-Est Toy Store Ever. http://www.thefun-esttoystoreever.com/catalog/index.php
As a surprise we took Nathan, his friend Trent and Kate to go swimming at the New Holland Rec. It’s very nice there, but 5 minutes after getting in the pool they had to get out because the staff discovered someone had pooped in the pool. Doody!!!! They closed the pool for 24 hours. We got a refund and free passes too. Excellent customer service on their part!
Sadly, though predictably, Nathan learned the truth about Santa this year. I think Kate learned in 1st grade too. There’s always some know-it-all brat in school that has to ruin the fantasy. Nathan asked Lori about it one day after school, and she had to tell him the truth. He cried and was pretty upset for a little while. Though by dinner he was over it, and had already figured out the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny were bogus too. Sigh.
For the 2nd year we passed on the Elizabeth Farms Christmas Tree experience. It’s fun, but 80 bucks for a tree is nuts. Norka was short on Fraser fir, so we went to the old standby, Frysville Farms. I think it was 35 bucks for a tree they cut down like 2 months ago…oh well.
Kate is suddenly hooked on Justin Bieber, whoever that is. All she wants for Christmas is a cell phone. We’ll see.
Ephrata Girls U12 Soccer G-Force!
Another season of soccer has come and gone. The “G Force” was 2-5 with a 3rd place finish in the Season ending festival. In a show of team solidarity they all sprayed their hair with purple and gold paint and sparkles, then added some face paint with Gold E’s and their jersey number on their cheeks. Earlier this week we had fun at our last practice by dressing up and being silly.
Ephrata Girls U12 Fall 09Ephrata Girls U12 Funny FaceEphrata U12 Girls Soccer HalloweenEphrata Girls Soccer U12 Wacky Wednesday
Ephrata Girls U12 Halloween Practice