'We're going to be mortgage free!' Holyrood couple set for life
Amanda Taylor and Ken Paul are taking their kids to Disneyland
Parrots have a whole new meaning for Newfoundland and Labrador's newest lottery winners, Ken Paul and Amanda Taylor.
When Paul scratched his Set for Life ticket on Sunday he wasn't expecting to get three parrots in a row — the winning combination for the big prize.
"We don't have money like this, it's going to be amazing!" said Taylor, as the couple picked up their windfall at a cheque presentation Friday in St. John's.
"We're going to be mortgage free!"
The couple has two options — they can choose to be paid $1,000 per week for 25 years or take a $675,000 lump sum payment. They haven't decided yet what to do.
Paul and Taylor, who live in Holyrood with their two young children, said they'll be taking the kids to Disneyland as well.
They turned the luck of one lottery ticket into another at Canadian Tire Gas Bar in Kelligrews, which will get one per cent of the prize for selling the winning ticket.
"Sunday I was very excited. Ken had purchased a ticket and I won $70," said Taylor.
That covered the $40-sneakers she bought earlier in the day, their gas and the winning ticket.
Parrot tattoos?
Those three lucky parrots on the scratch ticket have Taylor reconsidering her fear of birds.
"Now Ken said to me, 'maybe we should get matching tattoos of parrots.' I'm not sure how I feels about that either. It beats getting a real one, hey b'y?"
Along with paying off their mortgage and taking a vacation, Paul and Taylor have an even more important plan for their winnings.
Paul, who travels back and forth from Edmonton for his contracting business, said the lottery win means he can cut back on commuting and spend more time with his family.
That's something Taylor, a stay-at-home mom, said they will all enjoy.
The couple are the seventh Set for Life winners in Newfoundland and Labrador in the past year.
With files from Keith Burgess