Fulfillment

While Jonathan was away on business, Reseth decided to pack up their two sons and dog to head north from Omaha, NE, first to her folks place near Two Harbors, MN and then up to our camp the end of November.  Trying to keep up to a two year old and care for a four month old baby was wearing her out and she desperately needed some rest.  We sure enjoy spending time with them and it makes the time go faster for her to be with others while Jonathan is away. 

Joanna and I drove to the Pigeon River border crossing on the North Shore of Lake Superior to pick her up so she wouldn't have to drive those four hours alone on the deserted stretch of Hwy 17 to Ignace.  Our 325 Road had about 8 inches of fresh snow as well making it impossible to drive except in a four wheel drive vehicle.  Our dump/plow truck had been in town waiting to be repaired for over two months and we were getting a bit nervous about the snow conditions, hoping we wouldn't get anymore until we got our plow truck back.

Several days after we brought Reseth and the boys up to see us, we were able to bring the plow truck home, which was a good thing, because we got two feet of fresh snow a day later.  That was close!!

Our days were filled with fun and laughter and lots of activity.  Aaron got some exercise by running laps around the circle of our living room to the office to the kitchen and back to the living room.  He had to have someone run with him, so Joanna and I took turns.  We have a chin up bar as you go down the stairs to the basement that John and Joanna use to do pull ups.  I can't do any, so I just use it to hang and stretch my back.  Aaron saw me walking down the stairs one day and he said, " Grandma, do your hang ups."

Our children wanted us to keep the rocking horse they rode when they were children so their children could some day use it.  Up came "Silver"  from the basement, along with my small trampoline.  That Aaron really is in shape.  He spent a lot of time riding and bouncing.  Aaron got a snowmobile ride with Grandpa and even rode in his plow truck while moving snow around the camp.  He would tell Grandpa when to put the wing down and up.  Then he fell asleep.

Four month old Titus is such a sweet, happy baby.  He is fascinated with his lips and tongue as he is constantly sucking on his lips and rolling his tongue around.  Once while Reseth was holding him, I noticed he started pooching out his lips while looking at the top of one of our dining chairs.  The closer he got to it, the more he pooched his lips.  I captured that on a video and laugh every time I watch it.

Just as Reseth was planning to leave to go back her parent's home, we got another dump of snow and the Two Harbors, MN area got a record 42 inches.  It took them a few days to open up roads, so we were able to keep our chilluns a few days longer.

Dad's 89th Birthday

It's been a little over a year since my mother passed away.  My Dad has had a series of challenging physical problems to deal with during this year, but has recuperated amazingly well from each one.  The last one, open heart surgery to replace a valve and in addition two bypasses, set him back for a few months, but once again he has rebounded and is residing at an assisted living facility near my sister in Franklin, NC.

I flew down to see him for two weeks in October and to be present, along with two sisters and a two brothers, for his 89th birthday.  It was a grand reunion with much of the family present.  The weather was warm and sunny for the most part and we even had a touch football game on Dad's lawn at his Franklin, residence.  Dad sat in a wheelchair on the sidelines enjoying watching his children and grandchildren play a rowdy game ending in a tie.  Dad was one of the first quarterbacks for the FSU Seminole team in Tallahassee, FL.  This was when they first admitted men to the school.  He wasn't able to remain on the team because he was working three jobs to put him and his sister through college.  In high school, he was the quarterback as well and he greatly loves the game.

When we were children, he would come home after work each day as a State Farm Ins. agent to play touch football with all five of his children.  Even neighborhood kids loved to come and play with us.  My sister Nicki and I played on a sorority flag football team at UCF when it first began and was called Florida Technological University.  Our team always won first place with Nicki as the quarterback and me as the running back and end receiver.  Eventually all the other teams formed an all star team to try and beat us, but we still won.  Dad would come out to watch us play which really meant a lot to us.  So, football has been in our blood so to speak.

My youngest sister Wendy, who lives in Franklin, NC with her husband and family, kept us busy with all kinds of fun activities during our time together.  She and I went Zip Lining for the first time ever in the beautiful fall colored mountains.  That was a thrill.

When I was in high school, Dad became part of a small group of men who built the first condominiums on New Smyrna Beach, Florida.  What a wonderful experience that was for our family.  My sister Nicki and I became devoted surfers and entered quite a few contests.  To this day, our whole family loves spending time at the beach from the years we spent there during our childhood days.  We met and became close friends with other high school boys and girls, especially those who enjoyed surfing.  One of those young men, Fred Baker, has become like a brother to us and a son to Mom and Dad.  He is pictured above standing behind me in the picture of Dad and my other two sisters and brother.

Nothing is more important than families spending time together and staying connected in bonds of love.  It provides a network of stability, encouragement and hope for each member.  I feel so blessed to be a part of our extended family.  And it keeps on growing....:)

A Tribute to Bartalomeo D'alimonte

Bartalomeo D'alimonte,  (standing on left in picture just above) who was part of our wonderful Italian group of moose hunters from Southern Ontario, recently passed away.  It was an extremely sad event for the group and totally unexpected.  Bart has come with his friends to hunt in our area for some 12-13 years and they said he always enjoyed his moose vacation getaways.

We told his hunting buddies we'd like to post a tribute to Bart on Our Blog.  Frank Vitale kindly emailed us various pictures of Bart with his friends so that we could share them with you.

Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends as they walk through this difficult time.  He will be greatly missed.

Our 40th Anniversary Getaway

John and I took our first trip away together in over six years on our anniversary September 15th.  Joanna held down the fort along with John's mother who was here visiting.  We've now been married 40 years.  I can hardly believe it.  My heart is full of gratitude for the wonderful man God gave me who has filled my life with adventure beyond my wildest imagination.  I just fasten my seat belt and hang on tight. 

We both love to explore new places, so we decided to simply launch out on a trek following the North Shore of Lake Superior, north of Thunder Bay.  We spent the first night in Thunder Bay after walking along the harbor and eating a delicious meal of beef ribs at the Montana restaurant. 

The next day we headed north, stopping briefly at the Terry Fox Memorial overlooking Lake Superior.  Just a few miles up the road we turned into the Sleeping Giant Provincial Park.  Looking at the hills of this park from the side view, it looks a lot like a sleeping giant...thus the name.   It is a beautiful park which is a peninsula that juts out into Lake Superior and reaches 20 miles back toward Thunder Bay.  There are quite a few smaller lakes in the park as well where you can camp, along with miles of hiking and skiing trails.  We drove all the way out to the tip and took a hike ourselves that brought us to a beach on Lake Superior. 

We pressed on to Red Lake, stopping briefly at the harbor to view the red rock cliffs and and islands out front and then on to Nipigon.  We found the nicest motel to spend the night, that had been recently renovated.  It was called the Beaver Motel.  Our spacious room had all new log furniture and a full kitchen.  It was cute and cozy.  For our anniversary dinner, we purchased a frozen Delisioso pizza and some root beer at a small local grocery store.  Believe it or not, that was our favorite meal of the trip.

We had a delightful time hiking along the Nipigon River and driving up to two dams on the way to Nipigon Lake.  Just to see Nipigon Lake, we drove a back road to the south landing.  It is certainly a huge lake.  

Later that afternoon we headed further on down the road to Rossport and then on to Terrace Bay where we spent the night.  Terrace Bay is a neat little community situated on a large beach of Lake Superior.   A natural point of interest in Terrace Bay is the Aguasabon River Gorge and falls.  Both are accessible by trails and are unbelievably gorgeous.  We were also impressed with what is called the Casque Isle trail system which runs from Terrace Bay to Rossport.  Some of it is right along the shores of Lake Superior and some it runs further inland in the woods.  We explored a part of it along the shores and came upon such cute little bays with sandy beaches where you felt like you were the only people in the world.  Stunning.

We decided to head back to Rossport to spend the next couple of nights.  It truly is a unique little spot with the Nichol Island peninsula and a series of large islands right out front.  I would say it was the most picturesque place we stayed.  We heard about a boat tour that was offered and immediately signed up for it.  The guide for the tour used a 24 foot zodiac to motor us around the islands while giving a commentary on the history of the area.  It was very interesting.  It happened to be extremely windy that evening and when we got past the islands and out into the open water of Lake Superior to get a close up view of the Battle Island Lighthouse, the waves had reached a height of eight to ten feet.  Our guide said the zodiac was the best vessel he had used in maneuvering through large waves.
What  thrill it was to sit in the front of the boat and zoom up and down those big waves.  It made me think of my surfing days back in Florida, except the water is a bit more chilly here. 

Our final day we traveled about fifteen minutes up the road to Rainbow Falls Provincial Park. They had built stairs all along the falls and a walkway across them to get a better view.  Such tremendous natural beauty everywhere we went.

We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and the time to just relax and hangout together.  We're both so thankful for the years the Lord has given us and how our love for each other has deepened.   Who knows what we will do for our 45th???

Fantastic Family Fun

From about the middle of August to the first week of September, all our children and grandchildren and even great Grandma came to Agimac camp for some family fun.  Originally Jonathan and Reseth were not planning to come because Reseth gave birth to Titus, our second grandson on July 7th. She thought she would need some recovery time since her first delivery with Aaron was extremely difficult.  But Titus surprised everyone and zoomed into this world in just a few hours.  Reseth felt so good that she decided a trip north to Canada would work out after all enabling us to see our new grandson.  We were absolutely delighted at the news. 

Even though we had a fairly cool and wet summer, when August rolled around the temps started to go up again and we had over a week of weather in the high 80's and low 90's.  This is just what our daughter Cherish was praying for.  She LOVES the heat especially for swimming and that is the only way we could cool off during that time since we don't have air conditioning. 

Jonathan, Cherish, Joanna and I took one of the fishing boats out by the rock of Gibralter and we jumped in to the clear, refreshing, perfectly calm lake.  I've rarely seen it so calm on Indian Lake.   We swam and swam to our heart's content, floating on our backs and looking up at the clear blue skies.   Jonathan commandeered the 35 h.p. motor, giving each of us a turn on the tube.  Even little Aaron took a ride with Reseth and wasn't a bit afraid.

Another day we took a boat and tubes over to Mameigwess Lake and floated down the crystal clear, windy river.  It turned out to be a rainy day and we were getting a bit chilled, but that didn't stop us from running and jumping off the dock into the river when we got back.  Even Reseth came running down in the rain and jumped in to join the fun.

I tried to give Reseth a break and take care of Titus at different times so she could get in on the fun too.  She was going to pick blueberries with the gang and when Titus fell asleep, I rushed her out the door so she could have more time.   Wouldn't you know it... as soon as she left, Titus woke up.  There was  a good bit of crying, but eventually he fell back asleep and I enjoyed cradling that new, precious creation in my arms until Mama returned. 

Aaron is two years old now and such a personality.  He absolutely LOVES singing and dancing and playing instruments.  Cherish brought her keyboard along and Aaron stood right beside her playing and trying to copy her singing.  At times he would run around in circles on the floor, singing at the top of his lungs, worshiping the Lord with all his might..  I just love the spontaneity and freedom of children.  His parents actually bought him an electric drum set because he had such a desire to beat on everything to the music.  He plays them two to three hours a day when they are home.

Can you believe that John took the liberty to paddle in a kayak?   It was nice to see him relax and kick back while the kids were here.  He took Jonathan and his father-in-law fishing on Heathwalt too which was a lot of fun. They came back with enough fish to have us a hearty fish fry.  Yum!

The last few days, Reseth's parents, Joe and Pat Richter, who have a beautiful bed and breakfast in a huge log cabin near Two Harbors, MN came to join in the fun.  There is nothing quite like family reunions and I would say that a good time was had by all!!

Splish Splash

Once the weather warmed up enough for us to actually get in it, Joanna and cousin Holly grabbed their tubes and took a fun ride down the rapids adjacent to our camp.  The water was higher this year than last year so they were able to avoid some underwater rocks.  It provides a bit of a thrill for the thrill seeker. 

Catching Up

The month of August has been filled with visits from wonderful friends from our past and family members.  Usually the weather is warmer, the berries are ready for picking and life at camp is a bit slower paced.  That also means I tend to neglect posting on Our Blog for all you faithful readers.  So, it's time to catch you up on what's been happening around here. 

I've received quite a few pictures from some of our guests displaying their prized catches here at camp.  In this blog, I thought I'd post their pictures so you can see them too. 

The last picture should really excite all you fishing lovers to come and experience the exhilaration of pulling in one of those clams.  I actually had the pleasure of landing one of these rare species.   Like a good conservationist, I threw it back so it could grow bigger and bless another angler in the future.