What A Blast

Had our good friend Chris Moroni up from Ely for a little visit and got into some hot fishing. Joanna and I took her to our favorite spot on Indian Lake for a few hours one evening. The smallmouth Bass were frantically feeding all around us , breaking water like sharks. We each put on a fluke and before you know it we were each reeling in some 18 inchers. They are so much fun to catch. We were whooping and hollering the whole time. Then , we decided to turn to Walleye fishing. Joanna and I took turns catching some and throwing the smaller ones back. In the meantime, our friend Chris hadn't caught a thing. Then all of a sudden her fishing pole bent over double and she was reeling hard. Before too long she brought up a 25 inch Walleye. What a beauty!!! She was overwhelmed with joy at her catch and had to take it home for a feast with friends.

Fishing Trophies

Some pictures of our wonderful guests and the fish they have caught this summer. In fact for the last three weeks, the fishing has been super fantastic. Everyone I talk to is amazed at how good it has been. That's what we like to hear.

Fun with Family and Friends

What a fantastic, fun time we had the past few weeks with special friends and family who came to stay with us at camp.

First Steve and Kellie Henderson, their precious children, and Kim, Kellie's twin sister came to stay a few days with us. The weather was great and we played and sang and swam and laughed and laughed and laughed together. They are quite the musical family as they all play instruments on the Praise and Worship team which Steve leads at our church in Dryden.

Following them, our daughter Cherish and her husband Patrick came for a week of fun and frolic. It was most enjoyable to have them all to ourselves. Such a terrific couple who are still on their honeymoon. They say it will last their entire lives. :) Cherish is 8 months pregnant with their first child which is a boy. I will soon be deploying to their household to help upon his arrival to my great pleasure.

Being 8 months pregnant didn't slow Cherish down very much. She and Patrick went on a 12 mile four wheeler ride up a gravel road nearby, she went canoeing with me on the lake, she and Patrick and Joanna and I went fishing all day on a nearby lake , catching 23 fish, mostly Walleye, we all went on the pontoon boat, swimming and did a bit of blueberry picking. Time goes too fast. Wish we could keep them longer.

Now we are looking forward to the arrival early September of our son Jonathan , his wife, Reseth and three adorable grandchildren, Aaron, Titus and newly born Evemarie. It will be our first meeting of Evemarie. Can't wait.

Beauty of God's Creations

God's promise in a rainbow and enjoying the beauty of His creation in flowers. It's been a good year to grow flowers, vegetables and new grass as it rained almost every day for the first two months of summer.

We're Rocking Here at Camp

We decided that we needed to move the rock retaining wall by cabins 8 and 9 back into the bank by about 4 feet to make more room for parking so vehicles parked there would not be so close to the road. What a job!!

John used the backhoe to gather up all the old rocks from the previous wall and dump them in a pile at the back end of the camp. He then used the bucket to dig into the bank and then scoop up four feet deep of soil.

After angling it and raking it smooth, we laid down landscaping cloth to prevent grass and weeds from growing through the rocks.

The final stage was the most back breaking and time consuming. John brought down bucket load so new rocks and laid them in piles along the wall. Then my brother Rick, Joanna, John and I hand placed every single rock to finish the wall. So thankful that one is checked off the list!!
Recently John used the backhoe to bring down more blue rock to cover the exposed gravel. It looks so nice.

Something To Boast About

Fishing started off a bit slower this spring, but soon the fish barrels in the cleaning house were getting filled up.  Here are a few of the catches that were sent my way to show you.

Gary Erickson   36 inch Trout

Reid Erickson  38 inch Trout

Matt Grubb

Chris and Matt Grubb

Phil Trzeb  29 inch Walleye

Extraordiary Circumstances

Last March when Joanna and I were at her last dogsled race of the season, the Copper Dog in Calumet, MI, she felt fortunate to breed her best female leader on the team to a super dog from a top winning kennel in Canada.  The timing seemed to be perfect. 

As she waited in the weeks to come for Viva's belly to begin swelling with puppies, she noticed that nothing was happening and felt very disappointed thinking that she didn't take.  We went on vacation down in the states and she would check with John who was home to see if Viva was getting any bigger.  The answer was always no. 

But when we got home and it was closer to Viva's due date, Joanna did feel some movement in Viva's belly indicating there was at least one puppy in there, hopefully two. 

The due date came and went and still nothing was happening.  Almost a week overdue, Viva finally went into labor.  Joanna was right there on hand in case she needed to assist in any way.

After many hours of labor and nothing happening, Joanna became worried that she wasn't going to be able to deliver and rushed Viva to the vet in Dryden, about two hours away from us.  The vet tried pulling the puppy that was stuck out with a special tool, but was unable to do so.  A cesarean operation had to be performed to get the puppy out because he had grown too big and his shoulders were getting caught in the birth canal.  He was the only puppy in there and that's probably why he grew so big.

We have kept mother and puppy in a dog kennel in the basement just to keep and eye on them and keep Viva's incision clean.  Joanna and I took out the staples a few days ago.  We can hardly believe how big this puppy has gotten in such a short time.  Of course he gets his choice of nipples for sustenance and is truly fat and happy.

Because there was only one puppy, the breeder is giving her another chance to breed her in the future.  Hopefully we will get more than one the next time around.

Our New Grandbaby

Saturday morning we got a wonderful surprise.  Jonathan and Reseth were waiting for their new baby Evemarie, to come into this world.  We knew it had to be soon.  All of a sudden the day arrived and that beautiful little nine pound six ounce girl was born.  She has two adoring brothers, Aaron 6 and Titus 4 who have been looking forward to this day with great anticipation. 

All nine months of the pregnancy, they were repeatedly hugging and kissing her through Mommy's tummy and telling her how much they loved her.  Now they get to hold her on the outside and they are mesmerized by her.  She will be totally surrounded with loving brothers and parents.  What a doll.  I can't wait to hold her in person myself.  There's nothing quite like a newborn baby.  What a miracle life is!!!

Headin' South

                                             
                   Nicki and I soaking our feet by the shore

Picture from surfing museum in New Smyrna Beach of my first win at a surfing meet





 

                         Cherish and baby enjoying the ocean

This is the house I grew up in.  The large oak tree in the middle was where we hung a long rope swing and would swing over the lake and jump in.  Pretty thrilling.

  Lake Sylvan where I grew up.  We used to swim across the lake and back.

House where I grew up in Winter Park, Florida.  Used to be lots of orange and grapefruit trees and a bigger yard where we played ball every day.

 Genius Drive was a dirt road through pretty trees where peacocks lived.  We could hear them from our house.                                           

Park Ave. in downtown Winter Park is very unique with brick streets and fancy stores and restaurants.

 Knowles chapel at Rollins College in Winter Park where John and I got married.  It has a huge pipe organ.

Dinky Dock where I rented canoes for a summer job after high school.  Tough job.  ;)

Cranes that liked to hang around Nicki's front lawn on the lake in Florida

     Nicki on her first ride in her new kayak.  She's quite a sport.

With winter hanging on here at camp, Joanna and I were eager to head south to the states for some warm weather, spring flowers, green grass and lots of visits with family and friends.  We really criss crossed the nation to take in all we could in a month's time.  John was left home to manage the home front as usual.  Someday we hope he can join us in our southern adventures.

We first drove to Chisholm, MN to stay with and visit Joanna's four cousins and their children for two days.  All three of our children used to spend lots of time with their cousins growing up and are very close to them, so we relish every opportunity to see them.  Then, we headed over to Ely to stay with our daughter Cherish and her husband Patrick over Easter weekend.  Cherish is 6 months pregnant with their first child who we just found out is a boy.  They are overjoyed.

Next, we drove down to Minneapolis, MN to spend the night and fly out the next day to Asheville, NC to see my Dad and sister and brother.  It was a bit rainy, but everything was blooming from apple trees, dogwood trees to all kinds of flowers.  They desperately needed the rain as they had some terrible fires rip through the area last fall.  What a sight for sore eyes to see all the green grass and trees.  Dad was in great spirits and has even learned to play the harmonica.  He's on oxygen, so he has to play in spurts to get his breath.  He just loves music so it's wonderful he found a means to express it.

With great excitement, Joanna and I then flew down to Orlando, Florida and headed over to New Smyrna Beach to stay a week with my older sister and two brothers.  We also met up with our two adopted brothers Hamilton Fish and Fred Baker.  There's no place like the beach to rejuvenate this ole' Florida girl.  The salty ocean, blue green water, warm sand through my toes, walks on the beach, basking in the warmth of the sun, boogie boarding, eating out, shopping.... it's all so wonderfully fun and relaxing.  And it's over too soon.  Maybe in our retirement years we can spend a month there.  :)

After the week at the beach and another three days in Casselberry, Florida with my sister, we flew back to Minneapolis, MN, picked up our car and drove six hours to Omaha, NE to visit our son Jonathan, wife Reseth and two darling grandsons, Aaron and Titus.  A new baby girl is about to pop out of the oven near May 18th.  Her name is Evemarie.  The boys have been loving her and kissing her from the outside the whole time.  They are so eager to welcome her into this world.  What fun it will be for them to dote over a sister.

So, we are mightily excited to be having a new baby boy and baby girl coming into our family soon.  There's no greater blessing this side of heaven.  We arrived home safely May 9th and are in high gear to prepare for opening fishing.  We are looking forward to greeting our guests for another summer of fishing.

                         Joanna and I preparing to leave Florida

                           Sister Nicki, Fred who we met surfing, Daryl                    

                              Daryl , brother Rick and Joanna

                     South New Smyrna Beach.  Used to surf here.

 Intracoastal waterway.  I recall Rick telling us to stand next to the snakes in the palmettos for a picture

                                  South New Smyrna Beach

                                   Sunrise at New Smyrna Beach

Day with family at New Smyrna Beach.  Left to right..brother Ron, sister Nicki, adopted brother Fred, wife Marilyn, adopted brother Hamilton, brother Rick, daughter Joanna, daughter Cherish, Daryl

                    Grandma having heavenly moment with Titus

                      Reseth with boys surrounding baby Evemarie

              Capt. Jonathan on his birthday with Aaron and Titus