Back from Trout

Look at all them walleyes. We had pretty good luck fishing. We had more fish than we knew what to do with. Stay tuned this week for more pictures of the Trout trip.

Heading for Trout

It's finally time to get back into the woods. These are shots from last years Memorial trip to Trout Lake in the BWCA. It's me and my son Mike heading out in Anthony (the little 14 foot boat with a 25 horse motor) bringing along Al (the 17 foot aluminum canoe) for an all out adventure. We take the boat as far as we can, setup camp and then paddle in even further to fish. It's awesome and I can't wait to get back out there again. This year Mike is not able to go as he's still in school, so Makita will be back in the stern working on his "J" stroke. Ellie and Dave will be going as well and kicking our butts in both paddling and fishing as usual. Look for photos next week of this years Memorial/Trout Adventure.

Beautiful Beach

Atlantic? Pacific? Indian or Baltic? Nope...Lake Michigan. This beautiful beach is just down the road from Vickie and Ted's home in Holland Michigan. It's awesome. The sand is unbelievable.

New Holland Brewing Company

You won't find it in Minnesota yet but if you ever get to Michigan you'll want to sample the taste of New Holland Beer. That's just what I got the pleasure of doing while there last week. Ted Cothran, my friend Vickie Morgan's husband, is a brewer at NHBC and he took us to the New Holland Brewing Company's Restaurant and Pub. While we were there he treated us to samples of many of their brews. My favorite was Sundog Amber Ale. They have quite a few seasonal brews of interest. The Red Tulip is a deep ruby red ale and is only available from March 1 - May (tulip time) and an Ichabod Pumkin Ale only available from Labor Day to Thanksgiving (I'd like to try that one!!)

Ted also showed us around and told us how they make the beer. It was very interesting. Ted even sent me home with a few bottles. I should have taken a bigger suitcase. You can visit their website at: newhollandbrew.com

Mike's Graduation

Whey...2006 acedemic year is finally wrapping up. Mike received his AAS in Criminal Justice from Central Lakes College last night. He still has a couple weeks of Hibbing College Law Enforcement Skills yet but it's getting close to concluding. Great job Mike! What a great mothers day present!

Tulip Time in Holland....

Holland Michigan that is. I just happened to be working in Holland this week during Tulip Time. In addition to the excitement of visiting there during Tulip Time, my friend Vickie Morgan lives there as well. I haven't seen Vickie in seven years. So there was a lot of catching up to do.
Vickie and her husband Ted sitting among some of the tulips in downtown Holland.
A family dressed in Dutch costumes for the occasion. I don't know who they are. There were bunches and bunches of people dressed up. Mostly women. Some of the women were dressed in men's costumes because, in Ted's words, "the men aren't going to get dressed up in those stupid outfits".

Ellie's most recent masterpiece

Ellie is getting so good at her stained glass. I'm not going to lie to you, when she said she was going to stained glass class, I thought "what in the hell are you ever going to do with that"? But as usual, she continues to surprise me. This is her most recent masterpiece. She custom made it to fit in her window in her newly remodeled bathroom. It is gorgous. Another job well done. Bravo. 

Mike gets maced!

All in the name of learning, here is my son Mike getting sprayed with mace as part of his Law Enforcement Skills class. He is just about finished with his Criminal Justice Classes at Central Lakes College. His graduation is this Thursday night. He will graduating from the Law Enforcement Skills course from Hibbing Community College on May 26th. He will take his Minnesota Post Test to become a license law enforcement officer on June 16th. His super kick'n graduation party will be Saturday July 1st. We're pretty proud of him. He's worked really hard to finish these courses and will be graduating on the Presidents list from CLC. 

Big Ole Brutus

Here's big ole Brutus last weekend. He's sooo cute and really really cool. Next Tuesday the pups get their shots and will be ready to go home with their new parents on Wednesday. Greenie, Jimmy and Brutus are still for sale. I think that if no one scoops up Brutus, Ellie and Dave might not mind keeping him. Kimmy Kay is going to Dave Jr.'s. I wonder what he'll name her??? I'm going to continue to call her Kimmy. Her mom's name is Maggie May...why not Kimmy Kay? 

Rainy, cold weekend

This past weekend was a good old April weekend with those famous April showers and nice cool temps that forced me to bring out the long johns again. Along with the Hopps, we drove all the way up to Chippawa National Forest by Effie and found the campgrounds closed. So we ended up at Scenic State Park out of Big Fork. There was only one other camper in the park besides the two of ours all weekend. We had a good time making big fires and visiting with the Hopps. Mary Poppins or Robin Hopp? Hard to tell.


Kumbaya my Lord, kumbaya, Kumbaya my Lord, kumbaya. Kumbaya my Lord, kumbaya. Oh Lord kumbaya. Someone's crying my Lord, kumbaya. Someone's crying my Lord, kumbaya. Someone's crying my Lord, kumbaya. Oh Lord kumbaya

Right after the changing of the guards in front of the Royal Castle of Kim. (No the awning isn't broken....it's raining and we don't want the water to build up on it).

Happy 15th Birthday Matt!

Today is my nephew Matt's 15th Birthday. Happeeeeee birthdayyyyyy toooooooo youuuuuuu!

Meet Abby Kay

My friend Robin just got her new Yorkie Terrier, Abby. And of course the perfect middle name for a cute, sweet, gentle animal is Kay. Abby is really little and really funny.

Splitting wood

Last Sunday ...after digging the crap trap, we proceeded to split wood. Look out Paul Bunyan, we're kicking butt. Okay...I'm simply running the machine but hey my friends are really kicking butt. 

Digg'n the crapper hole

Here's a glamorous job! Kurt and Makita digging the crapper hole at Thor last Sunday, April 23rd. Looks like Dave Boeckermann is supervising. Believe me, when this project was completed the "facility" was a fit for a king (or queen). 

Kyle and the puppies

Kyle got to go on a field trip saturday to the Boeckermann's to meet the puppies. He had a great time! They seemed to really like him too.

Kyle and Lindsey

Kyle and I went home Friday night from the hospital and watched the blue stuff out of his hair. Then we watched the new Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (which, by the way, is a bit different than the first one). The next morning Kyle just couldn't hardly wait to get back to see his sister Lindseyand to hold her again.

New Grandaughter

Here she is! She finally arrived at 5:46 pm on Friday April 21st. Lindsey Elizabeth Dieter weighed 6 pounds 9 ounces and is 20 inches long. Her brother Kyle (who has blue hair due to "Wacky Hair Day" at school yesterday) is sure proud to be holding her!

The-Wnuks.blogspot.com

My sister Lorrie has a blog now.

There is a link here on my blog sight or you can login directly at the-wnuks.blogspot.com

Busy weekend...

Well the camper went on it's 2006 maiden voyage. As you can see here, Sadie thought the front storage compartment was a dog house. It was a great weekend for camping. The weather was awesome. The park was empty. There was only one other site that had people in it besides us.
Then yesterday afternoon we went over to Ellie and Dave's and colored Easter eggs (me, Davey and Ellie hard at it) and Ellie cooked a turkey with all the fix'ns. Oh wow was it delicous. She's a great cook. I stuffed myself.
And of course there was much playing with the puppies. They are three weeks old today. They are between 5 and 6 pounds now. Brutus and Kimmy Kay are the two biggies. Here's a picture of Ellie with Brutus (it's her favorite).
Here's a picture of all five pups sleeping. Brutus is the big pig that piled up on top of the rest of them. If you look close you'll see the one up on top has their tongue sticking out. That's either Jim or Greenie. Hard to tell.

Hoppy Easter