A little drama in our week!

Our kids have gone back home, but we do have great memories and some photos to help us remember. Yes, this big guy was in our backyard the last day the grandchildren were here and they enjoyed the excitement. He was not as shy as previous gators visiting. In fact as the guys were fishing in the pond, The Trout grabbed Rachel's 'Princess Fishing Rod' and he actually chomped down on the bobber and The Trout was holding on as the rod was bending. No, he was not reeled in. He broke the line. Luckily. Alligators are common in Florida, but when they are in the backyard, they can be a nuisance. You can be arrested for harassing these creatures and you can have the gator patrol come in and remove them, but only if they are posing a danger for you. They need to be quite large before they are removed. Just one of those creatures where we have invaded their home.

We went down to Lake Morton and watched the geese blocking traffic as they wobbled back and forth across the road. Locals are used to the disruption.

Erika, Rachel and Josh feeding the swans.

The kids had two days at Disney and a visit to the Atlantic and to the Gulf to enjoy the beaches. Lots of shells and beach sand to take to their friends in school. The visits go very quickly, but we are so glad we are able to enjoy them together.

Kennedy Space Center

Our daughter and family are visiting us this week so yesterday we spent the day at the Kennedy Space Center. It was the first trip for The Trout and I and we were so impressed, that we went back to get a year's pass.

The astronaut speaker for the day was Fred Gregory. He graduated from the Air Force Academy the year after my brother. There was just too much to see and the museum could have used an entire day. We will go back, hopefully for a launch. Joshua and Rachel enjoyed it also.

Then a quick run to Cocoa Beach. We found no "genie in a bottle," but the kids enjoyed their first encounter with the ocean and the Trout and I discovered just how much we missed living close to the ocean.

A few special pictures

The house is very quiet now. I miss the kids a lot. They left at 4:15 this morning for their 16 hour drive home. We so appreciated the time they spent in the car to spend a week with us at Christmas time.

I remember driving many hours from Michigan to Iowa when our children were small, to visit our parents at the holidays. Actually, only tried coming at Christmas once. Weather was always too tricky. Instead, we would always spent Easter and Thanksgiving with our parents. Twice a year, the kids got to know their grandparents. Now, I can understand a little better how our parents felt at this time. They got to hug and love the grandchildren for a short time and then it was only by phone calls the remaining time of the year. Now, I understand the feeling. The only thing that could have made our Christmas a little better would have been having our other daughter and her family join us for this week. Maybe next year.

Josiah with one of his fish

Noah looks quite proud of his catch also

The boys proudly announced at the end of the week that they had caught 43 fish in our back pond and some of the other ponds around where we live. All were placed back into the water to grow bigger until the next time they visit. I thought I heard a large sigh from the pond this morning. The fish are looking forward to some rest.



And then a rare picture. This is my daughter, Angie, and myself. For some reason, we just don't have pictures taken together much and that is something I need to remedy. I realized this when I didn't find any pictures of me with my mother or father.

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year and a list of 'things to do' that can be accomplished in 2010.

Wowwie! A blog I absolutely love, Once Upon a Plate has just reached her 600,000 hit by visitors like you. Mari is a terrific cook and her photographic is totally professional. In honor of having so many hits on her blog, she is giving away a beautiful Johnson Bros. Blue Willow tea set that would look very nice in my home!! Please take a look at Once Upon a Plate and see what magic Mari produces in her kitchen.

Happy Birthday, Noah!

Twelve years ago today, The Trout and I were given the most miraculous gift of all...our first grandchild. It opened up a part of our world that we could never have imagined. I had gone to my daughter's home in the last month of her pregnancy. We stenciled her kitchen and I made sure she was going up and down the ladder as the time was getting late and I would need to get back home to work soon.

Finally, labor started and she asked me if I would like to be in the delivery room with her and my son-in-law. I was overwhelmed with happiness. Since I had both my daughters by C-section, I didn't know much about birthing babies. It turned out to be one of the greatest highlights of my life. The miracle of birth...and this was MY grandson.

Noah Michael has turned into a beautiful young man. He has just started middle school, loves baseball and the Yankees and is a great young ball player. He loves the sport.
Noah also loves to go fishing and when he comes down to Florida to visit us, he quickly gets the rod and reel and starts fishing in the pond behind our house.

Noah, happy 12th birthday. We are enjoying watching you grow and love you very, very much.

All worth it!

It was worth the 24 hour drive to spend a week with our beautiful grandchildren, Josh and Rachel!

We are keeping busy!

Not too much down time here in Wisconsin. "Up" movie with the grandkids, Action City for an afternoon, and now to the swimming pool. Painted a tea set from Aunt Gigi for Rachel. Wow! Going to dinner and lunch with old friends the next two days and then...The Trout and I will be visiting "The Milk Man's Wife" and the milkman on Sunday afternoon. Heidi has the greatest blog (see her in my favorite blogs on the right) and we are so looking forward to seeing the dairy farm and the kids. Oh yah...Milk Dud will be there. Right Heidi?

Heading West, way West on Tuesday morning. Montana, here we come. Will be blogging more as we settle in.

Games and more games

It's been fun and sports with the boys since we got here. Today we went to Sports Ohio where we played miniature golf, the boys drove race cars and did very well at the batting cages.

At home we have been playing board games like Stack and Apples to Apples. Both a lot of fun. Sure makes our retired life seem sort of dull.

And tonight we will be having a roasted chicken for dinner and the boys requested my mother's German spinach recipe. This will appear on my blog tomorrow. It is very, very good and even children love to eat this spinach.