Making Connections Camping Weekend

 We were at Coon Forks this weekend on our annual camping trip with the church.  Mary and I had a very nice site next to the lake.  We set up our old relaible tent.  this is the same one we took to Alaska as a family in 1994

 We cooked aluminum foil dinners.  Here is greg preparing to start the fire.  We didn't have any newspaper or any type of fire starter so started the fire with wood chips and pine needles.

 Success!

We had three storms over the course of our time in Coon Forks.  We arrived Friday night, July 22, set up our tent and met the other campers at Paul & Pam's campsite.  Saturday morning we had blueberry pancakes cooked on our peak stove.  We had our traditional volley ball game in the morning with a family from Chippewa Falls sharing the court with us.  Soon after the vollevball game we had our first of three thunderstorms.  We improvised for lunch and had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in the van.  But look how blue the sky was a couple of hours later!  Charlie & Lucy joined us at our campsite jsut after 4:00 PM on Saturday, July 23.  We invited them to stay and share our aluminum foil dinners.  Then just as the dinners were done cooking, the sky opened up with another heavy thunderstorm.

 Here are Charlie and Lucy enjoying their aluminum foil dinners.

We ate our dinners in the comfort of Big Blue.

Charlie brought a battery powered rotating marshmellow stick.  Charlie let Rony Lamoureux use it.  John Lamerouix is helping Rony figure out how to use it.  It was a big hit with all the kids.  It even had a light, like a flash light, so it would shine on the marshmellow.

Charlie showing off his magic marshmellow stick with rotating marshmellow.  Mark Gideonson is cooking a marshmellow the old fashion way.  Lucy is giving technical support.

 Jazel and Ann Lamoureux.

 Mark Gideonson and Jennifer Eddy.

Their son Nathaniel hung out with Noah all weekend.  Nathaniel and Noah spent a lot of time on their bikes.

 Our third thundertorm was in the middle of the night.  12:30 AM to be precise.  Just as the storm hit, this pine tree snapped off in the high winds. This was just across the road from our tent.  We decided it might be a good idea to spend the rest of the night in our van.  So Mary and I spent the rest of the night in the van. We slept OK but not great.

The tree snapped off about 8' above the ground.  The tree trunk was about 12" in diameter where it snapped off.  Despite the storms, we had a wonderful weekend.  The cammeraderie of the group was very nice and it was relaxing despite the storms.  Saturday afternoon we took advantage of the rain to go into Augusta to visit the Amish Woodshed.  Paul Braun led our worship service on Sunday morning and did a nice job with a centering prayer/theme. We skipped our usual stop at the drive-in on our way through Augusta to return home to dry everything out and get ready for Chelsea's visit.



Chelsea will be here for a couple of weeks with the bridal shower here and Brady's second birthday in Madison being anticipated highlights!

fawn alert

It seems our blog has turned into an update on the deer that frequent our yard.  This morning I went out to get the newspaper.  The mother deer and the two spotted fawns were eating around the swing set.  I went out to the mail box and back into the house and the deer stayed where they were.

I went into thehouse and came back out with the camera.  The mother deer and one of the fawns were in the brush and too hard to get a picture of.  However, one of the fawns stayed right where it was.  I was able to take this picture while standing in the driveway.

Tomato Plant Down!

Hello faithful followers,

As you know Mary is in Biloxi this week on a mission trip.  My main responsibility while she is gone is to take care of the plants.  Last night we had a huge storm with very strong winds.  Unfortunately this raised havoc with our outdoor plants.

Exhibit A.

Tragedy has overtaken us!  Not only was our only tomato plant blown over, the pot broke in two!

Never fear, Menards (save big money) still had a clay pot left.  So tonight I repotted the tomato plant in a new clay pot.  Voila!

We now have a healthy and repotted tomato plant.  I trust with a little water and tlc, it won't be long before we will be eating fresh tomatoes.  (The plant to the right of the tomato plant is our basil plant.  We have been enjoying fresh basil all summer.)

July 5

I see we have been missing in action.

I have been in Alaska for the past two weeks. Prior to that Mary was in Austin with Andrea and Chelsea shopping for Chel's wedding dress. We'll have to wait until January 6 to see the results!

 We put up a new bird feeder.  Our first customer was this deer.

 The deer felt so comfortable it rested under our deck after snacking at the feeder.

The Chugach Mountains east of Anchorage.  I took this picture on our flight home.  The picture below is my group.  I had 50 guests on the tour.  We started on June 21 and ended on July 3.



Weekend update June 12, 2011

Hi gang,

We had a nice weekend hanging around Eau Claire.  Friday night we walked the length of Barstow Street in downtown Eau Claire to see the sculptures on display.  Then we hung out in Accoustic Cafe for a while listening to a Ukelele Group and then a couple of guys on accoustic guitar.

Saturday afternoon I put together our new gas grill.  Saturday night we had dinner at Karen & Eric's.

This afternoon we walked around the outdoor arts festival in Phoenix Park.  We ran into Mike Rambo, his wife (Chris?) and new baby, born May 14, 8 lbs 12 ounces.  Her name is Gweneth.  Then we rode our bikes around the bike trails through Owen Park, etc.

 Mike, Chris & Gweneth Rambo

 Construction site for the new University Student Center to replace the Davies Center.

 The parking lot and lawn between the steps up the hill and the current Davies Center.

 Looking from the Phiilips Science Center towards the University library (on the right).

Mary with her new grill.  We bought a generic grill from Menard's.

 Betty Crocker Barnes with her new grill.

 Mary grilled steaks.

This week's deer picture.  Behind the house by the bird feeder.

Peach Pie!

Chelsea and Edwin have found some delicious Texas peaches so here is my recipe for peach pie. Remember, the quality of the pie depends on the quality of the fruit. Good peaches = good pie!

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
For the crust, just buy a prepared frozen crust like Pet-Ritz brand or whatever you find in your local grocery store. Usually the frozen pie crusts are found near the frozen fruit etc.
Use about 5 peaches and peel them, then slice and put them in the bottom of the pie crust. An easy way to get the peach skin off is to bring a small pan of water to a boil. Put the peaches, 2 or 3 at a time in the boiling water for about 15 seconds. Remove and place them in some cold water. This is called blanching and makes the job much easier.


Combine and blend well:
1 egg
2 Tbsp flour
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup melted butter (use butter not Crisco)
Pour this mixture over the peaches in the pie crust.
Bake for 15 minutes at 400 degrees, then reduce the heat to 350 degrees and bake about 50 minutes longer. Serve hot or cold and of course, put a dollop of whip cream on the top. Enjoy!!!

We knew them when . . .

I was uploading an SD Card onto my computer and thought I would share some of what was on it.

 Heavy metal rockers LOOKOUT!  October, 2009

 Edwin comes home with Chelsea to meet the future inlaws! October, 2009

The "you can take me anywhere" days! 

The happy couple!

 

What?