Just like the ones I used to know!
Hey! I thought Kayla was the horse rider in the family?!? Well, Bubba's cowboy blood is coming through because he's showing quite a bit of interest in riding. He's taken a few lessons with Kayla now and has even learned to canter! Keep it up, Bubba!
The weekend before Thanksgiving I ventured into the woods in hopes of filling our freezer with fine cuts of venison steaks, sausage sticks, and pound packages ground venison too. With a little bit of luck, a dash of real skill (go figure!), and a small prayer or two I came home successful. Two does this year! Last year I took two six-point bucks, making the last two years a real change from all the lean years hunting in St. Germain. Stop by if yer in the mood for a venison steak on the grill...
We always have lots of fun on Halloween. Our neighbor's always have a great costume party at their house and the kids still love to Trick-or-Treat. Kyle dressed up as a Viet Cong soldier and walked the neighborhood with his friend Austin. Kayla was an American soldier and hung out with her friends Belinda and Julie. I got to had out candy (and maybe eat a few too).
On Sunday, November 3, Kayla competed in a local horse show. Although she's been in a few over the last two years, this was the first of this year. She entered several events at this show and came home with two fifth place ribbons and one sixth place ribbon. We're so proud of her! Congrats, Kayla!
A few weeks ago we had the pleasure of visiting with grandma Soliday. We had a delicious dinner with her in the dining room and then play a few hands of Uno for our after dinner entertainment. There's nothing like a visit with grandma. She is a true inspiration to us all and we love her so much.
Yup, I'm hooked. I just love the look of Fender Jazz basses with sunburst finish and tortoise pick guards. This bass is a "'60's Jazz Classic" which I bought from a fellow enthusiast in October. Now I have three basses and Kyle still only has two guitars. Guess I have to buy him another, huh?
While we were at Sierra's birthday last September, Charlie gave Kyle a ride on his custom motorcycle. Great bike and a great ride, eh Kyle?!
I attended a management seminar with my boss, Maureen, in Austin from September 9th to the 11th (yup, I flew on September 11th). The seminar was good and I enjoyed the city. It was very hot the first few days with temps in the mid-90s and very humid. The hotel was right on the Colorado river in downtown Austin. The last night we were there we took a stroll down the river walk to visit the statue shown here. It's a memorial of one of my favorite guitarists ever – Stevie Ray Vaughan. I saw Stevie several times before he tragically died in a helicopter accident after leaving Alpine Valley back in 1989. The other pictures are from our hotel. The bridge on the right is famous for the bats that live under it. At dusk every night tourists line the bridge and wait in their boats for the swarms of many thousands to leave for the night hunt. Now that I think of it, I don't remember seeing a single mosquito the entire time I was there!
Happy Birthday, grandma! On September 1st, 2007, grandma Soliday turned 95. What an amazing milestone! Wayne and Renee held a party at Luther Haven to celebrate this special occasion. The party goers included Pastor and Mrs. Fisher, Bob and Elaine, Bud and Evelyn, Glenn, Dale and Mariann, Wayne and Renee, and our family. Cocktails were followed by a wonderful steak dinner in the private dining room. The group itself then supplied the entertainment by reading their own special Ruth memories, all of which were saved on paper and given to grandma in a special birthday binder. What a great time we had! Happy Birthday, grandma! We love you!
Yup. We took another trip all the way to Minneapolis to attend our second Pez convention. A what? Yeah, people actually collect those fun little Pez candy holders. They've been around for over 50 years and the vintage ones can be quite valuable.
I would guess that there have been over a thousand different versions made over the years. We have been collecting them for about four years and have several hundred, most in the $1-5 range but many $10-25 Pez and one worth about $100! We heard about this convention (there are several throughout the states each year) and went for the first time last year.
Anyway, the convention is held at the Ramada Hotel which is across the street from the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota. We first did some room hopping (which means you walk from hotel room to room and all the goodies a Pezhead brought along are neatly arranged on the beds for potential buyers to browse through). Its the best way to pick up the Pez you've been looking for at the cheapest price and meet all the other Pezheads! We then ran across the street to the mall for a look at the fifty gazillion stores but we only made it through about 1/4 of them. Then back to the hotel for swimming. Next morning we returned to the mall to hit the fourty eight gazillion stores we missed the day before. That evening we went back to the hotel for the Pez costume contest and bingo games. Kayla entered and took fourth in her category (she's on the far right)! We didn't have any luck at bingo, though. Nex year we have a good plan but I can't let the secret out yet... The following morning we went to the main Pez sale. About 50 dealers displayed all their vintage and new Pez for sale. Yup, we bought even more. See the picture of the Pez in the case? Well, those were all above MY price range! No $1000 Pez for this poor boy...
After visiting Mike and Lindsey, we drove to Canon City to visit my mom and dad, my brother Scott and his family, and my sister Sam and her family. We went dinosaur bone hunting, to Buckskin Joe (an old west town), to the Great Sand Dunes National Park, horseback riding in Cripple Creek, and spent some excellent family time just hanging out with my family.
A few weeks ago we took a family trip to Colorado. We first visited Wendy's nephew Mike, his wife Lindsey, and their daughter Evelyn for the first two days. They live in Colorado Springs where Mike serves our country as a Lieutenant in the Army. On May 18 he was commissioned as an officer. Brad, Shannon, and Jessica, Wendy's other nieces and nephew, drove from Milwaukee to also attend the ceremony. We had a blast and wish Mike the best!
Kyle found a bargain at a rummage sale we visited over the weekend. A government issue Army cot all for the low, low price of... (drum roll, please..) two dollars! Man, was he happy. He's slept in it the last two nights and I'm sure it'll go camping with us this summer. If you haven't heard, Kyle loves all things military and has a small collection including several helmets, patches and uniforms, as well as a dummy grenade and many books.
We have babies!!! Kayla came home from school to find six little, fuzzy puff balls snuggled up to Daisy. Kayla grabbed her camera and snapped off these two pictures – way to go Kayla! When she checked on them again about fifteen minutes later momma and babies were gone. We don't know how many births took place but there appears to be a few more unhatched (and partially covered) eggs in the nest. If you click on the pictures you can see much better detail. We hope for the best for the new family. Congrats!
We know now that Daisy has twelve eggs! She's very protective and doesn't leave the nest unless someone gets to within a couple of feet. While cutting the grass last weekend the noisy lawnmower was about four feet from her and she still didn't budge. Moms rock. We believe the eggs will hatch soon – maybe a few more days? Hopefully I can get a quick picture...
We were hit pretty hard with a spring snow storm today and our freindly feathered visitor, Daisy, had no choice but to tough it out. We're not sure how well she's holding up and hope she's getting enough food. Hopefully the unborn ducklings will be okay too. We'll keep you posted!
It is darn right cold this morning and flurries are in the air. The thermometer reads 24 degrees. I poked my head out of the front door to see if Daisy was around and found her giving me the eye. "Good morning, Daisy. Mind if I take your picture?" Snap! Her feathers sure work well as camouflage, eh?
There is a friendly pair of mallard ducks that for the last several years could be found wandering the yards of our neighborhood. Curiously, over the last several weeks I've noticed them hanging out (I usually call it "trespassing") in our front yard when I leave for work in the morning. Now we know why: "Daisy Duck" built a nest right next to the front of our house! And she's laid nine eggs! The drakes leave the females right after incubation begins which explains why I haven't seen "Daffy" around for about a week now (he'll have to pay duckling support, I'm sure). But Daisy's still here. She sleeps on the nest all night and leaves during the day. When she's not there she tends to cover the eggs with wood chips if it's cloudy and leaves them exposed (as shown in the photos) on sunny days. We believe that they should hatch around the end of April. Mom will quickly lead them to water their first day, so if at all possible I'll do my best to post duckling photos! Enjoy.
As Managing Art Director at Kalmbach Publishing I supervise the Art Directors and their work on our 15 titles. While at a cover design meeting for this particular title we determined that the image wasn't quite what we wanted so we had a new shot set up and called a modeling agency to hire a professional model. So how did I get on the cover? Well, while overseeing the preliminary shot our photographer needed a "stand in" to help him determine proper lighting and camera angle. A few days later I learned they canceled the professional because they liked the preliminary shots they took with me!
Use it? I don't even know what a "blog" is! A "blog" is a simplified website - actually more like a personal web journal. We'll be updating ours often so stop back! Feel free to post a comment for any entry (we've changed it so now you don't have to register). If you want to see a picture better, just click on it and you'll see a much bigger version. Cool, eh? Oh, the hunk in the picture is my brother Scott way back when he actually looked good in a swimming suit.
Kayla has been taking horse back riding lessons at Breezewood Farm in Muskego for about three years. One of her favorite horses is Lindy Lou. Lindy is a halflinger who is about 15 years old. Lindy Lou gave birth to Frosty in early January, 2007 on a very cold weekend. Kayla's sure she'll be a great riding horse just like her mother!
Kayla recently had an interesting assignment for school. She was to read a biography on anyone of her choosing and then write a report on them. Kayla asked me if I had any biographys in my library that I could recommend. I have biographys on Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Jack London, Teddy Roosevelt and a few others, but I knew she wouldn't be too interested in these people. But then I happened to remember one very special book she might be interested in. It is the autobiography of Harold "Bud" Grunewald, my great uncle. Bud had his biography published about ten years ago and I was lucky enough to receive a copy.
Kayla loved it! She read the book, wrote the report and even created a family tree to show how she was related to Bud. In addition, she made Uncle Bud a plaque stating he was the "Man of Hardware". (Click on the photo and you can see the plaque better.) Kayla ended up receiving a very good grade on this project. As a surprise, she decided to read the report to an unaware Bud at her great aunt and uncle's house, Wayne and Renee, this last February. Bud was overjoyed! He loved it and was very touched. Bud later sent a typed thank you letter to Kayla as a token of his appreciation.
Nice job, Kayla!
Both Kyle and I continue on our enlightening journey of musical discovery. Kyle has been taking guitar lessons for just under two years now and is really rocking! He's even picked out a name for his first band: Electric Shock! He plays a black and white Fender Stratocaster (Squire) and a black ESP Les Paul-style guitar. Hooked up to his Kustom amp and distortion pedal, the boy can wake the dead and get them dancing!
I've been playing bass for just over a year now and can jam to about 20 songs – everything from the Police, to Hendrix, to Earth, Wind & Fire, Mellencamp, Cold Play, and even some Green Day. I play a Peavey Millenium and a Fender Jazz and run them through a Hartke pre amp unit and then to my 65-watt Kustom amp. Yeah, the windows rattle.
