Labor Day Fishing

Doug's uncle hosted a cookout at his house this afternoon.  Thankfully, Doug didn't have to work, so we made the trip north yesterday.  One of the reasons for the get-together was that Doug's uncle and aunt were "home" from Florida.  We were all quite surprised when Julianne allowed Uncle Danny (the one that lives in FL) to hold her hand as they walked across the yard, and she even let him carry her down the stairs to the basement!

After lunch, Doug and Pa, as well as Dallas and Reba headed out to Uncle Junior's pond to see if they could have any luck fishing.

It wasn't but 5 minutes before Reba got the first bite on her line...

Then, Pa got a nibble...

Dallas "had to help" Pa reel it in!

Everyone was so proud of their catches!

Reba even finally decided to hold the fish

It wasn't long after they each released their catches, Reba re-baited, cast her line, and reeled in a blue gill!

After each of the kiddos caught 3 or 4 fish each, Doug was finally able to cast his own line and enjoy a little fishing.  (He had been running back and forth between the two kiddos re-baiting and taking fish off their lines)

What were Julianne and I doing during this time?  Relaxing under the shade trees (and napping)

My favorite picture of the day!

followed closely by this one (Dallas was so willing to help Reba with her catch)

After Julianne woke from her nap, I even got the chance to cast a line.  I ended up catching one bass and this blue gill.

Until next time...

Party and Pie

Reba was invited to a friend's house for a birthday party this afternoon.  About an hour before the party, she asked if she could have her nails polished.  It was a good time to do it because Julianne was down for a nap and the boys were gone fishing.  I then made her sit in the chair and watch a show on TV while her nails dried.  A few minutes later, I found her asleep!  

She was able to get a quick catnap before the party!  I was afraid that she would be a bear when I woke her up.  Once I mentioned it was time for the party, she was wide awake and happy as could be.

Once I got home from dropping Reba off, I set to making a pie with a few of the those cherries I pitted a few weeks ago.  Sugar couldn't wait to sink her teeth into it!

It was my first time making a cherry pie (not using store bought cans).  The flavor was wonderful, but it was sooooo juicy!  After we cut and dipped out our pieces this evening, I poured about 2 cups of juice out of the pie plate hoping that the crust won't turn to mush.

Until next time...

Breakfast with Paul Buynan and Some Fishing

That's right...we had breakfast with Paul and Babe!
We often call Dallas "The Big D", but he still has some growing to do to catch Paul

Poor Reba had the sun in her eyes, so she wouldn't look at the camera

Everyone gathered at the table - it was served "family lumberjack style".  We had flapjacks, biscuits and gravy, scrambled eggs, fried potatoes, sausage links and baked ham.  Oh, and you can't forget the homemade donuts!

Reba enjoying her milk from a pretty cool cup

Dallas and Darby (a long time Robertson vacation friend) sporting the ox horns

The Big D cranking on the penny smashing machine

Little Miss doing her thing

One last picture with Aunt Katie before she and Brian left back for Iowa.

That's one big blue ox!

After breakfast, Daddy, Pa-paw and Dallas went fishing!  Dallas has been asking Daddy to go fishing for quite some time.  So when Daddy saw a flyer for a place in the Dells that "guaranteed" you would catch fish, he jumped at the chance to take Dallas.

Pa-paw helping cast the line

As you can see, the fish were pretty thick in the pond they were at!

One of the three fish that Dallas caught!

Dallas wasn't so sure about the idea of touching them, but he eventually came around.  The place even cleaned and packed the fish for us so we were able to bring them home and enjoy them on our grill!

Until next time...

Gone Fishin'

This evening we all headed out to Lake Iowa (a state park about 3-4 miles west of our house) to do a little fishin'.

On the second cast Doug (and Dallas) threw, they reeled in this whopper!

We finally convinced Dallas to touch it

I even got in on the action and caught this guy...

Reba wasn't impressed

We had a lot of fun catching about a dozen bluegills...unfortunately, they were too small to keep.

Until next time...

Yea for Me!

I have been wanting wireless internet back in my house since my computer crashed when Dallas was born. (When the computer crashed, it erased the save passwords and settings for the router) I finally bought a new router this week...it was much cheaper than paying the computer guru to come reset the old router. Anywho...long story short, I got it working today! It is so nice to be able to sit at my desk and be on the internet!

In other news, Gram and Grandpa Bergman are on their way out for a weekend visit. Dallas is taking a big afternoon nap so he will be able to play when they get here.

Today, the weather is awesome! It is around 80 degrees. There is a strong breeze, but that's nothing unusual. We are to get rain everyday for the next 4 or 5 days. Lance (the weatherman) says it won't be all day everyday. Lets hope not...that would completely ruin the weekend.

Farmers have been hitting it hard this week in the fields. I was talking with my parents and was amazed to find out that we are planting in Iowa before they are in Indiana...I don't think that happens very often! On my way home from church last night, there were still a handful of farmers in the fields. You would think that it was almost June and they were needing to get the planting done!

Speaking of church...last night was my last night of religious ed for this year. I can't believe the year has come to an end. I am having 5 kiddos being confirmed this year. A little disappointing because I started the year with 8 being candidates. Oh well, I guess they weren't ready to take the next step in their religious life.

Well, to end...a couple pics of Dallas...

Doug and Dallas went fishing again last night. Apparently, Dallas found the perfect seat (the tackle box)! Doug said they had a few nibbles, but weren't able to catch the big one.

I never thought that my son would be one of those kids who sagged their pants...guess I was wrong.

Until next time...

Fishing Trip

It was such a beautiful day yesterday that Doug decided to take Dallas fishing. I think they had a great time - even though they didn't catch any fish.

The only other "person" that was at the lake

Until next time...

Our Weekend

I hope everyone had an enjoyable weekend. It was a great weekend for us. On Saturday we spent a good part of the day in Coralville shopping. Doug has been wanting a shotgun for a while, and he finally decided on which one he wanted. I didn't realize all the paper work that was required to purchase a gun, but in the end, we came home with a gun. We also had to pick up a few things from Wal-Mart...and boy was it crazy in there! I guess that what you get this close to Christmas.

Once we got home, we decided it was time to start "preparing" the baby room. We moved the bed, computer desk, and filing cabinet from the spare bedroom to the new spare bed (aka: the tractor room). We don't actually have things for the baby room, but we decided to empty it so we can put things in it after we come back from Christmas (and baby shower) in Indiana. We need to do a little painting, but not much. We painted the room before we moved in this past spring, but we never did the trim work. Also, there are some spots that need to be touched up on the floor.

Saturday night was a going away party for our friends Fred and Ana. Fred works with Doug, and they were our fishing buddies this past summer. Ana got a job in Waterman, IL, after completing her PhD this semester; therefore, Fred took a new job as well. The department (from work) was suppose to do a "small town bar hop", but the bus they reserved called and canceled last night because of the weather. We spent the evening at the two bars in Williamsburg, and I think everyone had a great time. Doug even did a little karaoke singing.

Sunday was spent "recuperating". We aren't use to those late nights on the town anymore! Oh, well...it was a lot of fun. This was also our Sunday to bowl. Our teammates were busy moving this weekend, so it was just Doug and I. I had two good games, and Doug did OK for not having bowled in almost two months!

That's our weekend in a nutshell...

...Until next time.

Another Friday

Well, can you believe it is Friday already? Where did the week go? Oh wait...I was in bed sick the last 2 days! Maybe that's why it seemed like a short week. Luckily, I am feeling much better tonight. I did go to the doctor on Thursday morning, and she said that I would just have to wait it out instead of prescribe me any antibiotics. "Rest and fluids" would be the best she said.

So...it hasn't been too monumental around here.

Doug went to Lake Red Rock near Pella with Fred and Anna to do some fishing. They are camping there tonight, so I decided to skip on the trip. I hope they have/had a lot of luck...I'm hungry for some fresh fish!!!

Until next time...

Fishing

Doug and I went fishing Saturday night with some friends from work, Fred & Anna. We arrived at Red Rock, near Pella, IA, around 6 p.m. or so. We fished for a while, and then it began to rain on us. We were able to see the most beautiful rainbow from it though. It was a complete full rainbow, with the start of a double. I was able to get one good picture of it.

Doug fishing in the rain.

Finally, the rain passed, and we stayed at the lake until 9:30! Anna had the most success of any of us. I believe she ended up with two catfish, 2-3 carps, 1 crappie, and probably a few little ones too.

Rajean's big catch of the night.

Doug's big catch.

Doug and Fred holding one of the many catches Anna got in the night.