Ssssnake

Today, Kevin had an associate meeting at his job. He found out some more information on the future of Williamsburg Manufacturing. After seeing many of his fellow workers not present at the meeting because of the lay off, we realized again how thankful we are to at least still have a prospect of a job...Williamsburg Manufacturing is now saying they will resume production in late July.

After dropping Kevin off at his meeting, the kids and I ran some errands in town, played at the park, and then back to Williamsburg Manufacturing. While we were waiting for Kevin to come out, the kids ran around and played in the big empty parking lot...and then Travis came running up to me waving a little snake in my face! Needless to say, the kids had much fun playing w/the baby snake the rest of the afternoon...and then(when it was about half dead) they let it go free. :)

How you all doing down there?

Mera at the park :-)

Memorial Day

"Although no sculptured marble should rise to their memory, nor engraved stone bear record of their deeds, yet will their remembrance be as lasting as the land they honored." ~Daniel Webster
"I regret that I have but one life to give for my country." - Nathan Hale
"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive the Veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their nation." - George Washington
"It doesn't take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle." - Norman Schwarzkopf

We headed over to Papa and Grandma's house today for lunch and family visiting...15 of us all together. All the little cousins had fun playing together!

Thank you to all the veterans!

Bubbbbles!

A battery operated bubble blower is the way to go! The boys spent hours this morning making bubbles and chasing after them.

Doing her favorite thing!

Relaxing !!!!!!!
And well deserved :-)

mera playing in the flowers at one of the parks we have round here

Our first bike ride of '09!

What a gorgeous day we had yesterday! The kids and I have been yearning to hit the bike trail again this year...we had a 2 hour stimulating ride!

We always bike through the historic tourist part of Amana and take a little break on a store front bench.
It was really warm yesterday...I don't think Kaleb was prepared for it...he got a little over heated. By the end of the trip, they both wanted me to pour cool water down their backs! :)

The end of the trail...

Soaking our feet in Lily Lake...aahhhhh...it feels SO refreshing! :)

Sunday afternoon

Actually, this picture was taken Sunday morning before leaving for church...I found Kaleb and Travis sitting like this. :)

Wyatt, Michael, Steve, and Kevin fishing at the Preacher's pond. Michael and Kevin caught some very large bass and crappie, but I didn't have the camera out...so no photo of them.

Kevin lost Wyatt's lure(a memorable memento given to Wyatt from a very dear relative) in the lake...so, he plunges in after it.
Travis and Kaleb fishing...

Wyatt wants to show us his muscles... :)




Wyatt takes Allyson out for a leisurely boat ride around the pond.

A very pleasurable day!

Graber Fun!

Marian and her four children...Amos, Anna, Adam, and Abby...came over to our house today for lunch and a full afternoon of energetic FUN! :) Anna and Allyson had SO much fun playing together and are already making plans for another play date! I really enjoyed visiting w/Marian.

Marian brought me this Hazelnut Cream scented candle which smells extremely good!

Hey everyone, the lake we went to is called Lake Nacimiento. 

Kaleb's catch

Kevin and Kaleb went out fishing the other evening and brought back this stringer loaded with crappie and a bullhead catfish...Kaleb caught the catfish! After Kevin cleaned them in the garage, we all enjoyed a fish fry!

Meradeth at the lake

Mother's Day on Monday

Yesterday, Kevin gave his Mom his prize mushroom he found last week at Lake Iowa...it's a BIG one! (Be sure to click on the picture to see it larger.) I enjoyed smelling the wonderful fragrance of Sandi's lilacs!
Kaleb peeking at a bird's nest filled w/small blue eggs up in one of Papa and Grandma's trees...

Yesterday's weather

Yesterday started out w/a chill in the air...then warmed up to 80 and humid...then rained...and then cooled off a little in the evening.

In the morning, Kevin and the kids met Papa at Lake McBride to hunt for Morel mushrooms...which Travis found two himself! :)

Then Kevin mowed the lawn, and we did stuff around the house.

But because of the changing weather during the day yesterday, the kids were in many different outfits throughout the day...and this was Travis' final look...what a goof!

A picnic, fishing, and mushrooms

Kevin, Allyson, and Kaleb have been going to Lake Iowa a lot this past week searching the forests for Morel mushrooms. During this time of the year, finding Morel mushrooms is a BIG pastime in Iowa...I don't really get it...probably because I think mushrooms are disgusting. They picked what's in the bowl in the picture above on Thursday evening...and ate them all that night too! :)

Today, we all went to Lake Iowa, and Kaleb found those two mushroom in the above picture. I took the photo right before he picked them.
Travis had fun climbing on big fallen trees...


Then we headed toward the lake for a delightful lunch...

Allyson had fun climbing trees and fishing...she is putting a worm on her hook...

Travis tried some fishing too. He would dip his stick down into the lake and bring up slimy green stuff...and yell, "I caught a fish, I caught a fish!