An Extraordinary Day!

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Every year, a group of motorcyclists get together on a Saturday and visit the graves of fallen 'brothers' and 'sisters'. Dad used to go on these bike runs every year with his brother Randy. This year, they came to visit Dad. It is great that Dad has not been forgotten. We are thankful that we got to be there on such an extraordinary day. We took a lot of pictures and will be sharing them soon.

Gone Fishing!

Kim, Chris and I got our fishing licences this year. Chris and I hadn't been fishing in a very long time, so we decided it would be fun and relaxing to go again. The past two Friday nights we have met Kim, Tabatha, Jerzie and Payton at the boat landing.

Dad used to take us fishing here when we were younger. Kim is teaching Jerzie to fish. Jerzie has her own barbie fishing pole.

I think Daddy likes to use it just as much as Jerzie.

We have been catching a lot of perch and some sunfish.

Last night we each caught a silver bass.

We think Jerzie enjoys spending the time with her daddy.

She still isn't too sure about touching or getting too close to the fish.

FAMILY TRADITION

We all know how much Dad loved fishing, and since he gave me luck on opening day of hunting season, I decided to try out opening day of trout season (I have not been fishing in about 10 years)

Cousin Stoney thought it sounded like a great idea and decided to come along and spend the night so we could throw our lines in at midnight.

We got to our spot and set up camp. Of course it was suppose to rain so we wanted to at least stay dry.
Then to make sure Dad was with us we had to have "a few nips of JD"
Then we hung out by the fire and talked about the old days, ate some chicken, and waited for midnight.
Finally we threw our lines in, and after hours of wondering why we couldn't get any bites...
I finally caught the dreaded sucker fish.... YUK! Then Stoney hooked a monster, but we lost it after it snapped the line.

We finally landed our first trout around 1 pm, only 12 inches or so. We were all packed up, around 4:30, when I went to grab my pole and head home and IT HAPPENED...
The one we had been waiting for... LEWIS THE LUNKER! (as Stoney referred to it).
This is by far the biggest fish I have ever cought. 25 inches long and 5.8 pounds of beautiful rainbow trout!

I know Dad was with us for this trip. We had a great night, very little rain, and tons of fun. Not to mention that we were ready to leave 3 hours before this when 2 of our friends showed up so we hung around a little longer :) Stoney and I decided this will be a new family tradition of camping out on opening day. Thanks Dad for the reminder that you are always with us!!!

Papa Would Be Proud!

One thing that Kim and I did when we were growing up was go fishing with Dad. Kim wanted to start Jerzie out early in hopes that she would love it just as much as we did when we were younger.

Kim and Tabatha bought Jerzie her own fishing pole and Daddy took her fishing over the weekend. This was Jerzie's first time out. Unfortunately they didn't catch anything.

I'm sure they will have plenty of time this spring and summer to get some fishing done.

Dad is smiling down on them, watching them proudly.

We Miss That Smile!

It is so hard to believe that it has been 8 months since Dad passed away. Everyone says it gets better with time. Some days it seems as though it has, and others I can't believe he is gone. A lot has happened in the last 8 months that Dad would have been proud of, and a lot has happened that would have made him very sad. The proud would surely out weigh the sad. One of the proudest would have been the birth of another little Granddaughter, and she is so pretty, just like her big sister. Chris went back to school after 20 years and is doing very well. This would have made him very happy also.

One of the saddest moments we can not share with you, but we know he knows, and he would have been so upset if he was alive when it happened. Also, Grandma fell and broke her hip. She had to have surgery, and is now in a nursing home. This would not have set well with Dad. Last weekend his great niece was killed in an automobile accident at the age of 23. That would have upset him so much. She left behind 3 children.

We are all staying as strong as we can.

A New Granddaughter!

As most of you know, Kim and Tabatha were expecting their second child before Dad passed away.

We would like you to meet.....

Payton Ann Max

Payton was born February 18th at 7:48 PM.
She weighed 7 lbs. 8 oz. and was 21" long.

Mom and baby are doing great. Payton looks just like Jerzie looked when she was born except for the color of her hair. Payton has darker hair.

Here are Dad's beautiful baby girls. He loved being a grandfather, and we know he would be very proud of his two granddaughters.

It Wasn't Easy!

This picture is of a figurine I bought for Dad years ago because it reminded me of him.

It wasn't easy, but we made it through the holidays. It seemed weird Christmas day not to go to Dad's. We went at the same time every year, so when the time came it was weird to look at my watch and see that we weren't at Dads. Kim and some of our cousins made sure Dad got a drink of Glögg on Christmas. Dad loved to have a few sips of Glögg on Christmas, so the guys went to the grave site and had a drink or two with him.

New Years dinner was still at our house. It was different not having Dad at the table with his Margarita. Chris and I did a shot for Dad at midnight and sent Kim a text to show him. He sent us one back. Even though we weren't together at midnight we were thinking of the same thing.