Grandpa's Birthday

Last week we celebrated Grandpa's birthday. Good thing he has a sense of humor.


























Grandma and Olivia.


























I know, I know, I'm cute.


























Wait, I wasn't ready.



















Blow out your candles Grandpa.


















...and he blew and he blew...




















...until he realized that the candles weren't going out.
Funny, really funny!

Vacation at the cabin

Here are few pictures from our week at the lake.


















We were shopping at Baker's when this gentleman drove up in his truck. I thought you might enjoy it. Notice he needs a cane and parked as close to the front door as possible.


















I split the wood Jesse cut up earlier this year with Wayne. He brought over his wood splitter and it took about 2 hours. I think we have enough wood for a couple of years, at least.


















Musky fishing and the 4th of July.


















Leo says hi. He sent a disk back with us for King and Queen to review.

























Our last night we watched the sunset from the boat.


















We didn't see any bucks but we did see a few does. At least one had twins in tow.


















Piliated woodpecker hammering a powerline pole.


















Amen


















Us


















The fireworks were great again this year.


















I took this on Monday morning. It looked like the eagle was waiting for us.


















Reflection of the bay towards Lodel's.


















The cabin still looks good.


















The Osprey are back in the bay and this one flew over the boat.

Looking Forward

Looking forward to seeing you all at King and Queen's in August! I can't wait for everyone to FINALLY meet Olivia! Hopefully we'll get to meet Tucker the infamous monster dog, too!!

I sent a big email to everyone with some new pics of Olivia, hope ya'll got it, along with the blog site I started for our little family of 3. Just in case you didn't get wind of it, the address is:

http://foutsfam.blogspot.com

See you all soon!!!
XOXOX
Mel

SOOOOOO BIG!!!

Okay, I know, I haven't been keeping up with much all that well, so here goes!

Olivia will be 6 months old soon, is rolling around like crazy on the floor from one end to the other, so by the time of the reunion she may even be crawling....watch out Grandma! It's hard enough to leave the room for 5 minutes when she's in her bouncer because all she does is wiggle over and practically fall out of the darn thing. Growing? DEFINATELY! She goes to the Dr. on the 9th of July for her 3rd round of Shots (6 months) and then we'll be good to go until she's a year old. Been healthy and happy all this time and I can't wait, for those of you that haven't had the chance to get over, to meet her.

I dunno who's heard what, but I am back to work, now. I, along side Brett, am also working for CVS, just at a different store (I'm at Crystal Lake, he's at Barrington). I am the "Photo Lab Supervisor" but the title is something in itself. It has all been enjoyable thus far and I hope to continue there for as long as I can, or until something better lands in my lap. Jack had an interview with Sears today, and he'll find out tomorrow if he got the job (as a technician). So hopefully that pans out, then he'll be on a normal schedule, unlike the one he has now at Bull Valley.

Well that's the update on us!! Here's a couple pics of Olivia...

Euchre anyone?

Before I forget, congratulations to Inlaw2 and Outlaw2 on their retirement. Enjoy it!

Last Tuesday, we went to King and Queens for dinner. Afterwards we played cards, King and Outlaw 4 vs Queen and Inlaw4. King and I were killed in the first game but came back to even the score in the second. In the rubber match King and I were way behind but made a tremendous comeback. We tied the score at 27. We split the next hand at 3 each making the score 30 all. (Is the suspense killing you or what) I bid first but didn't have a thing in my hand. I bid 3 just to push the stakes up. Queen passed...King passed...and we waited for Inlaw4 to bid. FOUR she says. Holy cow, she took all 6 and the boys went down in defeat.

We went to Mirror Lake State Park yesterday. Our guide pointed out plants both good and bad. The main thing about the hike is we didn't follow any trails. I enjoyed the trip but I don't think Inlaw4 had that much fun. Here are a couple pictures from the hike.


































It's hard to tell from this picture but this is one of several steep ravines we passed. It's probably a 65 to 70 degree angle leading to Dell Creek. A couple of us climbed down one and that's the next picture.


































This hike was a little more challenging than I anticipated. Still, we enjoyed the trip.

We're Back from the Cabin

We were up to the lake this week and everything seems to be in good shape. We finished off Inlaw3 groceries and some of his beer. We caught 1 walleye, 1 small muskie, numerous rock bass and perch. The boat's fish aerator needs 2 size D batteries (I think). We had a great time.


















A couple of the ducklings took a stroll down the pier and then jumped to catch up with Mom.













Proud mom with her 8 ducklings.
















The loon is nesting in the same location. We didn't get too close.


































We saw several eagles.





































The view from the pier early in the morning is unbeatable. The bay was clear but the lake was completely fogged in.


















And here comes the rain. We dodged a few rain drops this week but for the most part we stayed dry.

Tucker comes to visit

Dave and Julie brought our 3 1/2 month old Grandson Tucker to visit. He enjoyed playing with Grandpa, Grandma, and our other Grandson Damon. He is of the English Mastiff lineage side of the family. Only about 40 pounds now, but we are expecting a 200 to 250 pound full grown weight. What a charmer! You can tell his parents have been raising him well!

REALLY Shooting Turkeys!

This is what I consider REALLY shooting turkeys! Got 2 this year. This one was BAGGED on May 2,07.

Shootin' Turkeys

Hey there Outlaw2! As you probably already know, I drive the church van once a month. I pick up a women at Cora Maria nurseying home and I've been trying to "shoot" these turkeys for months. Finally, today, I bagged 'em. How's my hunter terminology?

Inlaw4 and I went out to Severson Dells last week. I "shot" a couple deer and posted their pictures on the Mills' Mail blog.

Congratulations Lisa

Hi Everyone! Lisa graduated from U of I yesterday. Congratulations!