Early Spring Fishing Trip

Our first fishing trip of the year was a good one.  Roby (friend and fellow worker) and his grandson along with Silas and I set off on Friday for the Elk River.

It was rainy and chilly but the kids didn't complain much.

We set out about 20 limb lines before dark.

After the storms rolled through, we went out to check the lines around midnight.  We caught four fish, one was a monster 40 lb flathead.  We also had a 9 lb flathead, 8 lb channel, and 4 lb channel.

After a big breakfast, we went to check the lines again.  This time we had a 15 lb flathead that we released so it can get bigger for the next fishing trip.

When we caught the big flathead, Silas said that is the biggest fish he had ever seen (outside of something in an aquarium).

The picture above will likely replace my current "Fishing Buddies" picture that is in my office.

What a great start to the fishing year.  Thanks for a great trip Roby and thanks to our new neighbor for allowing us to catch the bait fish out of his pond.

Finally a Family Visit

Lindsee, Eric, and Will finally got to come to Kansas for a visit with us, Dad, and Mom for a week ant the end of March-beginning of April.  It had been about a year and a half since we had last seen each other in person.  Lindsee and Will flew in a few days before Eric.  Then Eric drove in a few days after they arrived.  Dad and I got to go pick them up from the airport.

Will and his cousins were all very excited to see each other.

There was some time spent jumping on the trampoline... Jump as high as you can if you're happy to see your family!!!!

Then it was time for a popsicle break on the front porch.

A little lesson was learned about going barefoot on the wooden front porch... Will got several splinters in both of his feet.  Poor guy.  Uncle Eric got home from work right on time to be the splinter extractor.

There were lots of books read to Will by his cousins, Nanee, and Popee.

Later that week we went to Nanee an Popee's house for some more fun together.  The cousins all loved a cousin sleepover for a few nights in a row.  And we were able to help Popee get a lot of leaves raked and picked up in their yard.

Raking leaves can be fun depending on who you get to work with...  But the most fun job of all about raking leaves is when you get to smoosh them all down in the big mattress bags by pretending to be a steam roller.

Popee and Sarah took lots of loads of leaves and limbs to the dump that day.

Ernie and Judy came to see us all too.

The kids had an Easter egg hunt in the backyard.  They each hunted for a specific color of egg.

Uncle Eric tried to implement a new rule for the egg hunt...  There was to be only hopping around the back yard while moving from egg to egg.  This was pretty funny, but only lasted for a minute or so into the egg hunt.

Back at home, Eric got to give a tour of his new office building to our family.

Will especially loved getting to see the equipment in the parking lot up close.

We spent some time playing games.

The kids and Lindsee got to swim at the hotel that Ernie, Judy, Popee, and Nanee were staying at that night.

The next day we played a few more games and then had to say some good-byes.

Sometimes saying "good-bye" is hard, especially when we don't get to see each other very often.

Below, Popee and Nanee with their four grandkids.