Christian and Jessica's Wedding

The groom prepares for his big day by playing disc golf!
Wilson is all decked out in his special clothes. We love our camping/parking spot in front of the house; it's perfectly level; we're plugged in to electricity and we have easy access to the house. Thanks for having us for this momentus occasion Irene and John.
Wilson is a very cute Havanese - a hypoallergenic dog.
The groomsmen gathered at the house before heading to the church.

John, Irene, Kaj and Christian are all ready to go.

The ceremony begins. Jessica's dress was gorgeous.

The priest didn't stand in the usual position.

The exchange of rings.

Mr. and Mrs. John Christian Althaus

The Georges lookin' good. Is this their Christmas card pic?

The Konopacks lookin' good.

The Kearneys lookin' good.

The large bridal party.

The Althaus family lookin' good.

With Grandma.

This is an historic picture: ALL ten cousins and their grandmother!

Beautiful wedding cakes.

Elise gives a toast. John Althaus's sister and brother are in the foreground.

Aunt Jinny and Margie traveled from Florida and North Carolina to celebrate with us.

Their first dance.

Mother-son dance. Christian provided all the groomsmen with comfortable sneakers for dancing and wow, did they dance, as did Jim, Jason, John and I!

Four sisters with Mom.

Mom and Christian dance.

It was a beautiful ceremony and an enjoyable dinner and reception.

Good luck Christian and Jessica!

Beaverkill Trip

John caught this nice brown trout on a miniscule fly in the Beaverkill River. Jason took the picture above and the one below with his cell phone.
John's enjoying pulling in a feisty trout.

John, Jason and I enjoyed a few days at Beaverkill State Park in the Catskills, New York. It was our favorite vacation destination for many years. We were first introduced to camping by Janet and Jim in 1977 at the Beaverkill. First it was the two couples in one tent; then it was the two couples in two tents on our own sites; then it was with many friends. Jim's first time there was when he was less than one year old. His second time was the following year when I was pregnant with Jason. Then, when Jason was two and we were ready to start camping again, we purchased the pop-up camper. We continued to enjoy the Beaverkill for many years until it became too crowded during the summer. A few years ago John and I returned in our truck camper and enjoyed it very much. Since then the river has flooded repeatedly and the sites along the river in half of the campground have been closed. The rest of the campground is still nice. The scenic Catskills will always hold treasured memories for us and now we are making more memories.
The closed sites are all overgrown and the river has changed course so much that it's hard to tell exactly where we camped all those years.



Jason's first fly fishing day was quite successful!

There must have been a million tadpoles (the size of a pea and smaller) all along the river's edge. When the boys were little and we were there in July they spent hours playing with the little frogs.

The fishing is good above and below the covered bridge.

Even though we came home a day early due to rainy weather we had plenty of time to enjoy fishing, walking, cookouts and campfires. It was also nice to have a break from media: no computer, no TV and no cell phone reception. Birdwatching is excellent along the river. It was especially good to see Baltimore orioles and warblers. We also saw a grey fox, a bald eagle and some deer. A bear was sighted the day before our arrival but we never saw it.

June 1 Visit to Howell

We had fun in Howell yesterday. The little boys played in the pool and under the sprinkler. Summer arrived very early in NJ this year.
This pic is out of sequence but it shows how intensely Trenton plays Mario Cart on Wii. He beats me every time!

The big boys played some basketball until it started raining.

Below Uncle Jay explains to Oliver that the corn has to be cooked before it can be eaten.

Thanks for coming to play today!

Chef Jim's hard at work in the kitchen. He prepared delicious quinoa stuffed peppers, corn-on-the-cob and fresh pineapple for dessert.

May 15 Visit

Trenton enjoys going to the park/playground.
It was so good to have the family visit after we'd been away.

Little Oliver - big basketball court. The boys enjoyed watching Grampack, Daddy and Uncle Jay play basketball.

Oliver enjoyed seeing the puppies at the dog show. His hair's blowing in the wind!

It was a wonderful overnight visit. The big boys and the little boys were able to do all their favorite spring activities. Sheryl and I also enjoyed the good weather and the good family activities.

Action shot!