At Don Pablos Restaurant

Saturday was Charolette's birthday...I sure felt better on Saturday than I did 33 years ago! Oh...I didn't tell you her birthday, did I? Never tell a woman's age, right? We drove over to Granger IN to take her out to dinner. Of course, we had to pick Don Pablos in Mishiwaka because that's where Justin now works. So, we zipped over to Granger after church. Kevin was there when we got there; brought Dawson & Charlie there for their Spring break....so he baby sat for all the kids while we gave Char and Julio a dinner out without the kids. Remember that...."without the kids". We got to Don Pablos and who was waiting with her family for a table right in front of us...and of course in Justin's area???? Steph's sister, none other than Dr. Duguid....love that name for a doctor: Tonya had been babysitting for Steph & Dean's 3 while they did an over-nighter over to a cassino near Michigan City. So....we added our table to theirs, so that we could get all in Justin's area. Huge long table. And after we were there an hour or so...surprise! In pops Dean & Stephanie. It was like a family reunion and had loads of fun!!!! We squeezed in Stephanie next to me nd Kalie.....(Tonya's second youngest) And she loves Aunt Stephie. Isn't that obvious from this picture.

And here's the happy couple. It's hard to believe that my baby has been married for 15 years. She was happy to go out without the kids. But we were at the other end of the loooooong table from the kids. And amazingly enough, all were behaving. (except one time Josiah cried....because he bit his thumb!)

And here Justin led his Aunt Char to the balcony over the first floor of the restaurant and announced to everyone that it was her birthday. Of course Char hammed it up!

Everytime Justin saw me aiming the camera at him he smiled. He was really humoring me. To think I used to have to chase him around the house to get a picture.

Another good picture of Justin. He looks so happy working.

Ain't he handsome?

Having a little time to play with the g-kids and Char's house after dinner, while Chris ran some errands, I caught Char zerbiting Kennedy's tummy.

I got my chance to squeeze the little birthday girl. She just turned one year old a week ago...and started walking within a day or so of her birthday.

Then.....would you believe on our way home, Andrea called us and asked us to stop over for dinner. Of course, I couldn't pass up the opportunity. She had a wonderful pot roast. Very yummy. And little Charolette is always ready for a picture. She loves her grandma.

Yup....she loves Grandma. Her birthday is in a couple of weeks. She'll be 2 years old.

Well, that was a busy Sunday. All in the life of Chris and Theresa

Gone Fishin'

Ever since Josiah was chillin' on his Mom's bed while she was getting ready for work, and he heard the news person saying that Spring would be here in 2 hours (!) he has been chomping at the bit to get out with his new tackle box, fishing pole, fishing sun glasses, and fishing hat and catch some FISH!!! He bee-lined it to PaPa and let him know that it is Spring and that it's time to go fishing. PaPa had to put him off for a few days....only until yesterday when his daddy went and scooped him out of bed and surprised him. He told him that he was leaving for camping and fishing with PaPa. Giving him a few minutes to wake up and sink in....he was one happy camper. Dressed plenty warm, because it's chilly on the water, he was ready to leave in just a few minutes with his PaPa.

More than ready to hit the road....he gives me a wave. (I didn't remind Chris to smile. He is so photogenic if I remind him....go figure)

The fishermen headed up to a friend's home in Onsted, MI, then out to Devil's Lake and Round Lake. They got a huge haul of croppies. Does the little guy look ready? He fished for about 5 hours. Jim Johnson said he was impressed with his persistence with the fishing. After this, Chris pretty much forgot about the camera.

Then, to camp for the night, they went up to Jerry Ross' home, right across from Michigan International Speedway. He has a small lake. They popped the little guy int he boat and tied him to the dock. He was happy for hours. When he was on the dock....PaPa reminded him to stay on the dock; he got his line tangled in the weeds and was trying to get it out....and below was how he looked after he "got fished" out of the lake....soaked. He stood up after he fell in and the water was up to his waste. "That's cold." He was cold and wet. Good thing to take a picture of, right? PaPa said that was "a lesson well learned."

"Thar She Blows!"

...And Chris takes off with the guy from the Marina to take a "spin" on Coldwater Lake in MI, where he bought the boat. He's out there to see how everything works. He's happy as a clam. It is a 16' v-bottom Lowe boat. Got lots of bells and whistles. Even tells ya where the fish are. (and I thought the fishing pole tells you that!) He's returning to the boat launch below.

And for a bonus, the boat kind of matches the truck.

And the happy little guy below is Lincoln. Can you see the huge smile on his face? He just learned to ride the 2-wheeler. He's pretty proud of himself and had to show us how good he does it. Of course, Lincoln HAS to use a helmet. He is so accident prone. He can even go UP a slide and slip and break a bone! And he'll be 5 in 2 months....so he did this right on time.

The Camper Is On the Truck; We Are Ready To Roll!"

Yesterday we (FINALLY!) put the camper on the truck. We've been waiting for several weeks for the right day to put it on. Yes, blue sky (which we didn't see a lot of in Alaska last summer)...but still frigid out. But that works. It's not raining or snowing. Last fall we had a new turn-buckle system put on the truck and camper in order to anchor the camper to the truck. Much easier to attach, and more streamlined in appearance over that

cumbersome than that belly-bar that we had for the last two years. Took us a little bit to

get all the screws screwed in enough and hooked up right the first time....but this is really cool. OH....you can't really see that dent in the truck by the above turn-buckle. That's a fictitious view of where the deer ran into the truck a few years ago. It's not really there....

We checked the camper over to make sure the mice didn't get in; looked good. Just have to get supplies put in. We're hoping to take a short 2-3 day, close to home, shake-down cruise the beginning of April.

Yesterday Jozie and Josiah were supposed to have a play-date with Lincoln. Josiah and Lincoln were both chomping at the bit to see their cousin. However, Lincoln was sick, and didn't come. So, I decided to do something special with the munchkins....homemade play dough.

The kids watched me cook it up on the stove, and were beside themselves with anticipation.

They have never played with play dough at home because their mom and dad just don't like it. They had it for Justin and was forever cleaning it out of the carpet. So....I decided to have the play dough in Grandma's house.....we have laminate floors! Perfect!

Not having "real" play dough tools like cutters, etc., I pulled out cookie cutters, egg turners, tupperware glasses for rolling pins and toy spatulas from Jozie's little kitchen sets. It all worked fabulously and J & J had a ball for about an hour and a half. We're going to have to do that again soon. They had such fun.

The Centipeed Crawls In...

This age old arcade game, the Centipeed, "crawled" into the VanderHorst family room last Saturday. Since then everyone from Jozie to grandmas have tried their skill. This is one of the original early 80's vintage arcade games. Stephanie regressed to her high school days of being at the roller-rink when she had a friend bid on this game at an auction. The only thing that Stephanie is missing is the teased up hair and roller skates!

Justin & Jacob are getting into the competitive spirit. You can't see Jake's crutches (foot surgery....will be on them a few more weeks)...thankfully he's not using them as weapons.

Note Jake balancing on 1 foot.....he's getting good at that.

We also had another welcomed visitor....Justin, looking spiffy in his big buy....the hat. Looks good on him. He's living and working in Mishiwaka right now with Stephanie's sister....Dr. Duguid (no kidding....that's her name... pronounced "do good"), but less formally, it's Aunt Tonya to Justin.