Thanksgiving 2008 at Turkey Run

. The weather was perfect for our annual family Thanksgiving, this year at Turkey Run State Park. The usual crowd attended: Jerry and Sara, daughter Lynne and husband Kirk, Sara's brother Joe with Lori and girls Brittney and Kaylee, Lori's sister Lisa with husband Rod and daughter Carrie, Lori's mom and stepdad, Jerry's brother Mark with Bobbie, Jerry's brother Kevin with wife Tammy and son Wyatt.

. Joe is doing great, recovering from knee replacement surgery, and was able to take short hikes. Lynne is feeling better as her pregnancy progresses. We had great fun playing dominos, knitting, hiking, and pitching in for dinner the night after Thanksgiving. The "present game" was a big hit, and everyone got unique, though inexpensive, items they could really use! Most importantly, all generations had a good time getting to know each other better.

. Click here to see pictures, and go to the bottom of this blog to see Thanksgivings-past.

The Peanut Playhouse

You know how much Jerry enjoys building things in the yard. Well, even though the grandbaby is not due for another 3-1/2 months, he has built a playhouse in the backyard for little Peanut. It's not perfect, but we think it turned out pretty good, since we had never tried anything like it before and built it from scratch with no plans!

Click here to see pictures of the progress over 3 weekends.

We're Going to be Grandparents !

Lynne and Kirk gave us some very exciting news a few weeks ago. They are expecting, and the baby is due April 11. Lynne is doing well and the nausea and tiredness are almost gone. They are encouraging the grandparents not to go overboard, but we are all thrilled and it is so very hard not to start sewing cute clothes and planning a baby space in the house! Stay tuned to find out whether the little "Peanut," as they are calling the baby, turns out to be a little boy Peanut or a little girl Peanut!

Camping - Versailles State Park

I say it every time -- "had a great time camping" at Versailles State Park. We were joined by our friends, the Crain family, the Hess family, and Jerry's brother and sister-in-law Kevin and Tammy Steckbeck.

We hiked and collected fossil rocks, we had good trailer-time on a rainy day, and had fabulous food!

Click here to see pictures, and here to see the interesting-to-some fungus pictures!

Trees, Fleas, and RVs

The weather was perfect for our trip in late September to Potato Creek State Park. We drove to Shipshewana for the huge flea market on Wednesday. Jerry enjoyed himself. Sara thinks she can go several more years without seeing 500 different styles of ladies' t-shirts with sequins.

On the way back, we stopped in Elkhart to visit the RV/Motorhome Hall of Fame museum. They have almost 50 old campers on display - most of which you can walk inside. The ages ranged from the early 1900s to the 1970's. I didn't have my digital camera with me, and the flash on the disposable I bought did not reach very far, so the pictures are pretty lousy.

Potato Creek is a nice park, that protects both woods and wetlands. Lots of migratory birds in the spring and fall that you don't see in Indianapolis. We enjoyed hiking, bike riding, and of course, fishing! Click here for camping pictures.

The Coolest Thing Jerry Has Ever Built !

By: Sara



. I've always wanted a woods with a stream in my back yard. Well, the woods only has 3 trees, but NOW my wish has come true. Jerry installed a little pond and built a "lazy river" that runs into it, down the little hill by our deck. It is so relaxing to sit on the deck and hear the babbling water!! THANKS, Jerry!!!

. Click here to see pictures.

Want to take a bike ride with me?

My favorite route for a bike ride has everything, sidewalks all the way, a wildflower prairie, bluebirds, woods, views of the river, AND even a pink pig with sun glasses! Come and take a ride with me, by clicking this link. (Hint: hover over the pictures for titles.)

I love summer.

Sara

4th of July, Steckbeck Style

The Steckbeck Boys (Kevin, Mark, and Jerry) get together every 4th of July and blow things up. We had a record number of people this year, and everyone had a great time.

Our all-time favorite thing to blow up is called Value Jet.

This year, Jerry bought helium balloons to try to shoot off Value Jet as it was hovering in the air. Once the balloons were attached, he taped rockets under the wings, and away it went.

Click here to see the rest of the pix.

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY !!

2008 Baxter Family Reunion

. Had a great time at Cousin Susan's beautiful log home near South Bend, at the 2008 Baxter Family Reunion. Everyone enjoyed catching up with relatives, and delicious food. (I got a piece of Aunt Berneil's sugar cream pie to take home!! Eat your hearts out!!).

. Mark your calendars ~ Next year's reunion will be the last Saturday in June, 6/27/09, at Cousin Jeff's home in Richmond. We are encouraging all the 3rd generation young adults to attend, so the Baxter Reunion tradition stays well and strong! Great minds are at work to make sure the 2009 event will be fun for the "3rd's."

. Click here for more pictures.

Still on Vacation

We've gone back to work (ughhh), but are still pretending we are on vacation. Today we "vacationed" in downtown Indianapolis.

We went to the Eiteljorg Museum Indian Market and saw native Indian dancers, story-tellers, and vendors. Sara wishes she had $500 to buy a hand-woven silk shirt - but, oh well.

Up Nort'

. Jerry, Sara, Joe, and Lori had a wonderful vacation "Up Nort' " in the Upper Penninsula of Michigan. We planned to stay at Porcupine Wilderness State Park on Lake Superior, but (darn the luck) we arrived during the 2 to 3 weeks during the Spring when the biting black flies were swarming.

. After only one night, we moved inland to Lake Gogebic State Park. The Gogebic park was very nice, and the locals told us that, being inland, we would not have the fly problem.

. Click here to see pictures. There are a lot, so if you get bored, click the "+" sign to speed up, or the "-" sign to slow down the show!

Volunteer Day at Burr Oak

We spent about 3 hours yesterday helping the Central Indiana Land Trust pick up trash and eradicate Bush Honeysuckle from their Burr Oak nature preserve. The preserve is located just west of the intersection of 206th Street and Highway 37 on the White River.

Central Indiana Land Trust is the entity that recently bought the Logan family's Coke Oven Hollow in Parke County, where Sara's family camped for over 20 years. Follow this link to their web site, if you want to see more. (They named the Parke County property "Mossy Point.")



Here is the group getting a briefing before we split into two groups, one to pick up trash and the other to work on the honeysuckle.










Our Land Trust leader explained that the honeysuckle is a more vigorous plant, leafing out earlier and staying green longer than the native plants. It was originally imported from the Orient as an ornamental yard plant, but soon spread to Indiana woods, and has been taking over. Here is what the area looked like when we finished.










There were 15 people working on the honeysuckle. Some of us used loppers to cut off the plants at the ground. Others hauled the brush away, and Jerry and the Land Trust leader sprayed herbicide on the stumps to prevent the plant from sprouting from the roots.










Here's the team after a morning of hard work.












This mound of trash bags is the result of the other group's efforts picking up trash from the property.

Farmer Jerry

No more delays when Jerry decides to go fishing! Now, instead of making that annoying trip to Wal-Mart for worms, Jerry can go to the back yard and dig his own, in his new WORM FARM. He learned how to build it by looking on the web. It's just a wooden box, with screen-covered holes for drainage, buried in the ground, and filled with good dirt, leaves, and WORMS. It doubles as a compost pit, because the worms like all people-food except meat and onions or anything hot.

Ahhhhhhh - fishing.

Doggie Easter Egg Hunt, and Otis Gets a New Cape

...Grand-puppy Otis had a fun time at Carmel's West Park on Saturday. He's a very friendly pup, and had fun meeting other dogs and people too. Dog treats and coupons for fun stuff were scattered on the ground for the dogs and owners to find. There was a special area for little dogs, where they could compete fairly. Yes, he got wet and dirty again!

...After the Egg Hunt, we measured Otis for his new Purdue cape. He's almost full-grown, and time for a big-boy suit. He likes wearing his new cape, but was really too busy running and jumping to stop for a good picture!

...Check out the pictures of both at this link.

The Times, They Are A-Changin'

My mom and dad's music player.

This console is era 1940-1950's. (The cute dancer is me!) The console played one song at a time, from a 78 vinyl record.

My music player

Thanks to son-in-law, Kirk, I found the perfect MP3 player. It will play any one of over 1500 songs downloaded to it so far. The times, they are a-changin' (courtesy Bob Dylan).

My Awesome Team

. Here are my team-members at Roche Diagnostics. And they ARE awesome!
. Some run the Copy Center, making millions of copies per year for customers on the Roche campus. Others supply and repair over 100 multifunction copier/printer/fax/scanner machines and over 200 network printers. A team processes and delivers thousands of pieces of incoming and outgoing mail and packages per month. Roche couldn't get along without them. We have a great time, and I'm proud to work with them!

Getting Ready for Spring

Here's Jerry, pulling our trailer out of storage so we could take it to have its annual winter checkup. Modern Trailer Sales in Anderson takes really good care of us, and the trailer. There are not too many relatively large businesses, these days, where you can walk in and they remember your name, and specifically what they helped you with last time. Wow.

We'll be going to Prophetstown State Park, north of Lafayette, as soon as things dry out a bit and the temperature gets out of the teens! Prophetstown is one of our favorite state parks. We love to hike near a bald eagles' nest, explore along the river, and listen to the coyotes howl at night. Most sites in the campground are secluded, since the west end is built in a former Christmas tree farm. An asphalt trail leads from one end of the park to the other--great for walking, biking, or blading. Check out their website for more information. http://www.in.gov/dnr/parklake/properties/park_prophetstown.html

Otis Takes a LONG Walk

By: Otis Smiley


. Today my Grandma and Grandpa Steckbeck took my Mommy and me on a LONG walk.
. My grandma always tells me how nice it is that my mom and dad got a house in Broad Ripple. Now she can visit me lots! Here’s my story….


.We walked along the Central Canal in Indianpolis, all the way from my home to Butler University and back. I really had fun. I saw a lot of dogs, mostly bigger than me. One of the dogs I met was the Butler Bulldog.









.But, I was not afraid of them because I was wearing my "Super Otis Cape," so nothing could hurt me!









.Here's me and my Grandma. The ground was snowy, and wet and muddy.









.My mom said I had to have a bath when I got back home.









.Baths are okay, but I like LONG walks better!

Sara's Soap

I learned to make soap from my Mom, who had been doing it for years. She used her soap for everything from the bath to dishwashing. It takes some special equipment and a bit of time, but I find it is worth the trouble because the soap is so mild, and I like carrying on the tradition!

Here is what you need, if you'd like to try making some soap yourself.

RECIPE
38 oz rendered Beef Fat (tallow)
24 oz Olive Oil
24 oz Coconut Oil
12 oz Lye
32 oz soft water (cannot be hard water)

Click on the following links to see detailed instructions.

EQUIPMENT (pictured above)

INGREDIENTS

DIRECTIONS

ENJOY !

I hope you enjoy your soap as much as I do mine. Let me know if you make a batch and how it turned out ! ~Sara

Key West Vacation

What a marvelous bird is the pelican!

His beak can hold more than his belly-can.

He can hold more in his beak than he can eat in a week,

And I wonder just how in the hell-he-can !

Jerry and Sara's 10th wedding anniversary was on January 1, 2008. They celebrated by taking a very fun vacation to the Florida Keys. Jerry's favorite part was a chartered fishing trip (are we surprised?). Sara's favorite experience was visiting the Ernest Hemingway home on Key West, and learning about his life.

Here are links to pictures. Hover your mouse over the pictures for a title!

People & Places

Animals, Sunsets and Other Neat Stuff