I got a call last weekend that my nephew, Kane, had won a free ticket to a Pacers game for doing well in school. And since Uncle Matt and Aunt Wendi are familiar with the Indy area, we were asked to join him and my brother, Mike, for the game. They decided to come up for the whole weekend so we could spend some time together. The ladies, Mary and Kelci, decided to stay south for a Lady's weekend. On Friday, we took Mike and Kane to one of the best pizza places on the north side, Some Guys Pizza in Carmel. We had a very nice evening visiting at the restaurant, followed by a review of my childhood baseball card collection at home. We even enjoyed some entertainment as we watched Kane play the X-Box. On Saturday, I fixed a nice breakfast of eggs and sausages. After some more time on the X-Box, we went to a local baseball card shop. Then we grabbed lunch and headed north to Noblesville for a little geocaching. This was the first trip caching for my brother and nephew. After a little searching, he found the cache. I think we have another one addicted (or at least bitten by the caching bug). Now Kane just needs a geocaching name.
After that, we took a stroll through the local electronic's store, Fry's, and then off to the game. We had decent seats for the game and enjoyed a win by the hometown Pacers over the Bulls. Afterwards, we headed back north and tried to decide on what was for supper, at 10:30 pm. I drove by one establishment I thought we could try, Five Guys Burger and Fries. My attempt at an all Guys weekend didn't pan out since they appeared to be closed. So instead we went to the next best place, Buffalo Wild Wings. After a good supper, we headed back to the house and a good nights sleep. On Sunday, we had breakfast and then they were on their way back south. We had a great weekend! I can't wait for the next one!
If you have lost signal or your batteries are drained, maybe you need to push the power button and plug in to recharge.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
I think I have...
Apparently, I have lost signal and my batteries are drained. How else can I explain not having added a blog since December. Well, I will give you a quick overview of what has happened since my last note.
Christmas 2009
We were able to spend a nice long weekend for Christmas with my family. Although we stayed at the Holiday Inn Express in Jasper (we were one of about 4 cars there), we got to spend some quality time talking with Mom and Dad and reminising. We were also able to enjoy a little bit of a Geo-Christmas.
This year we hid the 3 geocaches for my sister's three boys. Each cache had a clue in it as well as some supplies that every geocacher needs. Once they found all three and deciphered the clues, they could go find their final present, full fledge geocaching toolkits! They had a blast trying to find them and digging through all the cool tools. It also gave my brother's kids their first taste of geocaching.
We also were able to visit with Angie, Scott, Mike, and Mary. We really enjoy being able to see everyone when we come down. An added bonus this year was that cousins, Jason and Justin Dickson joined us. It has been a several years since we spent Christmas with them and we enjoyed discussing the latest hot topics.
Christmas for the Ely family came a little later. We actually had it following New Years. This year we hosted, since we had all been together in Oscelo a few weeks earlier. Wendi had worked the morning, but never fear, I had things well under control. We had a nice lunch and visit. I think one of the highlights this year was Misty opening the diaper trike that Wendi had put together for our yet to arrive nephew. The other highlight was watching Mom and Matthew talk to each other using web cams while in the same room! We had a good time.
New Years 2010
New Years came and went for us. Wendi had to be at work early so she retired early. I stayed up and watched the ball drop and then made my way to bed. Another Year gone by.
January
With January, I started back to work from my two week vacation. January also brought a round of bad luck for us. In a matter of one week, we found out that we needed a new heat pump, the DSL router went out, and Wendi broke some trim off of her Tribute when she closed the hood. Towards the end of the month, we were also able to go back south for a weekend. We stayed with Mom and Dad this time to save a little money. Nothing like camping out in the living room! We had a nice visit with Mom and Dad, again remininsing. On Saturday, we took Team Krieg (Daniel, Andrew, and Stephen) geocaching. This was our first outting for the year and the first in almost two months. We started with a few local caches in Pike County and then hit the McDonalds in Washington for a late lunch. After grabbing lunch, we moved on to the Glendale area.
While caching in Glendale, we learned some interesting facts. First, Andrew and Stephen have quite the imagination. Not too big of a surprise given who their parents and grandparents are. We also found out that Daniel has a direction issue. Even with a GPSr in his hand, he still can't find the direction to the car. He can spot a geocache pretty good though. We also learned that Aunt Mary has issues driving, especially when the Krieg boys are in the car. They told us of all the things that Aunt Mary had almost "hit" and one thing that she did hit. Then there was Aunt Wendi's driving. She believe that her blue Mazda Tribute (which is only a 4x2) can go just about anywhere. Since there was snow on the ground, some of the backroad we took were either iced over or a little muddy. Do you think that will stop Aunt Wendi? I don't think so. She plowed on through. Atleast Daniel didn't have to get out and push. All in all it was a good day of caching and building relationships with our nephews. To top it of, we return to Mom's for a great feast for the whole family. Visiting with everyone was a real joy, even that too cool teenager neice, Kelci, and, of course, my favorite nephew Kane. Our little geocaching trip sparked some interest of Kane, so next time we get to go down and go caching, he will get a chance to enjoy the driving antics of Aunt Wendi. Again, it was great to see everyone.
February
February is a special month in our family. Too very important ladies in my life have birthdays during this month. The first is my mother. Without her, I wouldn't be here today. The second is my wife, Wendi. It is hard to believe that she and I have been together for more than 10 years now. How can anyone put up with me for that long? Happy Birthday Sweetheart. We were supposed to celebrate her birthday with her family this weekend, but that is questionable right now. It seems that Mom Ely had a little accident by the mailbox this morning and required some medical attention. She will be alright, but she may not be picking up Sophia with her left hand anytime soon.
I also got back out last weekend for some caching. My best friend, Jeff, and I went out Sunday afternoon for a little while. We asked our other friend, Chris, to go, but he had to stay home with the wife since it was Valentines Day. We had a pretty good time and had a nice hike in the snow covered woods. We end up visiting 9 caches and picked up some new path tags.
This year has started out with some good times and some sad/bad ones, but we try to keep Matthew 6:34 and 1 Corinthians 10:13 in mind:
Well, I think have have hit the power button and been plugged in to recharge. Now it is time to go out and find that signal. Until next time, God Bless.
Christmas 2009
We were able to spend a nice long weekend for Christmas with my family. Although we stayed at the Holiday Inn Express in Jasper (we were one of about 4 cars there), we got to spend some quality time talking with Mom and Dad and reminising. We were also able to enjoy a little bit of a Geo-Christmas.
This year we hid the 3 geocaches for my sister's three boys. Each cache had a clue in it as well as some supplies that every geocacher needs. Once they found all three and deciphered the clues, they could go find their final present, full fledge geocaching toolkits! They had a blast trying to find them and digging through all the cool tools. It also gave my brother's kids their first taste of geocaching.
We also were able to visit with Angie, Scott, Mike, and Mary. We really enjoy being able to see everyone when we come down. An added bonus this year was that cousins, Jason and Justin Dickson joined us. It has been a several years since we spent Christmas with them and we enjoyed discussing the latest hot topics.
Christmas for the Ely family came a little later. We actually had it following New Years. This year we hosted, since we had all been together in Oscelo a few weeks earlier. Wendi had worked the morning, but never fear, I had things well under control. We had a nice lunch and visit. I think one of the highlights this year was Misty opening the diaper trike that Wendi had put together for our yet to arrive nephew. The other highlight was watching Mom and Matthew talk to each other using web cams while in the same room! We had a good time.
New Years 2010
New Years came and went for us. Wendi had to be at work early so she retired early. I stayed up and watched the ball drop and then made my way to bed. Another Year gone by.
January
With January, I started back to work from my two week vacation. January also brought a round of bad luck for us. In a matter of one week, we found out that we needed a new heat pump, the DSL router went out, and Wendi broke some trim off of her Tribute when she closed the hood. Towards the end of the month, we were also able to go back south for a weekend. We stayed with Mom and Dad this time to save a little money. Nothing like camping out in the living room! We had a nice visit with Mom and Dad, again remininsing. On Saturday, we took Team Krieg (Daniel, Andrew, and Stephen) geocaching. This was our first outting for the year and the first in almost two months. We started with a few local caches in Pike County and then hit the McDonalds in Washington for a late lunch. After grabbing lunch, we moved on to the Glendale area.
While caching in Glendale, we learned some interesting facts. First, Andrew and Stephen have quite the imagination. Not too big of a surprise given who their parents and grandparents are. We also found out that Daniel has a direction issue. Even with a GPSr in his hand, he still can't find the direction to the car. He can spot a geocache pretty good though. We also learned that Aunt Mary has issues driving, especially when the Krieg boys are in the car. They told us of all the things that Aunt Mary had almost "hit" and one thing that she did hit. Then there was Aunt Wendi's driving. She believe that her blue Mazda Tribute (which is only a 4x2) can go just about anywhere. Since there was snow on the ground, some of the backroad we took were either iced over or a little muddy. Do you think that will stop Aunt Wendi? I don't think so. She plowed on through. Atleast Daniel didn't have to get out and push. All in all it was a good day of caching and building relationships with our nephews. To top it of, we return to Mom's for a great feast for the whole family. Visiting with everyone was a real joy, even that too cool teenager neice, Kelci, and, of course, my favorite nephew Kane. Our little geocaching trip sparked some interest of Kane, so next time we get to go down and go caching, he will get a chance to enjoy the driving antics of Aunt Wendi. Again, it was great to see everyone.
February
February is a special month in our family. Too very important ladies in my life have birthdays during this month. The first is my mother. Without her, I wouldn't be here today. The second is my wife, Wendi. It is hard to believe that she and I have been together for more than 10 years now. How can anyone put up with me for that long? Happy Birthday Sweetheart. We were supposed to celebrate her birthday with her family this weekend, but that is questionable right now. It seems that Mom Ely had a little accident by the mailbox this morning and required some medical attention. She will be alright, but she may not be picking up Sophia with her left hand anytime soon.
I also got back out last weekend for some caching. My best friend, Jeff, and I went out Sunday afternoon for a little while. We asked our other friend, Chris, to go, but he had to stay home with the wife since it was Valentines Day. We had a pretty good time and had a nice hike in the snow covered woods. We end up visiting 9 caches and picked up some new path tags.
This year has started out with some good times and some sad/bad ones, but we try to keep Matthew 6:34 and 1 Corinthians 10:13 in mind:
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.
Each day has enough trouble of its own. - Matthew 6:34
... And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear...
- 1 Corinthians 10:13
Well, I think have have hit the power button and been plugged in to recharge. Now it is time to go out and find that signal. Until next time, God Bless.