Ice Storm

It's been a while since we had freezing rain that turned everything into a slick sheet of ice.

I don't really need to do it more than once in a lifetime but living in Wisconsin gives us a chance every winter.

I will say that the sun shining through the ice was so beautiful.  Shiny and sparkling as the trees moved in the breeze.  

Unfortunately, the heavy ice caused many trees to have limbs break off and land on power lines.  

Our church was cancelled due to slick roads but we went to Shawano anyway.  The roads were not clear but not slippery like they could have been.  

When we got home, our power was non existent.  Pat pulled out the generator and fired it up.  It ran just fine but as soon as we plugged something in, there was no power.  

Fortunately the Gourley home had power so we went to their house and borrowed their generator.  

We ran it all the rest of Sunday and into Monday morning.  We were without electricity for over 24 hours! We have since replaced that defective generator with a new one!

 

The Greenhouse

We have some daughters  that would love access to a greenhouse. Pat purchased one this spring and we spend hours assembling most of it in the garage. It was cold so after some time my frozen fingers had to quit. 

Several weeks later we finally got it finished just before Easter. 

We went to see a movie that evening after moving it to its designated place in the garden. We had some rain and light winds while we were gone and we found it flattened the next morning. 

Pat spent many more hours putting it back together. It wasn’t quite done and we were expecting some intense storms. We moved it too where Pat thought it would be safe. As the storm rolled through the greenhouse rolled into the front yard and up against the maple tree. 

Once more Pat spent hours attempting to straighten it and get it back together. Just a tiny breeze blew through between the house and garage and the greenhouse blew into the car and bent it once again. 

Enough!!!

Pat took the next few minutes kicking out the panels and disassembling the thing.   Then off to the dumpster and recycling with the entire thing. 

What was supposed to be a blessing turned out to be a huge headache and waste of time!

 

New Firepit

 This fire pit was first put in by my dad when he owned the house. We didn’t care for the weeds coming through between the pavers so we tried something different.  The first change was taking out the pavers and putting in ceramic tiles.  That worked great until Pat drove over some of them with the tractor in the winter.  Ceramic tiles and tractors don’t mix.  Cracked tiles.  We covered those with another type of tile that looked good for the summer.  They didn’t fare too well with the winter weather.  

A few weeks ago we pulled up all of the old and installed these new snap-together tiles.  It didn’t take long to find out we didn’t have enough.  Another order only to find out that color was not the same.  I came up with a pattern and I think it looks great!  Here’s to spending time around the campfire!

USS Missouri

After the USS Arizona we went to tour the USS Missouri.  It is in the background of this photo of Tom. 

The guns on this ship were HUGE!

We paid extra and took the captain's tour.  It was much more involved and we got to go places that others didn't.  This note came in telling the troops that the Japanese had surrendered. 

I can't recall the name of this communication device.  Something called a "Girl".  It is used without electricity.  A lot of cranking needed to keep the power. 

The captain's cabin with his bed.

This fancy table set in the captain's cabin. 

The captain's "head".  It is available to use. 

This very spot was where President George W. Bush sat.  

The seamen working in this space need to be able to write backwards.  They write on the back side of this plexiglass so the captain knows where everything is.

A small space where ammo was locked and loaded. 

This space is some sort of room that is always lighted like this.  

Looking through the "looking glass."

This spot on the deck is where the Japanese officially surrendered. 

Such a huge ship.  I certainly would have gotten lost without our guide. 

This is outside on the dock.  Couldn't resist taking the pic.

 

Hawaii Again

This trip to Hawaii we stayed right next door to the condo we stayed in last time.  This condo was much smaller and junkier.  Just not as nice by a long shot.  Still, it was livable.  

We walked the beach and saw another large sea turtle.  We walked the beach twice as that's all the time we had to do it.  

The wind never stopped blowing the entire time as witnessed by these palm trees.  

The temple was closed AGAIN.  We did find a way to serve in it though.  Pat emailed the temple president and asked if there was something we could do to help while it was being cleaned.  We were given the green light to do that so we went both Monday and Tuesday mornings and helped in the laundry.  We folded hundreds of pairs of socks both days.  It was quite satisfying.

I found a lifeguard tower which is exactly the same as the ones I see on Rescue Hi-Surf.  

The views are just as incredible.  I love the sight of the crashing waves with the teal blue water.  

I also love the mountains by Kualoa Ranch.  

The laundry facilities at the condo were horrible so we found a laundromat before coming home.  I loved the sign.  No Ocean Creatures.  haha

We visited the USS Arizona once again.  Such a sacred and solemn place.  

I love the North Shore where you keep driving along the ocean!

This view was taken while we were zip lining.  We were told to look for whales but of course we didn't see any.

This is the beach right next to our condo.  I like the variety of things in this photo.

We zip lined at Climb Works this time.  

The bridges on this zip line were much easier to cross which was the best thing for Tom.  He had a great time!  Awesome guides and a fun group to zip with.  

 

Tom’s Trip

The Gourley family and Erin and Jacob went on their planned Hawaii trip in November.  We got lots of Facetime calls and texts while they were there.  Tom came up to me and said, "I want to go to Hawaii." I told him to talk to his dad.  We planned a trip just for Tom in March.

We wanted him to experience the things we did while we were there a few years ago.  

His first adventure was going zip lining!  I wish I would have had a camera to video record his reaction on the first line.  He WOOHOOed all the way across the line.  He was very excited!

We had some great guides.  They were so good with Tom and helped him along the way.

We had a great time together!

This was not at Kualoa Ranch like we did last time.  This time it was Climb Works.  They were just as great and some of the climbs to the next line were a bit easier so that was good for Tom.  It was a great experience but he was time to be done.

I think the smiles say it all!

On Tuesday we went to the PCC.  Again, that was the one thing I knew we had to do with him.  He loves culture and languages so this was perfect.  He enjoyed the opening ceremony as well as each of the islands.  He especially liked the Haka and the fire dancing.

Wednesday was a more chill day and we went to the Swap Meet where we bought things for our family.  

Thursday was back to Honolulu where we went to the USS Arizona and then the USS Missouri.  

I don't think Tom comprehended what happened with the Arizona but I do think he felt the reverence of the memorial.

I am always amazed at the feelings I get there.

The USS Missouri in he background.

We had to stop at the Dole Plantation for a Dole Whip.

Tom makes friends with cats whenever he can.

The weather is always beautiful to compliment the beauty of the Laie temple.

The temple was closed for a two week cleaning so no ordinance work this time. 

The flight home had Tom making friends again.  This time with the flight attendants.

I think he enjoyed his trip very much.  We'll have to plan another trip for him sometime.