A New Bathroom

Many years ago my dad removed the two windows out of the north bedroom and had only one installed as he was going to make that room into a bathroom.  I'm glad he didn't because we needed it a lot over the 20 years we've lived here.  

Pat has mentioned it many times over the years that he wanted an upstairs bathroom.  

With Erin getting married and moving out, we moved Tom into the southwest room and began demolition just into the new year.

Lathe and plaster wasn't as bad to remove as we thought it would be.  He had one way to remove it and I had another and my way worked better with less dust.

Once the three walls we removed, Pat framed up some new walls.  The fourth wall was fairly new with sheetrock so we just left it intact.

The water lines for the vanity run up and over the ceiling.

The progress was slow due to it being basketball season.  There were days when nothing happened.

The shower was the first thing to be installed.  It started to look like it might become a bathroom.  We talked about having a shower with a seat as we are both now over the 60 year mark.  I decided against it since if I ever need a chair in my shower I will not be using an upstairs bedroom.

Then the sheetrock.  Guess who got to do all the mudding, sanding and ultimately the fun part, the painting. 

A new window was installed.

The north wall did not come down but had some roughness to it.  I bought some light weight mud and texturized it.  I love how it turned out!  I painted the north wall "pine mist" and the other walls "lemonade".

The false ceiling was the next step.

Finally the new flooring pulled it all together. 

The toilet was installed and then the double sink vanity.

The shower doors went on after I finished my caulking and painting.  

We bought that little wooden "chest" at an FM auction while we served as missionaries in Nauvoo.  It is the perfect size for towels and washclothes.

The last thing was to buy a blind to put inside the window.  It pulls up and pushes down which I really love.  There is now a giant full length mirror next to the window.  

A few more photos printed on canvas will arrive next week and I also have two "Nauvoo" windows that will go up and then it will be finished.  I never knew I would love having a bathroom across the hall from my bedroom.  With doing all the work ourselves, we figured about $5000 for the project.

 

Winter?

Our winter has been very mild.  We only had a few weeks where it was really cold and we had very little snow.  I think the snowmobile trails were open for about two weeks.  

With all of that, I decided to begin my spring clean up in February.

I've never had the sand toys out in February.  This space is usually piled high with snow.

I raked the south lawn which doesn't take very long.  I also raked the lawn by the swingset as well as the lawn in front of the house.  

On this day it was warm enough to wear shorts!

I've gotten the grill out twice already and once we've gotten the lawn chairs out and sat outside until it was too dark.  I love the warm, sunny weather but worry about drought.  We need moisture.

Today is March 21st and we are expecting snow overnight and into tomorrow morning.  A few inches in forcast and we need every bit of it.  Fire danger is extremely high and no burning permits are even being given out.  My dad always said that the robins need to be snowed on three times before the Spring is really here.  I guess we will see.

 

Three Generations of Officials

Patrick enjoys officiating basketball and really enjoys the pay at the end of the game.  He had Erin officiating while she was in college to earn some cash.  Then he recruited Andrew while he was still in high school.  Now he has gotten Cami into the game as well.

All three of them enjoy the paycheck.  It's good as officials are always in short supply.

Cami had an evening where she had no game but the boys had a home game.  He asked Mr. Zobeck if she could work with he and Andrew.  He agreed.

For most of the game she shadowed one or the other of them.  

By the end of the game, Pat was sitting at the scorer's table and allowed Cami to work with Andrew without him.  When all was said and done, he gave his check to her for which she was very grateful.  I've noticed that this young lady is not afraid to work!

 

I’m Having Fun

Since Andrew has been back in school, I have had the opportunity to watch Eddie several days each week.  He is now creeping up on being 4 years old.  He's such a smart boy and we have fun together.  

On Valentine's day we made heart shaped cut-out cookies.  After I sprinkled the flour on the counter, he immediately began making letters.  Who knew that flour was a good way to make letters?

As I worked on the upstairs bathroom I brought him up as well so he could watch TV in our bedroom.  I put the hamper at the end of the bed as a table for his snacks.  That didn't last long.  He told me that this was his house.  

While outside working on cleaning up the yard, he wanted to play in the sandbox.  

This boy loves fruit!  He was wearing wolf ears while wolfing down blueberries.  He ate almost the entire pint on this day.  He also began eliminating them as he ate so many.  

Some days we have pillow fights or hide under blankets and pillows.  He made a hiding spot among the pillows.

Tom had an appointment in Green Bay and Ed came along.  At a thrift shop he told me he needed a new shirt.  I found one with Grogu on it and he told me that it was for Halloween.  He picked out this dino sweatshirt and roared at me.

I'm so grateful for the opportunity to provide this service.  I have bonded with this little guy that I could not have done any other way.  I'm so thankful that he doesn't have to go to a daycare.  Whether he is with me or Erin or Sammi, I am assured that he is being loved every day!

 

41 Years Together

Today my sweetie went to Shawano to Qualheim's and came home with his plumbing supplies and these beautiful flowers to celebrate our 41st wedding anniversary.

I am always amazed at how our love for one another has deepened over the years.  I cannot imagine what life would have been like without him.

We were just kids when we got married.  I was 20 and Pat was 22.

We got married in the temple because that's what we were supposed to do.  I guess I understood that marriage could be eternal in no other way, but I don't think I had the comprehension of all that transpired that day.

We were young and skinny!  We had little money to our names but we paid our tithing and Pat assured me that all would be taken care of.  And it was!

Today we are not so skinny and have hair that has taken on a color of it's own.  But, we've had amazing adventures both at home and out somewhere else.  In honor of our 41 years together here are 41 things that are different from 1983.

1. Five amazing people that call us Mom and Dad.

2. Nine glorious people that call us Nana and Papa.

3. Aches and pains that come from nowhere overnight.

4. Not living paycheck to paycheck.

5. Callings that have stretched us.

6. Meeting people we would not have met had those callings not been ours.

7. Knowing just what it feels like in Hawaii instead of just seeing it on Hawaii 5-0.

8. Having no mortgage.

9. Reliable vehicles that we own.

10. No debt!

11. Friends from all over the country.

12. Both of us having missionary name tags.

13. Being able to attend the temple each month.

14. Weight gain and loss and gain.

15. Hair with a color other than what we had on our wedding day.

16. Abilities to do things we didn't know how to do before.

17. Development of talents.

18. Four people we call our children due to marriage.

19. The ability to buy a new furnace and pay cash for it.

20. The ability to buy most anything we want without worry of how to pay for it.

21. Knowing how to take care of elderly/disabled/sick family members.

22. Knowing how to plan a funeral.

23. The knowledge of how to run a meeting as the president.

24. The ability to help children financially when needed.

25. Going to bed on New Year's Eve and not caring that it is only 10pm.

26. Not caring about another birthday.

27. Being computer literate.

28. Having social media accounts.

29. Memorized temple covenants/ceremonies.

30. The ability to take vacations where and when we want.

31. Creating a new bathroom in our home.

32. Being an official for basketball and volleyball.

33. Both of us having been a coach.

34. Been on a cruise.

35. Enjoying the splendor of a glacier.

36. Being able to work together side and side.

37. Enjoying going zip-lining.

38. Finally being able to maintain a garden.

39. Building an addition (by ourselves) onto the garage.

40. Facing mortality because of a heart attack.

41. Loving one another more than we ever dreamed possible.

Our life together is grand and we are amazed as we continue to fall in love with one another over and over again.  Here's to many more!

ABBA Mania

 Pat and I went to see an ABBA tribute band last week.  

I really enjoy their music and so does he.  It reminds us of our youth!

There were only a few pieces of music that I didn't recognize.  The costumes were crazy though.

Some things we sang along to while other times we were asked to get up and dance.

I would recommend seeing a tribute band if you enjoy the music of that group.

It was a fun night with my sweetheart!

Christmas 2023

A lovely Christmas was had by our family this year.  It began on December 16th.  Our family was asked to be the Christmas program this year.  Gwen had the vision of a family home evening setting with everyone around.  She asked Bishop and Erica Hoffman to each sing a Christmas song that I had to work into the program.  I know it was through the inspiration of the Spirit that I was able to put a rough draft script together.  Thanks to Sammi for some ideas with that.  

I was amazed how many people came up to me and expressed how much they loved our presentation.  I think Tom singing Silent Night solo and then being the angel surprised a lot of people.  They were unaware of his skills in memorizing.  The spirit was strong.  Our only mishap was Henry being squeezed off of the stage while the children decorated the tree.

Henry and Lydia had an afternoon concert that Pat and I attended.  It was cute.  Lots of snow and Santa songs but that's what our world does.

At Gresham school, Eli and Butchy helped the penguins save Christmas.  They did a great job in singing.  The entire elementary sang together.r

I couldn't stay to watch Brock's band and choir as I promised Evelyn that I would come to her concert.  She had a solo and did it fabulously!  

As a family we went swimming at the Clintonville rec the week between Christmas and New Year's eve.  We went to A&W for cones afterward.  

On Christmas eve we played some games.  

The new game was to try to see how many candles you could blow out in a row.  It is a lot harder than it seems.  

We also played the "cup" game but in a different way and I don't think anyone was very happy about how it turned out except for those that won big prizes.

We of course, did the nativity again.  The Shawano Sisters came along and we had a great time.  Pat had them each pick out the kind of pen that they wanted and he made them the next day so Sammi could take them to them before transfers.  Neither was transferred but very grateful for their pen.

Santa and his elf came over again on Christmas day with goodie bags for all the children.  Marty Loftus so enjoys being Santa and Robin is the cutest elf.  

Pat mentioned that Robin, again this year, mentioned how she feels something special when she comes into our home.  He made sure Marty knew it was because the Spirit resides here.  

I love Christmas!  Even though Andrew, Cierra and Eddie leave us for approximately two weeks, which I totally understand, it is a special time together as a family.  Everyone loved their gifts and I loved mine!