Leila's Baptism

In my last entry Jon was on his way to Colorado, hauling equipment for the next job. We thought he'd be home by the end of the week, but instead they asked him to stay and work. So it'll be at least another three weeks before he's home again-- probably just in time for Eric Sime's (Jon's nephew and godson) wedding at the end of May!

We were glad that Jon had a couple of long weekends home with us, prior to that. One of the things he managed to do while home was fix Emma up with the surprise of her life: our old horse, Macy.

Macy is the younger of the two horses that we had when we lived in Eau Claire. We had gotten her as a companion horse for Shadow, "Susan's" horse. Jon had tried keeping the two horses in a field by the hunting shack, and had built them a lean-to for shelter, but his work obligations really made it hard for him to be around and give them the care that they needed. So several years ago we gave Shadow and Macy to Jon's sister Sally, where they've been living a peaceful life with her other two horses, in Holcombe.

Well, we're in the country now, and while our land is wooded and unfenced, the neighbor friend up the road was willing to lend us a nice section of pasture and a small lean-to for Macy (in exchange for work from Jon). Jon felt that Shadow was too old to be moved again, so she remains with Sally.

Macy's the only horse at Johnne's farm, but there are cows in the nearby pasture, and we try to visit daily. She was skittish at first, but now comes up to the fence for apples and attention. We plan to have someone work with her so she can be ridden someday. And we plan to get riding lessons for Emma-- just like Susan had when she was younger.

Emma was ecstatic about having a horse again. She has turned into an enthusiastic outdoors and animal person, just like Jon. He really enjoys sharing these interests with her.

Well, I promised pictures from Leila's baptism. Leila was baptized on Easter Sunday, during a service at Jon's family church in Cornell. Laurie and Mark were godparents.

We weren't sure how Leila was going to react to the experience, but she seemed pleased as punch to be "standing" there before the congregation. She did a lot of smiling and kicking. When the pastor put water on her head she got quiet, but then seemed to decide that it was no big deal and went right back to smiling and kicking.

After the ceremony we traveled a block down the road to my in-laws' house, where we had a wonderful brunch and belated birthday celebration for Leila.

Mom and Dad had to miss it because Dad was sick with bronchitis. However, Mom and Dad did make it over for a visit the following week.

We've seen Jonathan a couple of times over the past few weeks-- I'll post a picture of him here for Susan, who doesn't get to see him much these days. Like his dad, he spends time playing with the kids by plopping down on the living room carpet and letting them crawl on him.

Our long weekend without Jon was alleviated somewhat by a visit from another "John"... my brother John, from Madison. He came on his own and stayed two nights.

Saturday he accompanied me and the kids on an outing to Eau Claire to see the annual rock and mineral show. I had fun looking around and purchased some new rocks for my collection. Someone was even selling the tiniest starfish I have ever seen for only five cents each, so I bought a couple for my miniature collection (I LOVE IT when obscure interests overlap-!).

I gave the kids each $5 so they could find treasure of their own. There are always several booths that cater to kids and beginners with inexpensive rocks (5 for $1, or an egg carton full of rocks for $3). They also have kid's activity booths where they can make jewelry, stick their hands in water and mud and dig for rocks, and so on. There are also lots of neat informational booths where you can see how rocks are tumbled and polished or carved by an artisan. On the high end there are rare or large crystals of various types for $80 or more. There are also cut gems and jewelry.

There's really something for everyone at these shows... if you ever get a chance, go to a rock and mineral show!

Anyway. John did a good job putting up with my browsing that day. We also ate out a few times and had fun outdoors with the kids... we had some really nice weather Friday and Saturday.

By Sunday it was cooler and rainy. John took off for Madison and the kids and I headed over to Pat and Ann's for Grandma Jane's birthday party.

I forgot my camera, so don't have any pictures to post from that. But it was fun visiting with everyone and eating all the delicious food. Jonathan and I noticed that the food selection at these things seems to be getting healthier as the years go by. I remember when I was first introduced to the Hurlburt potlucks, I could not believe all of the bars and rich, wonderful casseroles. Now there are things like fresh fruit and couscous salad. But that's a good thing-! You can fill your plate and not feel too guilty about it.

A Quick Update

Hi, everyone... just wanted to update the blog a little, though I don't have new pictures to post yet. I forgot my camera in Cornell this weekend, after Leila's baptism. I'll have a complete accounting of the baptism and our other recent happenings after this coming weekend. So tune in next week for more!!

Laurie and Mark arrived at our house in the wee hours of Sunday morning, to serve in their role as godparents at Leila's christening. Mark had to work Saturday night, so making it here in time for the 8:30 am church service in Cornell took considerable effort on their part. We really appreciate the effort they made to be with us and stand up for little Leila.

Mom and Dad couldn't make it because Dad was sick with borderline pneumonia. He's on medication now and getting better.

Jon spent a long, 4-day weekend with us before heading back to Minnesota early yesterday morning. He called later in the day to report that he was on his way to Colorado. He's helping deliver equipment there for his crew's next big job.

Jon will be coming back at the end of the week. He isn't going to be one of the guys working in Colorado, but instead will start work with a drill crew in Iowa.

This isn't the job that we thought he'd be starting, but other potential work that would have kept him closer to home this summer was given to other companies. It's disappointing for us because we had already started thinking about fun things we wanted to do together as a family this summer, and now all that's much more uncertain. But we're lucky he has work... lots of guys from his union are laid off and between jobs right now.

Well, I'll write again when I have my camera back. Take care...

Leila Turns One (and a Day in the Life of Jon the Power Worker)

Well, Saturday was Leila's first birthday. Hard to believe that it's already been a year!

As you can see, Jon finally let me trim the bangs that were always hanging in her eyes. Two snips of the scissors took care of the problem.

We celebrated quietly at home. We'd been expecting John and Jim to come over, but they had to postpone their visit till next weekend.

The "weekend" started Thursday night, when Jon came home. We ate at Little Italy that night, and it felt so much like a Friday I accidentally let the kids stay up past nine (forgot it was a school night!). Of course, they don't remind me of their bedtime, if I happen to overlook it...

Here you can see how Leila's toys have started taking over our living room:

On Saturday we had cake and ice cream for Leila, and opened her presents. More toys! The bristle blocks I got for her were a big hit with Emma, who immediately started building little mechanical structures. Bristle Block technology has really made strides since Mikey and Emma's toddler days; now there are circular blocks that rotate on axis so your little Einstein can build a moving vehicle.

Leila just likes sticking them in her mouth, at this point.

Leila received several birthday calls that day, including a call from big sister Susan in West Virginia.

Emma surprised us by raking this trail up to her "hideout" on Saturday. I was pretty impressed. Emma's very creative and industrious. She's always finding ways to personalize her world. I told her, "We should call that Emma Road!" so she made a sign with that name on it. Jon helped her put the sign up by posting it on one of my old free-standing thrift sale signs. He also helped her move a couple of benches up to her hideout.

Here's a picture of our house, taken from Emma's hideout.

The two of them also made a couple of trips up to the farm this weekend. Remember Emma's chickens, Dot and Pumpkin? Well, it turns out Dot's a rooster.

Jon bought a Burley bike trailer, so the whole family was able to go for a bike ride this weekend. Leila really liked the ride. The rest of us were preoccupied with noticing how out of shape we were, pedaling against the wind and up and down our Colfax hills. We're going to have to work on that...

I wanted to post a few pictures from Jon's work site in Tower, Minnesota. One of the guys has a small remote-controlled airplane that he's attached a camera to. So he was able to get some interesting aerial shots of where they're working.

The land they're working in is pretty remote and rather swampy.

The red equipment below is a shoring box. They use this to prevent the surrounding earth from caving in when they dig a hole for the powerline pole. In wet places like this, the box fills with water.

One environmental precaution they have to take is driving their heavy equipment on wooden mats. You can see one of the mats in the photo below:

Jon usually operates the cranes and other heavy equipment. Look carefully in the photo below and you can see him operating a crane boom. He says he spends a lot of time on this particular machine.

Jon says that the "rock stars" of the power line world are line-men. They're the ones who climb the poles and even travel precariously along the wires to install bird deflectors, among other things.

Look closely: there's a lineman on top the pole pictured above. He climbed the pole with cleats. He's attached to it by a small tether. Suppose it's windy up there??

Here's a lineman traveling across an electrical wire. He sitting on a moving seat that slides across the wire while he pedals.

In the photo below, you can see the bird deflectors he's hung up. The idea is to make the line more visible, so that birds don't fly into it and injure or electrocute themselves.

Well, thought you might enjoy a glimpse into Jon's working world these days! I found it interesting.

I better sign off for now. Take care!!