john's stormy 38th birthday

We headed to the lake for John's birthday today, and by the time we reached Shell Lake, the storms hit.  The last fifteen minutes of the trip, sheets of rain blasted across the road, debris flew, visibility came and went.

As we got to Spooner, Heidi texted that the lights were flickering and in a minute the power was out.

Well, there ya go.

That's our power pole.   We saw it as we rounded the corner.  Yeah, no way we're going to have any electricity today.   We called and reported it.   Later there was a text stating power had been restored.

Ummm, no.

It was dark in our cabin.  Of course when the power is out, so is the water because we're on a well and the pump can't run.

So we went over to John and Dannell's.  They have bigger windows facing the lake, and a lot more light.   The batteries were still charged on all the devices so the kids were happy.

That's the tree that fell on our boat inside this tent/shed.  Next weekend, Jay will bring the chain saw and attempt to extract it from here, see what the damage is.  The crown of this tree is so massive we couldn't get through it to see what was actually on the boat.  Some of it is held up by the frame of this structure, but it can't be pulled on without a plan--might make it worse.  Wouldn't want to start pulling on branches and have it fall more onto the boat--or worse, onto a person.

The boat is insured.  It can be fixed.  An injured person, much worse problem.

Trees down at the resort next door:

 More storm clouds-- storms rolled through about every 90 minutes, thunder, lightening, wind, pouring rain.  It's supposed to continue until after midnight.  We left around suppertime.

But the better part of the day was the fun we had together.

Yesterday Jay and I went to Fleet Farm to get John a gift certificate, but first we looked around to see if there was anything silly and fun to put with it.

We found a decorative thermometer, and these lights. (I rejected the ones that were bullets or shells.  No. Absolutely not.  We are not decorating with ammunition.)

 And also big bags of red licorice and orange slice candy, Grandma Miller candy.  John is old enough to appreciate that.

The littlest brother held out a slice of orange candy to his sister, "Eat it!  It's delicious!"  Made me laugh.

There were candles and an ice cream cake that was a soft to cut as butter without any electricity.

Also delicious.

Here's the part about how a little bitty baby, born to a couple of clueless teenagers, grew up to be one of the dearest friends of our entire lives.

Nobody tells you this, so I'm telling you all now--chasing around breaking up fights, losing your own temper, folding a million socks, and trying to keep the bills paid, and the grass cut-- Little League, Sunday School, dentist appointments:

You are raising your best friends.

Silly little peanut, we sure loved you then.  Sure do love you now.

With Great Grandpa John and Great Grandma Lydia:

Happy Birthday, Sweetheart.

With love forever and always, Mom and Dad and Everybody