Thanks for the pics Mark-it really puts things in perspective. I was over at BB late yesterday and the road is open again. There is a path of huge trees pulled up by their roots all the way from Booth Lake to just west of BB. We had a number of them on Shorewood Drive, which is why our basement got flooded. Fortunately, no one's houses got destroyed in our area, but I guess a few vehicles were crunched. Power out for hours and 7.5 inches of rain in basement! We are still finding stuff that's wet and nearly destroyed. Jay is putting in a new hot water heater this weekend. I filled our two camping shower bags yesterday and used one last night. It didn't get as warm as the instructions said it would, but it wasn't cold. Between that, the lake and the cold water in the house, we don't feel too gross. Although, since the mosquitoes are overwhelming us, having to wear bug spray at all times is making the situation alot worse. Something to tell the grandkids about!

I am moving my work office again and Lord knows how bad the house will be for how long! We have alot of stuff stored in that basement that now needs to make its way out! Just checked my machine and saw that I had a message from Michele last night that probably came in during our boat ride. It was such a nice night we decided to take a break. The kids are going to Jack Johnson at Alpine tonight and hopefully will not get rained on. Its very nice and breezy right now. Better get back to work-hope to talk to some of you soon! Love, Susan

The great flood of aught-eight, in pictures

Hi all, 

Sorry to hear that East Troy was hit so badly by the flooding! They're telling us here in Fort that the river crested today, just about 6 feet above the flood stage, and that the waters will subside at a rate of about one inch per day... if you do the math, that means things will be back to normal by Labor Day. We are still bone dry, thanks to our elevation; we just have lots of people who can't get to their houses using the driveway to park in the field next door; it's become the city's temporary overflow parking lot.

The only real downside for us is that Calvin and I had to cancel a camping & caving trip to Makoqueta Mounds State Park in Iowa this weekend. With bridges being closed and levees failing everywhere, there was no way I wanted to be crossing the Mississippi this weekend!

Last night Cal and I took the canoe out, and I couldn't believe how much had changed since last Sunday... Here are a few pics of our boat ride through the old fort, and down hwy 106 west of town. Keep in mind that all of these pictures were taken within a half mile or so of our house.

Enjoy...

On the Road again

As summer begins today, hi!

Thanks to each of you for you Father's Day calls, greetings, visits (Mark on Saturday after finding all the detours and Susan and Bridget on Wednesday when they came to take showers)! Your every effort and
Shoe Box card hit the spot.... Glad for all the other news and photos!

Our '08 summer begins with a flight to Newark this evening where we will have a chance to experience Declan's prom going and graduation on 6/25. He and
Kevin found favor with an assistant principal who found graduation tickets which they accepted on our behalf. The Midwest schedule is:

6/20/08 Lv MKE #2876 745P Ar EWR 1110P
6/27/08 Lv EWR #179 1125A Ar MKE 1245P

The Focus Wgn will be at CPS Parking, 5201 S. Howell
and Mom's keys will be hanging on a lanyard in the back hall.

The boiler will be on VACATION will reset after 9 days
automatically or we will reset it on SUMMER when we return. SUMMER heats water; VACATION does not.

We have not used the air conditioners yet this year. I did turn the 4 circuts for them ON this morning and
tested the 6 remotes. All room units came on and shut off when directed to do so by the remotes. The kitchen/dining room remote is on the window frame near the breakfront and next to the thermostat in the living room. All others are near the light switches in the respective rooms. The lower front panel of the remote slides down to show directions and choices.
All circuits were left ON. Nothing happens until someone pushes a button on the remote. Basic instructions for both systems are on top of the boiler.

Marty Iverson can be called for help with both systems. His business is AJ Iverson. Office # is 414 444 9002. His cell # is 406 4035 (probably 414).

The paper and mail have been stopped. A request for
the police to watch the house has been submitted .
Inside lights at each living level are on timers and will be on during evening hours. Our phone recorder will be left on.

Sorry we don't have time to comment on all the latest blog entries. Really sorry that the storm and electricity interruption were so disruptive for the O'C-Longs.
Loss of the hot water heater due to the water that inoperative sump pumps could not pump out was probably the most inconvenient loss and the reason S & B had to come here for showers. Glad that the athletic club showers are closer.

Love and prayers, Mom and Dad

Hello from the European travelers

Hello All-After leaving Munich at 7AM their time yesterday, we arrived in Chicago at 1:30 PM and ET at about 4:30. On a scale of 1-10, we both agreed that it came close to a 10. The tour aspect with 30 individuals on a bus was challenging at times, but overall, we saw and did so much cool stuff that it was worth it. Many places to go back to! Highlights included an evening river trip on the Seine looking at all the lit up Paris attractions, a visit to a little French wine village, being in Innsbruck during the European "Football" 2008 Cup game with the Swedes and the Spaniards. The kids loved that! They got their faces painted with the Spanish flag by the drunken revelers and we drove past the Olympic stadium as the throngs walked in, and swimming in the Olympic swimming pool in Munich during some rare free time. We covered alot of miles, saw much beauty and had no idea what was going on in the rest of the world.

I kept hearing from the other tourists and various locals that they were hearing about our flooding on CNN and several people had upgraded their phone service to international, so during a boat trip on Lake Luzern, I called Jay to hear the bad news about the very bad storm, possibly tornado, which took out lots of huge trees and the power and caused our basement to take in 7 inches of water. Jay and Colin waged a major battle against the water, but we pretty much lost most of the furniture and carpeting. They had a great week! We came home last night hoping for a hot shower only to find out that the water heater was one of the major casualties. Bridget and I combined a visit with G and G with use of their shower! The boys have been using the health club and sponge baths. I haven't gone down into the basement yet to see how bad things are. Most everything that was important and can be salvaged is in the living room. They had 15 inches of rain in 10 days and most of the trees that went down pulled out by the roots. The damage seemed to go right down Hy L-old 24.

Anyway, we packed for summer in Europe and got cool, rainy spring, so we were challenged to find layers to keep warm. Our tour guide had a suitcase full of summer stuff which she was unable to wear and wasn't happy about it either. I had a lively discussion with her about our political situation. The Europeans are willing to have us choose any president but McCain and as we figured, they hate Bush, think we are very stupid for electing him twice and have no respect for him now. I assured her that I share her feelings.

Glad to hear that you are dry, Mark! We saw the MAN truck company in Munich and their 2008 Truck of the Year and the new BMW museum, and thought of you. I know that you have gone there also, Dave, and am curious to hear what you have seen. We had more free time in Munich, so got to eat and shop there and found great food and incredible architecture, as well as the tour of Dachau, so overall, we really enjoyed that area.

I better quit while I am ahead. I will try to post a picture or two. Really enjoyed the adorable Freya picture and the Father's Day and Alaska story. I was trying to figure out how to move to Austria or Switzerland. Alaska sounds great, too.

hello everyone--i haven't written for awhile.
we are doing well. we had our first camping trip with the neighbors in may at a nice state park near loveland. celebrated and watched the kentucky derby at that. we had a great visit in idaho, with M and C and F. david got some fishing in at silvercreek with friends, after dropping me off in boise. freya and i got to go shopping at fred meyers on sunday morning--alone. she forced me to buy a huge gooey chocolate cake for a memorial day celebration. she also forced me to peirce her ears, buy her diamonds, paint her fingernails and toenails, and get a secret tattoo. we did all of this in an hour and a half, and her parents still haven't figured it out! we got to go to the zoo, and spent lots of time reading stories, and playing with the dogs. ruby was a butthead to grover--stole his ball and wouldn't give it back--and nipped and wrestled with him a few times. finally grover growled at her--which helped immensely.
tavis is living in boise now, working for the Boise NF for thie fire group--assitant foreman for one of ther engines--out at lucky peak nursery. we got to see him a few times, with his girlfriend, rebecca. saw their little house, and played with their dogs. our bud, marianna, from cascade, came down for a day and we had a great visit. so we didn't go to valley county at all. we drove back leisurely--and camped at bear lake in eastern idaho. had a beautiful campspot all to ourselves.
david has been riding several times. he has started another series of chicken comb stuff in his knees. i am about to schedule my 3rd set of neck shots.
we camped this past weekend with our neighbors again, on the pike san isabel nf, at a FS campground. ruby ended up at the vets on satuday morning in woodland park, after slashing her chest (about 3" long) in some barbed wire. she didn't bleed very much--it just sliced her skin, and she had this big old flap of skin, with muscle showing. it didn't even phase her. and we didn't dicover it till saturday morning. but she got stiches and about 8 staples, and had to "be quiet" HA! she's been slathered with neomycin bacitracin and and has been wearing an old man undershirt to try and keep her clean. the life of dog parents!
i get to go up and spend next week on the shoshone, so i'm looking forward to that.
work is busy, crazy and i have too much to do. david is busy, but the economy is affecting his work also.
gotto go back to work! take care everyone--hope you all are doing well.
love michele david and link and ruby

A Flood-Free Version of Father's Day

Mark, thanks for sharing your experience with the hellish weather over there. It sounds like you're all battening down the hatches and trying your best to keep dry. Sorry to hear (via G&J on the phone earlier) that the O'C-Longs are having troubles with the basement.



I think/hope Matt had a great day as the father in our nuclear family. I made him a quiche for breakfast--he's a real man. We gave him his presents, a wonderful lithograph of a Tlingit salmon that I picked for him in Alaska, and a Sibley's Bird Guide that he'd asked for. Then we loaded up and went mushroom hunting. We struck out today, probably in the main because we didn't go somewhere we know there are 'shrooms. But we had a great hike around in the woods. Freya found some buttercup-like flowers and tossed the blooms into a little creek, and Grover the Dog dove on them and sent her into gales of laughter. She also took her first tumble in the woods--she didn't realize she couldn't just take off running down a hill covered in fallen branches, and we couldn't catch her in time. Thankfully, she came to no grievous damage.


We stopped at Pizzalchik, a really great roasted chicken and pizza place on the other end of Boise, when we came back in to town and we got a chicken with roasted garlic cooked underneath its skin. It's one of Matt's favorites, but they're usually too far away for us to drive.


Then I put him to work. We went to Lowe's and picked up some mulch and a new tree--a weeping cherry, which he just planted off of one corner of our patio. It looks great, and balances out the flower bed Freya and I planted yesterday. The back yard is coming along nicely.
And now he's sacked out on the couch watching baseball. That's a good Father's Day, right?



My Alaska trip was tremendous--if it wasn't for the winter months full of darkness, I'd be pushing Matt pretty hard for us all to move up there. I'm attaching a picture from a day we went to Galena, which is about 1000 miles up the Yukon River from the Bering Sea. The village is population 675, and is the site of a former Cold War Air Force base that is now mainly defunct. Our tour guides would say things like, "That used to be a hangar...that used to be the cannery...that used to be the other grocery store." Not much going on in Galena anymore. One of the fire guys took us out for a little tour in a jet boat and we crossed the river to check out a 2004 wildfire site. We were provided with protective headgear to keep the mosquitos away. No one else wore theirs and I can't figure out why--I was the only one who didn't have "skeets" all over her face. See below, and also take note of my fetching gum boots. Queen of the Yukon, I tell you.






Anyway, happy Father's Day from the Queen of the Yukon, her prince consort, and the Princess of All She Surveys.

the flood of aught-eight

This is a first for a father's day or any day... Today Capri and I went canoeing down the highway. Since the mighty Rock River has kindly come to us, we just pulled the canoe down the hill to the swamp, put in right there, paddled across where the park road used to be, paddled around inside the old recreation fort, then headed out on highway 106 westbound out of town... We went as far as the bridge just outside of town; how often to you get a chance to canoe over a bridge over the river you're canoeing down?

We have stayed bone dry here on top of our hill, but Fort in general is a wreck, and Jefferson is even worse. Driving to Big Bend yesterday to wish Grandpa a Happy Fathers' Day was fraught... the old Highway 26 was closed at Edgewood Golf Course, so I backtracked on NN (tried Center but that of course was closed) all the way to Muktown and took 43 back to BB. Then went out with friends in downtown Milwaukee and getting back to Fort was dicey... They won't let you go past 83 on I-94, and 18 is closed, so I had to take back roads all the way and hope that I'd get through. Finally made it home at midnight and felt very lucky to be safe and dry.

Hope everyone else is surviving!

Mark

Update from East Troy

Hi Everyone-

Well, Gma and Gpa win a big prize this weekend. After an all-nighter at O'Hare, they arrived in ET just after 12:30 pm to catch Bridget's graduation ceremony. And they managed to catch Mass in BB on their way! They even stayed awake for the nearly 2 hour ceremony and said they could make it home!! We didn't hear from them, so I assume they made it home. Bridget really appreciated the effort and Colin officially deemed them "party animals".

After graduation, we crashed the Haines's party and visited with Amy and the other adult kids and their kids and then went to Bridget's best friend Susan Hiller's party. A very nice night. We will be having a party for Bridget later this summer.

After missing alot of the bad weather, our luck ran out and we had three days of severe weather. All is well here, but lots of damage around the area. We were following the reports of a tornado near Fort, so I hope Mark is OK. That of course caused the problem with Mom and Dad's return, but everything ended well.

Bridget and I leave tomorrow at one on a bus to O'Hare. We leave on British Airways to Heathrow, where we will have a couple hour layover, then on to Paris. Our first night includes a river trip on the Seine to la Tour Eiffel for an evening tour. Two days in Paris and Versailles then through Burgundy to Switzerland and a stop in Luzern where we go to the top of Mount Pilates. Then on to Innsbruck, Austria, Lichtenstein, Oberamergau and Munich. We will be back on the 17th, so its pretty fast and furious. Weather looks better than here, and we're very well prepared. Bridget is almost as compulsive as I am in terms of planning for things-the nut doesn't fall far from the tree! There are some really nice kids going, and I love the teacher so we're set. We'll see how we like the regimentation of a tour! I decided to take my big old SLR because I know I can take pictures with it, unlike those goofy digitals that I always manage to shake.

Hope everyone has a great week. Mom showed us that adorable new picture of Freya today. She is such a honey! Can't wait till August.
I will blog when I get home and perhaps post some pictures. I plan on taking the digital camera and trying to take some pictures.

Love to everyone- Susan

Gma&Gpa Blog from Boise!!

Greetings as we begin year 58!

We've been safely here since an ontime arrival on 5/31 when were royally welcomed back to Boise. Our hosts started our visit on a very positive note. They took us out for an anniversary dinner that evening. We dined outside at a little neighborhood, mom and pop place which Casey and Matt have found. It was real nicely
paced and tasty family experience.

Freya was ready for us immediately and we feel well integrated into her world, particularly because she is very open to having one of us on each side of her next to her backseat carseat location!

She and Matt took Casey to airport about 8 AM on Sunday and they retuned quickly after Mom disa
ppeared thru the TSA screening area.
Freya is handling Mom's absence very well, we believe,
but Casey can be sure that there are moments when
Freya indicates that Momma is her preferred choice.
It ia a treat to observe how animated, conversational and smiley Freya is when Casey calls and Matt switchess the handset to the speaker setting.

We've enjoyed a trip to the library with Freya on Saturday evening and to the zoo yesterday. She returned to school today so we'll have some new things to learn about later today.

Matt went to his office late this morning to complete some month end reports and dropped me off at an area postal station north on Cole Street so that I could have a nice walk. It was misting a bit, but did start to rain more steadily since. All for the benefit of Casey and Matt's garden and flower efforts, which are impressive for this area which they describe as "desert". Hope we have a gentle rain like this in BB while we are away.

Know we are going to have many more good times here the rest of the week with Freya.

Glad we were able to conclude some arrangements to
spend a few days (6/20-6/24)at Declan's home just before his graduation. Learned when visiting with Kevin this morning that we will be with them on the evening of Declan's prom so that we will be able to see D in his finery!

Matt is back and ready to work at this cubicle!!

Love and prayers, Gma and Gpa