The End of an Era

Today was an end to an era... both big trees in the front yard were cut down.  As you can see, it looks a lot different...  I have to admit I had a few tears in my eyes as Dad's ash tree came down.  I shed not one tear about that maple though - it was ready to start causing some major havoc to the lawn.  The after picture looks like a picture that someone must have, of Derek on his bike in front of the house right after the tree was planted... ( Derek - do you have that picture?)  Or does anyone else have a picture of the early house? Please share if you do...  So, time for moving on...  too many roots from both trees were pushing up into the grass and moving concrete.  Now when we do the main sidewalk with pavers this summer, they will stay in place.  Plus, every storm that came through, we were paranoid the tree would end up on the house.  It came down a lot faster and easier than I thought it would... I came home from school to see the action and take a few pictures.  They also ground up the stumps - it looks like a crater hit our lawn... and he will come back in a couple of weeks to fill them with black soil - then we will plant grass for now.  They did save a couple of "cookies" from the stem of Dad's tree - and we have a branch.  They also cut down a small plum tree in the back, the one that you could see from mom's bedroom window. 

Old PIcture of Grandpa Ubl

Elroy sent me this picture of Grandpa Ubl in a parade - he thought it came from the 1930's/1940's.

Pretty cool - huh?

Enjoy

Too close for comfort!

Scary - we were this close to a tornado last night when the storms rolled through... do you see the cemetery? This picture was taken at 1910 North Jefferson by someone up at the Highway Dept!
The only damage we had was a broken tree branch off of our big ash tree that dad planted... and I had to climb up on the roof to cut it the best I could to make sure it did not hit the roof of our house anymore. (It was hanging down over the gutter on the corner by the front door) We had a ton of branches and leaves in our yard also. It rained and hailed so hard we could not even see across the street. There was a tornado between Courtland and Nicollet. Scary - and more storms are forecast for tonight. You can see more pictures at the NU Journal web site and CU.

Devin showing off his flexibility!

He loves to throw balls under his legs. He was playing catch with Derek in this picture by throwing balls under himself.

I thought I should give a bit of an up-date from Devin's last Spina Bifida clinic and getting his casts off.

The doctor's were pleased with the healing of Devin's legs so they did take the casts off at 6 weeks. Currently, Devin's right leg seems to be slightly under corrected while his left leg seems to be a bit more over corrected. As you look at him his feet seem to point to the right. When he is standing he plays with the position of his legs. His left leg does tend to bend a bit, at the knee, inward. The PT at Mayo suggested that we may need to go back to the KAFOs with Twister Straps in order for Devin to build the proper muscles but the Orthopedic and Physical Medicine doctor decided that it was a bit premature to do something like that so soon after surgery so they have ordered that he get PT 2-3 times a week. The PT part has been difficult to get as his regular PT's last day for the summer was the day he got his casts off! While the timing of Devin's surgery was good for Devin because it would not interrupt his schooling in the fall and he would not have casts on all summer, apparently it was not good timing for the support system we have come to rely on.

Devin was able to go in and visit the Preschool he will attend in the fall before the last day of school. While he was initially very shy, he did not want to leave when the day was done.

Day #1 - Jefferson Street Road Construction!

In case you want to know what the bird looked like that got into the house - here is a picture of it - not sure if it was the same one, but it looked just like this one! Today in the first day of Jefferson Street Road Construction they did Water Main Repair, and the water was shut off from 11-2:30... And you can see the big equipment parked on our street - and an excavator parked right out side of our windows! Exciting! Stay tuned for more updates... This equipment by the way does make the ground and floor shake in our house! That is kind of scary! Parking in the alley and coming in the basement is not that fun though. I hope they get done fast! Also, it is really strange not to have traffic go up and down our street!

Blast from the Past 2

Elroy stopped by tonight and gave us a box of pictures... here are some of the intriguing pictures I found in the box, and I wanted to share them.

Mom, Loretta(Jerry's wife), Grandma, Jerry ( Grandma's brother) Grandpa, Dad
Elvia, unknown guy with kids, Johnny, Di (crouching)

Dad and Mom with the funny hats are at a New Year's Eve Party.

Can you find mom in the pictures?
The swimming one is with Elroy.

The little kid with the picture, mom thinks it is Johnny with a picture of Pete while he was in service.

Pictures of Di with unknown kid

( I need to rescan the ones with a white streak down the middle)

New Casts for Devin!

Building muscles!

They said "He won't be able to stand in these casts". As usual Devin is busy proving them wrong the day before they are to be switched out!

This is one of the first times he stood with the new casts. He was a little wobbly but I'm sure that will get better with time.

We had to show him and ask him to follow us to reteach him all the things he can do now that he can actually bend his knees!

Already Done!

That was fast - Tony is already done! Now all that is left is to fix Ken's lawn, and a railing.
But looks good! Ken is still going to take out his railroad timbers, and either a half moon retaining wall, or smooth it out and lay down sod.

Day #2 - Progress in the rain!

Tony and Steve made progress in the rain... you can see the steps evolving, and the landing where pavers to match the backyard will go. At least now if you fall down these steps, you will only go down half way... not that it will not hurt, but it will be less steps to tumble down. We will have Steve Harsha from Puhlmann come out and put a railing on like the one by the side door. Stay tuned for more progress... pretty exciting to get rid of those ugly steps with the leaves, old bricks, and garbage underneath. Hopefully they will be easier to shovel also. Mom and I are glad the steps are being done now, because once they start tearing out Jefferson street, we will have to use the back entrance for a long time. These will be very enjoyable for us to use, and hopefully easier for mom when we have to park in the alley. 'Til next time...

They started the garage steps...

Tony and Steve came today to start the garage steps. They extended the steps closer to the garage door, and there will be a landing in the middle of the steps with pavers like the side steps. I think Tony mentioned 14 steps with a landing. They will also take out Ken's wood timbers and either put in landscaping bricks or just smooth it out for Ken ( Ken is paying for the part on his property). The bummer of it all is I did not get a before picture, because we did not know they would start this soon. Stay tuned for more updates.