Some Winter Fun

On Friday, the weather was B-E-A-Utiful!  So we decided to postpone our errands and take the boys to play in the snow.  They had a blast... for about 30 minutes; after which they were zonked (fell asleep promptly in the car), my toes were froze (I need some decent winter fun boots), and Jerry decided he didn't have to go to the gym after all that day :).

Baby Peter stayed nice and warm in the cozy tent we had :)  He slept the whole time, with just a little fuss easily cured with motion.  No... he did not ride down the hill.

Me and James, preparing to brave the hill.

James is kicking up some snow.

Jerry riding down with Lucas.  Jerry was moving so much and the weather was so nice, that he shed his coat. My californian boy must be getting truly acclimated :)

California Christmas

With Jerry's work, he gets 2 weeks of paternity leave.  By the grace of God he was able to take one over Christmas and we were therefore able to spend a beautiful week with his parents in California.  Marie was able to come out for Christmas weekend, and Casey and his family made a quick trip out to spend Sunday with everyone too.  We hadn't seen everyone, nor had the family been all together, since September of '09.  It was wonderful to be reminded of what a great family we have :)

On Sunday, after church, we had a friend take a family snapshot for us... pretty good, eh?  

Grampa and Oma with their grandchildren... (left to right) James, Trenton, Lucas, Tys, Katie, and Peter.  Casey and Lisa are expecting the 7th grandchild in July.  Here's hoping there's another girl :)

 Our little family... me and my boys!

 Grandpa and his grandbaby #6

 We spent some time on Christmas eve exchanging gifts... spoiled, everyone!!

Jerry and little Lucas.  Just had to add this photo... too cute :)

Oma took the kids outside and let them throw corn to the chickens and the goats... the kids LOVED this!

 Here is the man in the tree.  Mom stood behind and spoke as if she was the tree.  Katie and Tys had seen the show before and had it almost figured out (Tys told her it couldn't be the tree because the mouth wasn't moving), but James was totally taken with it... no clue about Oma :)

Oma with Lucas, James and Katie.

Lucas is here to help!

 New and renewed friendships... with sleepy, TV zoned faces.

And here's a little phot I had to share from our house... little Peter is growing too fast.

Peter's Baptism

 Opa and Oma Hanemaayer came to visit for Peter's baptism and since it was the week before Christmas, we decided to celebrate it a bit.  I made a crown roast which should've cooked a bit longer... but we remedied the situation quickly with the aide of the microwave ;) and the result was delicious!

 Saturday morning we exchanged gifts.  James woke up and when he saw the tree and all it's spread, he stood, stared, and said "presents!!".  Such innocence is darling.

 Peter Jeremiah was baptized on  Sunday, December 19, 2010.  The gown is the same worn by James and Lucas, but my mom and I sewed the cap to go with it for Peter.

 Peter and his proud parents.

Peter with his proud grandparents.

Peter Jeremiah Haveman has Arrived!!

 Our little Peter arrived on Sunday, November 28th at 2:07pm.  He weighed in at 7lbs 7ozs and was 20 inches long.  Technically he was due on November 17 and so the doctor convinced me to be induced as I was 11 days over and he doesn't like to go over 7 days.  Peter doesn't look overdue at all... I think the dates were off!


Daddy and his little man...  Peter sure has the Haveman look ;)  Now that Jerry has his 3rd son, he's talking about the BIG shop he needs to build...

I think he's smiling, isn't he?... 

A proud big brother; James has been asking me for the last few weeks "are we going to get a baby mom?".  He'd ask me this when we'd be in the car headed for the store :)  So sweet. 

 Lucas and Peter... Lucas has always loved to have his head rubbed for comfort, and I watch him do the same for Peter.

A break for donuts... It's amazing the leverage one has when we're talking about donuts and cartoons ;)  The boys were well behaved in the hospital room when these were offered!

Marie was a wonderful addition to our family this past weekend!!  She came out for Thanksgiving and cooked us an amazing meal on Black Friday of Turkey, cranberry sauce and vegetables with, of course, a delicious dessert of pie... Mmmm!!!  What a treat :)  Then, she cared for James and Lucas while Peter was born.  A fabulous aunt indeed and what a blessing!

And here's our ever growing family :)  We'll get a better photo later... but this'll be good for now ;)

New Highline videos!!

Here is a video of the Sandwich storm.  There were several poles that were left standing but were to damaged, so they had to be taken down before work could continue on this section. 

Life on the High Lines

This what I have been doing on the Transmission lines lately.  On Oct 26th a large wind storm blew through the Chicago area knocking down 60 95-100ft wood poles and bringing down close to 3.5 miles of wire in Sandwich IL, a small farming community west of Chicago.  40 plus lineman spent the next 25 days making it safe for the public and restoring the line.  When all was done, 120 poles were handled, and over 50 miles of wire was cleaned up or replaced.  It was the largest project ever done by the transmission department.  Here is how I spent the last 25 days.
                                           First there was material to be ordered and delivered.
                                          In this picture is the first of over 80,000 ft of wire.

Jerry's Work

 On Monday I packed up the boys and headed out to Sandwich, IL to watch as a helicopter set poles for Jerry and his fellow workers.  The whole operation was pretty impressive (which I guess was the point because the cost of it, from what Jerry has told me, is amazing... and they say they overbudgeted by having one extra employee... sheesh!)
Jerry will better be able to tell the details, but I thought that until he comes home and can put up his own photos, I'd give you all an idea of what happened.

All the holes had previously been set by comed employees, so the job of the helicopter was to carry poles to the holes and drop them in while comed workers stood below, faced over 100 mph wind forces, and guided the pole down to secure it in.  Each pole took about 10 minutes to set by the helicopter and Jerry had to hustle to move on to the next pole.  By the time I met Jerry for dinner, he looked about ready to fall over and sleep.  Poor guy.
In this photo you can see the helicopter lowering the pole to the ground.  The arm from that truck you see meets up with it and Jerry will be able to tell you what happens next.

 This is a view of the line that they have set.

Here you can see the line as well as the helicopter with its ropes hanging down. 
So hopefully that helps the menfolk understand a wee bit better when you talk to Jerry about all the details. :)