Happy Birthday Joel!

Nice shades Buck.

Another year to celebrate Joel's Birthday and remember and reflect upon the special people in our lives.  I am sure by now I sound like a broken record, but this time of year is always so special to me because it reminds me of the blessing of Joel's life and time he shared with each and every one of us. 

Joel in our motor-home!

Nitty Gritty in Madison!

 We all shared endless good times that we will carry with us for a life time.  These special moments cannot be surpassed, and I wouldn't trade them for any possession.

Causing trouble with the boys, per ush!

On Joel's Birthday this year, I encourage you to think about the little things that made your day special, reminded you of Joel and put a smile on your face - these moments are what we often take for granted, but truly shape how we feel each and every day.

Happy 28th Birthday Joel!  Cheers!

Music brings back some amazing memories...

I was listening to my normal country music mix alone in the lab, and found that this song pretty much wrapped up how I feel about Joel sometimes... 

Hope you enjoy thinking about the memories that we made together over the years!

"Oh man, we were livin'... we sang and talked and traveled back in time!"

Everyone can think of a time where Joel was story telling and laughing so hard that he spit up.  Or when we are all sitting around remembering some of Joel's more creative moments - these are the memories I love and cherish.  Keep livin' well!

Uncle Buck Work Weekend

The first weekend in October was a productive one up at Camp Fence.  It was this weekend, that we had the pleasure of hosting all of Joel's closest friends at the camp to help with the siding and giving the cabin a major push forward.

My weekend started with a high stress dash to the airport.  I left school, at what I thought was a decent time, however, when the buses are late and the traffic doesn't cooperate - it is a recipe for disaster.  My flight was boarding at 6:20PM... and I made it to the PIT airport at 6:30.  Yikes.

I had already spent most of the bus ride calling Paul frantically and calling United Airlines to try to book a different flight into Wisconsin somewhere, but this was the last possible departure.  Dang.  My only hope was to run as fast as possible and pray that security wasn't backed up out the door, like it usually is on Friday afternoons.

What happened next, I call a "Buck Intervention"...  I ran out of the bus, up the stairs with my luggage and spotted the security - and... there wasn't a soul in line.  I walked right up and through the Xray.  It took 30 seconds to get through security.  I didn't even put on my shoes, but ran to catch the next train to the terminals.  I then sprinted up the escalators and to my gate.  I was the last to board the plane... before they shut the doors after me.  A Buck Intervention.  I was going to Wisconsin!  The adrenaline was rushing through my veins and I was laughing hysterically at what Buck was probably thinking watching the whole spectacle.

After a layover in Cleveland, I ran off the plane in Green Bay to be greeted by Lyssa in her Packer stocking cap, and the tan Marsh Van waiting patiently in the parking lot.  We didn't blink or stop to breath before hitting the road to Camp Fence.  We were bound to get up there before Midnight.

We arrived at Joel's camp full of his buddies from Seymour, Tech and beyond.  It was a blast to see everyone and have them all in one place - at Joel's Camp.  It was only right to let Joel's friends be the first to spend the night in his cabin.  He once told Mom and Dad that we weren't going to move into the cabin early, like we did with our house and Lake Eva - he wanted to make sure it was close to done before that happened.  Joel's friends had the honor of sleeping there first.  As Buck would say, "Perrrrrfect."

The VanGompel's already had a chance to get a jump start on the stone wall in the front, and the next morning, the crew started with the siding - a big job to say the least!  There are definitely some big walls and peaks that needed to be sided - and thanks the the hard work of many, it went up pretty fast!  The boys were determined, and we ran out of siding before they could finish!  Matt was leading a crew on one side of the house while the Birdseed Brother's were tackling the front peaks and all of the wicked angles that came with it, especially after Curty added another hexagon window in the peaks.

The ladies were in charge of feeding the masses, and served three feasts a day to try to keep up with the construction crew - it was quite an impressive feat!  Uncle John and KJ were kind enough to let us shift the party to their place between shifts - and we had a couple grand camp shots and toast to Buck!  The boys even worked through the snow which hit Camp Fence early Saturday morning!  Brrrrr, another Buck Intervention if you ask me!

We really cannot thank everyone enough for all of the help during the Buck's Camp Fence work weekend, and all of the support that you continue to provide our family.  There were almost 20 people that came up to the cabin to help!  We are absolutely in awe of the lasting friendships that Joel had and will continue to have, and we're so inspired by all that you do.   

You all have been a blessing in our life, and in Joel's.

I hope you enjoy the photos from the weekend and are able to take some of the memories with you.  Feel free to download the photos from the album - and let me know if you need help doing so!

Buck's Camp Fence Work Weekend

Take care - and hopefully see you all soon!

Alyce

From Ceramics to Ceramic Tile...

Are they "plumbing" or putting down tile!  Say no to crack... haha!

Another Buck story for ya.  Many of you don't know that back in our younger years Joel and I spent a lot of time with my grandparents and started slowly taking on some of their hobbies.  For me, I tried to learn how to bake Grandma Marsh's famous pies - they really are the best.  Joel took on a few more artistic hobbies and started going to ceramic class with Grandma Marsh down the road on Country Rd VV.

There he was able to pick out ceramics, paint them up, fire them and use many of them to decorate his room, our house, and my room.  For a while there he was making really detailed designs and deer that appeared to be life-like.  He also made gallon jugs for Slab City which we displayed on our fire place for years.  I still have quite a few of his designs in my room, and I know that there's plenty more in storage.  The best part of doing ceramics with Grandma Marsh is that you could always save the eyes for her to finish.  The eyes were the hardest part, and most often the finishing touches.  The eyes brought the ceramic pieces to life - Grandma Marsh was perfect for the job.

When I thought of making a post to show you the ceramic floors - all of the memories of Joel painting ceramics came to me.  What an excellent hobby to add to his many skills at a young age.  Maybe that's why he wanted so much tile in his camp??  Who am I kidding - I think it's because you can clean it with a pressure washer in under 2.0 seconds...

The perk of putting tile down by the Camp Buck Shot Fridge!

Construction Fuel - Uncle Whitey's Food!

Moving on the floors, the whole great room is covered in tile.  You can only imagine how one's knees would feel after kneeling on the concrete all day to put the tile in place and then grout it all!  Thank goodness we had ample help from friends and neighbors, otherwise Curty would not be walking at the moment.  Ouch.

Ziggy Zaggy... Shnnufka!  Job well done!

One of the best features of having tile throughout the house, is the ability to heat it with boiling hot water.  Slab heat was a must when Joel was designing the house.  Who needs a basement, when you can head the slab and live right on top of its warmth!  It's also very energy efficient for the north woods - another thing Joel wanted to achieve in his place.

Speaking of energy efficiency, I'm reminded of another Buck story...  I remember when Joel was first learning about solar panels and solar energy in high school.  In order to take his knowledge to the next level, he decided to buy individual solar units on Ebay, and wire them up on a homemade solar panel mount which was made out of plywood and plexiglass.  He even painted it white for ample reflection.  As if building the panel wasn't enough, he wired it up to charge a large set of car batteries - one for energy use and one for energy storage.  Sounds cool right?!  Well, Buck wasn't satisfied, so he decided that it would be even more impressive to run our basement's energy (his domain of the house) completely off of solar power.  So about a week later, he and dad trip the breakers and the basement was running off of solar.  Hahah!  Yep, Buck was running his high school bachelor pad off of solar.   This was about the time when me, Joel, Dad, and the Winsand clan were into "getting off the grid"... so there was ample celebration of Joel's ability to remove himself from the power grid and sustain his needs through solar electricity!  Excellent.  Sooner or later, one of the panels tweaked out and the whole thing needed to be rewired... not necessarily worth it.  The basement went back on the grid - dahhh!  It was more the fact that he could do it that mattered to everyone - he definitely proved his point.

Debbie would be so proud... as Curty always says "He's so well trained..."

Well, now that you've heard some Buck Stories, I'll finally reveal how the tile looks!  Isn't is wonderful!?  I can't wait for when the boys see the tile!

The hallway by the bedrooms

The Great Room!  I absolutely loved how it turned out!