Flood March 17, 2012--Part 1

Woke up this morning all ready to exercise.  About 7:15 am Brienna had just left to help Gladys (and elderly lady she prepares meals for, gets her meds, & helps her out on weekends) when she came back & told us that Grandpa's yard was flooding.

(This is Grandpa's drive way & area in front of the bunkhouse & workshop)

 So I quickly pulled on my boots & headed out (in my sweats & sweatshirt).  I didn't make it back inside until about 11 am & we didn't finish up until 2 pm.

 The creek by our house--7:30 am (notice it is still a bit dark outside)

 Grandpa had me call the bishop to round up some help--we knew there would be others with flooding up and down the creek.  He had called our emergency coordinator, but only had a message.  So I went back in & called him.

 The creek running from Grandpa's backyard into our back yard (our back yards border each other).

 The front area.

 This is still about 7:30 am.

 Our yard--looking towards the creek & our workshop.

 At Grandpa's yard--we were loading a bunch of OSB boards he had stacked by the creek.  Thankfully he had them off the ground enough that they were still dry.  We loaded them onto a flatbed trailer & moved them.

 Grandpa's back yard & garden area--just behind the fence is the creek.

 Another view of our flooded yard.  The ice had built up so much over the winter & when it was warm, water would run on top of the ice, & then freeze when is turned cold again.  You can see the many layers of ice in some of the pictures.

 The white stuff is chunks of ice--they brought back hoes in & chopped the ice (where they could get access to the creek).  We had a big ice jam right behind our sheds & Grandpa's fence--where there is no (vehicle) access.

The creek flowed clear to our back hoe (which doesn't have a long enough arm to break apart much ice) & into the neighbor's yard across the street.

End of January & Beginning of February

Updates:  Zane's basketball season ended--

They were undefeated!

We received some snow (after a very mild winter).  The kids were excited to have some snow to play in.

I love when the trees are covered with snow/frost.

And I love living on a dead-end street.

The sun was trying to break through after days of no sun.  It was a welcome relief!

Callum & Benjamin all bundled up to go outside & play in that new snow.

 Callum started Little Bobcat basketball (he's in the middle, blue shorts)

I love this lay-up--he was working on putting his foot up. 

More to come this weekend!

No Longer MIA

Sorry it has been so long since I have blogged.  Life happens--and so much has!

I hope to give a brief "up-date" on what happened in our family for the month of February, but for now, I am going to say a few other things.

One of my big time-consumers happening right now is the "Dubois Biggest Loser" contest I signed up for on Jan. 24th.  I decided that if I was going to join, I was going give it my all & devote a lot of time & energy to getting my life in a more balanced state.  And I forgot how much time is needed to be healthy!  I am eating a LOT more veggies (& fruits), and it can take up to an hour to get all them cleaned, cut/chopped, and measured into single-serve sizes.  I am also tracking my calories/food intake daily on a wonderful web-site (SparkPeople.com) along with all of my fitness/exercise time.

I am exercising a minimum of 1 hour, 6 days a week.  So that, along with the food-prep has taken a lot of my time.  I also have discovered that I am tired earlier at night, and in order to make it through the day, I need to get between 7 & 8 hours of sleep.  So that makes my bed time closer to 11 pm, rather than midnight (and late at night, after everyone is in bed is when I used to blog).

The entry fee was $25 each, and the winner takes the pot.  13 people are participating.  We have weekly weigh-ins, and  if you gain (instead of lose), you have to pay $1 into the pot for each pound you increase that week.  Thankfully I have only lost each week.  I joined almost 2 weeks after everyone else started (I didn't think I was "ready"--but are we ever really "ready"?).

I decided to "make-believe" that I was at the Biggest Loser Ranch--and work as hard as I can.  And I love being accountable.  Since my first weigh-in, I have been in the lead, so now I am even more determined to keep working hard & keep losing big!  (the contest ends May 31st).  I just reached my first goal on the last weigh-in (on Thursday)--which was losing 10% of my weight.  Now it is on to my next 2 goals!

So not only am I working on being healthier, I also have every-day life things (children, laundry, dishes, cleaning floors, piano lessons, more laundry--and did I mention those children???).  

Heavenly Protection

Today Zane had a basketball tournament in Lima, Montana--45 miles north from our house.  The weather forecast for the past week and a half has been snow & storms--and we didn't get much (if anything!).  So of course, on the day we're heading to Montana, we receive a few inches of wet snow--and it's still snowing.

So we left a little early so we could take our time.  It took us a little more than 45 minutes to get to the Montana line.  We had mostly rain (with just a few snowflakes) all the way to Montana.  And that's where we cross the continental divide & the weather usually changes there.  The roads were much better in Montana.

We watched the 3 games our boys played in (Jr. High 8th graders won their games so they are still undefeated)  & then headed home.  The last game actually finished a bit early, so we were a bit excited to get home by 4 pm!  (we left at 9).  Brienna (with the help of Callum) has been babysitting the kids while we have been at the basketball games/tournaments plus every Wednesday now (for 10 weeks), Rusty & I have a class in IF so she is babysitting from right after school until we get home at 9-9:30 pm.  

The roads in Montana were much better--almost dry--so we were hoping for the same in Idaho.  And for the first couple of miles, they were pretty good.  But because of the warm temperatures & the rain, the roads were messy with slush.  

About 10 miles from Dubois, the right lane was really slushy & so Rusty started to move into the left lane that was mostly clear.  As he changed lanes, the back of the truck fish-tailed and continued to turn until we were almost side ways on the interstate.  As he corrected, the truck started to go back the other way and then we went into a spin.  The truck spun around 3 times.  As fast as it happened, I felt that I had time to brace myself because I was certain we were either going to flip, or slide into the median or side of the interstate.  I was so scared, but with divine protection (& intervention?), Rusty was able to drive out of the spin & pull off the side of the road.  

We were blessed that:  1) no one was right behind us to hit us (that was Rusty's first worry); 2) we didn't flip; 3) we didn't leave the road & 4) the road had enough dry (or at least no snow on parts) spots to finally give us traction.  There was a semi-truck a ways behind us that I saw as we were spinning down the road.  He was far enough behind us that he passed as we pulled off the side of the road.

I told Rusty that we needed to say a pray of thanksgiving because I really could not believe that we did not crash!  Rusty asked me to say it, but I told him I had to stop shaking & catch my breath before  I could speak.  (I was able to say a prayer about 2 miles down the road).  But I was still a little shaken up & my legs felt "heavy" when I got out of the truck at home.  I gave the kids an extra hug & we are still thanking our Heavenly Father for protecting us in our travels.  We are so blessed!

Laundry

Almost 2 weeks ago (Monday, Jan.9th) I was doing my usual Monday activities...

 which include tackling the laundry that piles up over the weekend.  I had started my 2nd load when I hear a terrible screeching sound coming from the washer.  It sounded like gears were grinding.  So I stopped the load in mid-cycle & waited for Rusty to come home to check it out.

When we bought this washer (it is a top-loading "front" washer--you load the clothes in the front, but it washes like a front-loading.  But instead of the door/opening being in the front, it is on the top of the barrel), Rusty picked this particular one because it was a heavy-duty washer, and the ease of being able to fix the washer yourself.

 When you take the front cover off, this is what it looks like.  My washer has washed so many loads of clothes, it is amazing!  And a sleeping bag fits in (or a comforter, etc.) so I can do any and all of my laundry.

Well, after Rusty heard the terrible sound, he determined it was the ball-bearing, which he can replace, but it is a major repair.  He pretty much needs to take the whole washer apart to get to it.  So he called the company to order the part.  And wouldn't you know it--it wasn't in stock so it is on back-order.  They are supposed to e-mail us when the part is shipped, and as of tonight (Sat. Jan. 21) still no e-mail.

Thankfully, Rusty's dad lives right behind us, and he is willing to let us haul our dirty (stinky-boy smelling) clothes over & use his washer.   So that is what we have been doing for almost 2 weeks.  

I told the kids that before the clothes get into the dirty basket, they had better either look dirty, or smell stinky!  I knew I washed a lot of clothes with as big of family as we have and with the activities/sports that everyone is involved in, but we have done close to 20 loads of laundry!  (towels & sheets included)

The first weekend, Brienna was an angel & did 5 (??I think??) loads while we were at Zane's basketball games.  

We have been hauling the wet, clean laundry back to our house to dry, because it is so much easier to fold, sort & hang up the clothes at home than somewhere else.  For the past 12 years I only fold out of the dryer--I don't put the clean, dry clothes into a basket & fold elsewhere/later.  I used to do that when I only had 1 or 2 children, but then I would put off folding until I had too many loads out, and some of the clothes would be very wrinkled (so I would have to iron or re-dry/fluff them).  When Zane was a baby, I said that I would take the extra 10 minutes of standing in front of the dryer & take care of the clean laundry there--it saves me a lot of extra (& unnecessary) work later.

We are hoping the part comes in so Rusty can take all morning/early afternoon Friday to fix the washer.  I feel for my husband--he is so busy anyways with work, planning/designing a house & chores, that any "free" time he does have, all goes to repairing things that break down at our house!

Zane's Basketball Games

Junior High basketball practice started right before Christmas.  

 They have 8 days of games--all 4 weekends of January.  But then they are finished.  I actually like this schedule for a couple of reasons.

 First--they are done the end of the month!  And second--they have the opportunity for a lot of playing time and experience because 3 of those days are tournaments where they have at least 2 games.  

The first picture is from a tournament at home--the last 2 are at the tournament in Twin Bridges, MT from this past Saturday.  I haven't taken a lot of photos at the basketball games because I am usually videoing it.  Zane did make a 3-pointer on Saturday & was quite excited about it.  The 8th grade team is undefeated & hope they can finish out the season undefeated.

Our first 2 weeks of January have been very busy with scouts, Young Men & Young Women's activities, basketball games, Brienna & Zane playing in the band at games, a dentist appointment for me,  speech therapy for Benjamin, and the class that Rusty & I are taking in Idaho Falls.

The state of Idaho is requiring all K-8 teachers to take a Math class by 2014.  It is every Wednesday for 10 weeks, from 4-8:30 in Idaho Falls.  Our first class was last Wednesday, and we are discovering that while there is some math involved, it is more geared towards how we teach math.

Home! (First 2 Weeks of January)

While it was nice to take a break (and I mean a break--we had some nice "lazy" days!), it was also very nice to be home & get back into the routines of every-day life!

 Brienna made cupcakes--in honor of the new "Smurf" movie.  The pictures don't do the cupcakes justice!  

 They were all very cute! (Papa Smurf, Brainy, and even a few mushrooms)

 Benjamin wanted to take my picture--and even told me how to pose!  Silly kid.

 Here he is playing hide and seek--he's sure no one can see him!

 Especially now!

 Benjamin's snowman made out of his new play dough.  (I think this is the way he build it?)

 My winter decorations

 And our family of wooden snowmen my dad made for us quite a few years ago. 

 This is how our back yard has looked for close to a month (it's the shadiest part of the yard--so it still has a touch of snow!)  It's been crazy weather!

 Our creek still has "water" (ice) in it.  And in warm weather, the water runs on top of the ice & so it is just building up.  

 I'm afraid we might be in for some flooding this spring unless somehow the ice breaks up.  

 This is looking across the creek from our house.

 I've been told that this is only the 3rd time we've had water year-round in the creek in the last 20 years.

 It sure makes for some pretty photos!

This is what we woke up to this morning--maybe 1 inch of snow!  The kids were excited.  And we are supposed to have storms all week--but I'm not holding my breath!