Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Things You Don't Say To Your Wife & Playground Mishaps

I love Tim Hawkins' You Tube videos: here's a good one!



Playground Mishaps

Red River, Monday, March 30th

Flooding and ice jams on I-29 just north of Grand Forks
The Grand Forks Herald had some pictures from yesterday that I thought I would share. The new crest prediction is 50.6 late Thursday or Friday sometime. Then we should be on a slow decline until mid-April when there is a second crest. FYI: High probability we won't make it to Iowa for Easter, so our families need to keep that in mind. Hopefully we can still make it, but it's not looking promising right now.


Sorlie Bridge on Monday - this is the DeMers Avenue bridge we usually take to get back and forth between Grand FOrks and East Grand Forks.
View of the Red River at the Sorlie Bridge
This is a view of part of the ice jam at the THompson Bridge just south of Grand Forks. I believe this ice jam is 4-5 miles long south of the bridge.

Monday, March 30, 2009

Bria and Emmy

Because, as I stated a little bit ago, we are in denial of the approaching snow storm, the flooding and winter in general, I thought I'd just post some cute pictures of our girls!



Crazy Weather and Cabin Fever Kids

NO flood pictures today... we're in a state of denial for today that the river is on the rise. :)

First of all, our piano is here! And Bria starts lessons tomorrow morning - we are all excited!


I do have some fun pictures from last week though. The day we got all the snow, Camryn was the only kid here so we were able to get out some different toys (toys that work will with really small groups!). Also, the kids had a great time playing outside on Friday for a long time - the snow was great for building with and it wasn't too cold, so they all had a good time.


Friday, March 27, 2009

Red River, THursday, March 26th

Newest photos on the Grand Forks Herald website. All photos from Thursday, March 26th.









More Recent Flood Photos

I found some more photos on the newspaper's website: here are some showing the progress of the river on the marker from Monday - Thursday:

MOnday, March 23rd 6:30 p.m.
Tuesday, March 24th

Wednesday, March 25th

Thursday, March 26th

Here are some other river photos from Wednesday. March 25th:

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Prayers for Safety

The flooding situation is getting worse for Fargo - they are past their record crest and are having to prepare for even higher crests due to hit the area on Saturday. Fargo, Moorehead, and many many small towns in the area are in a lot of trouble. There have been lots of evacuations in the area already and the major crests of the big rivers are due up in the next several days and are expected to remain at crest levels for 3-7 days - we're just asking everyone to pray.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Red River Flooding, Wednesday, March 25, 2009

HEre are the newest photos posted on the Grand FOrks Herald Website of the Red River from this morning. As of 11:15 today, the river is at 42.5 feet.

New River Pictures

I was able to download some pictures taken and posted on the Grand Forks Herald site of the river as of yesterday...... Today the water is at the bottom of the DeMers bridge (the bridge from the pictures I posted from Monday) and they have closed that off and put up the protection. One bridge in town remains open and you can click this link to the Grand Forks Herald to see a live river cam of that area of the river.




This pictures is from Sunday showing the wall dike system at the BLue Moose REstaurant on the East Grand Forks side of the river.


DeMers Bridge (Sorlie bridge) - this is yesterday, but now the water is at the bottom of the bridge and it is closed.





This is where we were walking MOnday night - not able to walk there by Tuesday night.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

River Pictures



We were at the Red River last night to take some pictures of what the river looks like officially "out of the banks"..... just minor flooding. We'll try to keep up every day or two going down and taking new pictures to see how fast it changes. At 11:30 today I believe the river was at 31.5 feet and by next Monday it could be between 48.5 and 52.5 feet.




The girls really had a good time checking out the river.

This shows the different flood levels the river has reached in the past. The 1997 crest was about 53 feet I believe---- and right now the top crest projection is 52.5 feet - so within a week the water could be up to the top line on this marker.
THe river out of it's banks.
It's a bit hard to see in the photos, but some of those ice chunks were so clean - the ice was even cleaner looking than what comes out of the freezer!

Flood Update

For all our family members.... we will try to keep flood updates on the blog for you. Last night we went down to the river just to get a baseline for what minor flooding is compared to what is coming through the next week. Lots of towns are on restricted or no water usage, lots of closed roads and bridges all over the area, closed schools and many other things as well. I will try to put on pictures later. One of the things we were all most surprised about was how clear and clean some of the ice chunks on the river are - some of them looked cleaner and clearer than the ice that we get out of the freezer. It was pretty cool to go check out the ice jams and to watch how fast the water rises. I think right now they are saying the river should rise at the rate of 3-4 feet each day right now.
I am going to be spending all day today (while taking care of kids) working on clearing out the spot under our steps so we can get plugs put in to plumbing spots if necessary. There are several people I've heard of already this morning with water in their basements, so I'm trying to get the upstairs organized enough to make room for things from downstairs if need be. Fun, fun, fun....

Monday, March 23, 2009

Enjoying Outside

Friday was a great chance to be outside in the afternoon. The big kids really enjoyed their time out there. Hopefully this is just the beginning of more outside time to come!

I am trying to put together a newsletter today to let all of you know about our Emergency Evacuation Plan. In light of the rising flood waters, the state is asking all licensed daycare providers to fill out a form so they can help providers and parents in case of an evacuation for any reason. Let me know if you have questions!


THe video shows the big kids outside coloring. They like to do some trading or auctions..... I think they colored for almost an hour out there on Friday! Everyone was so happy to be out in the spring air!




Happy Spring!

Reed giving Sophie kisses and making her smile.



Floods

We've had a few people calling to ask us how the flood situation looks up here. I think Grand Forks will be ok as far as the river flooding is concerneed. The newest projections for the crest of the Red River here look to be in the 50-52 feet range. The dike system the city has built up to protect the town from the rivers is 60 feet high. So far, so good it looks like at least as far as the river is concerned. Overland flooding is Grand Forks main concern now as well as seepage. The ground is still completely frozen so there is no where for the snow melt and now all the rain water to go. Thankfully, we are in Grand Forks as opposed to Fargo or many of the other smaller towns whose flood protection is not as good as it is here. Some of those places are going to have a lot of damage done. We'll keep updating the blog as we watch the river rise. I am hoping to get down there maybe every day and take some pictures as the water is spilling out of it's banks.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Kirk Cameron

This one's for you Noni!
Brought to you curtesy of "Stuff Christians Like"!

Favorite Post #11 - Kirk Cameron

Have you ever thought what it would be like if Kirk Cameron and Bono got into a street fight to see who is the best famous Christian? Just a no holds barred, anything goes donnybrook? No? It's just me then, huh? Well here is what I think it would look like:

Kirk Cameron:"Look Bono, even before I became really well known for my Christianity I was providing nice, appropriate laughter to millions of people on the hit show, 'Growing Pains.'"

Bono:"Was that the one with Tony Danza? I get those all confused. Well, while you were making sitcoms that paved the way for 'Two and a Half Men,' I was touring the world singing songs with hidden Christian meaning to millions of people."

Kirk Cameron:"Fair enough, but I work with a powerful ministry called 'the way of the master.' Not only do we have an official crest and a series called "Hell's best kept secret," but my partner has a mustache and everyone knows there is something inherently spiritual about mustachioed men."

Bono:"Ha, that is hilarious. I touched more hearts than you'll ever reach with my Super Bowl performance after 9/11 and I've allowed Christian musicians to cover my music for years. I didn't even gripe when my songs were covered and suddenly deemed acceptable for Christian radio just because a Christian band was doing them. And don't forget my work in Africa."

Kirk Cameron:"Oh please, you have a guy named "edge' in your band. Who changes their name to 'edge?' And didn't you swear at the Grammy's one year?"

Bono: "Whoa, low blow, Mike Seaver, low blow. Don't you have a photo shoot you need to be doing with the Jonas Brothers for the magazine Tiger Beat?"

Stephen Baldwin:"Guys, there's no need to fight. I'm the best famous Christian."

Bono:"Bio-Dome's Stephen Baldwin, what are you doing here?"

Stephen Baldwin:"I have a skate ministry and since Stuff Christians Like refuses to give me my own entry I had to crash your entry."

Kirk Cameron:"None of this matters. I've just been toying with the both of you?"

Stephen Baldwin:"Why do you say that?"

Kirk Cameron:"Simple, I was in the movie version of 'Left Behind.'"

Bono:"You win."

Stephen Baldwin:"Thanks for having me. Good game. Jon give me a call. I'll give you a free Rob Roskopp old school skateboard."

You've never honestly had that scenario in your head while you're pumping gas or mowing the lawn? Not even a little bit?
I am weird.
p.s. Bono's confession of faith with Bill Hybels was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. That's how I took it, but I think some other people can make some interesting arguments in the opposite direction.

More Spring Program Videos



Bria's Spring Program

Bria.... singing time!


Last night was the night.... Bria has been excited about her spring program for the past 4 months! And she sang marvelously! Here are a bunch of videos of her singing last night. We were trying to record with a wiggly 5 year-old on our laps too.... so there is some jiggling of the camera going on! :)
Bria and Cathy Fiedler





Wacky Spring Fever Video

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

To wish all of you part-Irish people out there.... Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Jenna was over to play yesterday afterschool and all 3 girls happened to be wearing their Hannah Montana tees.....

Monday, March 16, 2009

Fun Weekend

It was great to have my parents here this weekend. Although Gramasaurus had a cold, we had a great time. We got to go out for lunch on Saturday and then went to check out pianos and then to the movie theater to watch "Race to Witch Mountain". Excellent movie! Emmy even said it was "great"..... keeping in mind that she fell asleep about 1/3 of the way into the movie and slept until the last 2 minutes. Not exactly a quiet movie to sleep through, but she managed it! Sunday we just enjoyed bumming around, playing with the Diego Rescue Center (thanks Tabbi) and hanging out.

Playtime.....

Also a BIG thank you to Tabbi for all the new toys for the play room.... something new and different to play with is awesome!
Emmy and the Diego Rescue Center


Here are some more pictures from the weekend:

Bria, Emmy and Logan

Picnic time


Spidey web slinger - thanks Tabbi - Bria claimed this one!