Happy Birthday Josh!

As many of you know, this birthday boy doesn't like cake. So... here he is with his birthday pie I made for him last night. He was thrilled about the candles. ;)

Spring is Here

I love spring time because I get to get back in the garden.  This is the third growing season at our house, and I love getting to see the perennials I have planted the past two seasons coming back and looking better than ever before.  Before the cool weather plants die back, I wanted to be sure to get some photos, so I went out last night for a few minutes.  I also got a few shots of Asher while he was chillin outside.

Don't you just love tulips?  It's sad that they don't bloom all summer.  Mine are really tall this year.  I told my dad that it's because I have "magic soil."  

Sioux Falls

Saturday morning we boarded the dogs for the first time ever and headed down to Sioux Falls, SD to visit Lynn and Rusty at their (relatively) new home. Brian and Adam rode down with us, and we met Megan and Bud and Bronson there. We had fun eating and bowling and sitting around a campfire. Here are some pics from bowling. The close-up shots were taken by Bronson with a little bit of Josh's help. ;)

Tuesday Update

Today was a snow day in Fargo-Moorhead. We got about 6 inches of new snow last night, and I'm not sure how much today. Josh and I were both off of work, and I happen to be sick, so all I've been able to do is lay in bed all day. This blog is the most "work" I've done all day, and let me tell you, it makes my head hurt. Josh found out today that we are now allowed to unplug our lower level drains and should be able to use water as normal again. Hopefully I will be feeling better soon so we can get our life put back together.

Monday Update

Today I am back at work, but Josh's work is still closed. Yesterday we needed to get out of the house for a bit and took a trip to Target. On our way, we decided to check out how the neighborhood.

Here are some homes just a couple blocks down the street from us in a newer development. The river has risen up to street level.

This is just down our street... we didn't get real close but you can see a large temporary barrier they put up around the riverfront homes, so if the river were to raise up to their level and get past the sandbag dikes, it would not spill out into the rest of the neighborhood. We also live just a block down from the County, and they had made about a 3 ft tall earthen dike around their whole building. We went in to Fargo to check out the scene, and here is a view on the only open part of 2nd St. Just past this Nat'l Guard truck and barrier is a gigantic earthen dike built by the city to protect all of downtown Fargo.We went over the Main Ave bridge, the only one open save I94, and there was a huge crowd of people gathered around to see the view.

As you can probably tell, these are all pictures taken from the car. Here is a photo of a train going over the bridge next to the Main Ave bridge. The water almost touches the tracks. When it is dry, there is a road that goes below these bridges, so you can get some idea of how high this water really is.

The water is slowly going down. It is finally below 1997's record level. Unfortunately, a blizzard has begun and we are looking at another possible 10 inches of new snow tonight and tomorrow. This makes for very bad conditions in trying to monitor the dikes and get around town. Snowplowing is at a bare minimum, so streets are terrible. There is a good chance I'll be working from home tomorrow.

Saturday Update

We're still at home... all of our belongings are all crammed onto our first floor, and we're camped out in the living room until the threat of flooding is passed. Yesterday the river only rose about a foot, and this morning it is actually starting to go down. The newest forecast from NWS makes it look like it will continue to go down through this week. There is always a possibility for another crest, but we are hopeful that the river will keep going down. So, now we're still just waiting to see what happens.

New Flood Update

The Red River has gone above 1997 flood levels tonight. They are now expecting the river to crest between 41-43 feet on Saturday sometime and stay there for at least a few days. We found this out after we spent the afternoon sandbagging at MSUM. Then we promptly began clearing out our basement and gathering emergency items in case of evacuation. South Moorhead between the river and I94 has been evacuated. Concordia College is being evacuated, as they have turned off all water. Unfortunately, with the new crest predictions, many many more people are in danger of flooding. Our stress levels are extremely high as we think about the chance that our basement may be filled with water in the next few days. All we can do now is wait.