Pictures of the Storm

Josh got some pictures on his camera phone (not the best quality camera, I apologize) of the storm, during and after. Look for flooded storm drains and downed trees.
Above: This is the storm drain right by our apartment complex entrance; can you see the river coming down the hill?
This tree is three buildings down from ours.

The Aftermath

The storm that we had the other day was pretty damaging to town. Josh and I ran errands yesterday and got some good looks at broken trees, uprooted trees (and these aren't little saplings, they are BIG honking trees), sagging power lines from poles or trees breaking, sewer drains filled with debris, bent road signs and traffic lights, and the most shocking: a house with a huge hole smashed into the side where a tree fell in. Supposedly during the storm a few roads became rivers and they even closed Dodge St. (one of the main east-west routes) from 24th to 72nd because it was impassable. I haven't heard anyone say it was a tornado, although the sirens were going off repeatedly, but it sure acted like one. It is possible that it was a tornado touched down the whole time it swept through town and so nobody saw it descend from the clouds like normal. Who knows. It looks like Omaha got hit with a hurricane, according to Josh. It did a lot of damage. We will hopefully get pictures posted within a few days (they are on Josh's palm and he needs to sync with the computer before I have access to the photos).

Gotta Get Creative With Dinner

We had another storm come through this afternoon, right around the time when I needed to be making dinner. It knocked out the power for 4 hours. We had hurricane force winds (70-90 mph) and sheets of rain, but no tornadoes, in case you were wondering.

I realized that I was powerless and that we have no alternate source of cooking in our apartment (unless I could cook over my Yankee candle). In fact, the power went out as I was defrosting a pound of hamburger in the microwave. It just had to finish thawing in the refrigerator and wait for tomorrow's meal. I was asked to take dinner to someone in the branch who just got out of the hospital and so I needed to come up with something, but I really didn't have much to work with.

So I made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

Making Jam

Today at our Relief Society gathering we learned how to make cooked and freezer jam. It was so nice to get a refresher course on the details of jam-making. My mom has shown me many many times, but since I have never done it on my own, I'm a little hesitant to try. But now I think I could do it. I was really impressed with the steam-canner device. I have never seen one and it made it a lot less intimidating. Maybe I will have to be adventurous and try it out on my own.

Viruses

I'm reading a book called The Hot Zone by Richard Preston and it is all about filoviruses, the family of viruses that have extremely high mortality rates in humans and other primates. It is really fascinating (to me at least, a science lover). The book is telling the history of the discovery of the Marburg, Ebola Zaire, Ebola Sudan, and Ebola Reston viruses and how they are all variations of the same theme. They have similar symptoms and such. The first chapter was horrific, full of gory details about how the virus attacks the body. I won't go into any descriptions here though.

And I have a virus right now. Some sort of cold or flu virus. I think I let my body get all worn out from playing so hard with Josh's family. Emmett and I both have it. Sore throats, headaches, coughing. Luckily I have a high chance of getting better. No Ebola in my body.

Emmett and the Bobblehead

Saturday was more fun. Lots more. I don't think I have played this hard, non-stop, for years. We spent most of the day driving around Kansas City, trying to pick up our Royals baseball tickets from the will call office and we spent a few hours downtown looking at the shopping area of town they call The Plaza. It is actually called the Country Club Plaza, which translates into Shops That Are Too Expensive For Me To Buy Anything. It was fun to look and comment on all the inappropriate, immodest styles. I also had a good time teasing Karlee about wedding things as we shopped.

That night we attended the Royals game against the San Fransisco Giants. And they won! The first people into the stadium were given a bobblehead of Alex Gordon, one of the Royals star players, I'm assuming. Emmett loved the bobblehead and we got funny pictures of him shaking it as hard as he could. The only problem is I left my camera in Omaha and all the pictures were on the camera that Karlee had, which is Anika's, I think.

The display screen at Kauffman Stadium is humongous! We were really impressed with the stadium. The waterfalls and fountains behind the outfielders were gorgeous. We had terrific seats, and free tickets, thanks to a guy in Idaho Falls who works with the Royals. Emmett did pretty well at the game. The game was much more exciting compared to the College World Series game we attended on Wednesday. The pace was quicker and the entertainment was worlds better. Not that I'm complaining about the other game, it was fun too, just slower. I was able to compare college ball to the major leagues. There actually is a difference!

Church History Galore

Thursday was a church history overload, but I loved it. We ate breakfast at the Farmhouse Cafe, which was yummy, as always, and then we went up to the Winter Quarters Trail Center and learned about the pioneer trek across the Iowa mud. We also went to see the Kanesville Tabernacle and learned about when Brigham Young was sustained as the 2nd President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and more about the Mormon Battalion. We ate a quick lunch at Subway and then drove down to Liberty, Missouri where we learned about when Joseph Smith and five other men were imprisoned in the Liberty Jail during the cold winter. This is probably my favorite church history site. I could see it over and over and it never gets old. Our sister missionary tour guide was really fun and spunky. She would ask lots of questions, and I, the suck-up, would answer. I only knew the answers because Josh and I had gone there in March. We ate dinner at Cracker Barrel and then played Uno in the hotel room while Emmett fell asleep.

Friday morning we started at the Independence Visitor's Center, which I also love love love and then we drove up to Adam-ondi-Ahman. It was a long drive. Emmett got really tuckered out from all the hiking around. It was about this point in the trip that I could tell he was OVER-TIRED. Poor kid had to sleep in a portable crib (not that the hotel beds were much better). I just don't sleep as well when I'm not at home. I think this may be a universal problem.

We went two separate ways from Adam-ondi-Ahman, some continuing on to more church history sites (Haun's Mill and Far West) and the others going to Worlds Of Fun (the amusement park in K.C.). Can you guess where I went?

Worlds of Fun!

I had a blast. Josh didn't like the rides, they made him have a really bad headache, but he went on most of the big roller coaster with us at least once. I didn't get sick at all. But I did get dizzy a little and my feet got tired. All that didn't matter though. I loved it. It has been five years since I have had the chance to go to an amusement park and I had WORLDS OF FUN!

On Vacation

Our trip to Kansas City is going really well. We are having a great time. Josh's family arrived on Tuesday and he took them on a tour of campus Tuesday evening after dinner. Then Wednesday was a fun day at the zoo and we got to see a game at the College World Series. We got to go in the new Butterfly and Insect House for the first time. Emmett thought that was pretty cool. Two of the zoo highlights were the spider monkeys fighting with each other and the sharks that weren't hungry during their feeding. The game was pretty fun. We all picked who we were going to cheer for. I chose Stanford and wore my burgundy t-shirt from the Idaho State Journal. I chose the right team. Josh wore his Miami basketball shorts and they lost. We parked at the zoo and it was super easy to get home after the game. It worked really well. I'll have to continue this update later because we are ready to go have more fun.

Giggles and Grins

Emmett has been giggling ever since Josh's family arrived this evening. It was hard putting him to bed because he knew he was going to miss out on the fun. I think he will really enjoy having extra fun people around. I'm going to enjoy it too because it will give me a break from entertaining him all day. Emmett tried to throw blocks at Isaac and he played ball with Cassie on the couch (since her ankle is broken). We had a Cafe Rio dinner and it was lots of fun.

Another Try at Digi-Scrapping

Here is my 2nd try at digital scrapbooking. I'm not very good, but I am learning.

The Horrors of Car Repair

I hate it when my car acts up. It is definitely a pet peeve of mine. I don't like my car to jerk or make any weird noises. So last week when my car started having trouble making it up hills (which are plentiful in Omaha) I decided we needed to take the car in to get checked. The auto center said that the vacuum hose was ripped which prevented the engine from releasing the exhaust and we needed a fuel injector cleaning. Since we know nothing about cars, and because they said it would take care of the problem, we had it done.

$150 dollars later we had a car that was running much better, at least for about two hours. Somehow that afternoon after getting it worked on, our air conditioning (a very necessary part of the car when you live in a humid climate) sucked in a wrapper from a cigarette package or cigar package. It started making a rattling/clicking noise and the air output was about 10% of normal.

And then, the car started having trouble on the hills again.

I thought, "Oh great. They didn't fix the problem and it will be another X amount of dollars to get it fixed. And I'm going to be out of a car again."

So today we took it in. Lots more money was dumped into getting the wrapper out of the A/C and 6 spark plugs and wires replaced. Now we have the car back. In one piece. And hopefully running better than ever. I haven't driven it yet (Josh is currently taking it to get filled up at the gas station across the river where gas prices are 10 cents cheaper). But it better work this time.

Otherwise...the repairman is going to have to deal with my misfiring spark plugs.

Look What I Made!

I am trying out digital scrapbooking and I'm making an ABC book of Emmett's pictures. My goal is to finish it for his 2nd birthday. So, after some fiddling and watching an online tutorial, I have created my first scrapbook layout. I used free downloads from Shabby Princess and voila! A cute page! Take a look and let me know what you think.

Happy Father's Day!

Josh is an excellent father. Emmett and I picked out a fun gift for him to use. I felt like he needed to protect his head since we are dumping so much money into medical school. I'd hate for him to hurt his head while riding his bike. So we bought him a bike helmet!

Tada!Emmett wanted to try it on. I think they both look good in it. Emmett called it a "ha". Translation: Hat.

I could go into mushy details about why I love Josh so much but I wrote all of that on his Father's Day card. I decided I'd keep his special post lighthearted instead of mushy.

Yesterday Josh took Emmett and our neighbor, Porter, for a bike ride and they got to see a drum corps warming up for a parade. We still don't know what the parade was for, but they had a good time anyway. Here is a video of Emmett enjoying the drums.




We also got a video of Emmett running around with the helmet on his head. This is just for the grandparents.

Mimicking Vocabulary

Emmett's vocabulary is going to explode one of these days. He has started mimicking everything that we say. He now has mastered a few new phrases/words:

Night night "nigh nigh"
Hot Dog "ot dah"
Banana "nana"
Door
Guess what
Right there "righ dare"
That's cool "da shool"

Not much of it is very clear yet but I am understanding more and more each day. Either I am learning his language or he is learning mine. I think it is the latter.

Time Outs

There is not much to write but Haylee said I really needed to keep on top of my blog updates. So here is my update: Emmett is getting more time outs. Josh and I talked about how he is hitting and pinching and screaming whenever he gets around other kids. We don't like him being a bully so he is getting more time outs. I think if we continue to put our foot down Emmett will eventually get better. It's worth a try.

More Tornadoes

We are on tornado watch again tonight. It seems like the bad weather always comes in the evening or overnight. It is so strange to have sunny days, hot and humid, and then to have severe thunderstorms and tornadoes raging all night. The Midwest storms come fast and furious. I have gotten used to their speed but I still have not gotten used to their intensity. I still get a little scared. It was so bad last Saturday night (around 2:30 AM) that we actually went down to the safest place in our building, the hallway that leads to the garages. It is like a bomb shelter down there. But we weren't hiding from bombs. I had woken to the tornado sirens and woke up Josh. As he peeked out the blinds he saw a wall of water coming, the wind coming along with the rain. It scared us both so we packed up Emmett, some blankets to sit on, our laptop to check what was going on, a lantern in case the electricity went out and I took my book for entertainment. We were only down there for about 30 minutes but it was enough.

Now tonight there have been 5 official sightings of tornadoes and it is heading our way. Don't worry, we are prepared for this. It is almost a daily occurrence now but we don't take it lightly. I don't remember it being like this last summer. Was I just oblivious?

Elmo!

Emmett just said a new word! I caught it on video. Here you go:

Recooperation

I'm still trying to get my energy back from my girls camp experience. I am still not caught up on sleep or on the chores. But I did go grocery shopping this morning and I'm in the middle of baking cookies for the book group tonight at my house. While I was unloading groceries I took a risk and let Emmett play in the apartment without supervision. I made two trips for a total of maybe five minutes and this is what I found upon my return:
Smooshed up crackers on the floor and....
Emmett carrying the rest of the package (only the ones that weren't broken). I think maybe he is part squirrel. Tucking food away for winter, perhaps? He's a funny little guy.

Girls Camp

Just a warning: this will be a long post. I have a LOT to talk about. Feel free to just look at the pictures and the captions if you don't want to read the whole entry.

Preparing To Go: Monday was a crazy day. I had lots to do and not enough time to get it done in. Emmett's sleep schedule threw off my whole plan (he took a long nap) and so I had to postpone grocery shopping and other things to the evening. The craziest part was trying to locate the safety waivers and health forms that we had turned into the Stake leaders. They had left a message on Lisa's answering machine (even though she is no longer called to Young Womens) and said they left all the papers in the church for us to pick up and bring in the cars. But when I checked at the church they were not there. It was a fiasco. But we got them located and we got the cars loaded with camp gear and the girls' bags.

Day One (Tuesday): I got up at 4:00 AM in order to get everything ready and to get in one more shower before I headed into the dirt and muck of camp. I picked up the girls at 5:00 AM and we successfully left by 5:45. We arrived at 7:00, checked in, dumped our gear at the campsite, and headed to the C.O.P.E. course. I am not sure what C.O.P.E. stands for but it is a series of challenges that help build teamwork, leadership, communication, etc. We were outside in the blazing sun for over 4 hours straight. The part in my hair got really badly sunburned. Lunch was at noon and we were starving. I'll describe the meals probably in another post to help shorten this entry.

In the afternoon we had an orientation, then we had an hour to set up camp, then the girls split up to do their assigned activities. They got to go horseback riding, archery and rifle shooting, leather work and pottery, swimming, a service project (digging around trees) and mountain boarding (like skateboarding and snowboarding combined without the snow). I thought I would have a lot of free time when the girls were doing their assigned activities but I was mistaken. The leaders were also assigned to help out at specific stations so that afternoon I worked at both the service project and at the rifles. By dinner the girls were starving again.

Courtney, Lisa, Audrey and Dakota at skit night.

After dinner we were given an hour to prepare a skit. We had originally thought that the skits were going to be ad lib based on a bag full of props. But I guess they changed their minds. Our girls were good to help think up things to do for the skit and we decided to show off all the things we had made to unify our branch (visors, flip flops, backpacks). I think it was embarrassing for the girls but they did a good job. After the skits we adventured to the showers even though it was about 10:30 and already very dark.

The tents are canvas tents on platforms and were actually really cool. The girls were not excited about sleeping with the bugs, but they did really well. They were troopers.

Courtney and Dakota after swimming. This is my only picture of the platform tent. All four girls fit just fine inside.

Day Two (Wednesday): We got up around 6:00 AM and still missed flag ceremony at 7:15. It was very difficult to wake up our girls. They were exhausted from Tuesday. So was I. So after breakfast the girls headed to the C.O.P.E. course and I stayed behind to read my scriptures, finish setting up camp, and take a nap. I am sad I missed out on the activities because it ended up being the last time the girls were out on the C.O.P.E. course. But the nap ended up being a blessing because of what happened later that night...more on that later.

Courtney on our hike. Notice we are walking on a flat dirt road with a corn field on our right. This isn't like hiking in Idaho!

After lunch we went hiking. I went on the three mile hike with Courtney. It wasn't even three whole miles. It was much too short. But the little first years were tuckered out anyway. We didn't have much shade (see picture) and the boy scouts leading the hike didn't take more than three drink breaks, and those were only so the girls could all catch up. Lisa, Dakota and Audrey all went on the five mile hike which was closer to eight miles. Their hike was much more a "hike" and not just a walk down the dirt road. Then they had more scheduled time and a little free time. One of the main challenges was making sure each girls knew where she needed to go and how to get there and when. And none of them had watches. They all were going in different directions and had been assigned to different groups so it was quite a project. I'm sure I had it easy since we only had three girls there. I can't imagine how hard it would be to make sure 30 different girls got to their 30 different activities.

Lisa working on her leather key chain Courtney showing off her leather work

I did take advantage of my little bit of free time and went to shoot rifles. Josh said I HAD to do two things: archery and rifles. I loved them both. It was fun to learn two things I've never done (nor had the desire to try because of fear). I was even a pretty good shot, according to my instructor. But he could have just been saying that to make me feel better. Take a look for yourself, I'm going to include one of my targets.

My best target

After dinner we had some free time and the girls were making crafts at the S.W.A.K. (Smother the World with Acts of Kindness) Hut. They were assigned secret sisters and were supposed to make something for their secret sister every day. While Courtney and Audrey worked on that, I went with Dakota to the trading post where we could get sodas, slushies, ice creams, junk food of all shapes and sizes, etc. This was the main hub for flirting between our young women and the scout staff (16-18 year old boys, oooh!)

On our way back it was starting to lightening and thunder a little bit and we were surprised when the staff started yelling at us to get inside the tornado shelter. We did, of course, and our other two girls were separated from us. They were safe with the rest of the campers in another shelter. All the girls were scared. We waited in the shelter for about 45 minutes, singing Primary songs and camp songs to calm our spirits. It worked like a charm. By the end of the tornado warning the girls were happy and calm and we said a prayer of thanks. The scout staff kept us inside the dining hall for another hour and a half so that we could stay out of the downpour. They sang and danced and told jokes and the time passed quickly. We finally went back to our tents around 10 PM but the storm was far from over. I was by myself that night in the tent and I didn't sleep through the storm. The thunder and the lightening and the wind all kept me awake until about 4 AM. It was so bad at one point I decided to turn on my lantern and read my book for about an hour. It was quite the experience. And not one I would recommend to my friends and loved ones.

Our group on Thursday: Me, Audrey, Jessica, Jami, Dakota, Courtney in front

Day Three (Thursday): Jami and Jessica showed up for breakfast. We actually made it to flag ceremony that morning. Audrey got to participate with raising the colors for her certification. She even held the American flag as they marched across the field.

Audrey (in red) holding the flag before marching down the field

The schedule for Thursday was a lot different from Tuesday and Wednesday because they wiped out all the scheduled activities and the C.O.P.E. course in order to allow the girls to go down the zip line and do rock climbing. Unfortunately the weather was so bad none of our girls got to do the zip line (which happens to be the 3rd longest zip line in the country). We did get some pictures of the ones that went rock climbing.

Jessica and Jami by the rock wall
Dakota getting ready to climb
Jessica reaching the top

Courtney climbing the wall

I also had time to try archery in the afternoon, which I loved. It was a lot harder than shooting the rifles but I loved the challenge of it. It made me pretty sore on Friday because I shot so long. I got one bullseye. I could see myself loving archery if I ever get the chance again. It would be a really fun hobby. It seems safer than the guns.

The weather was not very good Thursday evening for our testimony meeting and spiritual night. President Wilkinson and Josh both came up to have dinner with us and we had a short meeting in the amphitheater to show off the flags we made. Our testimony meeting was small because we are such a small group but it was very nice. The spirit was strong. It was really fun to have Josh up at camp for a couple of hours and I am very sad I didn't get a picture of us together.

Day Four (Friday): After flag ceremony and breakfast we had an awards ceremony. All of our girls certified.

Courtney, Jessica, Dakota, Me, Audrey, and Jami at the award ceremony

After the awards ceremony the camp staff allowed us to stay until noon. We told the girls if they got camp completely packed and cleaned up that we would let them go horseback riding one more time. I got a lot of pictures from that and they had a lot of fun.

Dakota on her horseAudrey getting ready to ride her horse

I stayed behind because I don't like horses and my allergies were already causing me enough grief, so I sat in the car and read my book in the peace and quiet. We also did more leather work and stopped by the trading post for some last minute flirting before we told the girls we really had to drive home.

Jessica, Dakota and Audrey doing leather work

It was a good camp and I loved that I didn't have to prepare the food. It was such a relief to have that all done for me. It allowed the girls to enjoy more of the activities that they have never participated in. I really hope we go there again next year.

The Omaha Royals

We went to our first Omaha Royals (AAA League) baseball game on Friday night with a huge bunch of friends. I think Josh counted it up and we had 24 people there in our group. It was a double header and the weather was perfect for baseball. Not too hot to be uncomfortable, but not too cold for a jacket or blanket. It was just right. We stayed through both games, after some persuasion, and watched the fireworks show. It was Emmett's first time (kind of) around fireworks and he wasn't looking too thrilled. He must get that from me. But he stuck it out and had a great time. It was a fun family adventure.