Flooding

 

This flooding is happening just up the road from us.  Deep Creek, which is a mile up the road and flows into the Bear River, is over it's banks.  It completely washed out a road in Clifton.  Crazy.  So far we are still okay.  Still 18 inches of water in the crawlspace, but I've just resolved to not look down there.  

These days, when you see someone, instead of saying "Hi, how are you?" they say "Hi, are you flooded?"

Ellie On The Court

Ellie has been playing young women basketball this month.  I was pretty surprised when she said she wanted to do it.  Other than cross country last summer, she really hasn't participated in sports.  Craig and I are not what I would call sporty parents.  I go to her games and watch her and I tell her that she did a good job afterwards, but other parents are VERY involved.  They are always on their feet, yelling directions to their daughter, clapping and cheering and moaning when things go wrong.  Very vocal.  I'm not like that at all.  I mostly watch the game with a quizzical expression on my face, trying to figure out which basket is ours.  

Ellie has had a good time, though.  I'm glad.  She said that she might want to go out for the school team next year.  I'm going to have to work on my clapping and cheering.  

Presidents Day Staycation

The kids had FIVE days off for Presidents Day last weekend.  I was considering taking the family on vacation, but in the end we decided to stay home and do a staycation.  These are the fun things we did.

Wednesday - Mac and Josh had a sleepover at Grandma Lynns

Thursday - Ate breakfast at Woodward Country store and then in the evening, Craig and I went on a date to the Bluebird restaurant and then watched An Affair to Remember at the Utah Theatre

Friday - I took the kids to see A Dog's Purpose and then we ate dinner at Cafe Rio

Saturday - soaking in the hot pools at Riverdale and then ate pizza at Pizza Villa

Sunday - went to church and then had the Tolmans over for family dinner

Monday - went sledding at Cherry Peak resort and then ate pizza at Fredricos in Logan

On Saturday, when we got out to the car from soaking at Riverdale, I saw that I had missed Hayes's facetime call.  I facetimed him back and when he answered, I saw that he was sitting in my front foyer, with the family tree photos behind him.  I started yelling, "That's our house!  Hayes is at our house!" He had surprised us by taking the bus from Provo to Logan and then his friend Lexy picked him up in Logan and brought him home.  

It was so good to see him!! He stayed two days and then took the bus back on Monday.  Good old Hayes.  I was so good to have him back for a couple days.   He looks so good.  He said that it was interesting to be home.  He said that in Provo, all he has to worry about is himself.  He said that it was weird to be part of a family again and have to contribute to the common good and be asked to do chores and do his part.  He said it was good, but that he was looking forward to being back in Provo and being independent again.  Ha ha!

Happy Presidents Day

Receding Waters

So thankful for all the prayers and concerns of everyone.  The Bear River has gone down and is no longer such a worry.  It came up over it's banks but didn't reach far into our fields and towards our house and buildings.  We had a little trouble with water coming up through a drain into the new barn, but Craig put a sump pump in it and that took care of it.  And there is still water down in our crawl space, but since the only thing down there is the house foundations, we'll just wait for that to drain back into the ground.

We are so grateful that everything has been okay.

Michaud Family Reunion Cruise

The looooooove boat, soon will be making another run

The looooooove boat promises something for everyone......

Okay, excited does not begin to describe the mood around here.  We are going on a cruise!!!  I've been working with Tonya, trying to plan the Michaud family reunion this year and we were having trouble trying to come up with a plan that worked for everyone.  I finally suggested that we all take a short cruise together, and people were excited about that idea.  

Dad got on the phone and found a good one that would work for everyone.  We are going the week of Memorial Day.  It's a four night cruise and it stops on Catalina Island and in Ensenada, Mexico.  We've looked at the ship and it looks so much fun - it has a water slide and sky ride and pools and gym and fun groups for the kids.

SOOOOOOOO EXCITED!!!

And so grateful for Dad for being willing to take us on it.  He's always been so great to want to provide experiences for the family to do things like this.  

I'm picturing lying in the sun at the side of the pool and having a waiter bring me a drink, something fizzy with fruit..........

Water, Water, Everywhere

The Bear River hasn't come up over it's banks - yet.

Cache Valley is in a state of emergency.  There is flooding everywhere.  We have had record snowfall this winter and it is all melting.  Add to that five days of rain, and you have floods.  

I've always felt so blessed to live down here in the river bottoms.  It's so sheltered and peaceful.  In a state of flooding, though, it doesn't seem like such a blessing.  Every time I cross the bridge and look at the Bear River, I can't believe how swollen it is.  I've never seen it look like this.  

Craig is following the government website that reports the levels of the river and watching it closely.  They update it every fifteen minutes.  I come in the house and there he is, peering at the computer screen.  At first I thought he was just being paranoid, but now I'm nervous too.  There is water EVERYWHERE!!!!  Our farmyard looks like a swamp.  The fields to the east are trying to drain into the river, and the water is coming across the road.  

I feel like we're living on a saturated sponge.

I went to school today to teach my class, eager to escape the worry of flooding for an hour or two.  HA!!!  The melting snow has damaged the school roof and the water is coming in.  They've pulled off the false ceiling and have the fans running.

This is our emergency plan.  If the river comes up over the banks, we will start moving cows, as long as we feel we are still safe.  We will herd them up the highway towards Dayton or else move them in cattle trailers if we can get several.  Jodi Palmer in Dayton recently sold his cows and his dairy is standing empty.  We will bring them there.  And we will go stay with the Tolmans.  That's the plan.

PRAYERS NEEDED!!!!

Water coming off the fields across the road

Soggy farmyard

Melting snow is coming under the door into the new barn

Westside High is having water problems of it's own

Craig's back pain

Craig has had back pain for the past year.  It started when he flew to New Zealand last February.  On the way back, he sat in his seat for the 13 hour flight and didn't get out of his seat once.

I know.  Dumb.

Ever since then he's had lower back pain.  We've tried so many things.  He sees a doctor in Logan who specializes in back pain.  He had an MRI which showed a bulging disc, but he hasn't responded the the typical therapy.  He's been injected four or five times, which didn't really help very much.  He sees the physical therapist every two weeks.  He does stretching and strengthening exercises almost every day.  Chiropractor.  Massage.  Meds.  Right now he's on two meds, Mobic and Neurontin.  They actually help but both of us feel hesitant about using meds for the rest of his life.   We want it HEALED!

I encouraged him to start swimming again and he said he would try it.  He committed to swimming every day for a week and seeing if that helped at all.  This morning he went to the pool and swam and came home complaining that there was a class going on and not enough lanes for everyone.

He's still hobbling around today in pain.

It's been so long and I am beginning to despair of it ever getting better.  Sitting and riding the tractor are the absolute worst.  Sundays are pretty bad because he sits all day in all his meetings.

I feel some pressure to get him feeling better before the spring work starts.

I worry about him.

Hayes's Birthday

On Sunday, we left church after sacrament meeting and drove down to Provo to see Hayes for his birthday.  It was SO GOOD to see him!  And I think it meant a lot to him that we came.  He seemed excited to see everyone.  He said he was especially glad to see Mac and Josh.  He says there aren't any little kids, just young adults, and he misses little children.  I offered to have them stay with him but he said he didn't miss them THAT bad.  

He looked REALLY good.  He looked happy.  I asked him what the three best things were about him being at BYU and he said they were making his own decisions, meeting new people, and all the stuff he's learning in his classes.  I asked him what the three worst things were and he said the food, having to self regulate and only have himself to blame if something goes wrong, and having to remember what assignment is due in which class.

We ate with him in the Cannon Center, the cafeteria of his dorm.  It was AWFUL!!!  There were like 20 selections and they were all truly disgusting.  I don't remember it being that bad when I lived there.  It was terrible.  Craig, especially, felt sorry for him.  He said that the dorm reminded him of a jail.  I didn't think it was that bad, probably because I've lived in one myself and have fond memories, but Craig's never lived that way.  He said that at the end of the day, he was getting close to packing Hayes up and bringing him home with us.

It was just really good to see him.  He seems like he's doing so well.  I think this has been a good, important experience for him.  

Let There Be Light

Look at that!  There is light!  There is heat!  It's coming along!  They've started working on the holding pen, which is exciting.  They are spreading gravel right now and concrete should be coming in the next week or two.  I've been excited to get it done, since it's fully one half of the entire barn.  Until now, it's looked like a muddy mess and has made me feel like the barn is far from finished.  

Exciting times!!

Hayes's writing essay

Got an email from Hayes today.  This is what it said.  



Today in writing we had to write something and I felt inspired from this morning to write about you.

"My mom loves me. This is really quite an obvious statement and (I hope) everybody else can relate to it as well. However, I never really acknowledged the impact of this statement until very recently. Until several weeks ago I merely internalized my mother's love on a purely superficial level. The love she shows for me and the love I am trying to reciprocate back to her is a force within my life with a huge impact. There have been many times when we disagreed or didn't get along as well as we should, but in the eighteen years that I have lived with her she has been a shining example of selflessness and love. My mom has cared for me with a steadfastness that can be admired by even the best parents. I cannot think of a time when she was ever willing to put her own needs before those of myself and her other kids. I love my mom and I want to make her proud of me, what she has shaped me to be, and what I can do. These words don't really amount to very much, but I hope that they can be one of my ways of honoring my mother, the ultimate example of love she has shown me, and the monumental efforts that she has made for me and my siblings. I love you mom."

Thanks, Hayes