The Flood

While we were on vacation, our town suffered a major flood.  See the link below for the best coverage, pictures, and info.  Our house was safely out of the way of the river, so we did not have any related damage.  When we got back from our trip, there was a water boil order in effect that lasted a few weeks, and we had to conserve water.  Most of our favorite parks and all the fun summer things to do were, unfortunately, under water.  Our first summer here turned out very different than we thought!

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=2237675785642

Here are some pictures we took when we got back... all walking distance from our house.

 This one shows the water level at different times and dates, Joe and the kids are standing at the edge of the water in the background

 These are the dikes that were put up all over town to prevent the river water from doing damage.  In a lot of spots, the water went over these dikes.

Our church played a major role in the flood clean-up.  Joe volunteered Saturdays and Sundays for almost all of July and August doing flood clean-up for anyone in the town that requested help from our church. 

Summer Vacation Part 2

 The second half of our summer vacation was spent in Wisconsin with Joe's Mom, Dad, and sisters.  Here's a pic with all the cousins.  We got to meet our newest niece, Ella, Joe's younger sister's first baby!

 We went to the beach, on Lake Michigan, just a few blocks from Joe's parent's house

 We went up north to Bay Beach in Green Bay, and spent a night at the cabin

 Then we went to the Milwaukee Zoo!

It was a busy trip, but we loved getting to spend time with everyone!

Summer Vacation Part 1

This summer for vacation we... went home!  Now we can relate to all our friends that spend their summers traveling home to see family, because that is what we most wanted to do!  The kids and I got a head start on Joe and drove to Chicago and spent the week with my Mom, Dad, sister, and soon-to-be brother-in-law.  Joe joined us at the end of the week in time for a family wedding.  Here are the highlights of our week!

My Mom and I took the kids down to the Shedd Aquarium, they loved it, it was super fun!

We got together with cousins

My parents moved to their new house, so the kids loved playing in their NEW basement!

Here's me, my mom, sister, and Charlie, her fiance

When Joe got there, we did some bowling

And here we all are dressed up for the wedding - it was my cousin's wedding.