Let's make more snow angels....he he he...

I still can't figure out how to flip a video....so....turn your head to the left and enjoy this one...

2009 Fargo/Moorhead Flood

This is an awesome video found on YouTube...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdxtwROYTgE

And a comment from someone on YouTube about our area that I think sums us up pretty good...

If the earth needs to be protected from approaching asteroids, these will be the people who will step up to build the shield to save the planet. Don't make them angry.

Quick breath...and hold...

Well, we're still here, we're still dry, we're still holding our breath. The neighbors are back, the river is dropping (for now), a couple of nights of straight rest (a little longer, but not much), and I think a little hint of order is well overdue. I'm still going to conserve on the water, but things just need to get done. I actually washed a load of dishes last night and everyone has had a bath/shower within the last 12 hours - long overdue. Laundry is next on the list. I'll have to do one load at a time, instead of my 4-5 in a day, and see how the drains handle it. I don't want to overload our system since the city's system is overwhelmed. It's kind of like eating after being sick. One little bite a time until it all seems to stay down, then a little more, then wait. Kind of a weird analogy, I know, but you get the picture.

Speaking of pictures, I have loaded a bunch onto my facebook page. It is easier to do the mass download there for now. Most of my comentary is on this blog, since it is easier to do that here.

There have been a few more breeches in the dikes on both the Moorhead and the Fargo sides of the river, but the contingency dikes put in place are still holding. It's sad to see the loss of one battle, but the war is not over. We are all staying to fight the Red until one of us wins - and may I dare say we're not going to budge.

Moorhead 2009 Flood Pics

"How high's the water mama?" It's 40.8 feet high and risin'...

Well, another day safe at home. The drains have quieted down. The kids are sleeping. The bags are ready just in case. And I'm exhausted, yet can't seem to settle my mind down enough to fall asleep. I did get a little rest in this afternoon - as Judd walked in the door.

One of our neighbors has gone with their daughter to Grand Forks for a week or so. They are older and he walks with a pretty good limp. We are watching their home as well and they are having more seepage than we are. I love my wet/dry shop vac!!! Makes this job easier and it's only two doors down if we need it.

Once again, the Risdal Family is safe and will keep you posted........zzzzzzz

The stories...

First, we are not being evacuated at the time of this post. We are staying put and should be OK.

The pictures below are a few that we took on our way home last night and today on our walk. The brown house is one that we worked on quite a bit yesterday, but the pumps couldn't keep up with the seeping water. They pulled the pumps last night and let it go. The one where they are pumping out the water is a few houses down from the brown one and another one we worked on yesterday. For now the pumps are keeping up, but we have quite a few days to go. Keep up the fight guys!!!

The "Dead End" sign was a sandbagging station, but the river wanted that space. The long black things are super sandbags (that's what I'm calling them). These are only a block from our home. They stretch for blocks at a time and are a contingency to the ones along the backs of the homes on 9th street. The rest of the pictures are of homes & parks along the river straight west and moving north of our home (4th Ave & 10th St North). Pretty much all of them have water up to the dikes you see in the pictures. The snow is kind of deceiving because it is only just covering the water. In most places it just looks like snow banks. If you look carefully at the trees and stuff around, you can tell the water is higher than it looks.

Of course the kids wanted to get in a picture - why should the river get all the attention, right?? At least the house behind them is not ours. River level as of 2:15 pm - 40.69 feet.

We'll keep you posted....

Moorhead Flood 2009 Pics - none of our house

We broke the record - I wish it was a good one to break...

The Red River is officially over the all time record as of 8:15 this morning the level was up to 40.48 feet. We haven't had any more problems since last night, but we are continuing to prepare for the worst. There have been two evacuations for Moorhead, some homes are mandatory and some are highly suggested. One of them for sure was because the storm/sanitary sewer systems are completely full and things are starting to back up. There is a city wide "plug your drains" for anything west of 20/21 Streets. For now we are OK and I will continue to keep you all posted as to our status. If we do get evacuated, we are going to call one family from each side and they will call the rest of you.

Tom is in one of the areas that is highly suggested to leave, but they are staying. This morning he and Judd went to Menard's in Detroit Lakes to pick up a load of tube sand bags to put around his house, just in case.

"How high's the water papa?" She said it's 40.01 feet high and risin'

The Red River passed the 40 foot mark tonight at 12:15 a.m. - 0.19 below the all time record river level set on April 7, 1897. The big flood in April of 1997 only went to 39.57 feet. I was planning on being asleep for this event, but our sinks and toilet started gurgling so we spent a few hours clearing a few essentials from the basement and prepping everything else for a possible light water intake. So far Judd has plugged a few drains and it seems to have stopped. The 72 hour kits are ready to go along with a few extras. Cooter even has her own stuff - leash and all.

The crest has been raised to 42 feet with a small possibility of going to 43 feet. We are still staying put, but we are ready to go if they say we have to. I'm going to try and get some pictures of where I was sandbagging today. The river was only a couple of feet below the top of the 4 foot dike I was working on.

Hmmmmm ... maybe I shouldn't have said "We're moving if we get to 44 feet."

"How high's the water mama?" It's 36.07 Feet and risin'...

They just increased our flood crest and we get to sandbag for another foot up to 43 feet. Thankfully that is just a precaution and the water won't get that high...I hope. Unfortunately, they haven't shortened the length of the crest. We are still looking at about 3 - 4 days of crest before the water starts to drop. Please keep our area in your prayers...we're gonna need it....

"How high's the water mama?" It's 34.89 feet and rising...

With the river levels rising, and our area on the national news, I thought I would put a word out to our family and friends letting you know that we are OK. Our house is actually out of the 500 year flood plain and good until 42.5 - 43 feet. The 6-8 inches of snow we are getting today is not going to help the end result, but the colder temperatures are going to slow the melt. The area is continuing to sandbag and build dikes. The response of volunteers is amazing. There are bus loads of people coming in from miles away to help. For example, yesterday there were 4-5 busloads of high school kids that came in from Fergus Falls, MN - 55 miles away! It just goes to show how people pull together in a crisis situation.

By the way, I told the kids if the river gets to 44 feet.....we're moving. (and so are a lot of people in the FM area!!)

It's how cold outside???

I forgot about our experiment. You may have seen weathermen do this on TV, but we decided to try it at home, since it was cold enough. In January we saw temperatures ... well ... let's just say that after a week or so we were excited to see "0". When the temps get cold enough you can take boiling water and throw it in the air and it will instantly evaporate, completely skipping the frozen ice stage. Xander and Judd ended up with the best videos for us to share. (I couldn't get them turned, so you'll have to watch them sideways - tilt your head to the left!)

No Holds Barred...Brace Yourself...

I will never get caught up if I don't just lay it out there. So I have decided to give all of you the quick version of the last few months and get it done with. (If you want more details, you'll have to call me!)

Thanksgiving: My parents, brother and his girlfriend came to our house this year. Of course we all ate too much, but enjoyed the company immensely. The kids helped me decorate the name cards for the table. I didn't get a pic of the final product, but if you use your imagination for a minute - they are painting the feathers of a turkey and we glued the body over it and wrote the names on the body.

Xander decided that he wanted his birthday at McDonald's this year. I decided that having someone else do all the work was O.K. this year, too. He and his buds had a great time playing in the tubes - and burning off just a little energy. Of course, when you throw in a couple of sisters and someone else showing up for another birthday party, the decibel level was way up there. Overall, fun was had by everyone.

Christmas was an extra special one because we were able to go to both sides this year. We went up to my parents' place over Christmas. My brother and his girlfriend and my sister and her husband were both able to make it. We also got to see Great Grandma Angie and a couple of aunts, uncles, and cousins. Three of Judd's sisters and their families and one of Carol's sons and his family came up the week of New Years. We missed Lisa and her family, but hope we can see them soon. One of the favorites this year was Webkinz. We added 8 new pets this year. I even got a chicken! Thanks, Billy!

Hanna's music class had an assignment to build a keyboard this year. They could use anything they wanted with only a few requirements as to the size and amount of keys. The assignment was given before the Christmas break. When did Hanna finally decide what she was going to use? The day before it was due. After hemming and haahing over paper, food, and a variety of other ideas, she settled on wood. The next drawback - she had to wait until Judd got home from work, which was around 7 p.m. So, like the great dad that he is, Judd put her to work and helped her do a great job. For the most part she did the whole thing herself - the measuring, the cutting, the gluing, the clamping, and the writing.

Well, there you have it. A history of the Risdal's last few months. We'll work on February in, oh let's say, a few months... ; )

Next... Hanna's 4th Grade Program

The 4th grade classes at Ellen Hopkins combined and presented a wonderful performance for Veteran's Day in November. In one of the songs they listed all of the presidents, including President Elect Obama. (Thus why the kids where following the elections so closely - they needed to know what name to sing!) Another one listed all the states, complete with 50 kids holding visual aids. And a wonderful song remiding us of our great country and all of the sacrifices that have been made along the way. Among the wonderful songs was a very impresive display of cooperation. The kids sitting on the floor all have different sized sound tubes. When the tubes are hit they make a certain note - Hanna was part of the low C group. The music teacher, Mr. Olson, used the large screen in the middle to direct the kids as to who needs to hit their tubes when. On top of that, the screen only held about 2 lines of music, so there had to be someone flipping the slides at the right time so there wouldn't be any pauses in the music. They all worked together beautifully and the song - and the performance - turned out great.

Still catching up - Brigit's B-Day - She's 3!!!

Brigit had quite the birthday this year. It started with celebrating with Grandma and Grandpa Risdal and the family at Chuck-E-Cheese. Pizza and games were enjoyed by all.














Then she had a birthday party at our house with her friends: Libby, Emma, and Jocelyn. She had a flower party complete with games. Thanks to big sister Hanna for planning and organizing the fun!










Finally, she got to celebrate with Grandma and Grandpa Lubitz and the family when Mom and Dad decided to go hunting for the second weekend. Grandma found a huge cupcake with about 4 inches of frosting, just for Brigit. It took her 4 sittings to finish it!

Catching up - Deer Hunting...

Deer hunting this year was a little frustrating. Because of the markets, everyone decided to plant tons of corn. And what is a deer's favorite food? CORN!!! Needless to say we had a hard time getting them to move. Also, it hadn't frozen hard and the ground was pretty mushy, so there goes walking the fields (which would have been nearly fruitless anyway, but at least you feel like you are making an effort.) We did end up with 6 deer for the group. Not our most successful year, but better that getting skunked...wait, that did happen. My cousin from Florida came up hunting this year again. As usual, he walked up to his stand and flipped over a large cardboard box used for a windbreak. Well, a skunk had already decided that he like the windbreak too and was hiding inside it. The skunk didn't like being exposed and sprayed him in the face and all over his front. He said it was like getting sprayed with mace. Ouch! So, for the rest of the weekend, he and all of his clothes reeked! Even the wheeler he rode smelled for a couple of days.











The kids came with us for second weekend of hunting. They worked on a mural with Grandma...

Brigit made rock angels - as you can see, there was not much snow yet.

I'm not sure what was at the bottom of Grandma's barrel, but they sure were occupied with it for a while.

Finally, Judd taught them how to play 52 pick up. Brigit supervised. I can't believe we haven't taught them this wonderful game before this, but better late than never, I suppose.

Overall, it was a great time had by all. Can't wait for next year!

Catching up - Halloween...

Here are some Halloween pics. Of course everyone had a great time. Brigit was the most eager to get back out there after a short break. Judd & I were pirates (as if you couldn't tell), Hanna was a cheerleader, Xander was Batman, and Brigit was a flower.

No Empty Chairs Temple Trip

Our ward has a goal of no empty chairs at the Temple every so often and we decided to attend in October. It is always great to go to the Temple, especially when they have arranged child care for you! We had a wonderful time and the kids seemed to enjoy themselves, too. They are too young to go inside, but they still enjoyed a stroll around the exterior with us.

After some coaxing, we even got them to pose for a picture.

O.K. - Maybe we bribed them with a standard Risdal picture, but the end result was what were were going for.