http://www.inforum.com/pages/floodmapwiki

Up to the date map of the flooding and evacuations.
Warning, the link takes a LONG time to load!

Sandbaggin and savin the Farm

Tyler in the rising waters.

Tyler in the Blue Cap and Brandon in the Blue hoodie, sandbagging.

Le Ann, the farmer's neice.

3 foot of sand bags protecting the house.

You sit in a chair and hold the bags while the 'filler' dumps loads in, then you heave it off to the side for the 'riders' to take it to the needed areas. You can fill twice as many bags because the bag is stable on the ground and your not moving if your sitting so the 'shoveler' doesn't miss the bag.

The 'riders'.

We filled 9,000 bags at the farm in 2 hours!

The 3 colleges from the area completely shut down to allow the students to volunteer. They were an absolute HOOT!

Tyler and Brandon helped fill bags with Pastor Chris.

Today the boys and I were called to help sandbag for a relative of one of our church members in Oxbow, ND. It was so much fun to bag sand and surround the house knowing you were helping out in the name of God. The kids were plum tired by the time we were done and had mud from head to toe, but they had fun. When the end of the sand and the bags came, and the sand bag dike had been erected, we just stood back and took in all that we had accomplished....together. The farm owners were very grateful and thanked the boys 10 times over for their service. No one that young had helped bag sand or lifted the sand bags in the ‘receiving’ line before. Brandon just replied, ‘It had to be done, so we came. It’s what’s your SUPPOSED to do, right?” Tyler replied, “It was fun to play in the sand pile and ride the tractor!”

To each his own I suppose, but the sense of community was so strong. Standing 12 inches from another person for hours just handing them 40-50 lb bags of sand one after another, sweating, laughing, and touching each others hearts without even so much as a handshake. I loved it! I loved that my boys were by my side doing the very same thing. Helping people we didn’t even know battle a fight that hadn’t yet even come to full fury. God little warriors! It was a proud moment as a Mom to watch the boys work side by side with people more than twice their age and muscle mass, but yet keep on plugging as long as their was sand to move.

Psalm 146:5
Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God!

Continue to pray that all residents and businesses of this flooded area get the help they need and the hope they are looking for. It’s been a 24/7 fight and many are tired, pray also please that they have the endurance to keep on fighting until the floodwaters are no longer a threat to life or property.

Thank you!

Piano Men

The boys have had three lessons and they have a pretty good handle on their first songs.
Enjoy!!!

Tyler sees again!

Look at our little guy, he's so handsome in his NEW glasses!
Last week we found out that Tyler is nearsighted and needed glasses to see the chalk board. Today we went and picked them up. They are soooooooooo COOL! Of course they are green, his favorite color!
LOOK, now all the Noffze's have glasses! :)

After the Storm

We ventured out today just for a little while after yesterday's blizzard. Things looked a bit different. The snow was white, the sky was blue, and it was beautifully sunny!

First we had to make it out the front door. After looking at these drifts we decided to go through the garage to get out. The drifts were taller than we were!



Then we saw this HUGE drift climbing up the grocery store walls. The drift was almost two stories HIGH! WOW!


Watch out below as that one melts! :)

Blizzard Watch

The house across the street had snow drifts almost covering the windows!



Tyler all wrapped up in his favorite blanket watching the storm.



All day we watched as the blizzard whirled around us. You could hear the snow pelting the siding and the tarps flapping in the wind covering the house being built next door.

Out our front windows on the porch was a particularly strong whirlwind which made the most interesting drifts. Here's the photo's of it's progression throughout the day.





The snow drift outside the window looks like a GIANT cartoon character head! It's over 5 foot tall!
WOW!

Blissful Blizzard Number 2

I know I haven't written in a while, I mean really written, but life has been flying by so fast it's been hard to find the time to ponder life itself...

Today another blizzard struck the Fargo area. First the highways started to close, then the schools, then the winds picked up and nearly turned the whole world outside our house white. Churches closed, daycare's closed, stores closed, and even the hospital closed to non-emergency's.

I spent all day with a smile on my face and a skip in my step. My whole entire family was home, under the same roof at the same time. There was no meetings scheduled, no dinners to rush to, no patients to see. We played games, ate popcorn, watched movies, enjoyed two whole meals together and just talked.

Hmm, everyone said we were crazy for moving this far north in the frozen tundra, but it's days like this that make me think this is WHY we moved to Fargo. A blizzard is like having a family holiday in the middle of the winter where God shuts out the whole entire world and just allows love to flourish in it's purest form.

So, with the 5 ft snowdrift in front of the door, the beautiful white scenery blocking the view of our neighbors and the barely visible street signs...my love affair with Fargo continues. It's days like this that make me love it even more.

It's RUFF being a dog!

Yesterday I noticed that Cole wasn't putting any weight on his back leg and took a look. Apparently he had caught his nail on something and had shaved off the whole top half of the nail, leaving the 'quick' totally exposed. VERY painful I would guess when you expose it to SNOW to pee in!

The Vet couldn't see him right away so she gave him an 'E' collar and some pain meds until she could fit him in her schedule.

Cole was even LESS thrilled with the 'E' collar than the missing nail!


Never the less, her schedule opened up today and they ended up cutting several nails off and cauterizing the 'quick' all the way up the affected nails.

He's definitely NOT thrilled with having to undergo anesthesia for this little incident, but he's resting comfortably and drooling the day away.




Ahhh, it's RUFF being a dog! :)

FACE it!

Ok, during my weekly perusing of the artist website Etsy.com, I found this weird freaky and unbelievably COOL art.

It a wood turning made from your profile. Ok, WAY cool!
Check it out!
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=vl_other_2&listing_id=21694378

Yeah, I'm weird and I know it!
:) Enjoy!