Thursday, June 23, 2011

water damage is our middle name

We have been having some pretty amazing storms lately.  Tuesday night a strong wind/rain storm hit our area and knocked off our chimney.  I was at home and heard a loud bang and scraping sound.  I opened the blinds, thinking it was our patio furniture blowing off our deck.  As I looked outside I realized how severe the winds looked and thought maybe I should go to the basement, momentarily forgetting that I had not figured out what had made that loud noise.  A few moments later my neighbor called and asked if I was home?  I knew something was wrong and asked "what happened to my house?!"  She said "your chimney is in your side yard".  Of course it is.  The attic upstairs now had a gaping hole and it was raining in our house.  Our good friend Scott Rainey came over right away and spent the next few hours patching up our hole. (David was recovering from knee surgery)  We had the Cruze kids staying with us for a few days, so with no power, a big storm and a chimney blown off the house we had a houseful of nervous kids!  Allie saved us and kept everyone in her room and played church music and played games with them to keep them calm.  (the next morning Allie was getting her wisdom teeth out so she had her own reason to be anxious/nervous)

So we get to process yet another claim with insurance and pay another deductible and deal with more headaches.  I guess the good news is we had not had our roof or  gutters fixed from the hail storm yet.



Friday, June 17, 2011

Banff, Canada

David and I went on a belated 20 year anniversary trip with friends who were also celebrating their 20 year anniversary.  Our friends suggested Banff, Canada which we had never heard of before but upon arriving we were instantly blown away by the majestic beauty of the Canadian Rockies.  David's knee was bothering him so we weren't sure how much hiking he'd be able to do,  but he didn't slow us down at all (:  We hiked everyday and saw some of the most beautiful scenery I've seen in my life.

Our favorite hike was at Lake Louise.  This lake was the most must unique color of turquoise.  I kept thinking it looked photo enhanced.  We learned that Glacier fed lakes have that color because of the light filtering effect of rock flour (a powdery substance that the glaciers grind off the mountain rocks) in the glacial runoff.
 Victoria glacier in the distance


Often, we would come across an area where there had been a snow avalanche and all the trees would be pushed over like this.

David feeling proud at far we had come!  (Lake Louise in the background)




We saw a grizzly bear with her 2 cubs on one of our hikes, about 200 yds off the trail.  Later, we saw a black bear that was right off the interstate and just ate grass while dozens of cars stopped to take his picture.







We saw elk everywhere, here they are resting in the local H.S. baseball field




One of the many hikes around Lake Louise led up to a tea house, overlooking yet another lake.  We enjoyed some hot chocolate while enjoying the breathtaking views.    

Monday, June 6, 2011

memorial day/Allie's family celebration

Perfect Birthday celebration with the family!