Parkersburg

As I mentioned in the previous post, we were camping this weekend. That is until a wicked storm moved through. It dropped a tornado near Aplington that went on a 45 mile rampage before finally disappearing into the clouds. My parents didn’t have any damage but my brother-in-law’s family near Winthrop had broken windows on houses and vehicles.

The next morning Ryan and I headed home taking Hwy 187. All of the houses in Lamont had water lines on the siding showing where 2 or 3 feet of water had previously been standing. Corn stalks and other debris was matted against the houses after the water receded. Power lines were snapped at the base for a mile or two south of town.

We headed west. Just before we got to Waterloo a guy Ryan works with called to say a few people were helping with clean up in Parkersburg, which was nearly flattened by the tornado. So we joined them. I’ve seen a house that went through a tornado – but I’ve never seen anything like that before. House after house for the width of almost four blocks and about two miles long were completely ripped apart. As we drove across town I noticed spray paint on the doors and battered cars. I realized it was done by the search and rescue team as they checked for survivors. A few of the houses looked like doll houses. The front had been ripped off but the furniture all sat where it was left. The closet doors had been ripped off but clothes still hung on hangers. And nothing remained of other houses but a cemented hole in the ground.

We stayed and helped clear debris and search for valuables for a few hours – a tiny, minuscule speck of what still needs to be done.

Pictures from Parkersburg

Whitney's senior pictures

Over the holiday weekend I took a few senior photos for my cousin. Probably wasn’t the best time to do it seeing as how we were camping all weekend. Hard to look pretty when you’ve been sleeping in a tent and covered in smoke from the fire. But – surprise, surprise – she looks gorgeous in all of them. I’m sure she’d argue that point, but she’d be wrong. J I apologize for posting so many, but this is really the only way she’ll get to check them out. I think we’re going to take a few more at her house so we can go down to her timber and maybe even her high school.

Whitney 2.0

All encompassing few days...

The last few days have been really crazy for Ryan and I. We’ve dealt with stressful work and business ventures, life and death since last Thursday.

Our newest niece has arrived. Kaitlyn Denise was born around 4 a.m. on Thursday, May 1^st. She wasn’t very punctual as she wasn’t supposed to come until May 10^th. She tipped the scale at a whopping 5 pounds 1 ounce and is 19 inches long.

Meanwhile, Ryan and I spent Thursday in Cambridge, Minnesota getting his fire engine inspected. It was a pretty intense inspection that lasted four hours. They’re requiring him to make a few changes and provided some recommendations to get more points, which would increase his odds of being called out to a fire. Once we get all of the changes made and the paper work sent in he can be called out at any time. He will likely be sent to fires in the Midwest region so he probably won’t get to go rescue Jazz and Jack should the fires in California get worse. But it all depends on how severe the fire season becomes. He’s probably the only person in the world who gets excited when they smoke billowing off tree tops on the news.

Friday we had yet another long day. We attended Ryan’s grandpa’s funeral. He passed away after having a brain aneurism a couple weeks ago. Grandpa Schlater was 83 years old. Just a couple months ago I was able to sit down with him at Easter to ask him questions and write down his story for my family history project. (Instead of a New Year’s resolution I devised a project to work on this year. I’m interviewing my grandparents and Ryan’s grandparents and documenting their stories.) After this week I’ve realized just how important my project is and how much I’m looking forward to it.

As soon as we got home from the funeral I packed a bag and sped off to Cedar Rapids to meet my new niece. I framed a few of the pregnancy photos I’d taken for them and wrapped them in the crocheted blanket I made. Kaitlyn takes after her mom; she’s so petite even newborn clothes and diapers are way too big for her. Everyone was trying to figure out who she looks like. I always hate that…mostly because I can never tell. They got to go home on Saturday. Minus a little jaundice Kaitlyn’s doing great. Laura too for that matter. I’m amazed at how well she had recuperated in the last few days, especially considering she’s probably only slept a handful of hours since Kaitlyn was born.

As for me, I took a nap when I got home on Sunday before taking advantage of the gorgeous day.