Country Tractor Run 2010

I'm a little behind on my blogging! Back on the 26th, I photographed and videoed the Country Tractor Run for the fourth year in a row! It's so great to see so many people join together for a great cause.

It was a little dreary, but it only rained for a few miles!

One of the stops was at the Reservation Dam.

One of my favorite pictures from the day. The 69 tractors coming up the hill!

I just had to show off the Oliver lights..... :)

And Shelbey dancin' away!

Stay tuned for a blog post from last weekend and I'll have four new ones after this weekend!

RHS - Class of '10

Every year it has been fun to see the classes below me graduate. But this year I have realized I used to babysit the quite a few of the kids that have graduated in recent years. I'm not old, they're just... young. :) This year my little cousin graduated.. once again, making me feel old. Someone get me a cane!

It was fun to be at the school before the ceremony started. They had a few last minute things to do and you could see all of their smiles getting bigger as the moment came closer.

The ceremony was great. There was laughter and tears through the speeches and slideshow.

After they finally received their diplomas, the class let off confetti.. only not at the same time. I think they all did it at separate times! It was pretty funny to watch. Next time they will have to read the directions first! :)

Congratulations to all the recent graduates! I wish you all the best of luck. Show the world what you got!

I built an arky, arky.....

This is snow being shoveled off the roof of the studio.

This is snow on the sidewalk/street down below.

This is the majority of the snow that was going to eventually leak down the east wall of the studio. :(

 Yikes, huh?!

Thankfully, my landlord came right away and it's all taken care of! There were just a few things damaged, but other than that everything is back to normal.

Outdoors is another story. This is the view from across the road at my parents' house.

 I can never remember the water going up over the road.

 Hopefully the flooding this year won't be as bad as last year, but things aren't really looking up. I think it's going to take a few more nights at Sandbag Central to fight the flood again this year!

Today is a very special day....

 

This is a very important day for all of Twins Territory. It is Pitcher/Catcher reporting day! Anyone that knows me knows that I'm a super huge Twins fan! I can't wait for the season to start! For those non-baseball fans, this means that Spring is right around the corner!

To celebrate, Oliver is wearing his Twins sweatshirt.

 

 And I can't leave Rusty out of this super amazing post. We played fetch for a long time on Friday! I love when the weather is nice like this!

 

Cares for Kids Radiothon!

Once again this year, MeritCare Children's Hospital and Radio Fargo-Moorhead are having their Cares for Kids Radiothon! This is a cause that is very near and dear to my heart as my niece spent the first two weeks of her life in the MeritCare NICU.  In the days that I spent there, I saw the doctors, nurses, and staff being so caring and so loving to every child and infant on that floor.

If you would like to donate to this great cause, click here for more information.

Aside from my donation, I am also a participating photographer in Pictures of Hope.

We offer complimentary photos to those with an infant in a NICU. I serve the FM area, and if you would like to learn more click here. If you know anyone in need of these services, please contact me!

Congrats!

Today was RHS's big graduation day! I'd just like to wish all of the Class of 2009 congrats and best wishes in the future!

My mom has been decorating cakes ever since I can remember. I had the COOLEST birthday cakes when I was little. (Examples - the Pink Power Ranger, Lambchop and a Troll doll) This is part of a two tiered cake she made for one of this years graduates. If you need any cakes or sewing done, check out her website!

Red River Valley Flood 2009

After much contemplation, I headed south this afternoon to my parents house. Different places in Fargo have been evacuating and it was very difficult to get around. I decided to get out while I still could. Hopefully my apartment will be okay, as the river is suppose to crest at 43 feet this weekend. I just pray that the dikes hold strong just like everyone's spirits!

I want to share these pictures with you from around the North and South Dakota border. The water has gone down quite a bit this week, but there was still more than usual.

Red River Valley Flood 2009

I got home at 5am after a day/night/morning of sandbagging. I am exhausted this morning, but SO glad I could help! I didn't bring my camera with me, but I wanted to share these cell phone pictures with you so you can see just how amazing and unreal the sandbagging process is.

This is the Fargo Dome at about midnight last night. This wasn't even 1/3 of the dome, but you can see just how many people were there and how many sandbags they were pushing out.


I took a bus and was transferred to Sandbag Central. That was located on another building on the NDSU campus. This image is just the corner of the building. There were many more people in the building shoveling by hand and there was a another spider like seen in this picture. There were many palettes of sandbags sitting around waiting to be removed and trucked to different locations in the city.

This has been absolutely unreal and something I will never forget. I helped out in the 97 flood in Wahpeton when I was in High School, but this has had so much more impact on me. Seeing the entire communities of Fargo, West Fargo, Moorhead, and the neighboring towns coming together really gives me hope that we will get through this. On the radio they just said the Red is at 35.73 feet and should be at 41 feet (the highest it has ever been) on Sunday. We still need a lot of help up here, especially with the snow we got last night, but if you can't help your prayers will still be appreciated.

Red River Valley Flood 2009

I'm writing this very tired and sore, so sorry if it doesn't make any sense at all! I have been sandbagging for most of the day and stopped at home to wash my muddy clothes, let my dog out, and take a nap. I'm headed to the Fargo Dome tonight to help get some sandbags ready for tomorrow again. These next few images are from Lindenwood Park in south Fargo yesterday. Since these photos, the river has already risen almost 5 feet.

I'll be there tonight!

I rode one of these a few times today! I took this photo with my cell phone, as I didn't bring my camera with today!

I can't believe the weather right now! It was lighting and thundering last night, we're in the middle of a 500 year flood, and it's suppose to snow tomorrow! Hopefully everyone gets close to finishing sandbagging tonight so they don't have to deal with the snow!