Cheering . .

Go BUCKS!!!

Winter Scenery

Yesterday when the kids and I ran errands we were amazed by the mounds of snow in the parking lots and along the streets.  I didn't have my camera with me.  So, today, I took my camera with us when Jay & I ran errands.  All the roads out by us in the rural area are clean and cleared between  the plowing and blowing in the open space, but the roads in town are not so clean.  Apparentely, Bismarck got a total of 13.8 inches of snow between Christmas Eve and the day after Christmas, and that snow accumulated on the 4-6 inches we already had. 

This is what the parking lots look like with only the little bit of snow so far.  

I can't imagine what this place looked like last year with 102 inches of snow. Where did they go with it???

Jay pulled up to one of the piles in Target's parking lot and took a picture of our van beside it . . .

This is what the parking lot at Sam's Club looks like . . .

Snow Removal

On our way into town, we saw some trucks, the kind that are used in Ohio and other areas to haul salt to treat the roads during the winter, but these trucks were hauling snow out of town.  CRAZY!!!

These plows were working on one of the main roads . . .

A little further up the road, this is how they were loading the snow into the trucks to haul out of town . . .

I would guess this is what they did a lot of last year with all that snow.

Here's a look at Jay's church, buried with snow.

Recreational Vehicles

Okay, I have to admit, I have never seen so many recreational vehicles.  I kid you not.  Just about everyone out here has one or more recreational vehicles between campers, RVs, boats, fishing boats, quads/four-wheeler/ATV, Seadoos/wave runners, and the latest we've seen make these tracks along the roads . . .

. . . snowmobiles!!

Before we were mesmerized by the ATVs we'd see traveling along the roads.  In the ditch line, they run their ATVs along the road.  I'm not sure if it's for pure recreation or if they are using them as transportation from point A to point B.  But lately we have seen people on their snowmobiles.

CRAZY  .  .  . the effects of snow in North Dakota

Sledding

Yesterday, we went out and Cassie bought a snowboard, a beginner's version.  So, first thing this morning her and Mackenzie tried it out . . .

The girls had so much fun.  Well, Jay and I went out this afternoon and bought a sled.  When we got home all the kids - ALL of them young & old - went out sledding and boarding.

The girls tried to take on the hill in the back field, but the snow is deep and too fluffy, so it didn't work so well, until Mackenzie decided to use the snowboard as a bodyboard.

Zack got his turn.  He skateboards the opposite of Cassie, so the board isn't set up from his style, but he still tried it out . . .

After Cassie and Zack packed it up and headed inside, Mackenzie stayed outside and had a little more fun and then Jay went out to join her . . .

Kenzie even did the boby slide!!

Lego Complete!!

Okay, so even 1,170 pieces doesn't take Zack long to complete.  I'd say it took him ONLY 7 hours, work time since he opened this on Christmas morning, to complete this . . .

the determination to complete his project!!










This thing is cool with all its little gadgets!!

Could you imagine what we could get accomplished if I could figure out how to use Legos in our daily school lessons!!??  He probably would have graduated high school by now!!  He loves his Legos and the building it involves.  I think we see an engineer or architect in our future!!

Nice job, Zack!!

We survived our FIRST Blizzard in ND

Well, that is correct we have survived our FIRST blizzard in North Dakota, and I say first because I'm sure there will be more to come in the future because it is early in the winter season of '09.  Now keep in mind, we were told numerous times that last year's snowfall/accumulation (102") was not normal, it was WAY above average.  I've done a little research and have found, according to the National Climate Data Center's 2002 collection, that Bismarck gets, on average, 7-8" in the months of Dec. - Mar.  Well, on Christmas Day 2009, Bismarck got 9.2", which broke the 1916 record of most snow, 5.2", on Christmas Day.

Now where we live out in the wide open country, we really didn't see much accumulation other than our wonderful snow bank near the front of the house.

This first photo was taken on Christmas Day at 1:50 p.m. The snow drift is building as the wind picks up.  Throughout the day more snow fell and the winds were crazy.  The second photo was taken on Christmas at 8:25 p.m. You can see how the snow drift is getting taller and taking over our front yard and sidewalk.  By the day after Christmas . . .

This picture of the drift was taken at 10:50 a.m. on Dec. 26th, the drift was all the way up to our picture window.  Here are some more photos of our yard the day after Christmas . . .

As you can see, we really don't have a lot of snow in our yard.  Because is has all blown into drifts or just away into the open space!!

FINALLY, Cassie decided she wanted to venture out and play in the snow.  Actually, she wanted to tackle the tall drifts in the yard.  And she did, along with Mackenzie . . .

After she fell into the drift, it was waist high on her, and she struggled to get out, she just ran around a few minutes.  Mackenzie tried so hard to fall through the drift, but she just was too light weight.

Here's our nice drift right outside our living room's picture window . . .

The girls decided to play in it too . . .

Now, let's talk about snow removal.  In Ohio, we would have been paralyzed with this little amount of snow and it would have taken days to get the roads, main arteries, thorough throughs, side streets, and country roads cleared for passage.  Don't get me wrong, because of the blizzard conditions, every road, including the two major insterstates and all state routes were closed from the Montana state line to the Minnesota State line and then from the northern border of the state down to South Dakota.  No joke, they even have barricades that they close off all entrance ramps to the interstates when they are closed!!

This is what our driveway looked like before Jay shoveled the half so we could get my van out of the garage . . .

Not too bad, well not for me since I didn't have to shovel it.  Again, our place didn't take the hit like the homes in Lincoln.  When we got into town, we were flabbergasted or shocked by the amount of snow covering the neighborhood streets, the yards, and driveways.  We saw at least 30 snowblowers being used to clear driveways, and then the streets were being cleared by your traditional industrial sized snow plows (which we saw one stuck), Bobcats, and trucks with blades.  But the most unique snow removal apparatuses we saw were these . . .

Talk about the ultimate equipment to remove any amount of snow.  The plow actually working was taken out our front door this morning.  Gotta love the fact they plow the roads.  One last note, as I sit here and coclude this post, the sky is clear and the glorious sun is shining upon us!!