March Mayhem

March started out like a lion for us with a couple feet of snow.

Benson's first time "playing" in the snow. I dug out a big snow cave and Brig thought it was pretty cool.

This is Brig's idea of dressing himself to play outside. He puts up a fight every time he has to get dressed. This is the first and only time he has tried doing it himself.

The day after the snow arrived we had 50 degree weather. It was nice until we realized our yard was flooding. We had been out and about most of the day and when we got home we saw a huge sink hole on the north side of our house. The hole was about four feet long and three feet wide and water rushing into it and disappearing. Oh, crud. Where was all of that water going? Jared ran downstairs and sure enough, it had gone underneath the foundation. The crawlspace was overflowing with water and it was pouring into the furnace/storage room. The water in the furnace room was already a foot deep and rising quickly. We started to panic. Jared ran outside to try and slow the flow of water while I stayed with the kids and called some people to come help. Twenty minutes later when our first friend arrived to help, the water had risen to four feet. That's when I really started to panic because I realized it wouldn't be long before it reached the main floor. We had lots more help arrive, including my friend Tiffany, who took the boys to her house. Shortly after that, 250 sandbags were delivered to help divert any more water from entering our property. This greatly slowed the amount of water entering the basement. We then got a sump pump going that was able to pump most of the water out of the basement. It is unbelievable how much damage water can do and how quickly! I've never seen anything like it! It was a complete disaster and a very stressful situation. I am just so thankful that it wasn't worse and that we had so many wonderful friends and family members who came to help out! We had about 15 people here the first day to help and then about the same number a few days later helping clean up. I didn't take any pictures during the chaos, but here are a few the day after.

In this one you can still see some water standing still in our yard and the sandbags around the hole. (Brig's swing set was already knocked over by the wind.)

 The sandbags that diverted the water coming across the road to the other side of our property, where there is a natural drain ditch.

 Before the sandbags arrived we used anything to try and stop the water. Ha

 The water line in the basement. It measures 4.5 feet-covering half of the light switch. We turned off the electricity during the flooding and had an electrician check it out before we turned it back on. And look at all of the mud on the floor! Nasty, nasty, mud everywhere!

THe waterline on the water heater. Thankfully, Jorden got the water heater working again.

 While the flooding was happening it was obvious that most of the water was coming from across the road. I had grabbed our shovel and tried shoving it through our neighbors culvert with no luck. I figured it was just ice. Nope. The next day, after the water had gone down, we discovered the culvert was completely blocked with rocks. Maybe this wouldn't have been such a big deal, except for the fact that this culvert drains into the community retention pond. That means that a good portion of our neighborhood's run-off water is supposed to go through here. With the culvert being blocked however, it all went into our yard. What a great way to tick us off.

 We didn't have time to save many of our belongings. We had a lot of stuff down there. A lot of it was stuff I was planning on getting rid of the next time we moved. But there were a few things that made me cry, like a few photo albums, scrapbooks, Brigham's baby book, Jared's mission call, and our BYU diplomas. I had just barely moved all of our office stuff down there to clear out a room for Benson.

 The crawl space. What a mess. We had to rip out all of the insulation and some sheet rock and replace the furnace. Because our home was unlivable, the boys and I went to Fairfield for a week until the new furnace could be put in and most of the mess cleaned up. Everything is dried out now and life is slowly returning back to normal.

Benson at 8 Weeks

 

Benson had to go to the Dr. yesterday for conjunctivitis in his eyes. His eyes were so goopy, poor thing. Thankfully, it was isolated to his eyes. His ears and lungs were clear. He weighed 11 lbs 5 oz (21st percentile) and was 23.75 in long (70th percentile). He is growing too fast! He hasn't seemed bothered by the pink eye and his eyes are already much better today. Jared and I were both sick with colds last week so I suppose that is where he got it. He will have his well-baby check up next week. He has started to smile and interact a little bit. I haven't caught it on camera yet but I will soon! He has the cutest smile with a dimple in his right cheek.

We had these pictures taken about a month ago. I was hoping Benson would be asleep for them but he was wide awake the whole time. I really liked how they turned out though. He has such bright eyes!

I love this one!

 We are not crazy about how our family pictures turned out. We will be retaking them. Jared and I look so tired and I think we are positioned funny in them. I didn't even post most of them because we look terrible.

 Brigs liked saying "cheese balls!"

 My two little angels

My Valentines

 I had THREE valentines this year. Two of them even put on bow ties for me and let me kiss their foreheads. Which is a very difficult task for a two year old who hates getting dressed and holding still. There were some tears involved, but I'm glad to have these pictures. In hindsight, maybe I should've left their shirts on, but they are so cute!

 How did I get two handsome little boys???

 Make that three, very handsome boys! But you all know that already ;)

 Our ward held a fun Valentine's dance party. Did you know that our bishop is a DJ? How cool is that? We have so many great, fun and silly friends in our ward. We all battled it out during a round of musical chairs (which may or may not have resulted in a broken chair), reverse charades (our team won!) and dance contests.

 

I am not sure how we got the boys to pose like this but it is a keeper! And by the way, the Bishopric is front and center. LOL

 

 Tiffany Winward threw Benson and I a baby shower luncheon. It was a nice relaxing way for all of us to get together and to meet Benson. He got a lot of diapers and wipes which is exactly what we wanted and needed. I was really surprised Wednesday night when my Young Women threw another shower for us. I was a little suspicious last Sunday with all of the whispering going on but I decided I would find out when it was time for me to know and I was way too tired to really know what was going on anyways. I got to the church and all the lights were off in the room. We walked in and surprise! A full out party for Benson! We've got some really amazing girls in our ward. I am so lucky to be one of their leaders.

 Here is our LDSFS caseworker, Lynn Olsen, meeting Benson for the first time. We really appreciate all that he did and does for us and all the other adoptions and social work happening in the western side of Montana.

 Here is Benson last Sunday, all dressed up for church. He is getting a double chin and rolls on his legs! Love it!

 A few funny quotes from Brigham lately...
Jared: What is your name? Brig: Brigham Young!
Me: Where do you live? Brig: Hel-la-la-la
Brig said to me as he walked out the door: "See you later, hot Mama!"

We had quite the snow storm this last week. It snowed for several days straight, leaving over a foot of snow on the ground. We've been having fun playing in it with our new sled that we hooked up behind the 4-wheeler. Even the missionaries were brave enough to try out some Montana-style sledding in -10 degree weather. The Elders are both from California, so they froze but had a great time!

Elder Schramm and Elder Thawley

Elder Thawley

Elder Schramm