IT'S MY PARTY . . . II

Becca celebrated her fourth birthday with a party at the Bass Lake House last weekend (her birthday was actually the 20th). A special visitor arrived and surprised Becca Saturday morning. Leslie flew out of Las Vegas Friday evening and Charles drove to Midway Airport in Chicago to pick her up at midnight. Leslie's flight was delayed until 1 a.m., however, and it was after 3 a.m. when they finally reached Bass Lake.

Meanwhile, Biz took Becca to Bass Lake to warm up the house and get everything ready . . . only to find the furnace had quit and the temperature inside dropping as rapidly as outside. Uncle Bill and Cousin Barry came to the rescue, helped Biz with arranging repairs and waiting for the repairman to arrive, which he did at midnight. By 2 a.m. the furnace was fixed and the house warm by the time Leslie and Charles got there. We held Becca's party Saturday afternoon, and spent the day with Aunt Leslie. Uncle Bill and Aunt Gloria, and Barry, Crystal and the boys came over and had lunch and cake with us.

We spent a quiet Sunday with Leslie, who returned to Las Vegas Monday night. She had President's Day off, while our schools were in session. Charles went to work, but Bizzy took the day off and she and Becca spent the morning with Leslie. Cousin Claudia, who was also out at the lake, ran Leslie into Midway Monday afternoon.

It was a great weekend, one everyone enjoyed, and Becca got her "Auntie" fix, which hopefully will last her until summer. We hope everyone's February is nice and warm, while we weather out this cold snap and try to stave off the sniffles, coughs and colds.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BECCA!

Aunt Leslie gave Rebecca a special birthday present by coming to Indiana and spending the weekend with the Indiana Ratliffs. Fun was had by all, albeit inside because it was cold outside (brrrrr!), and Becca celebrated her fourth birthday with an early afternoon party at the Bass Lake house.

Besides Leslie, Uncle Bill, Aunt Gloria, Barry, Crystal, Ethan and Trevor all showed up to wish Becca a Happy Birthday.

That's Charles in the middle who just happened to be in the picture.

FLOOD OF 2008 (the 2nd) Update . . .

The river continued to rise, this time reaching last month's mark. It's expected to crest sometime today, but with all the flooding in town and around the county, school was cancelled (again!). It really looks like we will be making up snow and flood days into June.

This is the historic Magnetic Park clubhouse two blocks over from our house. If you look closely, that is the gazebo in the back. The water has almost reached the point as was pictured in previous posts.

Our friends tell us this is unprecedented. Northern Indiana had just been declared a disaster zone by President Bush and FEMA for January's flood, then this happens. The Boys and Girls Club had just reopened with all repairs completed last week, then turned right around and was flooded, again.

We continue to perservere. Keep us in your prayers that as the water doth rise, so must it flow downstream. The upside of all this, the lakes are full and waiting to be used in the summer. We can hardly wait.

THE RIVER RISETH . . . Again!

With a mixture of snow and rain pounding an already saturated northern Indiana, the Yellow River has breached its banks yet again!. Officials say that the river will crest tonight or in the morning at 14.7 feet, a mere 6 inches shy of last month's flood stage of 15.1 feet. This all in just two days, as opposed to the week it took to rise and crest last month.

As we have said before, please don't worry about us, our house sits higher than the flood plain and we're still dry . . . for now. The picture shows a familiar area behind the Plymouth Boys and Girls Club, just south of our house, but only two blocks from Charles' school (downhill from, he adds!). Notice the piles of snow that had been plowed from roads, and the new slush in the lower part of the picture. No, the snow pile is not floating by. It's as stationary as an iceberg can be.

If you really want to see something familiar, click on the Pilot News link in the far column and look at their front picture for Thursday's newspaper. The pictured gazebo is the one in Magnetic park down the street from our house.

WHAT'S UP WITH THIS WACKY WEATHER?

Just a quick update: On the heels of a massive flood, one not seen since 1982, the weather turned cold again and we saw several inches of snow. That melted, and we warmed up again and a major wet-front came through. We started to get rain last Tuesday night, and right in the middle, an artic blast roared through. A major rain storm changed into a major snow storm right in front of our eyes. We got just a couple of inches, but the roads were wet and slick underneath the snow. School was canceled on Wednesday.

Then, the snow melted some Thursday morning, but by Thursday night, another cold front came through and dumped fourteen inches on the ground. School was canceled Friday.

By Friday night, the roads were cleared and on Saturday, everything was fine, except for a little snow shoveling, which Charles absolutely hates. We're waiting for the end of season clearance sales to come through and Charles is going to buy a snow thrower - that is, if all the companies that make them don't run out of stock before then!

It's Sunday morning and Becca is sporting another new dress that Bizzy found in California. She picked it out herself, put it on herself and Bizzy helped with the hair do. What did Charles do? He helped Becca pull on her tights - what a job for a Daddy.

Please keep thinking of us - as we are thinking of you - and pray this wacky weather straightens out before winter is up in six weeks or so!

More to come later!