Have you ever wondered.....

what drinking a Tootsie Roll would be like? Well, Lyle and I discovered....

Coco Fizz!!!!!

Um.....yeah. Kinda gross. 

We went to World Market today and decided to be adventurous. (I have banned myself from going there ever again until we are rich cause I could spend soooooooo much money there) 

Result: We are glad we tried it. There is still more than half of a bottle sitting on the table and it will stay that way. What is the worst part of Coco Fizz, you may ask? Well you know how sometimes you can continue to taste food or drinks for long periods of time through natural releases of gas......? Yeah....that's it. :)

Yuck!!!!!

We may need an Ark....

Well, here in South Dakota, as well as many other places in the world right now, we are experiencing massive amounts of flooding. The Gavin's Point Dam is now open to it's capacity and the water is rising. (See this article for a little more info http://www.mitchellrepublic.com/event/article/id/53734/group/homepage/ )

Here are some pictures of what it's like. 

This is what this dock looked like the first week Lyle and I were here in South Dakota. The water was already high compared to where it is normally.  (It's important to remember that we have been in this state less than a full month. )

This was about a week and a half later. This picture isn't the greatest, but you can see how the water is up at the bottom of the dock. 

I went to this same park today and found this (about 1 more week later) and it's almost completely under water! Wholy moly! This isn't just a short little dock either. It's a really good size. 

You can see all of the debris that is building up on the side of it. That is not land. 

Water climbing the stairs.

This is a picture more for Vandy and Tyrel. If you have been to this park before, you would know that the water has never been this high up on the grass before. 

The dam has been attracting people like flies to a soda can. Every time we go down there the parking lot is full and there are people standing back and marveling at the amount of water that is flowing through the dam. 

This is an old picture from a few years ago when Kimberly, Vandy, Tyrel, and I were in SD. This dock that they are sitting on is now totally unaccessible. 

This is what it looks like now. The dock (luckily for it) floats, but the walkway rail thing is having a rough time. 

Again, this is more of a picture for people who have been to this park before. Seeing water this close to this little cement square is ridiculous. 

The water is getting really close to the bottom of this bridge too. This is a picture from now...

This is a  picture from a couple of years ago. You can't tell too easily, but it is. 

Whew! Luckily our house is pretty far away from the river. The only way we would flood from the river is if the dam breaks. Which........since there are 4 dams upriver that affect this dam.........may happen (one of them has a crack already, if one breaks, probably all those after it will too....). But I think we are ok. :)

We are praying for all of those people who have been affected by the flood though, there are many of them. 

So, I have this new buddy.....

Lyle's mom and dad have a mini wiener dog named Belle. She has become my new sidekick. I can't go anywhere in this house (except down stairs where there is a gate to shut her out) without her jumping up to follow me. Many times I will be sitting on the couch with my laptop in my lap and she will come and weasel her way into that spot on my lap.

Yup, right in the spot that she loves. The only time she leaves it is when there is someone in the kitchen getting food, or mom is sitting nearby with a blanket. 

She is definitely the most spoiled child.