When Lightning Strikes

Lately we have been having some intense storms in our area and some have hit pretty close to home. Here are a few pictures of our backyard neighbors' tree that was struck by lightning last week. You can see where the lightning went down the tree and stripped the bark away. We also included a picture of the splinters that were thrown into our back yard. Some of them were about 5 feet long! We even had bark that was thrown over our roof and into our front yard. So hopefully lightning really doesn't strike in the same place (or near the same place) twice.

In other news, we went canoeing this weekend with some friends of ours from church. We do not have any pictures as we were concerned with the camera getting wet. We had a lot of fun though. We loaded the car up with food and with Dutch at about 7:30 am and took of with some other friends, Jackie and Robin, who brought their dog Bailey. When we arrived, the person directing the parking informed us that dogs were not allowed. We had taken Dutch with us last year to the same place so we didn't think twice about taking him again. So Robin and Derek turned around to take the dogs back home (it was a 45 minute drive) so we could continue on with our canoe trip. We were later told that it was now a environmental issue that dogs were now no longer allowed in the state water and if they were caught it was a $1,000 dollar fine! So the drive was clearly worth it. The trip was a lot of fun after that but it was exhausting. After canoeing, we had a BBQ at Jackie and Robins house and after dinner we played a game called Mafia. Maybe someday we'll be able to teach ya'll to play cause it is a lot of fun!

School is going well for me still, so far I have made A's on all my exams which is great! I am not done yet so studying is still a top priority.

Derek is busy at his work as his boss has been out of the office a lot lately so most of the extra work falls to him. It is probably good experience as he is now preparing for his own office. On Wednesday, he will be in communication with the Agency Field Exectutive in Boise and then will hopefully find out more about the opportunities in Idaho or in the NW. I believe that is our news here. As I mentioned earlier, we have been getting quite a few storms here which have brought a lot of much needed rain. Our lawn is looking very green and our wildfires are subsiding but I hear they are worsening in both ID and CA :(

Mom - I hope you feel better!

Dad - I hope your "gig" went well - where do I sign up for CDs and autographs??

Julia - I am excited to hear about your San Francisco trip and for you to be home safely!

Louis - Congrats on turning 27 :) Hope your birthday was a happy one!

Shannon - Good luck with Henry and his tantrums.... he always looks so cute and innocent though, perhaps we need to see his tantrum face too so we can sympathize.

Jo - I'm glad you got out of your ticket :) I am very excited to see what God has in store for you! It sounds like your future is coming up fast!

love to all!

sharon

ps - only 39 days until we are in Idaho!!!!!!