WE'RE DROWNING!!!!!

Hey Everyone!!! Sorry I've been slacking in the BLOGGING area. I started work last week and I've been in long rehearsals every day. My show opens tomorrow so I'll have a chance to play catch-up. So prepare yourselves for some blogs. Anyway, I've been promising Mom this blog for a few weeks now. Some of you may have heard about the severe weather we've had out in this part of the country. Also, if you've never been to Branson, these pictures may be boring and not make any sense to any of you. But those of you who have been here (especially to my show on the Showboat) this is AMAZING.

There are two levels to the Showboat area. This is the top level where the gift shops and Box Office are located. You're looking at what use to be a watch tower. The passengers usually walk down a boarding ramp down to the lower level, and then across this long ramp that leads out to the Showboat. Because of the high water level, they've had to load the passengers from this top level and build the ramp going out from the Watch Tower instead. Crazy!!!

These next few pictures you can compare the two shots side by side. I first took the pictures on the left and then that night we had ANOTHER thunderstorm and when I came to work the next morning, I had to re-shoot those same pictures. The water level had risen that much!!!















Left: The stairs that the passangers exit up are almost underwater. Right: Stairs completely underwater.













Left: That fence is where the crew enters to board the Boat. The fence comes up to my shoulder. Right: The fence isn't even visable anymore. The wind was crazy!!

















Left: This is the Boarding ramp almost completely under water. Right: The Boarding ramp again the next day. Notice the water is all the way up to those lamp posts and I'm guessing those are anywhere between 7-8 feet tall (maybe more).
A closer look at the Boarding ramp. The entire side rails have been swept away (except at the top there) and that footboard was tilting completely to the side every time a wave hit it. The Marine Crew were dragging pieces of this poor ramp out of the water.

The Boarding ramp and a fence completely submerged. Look at that wind!!! (Steph, that is where you got your picture taken with your family)

Mother Nature obviously doesn't care about Secure Areas!!!

The ramp boarding the Showboat is going UPHILL!!! Usually it either goes straight or downhill, but I've never seen it go up.

Picture at Left: This is the dock/landing/gift shop at the Showboat. We usually walk underneath this to get onto the boat. Under that deck is a storage/office area where they store Christmas decorations. Notice (picture at right) the lone Christmas ornament that was washed on shore. There were a few balls floating in the water.

Oh Look!!! More ornaments washed up. We're going to have to go scuba diving for ornaments once Christmas gets closer.

This is the ramp that the crew walks down to get on "the Boat". Now, for those of you who don't know, this is a very LONG ramp but you can't tell considering the water is almost up to the gate. Absolutely AMAZING!!!!

We get ALOT of rain in Missouri (in comparison to Utah) but I've never seen them open any of these Spill Ways on Tablerock Dam. So it was quite a suprise to see ALL TEN Spill Ways open.

This is the pathway down by the Showboat that we walk/jog on. Picture to the left: Mom, do you remember the trees we would walk through and then walk down the hill over all the rocks to get to our fishing spot?? Well, we don't have to do that anymore. The water came to us. Yes, it's RIGHT THERE next to the path. Picture to the right: Well, we can't go jogging anymore anyway because the PATH IS BLOCKED BY WATER!!!!

The picture to the left is the Boardwalk that you can't see. I use to walk my dog and child on that thing. Picture to the right, the "Water and Fire" show at Branson Landing. The benches are all under water. They also had to close ALL of the restaurants down because they're electrical and gas was all underwater.

Okay, you're looking at an RV Park that is completely under water. Those are fishing docks that we usually just walk out on. The picture at the left shows the Bait Shop/Marina in the distance where it is SUPPOSE to be. The picture at the right shows...OOPS...the Marina has broken away and is floating down the lake. They closed the bridge down so that they could anchor the Marina to prevent it from crashing into the bridge. We were pretty depressed. It would've given them a good excuse to rebuild that rickety old thing.

Picnic tables under water at the RV Park

TaneyComo Lake is flooding the parking lot at Branson Landing. The next day it was even higher than this and they barracaded (sp.) and sandbagged the lot.

I'm standing on the Taneycomo Bridge looking down at both sides of the bridge. The water is over the road and completely covering the RV Park.

Since MORE rain is headed our way, we've decided we're going to start building an "ARK the Second" and start gathering animals two by two.

EASTER!!!

Yes, I'm always VERY behind in my blogging. Anyways, I was so excited to be able to have a child this year to share Easter with. Even though he's not old enough to understand any of it, I still went all out with the celebration. Cameron thought I was a little ridiculous considering Kashton didn't really know what was going on. But, call me selfish, I had fun and thought the holiday was really exciting.

On Saturday night, I showed him how to dye eggs and I was surprised that he totally got it. He cracked a few eggs in the process but he also successfully THREW a few eggs into the cups of dye. Splashing dye everywhere...but he still got them in.

When the eggs were finished and he was ready for bed, he had fun playing with the pretty eggs. Again, a few more were cracked all over the carpet but I really didn't care. This was just too cute.

He is all BOY!!! Smashing two eggs together was his idea of Easter egg fun. He was so fascinated with the eggs, it was very funny and very cute.

Easter morning he tried his very first hard-boiled egg yolk. He wasn't quite sure what to think of it.

He found his basket that the "Easter Bunny" brought to him. (Meanwhile, Cameron is totally rolling his eyes. He couldn't believe that I really did get a basket for our 11 month old. So what if this was more fun for me, right???)

We got ready for church. Now, Easter dresses for little girls are ALWAYS so darling and I can't help but be a little sad that I can't buy one, but come on...doesn't he look SUPER CUTE???

The goofy guy in the pink shirt isn't too bad either.

After church we were invited over to our friends house to celebrate the Resurrection (and in their case, the end of Lent) and had a little Easter Egg Hunt.

This was the first time Kashton has ever been on the grass. This was the funniest thing I've seen in a long time. He didn't like it and didn't want to touch it at first.



After about five minutes, he decided the grass wasn't so bad after all. I can't get over what a beautiful little boy he is. I just love him.















At the end of the day, instead of the usual bed-time story of "Goodnight Moon," I told him all about the Savior and the real reason for Easter. I know he didn't understand just yet...but he will one day. Happy Easter!!!

PROOF!!!!!

Okay, for all of you who talk about how cute and sweet and HAPPY Kashton seems to be. You've heard me say over and over how difficult he can be at times and how much he cries. Well...here is my proof. I decided I would photograph him every time he cried. This happened one morning and in a matter of two hours. Needless to say, I was laughing the entire time because it made me realize just HOW MUCH he really does cry.

Right Before Breakfast

Right AFTER Breakfast

Getting His Diaper Changed

Putting On His Clothes

Playing With His Toys

Getting Ready To Read A Story

I Set Him On The Ground After Storytime So That I Could Get Dressed

Time For A Nap

I didn't take pictures of the rest of the day because I was busy, but this was the last picture we took before his bath and bed.

Well, at least I can laugh about it NOW!!

We believe we've learned what the problem has been. But that story will have to wait until the NEXT Blog (or at least until I get the pictures ready).