Flooding In The Neighborhood

Last night the fire department and other workers arrived at Emerald Park.  

This is a picture of them placing sand bags along the spill way.  

Notice how HIGH the water is!  It is up to the firemen's chests!

This picture was taken this morning.  

All the sand bags along the spill way to prevent more water from entering the park.

I took this video this morning. They are pumping water into a truck 

and I saw the truck back up and the water gushed out the back into the park.

More Flooding Pictures

This video will show the flooding coming from 

Emerald Park onto Harris, down Harmony Ave.

This video is showing the sand bags being brought in 

and being placed along the spillway.  Look at the firemen.
Water is up to their chests!

This video was taken to show workers working late into the night.

This is a picture of the workers working to fix the problem.

Pictures Of The Canal!

This video and pictures were taken Monday Sept 8th by Doug before he went to lunch.  Notice in the video, when he pans to the right, you will see that water is not in the streets.  There is no water on the sidewalk and you will see a strip of green grass along the sidewalk.  This was taken prior to the water breaching the retention basin.  Plenty of time to warn the neighborhood!

This video shows how full the park is.  It's the fullest we've ever seen!


This video shows the canal is either dammed or restricted from flowing down the canal resulting in the water filling Emerald Park.



FUTURE LOCATION FOR ANOTHER VIDEO

Record Rainfall, Canal Overflowing and Flooding

Today is a record breaking day in Phoenix. 

Downtown Phoenix, at Sky Harbor, received over 3.21" of rain! 

Mesa, has received over 4".  At our house our rain guage currently reads 2.96".

Below are pictures I took from the news this morning

to document the rain totals around the valley.

 

This is Emerald Park in front of our house. 

This is the fullest/highest we've ever seen the water!

This picture was taken by Stacy Riggs.  

I'm not sure where it was taken, but there's a lot of water.

This picture I took from Channel 15 News.  

Again, not sure where, but it looks like it was on the freeway.

These pictures I got off a friend's Facebook, Bill K Washburn. 

Ribbons of Hope

As a breast cancer survivor, I'm honored to display this warmer in my home.  

I love the name, "Ribbons of Hope"!

It will be a reminder of the family that I lost to breast cancer and 

how far medicine has come to help someone like me. 

I'm an  8 year survivor and living life!

Vincent's NEW Cello!

Today Vincent got his NEW Cello! 

We are so excited to have Vincent grow musically,

not only with his piano, but in the cello too! 

I'm excited to hear him play when we visit!  AND just look at thtat smile! 

Oh the joy that music brings!

Cancer Is No Fun!

Today I visited with two sisters in my ward that have been diagnosed with cancer. The first sister I visited with was diagnosed with breast cancer.  Last Friday she had bilateral mastectomies.  This is bringing back so many memories.  It saddens me to know that she has to endure what I went through 8 years ago.  It's unknown at the time of this writing if she will need chemo and/or radiation.  I'm praying that she needs neither.  Fortunately, I did not need radiation, but I did have 6 rounds of chemo.  I lost my hair, lost weight (which I was thankful for), felt like crap, and had no energy.  It is NO FUN!

During our visit she was uncomfortable from the procedure, which is to be expected.  Also, having expanders doesn't help as they can and will be uncomfortable for a few months.  Her spirits are unpredictable and that is to be expected due to the physical and emotional strain that it takes on a body and mind.  My heart is full of sadness, concern and love for this sister.

After my first visit I stopped to see another sister in our ward that was preparing to have her second round of chemo tomorrow.  This is my first visit with her since my return from Florida.  I knew of her condition before I left, but at that time she did not want visitors. Ironically, she called me the day I left for Florida and my visit with her had to wait another week until my return.

I had been told a few different stories concerning her diagnosis, so I decided to ask her myself what is her story.  I feel this is important to share as most of us women have aches and pains that we ignore because they are female pains that we get used to.  She shared with me that she was having pains in her abdomen that she shrugged off.  After some time she began being sick to her stomach and unable to eat or keep little bites of food down.  On one particular day they were going to go to their cabin in Northern Arizona when she had a pain attack that was unbearable. Her sister took her to urgent care where x-rays were done.  After seeing the results they instructed her to see her physician. Her physician told her the results.  She has a mass on her right side 5cm - 7cm and a mass on her left side 7cm - 9cm with a lesion on her lung and liver.  Her diagnosis is Ovarian Cancer. It was decided to do chemo first and try to shrink the masses prior to surgery and then chemo following surgery.  At the time of this writing she has had one round of chemo and preparing for round two tomorrow.

As I mentioned earlier she called me the day I left for Florida.  The purpose of her call was to ask where she can get head coverings or scarves since she is now losing her hair.  I brought my little tub of head attire with me for her to choose what she would like to have.  When I was diagnosed I was given several things from another friend that went through breast cancer too.  I think it's time to pass it forward.  I let her select the items that she wanted.  I wish I had taken a picture of my selection before she took what she wanted but here is what I have left and I'm hoping these can also be passed on to help someone else.