Then came the wind and the rain and the FLOODS

Friday, July 11, 2014

In the last week, we have received almost 6 inches of rain in Sierra Vista. Last night we had a storm that dumped almost 3 inches at our apartment complex. It got pretty exciting as the runoff water level reached to our door and was within 1/2 inch of coming through the front door. This storm lasted about an hour but it was incredible. We were driving home from the Coffee House Activity and we almost had to stop a couple of times because of low visibility due to the rain. By the time we reached the main gate and started down the main street of Sierra Vista toward home, the streets were flooded with as much as 6-8 inches of water. The way the city is designed is that all drainage flows to the streets which flow to these large drainage canals. The parking lot of our complex acts like a drainage canal for the complex leading to the street which leads to a large drainage basin about a block from the complex. Last night the parking lot was about 6 inches deep running swiftly. It overran the banks and came to our front door which is on the same level as our patio. It was exciting for a little while.

Our front patio last night during the storm

Flood waters lapping at our door

This week we attended two more graduations. One of the soldiers that graduated has been here almost a year. His family came down to be with him. He has been separated from his wife and two boys for more than a year, including basic training. He really had a difficult time sometimes because he is about 35 years old and most of these young soldiers are just out of high school. The army treats them often like they are even younger, telling them where to go, what to wear (even to bed) when they can eat, etc. They must always have a battle buddy with them wherever they go. Their rules and guidelines are set up to the lowest denominator, not for a 35 year old married man. The other soldier that graduated was a newlywed from Vancouver, Wa. He is a guardsman and will be headed to BYUI this fall.

One happy soldier graduating after a year long training program. Almost the first smile in a year

Happy to finally be reunited with his family

Guardsman graduate heading back to school at BYUI

Other than the weather excitement and the graduations, this has been a pretty ordinary week. We did get a call from Military Relations  in Salt Lake City to advise us that our replacement couple will be finishing the MTC experience on September 12, so we can expect to see them sometime the following week. This is a bit earlier than we had expected so we will probably be heading towards home about mid September. Our house will not be available until October 1st so we will take some time to visit family on the way home. RoLayne really  needs to hold those two new grand babies.

That is about all the exciting news for this week. We hope things are going well for you and we will look forward to seeing everyone in a couple of months. We will keep our heads down and try to work hard til then.