Calm before the storm

I don't have much time this morning--I'm off to the State 4-H Conference until Thursday. The council starts meeting and planning today and the conference doesn't start until Tuesday. I still have to work (though I did take Thursday off to spend all day at the conference), so I'm going to be exhausted by the time Thursday evening rolls around. But it will be fun!

Just thought I would put up a quick update. Again, sorry for the lack of detailed narration of the pictures. Friday after work we headed up to my hometown to the Worth County Fair. Our fair is very 4-H focused and very dedicated to enriching the youth of the county. It makes me smile and it was very evident in how the beef judge interacted with the kids and encouraged them. I'm proud to say I grew up there and the fair was an important part of my youth.

Anyway, here are a few pictures from the trip. Below is the memorial garden for my great-aunt Lorraine:
Friday night the ominous clouds at the fair sent us back to my parents' house and on the way home a tornado warning came over the radio for Northwood. By the time we got home rain was beating down, the wind was whipping and it had gotten very dark very fast. Rick and I ran around frantically shutting all the windows (my parents don't have AC, so windows are always open) and trying to track down my parents and sister. I sat in the basement for a while--it was not looking good outside, lights kept flicking off, phone lines were busy (I assume cell towers were interrupted or down). But after half an hour of worrying, it had blown over, but not without some damage to the trees:

Right before the storm my dad and I took the plane up to take a few pictures of the county fairgrounds for the fair board. They use buttons for admission for the duration of the fair and they always have pictures on them; we thought this might be a nice picture:

While we were home I also got to see the new sign for the farm:

Very official!

My cousin Sarah was in town from Virginia last week as well and my sister and I met up with Sarah and my grandma--it's not often that Grandma has all three of her granddaughters together. We went out to eat, got some ice cream, and saw a hilarious show at the Des Moines Playhouse. It was a very nice evening--too bad we don't all live closer together!

Well, I have to run, just thought I would share some photos from the past week. Stay cool!