Wow, that was the best football game . . . ever! I can't believe that BYU just beat #3 Oklahoma. That was an awesome game. I was especially excited because the game was shown on ESPN so we could watch it out here in Illinois. Greg and I had a football party, and what a party it was when BYU won! That was so great. Today as Greg and I ran errands in Springfield, I was all decked out in my BYU gear. :-) I love BYU. I am so happy that they won!!!
Yesterday Greg and I headed to the town of Loami to help Linda and her family clean up from the August 19 tornado. You could see a definite path of destruction through Loami. Half of this barn was gone.
And this was pretty creepy--you could see right where the tornado had touched down in this corn field just up the street from Linda. The corn was ripped in all directions, but then there would be one stalk that was just standing there untouched. Weird.
And here is the gigantic tree that fell just feet from their house. This tree was ripped out of the ground (there was about a 4-foot hole) and thrown directly south. If the tree had fallen even a few degrees more to the west, it would have taken out their whole house. Greg and I couldn't believe it when we saw it. We helped them put branches into a wood chipper. We worked really hard, but there is still much to be done. What a mess the tornado left! Have I mentioned how much I dislike tornadoes?
On Tuesday we had "A Visit from President Roosevelt" at the Lincoln Home which turned out great! I was scared that something would go wrong--we wouldn't have enough visitors there, Teddy wouldn't show up, etc., etc., but thankfully everything turned out very well. Teddy Roosevelt was portrayed by Gib Young, who I believe looks a lot like the real TR. What do you think?
People loved taking pictures with him in front of the house. We had a large contingent of Asian visitors who were especially excited. Then he did two programs at the visitor center where he talked about the Roosevelt family during the Civil War. It was very interesting! His father was good friends with the Lincolns and did a lot to help soldiers' families. His mom was from the South, so she wasn't such a big Lincoln fan. Teddy Roosevelt admired Abraham Lincoln and even wore a ring containing strands of Lincoln's hair! He last visited the Lincoln Home on April 7, 1912.
We even made the newspaper! I was hoping they would write a whole article about Teddy--because there are a lot of interesting Lincoln connections--but at least we got a picture. We held the Teddy Roosevelt program on August 25 to commemorate the founding of the National Park Service on August 16, 1916. Even though the NPS was not officially founded until after TR's administration, he did a lot to pave the way for such an event. He was a huge conservationist and created five national parks and four national monuments while he was President. My next project is Constitution Day (a holiday which no one has ever heard of). Yesterday at work we had to call an ambulance because a sweet older lady fell on the boardwalk in the Lincoln neighborhood. It was really sad--she fell backwards and hit her head. She had also just had back surgery, so everyone was worried that she had injured herself very badly. Thankfully she ended up being okay, but it was a scary incident. Also yesterday, Obama--the new micro manager of the National Park Service and any other government agency or non-government matter--ordered that all national parks lower their flags to half staff to honor Ted Kennedy. Blah! That man was about as bad as they come. I would bet a million dollars that if, say, Orrin Hatch died, Obama would not order the flags to be lowered. I think our country will be better off without Ted Kennedy--a man who was above the law just because of his name.
Today Greg and I had a very cultural experience: we went to the Illinois State Fair! It was a nice way to unwind after quite a stressful week--and we had to fit in as much fun as we could today before Greg starts school on Monday! (He will be going to the University of Illinois-Springfield working on a degree in Chemistry.) And what says Illinois better than a giant butt cow . . . and butter Lincoln! This is probably the coolest 1,200 pounds of butter you will ever see.
Although Butter Lincoln looked a little mummy-ish.
But Butter Cow looked nice. That is a lot of butter.
After seeing the legendary butter sculptures, it was off to enjoy the culinary experience that one can only find at the Illinois State Fair. We had a freshly-made corn dog and sweet potato fries--yum. Then, Sarah will be so proud, we had Key lime pie on a stick!!! It was the most amazing thing I've ever eaten. It was literally a slice of Key lime pie covered in chocolate on a stick. Sarah will be happy to know that this chocolate covered slice of heaven came from one of her favorite places: the Key West Lime Shop in Key West, Florida!
And what do we have here? Is that a powder sugar covered corn dog? Nope. Try a fried Snickers bar! It was sinfully good. The candy bar on the inside was all melted and delicious. (I think this is maybe a once-in-a-lifetime treat.)
Mmmmmmm, gooey fried Snickers deliciousness! The same place where we got the fried candy bars also offered fried Twinkies. There were so many people there--it seemed like the entire state was at the fair today. The fried candy bar place was doing big business. So unhealthy . . . but so delicious.
When I first saw this, I did a double-take. I thought, "Is that really what I think it is?" Indeed. A giant inflatable sinking Titanic slide--probably not the most tasteful slide design they could have come up with. They at least didn't need to have it say "TITANIC" on the back of the ship. But, I guess that it is the Illinois State Fair, so they can do whatever they want. It just looked weird to see little kids laughing in joy as they slid down the deck of the ill-fated ship. It was so improper that it was kind of funny. 
We had a great time at the fair today. There were cute little animals everywhere. I got to hold the cutest little baby chicken who fell asleep in my hands, and we saw these funny miniature donkeys. We also saw some really pretty horses--which brought back fond memories of when I rode Jamaica (a Welsh pony) in the Utah State Fair back in 1996. Good times. I have never seen such a large assortment of fried food offerings. We heard rumors that you could even buy fried Pepsi, but we couldn't find any. The fried candy bars were pretty epic though. All I can say is: thank goodness I don't have my gallbladder anymore!
I have often reflected on why I am so afraid of and fascinated by tornadoes. I decided that it is probably because back in 3rd grade we read a book called Night of the Twisters at school. It is quite a scary/exciting book--and maybe that is when the fear/fascination was born. But anyway, Wednesday was our very own Day of the Twisters here in Illinois.
The National Weather Service completed a survey of the area yesterday and determined that we were actually hit by three separate tornadoes Monday afternoon. The first one was an EF1 that hit southwest of Loami. The second tornado, which hit Loami, was rated an EF2. The Loami tornado then lifted off the ground, traveled over Springfield, and then formed into a third tornado--an EF--which hit Williamsville. The EF3 tornado stayed on the ground for almost 25 miles, and at one point was a half mile in diameter! The maximum wind speed was 140 mph. A few people are still in the hospital, but luckily they think everyone will be okay. These pictures are of the tornado before it hit Loami.
And here is all that is left of my favorite antique mall, Route 66 Antiques, in Williamsville. I drove past it today, and it is literally just a pile of rubble. They had so much cool stuff there! I can't believe that it is now just scattered all over who knows where. There was also a Casey's gas station next to the antique mall that was demolished--all that is left is the sign. What a terrible storm. I don't like tornadoes, nor will I ever be able to get used to them as many of the locals are. A lot of people I've talked to say, "Oh, it's just normal; no big deal." I say there isn't anything normal about it!
