The Year of the Fire

One of these days I'm going to figure out how to upload pics from my phone onto the blog.  Until then, this post will remain a picture-less journal entry.

This entire summer has been...intense, for lack of better words.  After an exhausting move, and a long (yet fun) roadtrip to Texas, I was already spent, but still looking forward to a month away with my family. 

The night before I was supposed to leave for Idaho, my sister called me in a total panic because the mountain where my parent's had just built their brand new house was up in flames.  I tried brushing it off initially, but after checking the news online, quickly realized the doom that this fire brought.  By the time I had checked, seven homes had already been completely destroyed, but there was no way to know who the homes belonged to.  As the night progressed, the house count went up and I felt like I was going to puke.  My parents invested so much time and money in this home and literally paid the very last landscape bill THAT very morning.  I couldn't handle the idea that they were going to lose it the same day.  Of course, I also couldn't handle the idea that ANYONE was losing their homes that day, it was just plain devastating. 

The next day I sat by my phone not having any idea whether we were going or staying.  Finally my mom had gotten news that their house was standing, but they had no idea what condition it was in.  So, taking a huge leap of faith, I loaded up our stuff and went to the airport.

Can I just say that the Newark airport can kiss it.  What an organized mess!  I hauled three bags and two kids through three levels, and five different counters before FINALLY being guided to where I needed to go.  I was even scolded (not helped) but an airport worker for trying to take my kids and bags down an escalator after discovering that their elevators weren't working.  Add to that that one of my kids peed their pants on the flight and I threw up four times, and it's safe to say that it wasn't the best flight of my life.

I arrived to SLC with the news that the house was still standing and in liveable condition, with the exception of three of the bedrooms in the same corner of the house, one upstairs, and two downstairs.  The fireman actually chopped a huge hole in the side of the house to prevent the house from imploding, the pressure of the fire was that great.  And, as would be expected, there was a heavy smoke odor. 

Seeing the burn, after knowing how beautiful the mountain had once been, was tragic.  My parent's home was completely surrounded by burn, it really was a wonder that it wasn't taken like so many other homes. 

Well, to keep a long story from getting any longer, we were displaced for about two weeks.  Initially we thought we'd be able to move right back in once they opened the mountain up, but unbeknownst to us, it's unsafe to stay in a home that was just surrounded by flames and smoke.  Who knew.  So we stayed in a cabin in Lava for a week, then in a hotel for another week.  It was exhausting to pack and repack, something I did probably six or seven times.  Not nearly exhausting for my parents though, who had to face, once again, months of construction on their brand new home.  Needless to say, emotions ran strong, but I think we all did pretty well considering.

The Sunday after the fire, their ward had an emergency Sacrament Meeting with a luncheon afterward.  It happened to be testimony meeting, and what a powerful meeting that was.  The majority of the members had lost their homes (over 50 homes lost, I believe).  Talk about a strong and faithful group of people.  I pretty much bawled the entire time.  I can't imagine losing everything so abruptly, pictures, documents, clothes, sentimental items. 

Fortunately, we still managed to have a good month, and did a lot of fun things.  I'll get to that...

Shore Times!

Having the shore forty five minutes away from you does not suck. Quite opposite in fact. And in New Jersey, there are a lot to choose from. The beginning of the summer we met the Bergeson's in Ocean City, and a few days later, I met a bunch of the Philly girls (along with Kelley!) at the same place. A week or two later Jack came to stay with us a few days and we took him to Asbury Park. So far this has been my favorite place. It takes no time to get there, the parking is cheap, the boardwalk is beautiful, and we had the place to ourselves!  Then just a few days ago, some new friends of our picked us up and took us to Sandy Hook.  It was a lot of fun, but very crowded (Labor Day weekend usually is).

What is it about the beach that is so wonderful?  I never want to leave.

Road Trip To Texas

Again, I apologize for my sloppy format of long dialogue, accompanied with a mish mash of out of order pics. But I'm what you would call a "lazy blogger." Besides, this makes my life a lot easier should I ever turn this disaster of a blog into a book.

The week after we moved to New Jersey (the move was exhausting, but smooth and uneventful. we now live in another apartment in a nice area, but we'll get to that later.) we decided that it had been WAY too long since seeing Glenn's family, so we packed the car up and road tripped it down to Texas. The road trip consisted of two eighteen hour days, which is LOOONG. Luckily we made it with little incident. The only incident being that our first night, after a VERY long and exhausting day, we realized that the motel we reserved was a venue where hookers and meth addicts go to die. It was so beat up and unsanitary that I didn't feel safe sitting on the beds. After throwing a classic diva fit, we got our money back and got the H out of there. We ended up paying double for the hotel across the street, but it didn't smell of syphillis and sadness, so, win for us.

We had a lot of fun during our five days in Texas. We got to see Blaine and Irma's place for the first time, which totally rocks, especially for the kids. They live in the woods with a fire pit, porch swing and tree house. The kids had a blast, especially getting to meet their cousins for the first time. We fit a lot into our quick trip. A night out with Glenn's siblings, a nice Father's Day with the whole family. A day of fun and games with Glenn's parents and Dee and Stacy, and a family birthday party for Skyler, ice skating and everything.  I'm so glad that we got that time to get to know his family better.  We're already excited for our chance to see them again!

Girl Time!

It might be very safe to say that I will never have as many friends as I did in Philly.  I think all the people that we met were easily one of the best parts of living there.  Every year we'd lose a beloved class, only to gain a new one that we could grow to love.  Consequently there was always a baby shower, girl's night, Cheesecake Factory run, movie, or barbeque to go to.  They will forever be fond memories for me.

Below are all out of order pics of said gatherings.  A night out at CF, a going away party before I moved (thanks Megan!), a baby shower, a picnic and a pool party.  Oh how I'll miss all the partying!

Kelley came through town AFTER we had moved, so we had to take the trip down to see her.  It was a blast!