What a Weekend

Where to start?  So much went on and I have so much to say.  I'll just start with Thursday.

Thursday started out with Nate, Thad and I waking up early to head to Cub Scout Day Camp.  Our ward decided to go with the District Day Camp instead of Jeremiah Johnson Day Camp this year.  NEVER AGAIN!!! 

As I was helping Nate make our lunches, I fell and hurt my leg.  I thought I had broken it, it hurt so bad.  I was able to get up and walk on it so to Camp we went.  There were problems with the Day Camp Director and needless to say, we will never do District Day Camp again.  By the end of the day, I couldn't even walk anymore.  Any weight I put on my leg would almost buckle it.  I was able to keep off it for the rest of the night and it was feeling better by Friday morning.

Day Camp was two days long and so Friday we headed back again.  Day Camp was held over in the City Center of Eagle Mountain so as we drove over we were able to see the fire that had started Thursday and see it up close.  It had died down a lot and there was hardly any smoke.  It was super windy and by 9 o'clock I looked at the mountain and could just see black smoke over where our house was.  I called Winni, who was at our house with the other 3 kids and asked about the smoke.  She opened the door and said, "Oh, Wow!"  It was like a black cloud in the streets.  I told her to shut all the windows and to keep an eye out.  If she started seeing flames, to call me.  Right after I got off the phone with her I got a call from my Aunt Kathryn.  The smoked looked terrible from over in Orem and she offered to come get the kids and take them to my Mom and Dad's house in Lehi.  That sounded like a great plan to me.  As I was getting off the phone with her, the Day Camp Director was gathering all the people together.  They told us that they had gotten word that Saratoga Springs was being evacuated and that anyone from that area needed to leave.  We were debating whether we were going to stay with our scouts when I got a call from Heather.  She said the Kiowa Valley, (where we live) was being told to evacuate too.  That did it.  We were out of there.  Winni called to ask where the car seat for Katy was and I told her we were on our way to come get them.  I got a hold of Kathryn and told her the same thing and then the phone tree started.  I had to call all my scout parents and let them know we were bringing their scouts home because we were being evacuated.  Then I had to call neighbors and ladies that I Visit Teach.  It was crazy.  We got home and I told all the kids to pack a pair of clothes and some jammies for the night.  Sleeping bags went in the car and by that time we had the Sheriff at our door.  I asked how long we had to get out.  He said we should have been out 5 minutes ago so to please hurry.  Nate got his work stuff and we drove away.  It was the hardest thing to do.  I just keep thinking of all I was leaving behind.  Pictures, scrapbooks, fabric, clothes, computer and so many more things that would never be able to be replaced...

Picture from ksl.com.  This is the park at the end of our street.  Tucker and Thad play here all the time.

These house lights are our neighborhood.  The fire was within a mile of our homes.

I do not think I could say Thank you enough to the hard workers that protected our homes.  They worked tirelessly and did so much.  All these pictures are from the news.  I will be every grateful for all that they did.

Nate was called into work and had to evacuate Saratoga Springs.  He said that after being on both sides of it, neither is fun.  As he was trying to get people to move along and not stop and look at the fire, he had to go and get two teenage boys that wanted a closer look off the mountain.  I can not believe some people! 

I was glued to the news on the t.v. and Facebook for the rest of the day.  I was on the phone making sure that people were out and had places to go.  We had no idea if we would be able to go home for the night or if we would have to stay at Mom and Dad's.  It was about 6 that night when we got word that we would need to stay the night.  They were not allowing anyone back in Kiowa Valley.  The kids were excited.  They got to sleep over at Nana's!

7 o'clock the next morning I was back at the internet trying to find out what was new.  We found out the just Kiowa Valley was still under mandatory evacuation.  That was us.  It was harder to just sit there and wait then you would think.  I let the kids play the Wii and their DS's all day while I went from on website to the next.  The wind started picking up again and I started getting phone calls from people wondering if they could go home.  I didn't know what to tell them.  I wanted to go home just as much as they did.  Nate got off work and came and got me and we drove out to see what we could find out.  They had Sheriff at the end of our street making sure that you lived there and were just getting a few things and then heading back out.  We asked if they knew anything new and they told us that they were having a meeting at 3 to decide what to do.  I was surprised that our house didn't smell like smoke.  We headed back and tried to wait til 5 to hear the news whether we would be allowed home.  News came that we could go home but to not un-pack.  We were still on high alert and if the winds changed, we would need to be able to get out quickly.  That was to much for me.  Nate was working an all night shift and the thought of laying there awake waiting for someone to come knock on my door and tell me to get my 4 sleeping kids out of the house by myself...  Not happening.  I decided to stay another night at my parents.

I don't know what I would have done without my parents and my sister Winni.  They helped me to stay calm and to get through this without totally breaking down.  Even though I wanted to many time.

Sunday morning we came home and just sat on our couch.  I had all the kids come sit with me and I asked them about what we had taken with us.  Did we take the pictures or the porcelain dolls that can't be replaced?  What was one thing that they wished they would have taken with us?  Tucker wished we would have taken the painting for Grandma Powell.  My mom had said something to me about that one and my Christ cross-stitch.  I told them that in emergency's like this, we would take the most important things.  The ones that can't be replaced.  Nate and I took them.  The kids.  We didn't worry about anything else.  We got word that they were in danger and we came as fast as we could.  We packed what was needed for the night and we took our children and left everything else behind.  I love my kids.  I could not survive without my kids.  I would be sad about losing pictures and scrapbooks and the material things in my home.  But when it comes down to it.  My kids are my home.  My husband is my home.  Without them, nothing would be worth it.

I know that our Father in Heaven watched out for us.  I know that he heard the prayers in our behalf and that he helped calm my storm in my heart.  He keep us safe and he keep us together.  He kept my husband safe and brought him home to me.  If I have brought anything away from this experience it is that I know that my Father lives and that he loves me.  That I need to do more in my life to show him that.  I need to do more in my family to help them have His spirit in their hearts.

I am so glad to be home.  I am glad to have this danger over with and now I am praying for the others in Sanpete county.  That they will be safe and that those who have lost their homes, that they can come to the understanding that I came to. That all they need is those they have with them.