Tuesday, February 22, 2011

ashes

Today, this is what remains.

A single footprint helps tell the story.

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On Saturday, this was the view from our front porch.

Fire 1

And this was the view from our back porch.

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That day started off great.  I went & got a massage, went and ran some errands, & then came home to clean before picking Becca up from my mom’s.

I was in the living room getting ready to vacuum when I noticed A LOT of smoke.  I ran to the back porch and saw our old house surrounded by smoke & flames.

My heart dropped because I thought the house was on fire and I knew Travis was in there – sleeping.  I grabbed my cell phone on the way out the door.  I frantically called Travis’ phone while running over to see what was going on. 

The first thing I saw when I reached his stairs was smoke and flames all in the woods.  It appeared that his house was on fire, so I began panicking even more because he wasn’t picking up his phone. 

Our neighbor was in our yard, using a hose to try & stop the fire.  I was screaming for Travis for what seemed like forever.  Once the wind shifted and I realized his house wasn’t on fire I ran upstairs and beat on his door frantically. 

He finally came to the door and was shocked.  I was screaming (still) and smoke was quickly filling his house.  He grabbed his shoes and ran out.  He took the hose from the neighbor and began wetting the ground beside the house in hopes of keeping the fire from making it to the house.  Another man (who turned out to be a good Samaritan) was asking me for another hose.  I directed him to the front yard and immediately called 911. 

I’m glad those calls aren’t public because I can only imagine what I sounded like.  Anyways, they had already received the call and the fire department was on the way.  As I watched the fire shoot through the woods in both directions, I was in shock.  I knew I needed to do something, but what?  I ran to the garage, saw this cooler, and began filling it with water from our outside sink.  I ran back towards the fire with all intentions of throwing it into the trees, when I realized how much that was NOT going to help.

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I realize now just how stupid this idea was, but when you are panicking, you aren’t always rationalSmile

The fire continued burning, and Travis continued doing what he could to try to keep it from spreading.

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The fire department finally arrived…

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and then several other trucks arrived as well.

Did I mention how our road is right in between a set of railroad tracks and the interstate, so there is no public water.  And no public water means no fire hydrants.  Yes my friends, we have no access to fire hydrants!

But that’s ok because these wonderful trucks each carry between 1,000 to 1,500 gallons of water – plenty of water for our small forest fire.

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Once the firefighters arrived, it didn’t take them long to get the fire under control.

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These were two of the first firefighters to respond – they were so nice!

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And here is all that is left of Travis’s firefighting attempts!

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We are very blessed that we had so little damage.  The old house will need some siding replaced…

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but thank goodness most of the fire was contained in the woods.

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JP will need a new wheelbarrow,

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the tires on the S.S. Minnow will have to be replaced,

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and we’ll have to find a new tree to hang Becca’s rope swing in,

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but we are counting our blessings.

Our landscape looks very different now

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but when we look at just how close we came to losing the house, we can’t help but be thankful.

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So, wondering how the fire started?  That abovementioned neighbor who was helping put out the fire – well he had decided to burn some boxes that afternoon.  Not the best idea on a windy day.

And for those of you who are asking yourself where JP was – at the hunt club, of course.  This WOULD happen when I’m home by myself.  He raced back when he got the call, but pulled up right as the last fire truck was leaving.  He was just thankful that no one was hurt – and that our house was still standingSmile 

Thursday, February 17, 2011

the way you look tonight

saturday was a big day for this little girl!
it began with a nap that afternoon.
this is what you call good sleep.



then we got all dressed up!



complete with jewelry!





gg was there



and so was uncle travis:)


we were a little nervous about taking becca to the wedding ceremony, but since we knew there would be several other kids there, we decided it would be ok.
she made it through the first 5 minutes of the wedding, and then jp had to take her out because she was getting restless.
fortunately, the ceremony was fairly short, so we could head over to the reception.
this little girl enjoyed sampling all of the food - surprise, surprise:)
here daddy was feeding her strawberries.


and the verdict?


she loved it!
here she is clapping for herself!


and what could have made this night more fun?
nat was there!
this little girl sure does love her:)

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

L.O.V.E.

this valentine's day was so special.
i mean, what better valentine than this sweet girl?


we started the morning off with becca opening her gift from us.



she had a lot of fun with the card...


and tissue paper:)



she had lots of goodies in her bag.
she got new spoons, pacis, pajamas,
and her favorite
a new book!



we sure do love our little valentine:)



becca is definitely spoiled because we weren't the only ones who got her a valentines day present.
nat also got all of her babies a balloon & present.
becca had puffs, a stuffed monkey, and a new bowl in her gift bag.

but obviously she loved the balloon the best!


not long after we got home, uncle travis came over and took becca outside to ride in her wagon.
can you tell how much fun she was having?



but the fun didn't end there.
grandmomma came over to bring becca yet another valentine's gift.
again, she LOVED the card!



look at all of the music she can make now:)



THEN, gg came over to give becca another valentines gift!
this little girl surely is rotten blessed!
gg gave her a new book, some socks, spoons, and the best of all -
her monkey balloons!



it's amazing the new feelings of love you experience when you become a parent.
we certainly have another reason to celebrate the day!
i am very blessed to have the best husband and daughter in the world.

wishing everyone lots of LOVE!

Sunday, February 13, 2011

double digits

10 months!
can you believe it?
we're in the double digits.


here is what becca has been up to:
* she weighs 22lbs
* she is still only drinking breast milk - i'm praying we can continue
* she takes 5 - 6 oz. bottles during the day
* she eats anything you give her - including beef & chicken
* she is still in a size 3 diaper
* she is wearing 9 - 12 month clothes
* she is down to 2 naps a day
* she goes to bed between 7:00 & 7:30
* she has been waking up at night for the past few weeks:(
* she is still only saying 3 words - Jack, Dada, & Mama
* she can wave bye
* she can crawl
* she can clap
* she can walk while holding onto her push toys
* she went to her first wedding yesterday
* she is still the happiest baby
* she has 6 teeth, but i'm pretty sure 2 more are about to pop through
* we got her first pair of 'real' shoes from Goody 2 Shoes & she wears a 3 1/2 wide

she is talking babbling a lot more



this is her new 'trick' - we've got to work on being more lady like:)



standing is our new 'thing'



we hope you enjoyed our update!
see you next month!

not really because we all know I'll post more pictures of her before then, but it sounded good:)

Thursday, February 10, 2011

live, laugh, cupcake?

A few weeks ago, my cousin Kerri celebrated her birthday. Kerri is currently living in England, so we couldn't celebrate with her.
But we certainly didn't forget her special day!
We had cupcakes, and this little girl L.O.V.E.D. them:)



I can't wait to see her with her 1st birthday cake!

Saturday, February 5, 2011

I'm gonna miss this

The other night, I got to hold this sweet, sleeping angel:)

I know that one day (all too soon) I am going to miss this.
AND, if you're wondering what the cause was of that awful face Becca was making in my last post, well, it was Sprite - of course!

Thursday, February 3, 2011

can you...

guess





what is causing



this awful face?