Fire Update!

We have had quite an eventful couple of days. Yesterday morning my parents had to evacuate their home- my dad went to work and my mom came over to our condo. Work for me had been canceled because the office is in an evacuation zone. We sat around until 4 o'clock and then went to Carissa's parents. Her mom is in Utah so we sat around there for a few hours and my dad came and met us there. As we watched the news we heard a reporter broadcasting from the street right above my parents house and that it didn't look to good for the homes at the bottom. We got a little worried- whenever you see a local reported so close to your home it makes you a little nervous! After a couple hours of waiting and wondering what was going on, they went back to the same reporter and she was standing on my parents street! This time it was good news that the fire had burned right up next the the house and all the hills in the area but every house had been saved and that a firefighter was standing on every driveway of that particular street. All our worries had been erased, we just wanted to see how close it got to the homes!
About an hour later, we got a reverse 911 call at Carissa's parents that said we needed to evacuate their neighborhood so we went to a stake center downtown and I had the priveledge of sleeping in a tent with the family dog! It turned out the 911 call to the neighborhood was a mistake and we could have stayed at Carissa's parents all night.

So today we were hoping to go and get a look at my parents home. We started the drive over and were met by a road block and this:


Yep- armed guards! We decided to risk our lives and sneak around through a gated community behind our high school and go to the neighborhood. It really is amazing that not one house was burned in their area. The fire came right down the hill across the street from my parents but no homes were touched! I hope you can see the black on the hill and were everything was burned, but to get the real picture you need to see it for yourself! We also went to other neighborhoods where homes were burned to see the damage- it really was amazing to see what damage can be done. There are a few pictures of that as well! Carissa, Carly and I are doing great as are our families. Thanks for all your support and prayers, we really do appreciate and know it had a hand in protecting us!

P.S. if you click on the photo it will make it bigger!

Looking across the street from my parent's house







Two houses that burned in an adjacent neighborhood


video from where the reporter stood the night before and all we saw were flames behind her! My parent's house is to the right down the slope (not visible).

For those that don't know: San Diego is having a huge fire! I saw this caption on foxnews.com and had to download it. Many members of our stake have been evacuated- including my parents but we are fine at our house. It is a scary situation, but we should be fine. It is sad to see so much damage and destruction so close but are thankful we are OK where we are. Our thoughts and prayers go out to those who have been hurt or lost homes.

Mine!

The second picture is to remind those of you who have forgotten, that Brandon IS the Chargers' BIGGEST FAN! And he is just so proud that his little girl requested to wear her pink LT jersey last Sunday. I'm pretty sure she would have worn it to church if I had not been there.
The first picture is what I call a poor child's playhouse. We built Carly a playhouse out of our moving boxes and she loves it! She especially loves that she can take markers and crayons and color it. I'm just waiting for the day when she decides to try that on one of the walls in our condo. I have to say that she never ceases to amaze me. Today she took the TV remote from me and said very firmly, "Mine!" and then proceeded to change the channel from Ellen to Dr. Phil! I had to explain to her that we don't watch Dr. Phil. Yesterday, we were at a kids clubhouse playing and she informed the little boy in the firetruck very loudly that "Na, Na, Na, Mine, Mine!" Apparently he was in her seat! Maybe some people would be concerned that, after this behavior, their child was going to be a handful. I can't help but be happy to know this early that she will not be a pushover and that she will be able to hold her own in our ever increasingly tumultuous world. And that's my thought for today.

Finally!!

For those of you who are not aware of the significance of this photo, kindly direct your attention to the two little pigtails on Carly's head. Yes, after 14 months of patiently waiting, I finally have some hair to work with! She may still have a mullet, but at least some of her hair is long enough to pull up. It was a very happy and exciting day. And it only took about five gummy bears to get her to sit there and hold still. And she looks so cute!!! Now I only have to wait for the mullet to grow out and then real pigtails!