The night that changed us...

May 25, 2010- It was a normal day. I had heard that our area was suppose to have really bad storms that night. Typically I would check the news off and on or just have my cell phone next to my bed so that I could get my weather call. But it was just a few short days earlier that Joplin got hit with the F5 tornado. Seeing all that I saw on the news and hearing the stories...it really hit home.

I didn't go to bed the night of the 25th. J and I sat on the couch. He fell asleep and I would not change the local news station. It was going on midnight and the storm was getting close. J and I made plans that if there was a tornado on the ground in the county to the west of us then we would head over to my brother's house and get in his storm cellar. As I was watching the news, the weather man's jaw kind of dropped and said "This isn't good. There is rotation in this and it is probably on the ground." The town he was talking about was about 20-30 miles southwest of us. J and I got up and got our shoes on. I packed a quick bag, got medicines, made sure I had enough diapers, then we grabbed the kids and dog and took off.

I was scared to death. My parents were headed over to the storm cellar and we called J's parents to make sure they were under their house. As we were driving, which was the longest 7 minutes of my life, a weather report comes on the radio...there's a mile wide tornado on the ground in our county. I just bowed my head and prayed over and over and over until we got to the storm cellar. We stood in there for about 20 minutes listening to trees break. The wind was fierce.

After it was over we got in the car and drove to J's Gran's house to check on her. She was in her neighbor's basement. Her neighborhood was messy, some limbs and mailboxes on the ground. But we also smelled gas. We got her settled back in her house and got a first responder over there to check on gas lines. We started driving home, it was around 1:30 am so that dark didn't reveal everything. The power was out everywhere. We could see that one of our main streets was a nightmare. We continued driving, our neighborhood was untouched from the storm, other than electricity out. Thank you Jesus.

We put the kids to bed and tried to go to sleep. It took me a long while before I finally fell asleep. About 5:00 I got a call from my superintendant that school was closed. J did as well. As soon as the kids got up we gave them breakfast and got in the car to see what our town looked like. Devastation is the only word that could come close to describing what happened in different areas of our town. There were people everywhere, helping cut trees, get electrical lines off the roads. There was steel wrapped around power lines, houses demolished. I was speechless.

This F3 tornado has completely changed how my husband and I respond to the simplest of storms. Thunder can wake me up when it's miles away. My husband will pace while watching out the windows. When building our home we had our pantry walls and ceiling reinforced and the first few times we got in there we felt safe. After seeing what F5 tornadoes can do, we now know it is not safe enough. We ordered a FEMA approved safe room that is anchored into the concrete in the garage. We are not the only ones that had the same idea. The wait list was at least 4 weeks.

These pictures were taken almost a week after the storm came through. Yards were cleaned up, but it just gives a little insight as to how much damage a tornado can do. And this was not the hardest hit area.








I was at a workshop a couple of weeks ago when a storm came through. It was the first storm in the day time since the tornado. I believe we all had the same concerned look on our face. We are all forever changed.

1st Dentist Visit

G had her first dentist visit toward the end of April. Mommy had a cleaning at the same time in the chair next to hers, so I snapped a couple pictures and then ran back to my chair. I could hear the dental hygenist ask G if she wanted to watch cartoons and G said sure. Then I hear "we can't watch that." The lady had turned it on Spongebob. And G is right, we don't watch that show, so they found one more appropriate. G sat there quietly and let the lady work. She was able to choose her own toothbrush and a toy out of their box. G chose a fairy princess. She checked out with no cavities......Mommy too!

Friends

A couple months ago we took a night off from working on the house and went out with friends. We went to a family fun center and had pizza, rode go-carts, rode the train, played arcade games and jumped in a bounce house. It was so much fun.


Kris, Khloe, J, and G


Ryan and Dawn were throwing water balloons at each other using the things they are holding. The balloon had to go up through the hole in their booth, shoot over to the opponent's booth and fall down through a hole to soak them. It was hilarious to watch.


Nights like these are too rare, but oh so fun!

Rub-a-dub-dub Two Kids in a tub!

This was their first bath in our new home. They were so excited to take a bath in their new bathroom. J and I are so blessed....these children made the transition so easy.





These pictures crack me up. B was having a hard time keeping his eyes open and looking at the camera, but I still love how they turned out.

Blood, Sweat, and Tears

When I think back to the last 9 days before moving in....this title comes to mind. It was the hardest week of the whole building process. These pictures depict what was going on in that last week. If it weren't for our precious family, friends, and our Lord that got us through the whole thing we wouldn't have finished on time.

















We had so many people helping, my Mom offered to make everyone supper...a yummy Mexican feast. We weren't turning it down. Thanks Mom!

This is move-in day! The movers were going to arrive any minute and I told J we needed a pic together because we made it! J was just barely hanging on. I can't look at this pic and not cry because I know how physically exhausted he was and it just broke my heart.

One year of this....over. Hallelujah!

Handprints

Since my computer took a dive a few months back, I obviously have several things to blog about. I am going to back up to the end of March. We had about a week left until it was moving day. The cement guys were coming to pour the driveway. I was so excited about this day. Yes, I was looking forward to having a driveway so we wouldn't track in so much dirt from the yard. Aside from that, I was excited about putting our handprints in the cement. I knew this was going to be our house for as long as we live, God willing. I want to be able to see how small the kids' hands were when we moved in. J was a little hesitant, didn't want to mess up the concrete, but he understood that it was important to me. I am so glad we did this! And he is too!
Because of the concrete being wet, this was the best angle we could get.

J's hand!

My hand!

G's hand!

B's hand!

The end result...just perfect!

Easter 2011

Our Easter was not how we envisioned it...we had just moved into the house about 3 weeks before. I did have time to find everyone new Easter clothes, got the kids' Easter buckets out and ready (thank goodness I didn't procrastinate...I already had things to put in their buckets), family would be coming and it would be such a joyous time together. Praise the Lord that the same is true no matter how one celebrates...Jesus Lives. He is risen...whether everyone is celebrating together or not.

The Friday before Easter, J came home from work with a sore throat and fever. He rarely gets sick, I mean once a year, if that. He took some medicine and laid on the couch. Before we went to bed that night he told me that he felt really bad. I was going to check his temperature throughout the night to see if it had come down, but his violent shaking told me that it hadn't and he just needed more meds. When he woke the next morning, he went straight to the couch and just laid there. I went to check on him and he said "someone needs to get me to the doctor." This is not J! He will refuse to go to the doctor. I immediately called his Mom and his Dad came and got him and took him to the Saturday clinic. I stayed home with the kids and waited impatiently, nervous about what his diagnosis would be. My mother-in-law called me and said that he had some type of infection. His white blood count was extremely elevated. The dr was surprised that he was able to walk into the clinic with a blood count that high. And really, that was all J could do was walk in. He passed out at the front desk and the nurses were all over him. They took blood and did some tests. His throat culture came back negative. All they knew was that he had an infection and he was very dehydrated. The dr wanted to admit him, but J said no and agreed to a list of things he had to do in order to stay out of the hospital. He got shots and about 4 prescriptions for medicines and pain pills. His muscles in his upper back and neck were hurting as well. The dr had spinal meningitis in the back of his mind, but didn't want to put him through the spinal tap if it wasn't necessary. Once he was home, I had to keep checking every couple of hours to see if he could move his neck easily. On the way home he continued to pass out. J's Dad had to stop and get an ammonia rag just to keep him conscious. I had to use that rag on him a few more times during the weekend and he was just laying in bed. I have never seen him so sick and I hope I never have to again.

The kids had a great weekend. It was different delivering the Easter loot all by myself and I'm sure J just hated missing their faces the next morning. I dressed them up all pretty for church and their Yaya and Pop came to pick them up. Easter celebration was at their house. The kids were able to visit with family, have lunch, and hunt eggs inside. During lunch the tornado sirens went off. We have heard those sirens way too much this year!




The kids and I set out Easter buckets for the Easter bunny. Then we read the Easter story out of one of their kids' Bibles. I enjoy doing the fun Easter stuff with them like baskets and hiding eggs, but it's important to me that my children know the true meaning of Easter.

G got Pinkalicious high heels, a new book, a swimsuit and board shorts, new panties, and a chocolate bunny.

B got a book, swim trunks, a sippy cup, trucks, and a chocolate bunny.



G and B with their Pop and Yaya!